Personal Care | 4 Simple Pleasures

I have become quite known in my little town of Tampa, FL. It seems everywhere I go I run into people who know me from posting in various places about shoes. Its kind of cool to have people stop me & ask if I’m the shoe lady. One of the questions I am often asked when people meet me on the street is where do i find the best sales?

I have favorite online as well as offline stores. Sometimes one offers something the other does not so you have to keep your eyes open for the best steals. Online, I am quite partial to 6pm.com, you want designer styles for as much as 80% off? Here’s where I start, kick in free shipping & BABY it’s like shopping at the store without the cost of gas.

My favorite offline stores are anything that is the outlet portion of the big retailers. I highly recommend that you sign up for their newsletters because they always have something going on that you wouldn’t know about if you don’t visit them daily. The following is the newsletter that showed up in my inbox today. Clearance on shoes & handbags? Oh heck yeah! Sign me up!

Another place that I love to visit for great value and believe it or not there are tons of mid-range designers at the thrift store. Ok, I’ll admit, I don’t usually buy the shoes but if you are ok with them they are definitely there & man, talk about cheap!

Price of Guess shoes at thrift store

Guess shoes at the thrift store

Liz Claiborne at thrift store

Liz Claiborne

Price of Liz Claiborne shoes

Lastly, I find great steals at consignment shops. What’s the difference between consignment & thrift store finds you ask? I find that items at consignment shops are often a little more costly & better cared for than thrift store finds. Thrift store items have been donated for a tax deduction whereas items on consignment still belong to the original owner, once sold, they split the price of the sale with the store. This is where I typically find higher end designers like Gucci, Balenciaga and so on. Anyway, I hope this has helped you in some way find some great deals. Remember, those newsletters let you know when there are new items coming & old items going. The “old” items are usually at the absolute best prices & that’s when I pounce.

OH! I almost forgot, can’t believe I almost forgot to tell you this. In addition to signing up for the newsletters, be sure to become fans of your favorite retailers pages too. They do giveaways & offer savings for the people who become fans. Worst case scenario, you can always come visit me on facebook or here & I’ll try to let you know when something good is going on Tell your friends to come see me too

Happy Shopping!

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Sometimes being a shoe fanatic in a warm weather state has some serious perks Women of course get to wear open toed shoes for much longer, here it is January and while much of the country is shoveling walkways, I’m deciding which nail polish I will wear on my toes because its in the upper 70′s low 80′s and there is no way I’m closing my toes in.

Me & My Happy Feet :-)

Capelo’s Salon here in Tampa extended to me, my readers & fans of my page that are local a Bags & Shoes Pedicure special. No way was I going to pass that up! $15 for a service that we all know costs much more. I enter & even though they don’t know me from a hole in the wall in person, I am greeted at the front desk by a friendly person and I tell them who I am and that I have come to take them up on their offer of the $15 pedicure. I’d called ahead & scheduled an appointment but many of us have been in a salon on a Friday afternoon. It’s almost like being at the doctors office,you’re going to wait because somewhere somehow, they have gotten off schedule. Nope, didn’t happen. I was taken in right away (love that!).

Capelo’s is a typical salon in that needless to say, the women all are chatty. Customers & stylists alike are friendly and conversational. I don’t know about you but for me this is important because I LOVE to talk & I’ve been in salons where if they don’t know you personally they don’t have much to say.

I am asked to choose my polish colors and complimented on the glittery look I walked in with done with real glitter all by myself Yep, I’m proud and I was told that they did these types of things there. Cheryl showed me a whole collection of glitter colors that left me feeling envious, these were used to create “Rock Star toes”. I’m feeling all kinds of fabulous now, I have Rock Star toes. I’m also told about Shellac, waxing, massages, color services & all manner of things they offer.

Capelo’s has been in the Tampa area for 11 years but in this current location for the last 4. It is on the corner of Sheldon Road & Patterson and was pretty easy to spot. So back to my experience there, as I mentioned, I walked in with Rockstar toes & I start telling this story about tin foil on my toes only to look down & see Cheryl with a handful of tins. Why I thought this would be new information to her is beyond me, the lady is on top of her game. Glitter, tin foil & nail art, I really should have known better. We go about getting to know one another & now its time for polish. I’m almost disappointed because I’m having such a wonderful time & its drawing to a close. Once my service is complete, I am not made to feel that I must leave so the next person can hop in the chair. I am treated like a person & not a number and this makes me a happy camper. Not only am I not tossed out of the chair but we started with one color & about 4 toes in, I changed my mind. I felt bad but was told, no worries & I traded my bright blue for matte purple toes. If you are in the area, I do hope you will go by and check out the wonderful service for yourself. While you’re there, ask for the Sexy Bags & Shoes Pedicure special, it’ll be $15 well spent.

If you are a fan of glitter polish, then you know how tough it can be to remove, when you add additional glitter, it only gets worse Here is how I remove my glitter polish & was happy to learn that Cheryl over at Capelo’s uses this method as well.

tin for removing glitter polish (doesn't have to be this pretty, as long as its big enough to wrap your little piggies)

wet cotton pieces in remover & lay on polish, then wrap with foil

Make sure to wrap your toes so the cotton is snug to your nailbed

Not the greatest picture of my Rock Star toes but there was plenty of glitter :-)

When foil is removed, most if not all the glitter is gone. You don't have to wait a long period, once you have all the toes wrapped, go back and start with the first toe & start removing the foil. The cotton stays in the foil making for less mess in the end.

The finished result, I chose a matte purple polish

A word about matte polish, if you've never used it before this advice is for you. Do not put a top coat on matte polish or you will create a shine. There are topcoats made specifically for matte polish but if you don't plan to make this your main type of polish, I say forego the topcoat.

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I spend a lot of time fixated on shoes but let me tell you that along with that comes foot care. Since I live in a warm climate, I am in open toed shoes 80% of the year. I tend to forget sometimes that in other parts of the country, people are wearing boots & covering up. However, I want you to know that just because its cold outside, it is not a time to neglect your feet, quite the contrary. This is the perfect time to baby your tootsies so they will be perfect & pretty for when you can show them off again.

In the winter months, the air is much drier, thats even the case for those of us that live in warm climates. The winter is the best time in Florida because the humidity dies down. With drier air, you need to add more moisture to keep your feet supple. If you get professional pedicures, the winter is the perfect time for a paraffin pedi. Warm wax makes the feet warm & the wax has great oils to help make those feet soft. This is also the time to use heavier creams, when I lived in Chicago, I would saran wrap my feet with essential oils at night and put socks on to keep the saran wrap from slipping off.

I went out in search of a couple of videos to help you care for your feet at home & was pleasantly surprised to find a couple that featured a home made scrub & a lotion with essential oils. If you have time to do a little work, these could also be put into great decorative jars & given as gifts. I think of my feet as little gifts because they give a lot when you think about it. Ever had on a pair of shoes that were uncomfortable? Yeah, then you know those feet matter & they really do give a lot, afterall, they literally carry you through life.

Enjoy!

This one has the recipe that I’m sure smells divine & the oils have great qualities. I’m sure you can substitute some others if you’d like.

If you can forgive the bad acting, the scrub really is a nice change from the norn. Treat your feet nice. Let me know if you try one or both of these or if you’ve done something similar, tell me about it.

I love my shoes, they make me happy. Since I live in a place where its summer more than anything, I spend the bulk of my time in open toed shoes. So, with that comes the commitment to a decent looking pedicure. In addition to great shoes, I just love the idea of having something fun on my feet….for example, fun polishes.

Today I’m sifting through tons of emails and I have from Sephora, this great new arrival. Magnetic polishes. I’ve done the stamps & special brushes and all. So, now I can’t wait to try this new polish. Has anyone else used this yet? If so, share your thoughts

Want to get the most value out of your shoes? Who doesn’t, if you’re like me, the shoes in your closet are of good quality, I have a few “throw away” shoes but for the most part, the shoes I own, I plan to have for a long while.

Here are a few suggestions to help make your shoes last longer:

0104 Dereon Monumental

As women, we own shoes that have buckles around the ankles or strap along the back. I know I’ve been known to treat that little strap as if it is made of elastic by sliding it over my heel without unbuckling. Bad move, most of the materials are made to have some give so that you can walk comfortably. Over time, this stretching of the material over the heel will cause it to remain stretched out. I know I’ve had to create a new hole so that they would fit snug again. Just unbuckle, it’s that simple and this will prolong its wear-ability.
If you get rained on or snowed on in your shoes, be sure to put them in an area where they can dry out thoroughly. First of all, moisture in a shoe can promote athletes feet, who wants that? Secondly, putting on a wet shoe especially one made of leather can cause it to become misshapen permanently and if it fit perfectly prior to being soaked, its not going to fit so well afterward. Be sure to wipe off any excess water & dirt so that the leather is not stained & treat with leather conditioner while the shoe is still damp.
Pay attention to the wear pattern on the soles. We all have an area of our feet that we put more stress on and while the remainder of the sole may look fine, if these high stress areas are worn this can lead to the destruction of the shoe. Many cobblers can resole a good shoe, adding years to the life of your shoes.
Don’t just toss those shoes on the closet floor. I keep all of the boxes my shoes come in, years ago I would buy those plastic boxes & put the pics of each shoe on the front. Well, I’ve learned to save money that the box it comes in works just fine & usually already has a picture of the shoe on it. I digress, tossing your shoes on the floor or not storing them properly leads to scratches as well as prolonged exposure to dirt & debris off of the bottoms of other shoes sharing the closet floor. Keep those boxes, they may not be the prettiest but they serve a purpose.
Don’t drive in your shoes, if you’re wearing heels while driving, there is the possibility of scratching the backs of them. Next time you’ve got your foot on that accelerator, pay attention to how your foot is angled. Grab a pair of easy slip ons or flip flops if your weather permits to drive in.
If your shoes have laces, be sure to unlace. Taking your shoes off while they are still laced has the same effect as the buckle tip mentioned above.
Be sure you’re wearing the correct size. I know this sounds silly but things like pregnancy, weight loss & weight gain can affect the size of your feet & ankles. If you wearing the wrong sized shoe, this could create excess wear & tear on both your foot and the shoe.

I hope these tips will help you prolong the life of your shoes, be kind to your shoes, they carry you around all day.

All the best!

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Taking Care of Your Feet

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