Calling All Girly Girls

Do you love makeup, toiletries, fragrance and all things generally related to beauty and pampering? Me, too! In fact, I like that stuff so much that I often get carried away and buy more than I need. Sometimes I buy things that I never even use. You, too?

Several years ago I found a site that became tremendously helpful in cleaning up my beauty product overflow. Makeup Alley is the ultimate beauty site. It’s so packed with features that I’m not quite sure where to begin.

Let’s start with the community. The Boards, or forum is a great place to talk to other women about the products they use and love or hate. There are boards for makeup, hair, skincare or just chitchatting. Whether you’re searching for opinions on the newest Dior mascara or you need ideas for your upcoming wedding, you’ll find great advice and some really nice ladies here, willing to lead you in the right direction.

If you’re not feeling the whole community thing, head on over to the product reviews. Whether you’re searching for products from one brand or a specific type of product in several brands, you can filter and filter to get just what you want. The ladies who review the products here aren’t spokeswomen, either. They’re real women who have tried products are want to share their opinions with you. Some of the reviews simply state good or bad but quite a few of the women will go into much detail, even describing what they expected or what their problem areas are. The review section at makeup alley is probably one of the best places online to research products before buying.

The section of makeup alley that attracted me in the first place is the Swap. This has to be the very best way to try products that are very pricey but so tempting. Some women swap only drug store items but quite a few women swap high end brands like Dior, Stila, MAC, Nars. In fact, I’ve swapped away some of these very brands. I’ve swapped products that were never even opened! I’ve also got great products in return - and not all are makeup, either. You’ll find all kinds of fashion items up for swap, from purses and shoes to corsets and t-shirts.

To protect members, there’s also a rating system so that you can see a member’s previous swaps and what the recipient thought of the condition of the product and the outcome of the swap. The system allows for comments and replies that are very easy to filter.

Makeup Alley has been one of my favorite sites for a number of years. I’ve discovered some great products and brands from the women at Makeup Alley and I’ve also avoided some bad purchases thanks to those who share their opinions. If you love makeup, beauty items and all things girly, sign up for a free account and look around. There’s so much more than what I mentioned and it’s all good.