Saks F&F Currently Ongoing!

Saks' Friends & Family event starts today, October 15, 2009 and runs through Sunday, October 18, 2009. For these days only, enter code: FRIENDS2 at checkout to receive 10% off beauty & fragrance, 20% off jewelry, and 25% off pretty much everything else.

Please keep in mind that certain brands are excluded, although Saks fails to specify which ones in the fine print.

You can stack the F&F code with the free shipping code OCTSHIP9 for an even better deal! The Friends & Family event is also going on in stores ~ you're supposed to take in your little postcard you should have received in the mail, but Saks is usually pretty good about giving the discount to anyone who's shopping there during those days.

What will you be picking up? I'm thinking maybe a La Mer eye cream, but not much else. I'm saving for a fun purchase I'll be telling you about later today!!
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ABS' Five: YSL Exclusives From Saks

1) Yves Saint Laurent Skin Restoring Skincare Palette ($69): A skincare palette that combines two specialist formulae in one glamorous compact, to target skin affected by stress, pollution, climate changes and lack of sleep. This palette helps regain soothed, perfectly hydrated and smoothed skin. The upper compartment of the palette contains lip balm, while the lower contains facial cream. The compact is very reminiscent of my YSL Semi-Loose Powder which I actually still quite adore but if it's just as bulky, I'm not too interested.


2) Yves Saint Laurent Instant Eye Wake-Up Patches ($52): Your must-have anti-fatigue beauty partner for fresh and radiant eyes. These ultra-fresh and transparent patches decongest, smooth and clarify the particularly delicate eye area. Fine lines appear smoother, skin around the eyes is left feeling moisturized and clarified and energized.

Lately my eyes have been in desperate need of some additional TLC ~ the insanely long hours that I've been working have been wreaking havoc on my complexion, and it's definitely starting to show. These sound like they'd be a godsend!


3) Yves Saint Laurent Lip Re-Plumping Concentrate ($39): Smoothing concentrate visibly plumps lips and redefines the lip contour, to offer comfort, definition and radiance. Leaves lips looking well shaped, luscious and sensual, and feeling more supple and smoother. Fits perfectly into your handbag, to moisturize and beautify your lips at any time of the day.

Okay so that's not five but I figured I go over so often that I'd stay under five for a change of pace! What do you think of these products?

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The Fekkai Shampoo Swap: Trade Your Shampoo For Fekkai's!

As I'm sure many of you already know, on Thursday, September 17, select Saks locations nationwide will be exchanging any full-sized shampoo you currently own (full or empty) for one full-sized bottle of the new Fekkai Advanced shampoo of your choice (a $23 value) ~ a pretty great deal in my book!

I'd love to hear from those of you planning to take advantage of this wonderful promo!
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ABS' Five: New @ Saks

A long awaited installation of my five--tonight's the perfect night to do this since I'm actually dying to run up to bed. I've got a massive migraine and can't find the focus to blog right now! Plus there have been a bunch of great launches within the past few weeks.

La Prairie Radiance Compact in Silver Shimmers ($75)
Limited Edition colour palettes provide a radiant look in one portable compact. Each palette features one shimmering powder, one moisturizing, satin-finish lip colour and one conditioning, sheer lip gloss to create one perfect look, and also includes a blush brush and lip applicator in an elegant velour pouch.

Silver Shimmers Palette: Shades accentuate and brighten the face, creating a stunning, elegant appearance. Use all over the face and décolleté. A rose lip colour and translucent lip gloss creates an attractive pout.

I don't own much La Prairie, but I am a sucker for pretty much everything they make as I always hear such great things about both their skincare and makeup items. On my wishlist are their foundation/concealer duo, loose powder (which I have a very generous sample of courtesy of Nicole) and a ton of skincare.

Dolce & Gabbana Volumized Lashes ($29)
EXCLUSIVELY AT SAKS. Perfected lashes add polish, youth and sensuality to a woman's make up look, offering dramatic punctuation and intrigue. The eyes are the window to the soul and the lashes provide the ultimate frame.

I'm a sucker for mascara, so even though the packaging of this tube doesn't particularly appeal to me, I am anxious to try it. I'll have to find time to stop by Saks sometime soon as they recently launched the Dolce & Gabbana line with a massive celebration!

Dolce & Gabanna Powder Foundation ($59)
Sensuality and confidence come through perfection. Perfect Finish Powder Foundation eliminates appearance imperfections and enhances the natural beauty of the skin without hiding it. The skin is as a canvas to which the foundation brings natural radiance.

Giorgio Armani UV Foundation SPF 20 ($58)
Lasting Silk UV SPF 20 spotlight proof, high resistance makeup. Inspired by extreme backstage conditions, this revolutionary new water-based foundation provides 14-hour luminous matte coverage without the coverage feel. SPF 20.

I've heard so many amazing things about all of Armani's foundations, and according to Nicole their latest UV Foundation is no exception. From what I've heard, it sounds to be the most amazing of the bunch, which is saying quite a bit since it has some stiff competition. $58 is a little on the pricey side for me, but I'm hoping to find the time to try this. Maybe a nice MA will be kind enough to make me a sample!

Chantecaille Vital Essence ($85)
A revolutionary antioxidant face and eye serum that is immediately soothing. Attracts moisture deep into the skin and helps to replace collagen in all skin types. An essential step in the Chantecaille regimen, Vital Essence maximizes the effect of all other products.

So while this product isn't exactly new, I'm posting it here because I've been wanting it forever but I keep forgetting to purchase it for some reason! I was waiting until the Bergdorf $25 gift card event to get this, and then of course after waiting al those months, I forgot. I've heard it's pretty great and that it works very well as an under eye serum. It's pricey, but used sparingly under the eye area this should last forever!

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My Mystery Saks Giveaway Winner!

Some of you were clever enough to find the secret little giveaway hidden in this post ~ thanks so much for everybody who took the time to play and enter! Our winner is Nazia--congrats!! I'll be revealing the prize on Sunday and hopefully shipping it out on Monday!

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Saks Online F&F Code

Through today enter code SFAFAM10 at checkout to get 15% off all your Saks cosmetics and fragrance purchases!

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Saks F&F Is Right Around The Corner!

Good afternoon my wonderful readers! :) As you can see I'm pretty ecstatic that it's finally Friday, meaning that the start of my weekend is mere hours away.

I'm sure most of you are already aware that Saks Fifth Avenue's Friend & Family Event is just days away, running from April 16-19, 2009. My sources (LOL meaning Nicole) tell me that the discount this year will be 15% on fragrances and cosmetics, so if you've been planning any makeup purchases at Saks, definitely hold off!

I've got a little something special waiting for you after the jump ~ check it out!

So as a reward to those of you who bother to check after the jump (and take the time to read my posts), I've got a little surprise for you! :) You may have noticed that the photo above looks a little off ~ I was having a little too much fun playing on Photobucket! So here's what my graphic looked like after I'd added just the text:

Name all the differences that you see between the two images in the comments below to win a small mystery prize. Please submit your comments by midnight (E.S.T.) April 15th! Winner to be chosen at random amongst entrants who correctly identify all differences.

Oh and of course please share what you'll be getting during Saks F&F! :)

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Free Jeweled Dior Lipstick Case w/ Purchase At Saks

Dior Addict Lipcolor has a new and improved formula that offers weightless, high-impact color, and to celebrate its launch, Saks mailed out these little flyers offering a jeweled Dior lipstick case with "your purchase."

You can see my grubby fingerprints all over the card =X.

So I stopped by the Saks on Fifth Ave. on Saturday and was informed by the SA there that "your purchase" actually meant 2 lipsticks! Now I make my living interpreting phrases like this, so while yes technically "your purchase" can mean any number of lipsticks that they choose, I happen to object to their failing to disclose in the mailer that you actually need to purchase not one but two lipsticks. I then called the Saks in NJ to see if they were also spewing this 2 lipstick nonsense, and was told they were only requiring the purchase of one--and since the NY SA refused to budge on her 2 lippie position, I politely informed her that I'd be taking my business elsewhere.

I get to Saks in NJ yesterday and the lady at the counter (who wasn't actually the Dior SA) tells me that she believes that it's two lipsticks, although she's not sure. At this point I'm getting a little aggravated since I'd gone out of my way to get there, but luckily as I'm waiting the lady with whom I'd spoken on Saturday (who's the Dior SA) comes back to her counter and says the card says "your purchase," she interprets that as one, and so of course it's fine to give me the lipstick case with my purchase of a single lipstick. Ahhhh the drama!

At least I finally have my hands on the lipstick case (which is really beautiful and well made) and a pretty new Dior lippie. I'll be bringing you photos of both soon!
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Beautiful Kanebo Sensai Holiday Card from Saks

While I'm not always all that crazy about the customer service I receive at Saks, I do absolutely love this holiday card I received from the Kanebo counter at Saks. Yes I know everybody gets one, but it's simply beautiful!




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Saks' Exclusive Polished Face Kit 50% Off!!!

Polished Face Kit
(discounted from $198 to $99)

Darn my current poor-girl status! Saks' Polished Face Kit (which I blogged about here a few months back) contains everything you need for a fresh, polished face tucked into a gorgeous Marc Jacobs clutch (includes Dior 5-Color Eyeshadow compact in Tender Chic, Nars The Multiple in Copacabana, Yves Saint Laurent Touch Blush in Number 2, Giorgio Armani Gloss in Number 16, Guerlain Le 2 Two-Brush Mascara in black and a deluxe sample of Chanel Sublimage) and is currently on sale from $198 to just $99! This would make somebody an amazing Christmas gift!

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My TINY Saks F&F Haul and a Chanel Smoky Eyes Quad EOTD

I'd originally had a rather large list of items I wanted to pick up during Saks F&F, but when it came down to it I've just got waaaay too much makeup for my liking and couldn't justify purchasing more items that I wanted but didn't need, so here's my tiny little haul! I picked up:

~MAC Dazzleglass in Sugarrimmed (I swatches of all the Dazzleglasses for you coming soon!)
~Chanel Les 4 Ombres Quadra Eye Shadow in 93 Smoky Eyes
~Kanebo Sensai Smoothing Water Make-Up Base

The Kanebo SA also gaves me samples of their Cleansing Gel with Scrub (loving this so far) and Emulsion 1. I can't wait to test these out further!

Oh and I know I've been blabbing about the Guerlain holiday mascara for ages, and yes I did finally check it out! While I didn't purchase it I did try it on and take photos for you lovely ladies, so keep an eye out for it.

The wonderful Chanel SA who helped out me and my friend tested out the Chanel Smoky Eyes quad on me, and while it looked pretty at Saks it didn't hold up so well (thanks to no primer) and this is what it looked like at the end of the night. By the way this is probably the only time you'll ever see an eyebrow photo lol-it just looked weird cropped out.

And in case anyone's wondering I'm wearing Exceptionnel de Chanel here which I'm loving more every day!

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Did You Get Saks Mystery Money?

My SO always gets Mystery Money, whereas I never do. I always thought that that had something to do with the fact that I hardly ever shop at Saks (the one near me has terrible customer service), nor am I a Saks cardholder. So of course when the SO got his Saks Mystery Money card in the mail, the only thought I had was "mine" LOL!

Then I learned from some lovely ladies that the process is random, and that many people who weren't Saks cardholders had received Mystery Money codes via email. Of course I excitedly checked my g-mail to find zilch, but then I decided to check an old e-mail account that I hardly ever use, and voila there was my code! Now I usually only check this e-mail account in order to delete everything, so if it weren't for the fact that I had been lazy this week, this e-mail probably would've been deleted and never given a second thought--what a tragedy!!

So I know you're all in suspense wondering how much Mystery Money I received! Okay so it wasn't $1,000, or even $100, but I was very happy with my $50--hey free money is free money! SO also decided to give me his code which was worth $20, which gave me $70 of spending money last night =D.

Unfortunately Saks website is a little lacking in the cosmetics department, so my options were sorely limited. Of course my first instinct was to purchase the Guerlain Meteorites primer ($65) I've been dying to get myself, but it wasn't available on the website =X.

After pouting for a good five minutes or so that Saks didn't have this, I resolved to purchase the Pressed Meteorites ($65) but again not available on the website!

So I said--fine then I'll just get myself the Thierry Mugler Cooling Effect Concealer ($46) that I blogged about awhile back, since I know I saw that on the Saks site. But of course just my luck that it was out of stock!! =X

So what did I end up with?


I''ll tell you more about it when it arrives!

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Thierry Mugler Beauty Now Available at Saks

Products I'm interested in so far:


Thierry Mugler Lip Lacker (Plexi Gloss)-$40
This gloss creates a holographic effect on the lips, and for a little something different, has a flexible spatula-like applicator (more common to Japanese glosses than our American ones).


Thierry Mugler Face Perfecting Mask-$140
I think I just want this because it comes with the cute little applicator brush! From the looks of it it seem s to be some sort of overnight treatment.



Thierry Mugler Vinyl Gloss for Eye Lashes-$49
A "vinyl gloss" for the lashes that can be worn over mascara or on its own. Based on what I've heard, this doesn't come with a mascara wand, but rather has a brush applicator much like the ones that come with liquid liner. I'm interesting in trying this out just for the novelty factor.

Overall the collection seems very modern and innovative but whether they live up to their prices remains to be seen. I'm curious to see whether the Cooling Effect Concealer has any affect on my redness, how the Vinyl Gloss works, and of course to play with the spatula-applicator of the Plexi Gloss. Sadly, the prices are a little high for my wallet ($40 for gloss, $45 for concealer, etc.) so we'll have to see if they really wow me when I have a chance to make it down to Saks.

Have you seen Thierry Mugler Beauty at your local Saks counters? Had a chance to try the products? Please share!!

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