By Leeanne Griffin

Here’s one mostly for the girls (although guys, it would hurt you to take a peek, too ~ surprise your someone special with something special from one of these sites and you can thank us later for what YOU get in return!) for during the work day when you need a break from, well, work and feel like doing a little on-line shopping (shh – we won’t tell!). With summer approaching, it’s a good time to update your look. Fashionistas, get ready ~ we’re talking free jewelry, dollar makeup, and more shoes than your heart could ever desire.

Silver Jewelry Club: www.silverjewelryclub.com

It sounds like a scam, but it isn’t. On their homepage, Silver Jewelry Club displays photos of four rotating pieces of silver jewelry (with real gemstones like blue topaz and amethyst) every 15 minutes. If you like a piece, it’s yours, for “free.” Each piece of jewelry has a $5.99 shipping fee ~ and you can’t consolidate multiple pieces into one order. But some of these pendants, rings and earrings retail for $50-70, so by paying only shipping, you’re really getting a steal. There’s no catch and no limit to how many pieces you can order. It’s simply a marketing promotion for the company’s full catalog site, peora.com. And it’s a great way to add a few stylish yet inexpensive items to your jewelry collection.

EyesLipsFace: www.eyeslipsface.com

Makeup enthusiasts, you can’t miss this one. Every beauty item ~ eyeshadow, lipstick, mascara, foundation and much more ~ on this website retails for $1.00. One dollar. And before the Sephora junkies start scoffing, this is actually good stuff. Lip glosses are shiny and colorful without being tacky or sticky. Eyeshadows are packaged in nicely color-coordinated quartets. Eyeliners are gel-based and glide on nicely. Brushes, also marked at a buck apiece, are endorsed by industry experts. My favorite product, the limited-edition Shimmering Facial Whip, is a small tube of glimmering cream that acts as a fantastic all-over highlighting color for eyes, cheeks and even lips.

Shipping is $5 on any size order, but ELF runs near-weekly specials, often eliminating shipping costs on orders over a certain amount. Remember, if you happen upon a free-shipping offer, that’s worth five more makeup items.

And if you love makeup but have no idea how to apply it, ELF takes care of that too ~ a “Looks” area of the site offers 29 different step-by-step processes for particular styles. So treat yourself and order a lot. When the box comes to your door, it’ll be like your birthday and Christmas rolled into one.

Endless.com: www.endless.com

Shoe website Endless.com promises free overnight shipping, a 110% price guarantee and ~ for a short time ~ a “negative” shipping price that knocks another $5 off your order. If that doesn’t impress you, then the site will ~ highly sophisticated search functions allow you to select your footwear by color, size, style, designer, price and heel height. Once you pick a shoe, you can view it from seven different angles. About the only thing you can’t do with this site is try shoes on ~ but then if you don’t like them, you can send them back with free return shipping.

Sales are ongoing and thrilling, and I know of whence I speak ~ I gleefully bragged to my friends when I found a perfect pair of black Kenneth Cole platform pumps for $20 (down from $89) but later wanted to eat my words when they were too painful to wear. But would I shop there again? In a heartbeat ~ just for something that doesn’t have 4 inch heels!