A Good Bargain Never Gets Old

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Update your daily outlook alerts—there’s a fabulous new sample sale website on the block, and sales start at 9 a.m. PST Sharp!  

TheSampleSale.com launched last week and features the latest styles in the categories of men, women, accessories, and beauty from big-name designers, including YSL, Diesel, and Alexander McQueen. With goods priced up to 85% off retail, the TheSampleSale.com boasts that it offers “the unattainable made affordable.” Best of all, unlike with some of the other sample sites out there, your purchases are guaranteed to be shipped within 72 hours and everything can be returned for store credit without a restocking fee. Isn’t online shopping great?

The fledgling site wants to attract all you stylish darlings while it’s still in the beta phase and is offering a $10 credit just for signing up before January 31st!

What are you waiting for? Go to http://www.thesamplesale.com/and sign up now!

Survey: Share Your Fabulous Thoughts on Fashion, Beauty & MTV's Jersey Shore

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NOTE: Scroll your mouse over the question to expand it--otherwise you only see the first two lines.

Quizzes by Quibblo.com

A Polish for All Seasons

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Last winter dark and dangerous nails had us tapping into our inner goth. By summer we had lightened up to a trendy shade of grey, and this fall we fell head over heels for minty hues, like Chanel’s Jade. Now, one complete orbit around the sun later, we are revisiting neutrals with taupe—the most universally flattering and complex shade yet. With its mix of gray and brown pigments and subtle violet undertones, taupe is neutral enough to be demure yet dark enough to be trendy, creating an overall look of pure sophistication.

My favorite taupe polishes are . . .

OPI in Over the Taupe ($5.25): I found OPI's polish to be just as creamy, densely pigmented, and long-wearing as Chanel's--but at a fraction of the price. 


Chanel Le Vernis in Particulière ($23): The hint of violet is what differentiates Chanel's 2010 runway polish from its slightly more brown-based OPI counterpart. I recommend purchasing this polish directly through the Chanel website or in-store since it is sold out or backordered everywhere else.

She's Come Unzipped: I Will Never Be the Girl in a Boring Black Suit

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I have often imagined my adult self as a successful businesswoman, confidently leading a meeting in a don’t-mess-with-me Armani sheath dress, entertaining clients in an architectural Donna Karan frock and pair of Prada boots that scream, “I’m competent and sexy”, or flying into a hostile boardroom, classic Burberry trench still knotted, understated Louis Vuitton Epi briefcase by my side—irrefutable evidence of my business prowess—to deliver a diatribe not soon to be forgotten.

While my corporate daydreams include impeccably planned ensembles, from the demure diamond-encrusted pearls dangling from my ears to the red-soled stilettos encasing my feet, conspicuously missing is why I’m wearing them. What is my job, and why am I mulling over papers in a corner office, wearing a St. John boucle suit? I’ve been so enamored by the wardrobe the successful me sports that I never bothered to envision the career that could afford it, leaving the nature of my work to the unexplored assumption that I do “something fabulous.” If men define themselves by their career, and I define my career by my clothes, where does that leave me?

At twenty five years old, the hunt for a well-heeled position has resulted in little more than a disappointing corporate stint and a closet full of tragically hopeful suits, still waiting for that “something fabulous” and a chance to dazzle. My limited exposure to real-world office culture baffles me: ill-fitting trousers, boxy blouses, and itchy wool turtlenecks seemingly designed to unflatter. My stunning raspberry, linen Valentino summer suit (that was supposed be worth its cost in job offers) is shockingly unappreciated by potential employers. Undoubtedly, working in this pinstriped environment of navy, black, and gray would leave me as dreary as the clothes.

If my post-grad corporate forays have taught me anything, it’s that perhaps I’m better suited for the life of a journalist—allowed to write from home in designer denim with my dog as the head of HR, responsible for maintaining team morale. The show-stopping ensembles I have accumulated seem more appropriate for lunch meetings with editors and cocktail interviews with fascinating people than for the office. Regardless of what field I end up in, one thing is certain: I will never be the girl in the boring black suit, with a severe ponytail and practical pumps.

OBSESSED! A W-Eyes Investment

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My boyfriend arrived home late from work one evening to find me basking in the glow of a computer monitor, credit card still in hand as I proudly announced, “I made an investment in our future.” Doing a poor job of masking his anxiety, he apprehensively inquired what the investment was. His look of panic (and visions of a newly purchased Caribbean time share or cryogenic freezing chamber) dissolved once I informed him that I had purchased an age-defying eye cream by Dermajuv.

Dermajuv’s velvety Eye Revolution Gel is packed with high-tech ingredients (including stem cells!) proven to visibly lighten dark circles, decrease puffiness, and eradicate wrinkles around the entire eye area to restore youthful skin.

Despite my limited scientific knowledge, I have gathered the following about Dermajuv’s four highly potent ingredients . . .

Matrixyl: a powerful peptide molecule that works at the DNA level to stimulate collagen production.

Haloxyl: a two-part treatment that has an anti inflammatory quality to decrease puffiness and an iron binding ability that causes discoloration to dissolve away.

Eyeliss: a solution made of three active molecules that in combination dramatically reduce under eye puffiness and bags.

Plant Stem Cells: young, unprogrammed cells that take on the qualities of whatever cells they are applied to. When applied to under eye skin they reinforce the body’s natural healing process by speeding up cell turnover rate (which slows down with age and sun exposure) to improve elasticity, discoloration, sagging, inflammation, and of course wrinkles. Skin is restored to teenage-like health.

Scientific mumbo jumbo aside, I can definitively say that I have seen results! In late spring I noticed fine lines beginning to form below my lash line. I attributed them to stress, but when my schedule became less hectic and sleep more regular the lines did not disspear. I decided to take action. I purchased Dermajuv Eye Revolution Gel and applied it in the morning before my makeup and at night before bed. By the end of the summer the fine lines were history!

As I explained to my boyfriend, Eye Revolution Gel will have my eyes looking barely legal for years to come and—because The Real Housewives of the OC say that the top reasons relationships dissolve are money, adultery, and sagging skin—it will keep our relationship fresh as well.

HINT: Save money by purchasing two jars at once on the Dermajuv website. $99.99 for one jar is pricey, but when you buy two jars the entire cost only $129.98. That takes the per bottle price down to $64.99!

She's Come Unzipped: The Net of Decadent Indulgences

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One of my resolutions for 2010 is to spend less money, which for me means that I am resolving to give up excessive shopping habits (and maybe even build an actual savings account by 2011…but let’s not get too ambitious). The days of haute poverty, as defined by Carrie Bradshaw’s realization that she had $40,000 worth of Manolo Blahniks instead of money for a down payment on her apartment, have been replaced with a financial consciousness (and a double digit unemployment rate). Not wanting to follow in Ms. Bradshaw’s domicile challenged high-heeled-footsteps, I am attempting to curb my spending habits.

There are essential expenses—food, medical, auto, Aveda highlights, Marie Jo bras etc.—that cannot be cut, and consistent seasonal expenses—water-proof mascara in June, tall leather boots in October, NYE party dress in December—that pop up perennially, like Chrysanthemums. These expenses are predictable and can be budgeted for. The cause of my perpetual brokenness is the internet.

The convenience and discretion enabled by online shopping has exacerbated my spending problem. Now, not only can I hide my dirty addiction beneath the shadowy glow of a laptop screen, but I can do so at my leisure. Malls are for athletic people. I want to shop in bed wearing my Bluefly, off-price designer PJ’s, and eating my Delivery.com takeout, before being lulled to sleep by a non-prescribed Canadian Xanax. Online shopping makes this opulent lifestyle possible.

The internet provides immediate access to hard-to-find goods and passing fancies. Things I would never take the time to search out in the “real” world are merely a Google search away; my favorite Chanel lipstick color that was discontinued a year ago? It’s available at an obscure cosmetic retailer in Japan. It would be remiss not to seize the opportunity by purchasing five tubes. Kate Spade Paper for holiday “thank you” notes? It’s now 25% off when you use the online coupon from RetailMeNot. Undoubtedly, a necessary splurge—after all, how grateful can you really be if you’re sending the note on ordinary stationary?

The omnipresent online designer discounters that occupy the web are no help. A year ago it was Rue La La and Guilt, I mean Gilte Group that had me running to my computer at 11am and 12pm, respectively. Today, Haute Look, Ideeli and The Fairest dominate my entire morning. It’s virtually impossible to get anything accomplished before noon. No matter how ridiculously outside your price range that Lela Rose dress is, when an online sample sale takes the price from the quadruple to triple digits, it becomes an irresistible steal. Add the $25 referral credit you received when your friend made a purchase and the dress is practically free!

Priority packages pile up outside my door, but I’m unconcerned. I can hire a courier off of Craigslist to bring them from my porch to my room, where I lay in my Overstock Egyptian Cotton 1500-thread count sheet clad bed. After more consideration, I’m finding this resolution a bit too overwhelming. Perhaps I’ll just resolve to make more money this year, as to better accommodate my shopping habits. I hear you can make millions by taking surveys and viewing ads online!

The Grand Unveiling

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Welcome to the New Year and the new Style Unzipped! I’m brimming with pride over Style Unzipped’s gorgeous custom blog design by Sherbet Blossom.


This beguiling new aesthetic has dazzled and motivated me (as shiny things tend to do) to take Style Unzipped from designer to haute couture status.

In addition to my usual fashion musings, beauty rants & raves, and interviews with burgeoning designer darlings, I am adding two new weekly features . . .

Tuesday: I will post Obsessed!, a series discussing a product, garment, or piece of pop culture that I am a) head over heels in love with, b) absolutely, positively cannot live without or c) all of the above.

Friday: I will post an addition to the She’s Come Unzipped series, where I will explore whatever candid, embarrassing, or rousing realizations I have reached that week. Based on the past, these first-person pieces are generally drenched in animated fashion lingo, intimate—and sometimes obnoxious—shopping references, and oodles of sarcasm.

As today is Friday, please check out the first She's Come Unzipped entry posted above, entitled The Net of Decadent Indulgences.