eBay purchases: rated

It’s been well over a year since I did my last eBay purchases reviews here on the ol’ blog. I thought I was well overdue and since I did a bit of shopping before Christmas, I’m now going to share the items I received.

I thought it would benefit people to see what I bought online and if it is, in fact a good representation of the photos they show in order to sell their product. On the left is their advertised item, on the right, my photo.

eBay-tongue-scraperSeller: 99eu on eBay
Item: 2x Oral Dental Care Tongue Cleaner Brush Scraper Kit Soft Clean Away Bad Breath
Paid: $1.68 + free shipping. Worth the price? Yes
Location: Hong Kong
Delivery: 18 business days
My opinion: I was interested in this because I’ve heard a number of people talk about how clean their tongues felt after scraping them after brushing their teeth. I tend to brush my tongue with my tooth brush so while the scraper is interesting to use, it left my mouth feeling completely dry and parched. I don’t use it every day, but I do keep it on hand to use once in a while.
Overall rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

eBay-pensSeller: wubearwenlin on eBay
Item: Pilot Hi-Tec-C gel pens 0.25mm (5 black pen)
Paid: $11.98 + free shipping. Worth the price? Yes
Location: Taiwan
Delivery: 7 business days
My opinion: I came across these extra fine point gel pens here in California, but they were close to $4 a pop at a store in Santana Row. I hunted them down on eBay and now I’m happy as a clam. I LOVE these pens, they’re definitely my go-to favourite pen, ever. Ever! They are so thin they write on paper like you’re scraping it with a needle. I have 5 of the pens, unlike my photo showing 3. I have them everywhere around the house and in my purses.
Overall rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

eBay-feathersSeller: thefeatherguy on eBay
Item: 5 MARABOU FEATHER BOAS 2 Yards 15 Grams: WHITE Only Sale!! (Costume/Halloween)
Paid: $10.95 + free shipping. Worth the price? Yes
Location: New York
Delivery: 4 business days
My opinion: I made a festive Christmas feather wreath using narrow white feather boas. The cheapest I could find them (including using a coupon at Jo-Anns fabrics, or Michaels craft store) was this eBay seller. I forgot to take a before picture of the feathers. But they were accurate to the sellers description.
Overall rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

 

eBay-rain-bootsSeller: minhsang11 on eBay
Item: Women’s Rubber RainBoots Black/Leopard Size 6 to 11
Paid: $19.99 + $9.99. Worth the price? Not sure I could get them cheaper elsewhere, so let’s go with yes.
Location: Delaware
Delivery: 3 business days
My opinion: I haven’t had a set of rain boots since I was kid, and I wasn’t about to fork over an absurd amount of money on a pair of wellies, so I made my way over to eBay once again – and the sellers saved the day. I purchased these shiny black rubber boots that reeked so bad of neoprene (like wetsuit material. It totally makes me gag when The Guy leaves his wetsuit around the living room. The smell is so gross). These rubber boots also stank for a few days. They run small. I’m normally a perfect 8.5 shoe, since they don’t have half sizes I bought the 9 and they still feel a bit snug. They arrived in a regular USPS flat box, and one part of my boot was smooshed, but nothing too absurd that it can’t be worn.
Overall rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

 

eBay-pompom-hatSeller: greatdeal456 on eBay
Item: Ladies Winter Warm Ski Knit Knitted Bobble Pom Beanie Cap Hat 10 Colors Hot Sale
Paid: $3.78 + free shipping Worth the price? Yes
Location: China
Delivery: 9 business days
My opinion: The quality was better than I had anticipated, especially for under four bucks. The knitted beanie is bigger than I thought it’d be (thinking child-size) but it’s even a little too big for my head, which is great since it won’t put any pressure on my head when I’m wearing it. It’s cute enough to buy multiples of. Thinking of getting it in black too.
Overall rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

eBay-blanket-scarfSeller: qb.studio on eBay
Item: Blanket Oversized Tartan Scarf Wrap Shawl Plaid Cozy Checked Pashmina Women
Paid: $6.99 + $3.99. Worth the price? Not sure I could get them cheaper elsewhere, so let’s go with yes.
Location: China
Delivery: 10 business days
My opinion: I have seen blanket scarves all over the internet this season, and I debated about buying one for myself for a while. As much as I liked it, I talked myself out of buying the plaid ones I saw at Zara and Target because I didn’t really need another new scarf. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I searched eBay for a “plaid blanket scarf” and found this gem for under $11. It’s a little smelly. If you go into bargain stores, you understand the smell of all the clothing. Kinda plasticy, kinda musty. But airing the scarf out for a few days (as it was in plastic wrap) made the stench go away. Minus one star for accuracy on scarfs pattern.
Overall rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

 

 

 

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Shopping for bras suck

I have to say, I hate bra shopping probably just as much as I hate buying razors. There’s nothing fun about it. It’s all for necessity reasons, and holy by the jumpins I cannot get over the fit of all these different bras at Victoria’s Secret.

My parents gave me some American cash for Christmas so I could buy some things for myself, and since I was feeling practical, I decided to buy myself some new bras/underwear. So the other day, I ventured into this one dead mall (It’s a ghost town — 60% of the stores are only open on weekends.) that has a VS inside.

An older woman working there noticed I was looking through the bras and asked if I needed any help. Of course I do. There’s gotta be 60 bras in your store and I have no idea where to start. After I told her what colour and style (only push-up because hello IBTC) I’ve been looking for, she took me under her wing and selected a few bras for me to try on.

Man.

Bras are weird.

Some of them made my boobs really far apart. Others made them pointy! What? Who is going for that look?

After trying on a couple of bras, I was unsatisfied with how most of them fit. Primarily because I’m smack dab in the middle of band size, so no bra fits me perfectly. I usually go with the smaller band size which eventually stretch. I know you can get bra-extenders, but those are ugly, and… no thanks.

The bras I tried on

Body by Victoria: No
Fabulous bra by VS Pink: It was okay, but it had weird excess fabric on the front.
Very Sexy: (which I have in another colour from a few years back and LOVE) this one was also a no. Maybe they re-designed it.
Incredible Bra: As much as I’d like to attest it’s an incredible bra it’s just an every day bra. It’s what I ended up buying. It looks decent but the cups look huge. Oh well, I’m pretty pleased with how seamless it is under a t-shirt at least.

I came out of the dressing room and I’m a little surprised at how honest the VS woman was with me. She told me I had made a good choice on the bra and it was “much better” than the one I was wearing currently, which also happened to be from VS.

yellow-AE-teeOh thanks for making me feel insecure about the bra I’m wearing, woman. It was clear she was working for commission since she was repeating herself that I make sure I tell the cashier she helped me. Now while you all stare at my boobs for a second — for reference, this is what I was wearing (In a different change room. I bought the top though!). I guess you can see the seams lifting or folding outwards. Guh.

I also picked up 9 pairs of underwear! Missus made a fortune on me that day, I tell ya. I couldn’t find any of my favourite no-show seamless underwear anywhere in the store. She was trying to convince me that the cheekies were the same. Lady, they are not. Cheekies are not flattering on anyone’s toosh, let me tell ya. They slice the butt and make you look bigger than what you are! At least, there’s my opinion right out there for you.

I went with four of these (they have a really cool texture and are kinda shimmery!), and five of these.

Question for all the ladies reading. How often do you replace your bras? I mean, the ones you wear on a daily basis. Because I probably keep mine for much longer than I should. The VS woman told me her bras were starting to wear out within one year. I didn’t dare tell her how old the one I was wearing, was.

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Outfit of the day: California Winter

Header-Cali-Winter-LookEver since getting back to California after spending over two weeks in Canada, I have never appreciated California winter’s more. A light sweat shirt, that’s all I need right now! Not that I’m an expert at being here during the winter time, but we did arrive 11 months ago. If only I could get on this easy in Canada with such little layers. To be honest I didn’t even need the hat, it was warm outside. My logic behind it was that I bought it on eBay for < $4 and I couldn’t not wear it this season. For my Canadian friends, and everywhere else in the world who goes by Celcius temp’s, it was 15°C (59°F I had to google the conversion. I’ll never get used to fahrenheit).

Seems to be the hot topic between friends and I, in a joking way.

My dog-walkin’ neighbour friend and I always talk about how cold/warm it is outside and I’m all “yeah it feels like it’s at least 18 degrees“. She gives me a confused look because we both don’t know how to convert it into fahrenheit so I ball park it with… it’s in the sixites? Close enough. Now we go by “it’s t-shirt weather!” or “man where are my mittens? My fingers are cold.”

So here we go, an outfit I wore on Saturday during this balmy California ‘winter’. I’m way overdressed. California-Winter-look

California-Winter-side-view

Cali-Winter-look-head

Winter-side

My outfit:

eBay hat, eBay scarf, Forever 21 tee
Uniqlo down jacket, Alo Sport leggings, eBay rain boots

… and because outtakes are always fun. The Guy takes forever to take a picture. Waiting for me to make a face at him, then snap… picture taken. This is the outcome:

Angry-face

I have a pretty nice schedule going on this week with a few different friend-dates that I’m excited about. I’ll be driving to San Francisco tomorrow to meet Megan, lunch with Lauren, and dinner with my Canadian friend! What’s on your agenda for the week?

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