Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Why I am done with Yelp.

I loved to Yelp to give local small businesses that gave me
great service a leg up online.  I just learned yesterday however that Yelp filters what we write.  They filter the good reviews.  Why?

The almighty dollar kids. Yelp wants business owners to purchase a business listing.  If a business does this, they release the good filtered reviews.  Instant good Yelp profile if you pay for it.  They are currently being sued by businesses over this as I blog.

Want further proof? One of my clients, Moynihan Lumber of Beverly, has a horrible Yelp
rating page.  My professor showed me how to check for the unfiltered results on Yelp. The result?  A stellar Yelp rating page for Moynihan Lumber of Beverly with four great reviews to counter the one bad review.  I was shocked. 


Yelpers beware.  Your
hard work and witty banter may be hidden while Yelp corporate keeps good
reviews hostage for pay.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Fashion Tips From A Lazy Diva

People always give me compliments on my smile, my hair and my little sparkly dresses, so here goes: 
You do not need to spend thousands on blowouts and shampoos.  The less you
do to your hair the better it will be (sorry hair salons).  If you keep
coloring it  and stressing it out how can you expect it to be shiny and
silky.  I buy shampoo  at CVS (my favorite is currently Suave Professionals Rosemary & Mint Shampoo  Invigorating Clean (about $2 a bottle at www.cvs.com) It's a  knockoff of Aveda shampoos.  The smell and tingle feels amazing and it cleans my  hair.  I don't use conditioner but rather Moroccan Oil just after my shower  before blowdrying.  To me it is a splurge (the
large bottle runs about $40 www.moroccanoil.com  ) and I love the way it works.  It is available at hair salons, but it  is worth every penny.  My hair has never felt silkier.  And a little drop goes a  long way. 
 
You don't need to spend $300 on a fancy hair straightening iron  either.  I
got mine at JCPenney.com ( www.jcpenney.com ) for around $30 if I
remember correctly
As for my skin,  I use Oil of Olay products (Olay Complete Moisturizing  Lotion with SPF 15, 4 oz., $7.69 www.target.com )  The reason?  My Mom used Oil of Olay her whole life and she always looked about 15 years younger than her friends.  I remember having to
tell a nun in  high school my Mom's age for something and the nun accused me of lying to her!   I was way to young to lie about age back then and I was a scared Catholic who  never lied anyway. 
 
My whole body is moisturized every day with whatever deal I  can find on body lotion
since I go through it like it was water.  My favorites  are Victoria's Secret body lotions (5 bottles for $30 www.victoriassecret.com ) in Amber Romance and Love Spell as  well as Target brand lavender baby lotion which it appears you have to buy in  store ( $2 a bottle, www.target.com for  locations). 
I am a fanatic about smelling like a woman so I do love body spritzes and perfumes.  My favorite of all time is Obsession for Women by Calvin Klein (or if  I having a bad day, it's more like Compulsion by Calvin Kleen!).  However, don't buy it at  Macy's or Nordstrom's or even The Perfume Factory.  The cheapest place is good  'ol Amazon.com.  You can get a $75 bottle for around $40 or less if you don't mind a tester bottle that doesn't come with the pretty brown egg top.  I always recommend shopping around online for the best designer fragrance deal.  Some new  scents are not discounted at all but others will be depending on where you buy  them.  For example, Macy's may charge a higher cost for J. Lo
fragrances which  are also sold for less at Kohl's and CVS.  
Other that that fragrance indulgence, I like Ciara by Revlon and Sunflowers by Elizabeth Arden (which come in inexpensive gift sets every fall at CVS and  Walgreen's).  If you like a light scent, I would suggest Victoria's Secret  Heavenly (no matter how many perfumes they release per year, this will ALWAYS be  their best one!) or Baby Soft (CVS or
Walgreens).  And shop for perfume on December 26th and February 15th.  I purchased a huge bottle of  Sunflowers and a bottle of Britney Spears Fantasy for $1.50 each on the  clearance aisle at CVS the day after Valentine's Day.  I smell great and it cost  me less than my iced coffee this morning! 
For the man in your life, I have a fabulous recommendation.  I bought my brother a cologne kit last Christmas from Sephora.  (Sephora's Collector Edition Fragrance Sampler for Him $75 although for some reason I think I only paid $50)  The guy gets to sample 7 top-selling fragrances and then pick his favorite.  Basically, it came with all these little vials of the latest colognes along with a gift card.  He simply tried the ones in the kit, picked his favorite and got to go to Sephora and trade in the gift card for a full-size bottle of his favorite cologne.  Genius!
My favorite foundation is an Oil of Olay/Cover girl product called Simply
Ageless Foundation with SPF 22.  Again, it's a drugstore product.  I try to buy two at a time when they do a buy one, get one half off sale.  For lipstick and  eyeshadows, I like Estee Lauder but I only buy it once a year when they do the  holiday blockbuster.  You get hundreds of dollars worth of makeup for around $75 to $100 depending on which
fragrance item you buy in order to qualify to buy the  blockbuster kit.  I spent $75 last year since I only had to buy a Youth Dew  deodorant to qualify and I loved that deodorant to boot!  Victoria's Secret also has great-pigmented eyeshadows and sexy lipstick shades and their makeup kit is  available online for only $44.  I have it and I love it. 
One blush I think is too expensive but I haven't found anything I like better yet is Nars Super Orgasm which you can purchase at Sephora for $27 ( http://sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P221753&categoryId=B70 ). Be careful though.  I have seen many a woman go in for one item and spend  hundreds on non-essentials because that place is like a candy store for grown-ups!  
All of my clothing, pocketbooks, bathing suits, makeup and even some shoes,
I  get online at VictoriasSecret.com because their clothes simply fit my body type.  They now have a Pink line that is popular with tweens and teens but I have been  told by my cousins with daughters that age that it is overpriced and not of as  good quality as the women's clothing.  I realize most people like to try things on but I suggest finding what brand of clothing fits you consistently and then buy one outfit online and if it fits you well, keep shopping at that site. 
 
The reason I say that is because I shop online and leave things in my cart.  I keep 
going back until the item goes on sale or clearance and snap it up for
so much  less than what I would have paid in store.  I am too lazy to
physically go  shopping weekly and this makes it so easy for me.  Also,
the more loyal I am to  a brand (like Macys.com Inc Shop and Victoria's
Secret Angels Club), the more  coupons, free gifts, and discount codes
they send me.  I got three beautiful  cashmere sweaters from Macys.com
for $40 each on December 26th.  Even that  bargain surprised me and I do
this all the time. 
Ahhh the spa!  I have in recent years been treating myself to much needed 
massages.  The benefits for me often last a whole week.  I never pay
full price  though and that also gives me a relaxing benefit!  Sign up for www.groupon.com  and www.where.com for daily deals in your area and scoop up half off massages and spa
treatments.  Spa  owers are thrilled to have new customers and will
often set up special pricing  for you even after the first deal if you
agree to so many treatments per year.  
 
I know a woman who spent $300 for professional teeth whitening but I found a spa that did mine for $69.  They were running a special facebook promotion to see if it would bring them any business.  It did.  I thought it was quite the indulgence but the results  were so fantastic that I am glad I did it.  And that was truly a Lazy Diva move.  The whole process took twenty minutes!  Much easier than using the two week $50 kits from CVS.  
That's all for now kids!  I may amend as I think of more fantastic bargains.  I 
could never pay full price even if I could afford to.  Having been raised by my Mom and my Nana and taught to shop Filene's Basement in Boston and Macy's sales at the North Shore Mall in Peabody, if I did, I am sure I could hear them rolling over in  their graves so eerily that I would probably go back and return the item!