DFW Bloggers Shop Around at Allen Premium Outlets

Last Saturday I was invited to tour the Premium Outlets in Allen, TX with ten other bloggers from the Dallas / Fort Worth area. It was organized by my blogger friend Cris of MyFashionJuice.com with help from Robyne (Central Marketing VP) and Penny (General Manager). There are so many Premium Outlets all over the US, I'm sure there's one near you. This was my second time at this location. It's been 5 or 6 years!

Some new and familiar faces! A good mix of mommy bloggers and fashion bloggers. We started the morning eating breakfast, meeting each other, and going through our gift bags full of coupons.
[photo source]
L-R top: Penny, Robyne, Cris
L-R bottom: Stephanie, Me, Ivonne, Melissa, Tamara

I can't believe they gave us such a great quilted black tote to carry all of our finds! Inside it was stuffed with special VIP coupons and goodies.

Just some of the coupons we were armed with. Every Premium Outlet will have coupons you can print out online before you go. I would make a list of all the stores you want to visit and make sure you print a coupon for those stores. You never know what you might find!

The VIP coupon booklet that's valid until 2013. Isn't it a convenient all in one brochure? Sign up to get yours here.

Our first stop was Banana Republic Factory Store. Most of the clothing you will find here is exclusive to the Factory Store. Therefore they are on trend and it's not leftovers from the regular stores. Great right?! These three ladies are modeling Summer Trend looks put together by the store manger. From the blue cardi, to the wedges, to the floral print I love it all!

Banana is not short on cute PRINTS and these are my favorites from the store.

Next we headed over to Samsonite where Patrick demonstrated how to pack for summer using the Eagle Creek Packing system. I was not a believer when my brother first told me about the packing system. I really didn't think it would make a difference at all but WOW when Patrick unfolded everything from the Folder I was amazed how useful the Pack-It system is. It was like that scene in Mary Poppins, he kept lifting out shirt after shirt.

Here are the different size Pack-It cubes. If you don't have a Samsonite near you, try the Container Store. After our presentations we were free to roam the outlet and we left in groups to hunt for our free gifts.

Other goodies: Samsonite 3oz travel bottles, Movado Jewelry Cleaner, notepad

A special gift from White House Black Market. Personal fan, hand sanitizer, laundry scents, and mints.

Another tote! I was actually looking for a canvas tote I could paint on. This came at a really great time.

At Vitamin World we were introduced to the magical Coconut Oil. It's good for you inside and out. Just google this craziness!

Retinol Cream and a Protein Bar from Vitamin World. Thanks to the manager! He was really friendly and curious about all our blogs. ;)

My FAVORITE find is this adorable green pan from Kitchen Collection. You never need to use oil and the food won't stick. I can't wait to test it out! This store was a baker's heaven!

NY & Company gave us a $25 off $25 coupon so I picked up a white bolero and this black enamel multi-chain necklace. I plan on recycling the chain and spray painting the black part gold. You'll have to wait and see the before/after on my other blog Julu Jewelry.

Columbia gave us a $15 gift card to use and I used it to buy a hat for my dad. My cashier was also really cute. BONUS!

I stopped by the CCO (cosmetics company outlet) but I didn't see anything I wanted. bummer! Same for the Coach Outlet. I wasn't in need of a purse, and I was overwhelmed by the selection and people buzzing around too.

My last stop before I went home was the Le Creuset store. The discounts were generous and they even had a 25% off sale on top of that for all of the beautiful blue items. I wish I could take it all home!

Allen Premium Outlets had so many stores but I only walked half of the huge property before I decided it was time to go home. I didn't want to tire myself out otherwise I wouldn't make the hour long drive home. Coming here is really an excursion so you need to be prepared. Wear comfy clothes, make a plan, bring water, wear a hat, wear a cross body purse to keep your hands free, and most importantly bring a friend.

Check out what the other bloggers had to say!

Ivonne - Ivonne Stacy Style

Cris - My Fashion Juice

Alicia - Fashion by Alicia

Stephanie - Beauty and Gardens

Tamara - Southern Yankee Mix

Staci - 7 on a Shoestring

Heather - Dallas Single Mom

Melissa - MelissaStuff

Metsy - Metsy Shines

Jenn - Jenn's RAQ

Stephanie - Korean Bohemian

April myglam bag review and surprise bag

This is my first myphan myglam bag, and I wanted to see what the fuss was about. There have been good and bad said about this company who copied Birchbox, who copied My Pretty Pink Box. It's $10 (same as birch) and you get 4-5 deluxe and full size products (same as birch) every month in a bag/pouch. This month it's metallic pink! ($2 value?)

This month's theme is Girl's Night Out.

Shadow brush and liner brush - $2 value each?
The quality reminds me of Sephora collection brushes. It's actually a nice brush and densely packed.

Urban Decay 24/7 travel size liner in Woodstock - $6.40 each
You had the possibility of 3 colors. I would have preferred Perversion or Ransom but hot pink eyeliner will have to do. It'll be a challenge to make a wearable look.

Dermstore Lip Quench - $12 full size
A glossy lip moisturizer in a pale pink shade. Haven't tried it yet.

All-belle lashes in 2822 - $2?
Handmade in Taiwan. They don't look too bad but I've seen better. Like most Asian lashes it comes with a small vial of glue.

To add up the value of this month it's $24.40 and I consider that estimate generous. If you're paying $10 you should only hope to get something valued at $10-$12 anyway, right? Since that's half of my estimate I'd say this box was worth it. But will it satisfy everyone? No, because many people think they should open it to find makeup gold or something that looks like this:

This is the "Never Gonna Happen" bag for $10... Full size Mac brush! YSL! full size shadow OMGZ!

Pros:
shipped on time
this month's samples were good
$10 to try won't break the bank
listens to customer feedback

Cons:
no points system or referral system
no store
no personalized picks (everyone gets the same thing)
no skipping the month
new company (will have glitches)
the card explaining everything was cheap looking. hire a new designer please!
very basic website

Will I keep my subscription for May? Not sure, but I think I will cancel. I have way too many samples as it is. I do think it's worth trying ONCE though. :)

Easter Egg Half Moon Nails

The first time I saw the Half Moon Nail trend I wasn't a fan but after seeing it with pretty pastels I'm a convert! This is my first go at it. If I had a true white I probably would have done these differently. Also you usually don't see this look with a trim but I flubbed it so the white trim covers up my mistakes. The white trim gives it that Easter Egg look.

How to:

1. Paint your nails the base color (top part). Make sure to paint the whole nail.
2. Wait for it to dry completely or use seche vite to speed it up.
3. Use Hole Reinforcements and place them on the top part of your nail where you want to keep the base color showing.
4. Paint the bottom portion of the nail any color (same or different ones to complete your look).
5. Remove the reinforcements carefully to reveal your half moon shape!
6. Add a middle trim with a thin brush or skip this if your application and sticker removal is clean.
7. Apply a top coat and let it dry!

Colors used:
Etude House BL501 Cloud Milk - pinky
Revlon Lilac Pastelle - ring finger
Revlon Cafe Pink - first finger
Revlon Electric - middle finger
Revlon Pale Cashmere - top moon
Rimmel French White - trim

Happy Easter!

Take a sexy plunge with Candice

I was invited to interview Candice Swanepoel (you know the super model plastered all around Victoria's Secret and on tv?) so I put on my Victoria's Secret best (my secret) and headed out to Northpark Mall in Dallas.

Now Candice didn't come in wearing this amazing White Herve Leger Ari Essential Bandage dress. The word is she stopped by the BCBG store first to pick it out. How gorgeous is she?? And I love her South African accent!

So why is Candice here? She's promoting the new line of deep v plunge bras, very sexy bras and Very Sexy Touch fragrance. I know first-hand that Dallas and the rest of the metroplex loves Victoria's Secret!

"My favorite part of the new collection is the new bras with the deep v plunge. You can wear it 5 different ways, and it's basically your go to bra. Great for low cuts to get that cleavage you want."

This season's new fragrance Very Sexy Touch with italian iris, gilded apricot, amber wood. The packaging is very pretty! Doesn't it remind you of YSL lipstick?

In love with Chanel Amour (swatches and review)

Released just in time for Valentine's Day is Chanel's newest collection of pinks called "LES ROSES ULTIMES DE CHANEL." Out of the 6 new glossimers and 4 nail colors I decided on the one featured on the model. Amour #166. The Frisson nail polish also looks pretty but I'm waiting to see some swatches of that first. It reminds me of Zoya Erika which I have already.

According to the website she's wearing Amour glossimer and Pink Sugar lip pencil together.

Levres Scintillantes Glossimer in Amour. My camera picked up the same pink as the promo shots so I would say it's accurate but what you can't see well is the subtle shimmer which reflects fuchsia under my fluorescent lights. I'd call this gloss a rich coral pink with iridescent shimmers.

Formula: Thick and smooth but never sticky.

Take a look at this swatch! Where it is misleading is how it shows up on the lips. It swatches thick but sheers out quickly once on pigmented lips. It's not too sheer that it does nothing for me though. It brightens up my lip color with a nice pink glow. I'd say if you have REALLY red lips this wouldn't show up at all.

If you were expecting the color in the ad you will need a lip pencil underneath. They've tricked us with a little bit of photoshop magic!

It does in fact go really well with my pink heart macarons I made this week! :)

Two pumps and a dress

I definitely did not plan to buy dressy clothes this week but when a great sale comes around- I just can't pass it up!

First are the much raved about Perfect Pumps from Ann Taylor in Patent Dark Navy. The retail for $155 and I bought them for $35.93 online. They are surprisingly comfy and true to size! And that's coming from the girl who hurts in almost every shoe. I'm a big fan of the round toe shape and it's all around classy and beautifully made. 3.25" heel. Will a Perfect Pump ever get this low again? I don't know, but I hope so! I would buy another!

I popped by Banana Republic actually hoping I wouldn't find anything. Ah, and of course I would! There weren't many clothes left but there were many shoe styles and sizes to choose from. Something I didn't expect! Most of the shoes were marked down to $30-$40 PLUS an additional 25% off. I ended up buying these Mad Men Izzy Pumps in Dark Platino for around $24. Dark Platino looks more gunmetal in person. They are hidden platform 4" heels. It's my first hidden platform shoes and so far I can tell it's just comfy enough. I will say they run a little narrow so I wasn't sure if I should get a half size up, but I ultimately decided against it and stuck to my normal size. Now that I think about it, I've wanted Banana Republic shoes since high school! I'm so glad I found these!