Shopping Spots Worth the Tip #1

Every magazine about beauty recommends that those of us who torture our hair with heated gadgets and modeling products deep condition it once a week. Deep conditioners are suppose to be more intense than daily treatments and beneficial in "repairing" the damaged hair. From all that I have read there is no real way, except cutting, that damaged hair can be "repaired" but we can treat it so that the cuticle is soothed and moisturized and it looks as good as possible. At one point I just left a generous amount of conditioner out in a bowl for a few hours allowing some of its water to evaporate so that the conditioner condensed. I’m not sure if that was a good move or not. Lately I have been using a product called Samy – Beyond Repair.

http://www.drugstore.com/qxp187757_333181_sespider/samy/beyond_repair_professional_intensive_hair_masque.htm
It is a professional intensive hair masque that comes in a generous 6oz Jar. As with most deep hair conditioning products after washing my hair (no I didn’t use the matching shampoo) and squeezing out the excess water I apply a generous amount of the stuff and let it set in for about 10 minutes. It leaves my hair soft and silky and the slight scent disappears after a while, which is fine by me. Besides recommending this conditioner because it's no better or worse than any other I have used, I recommend the place I purchased it from for $2.99 instead of its $8.99 standard retail price.

Lot Less Closeouts is a chain of sell out stores with 3 locations in New York City (80 Clinton Street just before Delancy, 299 Broadway, and 97 Chambers), two stores in the Bronx and one in Rego Park, Queens. Each store carries discontinued and closeout items, perfect if you’ve wanted to try something but refused to pay the original retail price or can no longer seem to find some of the things you have grown to use and love. Much of their stock bears familiar brand names though you will find some things that definitely failed to draw the attention or interest from the consumer market in this and other countries.

For a long while they had everything and anything to do with Betty Boop and cans of eggplant in olive oil selling for $0.99 each because they were sealed so that their labels were upside down. I have seen sterling silver and costume jewelry sets usually packaged and sold at Macy’s during the holiday season ($3.99-7.99), Timex brand watches ($9.99), pawed through piles of Wrangler and Bill Blass Jeans ($7.99-9.99) and purchased great fitted white t-shirts from New York. & Co ($3.99) and some silk scarves issued by Jones New York ($1.99-2.99). They also carry hair, make up and facial products from companies like L’Oreal and Revlon and have a home goods section where some of the items bear the name of designers still on HGTV and even some whose name’s grace their own magazines, hint hint - initials M.S and R.R. - cough, cough.

The goods can sell for 50-80% less than what they originally retailed for. Though they regularly restock some brands and items I find that because of the difference in space between the 3 New York locations sometimes they don’t have the same exact stock available at every one. I prefer the Chambers Street store because it boasts 2 large open floors filled with just about everything you can imagine. It is well worth the effort to of an occasional drop in with list in hand but no expectations. Even after frequenting this store for about 6 months I am still surprised and often amused by what I find.