JewelMint - Worst Customer Service Experience Ever!

I normally don't take time out of my day to complain on internet forums about the questionable customer service I receive from various places when it occurs. However, my experience at jewelmint was so horrendously bad, I thought I had to share it, in case anyone was ever thinking of buying from this company.

As I'm sure most of you know, Jewelmint is that Kate Bosworth backed jewelry of the month club that advertises a lot through youtubers and web ads (and even on my beloved dlisted.com, where Michael K definitely doesn't have the nicest things to say about Kate, her style or her lack of shall we say, nourishment?) I've been buying pieces on and off since earlier this year, because I was attracted to the price point and the uniqueness of some of the pieces. I love costume jewelry, and this seemed like a fun way to shop for it.

Everything had been going fine up until a month ago, when I received a very enticing e-mail promotion - buy a piece, get $7 off, and also receive a free gift with purchase from some of their overstock. How cool I thought - I hadn't been thinking of getting anything that month, but with that e-mail I decided to order an Egyptian themed necklace I had been eyeing. Cut to several days later, I get my Egyptian necklace in the mail, but no GWP. What? I was sure it was a mistake. Because Jewelmint's customer service line is only open during the business hours that I work (really, how convenient is a customer service dept if it only operates during the times when most normal people are at their offices or school?), I went ahead and e-mailed them...and waited. For a week, all I got was a response saying a ticket had been opened. Not very helpful. I e-mailed them back and asked, "so the ticket is open, what exactly does that mean?" I finally received a response...and it floored me with its tone of complete disrespect.

I learned from a CS rep that the promotion was only for the first 500 orders. Okay, I would beg to disagree - if it was on the ad at all, it was purposefully made so small so that anyone looking over the ad would have to squint to see it. Plus, upon check out, I received a confirmation that my discount code had applied, and I would be getting my $7 off and my GWP.

This isn't what really annoyed me though. I can really live without receiving a 2nd piece of jewelry. What took me aback was the wording of the e-mail, which was, and I quote "I am sorry you didn't read the ad correctly and you should have seen it on there."

This is where I go from calm Matryoshka, to this:I work with clients each and every day. They are the back bone of our business, and we have a strict code of conduct in terms of how we communicate with and serve them. If I had e-mailed anything along the lines Jewelmint's response to any of them, that would be a first class ticket into my boss's office, or more likely out of the office, on my butt and holding a box full of my personal effects. For a business that is trying to grow, and is relying heavily on the blogger/vlogger community to do so, I found that to be an egregious customer service FAIL.

Sadly that wasn't even the end of my saga. Before I received that e-mail I had ordered something from my September showroom. Needless to say, this was going to be my last piece. I e-mailed Jewelmint back, letting them know how disappointed I was with their customer service, and asked that my account with them be closed immediately. Again, I never heard a response from them, but when I went to log onto my account, it seemed as though some member features had been shut down, leading me to believe they did close it. However, receiving an e-mail confirmation would have been nice!

Now here is the finale - I received the last piece I ordered from them, and it was completely and utterly defective. Take a look for yourself:

Totally lopsided.

There is a huge gape between the horn and the casing, showing how poorly made it was.

Now if I was paranoid, I would say they were almost doing this to spite me, but I honestly thing it is bad luck. However, I do want it corrected, so I e-mailed customer service yet again, and they have yet to respond to me. Once more, I shake my head in dismay and awe over how horrible one company can be to its customers.

If you have had good experience with Jewelmint's CS in the past, then I am glad for you and hope it continues. I'm not saying my story is everyone's story, but I thought it was important to share. Take what you will from it. I know that I will never support this company again.

Mozart's Sister & Wedding Dress Ideas

I haven't had much inspiration to post lately - I feel like there is only so much I can say about makeup without showing an actual FOTD, something I'm not read to do yet. I do have a collective haul post planned shortly, but I thought I would begin with something that did inspire me, which as the film Mozart's Sister.

If you know me at all by now, you know I adore historical dramas. The one that is the gold standard to judge all others by is Bright Star. Mozart's Sister was rather "quiet" for a historical movie, and mostly focused on family dynamics (interspersed with amazing music performances of course) and never let the set overtake the story. For example, when the family was eating supper, they ate by candlelight and you could only see what they could. In that way, the scenery was a part of the movie, but not another character, as it so often is in these types of films.

Likewise with the costumes. There were minimal costume changes (Louise de France wore the same dress days in a row, quelle horror!), yet from them I got an idea for my upcoming wedding dress (which I've already decided that I need custom made. It is too hard to find something that isn't your run of the mill strapless confection billowed by tulle). What I most loved was the idea of the train or "cape" running from the back of the dress:For wedding dress purposes, I'd want it to be longer of course, something that would need holding up lest it get dragged on the ground.

Anyone have any thoughts on finding non-conventional wedding dress ideas?

Back from Hiatus, Plus Some Happy News

I never really meant to take a break this long from blogging, but somehow between work and school, I kind of got out of the swing of things. Consider me back from the dead though, since I'm going to be posting a lot more!

Nothing much of note has happened since I last posted, save for this:Yep, my boyfriend finally decided to make an honest woman out of me, and proposed on our anniversary. I'm very excited and so happy with the ring. I told him awhile ago that should we ever get engaged, I would want a ruby instead of a diamond. And he figured out on his own that I'd love a vintage style setting. The one that I have was designed by the jewelry store owner's great grandfather back in the 1920's.

As for the wedding itself, it will be awhile coming, because we still need to get some of our ducks in a row. However, I'm still thinking of the wedding dress (the most important element of any wedding, right?) and hoping I can find something that is not strapless.

As for makeup posts, I'll be doing a collective haul soon. :-)

Nightly Face Routine

So I'm back from Vegas and was all set to do a haul post, but then I realized I accidentally left some haul items at my mom's...oops. I get kind of lazy about packing when I know I can just have my mom send or bring my stuff with her when she visits. So anyway, I thought I'd make this post about my current nightly skincare routine, because I've surprisingly been getting compliments on my extremely unideal skin type (oily, with some uneveness due to freckling and hyperpigmentation). To start out with, I've been removing my makeup with Josie Maran's Bear Naked wipes:They are called Bear Naked because a portion of the sale price goes to help protect polar bears and their environment. They also smell nice and are very gentle!

Next I've been cleansing with Lush's Coalface charcoal soap:
I've been using the wedge for about a month and a half, and there's still a good amount left. There are little beads inside the bar that exfoliate, so it's really a cleanser and exfoliator in one. And despite the fact that it's charcoal based, it still smells good! Next I apply Clinque's Even Better Serum:I wasn't too sure of this product at first, because I didn't see much of a difference. With this, patience is key, because it took about a month before I saw my complexion get more even. Normally I hate gazing in the mirror in the harsh Nevada sunlight, but this time I was stoked to see the improvement in my skin! And then comes my favorite party of my nightly ritual - applying my whatever my current Haus of Gloi lotion is! Right now it is Selkie Pumpkin Butter, from the spring line.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Vegas- The Cosmopolitan and Bellagio Atrium Pics

Ahhh, free at last - last least for one week. After a rather dramatic start at John Wayne airport (a "code 5" was announced over the loud speaker, which was followed by blasting sirens and the airport basically going into lockdown mode), I made it to Las Vegas, and only an hour late after all the drama cleared up. I spent yesterday napping, and then my mom and I went to the shopping center that has an Inglot in order to do some makeup shopping (About a year ago I inducted my mom into the cult that is makeup obsession). Today we ventured over to the strip to meet up with my half brother and his wife. We took them out to the Cosmopolitan's buffet at Wicked Spoon for his birthday. It was delish! I also went into full on tourist mode and took a whole bunch of pictures. At the Cosmopolitan:

A "Steam Pump" Sculpture

Yummy dessert noms from the buffet

More random shoe artI have a couple more photos from the Cosmo, but they're mostly random family stuff.

Next we headed over to the Bellagio, because I seriously cannot visit Vegas without seeing their seasonal Atrium exhibit:

These flowers almost looked too perfect to be real

The symmetry inside astounds me

This is based on a Hockney from the Bellagio gallery

I also took tons of butterfly photos inside the greenhouse:

Hope you enjoyed! I don't have too much planned for the rest of the week other than sleeping in, seeing some movies, going to some outlets, and some routine maintenance stuff like seeing the eye doctor and dentist.

Updates Coming Soon

Substitute "kitteh" with "blog" and basically that's what's been happening lately in terms of me paying attention to this site. Without going into too much detail, work has been a beyotch and a half. In addition to our usual work load, we got sprung with two major (one good, one sucky) surprises that has been requiring extra hours on the clock. On top of that two coworkers have been out on vacation, so we're understaffed to boot. But the good news is that next week is my vacation! And as usual, I'll be visiting my family in Vegas. So in addition to sleeping in, I'll have lots of time to take pictures and post!

I still have had time to do some makeup haulage this past month though, which I still thought I'd share, even though I don't have pics:

MAC
*Giggly mineralize blush from Quite Cute
*Sakura mineralize blush
*Playing Koi lipstick (promptly returned though, it was terrible)
*Candy Yum Yum lipstick

Chanel
Summer just came out at my Nordstrom's Chanel!! I got:
*Morning Rose nailpolish
*Aurore Glossimer
*Pensee Glossimer
*Khaki Discret eyeshadow duo

So how has everyone else been? Anyone else feel kinda meh about Quite Cute?

Bye for now, next time I log on I'll be in Vegas baby!

Latest Obsession: Animal Cocktail Rings

Admittedly I am not a very sophisticated person when it comes to jewelry. I get bored at the thought of Tiffany's robin's egg blue boxes. If I had the serious dough to invest, I would much rather splurge on Victoire de Castellane's baubles. But since that is only a fantasy, I have started to try and collect equally ostentatious, but much more affordable items, all animal themed. I've gotten several in the past few months:
This is a Betsy Johnson snake ring my boyfriend gave me for Valentine's Day (interesting fact: our first anniversary he did get me something from Tiffany's, because he thought that's what girls just like. He knows me way better now. Likewise, I did once err in almost getting him a Lacoste polo shirt only to find out he was in a "no Lacoste upturned collar" club in college or something like that).

This is my Rachel Rachel Roy owl ring. His name is Justinius, because I paid for him with the jury duty stipend I received last winter.

This is also a Rachel Rachel Roy ring. It's a jaguar or panther or some other type of exotic cat. I was going to wear him along with my teal nails to the wedding from hell I had to attend yesterday, but the thunderstorms made me change my wardrobe plans last minute, so I had to put him away in favor of this more subdued piece:This is a vintage knotted snake ring I picked up at a monthly antique fair they hold in my area.

So there is my small but growing collection of cocktail animal baubles! I guess I will end this by making a plea to any of you planning a wedding - for the love of your guests, please include a bar, any bar, for your reception! It doesn't matter if it's open or cash, nothing is worse than going to a 4 + hour long event only to find that the only drinks available are unsweetened lemonade and punch. (By the way, this was my boyfriend's friend's wedding, my friends would definitely have had better sense than that!) I was this close to live tweeting my misery last night, but remembered my manners at the last moment :-)

Happy St. Patty's Week!

Yes, I know St. Patrick's day is not until the 17th, but being 25% Irish, I'm claiming the whole week for going green (and not in the eco sense!)! St. Patrick's day holds special memories for me, because my mom would always make Irish peasant bread and corned beef and cabbage when I was growing up. But since I live a state away from my mom now, and I don't cook in the least bit, I'm celebrating it my own way, by focusing on green makeup all this week:The quad is MAC's Photorealism from Fall 2009. It's one I fell in love with, kind of forgot about, and now am rediscovering all over again. It goes perfect with the paint pot on the right, which is Cash Flow from the Fafi collection (god, hard to believe that was three years ago already!). My brilliant emerald green nailpolish is Zoya's Ivanka, and the necklace is a green amber butterfly I got ages ago in Lithuania.

St. Patty's day really isn't a big deal here in Cali unfortunately. There are pubs of course, but they are few and far between, and quite packed on this particular day. Though I was happy to discover that the coffee shop across from my work will be serving the aforementioned Irish food of my childhood, so I am definitely going to check that out!

Hope all of you are doing well!!

New Matryoshka Lemming

Ever since I bought the MAC Barbie back in 2007, I've been the recipient of the Barbie collector's catalog. I mostly either recycle it immediately or briefly thumb through it, because I'm not a doll collector and I don't really need to start (just watching Susan from this season's episode of Hoarders is enough to scare anyone). However, the latest catalog, much to my delight, featured 4 dolls inspired by Russia. The one that caught my eye of course is this darling named Mila with the matryoshka skirt& headdress:
Yes, I may plunk down the coinage and add a 2nd doll to my purposefully meager collection. And on a side note, have you ever noticed how Barbies always have the coolest eye makeup? No joke, the designers really spend a lot of time coordinating her eyeshadow colors.

And on another side note, sorry I've been absent for nearly 3 weeks. This month has been the kind where all I want to do when I get home from work is just flop onto my bed and read. I do have some new goodies to post soon, so stay tuned.

What's in My Makeup Bag: Late Winter Edition

One of my favorite types of posts to read on other people's blogs, aside from haul posts, is the "what's in my bag" post. Since I change out my purse almost every other day, I thought I'd do a "what's in my makeup bag" post instead. I did a group shot of all the items above, but I've broken everything down one by one below:

Pocketo Target collection bag

I totally fell in love this this, because it not only features owls (my third favorite animal), but a deer in a snug winter hat with dangly poofs! Whimsy rules!

Toki Doki mints from Sephora

To be honest, I only purchased these because I needed an item for $5 in order to qualify for free shipping. The taste isn't bad, it has a touch a sweetness to it rather than being and out and out mentholy. The tin is adorable, and it comes with a little mirror inside, but unfortunately the mirror is already starting to fall out. But once the mints are done, I plan to save it and use it for other things - maybe I'll turn it into a pill case.

The next item is my contact lens drops - not bothering to take a close-up of it, for obvious reasons. I have dry eyes, particularly in the winter. Sometimes my contacts would fall right out if I didn't have this solution with me!

Chanel Patchouli Rouge Coco & Pleasing Glossimer

These are both from the 2010 Chanel Holiday Collection, and they've become my everyday lippies because they are both so versatile. Pleasing is a metallic burgundy, and Patchouli (I'm endlessely amused that high-end Chanel has a lipstick named after a fragrance that is a hippie cliche!) is also a shimmery brown burgundy. I'm starting to develop a dangerous addiction to Chanel!

Bliss High Intensity Hand Cream

I bought this during my last trip to Vegas, because I left my other hand cream at home. This was one of the items they keep in the bins in the Sephora check-out line. It's now one of my staples - in addition to being moisturizing, it has a lovely (and light!) fruity scent.

Also in my makeup bag, but not shown:

*Almay salicylic acid touch up powder.
Unfortunately the white "A" that is on the compact has started to look kind of grimy, so I thought I'd spare you all the ugliness. I'm always on the lookout for blot or touch-up powder, so if you have any recs, let me know!

*Ecotools Retractable Powder brush
To use with above Almay compact.

*Xanax
AKA my lifesaver. More than anything else in my bag, I will freak the spork out if I leave my xanies at home.

That's it for now, what are some of your favorite daily makeup bag staples?

Technical Difficulties and Spring Make-up Plans

My camera and my computer haven't been agreeing with one another as of late, because for some reason my new pictures aren't transferring to my computer at all. And posts without pictures just aren't as snazzy! That being said, I want to keep this blog alive until my issue is resolved, so I thought I'd post my Spring/Summer makeup purchase plans (using stock footage), and what I plan on passing over entirely.

Hauled it:

*Physician's Formula Happiness Booster Blush
Cute and inexpensive! (Though can I get my money back if my happiness isn't boosted?) It was $11, but it came with the $3 coupon. They also had a shade that was a sheer illuminator, a shade that was a light bronzer, and one that was a darker bronzer. I bought two of the above pictured shade, which is called natural, but is really a rosy pink. One of the compacts is for me, and the other I'm sending to my mom for Valentine's day.

Lemming it:

*Laura Mercier Silk Road Collection paletteI saw this beauty at the Macy's Laura Mercier counter, but unfortunately said counter was deserted by its sales associates, so I didn't have a chance to ask to sample it. Call me picky, but I don't think I should have to chase down the sales staff in order to purchase a pricey palette. Still, from what I could see it was lovely, and I was especially drawn to the shimmery pewter shade on the lower left hand side. And that vibrant apricot blush on the right!

*Chantecaille Sea Turtle Eyeshadow palette
I did write about this in one of my previous posts, but it's worth mentioning again. I stopped by the Chante counter at my local Nordstroms to inquire about its release date, and was told that there was a waiting list. A waiting list for a $78 palette?! Seriously, what recession? Anyway, it is available online at blissworld, but I'm still debating whether or not I can handle paying $78 for quad just to indulge the novelty of having turtles (one of my favorite animals) on my eyeshadow.

Leaving it:

*MAC Wonder WomanTo be honest, the blush Mighty Aphrodite did catch my eye, but I can't just get over the cheesy packaging. Which is really funny, because in the past I've adored MAC's packaging for their cartoon collections (Fafi, Hello Kitty, Venomous Villains). I think what puts me off about this is that the only colors used are the primary colors (red, yellow, blue), and that automatically makes me think of fast food restaurants. Weird connection, but there you have it. I also have no real nostalgic memories of the Wonder Woman series, since they were a little before my time (a collection based on She-Ra Princess of Power on the other hand would knock my socks off!)

Anyone have any lemmings or hauls you're planning?

Drugstore Beauty Amusements

Sorry I've been MIA for awhile - school started recently, and this quarter is a bit more difficult than the last. I've limited myself to two classes while I'm working full time, but I might have to cut it down to one, especially as the office gets busier in the late spring/summer season for me.

In between work and class, I have about two hours to kill. I usually spend that time getting something to eat, and doing some shopping and browsing. Today I went to Rite Aid in search of Physician's Formula's new blush powders with the heart designs. I found them in the new beauty products section, but I also found some much more interesting items too!

First off, for those of you who want Tokidoki without Sephora prices:There's Oke Doke!! Lol! i love the accents over the "e" -I guess naming it Oki Doki would have been too close to the original?

And here's the other gem I stumbled upon:The Love Box - for those of you who want to carry your condoms around in something pretty. Again, lol!! It's not that I find condoms funny, just that these were in the beauty aisle. At first I didn't know what they were, so I was picking them up and trying to discern whether they were pill cases or blotting sheet containers. Then I saw the durex label, and was like, "oops."

Hope you got a few chuckles out of these like I did!

How I've Been Procrastinating - Dec 2010/Jan 2011 edition

There are tons of ideas for posts I have racing around my head. But have I written any recently? No, because I am a procrastinator with a big fat P. Which actually gave me an idea for a new monthly series. Instead of a "monthly favorites" for beauty products, I'm going to post my monthly means of procrastination. I will still post beauty favorites sporadically, but because I don't have many new favorites per month, there is no sense in trying to trying to make that a recurring series for this blog. Without further ado, here is how I have been wasting my time for the latter half of December and the first half of this month:

1. Monopoly for Kindle: (note this is a stock photo - my actual kindle is the second generation version, and has an awesome decal I decorated it with. However, the screen didn't photograph well because of the flash).

When it comes to gadgets, I'm really a technology slumdog. While most of my friends have iphones, ipads, or both, I have a 3 year old glitchy phone from Sprint, and an older model Kindle as my e-reader. I'm not complaining though, because I'd much rather spend my money on girly things like shoes and makeup than the latest gizmo.

Anyway, the Kindle has been releasing some really cool games lately. With their version of Monopoly, you can either play against the computer or another Kindle user. I usually play against the computer, and freak out if it manages to buy up all the railroads before I do. The great thing about playing against a computer is that you can just start the game over if it's not going your way :-)

2. Skins, Season 1 (British Version):

I feel like a loser for admitting this since first off, this series is already 4 years old and I've only just discovered it. Secondly I'm way to old to be watching a show about hard-partying teens. And lastly, the show is actually pretty hokey and the grown-ups are badly written caricatures. However, I'm still obsessed with some of the characters, mainly crazy-mad, anorexic boho flower child Cassie:
Dude, how cool is that necklace?!! I kind of want to string some plastic lizards and mice together with some beads, wear it to work and see what my coworkers have to say.

If you're in the US and have Netflix, I think all of the seasons of the British version are available to watch online.

3. Plotting my Spring makeup purchases

Chantecaille Sea Turtle Eyeshadow Palette.

Turtles are one of my favorite animals, so I may have to break yet another makeup budget barrier and invest in this piece of eyeshadow art.

Paul & Joe Spring 2011 lipsticks

I always try to purchase one P&J lipstick a year, because in addition to being encased in the most whimsical and girly packaging, they are very moisturizing and long-lasting.

Otherwise, I have already hauled a lot for Spring - I got some Chanel items recently (yes, sorry I've been holding out on you!), so my budget is super limited right now.

That's it, long live procrastination!!

New Years Eve Reds & Randomness

There really is no time like New Year's Eve to bring out the red makeups, and since I actually went somewhere this year (my boyfriend was sick last year so we just stayed in), I decided to pull out whatever stops I could. I'm not exactly a red lipstick kind of gal, and most ones I try turn a garish fuchsia on me. One of the only two I own is this pitifully old one from MAC's Neo Sci-Fi collection. This shade is Sci-Fi-Delity, and it's a red infused with gold sparkle. It actually shows on my lips as it looks in the tube.

The necklace in the middle is one of the loves of my jewelry collection. It's an antique red glass pendant that is supposed to be art deco. Since I wear a lot of plain black tops, I always need something that ups the drama factor.

And finally I broke out my Bad Fairy nailpolish from MAC's Venomous Villians collection. As with most MAC polishes, it really needs 3 coats to look opaque, but it wasn't at all streaky like some of MAC's other polishes. To make things extra cliche, I even wore my leopard print pumps:

Say what you will about Jessica Simpson, she (or designers) made pretty darn good shoes. I found these ones at Marshall's on Black Friday for $25.

As for the randomness, my boyfriend and I went to see The Tourist on New Years day because it was the only thing we could agree on. Not only was it as bad as the critics said, but the makeup was really the worst. About 20% into the film, my boyfriend leaned in and whispered to me "What do you think of her makeup?" Do you know how bad a film has to be in order for my boyfriend's mind to wander into that territory?! Anyway I answered that it made her look old, and he agreed. And later he asked me, "Why does her face look like wax?" in reference to this:
Seriously, is that the 4th Kardashian sister? (Again, my boyfriend has to be insanely bored to comment on anyone's complexion). This scene was pretty bad too:

Also that hair color doesn't do her justice. I love Angelina the best when her hair is raven feather black.

To end on a positive note, I will say the clothing was gorgeous, if over the top. The costumers went a little too far into Hitchcock heroine direction, so everything she wore looked anachronistic.