Q: Thanks for meeting with me today! How often do you buy make up or cosmetics?

A: Once a year — Oil of Olay: Eyes

Q: What did you say the studies found out about it?

A: They studied like really expensive cosmetic creams that do the same thing Oil Of Olay’s much cheaper product called Eyes does and they found Oil of Olay was better by far in addition to being cheaper, by far.

Q: Did Olay sponsor the study?

A: No

Note from the Maides:

Here’s a citing of many studies that found Olay leads the pack: “Olay…has earned plenty of awards — and accolades from independent agencies. In 2006 the American Consumer Union and its French counterpart tested ten of the biggest anti-aging brands, which included creams from Olay, La Prairie, Neutrogena, Strivectin and L’Oreal. Olay Regenerist cream came out on top. Consumer Reports came to the same conclusion in 2007.

In 2017, the People magazine and Today Show beauty awards gave Olay Regenerist Whip Active Moisturizer the honor of being named the “best anti-aging cream.” That same year, Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Formula won the coveted Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.

The magazine said the cream outperformed 10 competitors — including a prestige brand that costs $440. Good Housekeeping used 10,300 lab measurements, and gave the cream high marks for hydration and having a lightweight texture. According to the magazine, at the three-hour mark, it moisturized 400% better than a cream nearly 18 times its price and beat all other products that were tested (emphasis added; source: the Derm Review).”

Q: What happened last summer when you had one of those?

A: I had just bought one bottle of it and it disappeared. Ergh! And it was $20 and I hate loosing things that cost that much!

(*Notes from the Maides:

1- Groupon surveyed 2,000 American “women…who said they routinely spend money on their appearance spend an average of $3,756 a year (or $313 a month), which adds up to $225,360 throughout their entire purchasing lifetime (ages 18–78).” So, $20 per year is not the average and does not include the price of shampoo, soap, hair conditioner, hair dye, etc.

2- “A survey done by beauty e-tailer SkinStore, showed that women in the United States spend about $300,000 just on their face during their lifetime. $300,000. Let that sink in.” That’s $50,000/year, each year.)

Q: Was it a big container or?

A: It is a bottle of 0.5 ounces.

Q: That lasts you for an entire year?

A: Yeah. You only use like a small dab on each eye, and you only do that when you need to so it’s not every day, ya know?

Q: Ok. What does it do for your eyes?

A: Makes it so they’re not puffy, not blue like when you’re tired, and it takes away the wrinkles when you’re tired and takes away crow’s feet also.

Q: OK. Thanks. When does your daughter buy or try on cosmetic products?

A: She usually just gets make up kits for Christmas. She doesn’t buy them for herself. I get them from other people at Christmas as well — just because they’re cheaper around that time.

Q: Great! Can you tell me a little about when you buy Mascara and hair dye? You mentioned it in passing before we started the interview. So I wanted to make sure we chatted about that.

A: I only wear mascara on Sundays and special occasions. So that costs me about $8 per container and I buy that about twice a year, so about $16 per year.

Q: Great. Where do you buy them?

A: Not anywhere in particular. Most stores have them…just depends where I’m at when I need it.

Q: Like Aldi’s?

A: Aldi’s does not have them. Safeway, CVS, Target, Walgreens — they all have them. So Mascara is not hard to find.

Q: Okay and what can you tell me about when you buy hair dye?

A: Well, I first got hair dye on clearance.

Q: At Safeway?

A: Maybe…I can’t really remember but it was blonde hair dye for African-American women but it turned out perfect for me.

Q: OK. So you’e not African-American, for our readers. What do you mean it worked out perfect for you?

A: So every single time I look for that kind of hair dye but I haven’t been able to find that same kind that I liked. So I’ve just been doing — I’ve gotten a medium blonde but I like the light blonde more. I’ve tried the dark blonde more but I like the light blonde most. I have more of an olive complexion. I just like the lighter colors in my hair and I mostly dye my roots because my hair gets lighter in the summer and I like to keep it that color all year round.

Q: How did you know the dye was for African-American women?

A: It had a picture on the front. Anyway, I usually get all my hair dye on clearance. The only problem is one time I bought it on clearance and the baby got into it and lost half the parts.

Q: OK. Thanks and do you ever try red dye?

A: Just once, a long time ago when I was 16. I dyed my hair cinnamon. So yeah I got a temporary cinnamon hair dye when I was 16 and my sister did. After that I tried the medium blonde.

Q: OK. Great. It looks like you have brown-colored hair now. Why do you liek the blonde dyes?

A: When I came back from Argentina I had a strip of blonde going back from the center of my forehead. Because I was in the sun a LOT. So I spend maybe $16 on mascara per year. I get hair dye every 4 or 5 months. In the summer I do some Sun-In and that’s $3–4$ and the dye if $6–10, and then in November and March, I’ll buy some hair dye for those jobs as well. Blonde helps hide my grays really well.

And then there’s other items, like I buy Hair Butter for my curls and form time to time I’ll get the 3-Minute Miracle and that’s expensive but its’ nice. It makes it look like your hair just got a haircut and that’s like $10.

Q: OK. And your annual spend on those might be?

A: Maybe a little under $100

Q: And that includes Oil of Olay — Eyes?

A: On years when I loose the Oil of Olay — Eyes bottle, yes.

Q: What did you think of your experience buying Oil of Olay — Eyes?

A: I was going to Aldi’s, 5 below, pet store, Bed, bath and beyond — so I can get that Eyes that I’ve been trying to get for a month, So after I Get that, I can go to Michael's and get markers, then take the baby to Petsmart so she can enjoy the shopping experience, then I could get the toy bow and arrow for my husband’s Armor of God (Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians) lesson for his Sunday school class of kids. It was all really close.

Q: OK. So you bought that at Bed, Bath and Beyond only — how was it?

A: Well the clearance shelf didn’t have anything I wanted. Knew what I wanted. They have this thing where if you sing up , you get discounts. I go there twice a year so I’m not really enthused about giving them my email, phone number, address, and all that and setting up an account there.

Q: Right, right. You have enough spam email and text messages from places you shop at rarely — who are trying to get you into the habit of shopping with them more routinely. OK. What did you think of the customer experience?

A: It was fine. Had a long line.

Q: That seems odd that they would have a long line — in the middle of the day — on a week day?

A: Yep. I thought so.

Q: How could they have made it — easier for you or maybe said — what could they have done that would have helped you buy two Oil of Olay — Eyes?

A: You cant really because if it lasts a year, it starts to decompose, so you cant really store it up. It doesn't’ work really well.

Q: OK. Well how could they have persuaded you to use more, so that one bottle of 0.5 oz doesn’t last you 6 months?

A: Well that’s all you need. I guess some people use more. I don’t know. I’m just not that — I have a good complexion so I don’t worry about that too much. Usually my complexion is really clear, so

Q: Okay. Now tell me about the markers — you get scented markers and another type?

A: Well, I set out to do my weekly grocery shopping and found some on clearance at Michael’s. Michael’s had like ten different kinds! There was one in a container that was supposed to be for preschoolers and then when you look inside the cylinder container, all the markers in the middle were gone, like it was totally hollow except the outside ring of markers, which was like maybe one-fifth of all the markers that were supposed to be in there, so…little bit of a scam going on there! Ha, ha! And they were really thin markers like the kind that run out really quickly. I got her some at the Dollar Store like two days ago and they’ve already run out because she uses them all the time because she loves them so much. So I was looking for markers that were wider and that had more ink.

Q: It’s always tricky when you buy stuff on the clearance shelf because at that discounted price you might get a lesser quantity than the package normally has, or something like food that already expired. The retailer removes their mark up and hopes you might be blinded by the discount and not look at the details.

A: No, no. When you get it from the Dollar Store, that might happen…and maybe at Safeway, and Giant. I bought these because they were high quantity ink so they’ll last for a while. Even though I had already bought one pair at Michael’s I bought another set at Giant because they were high quantity.

Q: Okay. Thanks. And which sets of scented markers did you get from Giant?

A: Okay. So it was on their clearance shelf. The one set of markers I bought from Michael’s clearance shelf $10, $11, $12 — and then you see $2.70 on clearance — THAT’S the one I want. But then I found the other set of markers I saw at Giant and they have much more, and I got those because they have a higher quantity of markers.

Q: Okay but why did you buy two sets when you only needed one?

A: Because she colors with markers a LOT. She runs the ink out. She’s done that with two sets already, where she’s run the ink out. She also likes adding every color to her hands. It’s beautiful but kind of hard to wash off…over and over.

Q: Okay and do you think that might impact her handwriting when she’s older?

A: Yes. Learning to color between the lines, learning to color neatly, and learning to pay attention to texture and shapes and stuff helps people learn.

Q: I like the mixed media art that artists make — part of it’s charcoal, water color, part is crayons.

A: There were some really cool like they had some expensive stuff on clearance that was usually $40 and they’re $19 now, at Michael’s. and I was like yeah those are cool but, but $19 was more than I was going to spend on markers.

THE BOTTOM LINE

HOMEMAIDE helps you sell your style and buy the things that make you smile, seamlessly.

Any item you pass in your daily routine (cosmetic products, health and beauty products, contact lenses, pens, hens, iron supplement gummies, Omega-3, ice cream, cars,), any fun detour or side attraction you stop at while on a road trip (Wal-Mart, CostCo, Optometrist outlets, a petting zoo, Soft Serve Ice Cream, museums and their never-ending gift shops) — ALL you have to do is upload a picture or paused video screenshot of that to your existing social media sites and Homemaide will send you a commission for every purchase your friends make.

AND — they don’t have to buy a luxury car for you to earn a commission (but if they do, YOU will earn a commission from Homemaide on those larger purchases(!!!). Think about that for a second.

HOMEMAIDE helps you sell your style and buy the things that make you smile, seamlessly.

That’s not a bad commission based on you posting pictures, videos, and other content on social media sites. If you’re wondering how you might get paid a commission for such a sale — or if your friends buy real estate near where they see a picture of you vacationing — you might be wondering: “how can I get a commission from a sale like that? I haven’t paid 7 levels of Realtor Board dues (City, County, State, Regional, National, and more) or car sales licensing board dues.” Fortunately, Homemaide doesn’t use over-regulated, Centrally-controlled fiat currencies who’ve been debased more than the ancient Roman Denari to give you your commission. So, no worries! Reach out to us today to learn more!

If you’re friends rented the cheapest economy car or the cheapest car they could find off of Craigslist, or the Rocky Road that’s on sale at 2 for 1 prices at the local grocery store, you’d still earn a commission off that. If they bought the item that was in your picture, video, or voice-automated update (like a rental car, Airbnb lodging, hotel stay, Lyft, Uber, Via trip) — they can purchase that (even as a e-giftcard) and ship that to a family member, relative, or friend. And after that purchase, yes, YOU will also earn a commission from that purchase.

If they bought stock in Honda, Toyota, Tesla, Ford, GM or one of the top Rocky Road Ice Cream producing companies (Nestlé USA, Dean Foods Co, Saputo Inc, Land O’Lakes Inc, Dairy Farmers of America Inc, Schreiber Foods, Kraft Foods, Agropur Cooperative) — YOU would earn a commission off of that purchase. If they bought any item from the pictures you uploaded, you’d earn money. That’s the magic of Homemaide.

If you’re friends rented the cheapest economy car or the cheapest car they could find off of Craigslist, or the Rocky Road that’s on sale at 2 for 1 prices at the local grocery store, you’d still earn a commission off that. If they bought the item that was in your picture, video, or voice-automated update (like a rental car, Airbnb lodging, hotel stay, Lyft, Uber, Via trip) — they can purchase that (even as a e-giftcard) and ship that to a family member, relative, or friend. And after that purchase, yes, YOU will also earn a commission from that purchase.