Lancome Hypnose 5 Color Eyeshadow Palette

I love Lancome Hypnose 5 Color Eyeshadow Palette in Drama Demin. You can create a smoky eye in shades of blue!! There are 6 different color palettes if Drama Demin doesn't compliment your skin tone. I prefer wearing cool eyeshadow hues such as white, silver, gray, and certain shades of blue. I don't like pink or orange or yellow eyeshadow on me (hues I sometimes see), but I like shades of pink on my lips and cheeks, which doesn't make wearing them as eyeshadow wrong for other women.

Lancome is always a pricey brand. The new palette is $60, with Macy's often offering it at $51. Beauty experts tell us to splurge on eyeshadow, as opposed to eye and lip pencils, bronzers, or mascara. The Lancome Hypnose palette is highly pigmented and long-lasting, the reason to splurge on eyeshadow. It will also take time to deplete the palette even if used daily, so once you bite the bullet you'll have it for a long time.

Colorpop in Blue Velvet

But if you'd rather not spend for Lancome I'll give you cheaper, yet still quality options from competitors to give you a similar makeup effect on a budget.

Bare Minerals in Stonewashed

 What is not linked on the blog, simply google the name of the makeup to find a retailer. I own and love Maybelline's The Rock Nudes palette, which is designer quality for less.

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Beauty of Joseon Revive Eye Serum

What's a good treatment for crow's feet and fine lines around the eyes? The Korean beauty market has the answer with real science behind it, and it's not ultra-expensive.

 Beauty of Revive Joseon Eye Serum is created to treat wrinkles in the sensitive area around the eyes. It combines 10% ginseng root extract and retinal (like retinol, a vitamin A derivative) for its efficiency. Multiple studies show ginseng improves wrinkles because it contains a high level of saponins (ginsenosides -- plant compounds with a long history of use in traditional medicine). Retinal works 11 times faster than retinol. Although retinal has a higher exfoliation rate than retinol, Revive Eye Serum is formulated to work without irritation. The serum contains 2% stable retinal in the form of liposomes (a minute spherical sac of phospholipid molecules enclosing a water droplet).

Here's the science explained --

retinol -> retinal -> retinoic acid

 

Retinal converts into retinoic acid in one step while retinol takes 2 steps, but usually retinal is too harsh to use. However this eye cream uses retinal liposome that is stabilized by breaking the retinal into smaller parts and enclosing it in liposomes, as well as, adding more lipids (fatty acid molecules) and oils to it. It's also blended with beneficial glycerin, niacinamide (B3), and cholesterol to make the formula even more effective.

Unless you have sensitive under eye skin, a separate eye serum is a waste of money. But Revive Eye Serum is formulated to be gentle to use under your eyes and you could use it on your face. The serum is less than (not the same as cheap) many other face and eye serums for the strength and blend you're getting. Costs $11.50 - $15 for 1.01 ounce depending on the seller. 

This is a stellar formula at a reasonable price to fight the crows' feet forming around your eyes!👀

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The Tiered Ruffle Dress

Kathy Glitter Stripe Tiered Ruffle Cocktail Dress The Population Dress

I don't know why but thinking about spring and summer makes me want to wear tiered ruffle dresses. Perhaps I'm just so happy and gitty that our balmy sunny seasons are right around the corner, or maybe it's when outdoor temperatures rise, our coats can come off to show tiers of ruffles! So in anticipation of spring, I'm doing a Roundup of Adorable Tiered Ruffle Dresses. They come in an array of lengths and styles from everyday wear to office-appropriate to party-on dresses. Remove your coat, Sister and imagine how much fun twirling in them are!!

1) Tommy Hilfiger, 2) INC, 3) Endless Rose, 4) Betsy & Adam

1) Vince Camuto, 1) Betsy & Adam, 3) Rachel Parcill, 4) CeCe

1) MSK, 2) MSK 3) Taylor, 4) DKNY

1) Lulus, 2) MSK, 3) Lauren Ralph Lauren, 4) Chio's

1) City Studio, 2) Lauren Ralph Lauren, 3) City Studio

A few of the featured tired ruffle dresses are offered in several colors and sometimes a hue changes the mood of the dress from fun and flirty to night out on the town glamourous!

Farm Rio - Nordstrom - the length, not the color of my skirt.

I have a navy and white floral tiered ruffle mid-length silk skirt I brought on sale at Banana Republic years ago that I pair with a solid navy blue GAP t-shirt. It's easy on and I feel like a million bucks happily jetting around Manhattan wearing it! It's a playful mood-lifter!!

Which tiered ruffle dress strikes your fancy? Do you have the style in your closet?

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#Shorts: #21 Skills That Will Pay You Forever

Photo: Corporate Learning

Below is a list of life/business skills that has floated around social media for a while. The 21 skills are very wise, so up on THE SAVVY SHOPPER they go. UpSkillYourLife, a handle on both Twitter and Linkedin, circulated it and it was reshared and retweeted thousands of times, but where it originated is hard to tell with a simple Google search. Please claim it if it is yours.

21 Skills That Will Pay You Forever

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Equate Walmart's Private Store Brand For Savings

The cost of skincare -- from cleansers to moisturizers to treatments and sunscreens -- can really add up! You save a ton of money by finding store house brands, which are nearly identical to the national brands we love. So low priced they are worth taking a risk to try them out.

Equate, Walmart's private store brand, has mirrowed many beauty remedies selling for half the price or less of their name brand counterparts. CVS has it's own version of Neutrogena's Rapid Wrinkle Repair, but I couldn't find an Equate equivalent, so readers if it exists, please let me know as Equate tends to cost less than the house brands of CVS, Walgreens or Target. Yet CVS, Walgreens and Target house brands are welcome fallbacks, giving us more choices. House brands go on sale too.

Posted are several awesome knockoffs for much less moola:

Compare the above to Olay: Regenerist; Moisturizing Lotion for Sensitive Skin with SPF 15 (also available in SPF 30); and Night of Olay Firming Cream.

Compare to Neutrogena: Oil-Free Facial Moistururer; Rapid Wrinkle Repair Cream; and Rapid Wrinkle Repair Lotion. (Beauty 360 is CVS' house brand.)

Compare to L'Oreal Collagen Moisture Filler; ROC Retinol Correxion Deep Wrinkle Serum; and Neutrogena Triple Age Repair.    

Compare to L'Oreal Revitalift Anti-Wrinkle + Firming Eye Cream; Olay Total Effects 7 in 1 Anti-Aging Daily Moisturizer; and Olay Eye Lifting For Firming Skin Serum.

Compare to Cetaphil Moisture Cream; CeraVe Moisture Cream; and Aquaphor Healing Ointment.

The knockoffs are so numerous I've only posted some of the available skin creams and treatments, and I didn't list the cleansing creams or toners. Ok, I'll list one cleansing cream below:

Frequently there's little to no difference between the name and store house brands, yet the savings are great. Finding and using the latter is an easy way to beat inflation or live on a budget without compromise! Paying much less counts when using products daily! I've linked you up to Walmart and CVS -- where I've pulled all these dupes -- so you can start comparing prices. You're welcome!

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Armani Beauty Lip Power Long Lasting Satin Lipstick

Let me share a portion of a conversation between Angie Smith who is always in the know about the latest makeup products and me:

Ang: If you want to indulge in any makeup in the upcoming weeks, I'd recommend investing in an Armani Lip Power Lipstick. They are an innovative formula. They stay on forever, do not dry and the colors are beautiful. It's pricey but worth it.

Me: Oh cool, just want we want in lipstick, but how can we bring the $49 price down?

Angie: The Armani Beauty private sale is coming up on March 23rd. 

Me: Fantastic timing! How can the public get in on the private sale?

Angie: They can go on the website and just sign up for access. Just register on the Armani Beauty site.

Me: That's great!

Angie: Yup, super easy.

Me: Exactly what we like.

Ang: And it's a great time to pick up Luminous Silk Foundation. It's such a splurge but oh goodness, it's such a beautiful foundation.

THE SAVVY SHOPPER is grateful to have Angie's brain to pick on makeup she has used before recommending it to others! Perhaps Armani is not a beauty brand on your radar, and because of the cost, we want to avoid having to buy it through trial and error, as well as, wait for special events to trim its expense, so a big thank you to our well-informed makeup aficionado, Angie Smith!

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Fat-Free Hot Zesty Cheerios

I won't lie. The above bags of salty savory snacks are what I crave. I eat them 10% of the time. I want them 100% of the time. I'm addicted, and sometimes I need a hit. I want to eat them daily, nightly, and not in moderation! 

Sooooo I'm trying to find other healthier, fat-free, savory snacks to take the edge off ... and to eat the other 90% of the time when I don't let myself eat Cheetos or Doritos. Here's what I'm trying now ... you make the snack yourself, but it's mostly seasoning:

Fat-Free Hot and Zesty Cheerios

Ingredients:

1 egg white

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon dried cumin

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

3 cups Cheerios (multi-grain or oat)

Directions:

1) Whisk the egg white into peaks. Mix in the spices and next add and coat the cheerios with the egg white mixture.

2) Transfer the spiced cheerios onto a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil sprayed with cooking oil.

3) Bake in a preheated 350-degree F oven for 10 - 20 minutes. Check for doneness after 10 minutes.

Cool and eat.

Again I won't lie. Zesty Cheerios are not as addicting as Crunchy Cheetos or Nacho Doritos, but they are crunchy, zesty, and tasty. They'd also be delicious if made with butter. I like the hot spicy snack very much as a healthy alternative. 

Additionally in the recipe, you can substitute other unsweetened cereal such as Chex, or mini shredded wheat, plus add salted nuts or popcorn to make a party mix, as well as, experiment with the flavor by adding Worcestershire sauce or Parmesan or dried cheddar cheese (the one in a shaker you buy for popcorn). Creole seasoning or a dried Italian spice blend works too. Another idea is to mix the fat-free homemade snack with a bag of Cheetos and Doritos to at least cut your calories in half ... but that may be the addict talking.😁

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Why Get A Pneumonia Vaccine?

All photos: istock

Without a doubt, my family is a vaccine family. I got vaccinated as an infant ... before I could visit my Oma in Germany ... before I could start school ... and before I could visit Europe and Egypt as a university student. I'm grateful to have avoided common childhood diseases that killed previous generations. We do not remember the days when families often lost a child to measles or diphtheria.

I suspect everybody will eventually get Covid, but having been vaccinated and boosted lessens our fear of it as we now have immunities to fight the virus. My family will do everything in our power not to get Covid, and yet the virus seems to be here to stay.

My senior mother today was vaccinated against pneumonia (pneumococcal conjugate), and here's why this vaccination is a good idea, too, if you're over 65 years old or have any underlying conditions. With Covid-19 and the flu still around, this additional vaccine protects against lung-inflaming pneumonia. Seniors who get pneumonia often have a difficult time recovering from it. My mother's grandmother died of pneumonia after she fell and was bedridden.

As with other vaccines, the pneumonia vaccine can't prevent all cases, but it lessens both the chances of getting it and the severity of the disease if you do catch it.

Older adults will either be given 2 doses that give protection against different types of the infection or if you're lucky like my mom was today, you'll be given the newer single dose, the PCV20 vaccine, approved by the FDA in 2021. Studies are showing no boosters are needed for this newer vaccine. The newer PCV20 vaccine is based on the older PCV13 vaccine but lets you skip the 2nd PPSV23 dose that is needed one year after receiving the PCV13 dose. Depending on what's available in your area, expect to receive one or two shots. Be grateful for their development!

According to the CDC, the pneumonia vaccine is safe and not only effective in preventing seniors from getting pneumonia, but it [researchers followed patients given the PCV13 older shot] also protects them against other invasive pneumococcal diseases, such as meningitis (infection of the tissue covering the brain and spinal cord), bacteremia (infection of the blood), ear infections, and sinus infections. In CDC studies not only did vaccinated patients avoid pneumonia, but 75% of them also avoided meningitis and bacteremia, thus lowering their chances of being hospitalized.

Health insurance (including Medicare) covers pneumonia vaccines for seniors and people with medical conditions such as asthma. Pneumococcal diseases can be fatal, so if you are in the risk group, talk to your doctor about getting the vaccine.

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Jewelry Lovers Come Play With Us

I bought this pair from Italo last summer.

On today's THE SAVVY SHOPPER Angie Smith, who has made a few appearances on the blog is back! Both of us love jewelry and like the variety of styles, decent quality, and affordable price points of Italo Jewelry. All of the retailer's jewelry is 925 sterling silver and lab-grown white sapphires.

Here's our fantasy: We are playing the game of if Italo Jewelry offered us 6 free pairs of earrings which ones would each of us select. The following are our choices:

Debbie's picks:

In real life, all the earrings I possess are post earrings so I picked styles I don't already own which include loops and dangling earrings. I also think hearts would be fun to wear on Valentine's day and skulls on Halloween as I generally stick to the classic styles and don't have any themed styles of earrings. 

💎💍💎💍💎💌💎💎💍💎💍💎💌💎💍💎💍💎💌💎

Angie's picks:

Angie's picks are so smart with classic studs and pearls, a blingy pair for formal events, and she loves emerald-shaped stones. As it happens, I overlooked the gorgeous clover leaf drop earrings until Ang sent me her choices. Excellent tastes, Ang, my Glitter Twin never disappoints!!!

Here's an extra style Agie likes.

Know that this blog is written for fun and not sponsored. Last year I bought the pair of lab-grown white sapphire studs at the top of the blog. They are 4 carats in size and truly sparkle. I have such fun wearing them. Often people mistake them for diamonds, which would cost a fortune in comparison -- a 5-figure sum so over-the-top and perhaps for an average joe/jill not worth the expense. The alternative of lab-grown white sapphires and sterling silver allows us to buy the effect without breaking the bank. One caution though: If ordering from online jewelers including Italo jewelry, try to get your order right so you don't have the hassles or cost of returns. You get free shipping only, not free returns for your mistakes.

Angie, thanks for playing this fantasy game with me today! Fun, fun, fun!!!♥️

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