Did my lashes grow?

I'm finally back to give you an update on the growth of my eyelashes and the use of Careprost!  It's been a long 4 weeks and I've been waiting forever to gather enough pictures and form my personal opinion on this product.  Before I get into the details, check out my results!

Personal Photo: Careprost progress

(Photo has been enhance by extra added contrast so the lashes can be seen. My skin does not wrinkle to that extent, maybe in 20 years, my skin will start to look like that so use eye cream people!)

From my results, you can definitely see some growth in the inner and outer corner of my eye. I can also see some growth on my lower lashes but I wasn't able to capture any good photos.  My lashes did not thicken but I can see that it has lengthen. When I curl my lashes now, I have to extend my curler out a couple more times to actually curl all my lashes. The length really shows more when I wear mascara. It was a shame that I didn't take pictures when I had makeup on.

For $10 a bottle, I think it is worth it. I've only use a drop for both eyes, top and bottom lashes being first priority. The excess is then wiped on my eyebrows. I also use just a lip liner brush to apply the product. I've been consistently using in every night and I may have missed a few nights during the 4 week course of this experiment.  

I am still on my first bottle and I expect it to last another 2-3 months. I will continue using this product and provide updates in another 4 weeks. Stay tune!

Travel Like a Rockstar on a BUDGET Part I.5

Before I get into booking hotels, I wanted to demonstrate the process of acquiring a rental car.  I am heading to Las Vegas in 5 days and am getting ready to book my rental car. Many of the best place to eat in Las Vegas is off the strip. Without a car rental, I would be paying a lot of money in taxi rides. So here we go, let the bidding war start!

First stop:


The prices are looking pretty steep for Vegas this time of year. Mainly due to March Madness I'm sure. Next Stop - www.betterbidding.com & www.biddingfortravel.com to look at comparable bids.

 

A bid from betterbiding.com

List of recent bids from biddingfortravel.com

There weren't many comparable bids that I found to be of help, but it does give me a starting point. So here is my strategy plan:

1. First Bidding round - Compact for $11.00
2. Increase vehicle type OR price by $1 dollar.
3. If I fail after 3 tries. Quit. Start over tomorrow with a different strategy plan.

Update: So my price bidding failed. I end up reserving a car through www.paylesscar.com instead for $91.xx. It was pretty reasonable to what I was bidding on Priceline so I think I came out better in the end. (I HATE you March MADNESS)

Travel Like a Rockstar on a BUDGET Part I

One of my splurges in life has always been traveling. Whether it is a trip to a nearby city like Chicago or a trip to Vegas, I like to stretch my money as far as it can go.  With this economy and recession, it pays to do your research ahead of time.  There are few mandatory items that comes to mind when you plan for a trip.

• Flight/Trip Accommodations
• Hotel Accommodations
• Eats
• Things to do

 Remember this saying. THE INTERNET is YOUR BEST FRIEND. OK, so I didn't have to capitalize that whole sentence because I am sure you already know this by now.  There are a few blog/sites that I frequent everyday and mainly, its to look for deals.  One of my favorite sites that I use to check prices of airline tickets is www.kayak.com  (I am no way endorsing or work for this site so please don't hold me accountable :) )  Kayak is a free websites that makes their profits based on clicks.  In Kayak, you can search multiple airlines at once to see the best price available for your travel dates. There are a few pros and some cons to using Kayak.

Pros:

• User Friendly
• Fast
• Easy to modify search options
• No additional booking fees!

Cons:

• Not all airlines participates in Kayak such as Southwest Airlines, Direct Air, Allegiant Air, etc.  

Once I get an idea on the price range, I GO directly to the airline website to book my ticket. I get to play around with the flights and find the time that fits best with my schedule. Many times, the airline website has a better user interface and gives you more flexibility to search for time and dates that fits your time line needs. I tend to look for shortest flights or layovers since I don't want to spend all my vacation time at the airport! The last thing I do before I book that ticket is to look for additional promo code and coupons to apply to it. Often times, Delta, Spirit, and American Airlines may offer some code to make that deal a little sweeter. Again, use google and pray and hope that a coupon is available out there. If you can't find one, at least you tried!

On to the next travel accommodation! I tend to book a rental car on my trips.  Especially when you need some means of getting around visiting the city.  Some vacation spots don't require a rental car. It would be ridiculous to rent a car in NYC unless you are brave enough to battle the crazy drivers there. (Why drive when there is the subway right?)  For car rentals, there are a few sites that I look to before I book the rental car.  For starters, www.carrentals.com is a good place to get an idea what the rates are currently going for.  Majority of my trips, car rentals are booked through www.priceline.com.

Source

Yup, I said it, I use Priceline and bid for my rental cars. Rental cars, in my opinion, are all the same, made by the same manufacturer and are not much different from one rental company to the other.  Moving on, once I determine the price, I visit two other sites to determine what price I should start bidding for.

1. www.biddingfortravel.com
2. www.betterbidding.com

These two forums has real users posting their bidding price and their auction results.  I have use these site many times to get a car rental for my Vegas trips for $11 dollars a day. That's right, a weekend car rental for Vegas would cost me about $45 dollars all inclusive of tax. If you didn't know, a taxi ride in Vegas from your hotel to another hotel could easier cost you $20 - $40 round trip.  Back to the subject at hand, once I get a feel for the starting price of the car rental choice I want to book, I start my bidding at www.priceline.com.  I usually book the economy and compact vehicle and use a price that I feel comfortable with.  If my bid is rejected, I will bump it by $1-2 dollars max.  I may also change the vehicle size on the next bid if I don't want to change my bidding price.  You have three opportunity to bid. If your offer isn't accepted, patience my friend, close your browser and start over the next day.  You could also restart this bid offer if you clear the cache memory in your browser and use a different credit card.  This way, you can increase your price and try the bidding war all over again.

If you were successful in acquiring your airlien tickets and car rental through these suggestions, you are closer to completing your vacation plans! Now pat yourself on the back and wait til the next series of Travel Like a Rockstar on a BUDGET and learn how to get the best price for your hotel accommodation for your trip.