Are you a Broke-Ass Babe?
Broke & Beautiful has been living stylishly on a shoestring (& sharing it with you!) since 2007! Check out our blog at BrokeAndBeautiful.com!
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Non-Fashion-Related Broke & Beautiful Question: Let’s say you have $50/week budget for food, but you love high quality, organic/natural stuff - do you buy less food, more of which is high quality? Or more food at a lower quality?
I am offering to be your personal shopper.
An excess of free time? No. Procrastination? Maybe. Indulgent shopping tendencies? Exactly.
Tell me what you’ve been looking for lately, and I will use my years-honed, deal-finding expertise to dig up a post all about what YOU want!
So shoot me a message, or respond to this post in the comments, on Twitter, or through Tumblr, or Facebook… You get the point.
What can I help you find today?
How adorable are these Patent T-Bar flats? Only $45!
Don’t forget about the Broken Record giveaway! You could snag this cute, convertible bag which happens to be full of even more free things.
Enter by signing up for the Broken Record! Those who are already signed up are already entered, but we’re capping the entries at 200 and there are less than 50 spots UPDATE: Less than 30 spots left!
LOVE this dress from ModCloth! Under $50, too.
(Source: modcloth.com)
Don’t forget about the Broken Record giveaway! You could snag this cute, convertible bag which happens to be full of even more free things.
Enter by signing up for the Broken Record! Those who are already signed up are already entered, but we’re capping the entries at 200 and there are less than 50 spots left!
How to Throw a Party When You’re Broke
Love this cute article by our girl, Marie!
These are GORGEOUS! And only $30!?
(Source: us.asos.com)
Solid Scented
I cannot believe that perfume is so expensive. I bought my first bottle of perfume two years ago with a Macy’s gift card - it was my all-time favorite campaign, Diesel’s Fuel For Life. After a few catastrophic and intense life events (and a post with amazing reader insight), I decided… it was time for a change.
Scent is a powerful force, and the olfactory powers that be are not to be ignored. That said, I don’t know if the air-bound liquid particle method is the way I’m destined to go. After a stroll through Ballard’s [adorable, craving-inducing] boutique, Blackbird, and a dip into their gorgeous apothecary - I think I was destined for a more compact, controllable method of fragrance: solid perfume.
They’re easy to carry, won’t dump out in your purse, and for the love of God, they’re so much cheaper than your average bottle of stink. Plus, the aesthetic value of most solid perfumes is about equal to its bottled counterpart. Only more cute.
After falling head over heels for Diptyque’s Eau Duelle solid perfume (luxury! duality! white vanilla and black frankincense!) at Blackbird, I immediately became heartbroken upon seeing the $48 price tag. Oh, cruel world.
There is no way I’m going back to spray perfumes after this (though I’ve been pulled towards Sephora’s Fragrance Sampler set on many a mall-walk). The packaging plus the smell and the control over exactly where that stuff goes (no more spraying into the air, then breathing in chemicals) is immensely appealing.
I’ve compiled a healthy list of some of the neatest places around the neighborhood (read: internet) to get some affordable, beautiful solid fragrances.
L’Occitane
You may recall L’Occitane from my review of their Brightening Cleansing Foam (which I still crave and cannot wait to buy more of - especially at only $9 per bottle!), but I was pretty surprised that they had such a collection of solid perfumes!
Cherry Blossom Solid Perfume $9
“The cherry tree is part of the Provencal landscape.” This touts the celebration of the cherry tree’s transformation throughout the seasons. All of their solid perfumes are alcohol free which means they won’t evaporate and will therefore last all day. Swoon!
A pleasant parlour gathering
Quicksilver concealed in a ruby ring
Two lumps or three
I have always adored bergamot tea
These are the lyrics from one of my favorite Jill Tracy songs, The Fine Art of Poisoning. Bergamot tea combines black tea and lemon-y citrus which lends a smokey but fresh kind of scent that’s really, really intoxicating.
Lush
Oh, Lush. I will never tire of your beautiful, creative pairings, products and packaging. It should be no surprise to me that you offer delectable solid scents (aka Gorilla Perfumes) and I’m pretty sure I need all of them. Please prepare to get really, really excited because many of their amazing soap/shampoo scents are available in solid fragrance form. Holy. Crap.
Karma Solid Stick $9.95
First and foremost: Karma. This is clearly the most exciting of the line (that I’m aware of). I have been in love with the Karma scent for years, and I would snap this up in a heartbeat.
Tuca Tuca Solid Perfume $8.95
You’re turning violet, Violet! That’s the basis of this scent - the beautiful, delicate but intoxicating scent of violets making for a flirt, girly scent. Inspired by this song:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23hSNCZG7mE
So saucy!
Soap & Paper Factory
I’ve never heard of this store before, but after perusing their wares, I’m a bit more than enamored with their offerings.
Oh, Bella, Bella! Not only is the packaging of this scent adorable and purse-friendly, but the scent is said to be amazing and complex. We’re playing with Bergamot again, but this time with citrus (grapefruit) and… black pepper. Yes, black pepper. I can only imagine - doesn’t it sound dreamy?
This scent is definitely for Jennifer. Why? Because it is so strange and sounds so beautiful that it can only fit someone of the same qualities. Get this: green fig and lime. Fig is so sweet, but so deep and lime is so bright that I can only imagine the heady freshness that this perfume brings.
