Online sample sales

If you like nabbing up good buys on high-end brands, you're going to love the new online sample sale craze! I'm completely addicted to these little gems and check many of them every weekday for new sales on brands like Puma, Gucci, Vera Wang, and more (they also carry children's and men's brand as well as home decor)! Could I ever afford most of these brands without a little help? No. Would I be willing to try them with a little discount? Of course! Here are the main sites I check out each day:

HauteLook (click on the name to visit their site)
My favorite online sample sale spot! I’ve now made two purchases with them and am very happy with the company.

GoMatta Girls
Great finds, usually under $50!

GiltGroupe and GiltFuse
Gilt Groupe itself is a little too pricey for me. I just can't get excited about a Prada dress that normally retail for $1,500 and is now available for a mere $600! However, they have a new site, GiltFuse, that carries only items less than $150. Recent brands included Juicy Couture.

Not related to this great stores is the fact that I haven't exactly been posting on a regular schedule since the spring. This is not an accident. Mr. Bean and I moved cross country. He started studying for the bar exam and I started looking for a job, and now we're both working new jobs that keep us happy but busy. I had a lot of fun creating The Sweet Jelly Bean blog this spring and hope that you had just as good of a time reading it. I hope we can meet again before too long.

InStyle.com's Virtual Makeover Studio

Hey, it's Friday. Let's just be ridiculously silly and conclude this hellish workweek by playing with InStyle.com's Virtual Makeover Studio. I only discovered it last night, and instead of using it as it probably is intended, I made myself into a 1980s chic/drag queen. Oh, and Eva Longoria Parker (below).

This post concludes The Bean's Go Glam Week. Join us on Monday for the SwitchFlops giveaway wrapup and the start of Geek Week! Have a great weekend.

Swap books and makeup for free

While we’re on the subject of swaps, here are two of my favorite swap sites:

1. Paperback Swap
If you’re a bookworm like me and have overflowing shelves (or your entire apartment and garage) of books you’ve read but haven’t yet traded in at your local used bookshop, stop by Paperback Swap. The site explains itself pretty well: Mail a book. Get a book. Any book you request is yours to keep, share or swap. No late fees. No processing charges. No hidden charges. Every time you mail a book to another member, you can request one for yourself from over 2.9 million books. I joined Paperback Swap in fall 2007 and have happily been swapping books ever since! There are several other similar sites to this one, but PBS is my all-time favorite.

2. Makeup Alley
I was informed in a recent issue of Glamour magazine that a pale gold nail polish made by Revlon looks great on everyone. I believed this until I bought it and tried it on at home. Obviously not everyone! Makeup Alley (or MUA as users lovingly call it) is a remedy to buyer’s remorse in situations like these. At this site (which is also fee free, by the way) you can trade skincare, makeup, and body products as well as perfume and a few stray books and CDs.

BONUS: First of all, let me say that I’ve just found this site so I can’t vouch for how it works, etc., but it sounds like a lot of fun. Swap-bot organizes group swaps and a community of creative individuals. Swap-bot takes the hassle out of participating in group swaps by organizing all of the participant information and doing all of the partner assignments. On Swap-bot, you can host swaps, join swaps, and chat with other swappers from all over the world. Give it a try!

Benefit Cosmetics

Many of the sites, companies, and products mentioned so far are fairly mainstream, but we'd like to mention a corp that you may already know about, Benefit Cosmetics. Created by twins in 1976, this San Francisco-based company is a favorite because of their quality products that always sport quirky names and packaging. As mentioned, The Sweet Jelly Bean is in no way the Christopher Columbus to discover this company as it has its very own page of awards and accolades from Allure, Real Simple, InStyle, and more. My favorite products include:

That Gal brightening face primer $28

This is an excellent face primer and does just the trick under my mineral makeup from Lure Beauty!

the gloss $16 (on sale right now for $11.20)

I recently picked up this gloss in "kiss me." It's a fairly neutral shade for me, but they have several other that are on my "to buy when I win the Lotto" list.

bronzing brush $22

I was looking for a very soft brush that would serve as a replacement for my worn out kabuki brush, and this one really hits the spot!

Benefit Cosmetic counters are in many large department stores, at Sephora, Ulta, and probably other places (I just can't think of anywhere else I've seen it right now and I didn't see a store locator on their website).

Lure Beauty - Mineral Makeup and Wickless Candles

Both my sisters and my mom got caught up in the mineral makeup craze before I did, but I did try out Bare Escentuals. I bought the same products they'd tried, used the same brushes, followed all of the instructions my sister emailed me, including her special little tips and tricks. And I looked fabulous...for one week. Then my skin started peeling and itching, the area around my nose became pink (not in a good way) and sore, and suddenly I had blemishes on my cheeks and along my jawline! And so I buffed my way right back to the mineral makeup store in the mall and asked them for help. They looked my skin over and said it was an allergic reaction, and let me return everything. I was bummed - what an easy way to get a natural yet medium coverage look for your face.

Several months went by. I tried a few of the other most well known brands, but they all seemed to present the same results after only a few days of use. I had just about given up when I read a message board post about the bismuth in many mineral makeups causing allergic reactions in some people, and that a small online makeup company had a mineral line that did not have this ingredient in it. I was ecstatic and visited Lure Beauty's site, and it's been been quite a romance between us since then!

I've been using their products fuss-free since August, and absolutely love them. I started out by trying their "Cover Your Bases" Starter Kit, which lets you try 2 foundation shades, 1 concealer shade, and 1 setting powder shade for less than $6. They had so many foundation shades that I emailed Lure to ask for help, and they actually responded in just a few minutes! Their products are great and I am irritation-free (and that's before you factor in that they cost less than many of their competitors). I encourage you to try Lure Beauty out. In addition to their mineral makeup line (which also includes eye shadows and blushes), they also have candles, body butters, and much more! And...if you search for online coupons or join their mailing list, you will find great discounts.