Can't think of anything at the moment - but your nail polish trick should work. Oils are why your finger nail polish chips faster than the polish on your toes - its because you're always scratching your face and other oily places with your fingers. I started doing my own UV gel nails last year and one of the steps is to paint your nails with this stuff that seems to be like alcohol/nail polish remover to dry them out/get the oils off, makes sense to do it for regular polish too, I just never thought about it!

Alright, that reminded me so maybe I do have a hack. Do your own gel polish at home (its really easy!), and buy the light/supplies on AliExpress. I got everything I needed including about a dozen colors for $30- I would spend at least that on one manicure at a salon.

AliExpress is probably the best life hack ever, buy all your shit there. There's a lot to say about it, so if anyone is interested we should probably start a separate thread. FKF knows all about it too.

Last edited by Durst_Burp (1/12/2018 10:32 am)

Aliexpress is the best!! Sometimes the quality Is not all there, but for the price you can’t beat it

So if you've heard about Alibaba (Chinese Amazon/Jack Ma) in the news, its the international (buyers outside of China) version of that, owned by the same company. The site functions very much like Amazon in that you can buy literally anything and everything, and the items aren't actually sold by AliExpress, but a bunch of individual sellers (unlike Amazon, nothing is actually shipped by Ali).

Basically, you're cutting out the middle man and buying all the made in China crap you would normally get at WalMart/Target/boutiques and even some department store stuff directly from the source and the price difference is HUGE. Like, since I found out about this a little over a year ago it has completely changed the way I shop. Now almost everything I see in the store, I just pull out my phone and see if I can find it on Ali before I buy it. Dumb examples, but those little USB fans they sell by the cash register for $6.99? 89 cents on Ali. $29.99 Otterbox for your phone? $4 on Ali. UV nail light from Ulta - $60. Ali, $14. 99% of the time shipping is free, and when it isn't it's like a dollar. Use the app for your shopping - the prices really are lower.

There are two major caveats with using Ali - the first being that you have to plan ahead/be willing to wait. I've received things as quickly as 10 days from when I ordered, and a couple of times its taken almost 10 weeks. 90% of the time I receive things within 14-21 days of ordering. It's a great place to order party supplies/decorations for cheap, but again, plan ahead and order waaaaay ahead of time. The other caveat is, it's China. You will occasionally get something that is a dud. Ali is a legit site, so you have pretty much the same protections as you would buying from Amazon if there is an issue with your order, but again, China. Are you really going to return that 89 cent cell phone fan that doesn't work? Or maybe they sent the wrong color, or the quality isn't quite what you expected. If you can't deal with having to eat little stuff like that once in a while, Ali probably isn't for you. Honestly I've had very few issues and those that I've had have been resolved. You can message the seller, tell them the  problem, and they will either refund you or send you a replacement.

^^All of the above is the "official" way to use Ali. There is also a hidden, black market. Its a lot of fun. You have to find these secret FB groups to get in. I am a member of one and will be happy to share if you're interested. Basically the way it works is the people who run the groups are the liaison between the buyers and sellers of "goods of questionable origin" (purses, sneakers, etc) in China. They will post, say, a bath mat for sale on Ali, but when you click the link in the group to purchase the mat you really get the LV bag shown in the group. I'm SUPER picky about my bags - I won't carry one that you can tell is fake. I've bought several, and I have a few real ones to compare to, and you absolutely cannot tell. I'm not convinced they aren't coming out of the same factory as the real ones. The discount is insane - I recently bought the large Nice LV makeup case, which sells for about $2,700. I paid $150. Yes, I know it sounds too good to be true. These bags are shipped DHL so you get them in a few days.


 

secco wrote:

Durst_Burp wrote:

Can't think of anything at the moment - but your nail polish trick should work. Oils are why your finger nail polish chips faster than the polish on your toes - its because you're always scratching your face and other oily places with your fingers. I started doing my own UV gel nails last year and one of the steps is to paint your nails with this stuff that seems to be like alcohol/nail polish remover to dry them out/get the oils off, makes sense to do it for regular polish too, I just never thought about it!

Alright, that reminded me so maybe I do have a hack. Do your own gel polish at home (its really easy!), and buy the light/supplies on AliExpress. I got everything I needed including about a dozen colors for $30- I would spend at least that on one manicure at a salon.

AliExpress is probably the best life hack ever, buy all your shit there. There's a lot to say about it, so if anyone is interested we should probably start a separate thread. FKF knows all about it too.

This is such a good one! The do your own gel polish at home, that is. I got a starter kit at Walmart like 6 years ago and the lamp is still going strong. And you can buy polishes that work anywhere (AliExpress the next website I'm going to...). It takes a couple tries to get it right sometimes, but once you get good no one can tell the difference

Search for a store called "Born Pretty". Its my favorite. And if you decide to buy, do it through the app. It really is cheaper, sometimes significantly so.
 

Oh, I was actually pretty proud of myself for this one. After I graduated, I still went to my college library to study for the CPA exams. You need an ungodly expensive annual parking pass, or pay $5/day. Yeah right. So the last ticket I got, I saved the yellow envelope they put it in, and every time I parked I would put it under my wiper so it looked like I already had a ticket. Never got another one.

Last edited by Durst_Burp (1/12/2018 11:44 am)

Haha @ the ticket!!!

When we were in Asia, we were buying "knockoff" stuff that we were pretty sure was just leaving out the back door. I have a men's North Face jacket that I got for $40 that was retail here $500. I can be out in minus -45 in this thing and be fine! I got the Naked Smokey pallet from Ali to see quality and I'm almost certain its legit. Next to a friends you can't tell the difference and I actually think it wears better then my legit from Sphora Naked Basics.

I was unaware of this secret secret black market on Ali!! I have some friends that have order LuLu Lemons and you cannot tell the difference.

So porn Betty is the shop name? Can you private message me to FB group?! I need to get into that. I’m currently searching for a knock off channel

Be prepared.....so much stuff you never knew you needed! If you want something from the pop up sites (I haven't been on there in a while, my spending needed a break so I hid the page lol, they used to do them on weekends though) order quick cause the stuff will be gone in no time and its usually really, really good quality for great deals.

If someone wants help getting in, shoot me a message and I can add you.

ThatWholeBrevityThang wrote:

Durst_Burp wrote:

So if you've heard about Alibaba (Chinese Amazon/Jack Ma) in the news, its the international (buyers outside of China) version of that, owned by the same company. The site functions very much like Amazon in that you can buy literally anything and everything, and the items aren't actually sold by AliExpress, but a bunch of individual sellers (unlike Amazon, nothing is actually shipped by Ali).

Basically, you're cutting out the middle man and buying all the made in China crap you would normally get at WalMart/Target/boutiques and even some department store stuff directly from the source and the price difference is HUGE. Like, since I found out about this a little over a year ago it has completely changed the way I shop. Now almost everything I see in the store, I just pull out my phone and see if I can find it on Ali before I buy it. Dumb examples, but those little USB fans they sell by the cash register for $6.99? 89 cents on Ali. $29.99 Otterbox for your phone? $4 on Ali. UV nail light from Ulta - $60. Ali, $14. 99% of the time shipping is free, and when it isn't it's like a dollar. Use the app for your shopping - the prices really are lower.

There are two major caveats with using Ali - the first being that you have to plan ahead/be willing to wait. I've received things as quickly as 10 days from when I ordered, and a couple of times its taken almost 10 weeks. 90% of the time I receive things within 14-21 days of ordering. It's a great place to order party supplies/decorations for cheap, but again, plan ahead and order waaaaay ahead of time. The other caveat is, it's China. You will occasionally get something that is a dud. Ali is a legit site, so you have pretty much the same protections as you would buying from Amazon if there is an issue with your order, but again, China. Are you really going to return that 89 cent cell phone fan that doesn't work? Or maybe they sent the wrong color, or the quality isn't quite what you expected. If you can't deal with having to eat little stuff like that once in a while, Ali probably isn't for you. Honestly I've had very few issues and those that I've had have been resolved. You can message the seller, tell them the  problem, and they will either refund you or send you a replacement.

^^All of the above is the "official" way to use Ali. There is also a hidden, black market. Its a lot of fun. You have to find these secret FB groups to get in. I am a member of one and will be happy to share if you're interested. Basically the way it works is the people who run the groups are the liaison between the buyers and sellers of "goods of questionable origin" (purses, sneakers, etc) in China. They will post, say, a bath mat for sale on Ali, but when you click the link in the group to purchase the mat you really get the LV bag shown in the group. I'm SUPER picky about my bags - I won't carry one that you can tell is fake. I've bought several, and I have a few real ones to compare to, and you absolutely cannot tell. I'm not convinced they aren't coming out of the same factory as the real ones. The discount is insane - I recently bought the large Nice LV makeup case, which sells for about $2,700. I paid $150. Yes, I know it sounds too good to be true. These bags are shipped DHL so you get them in a few days.


 

 

Omg yes I want in this black market!!! I am a bag snob but a broke bag snob....this has me intrigued.

 

Is this like the dark web and I can use my bitcoins?
I scored some great hashish there. (Oh wait is that Different dark web?) 😂😂😂😂

Joking kinda but I’ll would love some links also.

Durst_Burp wrote:

WhereIsVictoria wrote:

Okay I’m all over ordering some Lulu Lemons if they are the same... real lululemon quality is really hit or miss.

I've ordered 3 pairs of lulu leggings through this group and the quality is great. I ordered one pair and loved them so much I ordered 2 more. They're just plain black crops and I paid $25/pair. I've done repeat orders for the sports bras too. You can find them in the group FKF posted a link to - if you need help finding them/navigating that group, shoot one of us a DM and we can help.
 

 
I have no idea what a Lulu lemon is .  I’m assuming it must be something to do with exercise and I don’t do ups I only do downs I sit down lay down I do not push up or sit  up .

Thanks, Durst! I can't believe I haven't heard of Ali before... I'll def be looking into all of it more in depth!

Welp, like FKF, I had taken a little break from the Ali group, but after today I decided to take a gander. Just purchased 2 Longchamp backpacks for $80 that would have cost me $250 at a department store.  Nevermind the fact that I do not need one, let alone two backpacks....

Lmao @ Porn Betty!!!!!

Durst - that's what I'm afraid of -- that I'll find all this stuff that I never knew I needed!!! Do you know anything about the make-up on there? I just started casually looking and I've never heard of any of the brands but they're dirt cheap. I tried searching by name brands but get nothing.

Goldclutch wrote:

Lmao @ Porn Betty!!!!!

Durst - that's what I'm afraid of -- that I'll find all this stuff that I never knew I needed!!! Do you know anything about the make-up on there? I just started casually looking and I've never heard of any of the brands but they're dirt cheap. I tried searching by name brands but get nothing.

 
I didn’t even notice the porn betty typo!! 😂

You won’t find anything “brand name” by directly searching on Ali- it’s illegaly sold, so the only way to find that stuff is through the “hidden links” in the FB group we’ve been talking about. For example, an Ali link that looks like you’re buying oven mitts will be posted in the group along with a photo/description of what you’ll actually receive (the branded item) when you purchase the “oven mitts”.

There is tons of makeup in the FB group- Urban Decay, Chanel, Too Faced, lots more. Here’s my take on the makeup, FKF might have better input since she’s actually ordered some. I don’t buy any makeup from china/through the group because i’m nervous about what’s in it, and while it would be nice to get it for cheaper, I can afford a $40 eyeshadow palette and the $10-20 I might save buying it from China isn’t worth it for me (google “chinese knockoff makeup” - some gross/scary stuff!), whereas I definitely can not afford to purchase several LV bags at a time, and I save upwards of $700/bag when I buy those through China, so those are well worth it for me.

All that said, the Ali sellers want to stay in business. If they sell garbage makeup, they won’t stay open. And the makeup you find in the FB group is from trusted/vetted sellers, and people leave tons of reviews in that group. Other than a few that maybe weren’t great quality, I haven’t seen any major issues.

Against my better judgment, I ordered two tubes of non-branded peel off lip stain from Ali, and my lips have yet to fall off. 😋