I kind of want to start having a little more fun on here and I think an “outfit of the day” post will be a fabulous way to add some fun to this blog. So without further ado…
Pictured here is a Flash Flow Y bra, a Zing Pink 105 Singlet and Wunder Under Crops in Heathered Ultraviolet.
I love my 105 Singlets, I even wrote about them here.
Also pictured are my Vibram Five Fingers shoes, I wrote about those too, here.
What do you think about my outfit? Pretty bright, huh? Thanks for visiting!
I want to do some new things on my blog- and I thought it could be fun to cover uploads more often than… rarely.
The Runsie got uploaded in black, and flowabunga black angel wing/ black. It’s made of Swift Ultra Light, has a secret pocket and the straps are adjustable.
Here’s another fun photo. Here we see it in plain black as well. I think I might try this, it looks so comfortable.
Here’s the front:
The Stuff Your Bra Tank II is out in bleached coral/flowabunga mini multi, steep stripe cadet blue horizontal/cadet blue, opal and of course, plain black.
Here are a couple of fun photos:
Those flats are cute- they kind of look like Tieks minus the blue base. I’m definitely going to try this tank on. It look super cute on her.
Here’s the Stuff Your Bra Tank in bleached coral/flowabunga mini multi, pictured with the Up Your Pace crops
This tank is looking great on everybody! Can’t wait to try it!
What are y’all gonna try/ buy?
I thought it was time for another instalment of “Things I’m Loving Right Now!” I haven’t done one in a while, and I felt that it was necessary to share these. I am absolutely in Lulu Love with these Inspire Crops.
They’re so gorgeous! However, I recently purchased the Not So Petit Fleur Inspire Crops, which are also made of the Full-On Luxtreme material and I found them to be too stiff. They didn’t hug my curves the way my other Luxtreme Inspire crops do. They fell down a little, and I felt like they might need to be broken in or something. Not like how my other Luxtreme crops fit perfectly the first time I tried them on. I also felt the need to size up, which was fine, it’s just that the Full-On Luxtreme material is not as stretchy as the original Luxtreme. I’m glad I bought these on mark down because I just don’t see me getting a whole lot of use out of them. They’re a very pretty pattern, in my opinion. Even though some people thought that they looked like granite counter top material, I still liked this pattern. They were marked down to $59, so I picked them up. Here they are:
Aren’t they pretty? Too bad they don’t fit as well as other Inspire crops I own. Oh well… Anyways, I was wondering if anyone else felt this way about the Full-On Luxtreme? Do you size up? Do you find it stiffer? Do they fall down on you at all? Are they perfect and you have no idea what I’m talking about? Either way: I would love to hear your opinion!
Thanks for reading!
I first encountered the idea of barefoot running in a TED talk by Christopher McDougall, which can be found here, on YouTube. He even wrote a book on the subject called “Born to Run.” That was not what convinced me, however, to purchase my first pair of Vibrams a few months later. It was not until then that I read Tim Ferris’ newly published book, “The Four Hour Body,” here on Amazon. For a little context, I have always been a huge Tim Ferris fan. His first book “The 4-Hour Workweek,” was very insightful and had a lot of creative business advice that was not only original but inspiring. The idea that any one of us could rise up and become… well, whatever we wanted, was a hit with most of us in the business community. Not only has this book sold over a million copies, nearly everyone I knew at the time I was in college had read it. So, when he released his next book, I was among the first to purchase it. I read it, and to be honest, a lot of the advice, for me, was difficult to follow. However, I thought, I can at least buy these shoes. It was one of the only things I did from the book that I still do. I tried the diet, and it wasn’t my cup of tea, but at least I bought the shoes. I was wearing them casually for the first little while, and slowly, over time, I found that they were more comfortable than my traditional sneakers. In sneakers, my toes felt squished in their little toe boxes, but with Vibrams I could wiggle my toes.
I have been wearing Vibrams for 3 years or so, almost every day. I’ve never had issues with my feet or legs before, nor do I now. However, the recent controversy has caused me to consider my reasons for wearing Vibrams. Why do I wear these silly-looking shoes? There are plenty of other brands that manufacture “barefoot” style shoes that have a minimal sole, with a full toe box and appear to be “normal” on the outside. Wearing these, only I would know that my feet are reaping the purported benefits of ‘minimalist running.’ Zappos.com has an entire section dedicated to minimalist running shoes. I could wear a less ostentatious version of my favorite shoe. I guess my first excuse would be that these silly little things are silly, like me. Then I remember how pragmatic and serious I am and I have to crumple that idea up and trash it. I think the reason I love the look of Vibrams is that they certainly are unique (which, I consider myself to be) and I do enjoy that the toes fit like a foot glove. I just like the way it feels. A secondary reason I like the look of these shoes is that they are a conversation starter. If I see someone else who has them, it’s like we’re on the same team and we can give each other one of those “knowing” glances. Then, there are the people who stop me and ask questions about them. I enjoy sharing my opinions on the things that I love. I even started this blog to talk about things I love.
The reasons why I wear Vibrams extend beyond the fact that they were recommended by Tim Ferris, who I respect, and that they’re a wacky-looking conversation starter. I also wear them because I find them comfortable. That’s the number one question I get, by the way. People often approach me, squish up their faces a little, point at my shoes and ask “Are those comfortable?” I cheerfully let them know that they are and answer any other questions they might have as I wait in line at Starbucks.
I like my shoes, and I don’t feel that they have harmed my health in any way. I will also say that I don’t believe that they’ve helped my health in any way, either. I am not overly disappointed by that, although that was the original reason why I purchased the shoes (Tim, having recommended them because of their purported health benefits), I am just glad to have found shoes that I find comfortable and I will continue to enjoy them.
I will leave you with two articles that I found especially useful in my decision about continuing to wear Vibram or any minimalist shoes. The first one is from the Huffington Post called “Why We Fell For ‘Barefoot’ Shoes“. This article, including rightfully comparing the Sketchers “Shape Up” debacle to the current Vibram Barefoot Running one, talks about personal responsibility- specifically knowing how run in Vibrams in order to avoid injury. The second article was written by physician Matt McCarthy and is called “The Scientific Case Against Vibram’s FiveFinger Running Shoe.” This one discusses specific studies on barefoot running. Some of the studies support the claims made by Vibram and other studies negate them. However, the length and number of participants in all of these studies are somewhat limiting factors, regardless of outcome.
Thanks for reading! I hope this was helpful! Have you worn or tried Vibrams? Love ’em or hate ’em? Let me know in the comments below!
HeyLululemon.com had a vote on which styles they should bring back to life and I’m happy to report that BOTH the Savasana Wrap and the Stride Jacket will be making a comeback in 2014. What I particularly enjoyed about this contest is that it proves that Lululemon is listening and it was fun that they basically let us choose what we wanted. I REALLY wanted the Define jacket to come back, but, alas, it was not meant to be. The Define Jacket had made it to the final five, along with the Audrey Jacket, Wandering Yogi Crops and our two champions, but it only received 10% of the vote. The final tally can be viewed here. I hope that Lululemon brings back the other designs anyways, because I really want an Audrey Jacket too! I am writing this post because I recently heard that the Savasana Wrap will be back in stores by July. I LOVED the Savasana Wrap, but I was only ever able to get one online on eBay because I missed them when they were in stores. Here’s a preview:
Another little tidbit of awesomeness is that they’ll be incorporating yoga quotes into the Savasana Wraps somehow, which Lululemon also had a vote on. By the end of the voting, the quote “Breathe Deeply – Practice Kindness” received the most votes.
I’m really looking forward to the NEW Savasana wrap. I also recently wrote a new post “All About the Savasana Wrap!” Which one are you more excited about? The Savasana Wrap or the Stride Jacket?
UPDATE: HeyLululemon.com has been retired by Lululemon as of May 16, 2016
Because of the fact that HeyLululemon.com was being retired, I took photos of the relevant posts and will post them here to give this post the context it needs in order to replace the links that no longer work due to the closure of HeyLululemon.com
Hello! It has been a few months since I updated my New Year’s resolution regarding skin care, so I thought it was time for a new post. In my last post, I talked about how my skin had gone from dry to oily and how crazy the change had been for me, so I had started looking for solutions. I have found quite a few solutions since then and I feel like I know exponentially more about skin and skin care than I used to and I’m so much more confident about where I spend my skin care dollars. I’m here to let you know what I’ve learned in the past 4 months. Going from knowing literally nothing about skin care, to knowing as much as I feel I know now.
I also want to say again that (obviously) I’m not an expert and that I think everybody’s skin is different and what works for me may not work for you and vice versa. And, as in my last post, I’ll just stop and remind you here about my post about Glam Glow, and also my first post where I initially talked about developing a regular skin care routine.
Moving along…
Last time I updated, I talked about what I did and which products I used; I think that format worked well, so I’m fixin’ to use it again!
Morning:
Cleanse: I use Liz Earle’s cleanser and natural muslin cloth, that I got absolutely addicted to after I sampled it through BirchBox. (BirchBox is a monthly subscription makeup sample service.) It is really pretty, and comes in a sort of Tiffany blue tube, and the muslin cloth is slightly exfoliating. I absolutely love the Eucalyptus smell of it, it reminds me of the spa. It also feels quite luxurious on the face. I really recommend it, and you can get a huge tube of it (the small sample size lasted me 30 uses or so) plus 2 large muslin cloths (the sample came with a small one) for $24.50.
I don’t exfoliate in the morning, as I consider the exfoliation I get from the muslin cloth to be sufficient, so I tone next. I usually use a mild toner, like The Body Shop’s Tea Tree Skin Clearing Toner, as that seems to be working well for me.
Next I apply a serum, usually The Body Shop’s Pomergranite Firming Serum, because it seems mild to me, no heavy acids (AHAs, for example). I’m probably going to try to find a different “mild” serum, because I don’t love this one, but it’s good, and I would recommend it.
Finally, I apply a layer of sunscreen. If I’m wearing makeup that day, I still apply sunscreen, it’s the one thing I won’t leave home without, and I keep some in my purse- always. One cannot overstate the importance of photo-aging prevention. As for which sunscreen, I’m currently testing out a few but I like The Body Shop’s Aloe Soothing Sunscreen, and Philosophy’s Take A Deep Breath SPF 30.
Night:
My nighttime routine is a little different from my daytime routine. I start with a basic cleanser, I have quite a number of them that I’m experimenting with right now, but I usually reach for either The Body Shop’s Seaweed Deep Cleansing Facial Wash or Purity by Philosophy and apply that to my Clarisonic.
I do a more intense exfoliating treatment in the evening, and after using my Clarisonic, I use a basic exfoliating gel or cream. I have been using The Body Shop’s Tee Tree Blackhead Exfoliating Wash and Skin Clearing Lotion, but I am no longer enjoying it as I find the particles are too big to concentrate on exfoliating properly. The two I’m enjoying most right now are Aveeno’s Active Naturals’ Positively Radiant Skin Brightening Daily Scrub and Philosophy’s The Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash. I prefer the Philosophy one because it has smaller particles that seem to last longer, so I have more time to exfoliate, but they’re both good and I would definitely recommend the Aveeno one to someone looking for a good drugstore product. The only thing I don’t really like about the Aveeno one is that it has Sodium Laureth Sulfate in it, which is, in my view, more of a shampoo ingredient than a face wash ingredient.
Then, once I’m out of the shower (did I mention that I Clarisonic in the shower?), I usually throw a mask on. Sometimes I Glam Glow, but most days I’ve been using Origins’ Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask. I really like the Origins mask because you can use it every day if you want I don’t think I’ll repurchase the white jar of Glam Glow again, but I do want to try the black jar next time, as I’ve heard it would be better for my skin type. On days that I don’t use masks, I use Biore pore strips to clear my pores, although it does say on the box not to use them more than once every three days. I also want to mention that the reason I do this after I shower is because it is when my pores are most open from the steam and how water, so my mask or pore strip will be most effective at that time.
Once my mask dries (or my Biore strip “paper maches”), and I remove it, I rinse off and dry my face. After that, I’m ready for toner. The evening is when I use a more intense toner. So, I usually apply my Clean & Clear Deep Cleaning Astringent, but once I run out of that, I’m switching to a Paula’s Choice one to see if I like it better. I’m happy I finally found a toner with a higher percentage of salicylic acid. I’ll let you know if I like it once I try it.
I usually wait about ten minutes after applying my toner to apply my serum and night cream. I don’t think I have to wait, it’s just something I like to do. My night serum is either the DDF sample I got (which I still have) or the same one I use in the morning.
My night cream is also in a state of flux. I know Philosophy’s Take A Deep Breath is not a night cream, but it’s so luxurious that I can’t resist using it sometimes. I also have some samples from Clinique and Origins I’m working through. I really haven’t made any significant development towards an evening cream, but I’m learning about what I like and what I don’t like. I enjoy a thick cream, but I don’t like ones that are strongly scented.
If y’all have any recommendations for a night cream I should try, let me know in the comments below. I’ll definitely update this post once I try out a few more things and develop a more concrete routine. This is really starting to become a hobby for me, as I feel I’ve learned a lot about proper skin care, even if I’m not 100% of the way there, it’s a long way from sunscreen and basic bar soap.
Thanks for reading!
Hello everyone! I thought it would be fun for me to write an article, to help my loyal readers, and random Internet people who search for “how to find good deals on Lululemon.” In this article, I will cover all of my favorite methods for acquiring Lululemon for less than retail. Some of them require luck, others require time. All of them produce results.
I hope you find it useful!
eBay
There are a few ways to get cheap Lululemon clothes on eBay. While it is true that many of the items will sell for lower than retail, (as they are used, although, as I discuss in many other posts, there are exceptions), other items will sell for lower than average. For someone who is looking for a good deal, such as yourself, not only do you want to pay less than retail, you want to pay less than average. The average price an item sells for on eBay is what I call the market value of the item. However, once in a while, an item will sell for a great deal less than that price on eBay. It’s these outliers that I hope to help you obtain.
There are two ways to do this. One requires time. This method has you input your most general search term: whatever you are looking for, let’s say you’re looking for anything in a size 6, so you search eBay listings for “Lululemon 6.” After that, change the settings to “Ending Soonest,” and “Auction Only.” Then, you can browse the listings that are ending soonest for great deals. This can take a long time, I usually look through for the next 24 hours. I also recommend doing this on mid-week days, and other days when eBay is not going to be as busy, but those are very general terms on how to get good deals on eBay. I’ll try to stay Lululemon specific.
The second way requires a bit of luck! You can get good deals on Lululemon if you subscribe to mobile alerts from eBay that tell you when specific search terms you input come on the market. This is when you want to input your very specific search terms. Let’s say, for example, that your unicorn is a pair of Quiet Stripe Wunder Unders in a size 6. I would save & ask for eBay alerts for “Quiet Stripe Wunder Under 6.” Then, when someone lists some, you’ll be notified. The main way you can benefit from this is when someone posts a listing with a “Buy It Now” option. If you see it first, and you like the price, you can buy it then and get a great deal!
Groups
There are numerous groups dedicated to the buying, selling and trading of Lululemon items. Sometimes the best deals are located in long threads on pages like The Lululemon Market, other times the best deals are found in “Buy It Now” prices on the auction pages. Many of the auction pages also have $DOLLAR DOLLAR$ days, where all starting bids must be $1. Most decent items go for about market value, but once in a while an unpopular item in an unpopular size will go for much less.
Lulu Bones: subscribe to updates.
Other than trolling eBay and the groups for great deals, my favorite “low-priced” value page for Lululemon items is Lulu Bones. If you subscribe to updates from the page and have them sent to your mobile phone, you’re sure to spot the good deals as they arrive “in stock” on the page. People list their heavily used or slightly damaged Lululemon items here for CHEAP! The admins have set price limits, so no gouging occurs. You just have to decide whether the bleach stain or tiny hole is a problem for you.
Local Scores!
While this option is not necessarily available to everyone, I find that some of the very best deals I hear about are through local pages, thrift shops and, to a lesser extent, consignment stores. By local pages, I am referring primarily to Craigslist and Kijiji. Basically, local pages that foster transactions on an individual basis. I have a search saved on the Home Screen of my cell phone and I click it once in a while to see if there are any new items for sale. It makes it easier for me because I don’t have to go to the website and enter my search terms.
I think the term “thrift shop” is universally understood, but it’s important to know when to go in order to find the best deals. Obviously, if you have any way of knowing when they restock, that’s a good day to go, but if you’re unsure, I’d at least plan to go early in the morning, so that if they had restocked, at least you would be the first to get the deal.
The third place I’ve heard of people getting decent deals is in consignment shops. If you want to, you might be able to talk to the shop owner to see if any Lululemon items have come in recently. I find that consignment shop owners are often interested in helping me find specific items.
WMTM Upload TIME
Although it can be sporadic, especially around the holidays, I’ve found that We Made Too Much, Lululemon’s ‘sale’ section, gets uploaded very early on Thursday mornings.
Sales at your local shops.
The best days to go shopping at your local store, in my opinion are on the weekends. I’ve found that when I go in on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the markdown racks are full of great deals, and when I go during the week, sometimes there’s not even a markdown rack on the sales floor. I’ve definitely gone in on a Tuesday only to walk out with nothing because I was looking for a deal, but found nothing on sale.
The Outlets
Again, this is a method that is location dependant, but if you find occasion to frequent an Outlet, I’d highly recommend it. Even if you are a popular size, like a 6, you might still be able to find some heavily marked down socks, underwear, bags, accessories, etc… In case you’re interested, here is a list of the locations of Lululemon outlets:
Fort Worth University Park Village – Fort Worth, TX (817) 882-8075 Lululemon Outlet Fort Worth
Minneapolis Albertville Premium Outlets – Albertville, MN (763) 497-0240 Lululemon Outlet Albertville
New York City Woodbury Common Premium Outlets – Central Valley, NY (845) 928-5470 Lululemon Outlet Central Valley
Portland, ME The Kittery Outlets – Kittery, ME (207) 438-9347 Lululemon Outlet Kittery
San Antonio San Marcos Premium Outlets – San Marcos, TX (512) 353-0281 Lululemon Outlet San Marcos
San Jose Gilroy Premium Outlets – Gilroy, CA (408) 846-4281 Lululemon Outlet Gilroy
Seattle The Outlet Shoppes at Burlington – Burlington, WA (360) 707-2982 Lululemon Outlet Burlington
Toronto Vaughan Mills – Vaughan, ON (905) 669-2039 Lululemon Outlet Vaughan
Walt Disney World Orlando Premium Outlets – Vineland Ave – Orlando, FL (407) 238-1076
Warehouse Sales
Much like the outlet locations, your attendance at the Warehouse sales will also likely be location dependant. The only exception I can think of is when Lululemon hosted a “Canadian Warehouse Sale,” online in mid-January of this year (2014). I have known women who have travelled up to 5 hours by car to attend a warehouse sale. I’ve never known a Lululemon addict to say that it wasn’t worth it and many return with quite sizeable hauls.
They often host warehouse sales in many different locations across North America, but the best way to stay informed about when and where they’ll be happening is to follow Lululemon’s blog or follow Lulumum or Lululemon Addict, as they typically cover warehouse sale information in their blogs. You can also follow me for news about Lululemon, and because you enjoyed this post. Congratulations, you’ve made it to the end! Now go forth and get a deal! Thanks for reading!
UPDATE!
I recently found this fabulous group that shares deals with each other that they find on eBay! It’s called Lululemon Deal Alerts and I love the concept! I signed up or alerts for this group too!
UPDATE Jan 2017
I recently discovered a group called Lululand. I love it! They share in-store markdowns and angel products to you! (Angel: someone who will purchase and ship and item to you)
This question is periodically asked on the forums and there is a very important distinction between PayPal and EMT. I discuss PayPal at length in my post about Paying with PayPal: Goods or Gift?. For sellers, EMT is not risky. It’s like someone putting money in your account without having to send them anything first. There is zero recourse if you don’t send the item except that you might get removed from the group in which you arranged the sale. So, you should definitely save the post office receipt in order to prove to any group admins that the item was sent, should the post office lose it, or if it is stolen (etc.). I write about different Facebook groups to join in my post about How To Enter the Lululemon Market. As a seller it makes sense to use EMT as there are also no PayPal fees, and although it’s customary for buyers to add PayPal fees to their purchase, it still makes the item cheaper for the buyer if they don’t want to pay fees, but they could also pay as gift on PayPal and have the same level of protection (none). As a Buyer, EMT is very risky. Personally, I use EMT in two circumstances: 1: the item is very inexpensive ($20 or less) and the seller has requested that I pay with EMT. Otherwise, I might pay as gift on PayPal. 2: I trust the seller, who has been a long-standing member of the Lulu community and who I know would not risk her reputation for my money. I have EMT’d money a total of two times. I can imagine that by now, you can see where I’m going with this and that is that I overwhelmingly do not recommend EMT to buyers. It’s actually worse than paying as Gift on PayPal because there’s a chance that you can beg PayPal to refund you OR if you paid by credit card through PayPal you can ask your credit card to repay you. With EMT, it’s like paying in cash, then waiting for someone to go back home and get the item to you, while you wait.
I hope that this is informative to people, and I think that many of the scams that don’t involve counterfeit items have in some way been linked to EMT payments. So, I hope that this post helps people better understand their level of protection with EMT and to avoid scammers.
No, really. I did one. It was hokey and gimmicky and kind of tacky, but I did it anyway. And even though I’m fighting off a cold, I had a lot of fun. I ran it in a time of… oh, wait- I’m super not skilled & also: I’m pretty slow, so, don’t laugh when I say 50 minutes. I know that’s not a good time, but I don’t really care- I had a great time with my friends. Except the part where nobody (including the organizers) told me that there would be “off path” parts and I was wearing my Vibrams and they were new, and they got all muddy 🙁 If I would have known I would have worn my trail runners. I actually probably shouldn’t have gone due to my cold, but the race organizers had a “take no prisoners!” and “give no refunds!” attitude. And I’m not about to waste $50, so I went and tried my best and I’m sure you’ll be happy to know that my lungs are still securely in place in my chest. Well, I guess you figured out that I survived, since I’m writing this right now!
I definitely see more 5Ks in my future, it really wasn’t too hard, and 50 minutes gives me a lot to work towards. I hope to shave off at least 15 minutes in the future. I think 35 is a good time for someone who isn’t super competitive… or fit. At least, that’s what I, who knows almost nothing about running thinks. What do you think is a good time? What should I work towards?
I’ve written a main post about how to determine the value of your item & I’ve written another post on the same subject except regarding different fabrics. I would like to continue this train of thought, except regarding different colorways. It’s quite a phenomenon that some Lululemon items sell well on the aftermarket for retail or less in one color, but way over retail in another color. For example, most Gratitude Wraps are selling for between $130 and $200, but Stitch (color name) gratitude wraps are selling for an astounding $400! Here is one example of a competed listing:
So, there’s just one example of how an item can sell for a decent amount in one color, but for an astounding amount in another color.
So, lets explore other, similar examples. In a previous post I talked about a March We Are From Space Scuba hoodie that was absolutely gorgeous. Typically, I see it sell for somewhere around $150, but I’ve also seen it listed for as low as $120. However, MANY other Scuba hoodies sell for less than half that (depending on the condition), so once again, we see an example where an item, simply due to the colour, sells for a considerably higher price than retail. In general, Scubas sell for around $60, depending on condition of course, but for some reason I have noticed that people have difficulty selling them. My theory is that the shipping cost is so high (especially in Canada) that it would be almost unreasonable to sell them for less than $70- including shipping (meaning you get only about half of retail value ($50) for yourself), but most people (including myself) don’t like to pay much for used Scubas (unless they’re rare or amazing), so they remain unsold, as people would rather keep an item in their closet than absorb a significant loss. The reason I don’t like to pay much for Scubas is because, for me, a lot of their appeal comes from the cozy, soft interior and that diminishes after just a few washes, so for me, it’s not worth it to buy them used. It’s hard to find a Scuba in EUC for sale- at a reasonable price. However, to my point: there are special, unique colors in a lot of things Lululemon has made that make it more valuable.
Sea Wheeze Items
In my personal opinion, Sea Wheeze items are way over priced. But they are genuinely quite rare, so once they hit eBay, they get marked up significantly. They are your traditional items, CRBs, Speed shorts, Scuba Hoodies (etc), but they come in Sea Wheeze colors with a special Sea Wheeze insignia on them. Some of the stuff is cute, but a CRB is not worth $100 to me, no matter how cute it is.
I think that I will likely add more examples of colors that fetch higher prices in the future, but for now, I’ll leave it at this and remind you that before you sell your item it is really important to know what color it is, this way you can research the market value of your item. If you don’t know what color your item is I have a few pointers listed in previous posts and discuss it specifically here. Once you know what your item is, you’ll know what market value is and be able to fairly (for yourself and your buyers) price your item.
Happy Selling!
