Manolo for the Beauty

Go, now, to here.  Especially the last paragraph.

You know, I can kind of get behind this.

Iconic French brand Clarins has partnered with Lauren Bush, benefiting the United Nations World Food Programme. 

For $30 (a $40 value), you can buy a specially produced FEED Bag, which contains one each of Hand and Nail Treatment Cream, Moisture-Rich Body Lotion and Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector.  The proceeds of each sale will purchase 15 meals for a child in need.  Their goal is to feed one million children in a span of two years. Found exclusively at Nordstrom’s.

INTO a pot, to be exact.

You see, I am one of those people who tends to leave a lipstick in the car at all times so that I may have one on hand whenever needed.  Because sometimes I take my big purse, sometimes I take my small purse, and sometimes I take no purse at all.  So, I just like to have one there in case of an emergency.

Uh, yeah, being lipstick-less DOES qualify, thankyouverymuch.

Anyhoo, wouldn’t you think I would remember some silly fact like it is summer and the car gets superhot?  As in, melting-my-lipstick hot?

Well, I didn’t remember and now one of my Dior Addicts is all mooshy and I hate mooshy lipstick. I also have a Benefit one that somehow got broken, probably because I forgot to take it out of my pocket and it went into the washing machine. I do that a lot, too.

Enter the helpful ladies of this forum discussion at Spektra.

It seems you can melt your mooshy/broken lipsticks into an empty lip balm container and as long as you don’t mind using a lip brush, you are good to go.  In case you don’t read all the way down, it is possible to put the whole thing in a microwave instead of melting above an open flame.

Now, why didn’t I think of that?

For a bunch of ladies (and possibly men, I assume nothing!) who are interested in beauty, it certainly doesn’t apply to pageants thereof.  A full 42% of you hate beauty pageants, which was the highest vote-getter.  The next was a paltry 23% of former beauty pageant viewers, and 20% who are OK with adult participation, but not so much when it comes to the little ones.  And it seems that only one of you really likes beauty pageants, and you, beauty pageant enthusiast, are free to have your opinion! 

Lately I’ve been thinking about how much money I spend on cosmetics.  I tend to buy pricey stuff because I personally feel I am getting a better product.  Many places/people tell me that isn’t necessarily the case, but I have found in life that odds are that the more expensive something like a piece of clothing is, the longer it will last me.  Which makes me draw the conclusion that it is a better product.  Same thing with purses, jewelry, and numerous other items.

Yes, even MORE palettes!

Even though the colors might be very pretty (which they are) I am someone who does not appreciate graffiti as art and would never pay my hard-earned money for something with graffiti on it, whether it was supposed to be some sort of “edgy” homage or not.

The top layer is comprised of four eyeshadows, and the bottom layer contains two blushes.

There is a whole graffiti collection, including makeup bag, a brush set, and some perfume, but I’ll be sitting this one out.

Oh sure, it was all over the fall runways, but is anybody REALLY down with spider lashes?  I mean, besides the few people who are going to embrace beauty trends no matter what.

I can honestly say that this is one trend I won’t be embracing. 

Mainly because I’m picky with which trends I choose to follow, and looking like I am in desperate need of a lash comb is not currently one of them.

The LA Times reports that there are currently lash products out there to assist you in your quest for arachnid-like lashes, such as Lancome’s Hypnose Doll Eyes and MAC’s Opulash Optimum.

Meh, maybe I’ll try it on Halloween.

84% of you are unwilling to have a professional makeover for your open casket funeral.  And it would seem that large part of that is because you are not planning on having an open casket funeral.  4% would totally do it, and 11% needed some more time to think about it.  I also do not plan on having an open casket, I’m thinking cremation is the way to go.  The one open casket funeral I did attend was very jarring in that the elderly lady who had passed had some VERY pronounced cosmetics on, and yet she didn’t wear any while she was alive. It was very jarring to see her like that, to say the least.  

And now for something completely different.

Alyssa Campanella of California was crowned Miss USA a few weeks ago, and she will go on to represent the country at the Miss Universe pageant.  I remember watching pageants as a young girl, but I don’t think I’ve actively sought to watch one in at least 25 years or so.

I  normally tend to stay away from products that purport to be multi-purpose.  For some reason, I don’t trust a product that says it is going to work as well on my hair as it does on my skin.

But, it was a semi-emergency in that I was already in the shower and too lazy to get out and get my shampoo, which was on the kitchen table.  OK, so maybe not much of an emergency, but I bet you would have done the same thing.

I used the philosophy product both as a soap and shampoo, even though I didn’t really need to use it as a soap, just because I love you guys that much.  How can I give a review of only one part of a three part product? 

Let me just say this, if you don’t have anything else, yeah, you can use it as a shower gel.  It isn’t outstanding, though.  Definitely wouldn’t go out of my way to use it for that purpose.

Surprisingly, I preferred it as a shampoo.  It cleansed my hair nicely and didn’t leave any kind of weird residue.  My biggest concern was that it would dry my hair out, but it did nothing of the sort.

And my hair smelled like cake, which was a bonus.   They’ve got lots of different, delectable scents, so feel free to go wild.

Girl done brought it for W Magazine.

I find this to be much more compelling than your average Kate Moss spread, despite the lack of flowing hair and artfully spread, pouty lips.  To me, this editorial is a perfect jumping off point to discuss what qualitites people respond to in a model.  In this case, it certainly isn’t “conventional” beauty.  But I can’t take my eyes off of it, or the fabulous SWINTON.  It is her facial expression? The eyes? The clothes? The photography?  Some wonderful confluence of all of those?

The world will be safe as long as she sticks with advertising clothing and not something like crack.

Well, well, Dior is certainly coming out gangbusters this year with the collectible palettes, are they not? 

As a tribute to the Lady Dior bag, as modeled with the beautiful Marion Cotillard, Dior is releasing a beyond-exclusive palette.

Of course, methinks nobody in their right mind would actually use this palette, as one tiny swipe would likely ruin the whole thing.  But, I appreciate the workmanship and artistry that went into the making of each palette, which was all done by hand.

What do you think of “collectible” palettes?  A really cruddy investment? Fine if you’ve got the money to burn? 

And, I wonder exactly how long a makeup palette would last, anyway.  I’m guessing that to keep it in prime condition, you wouldn’t open it if you could help it.   Otherwise, I would be afraid of something happening to it.  If I spent that much money, I’d be paranoid that even a tiny bit of exposure to oxygen would hasten its demise.