This week I'm obsessed with... Chanel shoes from The RealReal!

Love the idea of designer clothes and accessories but not the idea of paying full price or trying to figure out which are the real from fake ones on eBay?

Enter The RealReal -  an online luxury consignment website with over 600 employees and multiple locations across the United States that accept and ship product worldwide. They take the guesswork out of online luxury shopping by ensuring that every piece on their site is 100% the real thing thanks to a dedicated team of authentication experts, horologists and gemologists who  know exactly how to tell real from counterfeit, from the quality of the leather to the zipper manufacturer.

I've always coveted a pair of Chanel shoes and I'm currently in love with these black suede Chanel round-toe pumps with embroidered interlocking CC accents at magenta suede cap-toes, quilted panels at platforms, covered heels and tonal stitching throughout - and for $460 I wouldn't have to feel super guilty about them especially if I consider how I'm saving the environment by helping to recycle! I need to make a decision though, I was looking at a different pair of shoes this morning but by the time I came back to write this post, they were already sold!

What's great is they actually have all of the items in their possession, the pictures are of the actual item you are buying and any wear is described so you know exactly what you are getting. Have luxury items to sell? Let them do all the work and collect 85% of the selling price, not a bad deal!

Check out The RealReal for yourself at therealreal.com and satisfy your own Chanel obsession or your Gucci obsession for that matter or any one of the numerous other high end brands!

- Lisamarie -

This week I'm obsessed with... buying my Quo products without wearing pants!

We've all become used to being able to buy our luxury beauty products online at beautyBOUTIQUE.ca - now be prepared to never have to leave the house again!

Shoppers Drug Mart has unveiled a new e-commerce platform with an  extensive catalogue of not only  prestige beauty products but also now with a wide range of mass market cosmetics, skincare, hair colour and wardrobe accessories previously only available in store!

Quite a few of my staples are also Shoppers exclusives and I'm excited to be able to get them online now - including: Quo Makeup Brush Cleanser - 128ml - $12, Soap & Glory Hand Food Hydrating Hand Cream - 125ml - $10, Life Brand Moisturizing Foot Mask - 1 pair - $4.99, Nude By Nature Creamy Matte Lipstick - $23 and Pixi Rose Tonic - 100ml - $20

Not only do we now have the convenience of 24/7 shopping, we can also earn and spend our PC Optimum points with online beauty purchases - hurray!

Other benefits include: free shipping with minimum purchase of $50, free samples with prestige purchases and gifts with purchase options!

Get your no-pants shopping now at shoppersdrugmart.ca/beauty!

- Lisamarie -

Scarlet & Julia help you shop for beauty without ever having to leave home or your sweatpants!

Canadians looking for another way to scratch their beauty itch can turn to online retailer Scarlet & Julia - chock full of the familiar brands that we know and love including: Neostrata, Nuxe, OPI, Cake Beauty, Consonant, Lise Watier, Stila and Fusion Beauty; brands that can be hard to get your hands on like Babor, Jouviance and Evian and  a bunch of new brands they've just introduced: Eve Lom, Living Proof, Lipstick Queen, StriVectin, Ren and Lavanila!

The site is easy to navigate, includes lots of pretty pictures and even includes a Beauty Outlet where members can receive great deals on selected brands of up to 70% off as well as expert product advice. You can look forward to 3 samples with your order, free shipping with orders over $75 and 5% back in S&J credits - and because everything is shipped from Montreal, it's not such a long wait for your order to arrive!

And if all that wasn't enough, you can really feel good about your purchase because 1% of all sales is donated to Look Good Feel Better!

Check out www.scarletandjulia.com and let the shopping begin!

- Lisamarie -

Take the stress out of holiday shopping with Murale!

I have a hard and fast rule not to go anywhere near malls come December - they're too crowded, I hate Christmas music and they just make me feel stabby, so it's better for everyone that I just stay away! So unless I am super organized and get everything bought ahead of time (not) I rely on online shopping to get everything on my list.

You probably won't be surprised to know that I give a lot of beauty gifts - I like giving products that I've tried myself and know are good so I've ordered from and have an opinion on all of the major beauty retailers. Murale is a great one for finding all of my favourite brands like Caudalie, L'Occitane, Guerlain and Burberry and what I really like is they are super-quick to ship - I had my package 2 days after I ordered - and it came all nicely packed in a pretty Murale box with a handwritten note thanking me for my order - now that's service! Here are a few things I picked up for some ladies on my list:

NARS Modern Future - Roman Holiday Lip, Cheek and Nail Set - $57 - add sheer delicate pastel pink to lips, tips and cheeks, housed in a clear acrylic container making it perfect for gifting.

What I like about high end sets is they cost less then buying the products separately and you can break the set up to give to a couple of girlfriends while still looking super-generous!

Smashbox Try It Kit - $22 - a collection of bestsellers in sizes perfect for trying and travel including: Photo Finish Foundation Primer, Photo Finish Lid Primer, Lip Enhancing Gloss in Illume, Full Exposure Mascara and Limitless Eye Liner in Onyx.

Perfect for that traveling friend or the one you want to get hooked on Smashbox! I should have bought something else too - right now when you purchase $35 or more of Smashbox products you get a free Be Legendary Lip Gloss Duo!

RapidLash - $59.99 - a serum that improves the overall appearance and condition of lashes and brows in just 30 days with daily application.

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Rapidlash so at least one person gets this from me as a gift every year - this of course is my passive-aggressive way of saying "hey bitch, you have skimpy eyelashes, do something about it already"!

A collection of our best-selling superstars in try-me sizes!

Includes:
• Smashbox/Photo Finish Foundation Primer
• Smashbox/Photo Finish Lid Primer
• Lip Enhancing Gloss in Illume
• Full Exposure Mascara
• Limitless Eye Liner in Onyx - See more at: http://www.murale.ca/14218-Smashbox_Smashbox-Try-it-Kit.aspx#sthash.g1HK1MKi.dpuf

A collection of our best-selling superstars in try-me sizes!

Includes:
• Smashbox/Photo Finish Foundation Primer
• Smashbox/Photo Finish Lid Primer
• Lip Enhancing Gloss in Illume
• Full Exposure Mascara
• Limitless Eye Liner in Onyx - See more at: http://www.murale.ca/14218-Smashbox_Smashbox-Try-it-Kit.aspx#sthash.g1HK1MKi.dpuf

A collection of our best-selling superstars in try-me sizes!

Includes:
• Smashbox/Photo Finish Foundation Primer
• Smashbox/Photo Finish Lid Primer
• Lip Enhancing Gloss in Illume
• Full Exposure Mascara
• Limitless Eye Liner in Onyx - See more at: http://www.murale.ca/14218-Smashbox_Smashbox-Try-it-Kit.aspx#sthash.g1HK1MKi.dpuf

·         Earn Optimum points

·         Every transaction gets Free Samples, and for Holiday specifically, Murale is offering 5 samples instead of the usual 3
 

As an extra bonus, there is free shipping on orders $75+ for the holiday season and you get 5 free samples right now instead of the usual 3!

The other great thing about shopping at Murale is access to brands that can be hard to find elsewhere including Tata Harper, Foreo Luna, Eve Lom, Rodial, Juice Beauty, Darphin and Rococo Nail Apparel - you can find all the brands available here.


And of course if you are one of those people that insist on going into stores and subjecting yourself to holiday shopping in person you can do that too - there are 6 physical locations for Murale and you can find the store locator page here which will also give you info on the services offered at each particular store, upcoming events and general store information. 

Either online or in person, happy Murale shopping!

- Lisamarie -

Diet Coke and Gilt.com get together to bring an online shopping experience to life!

Diet Coke and luxury online retailer Gilt.com have teamed up for the Get a Taste Style Bar featuring the exclusive Diet Coke Curated Fashion Collection.

Within the collection, there are 5 distinct sub-collections consisting of clothing, accessories and home decor that reflect the essence of Diet Coke, featuring metallics and bright reds with black and white accents, celebrating the light, crisp, effervescent, boosting and refreshing qualities of Diet Coke.

I am totally in love with this black and silver dress - I could totally be a carbonated bubble in this!

This white lacy number also speaks to me - it's saying something like "you'd better drink a whole lot more Diet Coke if you expect to fit into me you cow". Wow, these clothes are kind of mean...

The Style Bar is open for the next 5 weeks from 12-7pm until October 23rd so if you are in Toronto, be sure to stop by 363 King Street West for a Diet Coke and a chance to check out highlights from the beautiful collections! And of course you can find the full collection online at Gilt.com/DietCoke - happy shopping!

- Lisamarie -

Shopster.ca - offers Canadian coupons and deals for online shopping!

Online shopping is a wonderful thing and even better when you can get your hands on a good coupon or discount code! The sad part for Canadians of course is that so often the coupons and codes are only good for US customers - it's about time we got ourselves a website that offers great deals just for us and it's here  with Shopster.ca! And while you can find deals on just about everything you can think of - I, of course was most interested in beauty and fashion - and with just a quick check found lots! A few that I'll be checking out include:

Save up to 75% on a huge selection of health and wellness products for a limited time when you shop online at Well.ca and get free shipping on order over $25!

Save up to 75% on clothing, shoes and accessories for women, men, kids and babies for a limited time when you shop online at Gap and get free shipping on orders over $50!

Save up to 50% on select health and personal care items when you shop online at Amazon and get free shipping on super saver items!

There's many more with new ones being added every day so check it out for yourself at www.shopster.ca - where you can also sign up to get exclusive offers and updates by e-mail so you never miss a thing!

- Lisamarie -

MyUS.com lets you fake being an American while still keeping your health care!

Ever been shopping on a website, fill your cart with all kinds of retail wonderfulness only to find out when you try to check out that the site will only ship to a US address?

If you don't have a friend in the US who's willing to take delivery and forward the package on to you then you're out of luck...

Or what about those stores (yes, I'm talking to you Pottery Barn) that do ship to Canada but with prices on their US website that are waaaaaay better then the same item on the Canadian one - especially stupid as there is very little difference in the exchange rate right now - wouldn't you rather have the US price?!

If you answered "hell yes!" to all then you need some MyUS.com in your life - basically what it offers you is a US address which allows you to shop on any US website your heart desires and then have the order shipped to you anywhere in the world! The website will only take US payment? Not a problem, MyUS.com will buy it for you (you have to pay them back though, they aren't that nice)!

And because MyUS.com loves Beauty Crazed readers, they are offering free setup and three months of premium membership to help feed your shopping addiction - give it a try at:
http://www.myus.com/en/landing/?aid=1003332 

- Lisamarie -

Amazon.ca expands your beauty shopping experience with two new stores!

Best thing about Amazon is the great selection of beauty products, even those ones that are hard to find - worst thing about Amazon is that some of the sellers won't ship to Canada which can leave you at the mercy of annoying auction sites! 

Good news Canadians, Amazon.ca has recently launched two new stores; Beauty and Health & Personal Care. Combined, these two stores house over 80,000 products - beauty, health and personal care items, including diapers and wipes, household supplies, health care and nutrition, personal care items and of course, makeup. 
 

The Amazon.ca Beauty and Health & Personal Care stores provide customers with the helpful information they need all in one place, including detailed product information and images, customer reviews, best sellers and recommendations in all of your favourite brands including: Burt's Bees, Dove, CoverGirl, Ivory, L'Occitane, L'Oreal, Nivea, OPI, Pantene, Revlon and Vidal Sasson. As well as Canadian brands such as Aleva Naturals, Escents, Jamieson and Upper Canada Soap.

Be warned, hours can go by before you know it as you get caught up in all the pretty, pretty things - and as it's still a new category, you can expect there to be even more products as time goes on. 

Check it out for yourself at - www.amazon.ca/beauty, www.amazon.ca/wellness and www.amazon.ca/health-personal-care - just make sure you have lots of time to spare before you start looking!

- Lisamarie -

Murale wants you to shop naked!

Tired of having to put on clothes to go out and buy your beauty products? Me too! The geniuses at Murale have realized that the less we are forced to spend on clothes, the more money we'll have to spend on makeup and have finally brought us online shopping!

Let's face it, Canada's a big place and there aren't enough Murale's to go around - even being in Toronto the closest Murale to me is a bit of a trek so I am happy to be able to get my fix online!

Pros: lots of great brands delivered right to your door; free samples; shipping deals; and let's not forget Optimum Points!

Cons: there are some brands they taunt you with (ie Bobbi Brown, Bourjois) that when you try to order, find out are only available in-store - not sure if they have plans to make all brands available online eventually, here's hoping!

Also I can see drinking and shopping becoming a problem although I guess that's still better than drinking and going home with inappropriate men...

Check it out and order yourself something pretty at www.murale.ca and be sure to follow on twitter - @Murale

- Lisamarie -

Upper Canada Soap now offers you easy shopping right at your computer! Contest!

I'm a long time fan of Upper Canada Soap products and I'll tell you what the worst thing about them is - trying to find them to buy them! They are carried at various department stores in Toronto but it's difficult trying to hunt down a particular product when I want it, the displays always seem to be hard to find or horribly picked over. 

I'm happy to say it's no longer an issue - Canadian and US fans of the line will be happy to know that Upper Canada Soap as well as Danielle Creation products can now be easily purchased at their brand spanking new online store! Check it out at www.uppercanadasoap.com - the site also offers free shipping on orders over $50, a free gift on orders over $75 and free samples!

And what better way is there to celebrate fabulous news than with a fabulous contest - so how would you like to win Upper Canada Soap's top 11 best sellers from both the Upper Canada Soap and Danielle Creation lines?! 

What's in this bag full of wonderfullness? Check it:

1. Naturally Golden Maple Sugar Bubble Bath - $12 - One of their best selling items and Kathie Lee Gifford’s Favourite Upper Canada Soap product (I don't know if that's a plus or what). Relax and immerse yourself in the most deliciously scented bubble bath around! Nourishing extracts and ingredients: Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter and Sugar Maple Extract. The most fun about this product is taunting your husband with it - mine loves maple syrup but I never buy it because it's so expensive - the first time he saw the bubble bath he thought I was being nice and had bought him maple syrup - sucker!

2. Naturally Signature Hand and Body Lotion - $16 - Nourish hands and body with this lightweight lotion formulated with Shea Butter, Ginger and White Tea Extracts containing powerful antioxidants to keep skin soft and healthy.

3. Naturally Lip Balm - $5 - Get addicted to this soft and ultra-moisturizing lip balm that contains rich emollients such as Shea Butter, Beeswax, Cocoa Seed Butter, Vitamin E. Your lips will never stop asking for more!

4. Naturally Honey and Oat Soap Bar - $10 - A triple-milled soap that is specially formulated with tea leaves to gently exfoliate while natural White Tea Extract containing potent antioxidants protects skin from free radicals. The formulation also contains Glycerin to nourish and moisturize skin.

5. Shower Queen Cap - $12 - Upper Canada is adding style to the shower! Featuring trendy, chic, and unique shower caps for fashionistas everywhere. From shiny sequins to colourful patterns, there is a fashion-forward shower cap for everyone. Keep hair dry & fabulous when there is no time to wash your hair!

6. Fruit Frappe Foaming Shower Gel - $12 - Too much fun!  Comes out as gel and transforms into foam in seconds.  Add some water for some super foamy and sudsy action. Enjoy! This is my particular fave product - you know how I love things that are fruity!

7. Fruit Frappe Dry Oil Lotion - $14 - Too beautiful to use … too amazing not to!  This 2-phase dry oil is the perfect super moisturizing nourishment after a hot shower.  Spray all over your body and feel your skin transform into soft silk, as it gets absorbed like a deep moisturizer. With Vitamin E Oil too!

8. Royal Envy Mirror - $10 - This stunning royal inspired compact features 2X magnfication and true image, plus a gorgeous pattern of jewels on the lid. Be the envy of your girlfriends!

9. “My Case” Mobile Phone Case - $12 - This personal mobile phone case can hold your phone, some taxi money and lip gloss, and comes with a touch mirror. The attached wristlet allows you to clip it on and go!

10. Peek-a-Tweeze - $13 - Tweezing emergency? They’ve got you covered! This fabulously discreet & sneaky tweezer set is perfect for on-the-go use. The set includes a precision tip tweezers with LED light and a 3x magnification mirror. Its cute compact case comes on a hook keychain.

11. Mirror Ring - $10 - The ultimate diamond ring … for your purse! Check your make-up wherever you go with 2x magnification and true image. It also stands upright for your convenience!

This contest is open to all our Canadian and US followers and it's very easy to enter, just leave a comment letting us know that you follow (if you aren't a follower you can sign up through Google or Facebook - signups are in the right sidebar)

1 entry for following and answering the question - Which product from the prize are you most excited to get your hands on? Please also leave your e-mail so we can find you if you win!

And for an extra entries:

Visit the Upper Canada Soap Facebook page and "like" them - www.facebook.com/uppercanadasoap
Follow @BeautyCrazedCan on Twitter and tweet the contest.
Follow @UpperCanadaSoap on Twitter and tweet the contest. 
 

If you prefer not to leave your info on a public post, please leave a post saying you want to enter and then e-mail your info to info@beautycrazed.ca, please put "Upper Canada Soap Contest" in the subject line.  Remember to leave the post or you name won't actually end up in the draw! Winner to be decided by random drawing and you have until November 18th to enter. Good Luck!

- Lisamarie -