Eyes!

So, this summer I used my Cashback bonus and some birthday $$$ to buy some silly-expensive make-up, all by Stila.

I don't dislike any of it. Some of it I love. We'll get to the love bit later...

First up is Multi-Effect Mascara.

I've been using this as my daily mascara for a few weeks now.

There is nothing overly wrong with this mascara-- it's not too clumpy, good definition, good volume... but there is nothing overly right with this either.

When push comes to shove, I can't tell a difference between this and L'Oreal's Panoramic Curl, which is easier to find and much cheaper and also comes in waterproof varieties (good for weddings! if you're a crier like I am!)

RETRO LUSH!

Retro Lush has hit the US! Finally!

For a limited time, online only, some discontinued products are back. Including World Piece.

Also, my birthday is next week. *hint hint*

When It's Good to Have the Blues

Back in elementary school, I was cool enough to be friends with Bridie Krishini. And trust me, folks, that was cool. She was exotic, her parents were divorced, and her dad lived in Hollywood and was married to That Chick From The Star Trek Movie. Being friends with Bridie was a big deal. We were going to start a band -- I wrote all the songs, she designed the costumes (and then I redesigned them).

Every summer, Bridie would go out to California and stay with her dad and His Famous Wife for a couple of months. She'd return tanned-to-a-crisp and fabulous, sporting whatever was the latest fashion of the Children of Hollywood Movie Stars. The year we started fifth grade, she showed up wearing Electric Blue Mascara.

I thought it was the most glamorous thing I'd ever seen. Electric Blue Mascara! I was completely awestruck, and knew I'd never have the guts to wear mascara that wasn't eyelash-colored. Wow. Blue. (Shortly after that, I stopped being cool enough to be friends with Bridie. Oh well, at least I went to college. And her dad didn't stay married to the Movie Star for very long anyway.)

Flash-forward twenty years or so. I wear brown mascara. I've worn brown mascara since about midway through the ninth grade. The only time I've ever really worn black mascara, even, was on my wedding day, and that was only because one of my bridesmaids made me do it.

So I will never know what came over me this past spring when I grabbed a giant tube of Benefit's Bad Gal Blue and threw it in my basket in Sephora. I purchased it. I brought it home. I put it on the next morning, just to see what it looked like on me.

And then I went to a meeting.

I wore that blue mascara the whole day. And the next. I wore it for a week, then two weeks, and suddenly a month had gone by. And not one person said anything to me about it. My bright-red toenails get all kinds of buzz at work, but my cobalt-colored eyelashes? Not a word.

So, it turns out that unless you are in direct sunlight, this stuff just looks like regular mascara. If I were to have meetings outside at noon in the parking lot and invite everyone to put their faces six inches from mine, they would be able to tell that my eyelashes were coated in blue mascara rather than, um, any other color. And I'm okay with that. It's like having my own secret superpower -- nobody but me knows that, in the blink of an eye, I can go from mild-mannered brown-mascara-wearing HolyKnitter to Fabulous Eighties Hollywood Moviestar Whose Stepdaughter Steals Her Makeup.

As the spring turned to summer, I stopped wearing the Bad Gal Blue every day. But I've also taken a hiatus from wearing much in the way of makeup right now. I like the Bad Gal Blue. The brush is oversized and therefore cumbersome, but has good bristles and a good tip. There's no real clumping.

And I've discovered that I can layer a tiny bit of brown on the tips of my lashes for a slightly more subtle effect when I know I am going to be out in the sun.

Aveda Hair Update

I'm still torn on how I feel about Aveda's Madder Root shampoo/conditioner.

On one hand, I've been getting a million compliments about the color. Every day someone asks me if I've dyed my hair. (Nope! Just the shampoo/conditioner!) And the color has gotten less eggplant-y as I've been alternating conditioners (with Redken's All Soft Conditioner, which makes my hair a little heavier than the Heavy Cream does...)

So, my hair looks FANTASTIC.

But... on the other hand...

The staining has gotten worse. Usually, I just have to wash my hands a few times and my fingernails stop being pink (I do soap up my hands as soon as I've put the conditioner in...)

But... it's hard to do that on my scalp, which is sometimes pink (no one's commented, but I'll just tell them I sunburned it)

And finally... y'all know I shower and then go to bed. The neckline of my pajamas (right where my wet hair sits) is now pink. Grrrrrrr...

So, where I really like how it looks, when I'm done, I'll probably go back the All Soft Heavy Cream for conditioning. The dying seems to be more with the conditioner than the shampoo, so we'll see what my color does then!

This Lipgloss = Summer 2008

I usually pay very little attention to makeup trends. Trends in makeup generally strike me as a pretty stupid phenomenon, because it's not like your skin tone is going to change to accommodate whatever color lipstick or eye shadow it's cool to buy this week. Duh. Wear whatever flatters you, trendy or no. Damn the Man!

But I changed purses before flying to California recently, and discovered in the airport (stupid plastic bags!) that none of my lip things made it into the traveling purse. Which meant that I needed to make a stop at Sephora.

I, like Natasha, love the NARS products, particularly for lips. So that's where I beelined. And when I saw this gloss that is clear with zillions of itty-bitty gold glitter pieces, I knew that I at least had to try it. It's called Greek Holiday -- how could I resist? And I am happy to report that Greek Holiday totally looks hot on me. The bonus? Since it's clear gloss, it goes over any ol' lipstick and also looks amazing.

I don't even care that this lipgloss is the epitome of the summer 2008 makeup trend. One month, Lucky Magazine is hailing the complete-and-utter-now-ness of including copper/gold glitter in all sorts of makeup items, and the next month, I'm buying a gloss called Greek Holiday and applying it every chance I get. Before 9 a.m. While driving. I swear I don't know what happened.

Anyway, this stuff is genius. Clear gloss. So much glitter you can't tell that there's no actual color (the NARS website claims it's "sparkling pink sand," but I promise you that it's just gold glitter). Great for daytime when you wear it plain, awesome at night when you wear it over a matte lipcolor. I think I'm in love. Either that or I've been transported to Greece.

Victory Is Mine!

So, remember back when, fueled by childhood memories of my mother's post-shower winter ministrations, I went on that quest to find mineral oil and was completely stumped? Not in the Big Box Store. Not in the drugstore. Not in the lotion aisle. Not in the baby aisle. I even tried a couple of hardware stores, just in case. No dice.

Well, the other day I dropped into a Rite-Aid on my way from Meeting A to Meeting B to pick up some sunscreen, and I stumbled upon a new product from Nivea called Smooth Sensations Body Oil. Main ingredient? Mineral oil. Second ingredient? Some kind of triglyceride. Third ingredient? Avocado oil. And that's it. Victory! If I can't find just-plain mineral oil (and I apparently can't), a product that is approximately 99% mineral oil is the next-best option.

And, y'all, I completely love this stuff. It soaks in to my skin right away, and holds in all that shower moisture still on my skin after toweling. It smells like mineral oil (and maybe a hint of rancid avocado, but it goes away quickly), not like chemical fragrance. My skin is still soft the next day, even! I swear, I've been having fantasies that this must be what having normal skin feels like. My skin is pretty much as smooth and happy as it's going to get. Ever.

My one beef is with the cap on the product: there's a little too much packaging-spillage for my taste. After all, I spent all that time and effort and gasoline looking for mineral oil: now that I've found it, I don't want to waste a single precious drop!

Still, though. I'm thrilled. Now to figure out what the heck a tryglyceride is, and how exactly that's good for my skin.

New Shampoo and Conditioner...

Things I hate: Parking in Georgetown. Seriously. Georgetown, I hate you. Plus, you're to NIMBY to have a metro stop. Getting to Georgetown is a pain in the ass, which I'm sure helps it's whole up-scale snooty feeling.

Sadly, the only Lush in DC is in Georgetown. I went to go buy more shampoo, and a new pair of shoes, and got so frustrated I said "SCREW THIS!" and went to the Pentagon City mall. Where there's a ramp that costs a mere $1.50 NOT $10.50. DID YOU HEAR THAT GEORGETOWN?! I SHOPPED SOMEWHERE ELSE BECAUSE YOU SUCK SO MUCH!

But, that meant no Lush shampoo for me, so I'm currently using Aveda's Madder Root Shampoo and Conditioner. It's supposed to enhance the auburn and warm tones in my hair.

I've been using it for almost 2 weeks now. Comments:

I love the fact that this shampoo bottle is HUGE. It smells a little more chemically than I'm used to, but the smell doesn't linger in my hair. When the conditioner bottle says to "rinse surfaces immediately, as product may stain" they ain't kidding. Nothing some spray bleach can't get out but... also, one day my fingernails were dyed a pinkish tone. Sadly, sometimes my scalp is, too.

It is definetely enhancing my color. Multiple people have commented "did you dye your hair?" but I think I need to only use the condition every other time I condition, because it's starting to get a little "boy that's eggplant" as Diversery calls it.

I miss the weight of my hair from when I was using the Redken All Soft Heavy Cream, so I've been using more product. BUT without product, my hair is fairly frizz-free. Also, it's super-super shiny. It's still very soft and not tangly.

I probably won't continue to use this in the future, but I probably will try out the Aveda Clove combo, which is supposed to enhance the brown and alternate it with my All Soft.

Or, one day I will once again brave Georgetown and pick up some Ultimate Shine.