Danier Factory Outlet may surprise you

Mr. B. wanted a new leather jacket. He found one he liked at Danier’s Yorkdale store on sale for $100 off the ticketed price. Being the savvy shopper he is, he wanted me to take a visit to Danier’s St. Clair Factory Outlet.

Like the mall locations, I found Danier’s sales help quite aggressive. So we kindly let the saleswoman who shadowed us upon arrival, that we were okay – thanks.

Within a few minutes, Mr. B. found the same black leather bomber he had seen at Yorkdale for an additional $50 off.

As much as I would have liked a new leather jacket (I’ve been wanting one with a zipout lining for years), I hadn’t planned on buying one. A leather jacket is a substantial purchase and something I’m unlikely to consider as an impulse buy.

The outlet location is much larger than the mall stores with several clearance racks – perfect for leather lovers on a tight budget. I perused the deep-discounted coats and jackets. There were some great finds but nothing that fit me properly.

Mr. B, on the other hand, decided I should have a leather jacket too. Whaaaaa? This was not characteristic of our shopping trips. Even more unusual, he picked out an awesome jacket for me. Of course it wasn’t on sale but we decided since the last leather jacket was one I bought myself as a university graduation gift, it was time to get a new one.

Hmm, outlet location, two jackets – one at regular price. Let’s see what I can do. I asked the salesperson if there was anything they could do about the price. (Just so you know, I despite the name of this blog, I don’t make a habit of negotiating ticket prices with stores. However, this was a factory outlet. We were buying two of their better-quality leather jackets and one wasn’t marked down. What did I have to lose?)

Ask and ye shall receive. The manager gave me 10% off my jacket. Still no bargain but I was happy to take what I could get.

What good deals have you found lately? Have you ever tried negotiating on a price (cars and homes don’t count), if so, what happened?

On the move for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

For long-time readers, pink posts on Bargainista won`t be anything new. My mother battled breast cancer and I`ve had several friends who have faced the battle too. From time-to-time I've blogged about Breast Cancer fundraising initiatives.

On Monday, I learned my friend Andrea was diagnosed with breast cancer. For those of you who think breast cancer is a disease affecting mostly older women, think again. Andrea like so many of you reading this blog, is a wife and mother with two young children. She has also made a huge contribution to children's literacy and the podcasting community. Andrea is forging ahead, staying positive and already thinking like a survivor.

In honour of Andrea, I will be writing one pink post a week throughout this month and highlighting opportunities for you to support the cause. I`ll do my best to showcase some of the more interesting initiatives - feel free to send me your ideas too.

Last year, I did some work with rethink breast cancer helping spread the word about BreastFest Film Festival last year. rethink is an incredible organization because it helps raise awareness about the importance of breast health for younger women and provides support for women with early-onset breast cancer and their families. (Growing up as a child who`s mother had the disease, I know life would have been much different had rethink been around at the time. You can check out these pink products with a portion of proceeds going to rethink this year.

Buying baby clothes on a budget

In this week’s baby bargainista column, Rebecca Atkinson talks about shopping for clothes for her baby daughter who is growing by the minute and cute as a button.

As Jenny pointed out in a previous post buying baby clothes can be an expensive proposition when your little one constantly grows and no two manufacturer’s are alike in their sizing.
Given this the rapid changes in weather this summer and our darling’s early delivery, it wasn’t long before we were on the lookout for discount baby clothes in Toronto.

Here’s what we were able to find:
Value Village – when babies aren’t yet crawling, walking or spilling stuff on themselves, their clothes tend to stay in better shape, so Value Village is a great spot to find baby clothes at discount prices.

The Children’s Place – Depending on which location you go to you may end up with a gold mine of discounts: clothes priced between $1.99 -$4.99. I’ve been to three locations in the GTA and here’s what I can tell you. The Toronto Eaton Centre has a small discount area and is worth checking out. Yorkdale Mall’s store has the smallest discount rack I’ve ever seen. However, the motherload can be found at Vaughan Mills, with the biggest discount section – especially for infants.

Old Navy – Again, Vaughan Mills has a large discount area and we were able to buy a ton of her summer clothes, paying no more than $4.99 per item of clothing. I’m not sure about other Old Navy locations, but it could be worth a try.

Obviously, these are pretty Toronto-area specific discount shopping options, so surely there are other options across Canada. Where have you been the most successful?

My long-lasting Blobar manicure secret revealed

By now you probably know that I <3 manicures and enjoy getting together with some of my girlfriends for mani-pedis. I often feel naked if I’m not wearing earrings or have my fingernails well groomed when I leave the house.

Keeping my nails neat and tidy takes a lot of effort. It’s tough going for weekly manicures – spending an hour getting my nails done and another half hour waiting for my nails to dry. Then praying they don’t chip or show wear and tear for several days between appointments.

So, you can imagine my delight when I saw the sign outside Blobar last August announcing a gel manicure service that lasts 3-4 weeks. Of course I walked inside to see if this was for real – it is. It’s a Axxium Gel System by OPI (I understand other companies offer a similar product). Maybe you’re thinking this isn’t anything new because you’ve been wearing gel nails for years. Well, actually it is because I am wearing my own nails. Both processes require the use of UV lamp. I did find evidence of Axxium dating back to 2008 but I hadn’t heard of it before and neither had all the women who complimented me on my lovely manicured nails from Toronto to Chicago and back.

A few weeks later, I had my first appointment with Jessica-Marie Ellison, “Canadian Nail Artist of the Year” champion several years running. I was getting ready to take a vacation and I needed to have pretty party nails one week later. I wanted bright red nails to match my party dress. I was skeptical but I took the plunge. I was’t disappointed. Beautiful shape, finish colour and... no drying time! Once the process was complete, my nails were done. No sitting around watching the clock waiting for my nails to dry.

My nails looked picture-perfect the night of the party. In fact, my nails looked pretty darn good for the next two weeks. I’ve had many manicures by many nail techs and I love Pema who has been doing my nails frequently at Cozy but I’ve never met anyone as gifted at shaping and finishing them as Jessica.

I went four weeks between manicures. By the time I saw Jessica for my touch-up, I had two chips in the polish. My nails still were beautifully shaped. The main reason I needed the appointment was because my nails had grown so much and my unpolished nail beds were becoming quite prominent.



My second visit was a bit confusing. I knew the polish had to be soaked off and the process takes longer than regular polish. What I didn’t realize was that it required a longer appointment and unless I specified I wanted to change colours when booking, a follow-up manicure meant full service as far as filing, shaping, cuticles and hand massage goes but as for the polish, I settled for a touch up. (Lesson learned: brush up on industry lingo and a bit of drying time is needed for a touch up appointment.) So now, five weeks later, I’m still wearing bright Big Apple Red (but I did break a tiny bit of corner or my thumb nail trying to change a battery.)

For my third visit, I’ve booked an extra 15 minutes so I can change colours. I’m going to try a gel French manicure the next time around. I’ll let you know how it goes.

As for the cost, a regular manicure sets me back $15-$20 plus tip and at least an hour and a half. It lasts me up to a week but with chips, nicks and splits. Gel manicures are about $45 for an initial application and a bit less for a touch up. Cozy Nails will be bringing them in too – I still love them when it comes to service but I think Jessica wins hands-down (pardon the pun) when it comes to the end result. She’ll also share some of her wealth of knowledge regarding industry news and products.

Keep an eye out on Blobar. Other services include blow dries, hair extensions, spray-on tans, false eyelashes and make-up applications and several other esthetic services. It’s run by instructors from George Brown who are planning some interesting events like “How to know your salon has proper hygiene practices” and “How to get the most out of the products in your cosmetic bag”.