I’m a (probably too often for my own good) frequent shopper at the Drugstore.com/Beauty.com partner shops, so I get pretty frequent emails with new gift with purchase and/or coupon code promotions. Usually, it involves products or lines that I’m not particularly interested in or that require large minimum purchases, but today’s promotion is both too good to pass up and too awesome for me not too share with other skincare-loving shoppers who find it hard to pass up a freebie, like yours truly…

Basically, until July 8th (or until supplies are depleted, which will probably happen sooner rather than later if past experiences means anything), ANY purchase at Beauty.com will qualify you for a free “deluxe sample” (.13 fluid ounces) of Perricone MD’s Cold Plasma Eye Cream. Since that stuff is usually insanely expensive ($150 a pop for 1 fluid ounce, yikes), this is sort of an incredible opportunity for anyone who is even remotely interested in trying out this particular eye treatment. I just scored my own sample with a mini-order placed today (the Korres Vanilla Plum Littles collection HAD been calling my name, anyhow), and it showed up automatically in my basket, but if that doesn’t happen for you, try inputting the code 6A816E1A when you check out. Happy sampling!

Tags: Beauty.com, Freebies/GWPs, Perricone MD, Skincare

I’m normally NOT a jewelry person at ALL – quite frankly, I’m just too forgetful to consistently wear what rings and necklaces I already have! I don’t have any piercings – not even on my ears – for the same reason; it’d be pointless to pay for having it done, only to watch them close up and heal because I never bothered to wear earrings. But sometimes, even I find myself getting devoured by want when it comes to particularly cool or unique pieces. What can I say? I guess I am a very stereotypical girl deep inside!

I do tend to favor a couple of certain looks when it comes to jewelry, and Etsy store My Little Eye seems like it was established to cater specifically to my tastes, so is it any wonder that I have a bunch of stuff from there on my Etsy Favorites list? I mean, she’s got the super-delicate silver look that I like (I’m usually not much of a gold person) – as seen in this particularly gorgeous Handformed Sterling Silver Cherry Blossom Necklace with Garnets – and at a $55 price point, it’s actually not too much, even for a casual at best necklace wearer like yours truly!

I also tend to be attracted by raw, rough-hewn, almost science-y types of pieces: a Sterling Silver & Tektite Ring (Tektite is millions-year-old glass that was created by a meteor impact) here, or a Fossilized Mosasaur Tooth Necklace here. With selections like these, it’s almost just as much about the sheer nerdiness of the find as it is about the look!

The last thing that always suckers me in is probably very common: nostalgia. I like this Fool’s Gold & Antique Brass necklace mostly because it reminds me of my father, who had a thing for gemstones, geodes, and other rocks. I have memories of him stopping the car because he saw a striking-looking rock, only to crack it open and find raw opal inside, or polishing pieces of amethyst into interesting shapes to sell in the tiny lobby of the motel that he managed. This particular piece, though, reminds me of when we’d go to this rock shop – it was sort of in the middle of nowhere, if I recall correctly, and he’d always let me pick out one raw gemstone to take home and either keep as-is or put into my tumbler. The first time I was there, I chose a big chunk of pyrite – more commonly known as fool’s gold, and the centerpiece of the aforementioned necklace.

It’s always nice when anything can bring up such vivid memories of my now-deceased father, and that’s why, in this particular instance, I’ve gone beyond just ogling a piece and actually purchased it. Don’t worry, though – I didn’t take the last one, so if any of these items have struck your fancy, you can still find them, as of this writing, at elseetee2′s Etsy shop.

Tags: Etsy, Necklaces, Rings

There is absolutely no excuse that I can come up with to justify how badly I want these Swarovski Crystal Pencils from Spoon Sisters. I mean, I don’t draw, write letters… to be perfectly honest, really, the only writing I do is like… grocery lists. I even sort of have an excuse – I taught myself to write somewhat when I was little, and that resulted in me getting into the habit of holding pens/pencils in a very strange way… I still do it, it’s a lifetime habit. But anyhow, it makes my hands hurt after just a few minutes of writing. With that in mind, there’s even LESS reason for me to buy these…

..But I think they’re so cute! Totally black, the dark stain permeates the entire pencil, so even the ends stay black when you sharpen them… the only burst of color comes from the Swarovski crystals in place of the erasers. I just keep thinking about how cool and stylish they’d look in a pencil holder on my desk… at $17.95 for the set of 5, they’re just at the price point where I can seriously entertain the idea of indulging myself with these pointless (for me) pencils, but still yell at myself for even considering spending that much, on, well… pencils! Though, Lucky Magazine does have a small discount code at the moment – luckybreaks4 will give you 25% off anything from that site.

Oh, what am I going to do?

Tags: Discount Codes, Spoon Sisters, Stuff I Really Don't Need

I am an absolute sweets junkie, my poison of choice being gourmet hot cocoas and coffees in exotic flavors, loaded with marshmallows, whipped cream, and maybe even a little bit of vanilla sugar or sprinkles if I happen to have them laying around. Unfortunately, most of the hot chocolate mixes that you can get at the store always taste watered-down and weak to me… so when I discovered the Teton Cocoa Company on Etsy, I was thrilled. They had rave reviews and some awesome holiday flavors – I ordered their sample packs ($6 each) of Eggnog and Pumpkin Spice, and got really, really excited.

The package containing my chocolatey goodness arrived a few days after my purchase – very quickly shipped, to my surprise. I immediately made myself a cup of each flavor in quick succession, because… I’ll be honest, multiple cups of cocoa/tea/coffee each day is totally normal for me. Anyhow, from the moment I started stirring the mix in, I knew it would be love. It got this silky, creamy, frothy look that made it clear that this was a richer cocoa than I was used to drinking… and looks did not deceive. Both flavors were incredible – I even used about half the amount that was recommended (in her store, she claims that each sample pack contains about three servings – but I got around 6-7 uses out of each package!) and it was still very flavorful!

The Eggnog flavor was my favorite of the two, not too sweet and not too heavy, but still very obviously eggnog-y, if that makes any sense. I know, I know, sucky description, but I haven’t made a successful career as a food critic for a reason. Bottom line, it was delicious, and my more sweet-toothed boyfriend (because somehow, that’s possible) would even add eggnog creamer. Personally, I didn’t think it needed anything more than marshmallows, and a few pounds of whipped cream. Seriously, if any of you have ever played Tales Of The World: Radiant Mythology and triggered the rather adorable Leon Magnus ♥’s Ice Cream skit, that’s about right when it comes to me and my love of whipped cream. I probably shouldn’t have admitted that…

Pumpkin Spice was equally good, and it would probably have been my favorite if I hadn’t sort of overdosed on various pumpkin-flavored stuff this Fall already… but it really is delicious: not too spicy, and there’s a smooth, sweet pumpkin backdrop behind the autumnal spices. A lot of “pumpkin” artificial flavoring I’ve had in other drinks or creamers always tasted vaguely burnt to me, but I didn’t sense that at all in this drink! So that made it a winner for me, since real pumpkin is one of my all-time favorite flavors, right up there with my unnatural obsession with anything melon-flavored!

I’m almost out of the two sample packs a week later, and while I was tempted to order the full size refills (you can buy up to a full pound of the mix!), I decided to try some of their other flavors instead… so now I have some White Chocolate and Caramel sample packs headed my way. I’ll be sure to review those as well, but so far, I feel like I can give Teton Cocoa Company a big thumbs up!

Tags: Etsy, Hot Cocoa