What’s Your Shopping Experience with BeachMint?

December 21st, 2011 by Sara Cornell

No surprise that I’m a fan of the BeachMint family: JewelMint, StyleMint, BeautyMint, and the newest member ShoeMint. My closet is packed with StyleMint Ts and my daughters love the interesting accessories that JewelMint turns out each month. But if you follow any of these Mints on Facebook, or have had personal shopping experiences with them, you may have noticed that the customer service department doesn’t quite have its act together. (As a business owner myself, I have one thought for the Mints: Get with it guys…) There was the bungled launch of StyleMint Cashmere last week, and it seems that all the Mints are having supply issues. Personally, all my shopping experiences with them have been fine, BUT, my recent order with ShoeMint ran into some challenges. After ordering the Pauline’s in Wine, I received an email notifying me that they were out of stock and would I like to be wait listed. Yes, I would. I placed my (waitlisted) order on December 2 and finally received my shoes on December 20! Snaps to the customer service peeps (maybe they are reading the comments on FB) they included a little sumptin’-sumptin’ from JewelMint as an apology for the delay, and my shoes and I are now becoming acquainted.

I will say this for the quality of the shoes: It’s really good. Granted the heel height is absurd. I mean seriously, I’m almost 6’2″ in 6″ heels, and who really has the kind of day that warrants that kind of wedge (?), but for the random day that I feel the need to rock my inner Gabby Reese, I’ll take it. They fit true to size and the quality of the leather and craftsmanship is excellent.

I’ll be interested to see how the second month of ShoeMint goes. My impression is that the inaugural month was a tough one. And I’m sure that there is a segment of the shoe buying population that would love to see some diversity in the heel height options.

Overall I’ll give the Mints 4 out of 5 stars. I love the concept and the quality of the merchandise, but if they are going to keep me a captive customer they are going to have to up their game in the selection and delivery departments.

What’s your Mint shopping experience? Leave us a comment and let us know…

Posted in Affordable Fashion, Fashion Advice, Retail Therapy, Shopping, Web Snob Related Topics: BeautyMint, Celebrity Fashion, jewelmint, Reviews, ShoeMint, Shopping, StyleMint

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BeautyMint.Com Launches Skincare Site

October 31st, 2011 by Sara Cornell

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Image courtesy of Beautymint.com

First there was JewelMint.com, then came StyleMint.com, and today BeautyMint.com launched its new site. The new site offers personalized skin care products, developed in conjunction with Jessica Simpson and Beverly Hills skincare expert Nerida Joy.

According to the BeautyMint website, Jessica’s life in the public eye has inspired a philosophy about beauty that celebrates every person’s unique qualities. Jessica’s BeautyMint collaboration with Nerida Joy brings this philosophy to skin care. Though Jessica has access to the world’s best skin care products and treatments, she believes that expensive doesn’t always mean effective. In BeautyMint, she discovered the value of personalized skin care that matches targeted solutions with specific skin issues and goals. Now, she wants to share her discovery with you.

From what I can tell, after answering a series of questions about your skin a personalized collection of cleaners, toners and moisturizers is compiled for you. The monthly subscription allows for automatic refills of your particular skin care products.

Image courtesy of BeautyMint.com

I guess I was expecting (dare I say hoping for…?) something more along the lines of Birchbox.com, where each month a tasty selection of beauty products in trial sizes arrives in a nice little box ready to be sampled and hopefully ordered in their retail size containers. BeautyMint, on it’s first day at least, seems a bit like a dressed up ProActiv Solutions. Where is the fun? Where is the glitz? Maybe I should be more generous, but at first blush, I can’t say I’m really excited about this site – unlike JewelMint.com and StyleMint.com which have my undivided attention.

I guess we’ll have to wait for Rachel Bilson’s site ShoeMint.com launching later in November…

Posted in Beauty Products, Face, Skin Care, Web Snob Related Topics: Beauty Products, BeautyMint.com, Birchbox.com, Jessica Simpson, Jewelmint.com, Proactiv Solutions, ShoeMint.com, Skin Care, StyleMint.com

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Should I or Shouldn’t I…?

June 9th, 2011 by Sara Cornell

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I am totally obsessed with these shoes:

Rebecca Minkoff Leather and Haircalf Wedge Sandals $272 at Saks

They are by my FAVORITE designer, Rebecca Minkoff, and come in both camel colored leather and black. Here’s where I stumble (no pun intended with a 5″ platform!). They aren’t really summer shoes because they have such a heavy design, and the open toe thing only goes so far in the fall and winter seasons in New England. I’ve been trying to convince myself for several weeks now that I really will be a better person if I own these shoes, and they just went on sale, but something is holding me back.

Aren't they adorable from the back!

What do you think? Are they worth it? Would you wear these shoes and what would you wear them with? Leave us a comment and let us know…

Posted in Fashion Advice, Retail Therapy, Shoes Shoes Shoes!, Shopping, Summer Fashion, Week In Chic Related Topics: Dresses & Skirts, fashion, Outfit Ideas, Rebecca Minkoff, sale, Shoes, Shopping

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Lydra Needs You, Mature Women

March 6th, 2011 by Amanda Davis

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Melbourne based fashion accessories label (Lydra) is calling upon Grandma’s, Granny’s, Bubbe’s, Nonna’s and Nan’s to step forward and become apart of the Lydra family. They are looking for active grannys who want to be a part of creating the Lydra family of products. It’s a community initiative that is going to connect the elderly with the younger generation on the basis of fashion. They are looking for sassy ladies who are well versed in sewing but also have a fun personality!

“I want to connect the elderly community with the younger generation through their common interest and love for fashion,” says designer Linda Vydra. Linda is looking for creative individuals that have strong sewing skills and vibrant personalities. They will be creating one--of--a--kind products such as clutches, travel wallets and coin purses that are made from preloved fabrics. A US report found that the greatest contributor to loneliness in the elderly, which affects 35% of people aged 75 and above, was the sense of social fulfilment. Through Lydra’s employment those suffering from loneliness could be given a sense of purpose, a platform for creativity and an opportunity to make new friends!

Linda foresees targeting; lawn bowls clubs; community groups or crafters circle housing the eager crafters. The initiative is also seen as an opportunity to raise much needed funds for their associated club, bringing publicity and new interest from the wider community. Linda plans to launch Lydra’s ladies with an Afternoon Tea Party in June. Through engaging the elderly community, Linda wants to be able to run a transparent business and allow customers to make a direct connection with the artisan and having biography of the artisans online. “Too often these days we don’t know who or where our products are made.” Linda plans to revolutionize manufacturing in Australia through creating a social enterprise that offers collaborative opportunities to the community.

Please contact info@lydra.com.au if you would like more information about becoming a Lydra lady or interested in getting your club involved.

Posted in Accessories, Fashion Advice, Green Chic Related Topics: elderly activities, Lydra, mature women, reconstructed bags

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December Issue of Lucky Magazine is out!

November 9th, 2010 by Sara Cornell

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Bestill my heart…the December issue of Lucky Magazine, which also happens to be their 10th Anniversary Edition, is on newsstands nationwide.

You know what I’ll be doing for the next few hours…

Posted in Recommended, Retail Therapy, Shopping, Shopping & Goodies Related Topics: Beauty, fashion, Holiday, Luck Magazine, Shopping

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Mixing Styles: Rugged with Chic

November 7th, 2010 by Sara Cornell

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Mixing styles and genres is a big trend this year. Last week there was a feature in the Weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal discussing how the New York party/social crowd is wearing motorcycle jackets over their ball gowns and jean jackets with sophisticated cocktail dresses. For a more real life version of this trend, take a casual T-shirt and throw on a sparkly “evening” necklace. Try sequin harem pants with heels and a jean jacket.

J. Crew has done a great job of positioning this trend (even if $600+ is a little much for pants from J. Crew!) and Free People can always be counted on to pull together some amazing looks using a mix of casual and formal pieces. I love these two looks from the Free People Soft Rebel collection:

Image courtesy of Freepeople.com

Image courtesy of Freepeople.com

What do you think? Can the average Fashionable Housewife pull off this type of look? Send us a comment and tell us what you think…

Posted in Fall Fashion, Fashion Advice, How To Wear..., Trend Alert, Week In Chic Related Topics: fashion, Free People, J. Crew, Outfit Ideas, Trends

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Reminder to Enter to Win a $1,000 Shopping Spree at Zappos.Com

October 28th, 2010 by Sara Cornell

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Don’t forget you have a few more days (4 to be exact!) to enter to win a $1,000 shopping spree at Zappos.com.

Enter at Luckymag.com for your chance to win one of TEN $1,000 shopping sprees! Zappos.com is your one-stop-shop for all your fall fashion needs from apparel to accessories to handbags and shoes. Fill your closet with a complete designer wardrobe of your choosing. Not to mention, free shipping both ways and 365 day returns.

One in TEN winners will get the chance to fill their closets with designer brands courtesy of Zappos.com.

This contest ends November 1, so hurry. Then start planning your new shoe wardrobe!

Posted in Contests & Giveaways, Shoes Shoes Shoes!, Shopping, Shopping & Goodies, Shopping Sprees, Sweepstakes Related Topics: Contest, Lucky Magazine, Shoes, Zappos.com