Friday, November 29, 2013

The Friday Forum - November 29

There is one thing I can promise I will not do today: shop in a store. I hate crowds, the so-called bargains are often illusions, and I can't even imagine trying to find a parking place. It's so bad around here, there is a limo service advertising to take people to and from Tysons Corner. I wouldn't be surprised if Best Buy has had to ration the numbers of people allowed in the store at any one time. Not only is there a fire hazard with too many shoppers, there's a trampling hazard. I think I'd have a panic attack.

Actually, I'm still a bit comatose from yesterday's dinner. It was fabulous, so I ate much more than I usually do. Charlie and I have been having a snoozy morning.

I will be shopping online. I just discovered that Chantecaille is offering a free Tiger in the Wild Palette to anyone who spends $225 or over and uses the code GOWILD13. My holy grail palette - for free! I think I'll stop writing for a second and pop over and secure my order. The offer is only good today....there, done! I didn't want to take a chance on losing that offer. I can't tell you what yet, but Chantecaille is having an extravaganza deal on Cyber Monday.

There are actually more Black Friday online offers than I can use. They have been announced in e-mails and on Facebook and Twitter - all at once! At Slumberhouse, all bottles are 33% off today (or until sold out). Luckyscent has renamed today Puredistance Black Friday. All orders of the new and mysterious Puredistance Black with ship with two little samples. Use the code HOLIDAY13 for free shipping. Estée Lauder is offering a lovely Lush Lip Gloss set with six glosses for $19.50 until 1:00 pm EST. Giorgio Armani Beauty is offering 20% off any order of $75 or more, along with complimentary shipping. If you spend over $125, you will receive an additional five deluxe minis. Use the code FAMILY13. Kate Somerville is offering a dicount of 30% on all orders if you use the code HOLIDAY2013 (it's actually a Friends & Famil sale, as are others). This is a great deal, valid through December 2. NARS is offering its Friends & Family sale through the weekend. Use the code NARSFRIENDS online and in NARS boutiques to save 20%. I ran out of energy after typing up these deals, so I went looking for a summary. If you buy a leather atomizer at CREED, they will fill it with your choice of a select variety of fragrances. For four days only (and until stock lasts) purchase any atomizer and receive a complimentary fill of 1.7 fl. oz. of a beloved fragrance. Your choice of: Love in White, Acqua Fiorentina, Aventus, Millesime Imperial, Green Irish Tweed, or Silver Mountain Water. The Beauty Look Book compiled one I think you'll like.

It's time for the Friday Forum. I love this part of our week. What new products did you discover this week? Do you partake of any Black Friday deals? Did you find any beauties you couldn't resist? Are you using a fabulous product and want to sing its praises? Did you find a beauty product disappointing? Do you have a question others might be able to answer? Want to talk about skin care? What's new in your life? Just use the comments. Don't be shy. Just make sure to ask any question you might have over the weekend. By early the next week, most (not all) readers will have moved on.

I hope you have a great weekend! I'll be back later with some beautiful new makeup.

Update: My resolve to stay home was cemented by NBC Washington. Outside Chicago, a police officer answering a shoplifting call at Kohl's shot the driver of a car who was dragging another police officer. A brawl at a Southern California Walmart left a police officer injured and two people in custody. In New Jersey, a man was pepper sprayed when he became belligerent over a television. A Las Vegas shopper was robbed and shot on his way home after buying a new television. A dispute right here in Virginia over a parking space outside Walmart ended with one man pulling a gun and another stabbing him in the arm (the only one I find mildly amusing because I do not favor the laws that allow morons to run around carrying guns). Want to go out "there"? Does Walmart draw crazies?

Photo courtesy of accesoriesmagazine.com

17 comments:

wendy said...

hi charleston girl! no, i will not be going out shopping. next saturday, my local chanel counter will be offering 20% off everything. actually all cosmetics, even guerlain. i already pre-ordered a few basics just to hold me over. spring collections will be here in 3 weeks or so. and, so far i haven't seen anything i did not like. my christmas eve tradition? well, going to the chanel counter, of course! happy weekend! i'm thankful i don't have to go out today...stay warm...xo. p.s. i know chantecaille is known for delays in collections but, you just know spring collection will be fabulous too!! hopefully in january.

sunnlitt said...

Charleston Girl,

Glad to hear that you and Charlie are taking it easy today. I think that is a great way to celebrate the Day After.
I have no plans to go shopping today--what a zoo!!
Thanks for the update about Nars. I am out of my Tinted Moisturizer and was planning an early morning expedition to Sephora tomorrow. Saved!!! And, at 20% off!!
Have a happy weekend.

Eileen said...

I'm still at home, enjoying my family. None of us have any intention of going anywhere near the stores this weekend. As you mentioned, Charlestongirl, most of the sales are an illusion with retailers seizing the opportunity to dump a lot of cheap, low end stuff on frenzied bargain hunters. In general, the better quality items are also available on Cyber Monday and will continue to be promoted leading up to Christmas. I find there is absolutely no reason or incentive to shop Black Friday. What was once a fun shopping day for families with an extra day off school and work, has morphed into an absurd--and dangerous--display of greed that is fostered by retailers. "Door buster" is no longer a figure of speech, but has become a reality as the level of violence associated with Black Friday continues to rise. My heart aches for those people who have suffered injury and for those people who have actually died because of the unconscionable actions of brutal bargain hunters. As a nation, we should hang our heads in shame.

I would like to say a sincere thank you to all those retailers who refrain from putting up Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving and who remain closed until the sun actually rises before opening for Black Friday. Chef Michael Simone once said that he always closed his restaurants on Thanksgiving. He felt it was more important for his staff to be at home with friends and family. He ended by saying that if he couldn't figure out how to make money on all the other days of the year, then he didn't deserve to be an owner. Amen to that Michael!

Moving on to beauty, more and more pictures of the spring collections are being posted and the color stories are looking absolutely lovely. Of those that I've seen so far, Chanel and YSL are the freshest and most appealing to me as I don't do well with pastels and really prefer some neutrals to anchor the pops of color. It's still very early, though, and many of the high end brands have yet to release descriptions of their spring collections. As much as I'm enjoying my autumn and holiday selections--and will continue to do so for some months yet--it's always nice to see such refreshing beauty on the horizon :-)

I hope everyone is enjoying a great start to the holiday season.

Jo said...

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I am not going out to the stores today either - too many people and not enough places to park.

I want to let everyone know that I got a call from my Le Metier de Beaute rep from Saks in San Francisco. She told me they are pulling LMdB from the store and everything is 50% off. I am not sure if this is true of all stores that carry the line but it is true of the SF store. She says it would be best to get downtown to pick anything up or call her to hold things aside for me by Sunday as they may be pulling it as soon as then. I assume she is able to take phone orders but keep in mind that Saks does charge for shipping. I assume this is for the Saks exclusive kaleidoscope from this past Fall as well if they still have some in stock. I hope this helps out anyone with LMdB lemmings.

Happy long weekend everyone!

Charlestongirl said...

Wow, Jo. Just wow!

Charlestongirl said...

Hi Eileen,

I saw the whole color and skin care story from Chantecaille, and I'm smitten. I love spring color!

Charlestongirl said...

Hi Sunnlitt,

Glad to help with NARS. That e-mail came as I was writing the forum!

Charlestongirl said...

Wendy, who is discounting Chanel? I'd love to order.

Spring is going to be a bonanza.

wendy said...

hi charleston girl! dillard's is having a huge beauty event on friday, december 6th and saturday, december 7th. is there a dillards near you? if you live near one, there is free shipping. otherwise, you'll have to ask. i'm from cincinnati. in fact, guerlain is included as well as all other brands they carry for those 2 days. there's also an event sunday night after the store closes, cosmetics and fragrances are 10% off. i hope i'm "aloud" to announce this. i don't work for dillards but what an awesome deal! i hope there's a store near you. different stores may have different days and details. xxxxxxoooo to you! p.s. oooh! do tell what the "color story" will be for chantecaille. could we have a bit of a hint? i'm going to repurchase the coral reef pallette. i think it's a must have especially for spring and summer.

grlnxdor said...

My daughter and I did venture out to our local Kohl's early this afternoon. We are moving her to her own apartment this weekend, so shopping the "bargains" was a must. She got some incredible deals so it was worth the wait in line. Now I'm heading over to the Nars website thanks to you, Charlestongirl!

Eileen said...

Hi Charlestongirl,

All I've seen of Chantecaille's collection is the beautiful bee eye palette and it is lovely, indeed. I imagine the other items associated with it will also be pretty as spring! I'm sure you'll share the rest of the color story with us as soon as you are able to do so.

Enjoy your lazy day with Charlie. I bet he loves having you at home. My son's little IG is always thrilled when he has an extra day off. She attaches herself to him like a limpet!

Meredith said...

Wow, it's all too much! People should be embarrassed, fighting over TV's and parking slots. Honestly, doesn't anyone have any shame anymore? We had a wonderful TG and I have no desire to venture out into the frenzy, not my cup of tea. I too, would panic. Not good for the blood pressure so I'm cozy at home here eating leftovers. I got a great deal on a Tory Burch handbag for my older son's girlfriend. She has wanted this bag for a year or two so since I received almost $100 off, I decided to splurge. I enjoy making others happy (along with myself too) but it's fun to make someone else's X-mas special. She's a doll so it's easy. Let's all have an enjoyable Christmas season by slowing down and taking time to enjoy what's really important to us.

Evelyn said...

I didn't shop today although I did brave Bloomingdales. I made the pit stop since my friend had a change of plans and I was quickly overwhelmed by the amount of people (granted Bloomingdales is not as full as Macys but still, a lot of people!). I was tempted to buy something but the heat combined with rather aggressive cosmetics staff turned me off.

I did some cyber shopping on sites where I've been paying attention to the discounts and have seen the best offered for today. Most of my gift shopping is done. :) I did find some Edward Bess blushes on Gilt for almost half off and that I was happy about.

Have to say though, people are pretty nuts stampeding in stores. Granted, it's nice to have 40% off a fancy tv but is it really all that important to injure yourself or others to get it? If I can't afford it, I'd rather save up because I know there will be something else in the future that I'll like as much (I keep thinking that every time I see something I think I must have lol). I can't buy everything! :)

Mamavalveeta03 said...

When I was a kid, I thought Black Friday was the greatest thing since sliced bread. But no more. I wouldn't THINK of going out on Black Friday anymore. And I totally agree that the deals are a sham and will be there in the weeks to come. I'll sit in my cozy house and do some Cyber-Monday shopping!

Unknown said...

Hi CG, many LMdB products were half price on the Saks site last week; the brand is gone from the site all together now. It was also pulled from Nordstrom Pentagon City. I hope they are just regrouping. They make some of the best eye shadows on the business.

Glad to hear you had a relaxing Thanksgiving. Mom and I are having a quiet week here in West Texas. I'm finally recovering from the gov't shut down and regaining my makeup momentum. Unfortunately, I'm not moved by the holiday collections. My favorite is Chanel's Charming, but it's hardly holiday material, is it?

Charlestongirl said...

Ava, I wish I had known about Saks. I would have stocked up on skin care!

I was so lucky. My medical care clients were not furloughed, so neither was I. After such a tough year, that would have been the last straw.

nedian said...

I went outside to Trader Joe's, and that was it. Lazed around with tea and shopped online. There is nothing that could have convinced me to get out there with all those people.

Anyway, I grabbed some of the Sephora $10 deals that weren't minis. Also got two things from NARS that I couldn't get during the Sephora F&F -- the 413 BKLR eyeshadow that I've been coveting since last year when I *just* missed the F&F, and the Last Tango Cinematic lipstick.

And if anyone likes Becca products, head over to Modnique. They're selling everything they have from that line (which isn't everything Becca has, granted, but it's a lot) for $10 each.