Online Shopping: Yay or nay?

I never thought I’d see the day where I’d transition from an in-store shopper to an online shopping enthusiast.

After all, I love the customer-sales clerk interaction, especially at smaller boutiques and specialty stores. Why wouldn’t you? It’s all about you and chances are you’re working with someone who manages or owns the store, who you may already have a relationship with. But. Since I discovered hautelook.com, my life has changed.

Seriously.

All I do is shop online. So, definitely a ‘yay’ for me.  Not that I don’t want to shop in stores anymore, it’s just that I tend to blow all of my hard earned money online before I can set foot in a mall.

Hautelook has the best designer deals for anything and everything you can imagine: women’s clothing, men’s clothing, kids’ clothing, shoes, furniture, jewelry, sun glasses, hats, home decor, makeup and hair products (I’ve even seen guitars for sale). Basically a one stop shop to look ahmazing and accumulate generally cool stuff, too.

Here’s the low down:

• You have to sign up aka give out your email to use this website, which I’m always skeptical of doing, but hey, it’s a Nordstrom Company so I think you’re good
• You can invite your friends by email, and after their first purchase, Hautelook gives you $10 credit.. cha-ching!
• “Events”, or discounted designer brands, only last  few days–so get crackin’
• You can keep items in your shopping cart for 15 mintues (it has a countdown) until you have to refresh your pick because items are in high demand!
• They send you emails about new events, which is always a nice pick-me-up during the work day

Let me know if you sign up or if you already have a Hautelook account… tell me how much you love it!

*Tip: don’t allow yourself to feel pressure of the short term events–there are always new ones popping up with bigger and better stuff.

Now don’t go spending all of that money in one place!… oh wait.

Feathers: DIY vs. professional

Is it worth getting feather hair extensions professionally placed over doing it yourself?

In my opinion… no way!

Although salons place the feathers for you and take walk-in appointments, it’s just not worth the money to me.  Depending on where you go, and the individual who places the feathers in your hair, you never know how long the extension will stay put.  It could potentially fall out within a week or two which is not reliable enough for the money.  Most credible salons around the Iowa City area charge around $40 for a three-pack of skinny feathers.  This is why doing it yourself is less risky and more worth it.

                                                                          Photo courtesy of Etsy, Inc.

How to DIY:

First, you will need to purchase feathers.  To shop online for feathers you should visit Artwear Miami.  Here you can find both feather extensions and clips.  Feather clips are great if you don’t want to commit to clamping in a bundle of feathers that may last for a month or two.  So, after you purchase your feathers you will need a hair clamp to keep them secured to your hair.  (Clamps come with feather purchases from Artwear Miami.)  The round, aluminum clamp resembles a bead and is lined with silicone to help it stick in your hair. You’ll want to weave your hair and feathers through the bead and fasten everything together using pliers.  The pliers will squish the bead/clamp flat.  This keeps the hair and feathers tight, and this step alone determines how long they will stay put. (i.e. the tighter you fasten the bead the longer everything will stay secure.)

Where to place your feathers:

When placing your feathers you should consider two things: look and comfort.  In order to come up with the perfect placement you need to have a balance between the two.  If you want it on the outside of your hair, I suggest using a clip that you can take in and out daily.  Otherwise, if you use the semi-permanent clamp extension, I advise you to put it underneath your hair, just behind the ear.  This way you can see the extension when your hair is down or up in a pony tail, and your head won’t ache from the metal bead resting between your head and your pillow.

Here is a great tutorial on youtube that walks you through the steps on how to master the art of putting feather hair extensions in yourself!

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