Thursday, December 14, 2017

Americans, we can turn this around

Net neutrality = free speech.

Go to battleforthenet.com, send emails, letters, and phone calls to Congress to overrule the FCC vote. 

No one said hope is lost. That's why we are proud Americans that will fight for our rights, and we have the right to do so. Otherwise--[We're sorry. Please pay $5 to unlock the rest of this post.]

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Korean Aloe Vera Gel

Nature Republic's aloe vera gel

 



Online, from what I've seen, this usually costs around $10-$15. The cheapest I bought've it was $6 from iMomoko (buy 2 for $12), but the shipping cost ($5.99) made it about $9 each. iMomoko no longer sells this product; I think they are focusing on Chinese and Japanese products now.

So I've used like at least 5 of these, but I stopped after finishing the last one I got from iMomoko.

My thoughts/what I realized:
-smells great (at first, you get used to it afterwards)
-my skin would feel dry during the first few weeks, then become soft
-not 100% aloe, and contains alcohol
-there is a clear lid that seals the product, but half the time it gets stuck in the lid
-the container is not hygienic, but I guess the alcohol would kill all the bacteria
-I read online that this is good for hair--it's not (for my hair). It just made my hair feel dry like hay

Sunday, December 10, 2017

Calling All USA Internet Users

As internet users, we cannot just sit and watch our internet world crumble and fall. We have the internet, so why must we lose it. 


It is time to #BattleForTheInternet by #BreakTheNet. We need to spread the word, get it out there that some corrupted, money involving things are going to happen really soon. 

Our internet service providers are convincing the government to allow them to charge exuberant prices in order for us to use the internet services we take for granted: 720p/1080p HD quality, high speed internet, and unlimited use of data because we pay for it monthly. 


However, these providers are winning this battle, and we need to speak up. Message your congressman, talk to your friends and family, and get everyone aware.


To break it down further, basically:

Charter, AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, and all of the other ISPs (internet service providers) in the United States of America, want to charge us extra money in order to use their services.



That means, if you want to watch that entire 10 minute Youtube video in 1080p quality, you may need to pay $5 for that quality. Because the video is 10 minutes long, you may need to pay another $5 to maintain that quality and have high speed internet without the video stopping to load.


Do you have a new game that you just bought on Steam, and you can't wait to start playing? Well, you better pay for those 5 hours that you'll play it, or else the internet might stop half way because gaming takes a lot of data, and data means extra charges.


You may wonder, I'm already paying monthly for this box in my house that is working just fine right now. Why should I worry? Because once this bill is passed, not only will you pay monthly for that box, but you'll have to pay extra in order to have it work normally. 




Our internet lives will forever be changed if the ISPs win this battle. Let's keep the internet how it is, because this is how we like it to be. #BattleForTheInternet, #BreakTheNet, #NetNeutrality, spread the word on all of your social media pages. And contact your congressman. We need everyone's hands on deck to fight for our rights and not lose the internet. https://www.battleforthenet.com/


How else can you play a part? Visit here, and spread the word https://www.fightforthefuture.org/news/2017-07-11-heres-how-you-can-participate-in-net-neutrality/  (All images came from this site)








Sunday, December 3, 2017

SCAM! PandaCashBack Updated Review 0/5 Rating

Update: all of their information (especially on address and phone number) is completely inconsistent and incorrect. The BBB site says one thing, their Facebook page says another. 

From the BBB page: 22238 Solomon Blvd Apt 228 Novi, MI 48375-5075
From Facebook: 43155 Main St. Novi, Michigan
At least they're both in Michigan, but wow, how else are they going to rip off their consumers?

By the way, they scam people. They will provide you with good service 1 time so you can keep coming back. And then you will never hear from them ever again.

Thanks for reading!

(End of Update 1)

The customer service on this site is HORRIBLE.

I expected more because it is based in the United States, and I wanted to support the people that live in the same country as I do (they also earn money from us using the site). 


The first time I noticed this was when my sign-up cashback would never show up in my account. It was always marked as "Pending" for a good 5-6 months. The website has a chat box on the lower right so you can send them a quick message. I did that maybe 5 times, and not once did I get a response.


When I finally earned $15 in cashback, I asked for a withdrawal (I had to submit this through the ticket system). This actually only took 1 day. I included my ticket with a complaint saying that my $5 sign-up cash never showed up, and how I was disappointed no one ever responded to my messages. 


Here's a screenshot with their response (through the ticket system, not by email).



Click to zoom/make larger


OK, sounds like they're understaffed. That's fine, but how come they can respond to the withdrawal so quickly, but not my other messages? 

After I got my cashback, I received this message (by email):

Wow, what a lovely response! I cannot wait to earn more so I can actually get the customer service everyone deserves and should be receiving from this site (because it is currently non-existent). 
--------

Flash forward to now. I've earned a whopping $19 (that includes the $5 sign-up cashback, not including the first $15). I am ready to withdraw, but I recently made a few larger purchases that have not shown up on my account.

I found out that each site has a "respond time", which is usually around 5 days to give cashback. They also have a maximum of 90 days to actually get it done. I've waited my time, and it's just those 2 transactions that are not showing up. 

I've submitted tickets for both. When you submit a ticket, you will receive a confirmation email saying:

Your support ticket "[Ticket name here]" has been submitted.

We reply to all tickets as soon as possible, within 24 to 48 hours. If we expect your ticket will take additional time, we will update you by sending you an email.

It has been 2.5 weeks. I have heard absolutely nothing from them. What VIP Membership.

I think Ebates will be a better site to go to. They are more popular anyways. PandaCashBack is just a sketchy site that is rolling in gold and doing nothing but scamming people with their "services". 

I admit, I did receive my $15 (the first withdrawal) from them through an Amazon Gift card, but how come I cannot even reach them for anything else?

Rating: 0/5 I am livid.

Update 2: Before I posted this review, I actually made a larger purchase through PandaCashback, in hopes that if it works, my purchase would be worth it. After waiting weeks of no responses and no updates to my cashback account, I sent probably 5-6 tickets in. I was getting anxious because the site says my cashback should be in within 5 days. Weeks went by. I also went through weeks of back-and-forth on Facebook to no avail. They still didn't give me back my cashback,

I finally got a (insufficient) response (on Facebook and through email). Apparently the company is moving their headquarters and they are changing their staff. They personally reached out to me asking for my ticket number, saying they will take care of it ASAP. I sent that number, and they finally gave my my withdrawal. 

Since this was all a while ago, everything is quite blurry. But yes, they eventually fulfilled my 2nd withdrawal. So I have $4 remaining in my account (withdraw increments are by 5 with the minimum being 10. So you can do $10, $15, $20). 

Now, flash forward to mid-April, almost 5 months after posting this review, and I got 1 response to 1 of my tickets (I think out of 5?) for my big purchase, and they said they fired a lot of people so thus the reason for the lack of response. Still very insufficient, and they also said the cashback policy is now 48 days. Meaning, if you wait too long, you're not going to get anything. But if you contact them too early, they will ask you to wait. However, since it has been a while (like maybe 5 months) they mentioned they will contact the company to see what's going on. I doubt I'll be seeing anything new added to my cashback account though; I'm sure PandaCashback will though.

Also, I noticed my cashback decreased somehow. I had $4 left after my second withdrawal. Suddenly, it became just some change. My one transaction, one of the first purchases through PandaCashback all of a sudden was "denied". I submitted a ticket to have that checked out because it absolutely makes no sense to have something that has been there for almost a year to suddenly be rejected. 

Sorry for the rant, but this basically was what happened so far. I still don't trust PandaCashback and will no longer use it, but I will try to continuously monitor my account and tickets for any responses. If they actually give me my cashback for my large purchase, I might update this review. Otherwise, that rating is staying 0/5

Thanks for the read. This is my honest opinion after dealing with the nonexistent customer service there is to offer. 

Sunday, September 24, 2017

Beautynetkorea -- after the changed shipping policy!

Update: I'm (slowly) but surely adding reviews to the products I bought during this haul! 

New shipping policy, cheaper prices! (You pay for shipping now, but it isn't so bad)

Shipping:
My order date: 14 Sept 2017
Date shipped out:
  • according to email: 19 Sept 2017
  • according to tracking provided by Beautynetkorea: 20 Sept 2017
  • according to USPS tracking: 20 Sept 2017
Date received: pending (it has arrived to the US as of 24 Sept 2017), mostly likely arrive 27 Sept 2017

You may be thinking: wow, they're lying. They said they shipped it when it really didn't actually ship until 1 day later. 

False! According to experience, 
  • not all post offices will ship things the day of
  • the time you give the box to them can also determine if shipment will take a day longer
  • Online companies buy shipping online
    • they either hand the package over to the post office the next day
    • they have it picked up (also on the next day). 
A 5-day processing time is not bad at all; it decreases the chances of them canceling an item on you.

I did not really take note, but my Beautynetkorea packages usually take around 2-3 weeks to arrive. This seems to still hold true (I paid for the cheapest, available shipping cost). 

Here is my order. I had to add everything in a shopping cart to see the "sale" prices. I also added the full sized items to Roseroseshop to compare shipping and prices. 

Beautynetkorea vs. Roserose shop (click to enlarge photos)

Costs: (first few Google searches)

Saturday, September 16, 2017

FashionNova sending Facebook Messages without even asking

I was looking for jeans and found one I liked on FashionNova. I added it to my cart to save for later and closed the tab. 

Around an hour later, I decide to go on Facebook and noticed I got a message. It was from FashionNova. I do not recall giving away my email address to the website, so how is it that they found me on Facebook? And they even sent me a link to my shopping cart with the item I added.

Their privacy policy includes collecting basically all of the information that can be found on your browser, such as all of the sites you've been to before and whether or not you are actually looking at the FashionNova website.

I feel like a fashion brand website shouldn't be collecting so much information about their users, even if it's solely for advertisement and their business. Seeing "Don't forget this..." on the FashionNova tab when I am on another tab is unsettling, and I wonder if they also have access to what I am typing.

Update: looking back on this, it's scary how much information Google Chrome itself is giving to other websites. 

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

My AliExpress Purchases (Part 1)

When I first discovered AliExpress, I fell in love immediately. It was difficult for me to go out and buy things that I liked, but the convenience of an online store to ship directly to me was all I had hoped for. Plus, AliExpress had all the anime/lolita/trendy items that were not yet available around me.

After being on this site for almost 3 years with 13 pages of orders, I've learned a few tips and tricks on how to buy on AliExpress. But first, I'd like to focus on the products and experiences I've had. 

I like to go into detail, so there is also some information on how these stores on AliExpress work (shipping, shipping time, packaging, etc.)


Little baby me buying EXO sweaters in 2014 ;)
EXO Sweater
This was my first purchase.  

The store: As you can see, the store name is some randomly generated name. This is the sign that this store does not exist anymore. In fact, it "closed" down quite a while ago. I was sad to see it go, because they had some quality stuff on their store.

This store had the most reviews for this particular sweater, and the pictures and reviews all said was of good quality. I do not have access to my order details anymore (probably because the store closed down), but the estimated shipping time was 15-26 days. I think the package arrived around 20 days. 

Shipping and Packaging: The sweaters were individually packed in those clear bags clothing come in, and both were put inside a gray shipping bag. This was fine with me, since these were sweaters and nothing much was going to happen to them. The bag also felt and looked waterproof. Since everything was being shipped from China, it would make sense that they cheaped out on the packaging (since shipping is high, but I pay nothing--the beauty of AliExpress). 

The product: If you've worn a Gilden hoodie/sweatpants/etc., you will know how this sweater feels. The entire thing was thick and the inside of the sweater was soft and plushy like fleece. It did smell slightly of paint (from the print), but otherwise, the sweater was as good as I expected it to me. The only problem was the sizing. I measured myself and even ordered a size up, but I wish I got an even larger size to make the sweater even baggier. 

The sweater was great for the autumn/chillier weather. I cannot say it would be enough for the snow, but layering on a warm coat will do the trick. After a few times in the washers/dryers, the inside of the material wasn't as soft anymore, but it was still a nice sweater. I actually do still have this sweater, but I don't wear it anymore. I think it shrunk a little bit from the dryer, and I accidentally got a paint stain on it. 

I also got over EXO thus another reason why I stopped wearing it (sorry EXO fans).



Spiral Fake Ear Plugs/Studs
I saw a picture with someone wearing these spiral plugs, and I wanted them too. Do I actually wear them? No, but I love them. 

The store: This store is actually still active, and if I was still into ear plugs, I would continue buying from them. I've made 2 purchases from them, and their items are definitely very good quality. I had one hiccup though, and they were able to talk with me to resolve the problem. More on it later. 

I did a lot of research on gauge sizes, and I had to message the seller to make sure these would fit in my regular, pierced ears. These did kind of stretch them out, but it wasn't anything painful. It just took some time for the ears to adjust.

The product: The plugs felt very durable and strong, though I have to admit the screws to connect them together did not feel as durable. One end of the spiral has a tiny screw that connect to the other side; when you can't see behind your ear, it's hard to keep a steady hand while spinning something in the small space behind your ear. I have been careful though. 

Saturday, April 8, 2017

Buying from BBCosmetic.com (Site and product reviews)

Update
***
I contacted them about writing this review, and they gave me *I think* 20% money back on my order. This is something they advertise on their site, so honestly, anyone can just write a review/make a video, and send them the link! 

I also added some mini reviews on the products I bought below; it has been about a month since I started using the BHA serum.

***

I recently bought from BBCosmetic.com, and if you live in the USA, you'll be in luck! It has free shipping and they are based in the US! That means that not only will you get good deals, but you won't have to wait weeks and weeks to get your order.

I've been on the hunt for more skincare sites that offer free shipping with reasonable prices on their products. I am a huge fan of Jolse.com and Beautynetkorea.com, but I decided to give BBCosmetic.com a go.

I placed my order on April 2, 2017 and my box arrived on April 7! It took only 5 days! 

I didn't realize the site was based in the US, but honestly though, the site doesn't provide any information about shipping or its location. Usually the "About me" page and "FAQ" is at the bottom of the site, but this one doesn't seem to have one.



I actually didn't order that much because I wasn't so sure about this site. My order was $21.98, and after using a coupon code (I found online on someone else's blog), it ended up being $20.22.

Everything was still well packaged and I got free samples~~


Free samples! Dr. Belmeur cream by The Face Shop. 

Sunday, February 12, 2017

Cosmetic-Love Discount Link

So anyone that sees this, they will be like:

This person is sponsored. Or getting some sort of benefit from this.


Yes, and no. I purchased something from cosmetic-love.com for the first time today! And they gave me a discount link even though I didn't email them or ask anything from them.

Secondly, I will be getting store points from this if anyone uses this code. BUT! It is still a pretty good discount for anyone that wants to use it!


So to get a discount, you must purchase from cosmetic-love.com through this link, and you "should" get 15% off of your order! I'm not sure how long this link will last, but I wish I could use this for my order :( I haven't used one of these links before (I found one, but it was expired already), so I can't guarantee it will work. Let me know if it does!

Also, this link is for first time purchases only from this site!

15% Discount Link (Update: this might be expired, sorry! Click to check, just in case :))


I want to share this because after browsing cosmetic-love.com, the site is quite pricey! Even though people say jolse.com (etc. etc.) is expensive, this is even more! However, their "buy more save more" deals are super awesome and actually can help you save and get cheaper deals! 

Enjoy! :) Also, you will get a discount link after your purchase too!