CL Presents Stocking Stuffers Under $5

The excitement has sprung as the holidays are around the corner.  While many people probably began and finished their christmas shopping on Black Friday there is still time to buy the little things.  Stocking stuffers can be playful, fun, goofy, and loud.  I know personally I love pint sized things so stocking stuffers are a huge hit for me.

This year College Lifestyles is bringing you some of the top stocking stuffers under $5.  Pair a few together and you can make the perfect stockings for friends, family, and loved ones.

Hand Sanitizer/Hand Lotion: Every year I find myself at Bath & Body Works picking up half a dozen hand sanitizers or hand lotions.  Every girl knows you can never have to many of these.  You need one for every purse!  Don’t forget, a girl also needs all the different scents!

Burt’s Bees:  My personal favorite chapstick on the planet!  Remember though, Burt’s Bees doesn’t only sell chapstick.  They have lotions, soaps, face washes, and foot cream.  Think about buying a travel size of any of these and using it as a stocking stuffer this year.

Candy: Let’s be serious, everyone wants to dig inside their stocking in the morning and find candy amongst other things.  Be thoughtful when picking out candy and try and get everyone’s favorite candies.  Perfect christmas candies are m&m’s, hershey kisses, peanut butter cup santa’s, and snickers.

Coffee: Who doesn’t like a jolt of coffee in the morning?  Maybe some hot chocolate?  Purchase a small $5 gift card to your loved one’s favorite coffee place like Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts.

Makeup:  My new favorite site, E.L.F.  Eyes lips face has amazing products for great prices!  Purchase lip gloss, eye shadow, brushes, lotions, and so much more for under $5.  This is a one stop deal for the greatest stocking stuffers for beauty products.

Don’t hesitate and go out now to buy this years favorite stocking stuffers.  Don’t forget the basics of every year’s stocking stuffers as well.  We may say we hate it every year but parents, we really do love the toothbrush, shaving cream, gum, and little note pads you always throw in there!  Enjoy the little things and have a great holiday!

Stephanie Coppola is an intern at College Lifestyles ™.  She recently graduated from Quinnipiac University with a major in Print Journalism and a minor in Sports Studies.  She’s thinking of creative stocking stuffers for her family this year!

Smooth Those Scales Away – Let Your FACE Shine!

Warmer weather means higher UV rays, which really means keeping your face and body safe from too much sunlight!  No one wants damaged skin!

Tell me, who wants to look like Kim Kardashian?  In the picture below (all rights to Kim Kardashian), she is extremely sunburnt and her face probably dried out once it started to fade, too.

So, here are some facial tips for a dry face as well as preventing your cheeks from turning into a lobster red.

STEP ONE:

Always, always, always use some kind of moisturizer before you put any kind of foundation down (even if it already has SPF in it)!  This way you’ll know it will even out the amounts of SPF and make sure it won’t rub off if you use powder after your base foundation.

My Pick: I use Clean & Clear oil-free Morning Glow moisturizer with SPF 15.  It soothes your skin while it brightens.

STEP TWO:

Apply your liquid foundation.

My Pick: I personally don’t use any kind of liquid foundation, but I have found that Clinique Stay True Makeup Oil-Free Formula – $21.00.  For a less expensive route, try CoverGirl Outlast Liquid Makeup with SPF 14 – $9.00 at local drug stores.  This foundation is ideal for a summer sparkle you might acquire in the hot weather or while working out, while it evens out discoloration.

STEP THREE:

Apply your powder foundation.

My Pick: Now, I DO wear powder foundation after apply my moisturizer.  I use Maybelline New York Pure Stay Powder Foundation with SPF 15 – around $7.00 at your local drug store.  If you choose to use the powder form after moisturizer, make sure you wait until it is dry to apply so it does not leave yucky streaks!

TIME TO WASH IT ALL OFF:

I use Aveeno Clear Complexion Cream Cleanser Face Wash every time I shower and Aveeno Skin Brightening Scrub Face Wash when I want to exfoliate and improve my skin tone (Smooth Those Scales Away – sound familiar?); this is also the perfect product for more radiant skin and leaves your face feeling so soft and delicate- and trust me, it does its job!  These products range around $7.00 at your local Target or drug store.

HAVING FUN IN THE SUN:

I use Aveeno Continuous Protection Sunblock Lotion with SPF 30 for face.  In the beginning of my “base” tanning, I generally find the highest (usually 10-15) SPF in a lotion form for my body – Hawaiian Tropic, Banana Boat, etc.  Once I have gotten enough sun for a base coating tan, I use the oil form with the highest SPF, but not all day!!  And for the lips, I use C.O. Bigelow Mentha Lip Balm Stick, No-Shine with SPF 15, which you can find at Bath & Body Works for $7.50.

Now you know everything you need to Smooth Those Scales Away and keep your face sunburn-free, soft and looking radiant.  Remember, too much sun can make you look like you’ve been burning in a leather factory!!  No classy co-ed wishes to look like this, so make sure you have fun in the sun in moderation!

Check out the rest of my “Smooth Those Scales Away” Series:

HAND Edition

FOOT Edition

KNEE & ELBOW Edition

Kayla Norris is an Intern at College Lifestyles (TM).  She is so ecstatic the weather is warming up and cannot wait to stroll around the outdoors of Georgia and lay out by the pool!

GIFTS for a 21-Year-Old: Cash-Friendly & Creative D-I-Y

After I read Briana’s post, I glanced up and fixed my eyes upon a cute wine glass that a good friend decorated for me one year for a birthday present and thought, “Perfect for an ‘in my budget’ and affordable 21-year-old present!”.  Then it hit me: I was inspired to write a post just for you!  Here are the cash-friendly ideas and create-your-own/do-it-yourself presents I have done myself, been given, or thought of while brainstorming.  These gifts will identify to a sorority sister, casual co-ed, classy co-ed, comedic co-ed and a great girlfriend.  

1.  I just mentioned a wine glass, but you do not have to choose that one.  You can decide from a martini glass, margarita glass, or even a wine bottle!  Plain ones can be found anywhere for a cheap price: Wal-Mart, TJ Maxx, any craft store, and other similar locations.  If you don’t have any yourself, find a friend that has the painting essentials: paintbrushes (think about cup-ware size when choosing this as well), bright and fun acrylic paint colors and you can choose to dab a wee bit of modge podge over the dried paint for lifetime stay!

2.  This is a very cute one for sorority sisters: order or buy a baby paddle for less than $5 from A.C. Moore or other stores that provide them.  They are as long as one of your lengthier fingers and can be used as a keychain as well.  You can paint or order her initials letters or the numbers ‘2’ and ‘1’. Cut a little bit of string and tell her she can put it on her doorknob, wall, or my favorite – hang from her car’s rearview mirror. 

3.  If not a sorority girl, you can still use the same idea as #2, but without an obvious “fraternity/sorority” paddle and buy a straighter, more board like small keychain, star, or princess crown to decorate however you want to!

4.  I recently made my mom and a friend a pictured collage birthday card at the picture station at Wal-Mart that takes less than 5 minutes!  It was LESS than one dollar!  You could easily put pictures of you and the special birthday girl in the collaged frames and type a little message along with it and maybe add a cute cocktail mixer, margarita salt-top, a lime- anything to go along with it!  It is personable, yet very inexpensive and shows you still care and took time to customize your charming card! 

5.  Buy a poster and write down 21 creative things she will have to do on her birthday with you and her other friends!  A couple of things my friend Anna wrote for our friend Sarah to do were: “Go into your room and find something wacky, tacky, and fun to wear for the rest of the night – and must get approved by Anna and Kayla” – the winner: a backpack. “Randomly yell ‘it’s my birthday!’ or ‘I’m 21!’ throughout the night”.  You get the idea!

6.  Create a “Margarita” Basket.  Buy a basket and pick and choose to add: margarita glass (and decorate – look at #1), mix, salt-top, lime, Bath & Body Works “Island Margarita” home fragrance room spray and/or 4 oz. candle. 

7.  Wine stopper and wine glass tassels!  Definitely cash-friendly and very cute accessories! (My friend Abby gave me those in the picture!)

8.  For giggles: a breathalyzer – just Google or go to Amazon to find super cheap deals, and then you can create and add something from #1-#8 above! 

9.  For more chuckles: “Cocktails for Dummies” book and create and add something from #1-#8 above!

10.  Buy a cork board to hang onto her wall.  Think of a general color scheme and paint the board a base color.  Once dried, write with another color of your ideal spectrum something along the lines of “My 21st birthday…” or “My First Legal Moments/Memories” or something more creative.  Then draw different colors of paint to act as pictured borders where she will place photos from her 21st birthday bash once they’re printed.  If there was a theme involved, try to use those colors or symbols in a corner or two, or between borders, example: Mardi Gras – purple, gold, green and masquerade mask or beads.  Oh, and add a little message on the back so she won’t forget who gave it to her in the future and for proof you are SO imaginative!! J 

11.  My best friend Abby did this for me one year, too!  Get a ceramic piggy bank (I know AC Moore and Michaels has them) and decorate with ceramic paint pen or acrylic and smooth over a dab of modge podge for long-lasting stay.  Add a little message on a card to say, “Just four more years until you can rent a car!  You can start saving now!”

12.  Create a photo album of 21 different adventures you and your sister/co-ed/girlfriend have created together and add little captions beside them.  You can probably find a scrapbook/photo album with an unfinished wooden cover that you can paint and decorate as well! 

13.  For laughs: Get a picture printed that you know is not your birthday girl’s favorite.. for funny reasons of course- where she is blinking, laughing, not ready for the picture, acting silly and add a little message to say it is her new driver’s license picture, note it’s a joke (duh!), and offer to drive her to the local DMV and pay for her new license if it requires payment. If no charge or very little, take her out for a birthday dessert too!

14.  Speaking of dessert, one of the easiest and fun ways to show you took out time for your best girl’s birthday is to bake goodies, like a cake, cupcakes, or whatever!  Check out a yummy cake balls recipe we just love!  

These gifts don’t have to be just for a 21-year-old!  You can add them in a Big/Little present mix, another birthday age, or for any special occasion!  Tell us which present you chose to do for your next girlfriend’s 21st birthday at intern@collegelifestyles.org!

Kayla Norris is an intern at College Lifestyles(TM).  She is a proud sister of Alpha Sigma Tau National Sorority and her favorite gift to make/decorate is the corkboard (#10)!

Smooth Those Scales Away – KNEE & ELBOW Edition

Spring break is closing in quickly!  Whatever will you do with those dry knees and elbows??  Here are some Bath & Body Works products that will smooth you down…

LONG-LASTING & FRAGARENCED FRESH: 

Try B&BW’s Signature Collection BODY SCRUB:

- contains exfoliating sugar crystals, aloe, and jojoba and almond oils

- 6 selected fragrances, priced at $15.00

Follow it up with the same Sig. Collection fragranced BODY BUTTER:

- if same fragrance: locks in moisture longer

- long-lasting moisturizer and heals dry, rough and damaged skin

- contains shea and jojoba butters and oat, rice and soybean oils

- priced at $15.00

INDULGE INTO YOUR SENSES:

B&BW’s Aromatherapy Collection SUGAR SCRUB:

- usage: massage and rinse clean once a week

- priced at $16.00

- contains exfoliating sugar crystals and blends of sunflower, safflower, sweet almond and jojoba oils for silky smooth skin

 

Top it off with the Aromatherapy VELVET BODY CREAM:

- contains African shea butter and Mongolian Cashmere extract

- priced at $16.50Not sure which Aromatherapy fits you?  Go to my previous post on the different scents and senses.

 

TAKE A TROPICAL TRIP:

Test B&BW’s True Blue Spa “Island Getaway” Line:

- bathe in “Need a Margarita?” Citrus Body Wash ($13.00) to soften those dry knees and elbows
- scrub scaly areas away with “Need a Margarita?” Body Scrub ($13.00); it contains an oil base, so it leaves your skin soft and moisturized.
- moisturize after with TBS’s amazing “Tahiti, Sweetie” body lotion ($15.00), which contains Monoi Oil, Tiare flower and Coconut Oil for extra locked-in hydration.

Go a step further and imagine you are actually there in that Tropical Paradise!  Try a spritz of the “Island Margarita” $4 room spray or light the $9.50 4 oz. candle by your bathtub!

*This is definitely in my top 3 favorite home fragrances*

Keep in mind this is a great spring or summer birthday gift package for a fellow Co-Ed!

And now… You look SPECTACULAR and SCALE-FREE for Spring Break!

Check out my other “Smooth Those Scales Away” Series Posts:

HAND Edition

FOOT Edition

Stay tuned for more additions!

Kayla Norris is an intern at College Lifestyles(TM). She is a junior at Georgia Southern University and is super excited to go on her first cruise to the Bahamas for spring break!

Slow Down & Indulge Into Your Senses – Aromatherapy

Smooth Those Scales Away – HAND Edition

Smooth Those Scales Away – HAND Edition

          I have to admit, I have gotten dry skin, feet, hair (who hasn’t?), but I have never had chapped hands before – until winter break!!  I have worked at Bath & Body Works for a year and a half and am a firm believer in and use a lot of different forms of products in the store, so a majority will be from my territory.

          This week I am focusing on the most used part of the body – HANDS.  We could hardly function without our two luxurious assistants to help us carry, build, move, and most important of all: clean/disinfect ourselves from the unsanitary things we wash or touch.

          While I was home from school for winter break, I loved the fragranced soap my mom put in my bathroom and was constantly washing them, especially after playing with my puppy!  I didn’t think to moisturize after washing in case my hands would dry out, so low-and-behold, my hands became CHAPPED!  Obviously there are other ways to get this scaly misfortune, especially for those who are in much cooler temperatures, but this never happened to me before!!  I knew exactly what to buy to get rid of this painful, not-so-pretty appearance.

          This miracle-product is from a line Bath & Body Works carries called C.O. Bigelow.  A selected amount is in most stores and on the website, www.bathandbodyworks.com, but they carry almost everything on their website, www.bigelowchemists.com.  Look below for more details on this “handy” moisturizer! J

• For the Chapped:           
  As mentioned previously, the ultimate best hand-restoring product Bath & Body Works carries in store and online is by C.O. Bigelow. 
  
  - There are two specific products; you may do a two-step process by cleansing then moisturizing, or you may use just the moisturizer.  I recommend for an intensely chapped hand to do the two-product ritual.

  - First, cleanse with C.O. Bigelow Chapped Hands Cleanser (not hard to find in the store with that title! J).
  Usage: “Smooth a generous layer on hands, making sure to include cuticles for optimal skin-softening results. Rinse under warm water and pat dry”.

  - Follow it up by moisturizing with the lotion by C.O. Bigelow Chapped Hands Remedy.

Want to give it a test-try?  Buy the 1.5 oz. Chapped Hands Cleanser for $5.00!

Notes: The cleanser is fragrance-free, contains aloe and jojoba oil to cleanse and soothe, therapeutic apothecary ingredients, and no artificial colorants. Size: 6.5 oz. Price: $12.00
The moisturizer is non-greasy and heals and hydrates with concentrated glycerin. Size: 1.7 oz. Price: $14.00
Cleanser Trial-Sizes sold only at www.bigelowchemists.com or at participating B&BW stores.
Chapped Hands Remedy Moisturizer is not sold on www.bigelowchemists.com.

• For the Hands-On Lady:          
  - Not only for the chapped, C.O. Bigelow is a great line to use for those tough jobs.  If your hands are not extremely dry, I refer the moisturizer- Chapped Hands Remedy.

  - If you want to try something a little bit different and continue without fragrance, try “Lay it on Thick Fragrance-Free” hand cream by Bath & Body Work’s True Blue Spa Line.

  - If you are an outdoors lady, try B&BW’s True Blue Spa “Glove Me Tender”.  This specific hand cream contains SPF-15 – perfect for not only protecting your hands from the sun, but keeping your hands non-greasy and smooth while you work!

Notes: Lay it on Thick Fragrance-Free ingredients: Shea Butter and Macadamia Nut Oil nourish and hydrate skin. Vitamin E moisturizes to help protect and condition skin. Size: 2.5 oz. Price: $13.00
Glove Me Tender Ingredients: Skin brighteners (improves those ole sun spots!), SPF 15, antioxidants, and shea butter to restore skin. Size: 2.5 oz. Price: $13.00

• For the Slightly Dry or Every-Day:       
  - Try one of B&BW’s best-sellers from True Blue Spa! “Look Ma, New Hands” hand cream. It contains paraffin which locks in essential moisture to keep your hands soft, smooth, and protected.

  - My personal favorite and sadly seasonal (most likely, but not always guaranteed) from November to February: B&BW’s True Blue Spa- Shea Cashmere Hand Cream. This cream combines rich, moisturizing African shea butter with luxurious cashmere extract, the ultimate softening treatment, absorbs deeply and very quickly, so it is non-greasy! The smell is heavenly with creamy vanilla fragrance; it smells like warm vanilla cake batter when I put it on! J
  
  - Another hand cream with multiple fragrances to choose from is Bath & Body Works’ Signature Collection. 17 out of the 25 Signature Collection fragrances carry the $10.00 2.5 fl oz. hand cream, which contains shea and murumuru butters and enriching beeswax.

Notes: Look Ma, New Hands Size: 2.5 fl oz. Price: $12.00
Shea Cashmere – Size: 2.5 fl oz. Price: $12.00

          Now it’s time to get your hands silky smooth! I’d love to hear testimonials from some of you lovely ladies! Stay tuned to hear more great products for other dry parts of the body! J

      Kayla Norris is an intern at College Lifestyles (TM) and is a junior at Georgia Southern University. She owns at least one product of every line Bath & Body Works carries and loves silky smooth hands!