Yesterday was a very long very rough day.  But at least I get to make someone’s Thursday just a little happier by letting them know they are the winner of a $50 gift certificate from L’Occtane.

Lucky commenter #3, Marci, who would really like some Shea Butter has won today.  Thank you all for commenting.  Keep looking this week for my next giveaway and try your luck again!

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I have an excellent giveaway to start today with you!  L’Occitane, the maker of fabulous French soaps, lotions, makeup and more is going to give one of my VERY lucky readers a $50 gift certificate to use in their online store.

If you have ever wandered into L’Occitane you probably realize that this is a great giveaway.  Here are a few of the products that I have tried and really like …

 Honey Lemon Lip Gloss (which I mentioned in a lip gloss review previously) and Shea Butter Hand Cream (great for really dry hands without too much oily residue)

  

Lavender Bar Soap

Shea Butter Ultra Rich Shampoo

Because L’ Occitane natural beauty products are packaged so beautifully, I have given them as gifts and the soaps and shampoo bottles look great on my bathroom countertop.

So leave a comment below mentioning which of their products you are eying and on Wednesday, July 27th I will pick a random winner for the gift certificate.  Good Luck!

Unfortunately, this giveaway is only available to readers located in the continental U.S.

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Faux Wooden Chandelier from Uncommom - $48

I need something to jazz up my master bathroom and I think a chandelier could be awesome in there.  Problem is that it has all recessed lighting so it would have to be a “faux” chandelier.  I was thinking this one was pretty cool from Uncommon.  It is so unique.  What do you think?

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Congrats to Sarah who was the second commenter in my giveaway for the Nautilus Corkscrew from True Fabrications.

She shared her go-to recipe for when she entertains here …

“Bundles of Switches. Peanut butter and butterscotch chips melted together with potato sticks and marshmallows mixed in. Stir it up, put on parchment paper and stick in the fridge. It will be gone by the end of your party I promise!”

Thanks for the recipe Sarah and enjoy the corkscrew!

Sarah was chosen randomly with Random.org

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For as long as I can remember I used Maybeline Great Lash Mascara.  It is the old tried and true of mascaras.  My Mom has used it forever.  No fuss, no muss, and does the job.  You buy it in dark brown or black, or maybe the waterproof version.

I started noticing that my Maybeline Great Lash was leaving black residue under my eye after a few hours of wear so I switched to Maybeline Volum Express Turbo Boost.  Pretty much the same black mascara in waterproof and it helped with the falling mascara.  I should have stopped here and stuck with a good thing.

Then I visited my sister and she was going on and on about CoverGirl Exact eyelights mascara.  She has stunning blue-gray eyes and dark hair, with long dark lashes.  The girl really barely needs mascara.  But she noticed that everytime she wore this Exact eyelights she got compliments on her eye-makeup.  She said the hint of blue in the mascara brought out her eye-color.  My other sister and I ate this up and went out and bought the new CoverGirl craze.  I bought the one for green eyes.  Technically my eyes are hazel (a mix of brown and green) but I thought this would enhance the green in my eyes.

The CoverGirl Exact eyelights for green eyes is in a purple container and when you pull out the wand it looks like there is purple mascara in the bottle. But when applied it looks black.  It looks like plain old black.  I never saw any fancy purple shimmer and never got any compliments.  It was just plain old black mascara. The wand also had those new plastic bristles on the end that gave me spider-looking clumped lashes.

Next time my sister came for a visit I told her about my disappointment.  She scoffed and said I must have bought the wrong color mascara for my coloring and was still raving about her blue shimmer mascara.  I grumbled and noticed she was applying CoverGirl’s new LashBlast mascara. She said she loved the stuff because it gave her lots of volume.  I have long lashes but they are kind of thin.  More volume was what I needed, not purple shimmer.  So I once again I ran out and bought the Cover Girl Last Blast.

Disappointment yet again.  Along half of the brush it has short plastic bristles.  It was even harder to apply than the CoverGirl Exact eyelights and the mascara went on gunky and thick.  Completely annoyed one day, I actually threw this one in the garbage.

My next try was Lash Galore Mascara from Beauty Addicts.  They use a traditional mascara brush in a traditional black.  And guess what, it goes on easy and gives you long defined black lashes.  It doesn’t provide me with any extra volume but it doesn’t clump or end up under my eyes within an hour either.

The moral of this story is “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.  CoverGirl has 18 different choices in mascara on their web site and Maybeline has even more.  Most of them have plastic bristled applicators which I haven’t been so lucky with so far.  What is your favorite mascara?  How long have you been using it?

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Nothing beats having your friends and family over for a nice big dinner paired with a great bottle of wine.  I am happy to announce that True Fabrications is treating one of my lucky readers to this Chrome Nautilus Corkscrew from their extensive collection of entertaining goods.

The Nautilus is easy to use with it’s comfort grip and easy motion handle and is made from a durable metal with a chrome finish.  It comes with a foil cutter and extra worm as well.

Leave a comment below describing your favorite go to recipe for a successful party and one commenter will be randomly chosen to win this item.  The giveaway will end Friday the 16th at 5pm.  Good Luck!

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Winner Of The Nautilus Corkscrew

Umber Ring  - $18

 Cause sometimes wearing a big ring makes you feel empowered and beautiful. Available at Spool No. 72

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I caught an eyeful of this pretty pot hanger over at Mint and I keep going back to the image thinking how pretty it would be on a back porch.  This pot hanger by insitu starts at $175, but only holds 5 pots at this price (and this price does not include the pots) but I think a DIY version could be made simply enough.

Maybe using this maze wall hanging from CB2 for $49.95 …

with these colorful little pots from IKEA, $1.99 each …

 I wish I could convince someone to try this project!

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Click on the image above to read my letter more clearly …

Links in above email: Swiss Miss; pilothandwriting.com

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I recently re-tweeted a link from Oh Joy that had a picture of this chair from Crate & Barrel .  I love this chair.  It is so beautiful. But $699 for an accent chair is just way too much for me to spend.  I go to Crate & Barrel’s website and just look at it admiringly from time to time.

Then I stumbled upon this chair at Overstock.  Looks pretty similar doesn’t it?  And $243.99 is a much better price.  It’s not quite as amazing as the Crate & Barrel chair though.  The cushion is not a big and the design is not as unique … but maybe it would be a nice accent chair?  What do you think?

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