TWITTER!!

Get ready guys...... I made a twitter for Velvet Laughter!
I have A LOT of pictures I pick out to use in posts and... it gets ridicolous. I mean, I love blogging and I am going to stay on top of them both with even more room for variety. I hope you guys all LOVE it.
If you have a Twitter account follow @velvetgiggles
Also, I made a logo type of thing for the blog and I am planning on uploading it tomorrow. So check back for that and a post about a really cool online store or two. I've really been trying to expand my horizons and check out more sites so enjoy!

Accessory Bundles

here Friday night I put together a post about Beauty Bundle subscriptions, but I wanted to look at more for accessories. So I did. It turns out that they are super expensive (at least in my opinion.) Honestly, I would much rather order jewelry online or go to the store to make sure that it's what I want. I'm going to show you why all this week talking about..... ACESSORIES! (Beyond just bags.)
To kick it all off, let's talk about bundles. After all, I do look for low priced jewelry and maybe you don't. So maybe you're be like "WOOO THAT'S A GOOD DEAL!"

Bezel Box
I actually do like the idea of this if I wasn't a quantity over quality type of person. It's $29.95 for a box retailing at $150.00. But you only get 4 or 5 things. That's what I don't like. Even though it is a good deal. I decided to look at examples and what they sent out did impress me. They had a very modern feel and a great taste in jewelry. Honestly, the best thing I saw was a giant necklace. I love it and if I knew it wouldn't be outrageously priced, I would go for it.

I really like the packaging first of all. I might order ONE just for the box. I use boxes for storage in my room and would love the polka dot.  As for what's included, it's surely wortsh what you pay. The necklace is just, amazing. I mean, I love it and want it and yeah. I also like the tiny ring because it's all glamoricious. But I don't like anything else.  I did look at other examples and I wasn't very impressed.
Bezel box does have a style quiz to find your taste. Check it out at
here.
Mynt Box
They didn't offer a personal style quiz which really upset me. I seriously think that if you want to run a service like this then you need to know your costumer. If you don't, then it's kinda pointless. So instead of your personal quiz, you get three options

What if I like pearls. Or antique. Or gold over silver. How would they know?! They wouldn't. If you wanna give it try, get $40 and you can get a box for one month. Then, if you want to subscribe, you have to subscribe for at least 3 months. But you'll only pay $30 a month then.
So what are you going to get for your $30?

Wantable
Wantable offers 3 different subscriptions. They have beauty, accessories, and intimates.
For and foremost, I don't want to receive underwear in the mail. Yes I went there. I like one style and I am more than capable of purchasing that myself. But you don't have to get underwear. They include sleepwear and cami is in this categlory. Here's an example:

This particular bundle includes a shirt, panama pants, house boot slipper things, and socks. All of they're packages are $36. This one is definately not worth it. I could easily find all of this at Burlington for much less.
So here is an example of their beauty bundle:

Unlike the other beauty bundles, I don't recognize these brands. They are full size though.  Again, it's $36. I suggest looking () for my beauty bundle reviews, because I would not choose this.
This is their accessory service example:

You can check out their services for yourself at wantable.com

I don't like this jewelry as much as the other services, but it is okay. The items shown are definately worth the $36, but not my taste. Again, I didn't see much of a style quiz for you to take. Overall, I was not very interested in their product.
Of all the services, I thought that Bezel Box was the best. I really want to try it out and will really look into it. If I get it, I will definately show you what I receive.

Beauty Bundles

I don't know if it's me, or if everyone loves getting stuff in the mail. Because I really do. Right now, I am subscribed (and about to mail in) Seventeen, InStyle, Teen Vogue, and Glamour magazines. I also did my first online shopping (check out my stuff in the Forever 21 post.).
Lately, I've been hearing A LOT about subscription services. Naturally, I jumped to my  go to cosmetics brand, E.L.F. yeah, not happening. It's $120.00 plus shipping. I don't have the funds for that. So I decided to spend my Friday not searching the internet for Beauty Bundles.

Julep

I started with Julep. I've seen it advertised a lot around the internet and wanted to see what it's about. This subscription is for nail polish. I love nail polish. The first box is free. I like free.
After taking a style survey, I was taken to a page with the monthly price AT LAST.

You do get some choice in what you recieve, and you can an el whenever you need to. So if you are looking for this, it is a good deal. Their nail polish is normally $14 a bottle, so it's worth thinking about.

Beauty Army

First off, I was so happy to see a clear price right of the bat. This service is $12 a month for your choice of 6 samples. It's great fir if you are considering investing in a product.

Again, I had to take a survey. It asked about skin type, hair type, and fragrance prevences. I felt like they wanted to understand you as a costumer and not just take your money. 

I had to make a profile to pull together an actual sample box, but took the time to look at their shop. There were great brand names and lots of options.

I would defiantly consider this for myself if the oppurtunity arose where I had that extra money at the end of the month. It seems like a personalized approuch to subscription bundles.

Birch Box

Upon first glance of the site, I wasn't going to give it a minute of my time. Until I saw the $10 a month cost. I wanted to know what you would be getting for $10. After hitting up google, I wasn't very impressed with what people were receiving. It really is a sample service with little, plastic pouches of lotion. No thank you.

Beauty Box 5

I was impressed, until I looked up examples. It's still small samples. I don't want pouches of lotion and travel size face wash. Here is their December 2013 box:

This is honestly disappointing to me. It is only $12 a month, $30 quarterly, or $99 for a year. Go buy samples 

on a sample sit or at Walmart. You'll save some money.

Ipsy

Now, THIS impressed me. Just, wow. You get a beauty bag every month with actually a really good selection. It's also $10 a month! You take a really comprehensive quiz to talk about what you buy and your comfort level with new product on top of the 

Skin and hair color questions.

Check out ipsy.com to look into this service and take your own quiz.

E.L.F.

At the end of my search, e.l.f. is definately the biggest "bang for your buck."

Why?

Now, remember they have a $19.99 +$6.95 price. This is an example of their beauty bundle.

They have a list of the products shown above with the list price on the site. This bundle is worth $40.00.

Check out e.l.f. bundles to subsribe.

So, I hope this helped you get a little bit more understanding of the beauty bundle options available. Let me know if your subscribed to one that I did/didn't mention and share what you think of it.

A Week's End

I had an awesome time this week balancing exams and purse searching. I've added a bunch of new clothes to my life, and sent a bag away. But my week is nearing an end for my blogging. Sad. I know.
I am hoping to do some awesome , super magical post over the weekend while I am out of wifi. But that involves collecting a whole bunch of stuff tomorrow before I leave for the weekend. So, check on Sunday morning for something amazing. I promise it will be. Pinky and all.
Also, if you haven't noticed... I changed the background. Now, if you don't like it, I have some promising news. I am going to personally draw out the WHOLE THING. See, my mom bought a new printer a few months back that I can use to save my artwork on the computer and I've never used it. Well, I can't scan my typical 18x20 picture so that's probably the reason.
But this isn't going to be huge so here's to hoping it works!
I also really want to post some of my outfits soon. I would've this week but I totally bummed it. It's horrible. I have 3 hoodies and I've worn them all. So I have no idea what to wear in the morning...
So, I thinks that's all I needed to say tonight. I really hope you are enjoying my posts and feel free to shot me a suggestion.

Designer Bags

I have been thinking about where to look for purses for you guys and it's kinda hard to keep them in good price. I am going to through price at the window and go designer.

So I recently fell in love with Betsy Johnson and this is being added to my dream shopping list. This bag is fusia and sells for $158.00 on betsyjohnson.com.

This is a Louis Vuitton bag. It sells for $2,900. I know that it's really expensive, but my dream is to own one of his bags. I love all his work.

This bag is Dooney & Bourke on the QVC website. Now, I know they are really reflected with their network and I am considering buying something from them. This bag is $231.72.

These are three awesome bags that have great color. They are all really expensive, but hey, one can dream.

Bags: Under $25, Lily Bloom, and Back Packs

Alright, I am super excited to show you some purses (and to look then up myself!) I realize a lot of what I show you is really affordable and I like that because I know that not everyone has a ton of money. BUT some of these might not be. I hope you don't mind. Also, while I am thinking about it, if you have any store you really like and would like me to look at for items to feature, comment those below. I know I do a lot of Target, Walmart, and Forever21, but I am open to new things all the time.

So, first, I want to show some really affordable options. These won't be as organized, but I hope you enjoy! :)

Okay, this is from Five Below. I don't know how many stores they have nationally but there is one in my area and it's a really cool store. Everything is $1 - $5 but there is no online order.
Now, these are 'tablet bags' but they would be a good purse for $5.00.

kmart.com $8.49 (on sale)

Now for some more, let's say, under $25 bags.

kmart.com $13.49 (on sale)

Unionbay on sears.com $19.99

Unionbay on sears.com $23.80

  

Forever21.com $24.80

Now, I am going to venture out a little. One of my favorite brands for purses is Lily Bloom. They are also sustainable fashion which is great. And they seem to be really hard to find online. I bought mine at sears and they always have a collection in the store. I also saw some at Burlington Coat Factory last weekend. I am going to show you some examples and also say that Ebay has a huge market. Just beware when buying from their site as some products may not be in good condition.

So, I have a really good friend who doesn't like purses and is a backpack person. I have 3 back pack purse things. Two are Vera Bradley and one is from Rue 21. I wanted to make sure that the back pack people feel included too and show you some awesome back packs.

jcpenny.com $39.00

claires.com $28.00

jcpenny.com $8.99 (clearance)

claires.com $28.00

I really tried to hit some diversity with this bags but I want to say that both sites have a huge selection. They have sparkles, floral, and tribal print which are all super in right now. Backpacks are also great because they tend to give you more than one pocket, they are no-hassle when shopping, and they should fit everything that you need regardless of where you are going.

If there are any other bag types that you really want me to hit, please comment and I will do those tomorrow. I actually have spend 2 hours finding all these bags and dealing with a whole let of technical issues. I am going to try and get some hobos, satchels, and clutches together in the next day or so. So check back for more!

Bag Rules

I have to carry a purse of some sort everywhere I go. I've been like this since I was a little girl, but getting older has helped me to be able to exercise my taste in bags. And enforce my rules. I'm going to tell you these rules. Why? Because everyone needs to have rules and expectations when purse shopping. I feel so bad when I am at the mall and see someone blindly looking around and picking up tiny purses and then giant hobos. It makes shopping for one of the best accessories a lot more stressful than it needs to me.
Here are my rules:

HAS TO FIT MY TABLET

I have the nook hd which is a 7" tablet. I use this thing for absolutely everything. I write, keep pictures of what I'm looking for when shopping, and have a lot of my school notes. I literally never leave home without it and need to fit this into whatever bag I am taking with me. I can't just carry a random tablet around. 

This rule is actually an edit from before I had a tablet when it had to fit a notebook. Can you see my giant purses?

AT LEAST TWO POCKETS 

A lot of people I know complain about having too much space in their purse. Keep it organized and it won't be a problem. Right now my purse has 5 zippable pockets and two non. It's not confusing at all. Keep it organized with a pocket for the things you grab most often and keep large objects in the center.

ZIPPERS 

For my 13th birthday I got a graffitti print purse that I absolutely loved. Excited, I stuffed in my bgum, body spray, wallet, and all that other good stuff. We went to the mall and when I came home the velcro fastner came undone, dumping everything in the front yard. This happened again in church and multiple parking lots. Don't have this happen to you. Only buy purses that zip.

NOTHING PLAIN

I don't want to get an argument here, but I really hate black and brown purses. I like denim and patterned or super bright colors. No, it doesn't match everything in my closet. But at the end of the day, your look is suppose to represent who you are. Nothinfg about me is boring like a brown bag.

Another big thing about purse shopping is knowing what you want ahead of time AND knowing who you are. If you know what you want, your not going to get loss in the mess of bags.

I know I say this a lot, but I think it matters most here.WAIT FOR SALES. I love purses that are $70+ and normally pathless than $50. You already have a purse (at least I hope so.) You don't have to buy it right at that moment. Wait for the sale and it will be worth it.

My purse.

So, I just had to search for 15 for a picture and fell in love with their current bags. 

Check back tommorow for more purses from Lily Bloom (featured above) and more!