Pearl of Wisdom: The Dumb Side of Hipsterism

I've been accused of being a hipster countless times over the last few years. Part of it is being a true-blue salty ("so alty") Wellingtonian. Part of it is having good taste in shit. Part of it is, and here's the kicker, having black, thick-frame Ray Ban prescription glasses before they were cool.

Since becoming financially independent and canine-ily responsible, I've started re-examining my hipster soul and trying to make good decisions based on what makes me happy AND what makes my wallet happy.

I have a Toyota Corolla. 

That is basically the most boring, least hipster car in the world.

My dad's always had vintage cars, and guess what? They are 100% terrible and will make you hate everything about everything.

When it comes to buying something pricey and, more importantly, a practical good which you will need to rely on heavily, the most important factor which we tend to overlook is fixability.

Shit breaks. How easy will it be to fix it? How often will it need fixing?

Vintage cars need fixing constantly. My dad's vintage Mercedes seems to have a permanent car park at his local mechanic. My Corolla (Alfie, his name's Alfie) has also needed a couple of fix ups since I bought it, but what I learnt from being around vintage cars my whole life is that having a rare specimen of vehicle means that sourcing parts is a lengthy, pricey process.

I can't stress how wonderful it is having the world's most common car. Alfie is a breeze to get fixed.

Alfie ♥

Fixability doesn't just apply to cars. Cellphones, laptops and other forms of tech which you are going to use daily and often rely on for Uni or work, they are going to break on you at some point. Before buying something important, make sure there is a safety net firmly in place. Avoid buying something too obscure, as 'cool' as it is, because it will be an absolute head ache to fix.

Fixability, harsh as this sounds, also applies to animals. If you're decide to go ultimate hipster cliche and fork out the $2,000 - $4,000 (NZD) it costs to purchase a French Bulldog puppy, consider that you've basically just bought inbreeding personified (dog-ified?). Dogs don't 'break' per se, but they get sick often and are prone to all sorts of issues. French Bulldogs and other such fashion breeds are the vintage car of the dog world. You're going to see your vet more than your own parents over your dog's lifetime.

When purchasing anything that will take a considerable chunk out of your pocket, assume that it will break, glitch up or get sick within the first 6 months of purchase.

How inconvenient will this be for you? Which product will be the easiest and cheapest option to get fixed? Is it worth trying to prove myself to other people via my image if I get something 'cool' that will become the bane of my existence?

I know, when you're in your 20s, you just want to have fun and you're earning actual money which you can use to fulfill all sorts of dreams you had growing up. You're free.

But also, you're in your 20s. Your job is kinda sucky. You think one of your flatmates might genuinely be insane. Your best friend just ditched you to go travelling. You have no idea what you're doing with your life. Et cetera, et cetera.

Really, do you want to add having to spend thousands of dollars fixing your car/pet/phone/laptop/whatever to that list?

Minimise yo' problems, don't buy things which you know will be an expensive hassle to fix.

Being practical is not synonymous with being boring. I may have a Corolla, but it's got a mo-fo'ing bat symbol on it and it smells like mo-fo'ing cherries on the inside. Alfie kicks ass.

Hiatus

Wow, it's been a while!

Short story short: full-time university, part-time "real job", full-time dog parent.



Hope your life, whoever you are, is going aces, whereever you are.

I feel like everyone's busy and stressed atm. It's that time of year, maybe? 

-Kate

The Basic Bro on AliExpress

Since AliExpress has started sneaking its way into being a household name, it's fascinating hearing different perspectives about the site from different social groups. My new weekly highlight is my Retail Marketing lecture/workshop, which is ripe for discussions about online shopping and contains a group of very talkative bro-friends. These two factors coincide quite nicely.


In between talking about the cricket, the trio of Basic Bros (the male version of the Basic Bitch) had a chat about AliExpress. It went something like this...

Bro 1: This guy got some AliExpress shoes this morning.
Bro 2: Brooooooo.
Bro 3: Yeah, and they fit real well!
Bro 1: Broooooooooo.
Bro 2: I bought some sunnies off AliExpress on a Friday, they arrived on the Monday. It's crazy, Brosephs.
Bro 1: Dude.
Bro 2: I might buy a jacket I found on there. It's crazy how good the prices are. Bro diggity.
Bro 3: Cricket sports points.
Bro 1: Beer.
Bro 2: Bros 4 life.



Yeah. So, that's what your typical Kiwi 20-something year old is doing on AliExpress, in case you were curious.

 Contributor: Kate, @Springerfield

Also, if you are one of the aforementioned Bros, maybe spend less time online shopping and more time doing the fucking assigned reading before class. Missed my bus because of you slow fuckers.

Pearl of Wisdom: The Store Credit Hack

How many email accounts do you have?

It's more than one, right? You have access to more than one email account, right?

Cool.



I went to buy something off OnceIt last week, and worked out how I could use their "Invite a Friend, Earn $20 Credit" to my favour.

The deal is if you invite a friend and they buy something, bam, $20 towards any future OnceIt purchase, right there in your account.

Because I was already on the way to buy something and I already have a OnceIt account, I stopped and thinked for a minute: Could I invite myself via my work email address, buy the shorts I liked (which were $14 inc. shipping) on that account and receive a $20 voucher on my original account?

Would they notice if I put in the exact same name, address and phone number for my second account?

Turns out, no! A minute after my payment was confirmed, I checked account number 1, and there was my shiny $20 credit!

So, in the future, when I want to buy something on OnceIt without using my nice lil' free $20, I just need to invite another of my various email accounts, buy it there, and collect my next $20 voucher!

Remember that this is $20 of credit towards OnceIt, and is not reedemable for cash. Technically, you're getting free goods from the purchase of other goods, not free money. But hey, it's still very cool!

Contributor: Kate, @Springerfield

If there are any other online stores that use the "Invite a friend, get a discount/store credit/voucher code" system, please let us know in the comments below!

NB: All prices in this post are NZD

DIY: Hanging Necklace Holders

I'm about to move, so I've gotten really into DIY and interior decoration, in preparation for trying to make my scruffy student flat look a lot nicer. This is a really, really cheap and useful project I came up with recently, and I think it's worth sharing!


Necklace storage is such a hassle, because if you do it wrong you'll either end up with a tangled mess or have your jewellery in a place that makes it forgettable. Because they're so beautiful, it's nice to be able to display them too.

Note that this DIY uses Pianola Roll spools. I've had some of these lying around, for a while, having decided they were perfect for upcycling, but if you don't have that specific circumstance atm, head to an opshop or online auction. They're basically worthless artifacts, besides maybe a couple of rare or mint condition ones, so go no higher than $2 (NZD) each.


Things I used:

-Pianola Roll spool(s)
-Classic white string (the kind everyone has that never seems to run out!)
-Scissors
-Clear glue

The ingredients are pretty flexible. I used the string to decorate my spools, but you could use anything else, eg, wool, paint, paper or fabric. You don't even need a Pianola Roll spool exactly! I think they're perfect for this, but if you have something else floating around your house you think will work, try that. This DIY assumes the exact process I used will be replicated.


Method:


1. Strip your Pianola Roll sheets off so you have a naked spool. The box and sheets of the Pianola Roll could totally be used for some other project, so keep them if you want.


2. You'll find that one of the Pianola Roll spool handles either comes off completely or comes out just a little- this will be where you want to end up at, so start at the other handle. Keeping the string attached to the string spool, tie it tightly to the Pianola Roll spool, pushing it as close as possible to the handle.

3. Use a tab of glue to secure the knot. You could also use clear nail varnish. Dab a bit of glue and lay down the loose piece of string. 4. Start wrapping the string as tight as possible around the spool, going over the loose end of string to secure it.

5. It takes about 20-40 minutes to wrap a spool. Keep going around and around. It's a good thing to do whilst listening to a podcast or watching TV. If you need to get up at any point, place the spool down and use something heavy to keep the string taut. Every so often, dab a bit of glue on the spool and wrap over it, just to keep things secure.

6. When you've reached the end, pop out the handle a little bit and wrap in this small gap a couple of times. Tie a tight knot. Snip off the string and use glue to secure the knot and the shortened end of string.

7. Cut a long piece of string and tie it around the middle of your spool (or do it twice towards each end). To find the middle, tie the string loosely around approximately the centre point, then holds the string, dangling the spool in mid air. Move the string along the middle section until the spool hangs perpendicular to the string it dangles on. Tie a tight double knot, then use glue to secure the knot and the string that wraps around the spool.

8. Tie a knot and push a pin or nail through the string loop, attaching it to a wall or pinboard. I think these look nicer in duos, so make another if yours looks lonely or you have a lot of jewellery.

9. When adding necklaces, remember that you'll also need to be able to take them off! You could make it so you have to undo the clasp to take the necklace off, or simply place the necklace over the spool and pull the pendant through the loop created, so it can just be pulled off (this doesn't work so well for chunky or stiff necklaces).


Ta-da! Super easy and, more importantly, mega cheap. There are heaps of cool things you could do with these, like painting over the wrapped string or hanging one from another, go crazy.

Contributor: Kate, @Springerfield

How do you currently store your necklaces? Has this post been helpful to you?  

Pearl of Wisdom: Online Auctions 101

Sites like TradeMe (for us NZers) and eBay (the actual auction-y side) are fantastic because they combine two of the greatest activities of modern life: thrifting and online shopping. Paradise.

I've bought some absolute gems over TradeMe. I got a Uniqlo skirt for $3 (inc shipping). I've also got- no, we'll be here if I list all the great things I've bought off TradeMe. Incidentally, I've been to the TradeMe offices! They have a slide. I went down it. It was super flimsy and creaky. They were also planning to go international back in 2012- I'm not supposed to talk about that, but hey, it's been long enough and I never signed anything.

Right, off topic.



To skip to the point, there's a right way to do online auction sites. Instead of searching for the cheapest Buy Nows and auctions that have a week to close, use whatever filters are available to you on your local/fave auction site to mirror this search function:

Sort Order: Closing Soon
Price: $0-$5


The price is flexible, but you get the gist. You want to find what auctions are about to end, because this means there's less time for you to get outbid or involved in a bidding war. Either narrow down your category or do what I do and look at everything under the sun in a broad category, such as Woman's Clothing.

If you're looking for something specific, then don't use this method. This is for 'rummaging', and finding really cheap goods that you don't really need (although marketing discourse actually defines 'need' as including 'wants', so you can argue that you do 'need' that new pair of shoes you're coveting).

Another TradeMe tip for NZers: Use the mobile app, not the website! The app is configured to show thumbnails of all listings, not just the ones which have paid extra for a photo on the search screen.

Also, Happy 2015 everyone! Welcome back to Absolootely for the year :-)

Contributor: Kate, @Springerfield

I have no idea what sort of sites people outside New Zealand use! Do you have something like TradeMe? Link us to your local online auction site below. 

Unsponsored ♥: Sheinside.com

Personally, I'm not into sponsored posts on blogs. I don't think you can genuinely review a product you haven't paid for. It's cool that people can make money from their blogs, and some bloggers do it in a really interesting way, but sales pitches aren't fun to read.

So no, this is not sponsored, this is a genuine recommendation. Absolootely is affiliated with Sheinside, but it's one of those half-assed schemes which mean we get like 10c if someone buys something via our blog. We're on the same thing with AliExpress. Not for profit, but for market research really.

Spiel over, I'm a huge Sheinside fan.

sheinside.com/?aff_id=1967

It's like a slightly more expensive AliExpress that's reliable and has a pre-collated set of cool things. I see things on the site from AliExpress, but also a lot of things that aren't. I've noticed that over the past year, they've gone from stocking mainly Free size to having a S, M, L selection in the vast majority of their inventory. That's cool.

They also have a tonne of promotional activities, like an exact rip-off of ModCloth's "Be the Buyer".
There's also some sort of system where you can submit clothing designs yourself. And a laughably bad official blog.And an about page, which has some pretty impressive stats.


Here are A LOT of assorted, awesome Sheinside items (average price is about $20USD):



Contributor: Kate, @Springerfield


If you see something you like, feel free to link it to us on Tumblr, in the comments below or via our Forum and we'll check for you if it's available cheaper elsewhere :-)

 Also, have you ever bought from Sheinside? How'd it go for you?

Online Shopping Gems: Wall Decals

Wall decals/stickers are amazing. Especially when they're under $10!



On with the show....



Contributor: Kate, @Springerfield

Pearl of Wisdom: When Things Don't Show Up

I bought a dog camera online. You attach it to their collar and it films what they get up to. It was $17 USD. I've been excited about it for a month and a half. I just wish it would actually, you know, arrive.

The risk with online shopping is that there's often an ocean between you and the thing you just bought. You've sent your money off into the ether and have to basically sit and wait for the dividends.

I've had about 5 items just never show up. At first I'm always annoyed, then I feel embarrassed for being so stupid and then I feel kinda happy, because I have too much stuff anyway.

I've never not gotten a refund. That's maybe just me being lucky, but I've yet to experience a seller on any platform who doesn't take responsibility for an item not ending up on my doorstep.

If you think you're in a no-show situation, contact the seller right away. The system is in your favour and most of the time there's a way to resolve it nicely.

Write a sassy letter if you like. On the computer. Just never use typewriters, they're extinct for a reason.
If the seller is silent or refuses to compensate you, when you've waited long enough to be certain that the item isn't going to turn up, contact the relevant platform authorities. AliExpress have an "Open Dispute" option, for example. If you're buying online, only ever use sites that have systems in place for when things go wrong. Be proactive. Feedback systems are pretty good at keeping people honest, but there should also be a way to get the site's actual employees involved to resolve things.

Before you buy, also be sure to check the guarantees. Many seller will offer full refunds, but only if the item is not received within a certain time period, eg, 35 days. Personally, I think this makes no sense at all, because it means I could ask for a refund if the item doesn't show up after two days. I've had things take almost two months to get to me!

In conclusion, be proactive. If you're spending more than $10 online, check all relevant fine print, such as the refund policy and feedback of the store. If less than $10, then they'll happily just chuck you a refund, it's so inconsequential, and it's a cheap life lesson if they refuse.

Let's all just hope and pray that my dog camera shows up. Because I really, really want it to!

If you want some specific advice, do utilise our long-suffering forum. It's really just there for support. We wanted to give you a place to ask for help from us people who waste far too much money online and so have a good idea of how to deal with shonky sellers!

Contributor: Kate, @Springerfield

Review: Flower Chain Necklace


I paid a bit more for this necklace (Product Page) than I'm normally happy to spend on AliExpress. But I fell fully in love with it, so I had to have it. That said, it was only $7.70 USD, which is still really cheap.


It's a stunning necklace, but it's actually a total nuisance. Firstly, it's heavy. Secondly, the flowers don't sit right and need constant readjusting to get the little red ones to sit in front of the big yellow ones neatly. Thirdly, it's too bright for my skintone- I think this would look stunning on peeps with darker skin than me, but it overwhelmed my complexion.

I took plyers to it and removed the flowers, leaving only the blue chain behind. I totally adore it now, and I have some cool flower charms I can use for something else! Huzzah!


Note: the eyelets are still on in these photos because I removed them all later. They needed to be pried quite far apart to come off.


Note 2: That's my adorable kook of a cat, Izzy. She looks grumpy, but if I wasn't holding her, she'd be on the ground meowing at me to pick her up for a cuddle. Cats are weird.

Speaking of cute weird things, here's Dusty modelling the necklace before I improved it:




Two points to Gryffindor if you spotted that my pets are colour-coordinated!

 Ratings
Product Quality: 4/5 (The paint or whatever it is comes off when scraped, which is something I'll have to watch out for)
Accuracy of Description: 4/5 (The colours are brighter IRL and it looks just a bit difference overall on the product page)
Similarity to Original: N/A

Contributor: Kate, @Springerfield

Bear with, bear with...

Absolootely in November has been a bit like this:


And for that, I'm sorry. It's a bit of a case of the snake eating its own tail- Absolootely helped get me a full-time marketing job, and that meant I haven't had the time or energy to blog.

I spend most of my spare time snuggling my dog and telling her how much I missed her while I was away working. That's my life.

Loving Absolootely as I do, I dedicated today to prepping a lot of new posts, which I'll stagger over the next few weeks.

Woooo, regular content!

Until then, here's a bit of a preview of what I did today and some things to look forward to....


Contributor: Kate, @Springerfield

Forty-Seven Dollars and Ninety-Nine Cents.

I'm procrastinating studying for my exams, so thought I'd revisit the ol' Absolootely Under $50 Challenge.

There aren't any formal rules for this, except that we do pricing in $US, because it's easier that way. Oh, and it has to be a complete outfit (shoes + top and bottom, or dress, at least). And shipping should included in the prices. And items should be available in multiple sizes.

Have a go, if you think you're up to the challenge! We're over on Polyvore, the best platform for this, so let us know if you've got a 'set' for us and we'll feature it here.

Forty-Seven Dollars and Ninety-Nine Cents.



Contributor: Kate, @Springerfield

Fool's Gold: Bou-Cheeky Boutiques

Sorry about the terrible pun in the title. It's better phonetically, try saying it outloud and you'll understand why I had to go with it!

Being a native Wellingtonian, I do love a good quirky boutique. Buying locally made products and supporting small businesses is awesome, plus they're basically like Etsy IRL.

Every city has a shop almost identical to this.
Unfortunately, just like Etsy, I've noticed (credit to my friend Rose) a lot of products that have been bought for cheap, say $2, from a site like eBay or AliExpress and sold on for a huge mark-up. Businesses need to profit to survive and marking things up is common practice, but it seems unfair to put something that's been made in China under sweat shops conditions next to hand-made and thoughtfully designed products.

To price them the exact same amount and chuck some branding on the Made in China product is a bit cheeky. If I buy a $50 necklace from a Cuba Street boutique, I expect it to have been made in San Francisco by a girl wearing vegan-friendly Doc Martens (in my mind, her boyfriend has a matching pair, a fine moustache and makes novelty fridge magnets...). That is what I'm paying for.

It is possible, of course, the boutique owners have been duped into buying these el cheapo goods, but I think they sell them to support the low profit margins their other products have.

In Wellington, there's a boutique called Matchbox (pictured above) who are a perfect example of a Boutique Gone Bad. I have nothing against them and actually quite like a lot of their inventory, but in the interest of the everyday consumer, I feel I have to point this stuff out.

Here are some examples of products you can get for MUCH cheaper online (all in $NZ):

Cat Ring

Dinosaur Necklace

Arrow Necklace

Superhero Socks

And I haven't even calculated for bulk buying, which would lower the AliExpress prices significantly.

What you're paying extra for is being able to physically examine the item before purchase, plus the convenience and experience of a local store. However, this is more of a quality issue than anything else. A $5 necklace is simply not a quality item! It's going to break or wear out pretty fast, and by slapping a $30 price tag on it, you're promising a higher quality than the necklace can fulfil. Plus the store is implying these goods are something they are not by re-branding them.

Matchbox, I like you, but I am certifying you Bou-cheeky!

Contributor: Kate, @Springerfield

AliBaba & The Vibrant Future of AliExpress

Since AliBaba has taken Wall Street by storm over the past month, breaking the record for the biggest IPO in global history, I figured it was about time Absolootely went a bit deeper into the world of AliExpress and its sister sites. I'll try make this super easy to read, because there's some pretty technical information I'd like to include.



The AliBaba group is China's biggest online commerce company, and also probably the biggest in the world ever. Here's a fantastic explanation by the Wall Street Journal, with lots of pretty pictures and infographics, that sums it up nicely.

AliExpress is one of their sites that specialises in selling Chinese products to Global consumers. Businesses wanting to buy wholesale goods in bulk buy from AliBaba.com, generally.

Proportionally, not a lot of people know about AliBaba in the Western world, but that is going to change. AliBaba is connecting Chinese producers to consumers worldwide, cutting out intermediaries, ie the retail sector. It's a recipe for success in this globalised world.

Before we discuss what AliBaba's success in Wall Street means, we'll have to do some learning. I've done a Finance 101 paper, so I sort of understand this stuff, and hopefully can translate money talk into simpler language.

AliBaba recently issued what is called an Initial Public Offering (IPO), which means it is now possible to buy 'Shares' of the company. A Share, or Stock, is an investment in the company. You pay them for the Share and receive payments as they use all the money collected from selling Shares to grow as a business. As the business grows, they can afford to start paying you back for investing in them. If they do well, you'll earn more than what you paid for the Share. If they don't do well, you'll make a loss. Also, a Share enables you a say in the company's operations, one vote per Share.

The IPO is a big deal because a company stands to earn a lot of money from selling Shares, and it shows how much confidence financial experts have in the business. AliBaba raised BILLIONS. Like, MULTIPLE BILLIONS. About US$21.8 billion on its first day of trading.



This means two major things for us AliExpress fans: 1) AliBaba have the funds to sustain and majorly improve AliExpress and other sites, and 2) People who know a thing or two about companies are predicting that AliBaba is going to be around for a while, doing some seriously major scale business.

Some companies don't have a big IPO and still go on to become massive, such as Google, and some companies offer IPOs when they're already a big deal, such as Facebook. It can mean a lot of things, but the main thing it will provide is opportunities for AliBaba to tighten its hold on the e-commerce market. AliBaba is now one of the biggest tech companies in the world and is going to be a huge part of the expanse of the Technological Age we're living in.

As for Absolootely, it means we totally jumped aboard the right bandwagon.

If you're interested/as big a business nerd as me, here's AliBaba's IPO Prospectus, which has some details as to how the company plans to expand and other such insights.
Contributor: Kate, @Springerfield

Pearl of Wisdom: Brand Loyalty School

This may seem like an obvious one, but there are actually a couple of simple things brand loyalists could do to keep their favourite small business running. If you really like a product or service, then you should reward the business by helping them grow, or at least not fail.

Not for their sake, dear God no, but so you can keep getting the things you like! Hashtag Selfless.


Accompanying us will be some cartoons from a fantastic 'marketoonist', Tom Fishburne.


Buy their Product Regularly

Firstly, there's something called the Double Jeopardy law which dictates that not only will a small business have less customers than a big business (which is logical), their customers will also buy less from them.

If you look at the products you buy, you will almost certainly notice that you tend to return to bigger brands every so often or most of the time. This is simply because they're generally cheaper and more available to purchase. The best way to support the smaller brands that you love isn't just to buy from them, it's to make an effort to buy from them as often as possible! Double Jeopardy causes the demise of numerous small businesses and it's not hard to counteract.



 Participate in Customer Surveys/Feedback

Most businesses conduct market research to get a better picture of how they can benefit you more. They also love love love getting feedback from you, positive or negative! If you have a problem with a brand that you support, tell them. And if you get an email asking you to fill in a questionnaire, do it.

Responding to market research is important if you want to live in a world where products and services are actually GOOD. Steve Jobs has kinda ruined this, because he was famously anti-research. He was a genius, but many businesses are now convinced that he disproved marketing research as being a crucial tool for businesses. 3d televisions were only consumer tested reactively, nobody actually asked consumers if we wanted 3d TVs!

absolootelymail@gmail.com if you have any feedback about this very site ;-)




 Tell People

This is really obvious and I suspect all of you already do this. Word-of-mouth is free and one of the best forms of advertising out there. People are more likely to buy a product if it was recommended by a friend and less likely to buy it if they hear something bad about it through their social grapevine.

In the spirit of Word-of-mouth, I'd like to give a shout out to Much Moore who do a fantastic Chocolate & Cookies ice-cream. It's delicious, you should try it.




I've kept this nice and short, relatively, which was hard, because I have so many more ideas and marketing theories that I wanted to discuss! Ah well...

Contributor: Kate, @Springerfield

Review: Adorable Planet/Rocket/Parachute Embroidered Tee

I'm not a huge fan of basics like striped t-shirts, but I do love a cute tee. And this is the cutest cute tee of all the cute tees.



I bought this for about $8 (USD) from here, which is cheaper than any current versions I can find. Searching "parachute stripe" under Woman's T-Shirts seems to be the best way to find it on AliExpress.

Mine's a size Large, which is about a size 10 UK. That is, of course, not remotely Large, but that's AliExpress for you. It has a tight fit and is actually pretty flattering, though it's just a lil' bit short. Best worn with high-waisted bottoms, unless you like showing off that awkward bit of stomach just below your belly button.


I'm so in love with the little embroidered balloons, parachutes, hearts, planets and rockets! They're subtle enough that you can wear the tee with basically anything, but add some whimsy to an otherwise plain outfit. It's a really good design, I'd be surprised if it wasn't ripped off some fancy label. I can't find evidence of an 'original', so I'll have to give credit to an anonymous wholesaling company.

Much as I love this top, there is, however, a flaw. The neck ribbing is a bit loose, so it sticks out and doesn't sit nice and flat. It was much worse before I sewed it in at the shoulders, but I didn't quite manage to fix it completely. As with the dupe leggings we reviewed earlier, I do recommend this t-shirt, but only if you don't mind doing a bit of tweaking. It's a pretty simple fix, really.

That damned collar ribbing!

I got the Black version, but it also comes in Green and Blue. I ummed-and-ahhed for a while before choosing a colour, because they're all so cool!

Blue & White
Green & White
Seriously, I want 'em all. I wish they were still available for under $10! The cheapest I could find was $13 (USD), which is still very reasonable, I suppose.

 Ratings
Product Quality: 4/5
Accuracy of Description: 3/5 (The photos are a bit misleading, the fit and the neck are quite different.)
Similarity to Original: N/A


Contributor: Kate, @Springerfield

Review x Fool's Gold: Mise-En-Dior Earring Dupes

[If you're new here, Fool's Gold is a regular segment in which we examine dupes. Because it mightn't be real gold, but in this case, it's just as good!]


These Dior earrings have been around for a few months and have been worn by such people as Jennifer Lawrence, Rihanna, Cara Delevigne, Emma Watson and Charlize Theron. They're pretty hot right now, suffice to say.

From the Mise-En-Dior earring product page

I think they're pretty great, so I headed straight to AliExpress the first time they appeared on J-Law and found that there are loads of them to be found for very cheap prices. You can find them in every colour imaginable and in a few different sizes to boot.

I had no idea which to get, so I bought three pairs, from this page. I got 16mm Champagne, 16mm Pink and 18mm Pearl, all of which I thought would be nice and understated varieties. I might buy a more bold pair, because, spoiler alert, I totally love these!

Left-to-Right: 18mm Pearl, 16mm Champagne, 16mm Pink

These are the parts


Looking at photos of the Dior originals, they actually look much heavier than mine. In the above photo of Jennifer Lawrence, you can see that her earlobe is slightly bent to accomodate the extra weight of the back section. This doesn't happen with the dupe versions, as they're very light. I think the Dior ones would actually be very uncomfortable!

18mm Pearl
16mm Pink

As for prices, Mise-En-Dior retail at about $450 (USD). The dupes can be found for under $2 a pair. Sure, you're never going to convince anyone that they're the real thing, but that's not really the point. If you like the style, you can get it for dirt cheap!

I'd totally suggest getting a couple of pairs. You can play mix-and-match with the balls, swapping around the front sections. Hour and hours of fun.


Ratings
Product Quality: 5/5
Accuracy of Description: 5/5
Similarity to Original: 4/5

Contributor: Kate, @Springerfield

Announcement: New Forum Open

If you look to the navigation bar, you may notice a bit of a change! We've replaced "Contact" with "Forum", which is pretty exciting!


Just a screenshot...

Looking around the web, we couldn't really find a place for people to discuss specific consumer problems and triumphs, so we figured it was about time someone created a place for that.

We used Talki to create our Forum, and so far it's been okay in our tests. It's definitely the best option for embeddable forums, but it seems to not work 100% with Firefox. The set up is nice and simple, and it's so cool that you can sign in with your social media accounts, instead of having to make a whole new account.

I know this is really boring, but please read the Guidelines & Rules post, which is located under General. We've made it nice and simple, promise!

Kate is the Moderator, which gives her total power (Mwahahahaha!). Talki only allows for one Moderator on the free version, so it's really just her doing the policing and admin at this stage. Keep that in mind.

Head to our new Forum and have a nosey round! Please sign-in, with one of your social media accounts, and say Hi :-)

Online Shopping Gems: Quirky Socks for Under Five Bucks

My dog, Dusty, in her widdle socks!
So I took a photo for this post, then realised I already had a much better option. You can decide which is better, but I think we can agree that baby spaniels are better than 100% of other things.

Thanks for the bunny socks, Grandma!
Since it's Spring/Autumn everywhere, the whole world is in a similar situation, where the weather is sorta inbetween and all over the place. Spring/Autumn is perfect sock weather, because they'll keep your feet warm while you break out or taper out your summer skirts.

I found LOADS of cool socks on AliExpress, but do be careful, as they tend to be suited for size 34-39 feet. As of the time I clipped these, they were under $5 (USD) and available for sale.

Keep an eye out for the Star Wars and toilet paper motif ones. Such options...




Contributor: Kate, @Springerfield
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