A sampling of Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals to get you excited

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If you are willing to brave the crowds or deal with a slower page load here are some Black Friday and Cyber Monday beauty deals that cannot be missed:

Beautysage.com: They are offering 20% site wide until Saturday, November 24th.

C.O. Bigelow: They are offering 20% off site wide now through Tuesday, November 27th.

Sabon: Starting Black Friday through Cyber Monday enjoy 20% off our entire collection.

Bath and Body Works: They are having VIP Black Friday goodie bags that are filled with the following:

• Cashmere Glow Body Lotion
• Cashmere Glow Shower Gel
• Paris Men’s Shower Gel
• Paris Amour Body Lotion
• Sparkling Pink Champagne Anti-Bac Foaming Hand Soap
• Mini Candle in Cranberry Bellini
• Gauze Sponge

WHAT IT COSTS: $20 with any $40 in-store purchase (over $100 value)

INGLOT Cosmetics: Starting at 3AM on Black Friday receive 20% off your entire purchase until 3AM on the 27th. 

Bobbi Brown: Every purchase until Sunday receives a trio of deluxe sized samples, free shipping and a specially sized lip gloss. Starting Monday, orders will receive 5 free samples and free shipping. 

Nature’s Gate: For their new Facial Care Collection they are offering 40% off any product in honor of their 40th anniversary. Enter code CYB40 at check out

Hitchin a ride

Side Car

Stick your hand out in San Francisco and it may become a tad tired.  No you are not competing to get the world record for keeping your arm out, but trying to hail a taxi.  Twenty minutes pass and nada.  Well low and behold if you have a smart phone (you do this is San Francisco) download the app Side Car.  Side Car is your answer to a taxi drought.  It is a community based service where prescreened, approved drivers use their own vehicles to drive you from point A to point B for a price significantly cheaper than taxis. 

So what you do is tell Side Car where you are, and where you are going.  It will then tell you the average community price and the closest driver.  When a driver accepts your route a picture of said driver and their vehicle will pop up.  Additionally, it will tell you how far away your ride is.  Gone are the days of sticking your hand out and in are the days when you know you can go back and grab a bottle of wine before your ride comes (true story).  When you arrive at your location, you pay through your phone and rate the driver.  The driver rates you as well.  How else will someone agree to pick you up next time, or you choose that driver if they don’t have stellar reviews.  If you pay the community average and are not a bumbling idiot you will get your four stars.

Skeptical?  So was I, but I just returned from San Fran and used Side Car the whole trip.  After dining with a friend who lived in town she suggested used Side Car to go get ice cream.  Since I was with a group, I agreed and the rest is history.  After our fabulous driver got us there safely I downloaded the app.  Because my friend recommended me, I got $10, and so did she.  Talk about incentive, especially since the average ride is around $10.  For the rest of the trip before heading to dinner we would tell Side Car where we were going.  In less than 10 minutes our clean, safe ride was there.  As I took my last Side Car ride to the airport I longingly hope for the day where Nashville is the next city they choose to start service. 

Get Paid to Spend Money

You know I love to shop.  The majority of my check ins on foursquare are in retail locations, but no one is paying me to set foot in there.  What if they were?  Well we would have a major problem and my spacious closet would be far from it.  However, there are some incentives to get shopping on the interwebs.  Ebates is helping line our pockets for that online shopping addiction.  What is Ebates and how can you get your fix you ask?  Well, Ebates is a free (yes! no  obligation) site where they have partnered with hundreds of stores on the internet to give loyal customers a cash back bonus for the shopping they are already doing.  Stores from the Gap to Groupon give customers a cash back.  Cash back is based on the percentage spent and the deal being offered.  Some stores offer just 1% where others reach upwards of 10%.  The average I have seen is 3-5%.  It may not seem like a lot but think about all that shopping you do.  Ahhhhh its a lot and trust me it adds up.  If you are going to hit the web for a little bit of a shopping spree you need to first log onto Ebates and find the store you are looking to drop some benjamins at.  Click on the link and Ebates notes you are shopping there.  If you hit check out Ebates will shortly notify you that you should expect a cash back.  Ebates pays out 4 times a year and they will deposit the money into your paypal account or send you a check.  Feeling generous, you can dontate it to charity too.  Book mark the site as a favorite so you do not forget it when the urge to splurge strikes.  Now go shop and watch the rewards roll in.