Celebrity Looks For Less

I hope you’ll stop by my new lifestyle blog Fab Fatale for recipes, diy projects, and a contest that I’m way excited about! We’re giving away the newly released and much anticipated beauty sequel, the Urban Decay Naked2 Palette!

American Express $250 Holiday Gift Card Giveaway

We have a winner for our American Express $250 holiday gift card giveaway! And the winner is… Tabathia B! Congratulations and we’ll contact you shortly to get you set up with your prize. I can’t wait to hear what you spend your gift card on, and don’t forget to “shop smart” this holiday season! Thanks so much to everyone that entered.

And now for my challenge! American Express was nice enough to send me a $250 gift card as well, in addition to 40,000 Membership Reward points. My goal was to shop for 5 loved ones and pick up one gift from a small business on Small Business Saturday. I can’t tell you who I shopped for because they may read this post and ruin the surprise, but I can tell you that I shopped for a beauty maven, college student, a fashionista, a techie, and a baker.

I had no idea how far a $250 gift card and 40,000 membership rewards points could go! I thought I was just going to pick up one gift each for my 5 friends and family, but I was able to go all out for each of them. 40,000 Membership Reward points is approximately $400, and you can cash them in on so many amazing gifts and/or gift cards. To keep it simple, I hooked up my rewards account to my Amazon.com account and had a blast cashing in my points.

I was also excited to spend a little at one of my favorite small businesses, Pink Thread Boutique, on these amazing Spike Chandelier Earrings. Check out Lindsey’s shop for an amazing selection of on-trend, yet affordable fashion.

• Polka Dot Mini Cooler – PBTeen.com $59.00
• Red Rain Boots – Target $29.99
• JewelMint Gift Card – JewelMint.com $29.99
• Zoya Color Box Set in Bold Greige – Zoya.com $24.00
• Holiday Mint M&Ms – Amazon.com $2.50
• iPod Nano – Amazon.com $139.00
• Acrylic Deluxe 7-Drawer Jewelry Chest – Amazon.com $81.95
• Kindle Touch 3G – Amazon.com $149.00
• Pampered Chef Chocolate – PamperedChef.com $7.50
• Amazon.com Gift Card – Amazon.com $25.00
• 9 Pack InstaGram Magnets – StickyGram.com $14.99
• Spike Chandelier Earrings – PinkThreadBoutique.com $17.00
• Orange Wallet Clutch – HandbagHeaven.com $35.96
• 3 Month BirchBox Subscription – Birchbox.com $30.00

I picked up everything above and still had a bit of change left over. Remember, the challenge was to get all I could, without going over my budget. My $250 gift card purchases came to $248.43 and my $400 in Reward Points (all spent at Amazon.com) came to a total of $397.45!

Have you finished up your Christmas shopping yet? Have any great gift ideas you’d like to share?

Disclosure – this is a paid sponsored post. All opinions are 100% my own.

JC Penney – The Art Of Giving Contest by thelooksforless featuring high heel booties

JC Penney Giveaway – The Art of Gifting Contest

I had so much fun creating this Polyvore set for JC Penney featuring their Worthington Double-Breasted Coat! Have you entered their Art of Gifting contest yet? Share the love this season by creating a Polyvore set for a friend, and you both could win a Worthington Double-Breasted Coat from JC Penney! This contest ends December 5th at midnight EST!

Disclosure – this is a paid sponsored post. All opinions are 100% my own.

The holiday shopping season is in full effect. Have you started knocking out your gift list yet? Have you even started a list lol? I really hoped I could say “one and done” this year by having all of my presents purchased and wrapped by December 1, but I had no such luck! I may not be on schedule, but I will still take the time do my homework and shop smart this, and every, holiday season!

I’ve teamed up with American Express to offer up a “Holiday Shopping Challenge” for a chance to win the gift card of your choice valued at $250! The goal is to educate my savvy readers, and for my readers to educate each other, on the benefits of smart shopping. The following are a few of my tips for staying within your budget this holiday season.

Holiday Budget Shopping Tips

• Always Know Your Limits – Start with an overall budget and then come up with an itemized spending limit per each person on your list.
• Track your spending. It helps to have a spreadsheet that subtracts each dollar spent against your total budget.
• Online Shopping – I find that a lot of times I can get a better deal online as the market tends to offer more competitive prices. When ordering online, wait for free shipping and if possible, free return shipping.
• Do Your Homework – Most merchants offer price matching. I always search for deals online for the best price and call a merchant to see if they would honor the same price and they usually will to get your business.
• Membership Rewards – One of my best tips is to get paid for shopping – earn rewards, not finance charges. I put all of my shopping dollars (gas, food, literally everything) on my American Express Rewards Card. I pay it off at the end of the month so that I do not incur finance charges (which is easy by staying within my budget), and earn Membership Reward points on all dollars spent, so they are essentially “paying me” to use their card. The rewards I earn can be put towards saving on future purchases. Membership rewards are an amazing way to stretch my holiday shopping budget even further.

It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the spirit of holiday shopping with all of the beautiful lights, music and smell in every store. For this reason alone, I try my best to get all of my shopping online so that I do not give in to temptation. In fact, I don’t even bother with Black Friday deals when I can usually get a better deal on Cyber Monday, with free shipping, and avoid the crazy crowds.

My Holiday Shopping Challenge

When I host these contests, I always get so jealous of my readers and wish I could win the giveaways too. Well guess what, American Express is also giving me a $250 gift card and 40,000 membership rewards. My challenge is to cash in my gift card and points on 5 of my loved ones, without going over this budget. Check back next week to find out who won this contest and check out what I picked up for my friends and family, including an item I purchased at Small Business Saturday. Small Business Saturday is the day we celebrated the “Shop Small” movement that drove shoppers to local merchants across the U.S.

How To Win

Leave a separate comment for each entry below (comments must be approved). US residence only please. Contest ends at 11:59 pm PST December 8th and a winner will be selected at random on December 9th.

Required (once): Share your personal tips for staying within your holiday budget for a chance to win a gift card of your choice valued at $250!

Additional Chances to Win (optional): – Tweet and/or Facebook a budget tip (up to once daily) and comment to this post to let us know you have done so.

Please remember to leave a separate comment for each entry.

Disclosure – this is a paid sponsored post. All opinions are 100% my own.

Let The Voting Begin – LuLus Dress Giveaway

The entries for our Lulus.com dress giveaway are so amazing, that I couldn’t possibly choose a winner. I hope you’ll help me out. Last week, readers submitted pics of themselves all dressed up in their favorite fall trend for a chance to win the Lulus dress of her choice. Which fashionista do you think should take home the prize?

Please note, voting will be limited to one per IP address, so if all of your friends at work want to vote for you, they may have to do so from separate locations.

Win The LuLus.com Dress of Your Choice

It’s the first week of fall and I’ve teamed up with Lulus.com to bring you a fun giveaway. Usually I kick start a season by highlighting a few fashionable trends, but instead, I’d like “you” to share what trends you think will be hot this fall. One lucky reader will win the dress of her choice from Lulus.com! ‘Tis the season for a fun party dress!

How to win – Show off the trend you think will be hot this fall by dressing up, taking a pic of yourself, and sharing it in the gallery below. PS – If someone already picked your trend, feel free to post it as well. That’s a great way to tell which trends are sure to be popular this fall.

To Enter – 1. Upload your fall trend pic to a website (ex. your blog, Flickr, TwitPic, Instagram, etc.) and then link to it in the gallery below (do not link to your entry in the comments, please use the widget in this post below). In the name field, please list your first name and the trend you are featuring (ex. “Jennifer L. – Polka Dots”). 2. Go to Lulus.com, pick out the dress you’d like to win, and link to it in the comments of this post. You must complete both steps to enter.

Voting – The winner of our dress giveaway will be chosen by reader vote. All photo entries must be submitted by October 10th and voting will be held between the dates of October 11th through the 14th. US residents only please. Please note, voting will be limited to one per IP address, so if all of your friends at work want to vote for you, they may have to do so from separate locations.

Meet The JewelMint Party Hosts

To participate, follow @JewelMint, @TheLooksForLess, and @JewelsAndMints on Twitter before the party. No RSVP is necessary, just join in at any time. Also, please sign up at JewelMint.com so that your account may be credited if you win one of our giveaways. It’s free to join and browse – you are not a member until you make your first purchase.

• JewelMint – Website, Blog, Facebook, and Twitter
• TheLooksForLess – Blog, Facebook, and Twitter
• JewelsAndMints – Blog, Facebook, and Twitter

Continue reading JewelMint Twitter Party – October Showroom Launch »

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JewelMint’s August Showroom & A 1/2 Off Promo

Help Me Decide – Which JewelMint Piece Should I Get

Update: And the winner is… Jenn of Perfectly Imperfect Jenn! Congratulations and we will email you shortly for your shipping info. Entry for this contest is closed. Thanks so much to everyone that entered.

“Keep Your Clothes On!” – Summer Tote Giveaway

If Hollywood Fashion Secrets is good enough for Rachel Zoe’s red carpet starlets, I assumed it was “too-good” for an everyday fashionista such as myself. What the heck was I going to do with essentials usually kept in a “stylist to the stars” kit to prevent wardrobe malfunctions? Surprisingly, Hollywood Fashion Secrets sent me a goodie bag of their favorite “little secrets” and I immediately knew what I was going to do with each style solution.

A gapping sweater in need of closure inspired the product that started it all, Hollywood Fashion Tape. Now every clever, problem-solving product Hollywood Fashion Secrets has added to the assortment is designed to help women feel their most confident everywhere, anytime – at work, on the town, even at very special events like proms and weddings.

Continue reading “Keep Your Clothes On!” – Summer Tote Giveaway »