I have to like the piece. I am currently wearing a brand new pair of Afghani earrings that I absolutely adore, and I am also wearing two bracelets whose age is unknown, but one has heavy wear patterns on it and some missing stones. I love it for its beauty and sense of history and solid construction.

I cannot afford the old, solid silver stuff that I sometimes see in magazines like Ornament.

I really dislike the ultra cheap jewelry that seems to be made of tin and feels very light and shoddy.

I buy jewelry simply based on whether or not I like the piece. Some of mine is old or expensive stuff, some is cheap stuff that I am almost embarrassed by but I like it, so....I'm also guilty of buying things because I feel sorry for them (but that's another issue altogether).

I will tell you though that with the exception of my sister and mom (who look for unusual and slightly "ugly" things for me), when I get jewelry as a gift it is usually new pieces that are a better quality. I know my hubby's picky about what he buys me and doesn't understand how I would buy some of the things I have picked up.

Most of the time I prefer to buy the authentic old stuff. I guess I feel like I'm wearing something that has a story which goes hand in hand with the story of bellydance and it's history. I do have a couple of newer pieces but for some reason love my old stuff more. I look at it and wonder who made this and who wore this piece before me and what was their story and history. I won't buy if it has sharp pieces or shoddy construction, so in that regard I am particular. Don't want to get stabbed while I'm dancing.

Like everyone else on here I buy something that I like. If it has some flaws in it I try to fix what I can. Even if I can't fix it I tend to keep it and use it on some part of my costume since to me everything has character to it. I used a really old kuchi earring on a black headpiece because I decided that if I were to buy a new one it would be WAY too bright and silvery for the look I was going for. Also, I had a huge bundle of coins from the Middle East to stick on a bra and they were all nearly the same except for this one that had a piece of turquoise bead in it *if you know me I'm a turquoise FREAK*. I used it on my first coin bra. To this day when I wear my bra I can still point out that little rickety old coin with the turquoise bead. :-p I think flaws sometimes give pieces a reason to be special to us. :-)

I don't mean to be rude, however, what does this have to do with makeup and jewelry???