New Glasses / Tom Ford Cat Eye Frames

I have beginner's luck.

Recently, I learned how to play Blackjack. By the end of the evening, I had kicked my husband's (read: teacher's) ass and had doubled my "money".

Similarly, with big purchases that require commitment, in the end I tend to go with the first thing I tried. It happened with my wedding dress, my car, and most recently, what I'll have on my face for the next few years. I tend to gravitate immediately to what I end up eventually purchasing, but not before trying EVERYTHING else to be sure.

As with most things, I went in with one thing in mind (conservative, metal Tiffany & Co. frames with a hint of embellishment) and, clearly, came out with something else entirely-the Tom Ford Cat Eye frame. (TF5189 to be exact.) I tried on frames for at least half an hour, and everything seemed to be reminiscent of what I already owned (black, plastic Shanghai Tang frames--which I still love!). These wild things were the first pair I tried on, and what I kept coming back to. At first, I was astounded by how good they actually looked. Then, I had to convince myself to not just think outside the box, but to get rid of the box altogether. "I couldn't..." I thought. "Or, can I...?"

And so, I did.

Thus far, the public approval rating has been high! My husband would likely rather I had chosen something else, as he asked me when the moon landing was scheduled to occur, but I think they're growing on him.

Maybe in 10 years I'll look back and wonder what the hell I was thinking, but right now I'm happy for the throw-back vibe they lend my overall look.

Seriously? Did that just happen? / BeautyBar.com

I am a regular shopper on BeautyBar.com and their affiliated sites. BeautyBar has a beautiful selection from varied brands one doesn't find readily in many freestanding stores like Lord & Berry, Kevyn Aucoin, Juliette Has a Gun, and Tokyo Milk.

Last Friday, while hunting for a gold Stila smudge stick, I found myself on good old BeautyBar. I ordered the eyeliner (and of course, a few other items happened into my cart) and chose my free samples at checkout.

This afternoon I received a package from BeautyBar. Not a bad turnaround time! However, in the way-too-oversized packaging, I found this:

Just the samples.

JUST. THE. SAMPLES.

The rest of my order is shipping separately. And if the confirmation emails are to be trusted (and, judging from this situation, they are) I can only imagine how many boxes I will get for 3 small items.

I'm a frequent online shopper, so I've seen it all. The oversized packaging is just the tip of the iceberg. Never in my life have free samples been rush shipped to me.

I love BeautyBar and their family of sites and I will continue to shop there, but I will definitely think twice about the samples. I certainly can't fault the turnaround time, but I would suggest the company take the path of sites like Amazon and solicit packaging feedback. Amazon also offers the option to receive your items faster or to ship them all together, which would also be a great option for a site like this.

According to their site: Most of the products are all shipped out together in one box and will arrive at the same time. If the order is large and is shipped in more than one package, they may arrive separately-although that is rare.

I know that my other orders have arrived in multiple installments, so I would contest the use of the word "rare" here. However, receiving free samples as a rush shipment is a first! Sites like Sephora offer sample substitutes in the event your chosen freebie is out of stock. I think it would behoove BeautyBar in cases like these, where the samples are housed separately from what was ordered, to forgo the freebie. I'm green enough to make that kind of compromise. At the very least, there was no need to priority ship the items, nor house them in large packaging.

On a final note, I think this is taking the term "soap box" literally...