Right now, ULTA has select Tree Hut Sugar Scrubs on sale for $5.24! This is such a steal; they’re normally $10.49 each. Plus, you can also get $3.50 off a $15+ purchase when you use the promo code 989045 at checkout!

Tip! You can choose free in-store pickup to avoid shipping costs. Shipping is free with $35+ purchases.

POPSUGAR gave me one of their Must Have boxes so I could tell you all about it.  This is their August box and it was incredible!

It was full of things to make a girl happy.  Isn’t that what subscription boxes are all about after all?  With this box they were celebrating that they’ve been around for 5 years!  Yay!  I love POPSUGAR’s Must Have boxes and it’s hard to believe 5 years has gone by since they were first introduced!

Here is the rundown of what was in my box and scroll down below that to find out how much money I saved by getting them in the box as opposed to buying them individually.  Oh, and you can save $10 on your first Must Have box with my link and discount code below.

•  -Fringe Cheers Lacquered Tray – FringeStudio.com
•  -Free Spirit Journal  – FringeStudio.com
•  -Gift card – Shoptiques.com
•  -5 in 1 Bouncy Mask – FirstAidBeauty.com
•  -Gold Glitter Candles – ShopMeriMeri.com
•  -DOGEARED Friendship Bracelet – DOGEARED.com 
•  -Goodie Girl Cookies in Chocolate Chunk – GoodieGirlCookie.com

This box has a retail value of $150! That’s a great value for what you spend ($39.99 a month) on a POPSUGAR Must Have box!  They did a fabulous job with their 5-year anniversary box.  Everything feels special and I feel like celebrating myself…maybe I’ll celebrate the first day back to school!

Want a box for yourself?  You can find out all about the POPSUGAR Must Have Box here and when you use the discount code PARTY (expires 8/31/2017) you’ll save $10 off  your FIRST Must Have Box! 

Oh, I almost forgot!  You can enter the JEEP giveaway here to win one of 1,500 POPSUGAR Must Have boxes or the grand prize of a new JEEP Compass!

One way I try and save is by shopping consignment sales.  I love the ones that we have in our town semi-annually.  They’re great fun but there are only two a year, we have to get up very early, bring our game faces, and fight the crowds.  While I love the challenge and embrace it I also like to shop slowly, at my own pace. …at home in my pjs.

Swap.com contacted me to partner with them for this post and I jokingly told them later that I wish I hadn’t heard of them because I’m now addicted.  I spent some time browsing their site seeing if they had any good brands (and they did!), seeing if shipping was outrageous (it wasn’t!), and to see if they had anything in the styles I like (they did!).  I’m happy to report back to you that Swap.com has a lot of great clothes at affordable prices.  Not all the clothes are in like-new condition but they list every flaw and price them accordingly.  I love that!  I can even buy affordable play clothes from the comfort of my living room in my “play clothes.”

Here’s what I found on my first (of many) shopping trips:

Check out this Hartstrings skirt!  It was on sale for $3.50 (originally $48!).  I saved 93% off the retail price.  That’s a great brand and an unbelievable price if you ask me!

These Bermuda shorts from Carter’s were listed as good condition but they looked absolutely perfect to me (and I’m picky!).

I found another pair of shorts and was about to check out when I saw that they had a toy section.  I’m not one who loves to have a lot of toys but I wanted to see what they had.  They had a lot of character items, some toys were even brand new, and some that really caught my eye.  Check this out, a My Fair Lady Barbie doll from 1995!

I love My Fair Lady (who doesn’t?) and my daughter is loving Barbies right now.  Modest Barbie, a chance to introduce my daughter to My Fair Lady, and a birthday gift for my soon to be 5 year old? Win-win-win! Oh, and I price matched the doll on Amazon before I bought it and it was $25 cheaper here.  No brainer.

Here’s what my shopping cart looked like.  Easy peasy.

The clothes have now arrived and they are perfect.  Look at that detail on the Heartstrings’ skirt.  Beautiful!  These are clothes my daughter can easily throw into her summer rotation and they were so cheap!

Here’s the doll!  I just love it and can’t wait to show it to my daughter.

If you love adorable and affordable kid’s clothes you should definitely check out Swap.com!

I love my sweet little girl. I want her to know that she’s beautiful, not by the world’s standards like her features are symmetrical and her button nose is bumped at the right angle. Though she does have many American beauty attributes, I want her to realize that beauty comes in different shapes and sizes. And one day I want her to see that confidence is beautiful.

I think middle school is the place where confidence shys and strays or blossoms and blooms. Remember that young age when you weren’t sure whether your outfit made you look cute, puffy, or like a baby (because who at the age of 12 would be seen dressing like a baby? We were all trying to convince our mothers it was time to shave our legs for heaven’s sake!). Bless the day when we finally figured out that confidence and grace gave us the mature, beautiful look we all desired from Seventeen.

Also as preteens (and teenagers, and college girls, and wives, and moms…), we stood by mirrors and talked about which of the features we didn’t like and expected each other to join in.  While psychology tells us that self-actualization is a part of growing up, it doesn’t seem that women grow out of criticizing ourselves. Last year WOMEN sent over 5MM negative tweets (Twitter alone!) about beauty and body image. For the sake of our next generation, I beg you to start positive trends with me. We can change the flow of verbal self-harm to self-care. We gawk that people have the “audacity” to abuse themselves, but being overly critical of ourselves has the same impact mentally. So I’m going to start a different, positive trend now. I love my hair. I love that it’s thick and strong.

Mainstream media often doesn’t encourage us to promote our natural beauty, but I really appreciate Dove’s message which backs what I want my daughter to believe. (By the way, Dove products at Rite Aid can earn you 300 Plenti points when you buy $12 worth of products now through the 26th of September.  Plus, you can stack coupons to drop the final price even further! But you’ll have to hurry, the current newspaper coupons are set to expire on 9/20.) I wish more companies would support women in this battlefield of the mind.  

Take a few moments and check out their “Speak Beautiful” video.

$50 Giveaway exclusively for my followers on Twitter! 

You will need to Tweet to enter, but don’t let that stop you! You can read the Official Rules here.

Tweet a positive message and tag @Beauty4Moms (me) & @RiteAid, along with the hashtag #SpeakBeautiful.  Good luck!!!

Tweet a positive message to start a trend #speakbeautiful #riteaid and you can win a $50 @riteaid gift card @Beauty4Moms

— Ashley (@Beauty4Moms) September 21, 2015

When it comes to my beauty concerns, nothing is more important than finding products I can feel good about, use every day, and that leave my skin glowing!  That is why I’m excited to share with you about a brand that is new to me, Aqua Beauty.  It’s probably not new to many of you because it’s available at Walmart locations nationwide but I somehow managed to pass it by.  Aqua Beauty has luxurious products without the hefty price tag.

Check out all of their great beauty care products:  

• – Skin Conditioning Cloth Facial Mask – Combats impurities with Vitamin B, marine & tea tree extracts.  Their one time use packs are easy to use, create a fun spa experience at home, and left my skin feeling amazing!

• – Hydrating Body Serum – Improves skin tone and texture with algae & marine extracts.  This has a feature I’ve never seen on a body product before – it has a roller ball applicator!

• – Sea Foaming 2 in 1 Soap and Sponge – Gently cleanses and massages skin with algae extract & sea salt.  I’ve never seen a body sponge like this before and I just love it!  The attached soap even massages you as you wash.

• – Ocean Fresh Salt Scrub + Polishing Glove System – Dual exfoliation reveals younger looking skin with sea sale & marine extracts.  I’ve never tried exfoliating gloves before and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to.  I don’t think my skin has ever felt so smooth! …especially after I added the Hydrating Body Serum afterwards.  Heavenly!
• – Hydrating Cloth Facial Mask – Replenishes dull, dry skin with Vitamin E, aloe, & marine extracts.  This is another one of their one time use masks and I found it to be wonderfully refreshing as well!

Right now by taking your very own Aqua Beauty product quiz you can get a $1 off coupon for Aqua Beauty at Walmart!

I took the quiz, which only took me about 5 seconds, and it gave me their recommended products to address my beauty concerns!

After you take the quiz you can scroll up, click the + sign near any of the products, and click “Save $1” to print your money saving coupon.

YOU CAN WIN AN AQUA BEAUTY SPA KIT!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I love to shop, don’t you?  It’s okay if you do, most people do.  Whether you enjoy shopping online, searching through clearance racks, hurdling small children on black friday {kidding!}, or just browsing a flea market most people like to shop.

I think shopping is a great activity by itself but finding a good deal makes the experience even better.  Would you like to shop where the prices are 80-90% off of retail prices….all the time?  I used to love shopping the clearance racks on the sale days with a coupon in hand.  Now that I have kids in tow I just want to find something that fits and get out of there.  Even though I’m not near as skillful at finding clothing bargains now as I once was I still don’t want to pay a fortune!

FashionProject.com is a unique shopping experience.  Their mission is to raise as much money as possible for a charity while creating a community for shoppers so that they can shop for causes that they care about.  People can donate designer clothes, shoes, and accessories and get a tax deduction.  Fashion Project then cleans and features them for sale on their website.  55% of the net proceeds from every sale is donated to a charity.

J.Crew Flats
$39.00 ($200.00 81% off)
Your purchase of this item will donate $17.05 to support Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater LA.

 
Banana Republic Scarf
$19.00 ($78.00 76% off)
Your purchase of this item will donate $1.00 to support Big Brothers Big Sisters Foundation.

If you love shopping half as much as I do you’ll want to check out FashionProject.com.  Great deals, great cause.

It’s that time of year again!  It’s time for the bi-annual Ulta Beauty 21 Days of Beauty Steals!  It’s back and you can score some killer deals on the hottest beauty products!  The sale started on Sunday and every day they will feature deals in store and online.  Each deal and event will last for one day only, so plan ahead and check back often.

You can take a look at the full calendar on Ulta Beauty’s website.  I’ll be shopping this sale online since I’m sure the stores will sell out of the items fast.  Get your wallets ready, this is going to be good!  Here are my favorites from the sale:

Week 1

Friday 9/12 – Smashbox 24-Hour Shadow Primer $10 (reg. $20, Ulta.com) – I love Shashbox primers.  They are worth every penny and at 50% off, it’s a huge steal!

Saturday 9/13 – butter LONDON 2 for $15 (reg $15, Ulta.com) – This is great one, guys. I’m a big fan of butter London and this is a phenomenal price.  Shop early for the best selection!

Week 2

Sunday 9/14 – Tarte Lights Camera Lashes! Mascara $10 (reg $20, Ulta.com) – This is a great one!!  If you don’t buy anything else, buy this!  You won’t be sorry.  I have a review of this product in the works right now. : )  It’s good, trust me!

Monday 9/15 – LORAC Front of the Line Pro Liner 50% off (reg $23, Ulta.com) – This is a lovely liquid eyeliner with a felt tip.  If you’re a fan of liquid eyeliners or if you’ve wanted to give them a try now is the time!

Wednesday 9/17 – Clarisonic BOGO Brush Heads BOGO (reg $27, Ulta.com) – I’ve been putting off buying a new Clarisonic brush head and I’m so glad I did.  I’ll be stocking up on Wednesday!

Thursday 9/18 – Too Faced Shadow Insurance 50% off (reg $20, Ulta.com) – I’ve wanted to try this for a while so I might take advantage of the 50% off sale and give it a try.  It’s Too Faced, how could I go wrong?

Week 3

Friday 9/19 – Urban Decay Naked Beauty Balm (reg $34, Ulta.com) – I’m all about BB creams lately instead of pure foundations.  I think I might have to try this!

Wednesday 9/24 – Anastasia Beverly Hills Tinted Brow Gel 50% off (reg $22, Ulta.com) – When it comes to brow products, Anastasia is tops.  I highly recommend all of their gels, powders, etc. etc.

Thursday 9/25 – Stila One Step Correct Primer $20 (reg $36, Ulta.com) – This is a fabulous primer that calms your skin if you’re prone to redness and irritation.

Friday 9/26 – IT Cosmetics No-Tug Waterproof Gel Eyeliner $10 (reg $22, Ulta.com) – I absolutely adore IT Cosmetics’ make up and brushes but I’ve never tried their eyeliners.  For $10, why not, right?

Check out ALL of the great deals on Ulta.com!  Happy shopping!

What deal are you most looking forward to?

Did you know that Julep’s very popular monthly beauty box just got even better? Yes! Maven subscriptions can be customized to fit your style, your likes and your favorites even more now. Each month, Julep Mavens get:

• – A fully customized monthly delivery of over $40 in nail polish and beauty products for $24.99 a month, or just $19.99 a month if you sign up for the 3 month option
• – Flexibility to try one of five beauty styles each month or upgrade to get them all
• – 20% off and free shipping on other products at Julep.com
• – Exclusive access to the Secret Store each month
• – First dibs on monthly Mystery Boxes and the opportunity to win one, too

Not sure you want to be a Maven yet or know what style you are? Take the Maven Style Quiz and then use the code FREEBOX to get your first box free. Your box will ship for free and you are signing up for the monthly subscription service, however you can cancel at any time by simply contacting Julep Customer Service.  I’ve been signed up for 2 years now and I love it.  I look forward to my box every month!

Julep also makes a great gift. The Gift of Maven is perfect for birthdays, Mother’s Day, Graduation, your best friend’s birthday or any occasion. The Gift of Maven is available in 2, 4 or 6 month increments and does not auto-renew.

Become a Maven today!

Donate A Photo is a service that helps give to the people who need it most.  Do you like to take pictures and share them with friends and family?  I know I sure do!  We all do, right?  I share pictures on a daily basis…if not on Facebook or Instagram I at least mail pictures to show my husband or family.  Did you know that you can take pictures and help people who really need help?  I just found out about it and I’m pretty excited!

Share a photo and Johnson & Johnson will make a $1 donation to a charity of your choice.  This money will help go toward fixing up a public park, getting medicine for an infant, or helping kids play sports safely.  There are a lot of options.  You simply choose the cause you want to help and Johnson & Johnson makes it happen.  There’s absolutely zero cost to you and it’s easy enough that you can do it directly from your phone.  Give it a try and check out the pictures I’ve shared!  You can donate one photo per day!

How Does Your Photo Make a Difference?

If you’re cleaning out your bathroom cabinets for spring cleaning don’t forget to check out all the great coupons, tips, tools and more that Healthy Essentials has to offer.  You can save over $55 in printable coupons by visiting the Healthy Essentials site this month!

Check out a few of these deals:

• Save $1.00 on any JOHNSON’S® Baby Intense Moisture Cream

• Save $1.00 on any LUBRIDERM® product (6oz or larger)

• Save $1.00 on any (1) CLEAN & CLEAR® product (excludes trial and travel sizes)

• Save $1.00 on any (1) NEUTROGENA® Sun product (exclude trial size)

• Save $1.00 on any (1) LISTERINE® SMART RINSE Anti-cavity Mouthwash, 500 ml

• Save $1.00 on any (1) REACH® Total Care Floss, or REACH® Gentle Gum Care Floss, or REACH® Dentotape® or REACH® Access® Flosser

• Save $2.00 on any (3) NEOSPORIN®, BAND-AID® Brand Adhesive bandages or JOHNSON and JOHNSON RED CROSS® Brand products (excludes all trial and travel sizes, First Aid Kits, 10 ct Band-Aid Brand Adhesive Bandages, and On-the-Go First Aid Kits. Must buy (2) different brand products to qualify for this offer along with a third product)

Go here to get these great money saving coupons!

Save Money

Giveaway

Do you want to go to 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil?   I don’t know about you but I would like too!  Visit HealthyEssentials.com and just maybe your wish could come true.

All you have to do is share a picture or story of a moment of caring in your life and you could scream “GOAL!” from Brazil.

Visit www.healthyessentials.com for more information on this amazing opportunity and don’t forget about the fun Twitter party tomorrow.  I hope to see you there!