Money saving - Guide to cash back websites

Hands up girls if you like to shop.

Now, (other?) hands up if you want an excuse to shop without feeling guilty?

Hands up…okay, hands down and read on if you’ve ever shopped or like to shop online at Debenhams, Asda, Marks and Spencer’s, Next, Very, New Look, Ann Summers, La Senza, Republic, Cath Kidson, Miss Selfridge…phew! And lets just say a lot more places then that!

What if you could shop at all these places and actually earn money for doing so? What would you do? Okay, don’t leave my blog assuming this is a scam because trust me, I bloody hate scams as much as the next person. 

Let me just begin by saying that as mad as it sounds, I’m going to ramble on about this for a while because it’s completely legit, takes no effort, loads of people do it! I felt like laughing once when people were amazed at how I got paid £12 for two cinema tickets. That’s right. I got two tickets completely free, and got £12 cash back for applying for them.

If you’ve never heard of cash back then you’ve been missing out on a lot. Cash back is my saviour! It even helps my relationship when my boyfriend demands to know why I’ve wasted more money on shopping online.

It works like this. You sign up to a cash back website, most of which are completely free. Some do take an annual charge from you, something like £5.00 which is taken from your earnings, not from you bank account. So you sign up, you browse, you find something to buy, you get cash back for it. It’s as simple as that.

You won’t get loads of money for each item you buy. But if you shop online often, it all adds up. You just have to remember to use the websites!

Cash back websites are becoming more and more popular because they’re so easy to use and can make such a difference in the long run. They are reported to be very popular among students and stay at home mums who already use the Internet to bargain hunt anyway! A lot of cash back websites also offer vouchers for their affiliate shops and often give away points for free.

It’s not easy, however, choosing the best cash back website to suit your situation, and its always important to remember you get back what you give. So, obviously somebody who has spare time on their hands to browse online and take time to earn the free points on a number of different websites will see more benefit from someone who shops online only from time to time. But no matter how often or to what extent you use these websites, you can earn money back.

There are two types of cash back websites. Those that offer money for your purchases right away, i.e. Miss Selfridge offers 5% cash back on quidco.com, which means 75p cash back from a £15.00 purchase, will be tracked. The other kind, is cash back websites that offer you points per purchase rather then money. These points can then be exchanged for vouchers or cash. An example of this is making a purchase through Ebay on pigsback ; pigsback offers 3 piggy points for each pound spent.

Quidco.com

Personally, my favourite cash back website to use is Quidco.com.

http://www.quidco.com/user/740882/89463

The link above is my personal referral link and will automatically give you £1.25 in your account upon signing up. If you wish to just go to the website without this sign up bonus then use

www.quidco.com

Quidco was formed in 2005 by married couple Paul and Jen Nikkel. The website promises 100% cash back and a 24 hour customer service response.

This is one of the most popular cash back websites used and it follows your basic cash back format. It will take £5.00 of your earnings once a year (this is what keeps the website running) but after that, all 100% cash back goes straight to you.

The website is very easy to use, you can search a store yourself or have a look through the different categories such as ‘Fashion’ or ‘High Street’, which means if your just browsing you can see a variety of different shops with different deals and different cash back values. Even better, the website has a tab called ‘Hot Deals’ which lists the shops with the highest cash back amount, and lists deals where you don’t have to purchase ANYTHING to receive cash back (i.e. deals like signing up to receive a free simcard or a free trial of an offer). Quidco.com also offers vouchers for different shops as well to save even more money!

Cash back is paid monthly, on the 1^st and the 15^th (working days) of every month. You can set up your payment account to only receive cash back if it is over a certain amount too which helps space out your payments if you’re hoping to put the money as savings!

However, like every other cash back website, you cannot expect to receive your cash back straight away. Each purchase has what is called a ‘Validation period’ which means the time between the purchase and when the money is ready to be paid. This is usually time used for the retailer to confirm you have purchased your product, or to confirm that you haven’t signed up for something then cancelled immediately to receive the cash back. Validation periods can take anything from a day to a few months, but your purchase amount will most usually be tracked within 3 days. So off course, with cash back websites, it is an ongoing thing and you cant expect to buy a product and get your cash back paid into your account the following day. But what’s good is that while your waiting for things to validate, you can continue to browse and shop and in a couple of months time you’ll see the cash piling up!

- Please note, although you will still have to wait for your purchase to be confirmed, quidco.com are in the process of changing the transactions so that once you make a purchase your cash back will be with you in three easy steps rather then the previous five – making it even easier to use!

You can be paid directly into your bank account or, if you’d prefer not to use your bank details, you can be paid with paypal.

Every purchase you make can be viewed under ‘Transactions’ which means if you do have a query by not being paid enough or not being paid at all then you can easily refer to where something has gone wrong and get it fixed quickly.

To conclude, Quidco.com works for me because it’s easy to use, it’s legit, it has a wide range of different shops and offers and it pays you straight cash rather then vouchers. I have had Quidco since March 2010 and have earned £50.67 from it so far. This is the only cash back site I regularly use at the moment, except if it doesn’t offer cash back on my shop of choice which is when I use another website.

Here is an example of my earnings.

Pigsback.com

Pigsback.com is also a fairly good cash back website which offers points instead of cash back, which can then be exchanged for vouchers.

http://www.pigsback.com/Registration/Register.aspx?ref=120209508

This link will take you to the page where you register, again, this is using my referral code, and you will earn 50 piggy points upon signup whether or not you use my referral code. If you’d prefer not to, simply visit

http://www.pigsback.com/registration/register.aspx

Pigsback was launched in the UK in 2005, and has also launched in Ireland and Canada. Pigsback prides itself on its ‘vibrant community’ where members often submit travel and cinema reviews, recipes and much more.

Pigsback is also completely free to sign up with and doesn’t require a sign up/registration fee, but does require you to validate yourself by receiving a text to your mobile phone. The website also offers, if you allow it, a subscription service where they will send out emails with the best deals and special links for extra points – these are not available unless you subscribe.

The site is quite good in that even if you’re not buying things you can still do what is called ‘daily clicks’ which is where you click on a page within the website to earn points. Pigsback usually has three or four daily clicks where you can earn 5 or 10 points each time, which all adds up in the end! You can also find on the website weekly and daily quizzes where you have the chance to win 3,000 points, which is immediately worth a £10 voucher. Points can be exchanged for vouchers for days out, travel and hotels, shopping vouchers and more.

You can see a variety of different ways you can exchange your points here.

However, long term users of the website have reported that it is not what it used to be with wrong answers being displayed for the quizzes, the same users winning points repeatedly, daily clicks reducing dramatically, and points not being awarded. Despite this, the website is good for value, is easy to use and also has a section dedicated to gaining points easily or with little or no spend. Since signing up in March 2010, I have earned 6,315 points, 3,000 of which were won in a competition. With these points I have gotten two £10 shopping vouchers.

Here is an example of my (latest) earnings - I could not view all pages/past transactions at once.

Topcashback.co.uk

Another cash back website which is considered to be one of the best is topcashback, and was voted the best cash back website on Martin Lewis’ Moneysavingexpert.com I personally do not have much experience with the website, but its said that topcashback, on average, pays the most cash back to you compared to others i.e. a higher percentage than other websites.

http://www.topcashback.co.uk/ref/member3675968404

Again, this is my personal referral link but you can go directly to the website here

www.topcashback.co.uk

The website is simple, and easy to use and also boasts a community message board where members discuss the best deals, offer help and which offers a guide to people using the website for the first time.

Topcashback was launched in 2005 and has since won awards such as the web user gold award. There is no fee to sign up and no annual fee so the website is completely free to use. Topcashback also offers a ‘Topup Cash back loyalty scheme’ where depending on how much cash back you earn that month, you will get more than 100% cash back – going up 1% the more you earn that month. So, again, like all the other cash back websites, you follow the same routine of browsing the cash back website, clicking through to the store from the website, buying what you want and expecting the cash back in your account soon.

It also has discount deals for various different shops, websites and much more! I won’t be posting an example of my earnings from this website as like I said I don’t use it often, but if anyone would like to see an example in a few months time then I will happy post one.

So, there you have it, the three most popular cash back websites on the web at the moment and how to use them. You’ll also find that when you earn cash back or points, every website gives you the option to donate this money to charity if you feel like doing a good cause while shopping too.

You just need to remember some basic rules about cash back ;

• You get what you give. The more you buy, the more money you’ll get in return, but progress will best be seen over a few months. Don’t expect a massive pay out immediately.
• Despite the fact that you’ve read this guide, read around too. You may find you only have the patience for one website and would like to find out what is best and some websites are best for different things.
• Be quick on the ball. You can find really excellent deals that are usually only available for a couple of days (sometimes you’ll find offers that have typos – i.e. someone has accidently typed a bigger cash back amount then they should have! This is completely legit and if you’re one of the first you will get the money but often a website realises their mistake quickly and removes the offer within hours). I’d recommend having a look at these threads http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2132075. This thread is a guide to the best offers available and you can even request a day to day guide on what you should be clicking on from what site each day to earn a steady £3.00 every day (at last check). http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2892746. This thread lists all the click throughs for the pigsback website, so you can just check this thread everyday, click on the links posted and earn points everyday.
• Remember to always use cash back websites and shop around for the best deals. It may be useful adding the websites to your bookmarks bar to remind you to check them. Also have a look on a few before you make your purchases as some sites may offer more cash back then others and some offer discount codes too.
• If you decide to do daily clicks, clear your cookies before you go from one website to the next. This is because some websites have the same offers and may reckonize you as already having the offer/link clicked.

Although this has been a long post, this is pretty much the basics. As daunting as it sounds, you’ll soon get used to thinking to yourself ‘Ooh I wonder if I can get cash back for this from quidco.com’ and similar thoughts before you purchase. What’s surprising is that people who are unaware of what cash back websites are still consider it to be a scam, even though its clear to see that money is earned over time, rather then websites offering a large lump sum of money upon signup (which is usually a scam!). So remember to have some fun with it and let me know how you all get on. I am not an expert but if anyone has any questions to how it works or how to get started then just let me know!

And please let me know what you think of the guide, I've tried to make it as simple and basic as possible while trying to tell you about the important things you need to know.


www.quidco.com
www.pigsback.com
www.topcashback.co.uk

Sitemap

ASOS.com Competition

ASOS.com are doing a competition where you can win £300 worth of clothes! All you have to do is sign up, add £300 of clothes you want to your 'save for later' shopping basket and save it! It's as simple as that and the competition ends at midday tomorrow!

Unfortunately a lot of people are having problems logging in (myself including, but it was still nice to window shop!) but give it a go and you might win!

www.asos.com
ASOS Facebook page

Say hello to our first guest blogger!

Yes, despite the fact that this blog is still rather new, we do have a guest blogger (because obviously you can't put up with listening to my boring rambles all the time!)

So, her name is Laura Lowe and her blog/feature is called 'The real ins and outs of planning a wedding ; as told by the future Mrs Burke'. If you want to read about a real bride and hear about the nitty gritty truth of planning a wedding step by step then this blog is for you! Laura isn't your typical bride as she didn't even want to get married until, well, recently obviously but her upbeat writing manner means you won't be able to stop reading as you find out what its really like! You can read her feature in two ways.

One, would be by clicking the link to the right of this page, beneath where it says 'Other Pages'. On this page you will find her own personal profile page which won't be posted on here, so I would head on over now if I were you to have a gander! All her blogs will also be archived there.

Each blog she writes will also be posted here on the homepage as it is written.

So to conclude, you can read her profile/blog archive here The real ins and outs of planning a wedding ; as told by the future Mrs Burke or by clicking on the link on the sidebar down the right hand side of the blog.


And this is her first post. Enjoy!

Notes from a reluctant bride

Have you ever met those women who say that they have had their dream wedding planned in the minutest detail from when they were just girls? They gush about the proposal and the engagement party, then Vera Wang dress, the white roses, the string quartet...

I was never one of those girls.

In actual fact, I never thought I would get married. I always assumed I would end up a cat lady; old, grizzled and yelling at the kids who came to rescue the football from the front garden. It seems, however, that this was not to be.

I spent a good portion of my teens looking for “The One”, and inevitably failing. After a couple of disasters, after which I promised myself I would forget about men entirely, Rob appeared on the scene. Let me describe the bizarre coupling that the outside world must see: Me, an independent, individual woman who is bossy, domineering and very fragile, meets Rob, a soft, gentle man who is calm, quiet and extremely caring. My mum couldn’t believe it when he didn’t run away screaming.

When Rob proposed in Sept. 2010, I am happy to admit that I was shocked. This rather handsome, albeit perhaps foolish, man was on one knee, at the bottom of a waterfall, asking me to be his forever. Romantic? Yes. A moment we shall recount for many years? Yes. Crazy? Absolutely!

Once I’d pulled myself out of the stunned silence, I said yes. And then I waited expectantly. This is the moment where most of those little girls imagine the huge diamond to be produced with a flourish, and I must admit, I threw him a questioning look at this point, wondering what was going to seal the deal. It transpired, after hastily getting up from the mud, that he didn’t want to pick a ring because he chickened out of buying a ring in case I didn’t like it. A wise decision. I spent the next four hours wondering around the city, visiting the jewellers and forgetting which rings were sold where. I did eventually choose – much to the relief of my very patient fiancé, and then proudly wearing my shiny new ring, we retired to the bar to discuss how best to break this momentous news to our parents...

Coming next: the aftermath.

Some cute buys!

If your looking for something a little bit different to update your jewellery collection then why don't you have a look at these delicious looking cupcake charms and pendants!

Perfect for summer these yummy looking charms would brighten up any outfit and would look absolutely gorgeous with a plain summer dress and wedges. You can wear these charms however you like - as earrings, as a necklace, as a bracelet etc and there is a wide variety of different styles to choose from. I personally think a gorgeous pair would be lovely as a pair of earrings to add a bit of colour to any boring winter outfits.

What's best about these charms is that they look real! I would love to be out wearing some and have somebody come up and ask me why I am wearing a cupcake haha! That's what makes them different though, and with retro jewellery making a massive comeback then they fit right in.

You can find these cute charms by visiting Jazzie's Jewellery which was created by Stacey Rhian Haynes (23) from Newport. She explains that she created Jazzie's Jewellery when she finished her fashion degree and decided to make jewellery to pass time, earn money and stay creative whilst she was not making clothes. 

Talking about the cupcake range, she says "The cupcakes and sweeties are my best sellers. They're very life like and not available on the high-street, and they have amazing textures and some of the treats smell gorgeous!

I'm to work more on clothing designs again but incorporating jewellery into them, so that will be coming up soon"

Well, I'm certainly eyeing up a few things to buy, and some of these cupcake charms will definitely in my purchases!

Jazzie's Jewellery on Facebook

Look Of The Week - Date Night Down The Pub

'Look Of The Week'

There are many different variations of these such as 'Outfit Of The Day' and 'What I wore today' but mine is '..of the week' so to say because I don't think I'm simply fashionable enough to have an original, stylsh outfit to post up everyday of the week! Also, I'm choosing to focus on the look as well as the outfit which means the makeup, jewelry and hair will be taken into consideration.

Look One - Date Night Down The Pub

This was a look I put together to be quite casual with a bit of glam because we were going out for some food at the pub as well. So I'm wearing ;

Embellished jacket - Next (in the sale) - £25.00 down from £75.00

Paris top - Republic - £29.99

Skinny fit jeans - Primark 

Knee High Boots - Price and shop unknown as they were a gift

Silver bangle - Price and shop unknown as I knicked it from my sister hehe

I chose this look because it wasn't too casual and it wasn't too dressy. The boots dressed down the outfit a bit whereas the jacket glammed it up so the look had a good balance between the two. I wanted a white vest top go to underneath the jacket but I don't own any plain ones..I think that even though this top is printed it goes okay as it matches the boots.

I also wore these rings with the outfit

which I thought gave it a bit of an edge. (I couldn't take a picture of them all as my camera is terrible and anything close up comes out blurry).

Makeup wise, though you can't really tell in the picture, I wore the smokey eyed look with a faint pink blush and a light base of red lipgloss. I also just straightened my hair and didn't use any product except for a little bit of my boyfriends styling gel to help smooth down my fringe.

Well, there you go, my look of the week!

P.S Please let me know what you think, I'd love to hear some opinions!

Story Behind The Name

I don't consider myself to be creative, so I knew picking a name for this magazine/blog would be a challenge. I tried to think about how my favourite magazines got their names. Cosmopolitan? What a weird name that must have been at first, before it became known as a brand name and now nobody thinks twice about it. How did they think up the name and decide it was best for their magazine?

I was almost close when I thought about what reading a magazine means to me. How I love to be alone, comfortable and have some form of junk food/energy drink with me when I relax and escape into the magazine. Me time. Me time..didn't quite make sense. Howabout..you time? You? As in you the reader, this magazine is for you...oh darn, off course, that's already a magazine.

So I'm going to tell you the story of what just happened to me. I chose my name months ago now, off course, but what just happened to me happens every time I read a magazine.

I get in the bath and relax for a little while before picking up this months issue of Company magazine. This is what goes through my head. 'Ooh, she looks stylish on the front cover. If I saw those clothes in a shop, I wouldn't buy them or know how to put them together but that outfit is really good. I wish I could pull that off. I should try and be that stylish, and more adventurous and outgoing with my outfits. Those leather gloves are nice, and give the outfit a bit of an edge. One of my boyfriends friends wears gloves like that on a night out sometime and it looks good. I've thought about buying them before. If she can pull them off, and so can this cover star then so can I!'


I read an article called 'My one-month life gap' about a women who climbed Kilimanjaro both for charity and for a self journey. 'Wow! I wish I could do that! I want to do that! Okay, I probably couldn't but I'd love to be able to...how life changing would that be. And I could raise money for charity...'


Next up is an article about girls who have similar make-up routines as their Mums, having learnt from them. 'I miss my Mum. I can't wait to go home again. She's done so much for me and has always been there for me..so has my whole family. I miss them loads. I should get everyone flowers when I graduate, to say thank you for all they've done for me.'


Following that is an article about a girl who lost her leg in a car accident and was the first ever Miss England amputee contestant. She briefly talks about how she never sees disabled models in magazines or on billboards. 'She's so inspiring..its true, you don't see many disabled people in fashion shoots. I remember Gok Wan did a few fashion shoots similar a few years ago. Maybe I could do one in my magazine, and help raise some money for charity in the process.'


More articles gave me similar feelings. An article about a girl from the UK accepting a bar staff job in France on a whim interested me, inspired me and just fueled my eagerness to travel even more. The fashion pages left me faced with urges to buy everything, to make my style more fashionable. Every article inspired me.

That's why I came up with the name 'Inspire'. I'm not the only one who reads magazines and gets these feelings. And these feelings are good. They inspire people to do things for charity. To work harder. To have more fun. To better themselves. I want my magazine - and this blog - to be filled with these things. I want people to read the magazine and the blog and want to pursue these feelings. I want to raise awareness of issues that are kept on the down low. I want to remind girls to be safe when they are on nights out, or to be careful about what details they put online. I want to my magazine or blog to be responsible for someone taken the extra precaution to be safe. Even if someone logs onto my blog, or sees something in a magazine and tries out that makeup look which gives them even the smallest confidence boost that day, then I've done what I wanted. I want to inspire people.

LUSH fallen victim to hackers

Handmade cosmetics company Lush have launched a message on their website today explaining that any orders taken between 14th October 2010 and today may have given up their card details to hackers. Lush stated on their website "24 hour security monitoring has shown us that we are still being targeted and there are continuing attempts to re-enter.

We refuse to put our customers at risk of another entry - so have decided to completely retire this version of our website.

For complete ease of mind, we would like all customers that placed ONLINE orders with us between 4th Oct 2010 and today, 20th Jan 2011, to contact their banks for advice as their card details may have been compromised."

So, if you're still waiting for some old Christmas presents to arrive and may have assumed that the problem would be because of postage backlogs, I'd recommend contacting your bank - just incase.

What a shame that hackers feel the need to target such a successful company. Please spread this message around to anyone you know who may have placed orders on their website since this date and in the meantime check their website to find out about other safe ways to buy their products until they get the situation under control. 

Although I've never ordered on the website before, I must admit, this works out as bad news for me and good news for them because now if I want any Lush products, I'll have to go in store and be tempted by all the other pretty things on sale!

Kate Flinders Hurn, 20, from Liverpool, is a student who works part time in Primark. She says, "I was going to order from Lush.co.uk, thank god I didn't as I have had fraud against my card before and it was traumatic!"

www.lush.co.uk

Just a note..

Just an update about the blog (as I'm wide awake at this hour with energy drinks to blame!), I do not claim to own ANY images posted on this website, unless stated. If anyone does have copyright of any images I post and would like them removed, then please email me and I will happily remove them.

Secondly, on the subject of contacting me, as mentioned before, I'm always after contributors! So, if you want to write for the blog, you have an idea, a query...anything, just email me!

For both things mentioned above and anything else, you can contact me on inspire-mag@hotmail.co.uk, or on my personal email Louise.Joy@hotmail.com.

Lastly, I've added a few adverts on the site but I have tried to make them both as small as possible and as relevant to the site as I can. At the bottom of my blog, I have added an amazon wishlist widget. I thought this would be good for my Wednesday Wishlists if anyone is interested in purchasing what I have mentioned. Obviously you cannot buy everything from amazon but I do find it quite useful for books and other things as you can buy things pre owned for really cheap. I know this sounds like I'm plugging the widget/amazon for money but I wouldn't recommend anything unless I actually meant it, whether I earn money from them or not. I have used a thing called amazon associates, but I doubt very much I'd earn a lot of you clicked through and purchased anything.

Still, its a nice gadget to have there to coincide with my Wednesday Wishlists. What do you think?

Wednesday Wishlist

This is what I'm lusting after/wanting this week..

Natalie Pleat Front City Shorts, Boohoo.com, £15.00

I used to be a hater of shorts when I was younger (believing skirts were far more feminine) but over the years shorts have become much more stylish and classy and are available in - thank god - more then just denim! I love this pair because I think they look quite glam. They'd look lovely with a caramel or chocolately brown jumper/top, some wedges and some nice thick bangles on a night out. I also think they'd be ideal to keep back for summer and team up with a brighter coloured top - perhaps a pale pink - with black pumps. 

Bella Bamba brightening pink face powder, Benefit, £23.50

I can also admit to using the same old blusher for years, but after an email arrived in my inbox about this brand new Benefit product, I'm all for trying it! I've been after a more coral, pale pink blusher for ages and this seems perfect for the job. Benefit promises that it will 'amplify cheekbones and create the illusion of sculpted features' and that this blusher is the first of its kind as its 3D! I don't quite understand how its 3D compared to, well, other makeup, but I trust in the Benefit Bible that it will make a difference and will make my cheeks look utterly kissable (as my sister once told me when she introduced me to Benefit makeup before a date!)

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

I've watched the film, I've cried the tears and I've even developed a small girl crush on Rachel McAdams who stars in the film adaption - now its time to read the book. I've just ordered it and I'm looking forward to curling up in bed with a hot chocolate and tissues to hand with this book. 

How I Met Your Mother, £30.99, Amazon.co.uk

Now, don't get me wrong, in no way am I ranting and raving about this being an amazing new show. I say this because this show has been airing for 5 years now and although I've only been a fan since last year, I hate being the last to be a fan of things! No, this is simply on my wish list because I watch each episode religiously anyway, and after watching the latest episode I've fallen in love with the show all over again. The latest episode, that offered a lot of drama but still laughter, reminded me of how amazing this show is and how badly I STILL want the boxset! If you are a late bloomer in enjoying this show, I'd recommend checking it out now. It's like Friends meets Scrubs (the main character, Ted, is exactly like JD!) and is based around Ted in the future telling his children the story of - yep, you guessed it, how he met their mother. And even on the 6th season, despite lots of clues, we still don't bloody know! But, we don't know in a good way as in we like to keep guessing, rather then Lost cliffhangers where no questions ever get answered until the very last episode. It also has great cameos from Britney Spears to Sarah Chalke (who played Elliot in Scrubs!).

Teacup pigs!

Awww, I want one so badly!

www.boohoo.com

www.benefitcosmetics.co.uk

www.amazon.co.uk

REVIEW: Maybelline Colorsensational in "Warm Me Up"

Heylo Ladies... It's been so long since I posted anything on my blog and really I have no reasons for it!!! It's just that I got plain lazy :P Well, Winters make me lazy, they make me FAT!!!!
But today one of my readers Zeeba asked me about it and I realized that I need to start posting stuff again and so here I am with a review on a lipstick that I purchased yesterday :)

Warm Me Up

It is Maybelline's Colorsensational Lipstick in "Warm Me up" 235...

Maybelline ColorSensational Warm Me Up

It comes in this really pretty looking case. It is a transparent brown and a steel casing and looks really smart and pretty on the dresser :)

Maybelline Colorsensational

The color is a nude pinkish brown and it has an extremely creamy texture. The lipstick is very moisturizing and is pretty long stay :) I wore it to office today and it stayed post lunch!!! Well I was impressed :)

Warm Me Up

The great thing about the lipstick is that it doesn't dry ones lips and keep them moisturized all throughout the day. And I am saying this in the middle of Winter!!! :P

Another plus about this product is that it smell yummy but has no taste :P
Its a YES YES YES for me and I plan on purchasing more and more shades from this range :)

Crafty Savings

Me and my Mum were walking round Hobbycraft the other day, which I'd been itching to get to since Christmas as I love anything crafty. I'm a fan of card making, cross stitch, scrapbooking..anything crafty, even though I don't deem myself particularly creative unless I'm working for hours on end. Anyway, I actually left Hobbycraft empty handed! I love Hobbycraft and all the things in it but I'm always surprised about how expensive it is. And it got me thinking, a lot of craft stores are quite expensive which is a real shame as there's not enough of them around and its no good if the only one near you is expensive. I don't understand it at all. The whole point of crafting, aside from having fun and making something with a personal touch, is that its meant to be cheaper then buying something in a shop. It's all about make doing with what you have or using loads of little things to make a lovely big thing. So why do craft shops like Hobbycraft completely contradict the message they are giving out?

Saying that, there are some things I'd pay extra money for anyway. One of these would be a really good scrapbook album to put my scrapbooking in. For something thats going to hold memories for years to come and thats also going to show your creative side then there's nothing wrong with paying a little extra to make sure it's perfect. The same goes for painting, which I unfortunately don't have much time for anymore, but if you're going to make a proper go of it then I think its acceptable to pay whatever price for the professional paintbrushes, paints etc.

I've always found pound shops are quite good for picking up cheap crafty things like embellishments or stickers. But the main reason of this post is to tell you all about a shop which has surprised me by recently stocking scrapbooking and other crafty items.

TK Maxx!

TK Maxx has always been affordable and when I went and splashed out on a few scrapbook kits everything scrapbook was 70%! Most scrapbook items I've seen in the shop are around £7 or so (I don't think any of them are over £10) and these prices include whole kits with background papers, embellishments, small albums to display your pages etc. You can also find wedding scrapbook kits, travel scrapbook kits and now a large range of scrapbook albums!

Unfortunately, I am unable to show you any images as there are only a small selection available on the TK Maxx website (but much more in store!) but the majority of the stock is from Momenta so visit Momenta.com for an idea of the type of stuff you can find!

Wednesday Wishlist

This is my Wednesday Wishlist...aka what I'd love to buy/do this week if I was rich!

Firstly, this gorgeous bag from River Island.

Black Floral Print Bag,  £44.99, River Island

This bag was recently discussed on the More! magazine Facebook fan page, and I immediately fell in love with it. I've been eyeing it up ever since and decided it would be an ideal new bag for me to use for University, as my previous bags have broken by putting too much in them. Technically, this isn't a wish list, as after much thought (mainly about the price tag!) I purchased it last night. But until it's arrived, it's not mine yet so its still a wish until it is in my hands and holding all my handbag necessities! 

Brown Edge to Edge Button Cardigan, £32.99, River Island

I've also got my eye on this cute, casual cardigan which I'm convinced will go with everything in my wardrobe (including my black floral print bag when it arrives *drool*). I used to live in oversized hoodies until I decided last year my style needed a revamp and I began my love affair with chic, girly cardigans. My most favourite is a long, pale blue/grey cardigan that I wear with EVERYTHING, so it's definitely time to buy a new one that will add a bit of colour, which is why I want this one.

Luxury Bead Bracelet, £12.00, Accssorize

Despite absolutely adoring oversized bracelets like this, I really don't have enough bracelets full stop! I have a never ending supply of necklaces, earrings and rings, but bracelets I could definitely do more off! I'd love a bracelet like this that could spruce up any outfit. Because the beads are so big it would mean that no matter how casual the outfit is, I could just add this bracelet to make it a little bit more classy and I wouldn't need to add other accessories. I'm just trying to justify the price tag again, thats all...!

Walkers Sensations Roasted Chicken & Thyme Crisps, price and location unknown!

Now, I know this isn't a fashion or clothes item (I didn't exactly state what my Wednesday Wishlist's would be about!) but I'm really craving these! I haven't had these crisps in so long now, despite being my favourite flavour, because for some reason nowhere stocks them anymore! I cannot find them anywhere, so please, if you live in the North East and see them on sale anywhere, tell me! They are definitely still distributed as I sadly emailed Walkers to ask (and hoped they'd send me free packets, but they sadly they didn't) but wherever I go they are out of stock. I am distraught.

Foot Spa Treatment, Prices beginning at £10 for 15 minutes, appyfeet.co.uk for more information

Yes, what you see is what actually happens in this one of a kind foot treatment. This recent sensation has been very popular all over the country for months now (with celebrities even having a go!) and I've been hoping to try it out for a while now. But, despite trying to book myself in for an appointment recently, they were fully booked until closing time! The foot spa treatment is basically where you stick your feet in a bowl/tub full of these 'Garra Rufa' fish where they then proceed to nibble off all your unhealthy or dead skin. Lovely. As weird as it sounds, those who have had it done swear their feet feel amazing for weeks afterwards and that the fish only tickle ever so slightly! I'm hoping to book myself in for a try next time I'm near a shop but if not, I wonder if I just stick my feet in my fishpond at home will get me the same response...?

www.riverisland.com

www.accessorize.com

www.appyfeet.co.uk

FREE Models Own Goodies!

If you're anything like me then you must too think that Models Own have an amazing and affordable makeup range. I especially love their range of constant on trend nail varnishes, so I couldn't believe it when an email about this offer arrived in my inbox.

Models Own will be teaming up with the News of the World  and Fabulous magazine this weekend for this special offer available to fans of Models Own. For free (well, pretty much, apart from paying for two newspapers) you can be the proud owner of a Models Own make-up kit worth £24 pound! The kit will contain a cute make up bag filled with an eyeshadow, a mascara, a liquid eyeliner, an eyelash curler and tweezers all from the Models Own range (as shown in the picture above!) As well as this, inside Fabulous magazine you will also find a voucher for 25% off an order at the Models Own website.

To get these goodies, all you have to do is collect two vouchers from the News of the World newspaper (three will be printed altogher incase you miss one!) then take these vouchers into any Tesco store. The fiirst voucher will be avaiable this Sunday (9th January)! What a bargain!


And if you need any inspiration on how to use your 25% discount, here's what I've got my eye on...

This bang on trend Autumn/Winter collection will be sure to keep anyone looking stylish in these last few winter months, going well with oversized, fluffy Christmas jumpers and funky earmuphs. Whats even better is the two shades 'Grace Green' and 'Nude Beige' (the first and last shades shown in the picture) will bring a bit of colour into any outfit and will also transition well from winter to summer. This set works out at only £15 pound with the 25% off discount, which works out at half price compared to the orignal £30 it was before!

And, at the top of my wishlist is this gorgeous, glamourous (and slightly ridiuclously priced - well, maybe not considering its gold!) special edition diamond inlaid Models Own nail varnish named Gold Rush!

At a whopping £83,000 the nail polish offers 1,118 diamonds in the lid alone. So, with the 25% off discount, that works out at a (not so) affordable..£62,250! On second thoughts, I think I'll stick to the ready to wear version for £5 from the website instead!

www.modelsownit.com 

Hello World!

Hello everyone and welcome to Inspire Magazine Online. If you're wondering what this is all about, then look no further. Inspire Magazine is a women's lifestyle magazine I will be producing in my last year of university and it will be, pretty much, a girl bible! Inside you can expect fashion for all shapes, sizes and budgets and interviews with real women! Also inside you'll find features on men, sex, love, traveling, food, crafts, cooking..everything you could ever think of! Inspire Magazine basically fills the gap that other women's lifestyle magazines do not - with a little bit extra thrown in! Inspire Magazine will also rely on you girls to know what to publish because we want to give you exactly what you want. If you don't want celebrity gossip - that's fine! If you want more affordable fashion - you've got it! Because the internet is so bloomin popular these days, Inspire Magazine will also be on Facebook, Twitter and off course - here! So not only will you find more content on here that you can't get in print, this website will also be heavily interactive. You'll have the chance to let us know what you think, what you want and how to get involved.


So bear with me as this website develops, take a look around, subscribe and check back often!

LOTD for the New Year 2011

Hello everyone... First of all let me wish you guys a fantastic, fun filled and a fulfilling New Year ahead :) I have great expectations out of 2011 :)

We celebrated this New Years Eve a bit differently. Rather than going out and partying, the BF and I were invited over to a friend's place and we welcomed the new year with our closest friends. For this I kept my look simple and fresh and went with a Purple smokey eye and pink nude lips.

Let me now share with you all the LOTD I did for New Years Eve...
It looks like this:

Purple Smokey Eyes and Nude Pink Lips

Purple Smokey Eyes