Blogs we love: Stuff I Put On Myself by Natalie Dee

Welcome to another regular feature of Cheap and Cheerful: Blogs we love. Once a month, we will profile and link to blogs we love that deliver content to help you live better on a budget.

Natalie Dee, the professional web comic artist behind the daily Natalie Dee and also one half of the team responsible for Married to the Sea launched a new project earlier this month called STUFF I PUT ON MYSELF: a makeup blog. In addition to reviews that run the span of cosmetics from higher-end lines carried in department stores and sephora to drugstore brands, STUFF I PUT ON MYSELF also provides makeup tutorials, skincare tips, and fashion articles.

Our favorite feature so far is the The Pig. Offering brutually honest reviews of heavily hyped cosmetic products, The Pig assesses whether or not a product has delivered what it promises on the packaging. When a "special forumla" turns out to be not-so-special after all, STUFF I PUT ON MYSELF feeds the money to "The Pig", and then suggests cheaper alternatives. Feeding money to The Pig helps to visualize how much you could be saving by not spending money on products that don't live up to the hype, and makes it easier to make room in your personal care budget for your favorite small luxuries by helping you to shop smarter! Casual and conversational in tone, STUFF I PUT ON MYSELF brings the smart, unapologetic, and unaffected humour of Dee's webcomic work to the world of cosmetic and style blogging --and we think that world is all the richer for it.

The Goods

As promised, a pictorial presentation of my new (new to me anyway) clothes.


Silver halter dress from Express. I feel like all I need is some blue eyeshadow and feathered hair and I'm all set for the disco.



Pencil Skirt!



I thought this t-shirt was flippin' hilarious. Almost as hilarious as an "I shot J.R." t-shirt, which I DESPERATELY dream of finding at Goodwill .



A few people have told me that of all the things I acquired at the clothing swap, this was the ugliest. I love it though. It's so 60's! I can't wait to wear it with some white tights, boots and my hair flipped out in a Breck-wave!

A Good Trade

For the uninitiated, a clothing swap is a social event that, if memory serves, has been touted by many of the lady mags in the past couple of years as THE way to get some free, new-to-you clothes while getting out of the house and seeing the gals (or guys, I reckon, ya’ll share clothes sometimes don’tcha?) at the same time.

It’s a fairly straight-forward operation. The host invites some of their friends over and has everyone bring their unwanted, wearable clothes. Everyone convenes in the living room, the den, the boudoir, what-have-you and the swapping of clothes commences!

There are a few different ways of doing this. One suggestion is each person takes a turn, holds up each item of clothing and says something about it. After each person has finished, everyone is free to go around and make an offer to trade an article of their clothing for an article they saw during the presentation period. I wouldn’t recommend this method if you have more than four total participants, as you could be there all week. Another way is for each participant to set up a little pile, or booth of their stock and go around, pointing to wares that strike their fancy. The original owner may choose to let the fancier have their way with their old blouse for nothing, or they may demand that the interested party make an offer for trade. If the approached party does not care for the offer they are free to decline and see what others may tender in exchange, or demand that the other party make another offer. Tea may or may-not be served.

It sounded simple enough, and while I wanted some new clothes, I was skeptical at first of the success of such a venture. I mean, how many of you have friends who are sartorially similar enough to share clothes? However, a couple Saturdays ago I ended up being quite pleased and a bit surprised by the afternoon’s conclusion.

After arrival, our gracious host Mara, first served a lovely tea, with sandwiches and salad.Then we all tripped up to her room for two hours of agreeable chatter and clothes changing and trading. There was no fighting over dresses or t-shirts, and compliments and encouragement flowed like coke at a disco! Everyone was pleasant, generous, and generally just pretty cool. Also, I just couldn’t believe that not only did I end up with some gorgeous little things dahling, but there were people thrilled to get my tired-ass old clothes in exchange. Who knew? Apparently the ladies at Cosmo.

TOMORROW: PICTURES OF THE SPOILS