Boost your Sales

with Michelle’s great Avon/Mark business bags

I recently found an Avon representative that makes bags that can help you increase your sales drastically, and I thought I would share her work with you.

They are HANDMADE with a see-thru pocket in the front, which yo

u can use to show off the newest Avon/Mark Brochure. The bags have a lot of space and come in many cute designs. There are a variety of headlines on the front of each and custom linings for the inside of each bag to personalize it to your own style. Enough talking here are some pictures:

Each bag cost $40 + Shipping, which to me sounds like a fair price considering they are handmade and excellent quality.

To check out the different choices and to contact Michelle for more information/Pictures click here

Duty for under my arms?

Would you spread “Duty” under your arms to smell better?

...Well I did

I’d never used a roll-on deodorant before. I don’t really have anything against them, but to me the thought of rolling sloppy wet balls under my arms as I get dressed just sounds a bit to sloppy… and kinky, for me.

I mostly use sprays and solids—and most of the time I don’t even smell that horrible-haha.

Two weeks ago I had excess inventory of an Avon deodorant called “On Duty”. I can’t help but think that Doodie (Duty) is a very unusual name for a deodorant, like I would never want someone to tell me I smelled like Doodie. Even if it is, Avon doodie.

Well, we own a few investment properties and have been doing some renovating and landscaping, my husband and I are busting our butts on the daily the last few weeks. I figured the best time to test out this Avon deodorant would be now, while working OUTSIDE in FLORIDA—UGH! If there was ever a situation where the quality of a deodorant could be tested this is it.

I was actually surprised that the wet rolling ball under my arm wasn’t actually as disgusting as I had expected it to be. It dried fast and just like the package says, it had no scent. However, I have to say, that hasn’t stopped my husband from teasing me about it all week,

“Hey honey, you smell good! What are you wearing? Doodie?”

Yeah, we’re pretty immature, but who calls a product that is supposed to make you NOT smell bad, a word that sounds just like something that smells bad?

Anyway, after a week of daily use, OnDuty has kept me fresh and completely unworried. Even after working in the yard, pulling weeds and mulching all afternoon I still don’t smell like doodie.

Honestly, I have to say I’m really impressed with this product. Anyone that uses roll-on deodorant should totally give this product a try, If it worked for me in the seering Florida sun, I’m sure, you will be satisfied—and you won’t end up smelling like, Duty!

Clean Freaks!!

Could this be the end of your searching?

Alright, I figured there is definitely a lack of Mark product reviews on my blog, so I figured I should buy some mark products and give you the scoop on their quality.

First off, for those who don’t know what “Mark” is.

Mark. is the daughter company of Avon featuring, for young woman and woman that still feel or want to feel young—in my experience more people order from Mark than anything else.

The Mark website says, “mark is a network of young women who sell first-to-market, exclusive products-a stylish mix of makeup, skin and body care, unique fragrances and a trend-setting array of accessories. mark is a unique and unprecedented earnings opportunity.“

Notice they don’t mention Avon—they never once mention Avon in any of the web copy either... yeah, i know it says“ Copyright © 2009 Avon Products, Inc.“ At the bottom of the page, but that’s not really the same thing. I find it weird... in like a secretive misleading way, But anyway...

I opened the Mark catalogue and immediately wanted everything I saw!

The catalogue is thin. There aren’t a lot of products but the little amount of products that they offer are totally awesome--I want it all. The fashion looks so much cooler than what you would expect from Avon. A friend bought a dark blue dress the other day and it’s so adorable!

I ended up buying a cleanser for my skin and some other products that I will review another time—hehe.

The cleanser I bought was the “That’s Deep – Purifying Gel Cleanser“: with sugar maple and black willow bark” from the “Super Fruits and Super Foods” line.

When I got the cleanser two-weeks ago I was very happy about the appearance—I’m a sucker for packaging and the whole packaging looks simple and clean—Very modern. It looks very girly, like something you would see in a beauty salon--I don’t have to hide it. Finally something I can leave right with my other pretty looking packages on the sink. That’s an honor! hehe. (my husband really appreciates that— hey, it looks better than his shaving cream!)

Quick product Info:

The “That’s Deep – Purifying Gel Cleanser” is a fresh, soap free cleanser that washes away pore clogging make-up, dirt and oil without stripping away moisture.

I’ll be the Judge of That!

I’ve used the cleanser for almost two weeks now and I have to say that I am satisfied with it--not blown away, but it is a pretty good product.

Its smell isn’t too intense--not as strong as most of its competition. I actually felt safe that it was not going to burn when I applied it.

Sometimes the strong smell of cleansers makes me scared—like when they smell like poison, they can sometimes burn my skin.

It made my skin soft, but after a week and a half, I broke out and I was not very happy about it. One thing that I love about my skin is that I really rarely get pimples, I think I could even count the amount of pimples I had in my life. It must be under 10. So it was kinda weird when I found this pimple right there over my lip (very attractive). It could be a coincidence, I heard that sometimes when you use a new cleanser you can like get pimples, so I’m gonna let that slide for now.

Anyway besides that I am happy with this product and I will keep using it as long as I don’t continue to break out. Because I really like the other side effects of this product--It didn’t dry my skin out and It was all soft and just seemed full of energy.

Which of the “Super Fruits and Super Foods” is Good For You?

If… Your skin needs a PICK-ME-UP and your makeup needs a touch up

Try…

“Mist Opportunity”- Multi-Task Refresher - Kiwi + Grapefruit for $8

If… You are a total Clean Freak (Like me)

Try…

“That’s Deep” – Purifying Gel Cleanser – Sugar Maple + Black Willow Bark for $7

If… you are looking for your COMFORT zone

Try…

“Calming effect” – Comforting Milk Cleanser – Banana + Oat for $7

If…You want a plan of attack for tackling the rough spots

Try…

“Berry Grand” – Super exfoliating Beads – Cranberry + Pomegranate for $9

If… You crave a polished approach for combating dryness

Try…

“Go with the Grain” – Exfoliating Beads – Adzuki bean + Rice bran for $9

If… You are getting the blues because your skin has the blahs

Try…

“See things clearly” – Brightening Moisturizer – Lemon + Orange + Lotus Flower for $15

Well that’s it for now.

Have a wonderful evening

See ya

Lara

MY BIG FAT UGLY WATCH PART II

What’s up with these Avon watches?

After writing my last watch review, I really wanted to say something nice, I’m sitting here trying my best to twist my head around this watch and come up with some witty and unique comment that wraps up its essence and remarks upon it’s good qualities without completely destroying its reptilian reputation—but I can’t.

My Mother-in-law—who obviously thinks she is the lizard king or perhaps the reincarnation of Medusa--ordered this watch, the Gruen snake print watch in natural, with a friend, because they were buy one get one free. So for $34.99, she and her friend can both wear garish and chunky, oversized and badly-painted fake snakeskin watches with glitter numbers so large the golden girls don’t need their reading glasses to see them.

In fact, the dashes in-between the numbers are so large that they interfere with reading it because the dashes look like number 1’s.
Ok but why am I doing a review for something that my mother in-law purchased? Because yesterday she gave me a present… But then I realized, wait a minute I know this packaging!
And there it was… Snakes on a Watch! The watch she wanted soooooo bad. Given to me!

Honestly, I think I would rather wear this snakeskin watch band.

Why does Avon have to make those watch faces so big? Just like my last big fat ugly watch, and even my fellow Avon saleswoman, Kristen Mcilrath agreed—The watch faces are too BIG!

I almost broke my wrist trying to lift this watch off the table.

The result is that it doesn’t look like a woman’s watch more like one for men. It’s accentuated by the “fancy” snake print band that looks like a 3rd grader drew it while stuck in the house on a rainy Sunday afternoon. And it looks even funnier because the band is thin and delicate and then it attaches to this gi-normous watch face--there is no balance at all.

Place your eyes on the intricate and painstaking quality of this snakeskin… wow…

Not only does the face look like a man’s watch, but it also has those weird plastic bumps, all around the face—like it’s a dial or something. I don’t even know why they would do that, it’s not changing anything and you can’t turn it.

But one last thing, there is something good about this watch-- it came with directions.

The sticker said remove, and that’s exactly what I did.

Well overall this watch is odd looking cause of its girly but yet manly look, but it is still acceptable. Let’s see how the next watch will look like.

How do they say? All good things are 3, right?

Have a great night,
Let me know what you guys think.

All That Glitters is not Gold

I ordered some cute sandals for my mother-in-law-- The gold faux lizard sandals to be exact. They looked beautiful in the catalogue and my mother in law just had to have them. And as much as I’m not really into the whole “gold” thing—too gaudy & too flashy for me—when she tried them on they did look pretty adorable on her feet.

They’re pretty in a “I-just-stepped-on-a-gold-snake” kinda way, and they have a cute strap with rhinestones across the ankle that’s super cute. The sole is made with a great skid-resistant rubber crepe that you don’t usually see on a sandal.

But after she put them on she went to clasp them and realized they were broken. The tongue that sticks into the hole on the strap and holds the shoe tight was defective—it wasn’t like it was

broken, it was never there to begin with—here’s a picture.

So now I have to ship them back. I set it up to receive a replacement because my mother-in-law loves them so much. I put them back into the Avon box that they came in and printed out the Shipping list--once for me and once to put in the box. So far it says that the shipping will be for free-- it better be! I did nothing wrong, the product came defective. It would be pretty messed up if they force me to pay the postage for this replacement. I just brought the package over to the UPS store—I’ll let you know what happens.

NATURALS Banana & Coconut Milk Shower Gel

In case you haven’t noticed, this time I didn’t make my own photo. This time I’m not actually writing about the product, instead I have more to say about this type of product packaging.

I mean seriously, what the hell is this?

A fancy pirate’s hand?

When I saw my first Avon brochure it had a product with this kind of packaging right on the front cover and my first thought was, “what am I supposed to do with that?” What exactly is that packagings suppose to do? The only possible thing that I can think of is that you hang it on your shower curtain. But, why would you do that? It would look so ugly in your bathroom, and does it even stay on? It looks like it would fall off every time you even thought about touching it. If you’re not supposed to put it on the shower curtain rod, then where should I put it? On the shower knobs? There’s only one kind of knob it would even work on (not the kind I have) and even then, it would get in the way when you tried to turn the water on and off, and more than likely fall off every time you adjusted the water.

Such an ugly packaging for what I am sure is a fine product. Just for the record, I didn’t even order this product because it’s so ugly. To tell you the truth, I don’t even want to buy it. Its just so horrific looking—it looks like something that an Avon serial killer would hunt you down with after they saw what you did last summer…

Eh, I just wanted to ramble my opinion about the packaging. Maybe I will try it out someday and be blown away at its amazing functionality—we’ll see. I’d probably hide it under the sink and only take it out when I showered.

I’m not sure if I’m missing something, does anyone out there actually hang these bottles? I don’t know, I’d like it to be a pretty looking bottle more than a multi-function Swiss army knife shower gel hang bottle; they might as well make the bottle with a built-in fold-out scrub brush or a flashlight on the side.

Anyway what do you guys think? I know this review was short, I’ll write more next time.

Have a great night,

Lara

7 Lipsticks for $9.50, Sounds great right?

Well, now you can have it.

The SpectraColor Lipstick new from Avon has 7 lip colors in one lipstick

When I saw it, I had to have it. I bought the colors called, “The Roses “. They have 10 different color sets, but for my Skin tone “The Roses” looked like it would be the best choice.

The actual lipstick design is prettier than you’d think a 7-in-1 lipstick would be—However it’s also bigger than I expected it to be. I understood it was 7 colors, but I didn’t realize it was 7 pounds of plastic too—at least it looks nice—enormously nice!

But enough about the outside, it’s what’s on the inside that matters, right? Well, this lipstick feels very smooth on my lips, it feels great. And it’s very shiny--I love shiny lipstick. The one negative thing about the smoothness is that it almost seems like water. It felt as if it would drip off of my lips as I put it on. But it dried quickly, but it still felt nice and smooth on my lips. The colors are great but don’t expect them to be as bright and popping as in the photos from the Avon catalogue—but maybe it was just my color choice.

It smells good and it tasted good when I accidently pushed it in my mouth.

A big problem I had with this lipstick is the applicator. It’s hard plastic and makes it hard to blend the two different colors coming out of it to get one of the 7 shades. I recommend using a lip brush to apply this lipstick so that you are able to mix and blend the colors better. The plastic feels cold and uncomfortable on my lips and it got really messy because the hard plastic tip is pushing the lipstick around, and you end up having to clean the applicator after every use--It’s pretty ridiculous actually.

Oh yeah one last thing, I was shopping at Walgreens recently and I saw that there’s a similar lipstick from

L'Oreal the HiP (High Intensity Pigments) Color Presso—I’ve included a picture of the very cheap and very ugly looking competition. Not only is it uglier than the Avon one, It’s also 3 dollars more. I don’t know if L’Oreal had this product first or Avon, but at least Avon put some more thought into it.

Overall the Avon SpectraColor Lipstick is ok and all things considered, worth the money--7 colors for less than 10 bucks is a good price. The colors are decent and the lipstick is smooth and really glossy. But the design still needs some thought. But I’d still recommend it to try out some colors you might not buy otherwise.

Hope this helps,

Have a wonderful day

Lara

ZOMG Green Glimmer

Today I am going to review two products at once because they are kinda go together…

First off, I love the color green—it’s such a fresh and fun color--So, I decided to get myself green eyeliner and green eye shadow. I choose the Precision Glimmer Eye Liner in Olive for $3.49 (in photo on right side) and the Precision Glimmer Powder Eye Shadow for $4.99 Also, in Olive. (on the left)

I am going to start with the eyeliner. It’s very easy to apply because of the Felt-tip applicator and it hasn’t smeared so far—which is a miracle for me. It goes on smooth and the color is bright with a little touch of glitter that makes it fun. It’s lasted all day and still looks great. The only downside I can really say about it is I had to put 2 coats on to get the color I was looking for and it took a little longer to dry then I expected. But, all things considered I would say this is a great addition to my make-up case.

About the eye shadow… I have to admit when I first saw the eye shadow I was shocked at how small it was. I actually had to go back and check the catalog to see how big it looked there and it ended up it was shown actual size in the catalog—I didn’t expect that, but it’s not that big a deal.

The applicator is awesome and made applying it fast and easy. It went on smooth and it blended very well. It’s also crease-proof, so even after a full day it doesn’t look bad. I do have to say the same thing about the eye shadow that I said about the eye liner, I had to put a few coats to get the bright green I was looking for. But the result was a shiny and glittery look that went great with the eyeliner—they complement each other perfectly and look great. Despite the small bottle and the multiple coats necessary to get the desired effect, I am still satisfied with the overall quality of the product and would recommend them if you’re looking for a fun new color to try out.

See ya,

Lara

MY BIG FAT UGLY WATCH

Once upon a time, I was bored and thinking of what I could do to help my business grow. Then it hit me, “I can buy some Avon!”—That way, I can advertise my business as I wear it.

As I was looking thru Avon’s Campaign 14 Brochure looking for some FANCY accessories I found this adorable orange watch, it’s called the “BRIGHT BANGLE WATCH” I immediately ordered it and could not wait for the day of delivery.

2-weeks later, I received my order. I was so excited to finally wear my new fancy watch and advertise my business to everyone who sees it. I tore open the package like a kid at Christmas and there it was! …the shittiest watch I ever saw--$19.99 worth of junk.

The watch looks really, really cheap. Like something you would give a 6 year old girl as a toy. However the band is One-Size-Fits-All and it’s made for a construction workers wrist. My husband put it on and it fit him properly—it looked better on him than me! Besides not fitting any woman’s wrist, the cheap plastic is very uncomfortable—hard with sharp edges that hurt your wrist as it wiggles and bangs into your skin.

The actual watch face is horrendous. It looks cheaper than you would ever expect a $20 dollar watch to look. The font they use for the numbers is basic plain and without even the slightest touch of style—it makes the watch look like a 99-cent store product.

Overall it looks like crap and in my opinion is not worth $19.99. I’ll be returning it as soon as humanly possible, I guess this wasn’t the best choice for growing my business, This watch may make people talk to me, but only because my wrists are bleeding and I look like a 6 year old trying to dress like mommy. Well that’s what I think, sorry if I offend anyone that likes that ugly watch.

by Lara

Just found my new favorite Hair Shampoo!

Since I can remember I always used Pantene Pro V products, but I got tired of them and wanted something new. So I was thinking what I could switch it out for. It took a while till I realized ?Wait a minute, I am selling Avon!! Why shouldn't I use the ADVANCE TECHNIQUES by Avon?? So I decide to give the ADVANCE TECHNIQUES Body Building Shampoo and Conditioner for more Volume a chance.

And I have to give it up to Avon; I AM LOVING IT!!

It has a wonderful fragrance that smells like a Product you would get in a Hair salon and it makes my straight boring hair come alive. The Conditioner makes my hair soft and easy to brush thru. My hair was never so full. The Creatine and amino peptides plump and thicken every strand for full and weightless volume.

Here are the Ingredients used in the ADVANCE TECHNIQUES Body Building Shampoo:

WATER/EAU
SODIUM LAURETH SULFATE
COCAMIDE MEA
SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE
COCAMIDOPROPYL BETAINE
CREATINE
HYDROLYZED WHEAT STARCH
LAMINARIA DIGITATA EXTRACT
PELVETIA CANALICULATA EXTRACT
HYDROLYZED WHEAT PROTEIN
PARFUM/FRAGRANCE
GUAR HYDROXYPROPYLTRIMONIUM CHLORIDE
SODIUM CHLORIDE
SODIUM HYDROXYMETHYLGLYCINATE
DISODIUM EDTA
SODIUM POLYSTYRENE SULFONATE
CITRIC ACID

The AVON ADVANCE TECHNIQUES SHAMPOO is going to be on Sale in Campaign 14 so make sure you Order some to try it out. I am sure you are going to be amazed what ADVANCE TECHNIQUES SHAMPOO can do with your hair!!