Repair Your Broken Lipstick: Tip-of-the-Day #216

REPAIR YOUR BROKEN LIPSTICK OR MAKE A NEW BALM FROM IT!

In these first days of fall - or rather San Francisco's first days of summer - I'm finding my lipsticks are all taking the heat (pun intended). Two of my BRAND NEW sticks melted and broke off at the base before I even had a chance to abuse them. So, I did some research and found out I have several choices with respect to what I can do with them now.

1. Throw them out. Uh, no! Smart women don't throw out perfectly good (albeit melted) makeup.

2. Take the broken piece of lipstick, and with a lighted match, carefully melt the base of the broken piece as well as the remaining lipstick still in the tube. Put them together and make sure it's standing upright. Refrigerate for 30 minutes and voila! Lipstick should be good as gold.

3. Take your lipstick out of the tube and microwave it for 30 seconds in a microwaveable container. Then transfer the melted contents to a small receptacle, like those sample sized containers that Kiehl's and other cosmetics companies dole out. Refrigerate and use it as if it were a lip balm. (Keep Kleenex on you to wipe the color from your finger when you're done applying).

Don't despair! Even lipstick can come around again for a fair shake.

S.F. Cultural Coupon Code: Tip-of-the-Day #215

ENJOY THE DE YOUNG MUSEUM FOR 20% LESS THIS SUMMER!

Enjoy a day at San Francisco's de Young Museum for 20% off! Peet's Coffee is enabling you to soak up more than caffeine this summer - take in some art at one of SF's most beautiful museums. Just go to deyoungmuseum.org, buy tickets online, and enter coupon ID: MPEETS.

Right now at the de Young you can view "Birth of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay", running through September 6, 2010.

Birth of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay presents nearly 100 magnificent works by the famous masters who called France their home during the mid- to late-19th century and from whose midst arose one of the most original and recognizable of all artistic styles, Impressionism. The exhibition begins with paintings by the great academic artist Bouguereau and the arch-Realist Courbet, and includes American expatriate Whistler’s Arrangement in Gray and Black, known to many as “Whistler’s Mother.” Manet, Monet, Renoir, and Sisley are showcased with works dating from the 1860s through 1880s, along with a selection of Degas’ paintings that depict images of the ballet, the racetrack, and life in the Belle Époque.

Enjoy!

Spend Less Filing Your Taxes: Tip-of-the-Day #214

SAVE 25% OR MORE FILING TAXES THIS YEAR

If you're like me, you detest ponying up the $60 (or so) it costs to file your federal and state taxes each year. I use TurboTax because it makes the process of filing much easier and literally guides me through the various steps, even the tougher stuff like itemized deductions. But, before I begin, I ALWAYS perform a search online for deals on TurboTax. I'll use search terms like "TurboTax + discount code" or "TurboTax + exclusive offer". More often than not I'll pull up a laundry list of financial institutions or insurance companies offering special TurboTax deals to "their" customers, only you don't even have to be a customer to exercise the offer!

This year I vacillated between a Wells Fargo promo in which the federal filing was reduced significantly but the state was regular price, and an offer from State Farm whereby the federal wasn't AS discounted as the Wells offer, however the state was discounted, and so the total out of pocket was lower. In fact, I even found out that if you happen to be a State Farm banking customer (who knew they had a bank??) you could file for FREE! Alas, I am not.

All by way of saying, before filing your taxes this year and paying $60 more dollars to take care of this nasty chore, search out the deals. You may find something even better than I did as April 15 draws nearer and the deals get sweeter. Good luck!

Yelp Your Way to Results: Tip-of-the-Day #213

GOOD, BAD, OR UGLY FEEDBACK CAN ALL REAP REWARDS

Posting your feedback about local businesses on sites like Yelp!, OpenTable, Facebook and Twitter can prove rewarding. I tend to voice my opinion as often as possible; praising where praise is due, and squawking when displeased with a service or situation. What I didn't know is that businesses are actually monitoring the feedback in these forums and will contact customers when appropriate. Why? Because businesses have recognized a shift in the way that consumers "shop". We listen to our peers more than Zagat reviews or advertisements in local papers. It's incredibly important to businesses today to keep their flow of feedback positive to ensure future business and they can only do that if customers are happy.

Last week I posted a somewhat unfavorable review of a spa I'd visited and within two days I'd been contacted by the director of spa services, asking me to give them another chance and persuading me to do so with free massage services. I was impressed! And, it isn't just bad press that gets businesses jumping. I wrote a positive review of a jewelry store several months back and was rewarded with a coupon for dollars off my next purchase!

The next time you have something to talk about, do it! You'll feel good getting your opinions posted and you just may enjoy the rewards of your unbridaled (and invaluable) feedback.

Cosmetic Dentistry Dos: Tip-of-the-Day #212

TEETH NEED SOME WORK? SKIP CAPS, TRY BONDING.

About five years ago I was ready to address the spaces between my front teeth that had slowly reemerged after years of braces as a youth. According to my dentist, my "tongue thrust" (not hot, but something I do with my tongue and my teeth while I sleep) was the culprit for the wandering teeth. I explored my options and quickly learned that most were VERY expensive. Cosmetic dentistry is generally not covered by insurance and the out of pocket is a killer. And so, I went the route of the "quick fix" and opted for bonding. Bonding is a technique used to fix broken teeth, discolored teeth, spaces between teeth, etc. The only hitch is that it is temporary. Well, temporary means different things for different people. Jump ahead five years, and my bonding is still in place. Better yet, my insurance covered the cost of the bonding as a preventive measure to avoid tooth decay (more cavities can occur when there is space between teeth because there are more areas of a tooth exposed). Just sayin, before laying down the big bucks for a big tooth job, consider a "temporary" fix first and you just might be surprised by the results.