rebel yell

Change of season usually inspires other kinds of changes.

New clothes

new shoes

new lipstick!

one of the things I love about MAC is their recycling program.

You save up 6 containers and take them in to a store

and you get a free lipstick.

Some of the MAC stores (not the Bay stores) 

allow you to choose other products as well.

But I always go for lipstick,

Because I'm, well, a lipstick addict.

Truth is out,

Last Thursday I had some time to kill so I took my empties to MAC and told a pretty guy wearing far too much foundation that I wanted something new.

I told him what I wear

and what I wanted

and he picked out some colours for me to try.

I actually sat in a chair and he lined my lips and filled them in with colour.

It's a strange thing.

As he worked, I thought - this is such an intimate act with someone I may never see again.

I could smell cigarettes on his hands

and normally I might find this disgusting

but for some reason, I didn't.

It was something I learned about him

that I wouldn't normally know.

But here's what I chose:

MAC Rebel lipstick

source for both photos

After I left the store I went to another store and the woman at the cash register looked at me and said

"I love your lipstick"

It was a nice suprise - to get a comment and be able to say 

"thanks. I bought it half an hour ago!"

Little things = big impact.

I didn't actually buy the laquer and lipglass, yet!

pink-a-boo

I got my Luxe Box this week.

To be honest, I've been thinking of cancelling my membership.

I've found the samples a little disappointing lately.

There have been a lot of shampoo samples

(for coloured hair. I don't colour my hair. 

Which I told them in my profile when I filled it out.)

And a lot of perfume samples

(I've been wearing the same perfume for over a decade.

Not the same bottle - just the same brand.)

And a lot of odd brands that I've never heard of.

The shine has worn off the penny.

But there was one sample this round

that hit the jackpot.

Pink-a-Boo

Essie.

I dont have a lot of luck with the pale pink nail colours.

I guess it's because I'm pale

and they end up looking too white or bleached out on my nails.

There's no contrast.

When I first saw this colour, I saw that it has glitter in it

and I thought.

Glitter?

I'm 41.

Aren't I too old for glitter?

No, as it turns out, I'm not.

I put on one coat

and love it!

It's not super glittery at all.

I resisted a second coat because it's usually with the second coat that the colour goes terribly wrong.

The great part about this is that it's so easy and quick to do.

I'm not great at nail maintnenance.

I usually end up making a mess of it somehow

but this colour is much more forgiving of flaws

and it woulld take no time at all to redo.

So thumbs up to Luxe Box on this one

but I still think that the subscription is no longer worth it to me.

$12 a month for shampoo and perfume samples that I end up giving away

does not a good deal make.

dress kimono

Sometimes you just want something new.

Yesterday was that kind of day.

Yesterday, I felt like I'd reached my limit.

I was frustrated

fed up

annoyed

and overall, completely unsympathetic.

Not only that

but my filter was

shut

off.

I said things

and almost immediately thought

"where did that come from?"

and

"did I say that out loud?"

So after work

I headed out to MAC.

I used to buy MAC cosmetics all the time

but it's been awhile.

I remembered why I love that store.

The sales people.

One lovely sales girl completely overwhelmed me with explanations and opportunities

new colours and lines coming out next week!

make overs!

Viva Glam!

I couldn't repeat anything she told me because it was all too much

but I loved her -

she had a baby face and a pink mohawk.

How could you not?

Oh and the other sales person called me sweetheart half a dozen times

which made me feel like a young'un.

I loved her.

I wanted a new lip colour.

One thing I love about MAC is their recycling program -

you take in 6 used containers and get a free lipstick, gloss or shadow.

It's a great deal.

I have oodles of old containers so I took some in and got this:

Plumful

$14.50

I was also drawn to the new lipgloss:

Dress Kimono

Sheen Supreme Lip Glass

$19

I don't usually wear lipgloss

but this stuff is divine.

It smells like cake or something wonderfully sugary.

The colour is beautiful

and it makes me feel like a much nicer person.

Which I think I need these days.

Happy Friday!

luxe box win

The products I've gotten in my Luxe Boxes have been kind of hit or miss.

There have been a few good ones

but a lot of stuff that just isn't very interesting to me.

Like perfume samples.

I've worn the same perfume for years

and I'm not ready to let go.

So - I don't need 3 samples of Nina Ricci's L'Air du Temps.

Really.

Enough with the perfume samples.

But there have been a couple that are great.

Like this:

Lise Watier

24 hour Glam Mascara

I've never bought anything by Lise Watier

but this is great mascara.

I can't explain why the brush is yellow

(mine isn't)

but I will say that the brush rocks.

It has very fine bristles

and it doesn't clump at all.

It looks very natural and isn't gloopy.

The only negative?

It's a wretch to get off.

I guess the whole 24 hour thing isn't a joke.

I use makeup remover to, well, remove my makeup

and even that doesn't entirely do the trick.

But honestly?

It's worth it.

It looks like it's about $22 on their website

(which isn't cheap

but it's not as pricey as Lancome, which is what I usually buy.)

This one counts as a Luxe Box win

and may help me forget the oodles of perfume samples (told them I didn't want those)

and colour-safe shampoos (I don't colour my hair)

that they insist upon sending me.



give me some sugar

My birthday was last week.

At Sephora, you get a little gift for your birthday

and usually it's a pretty nice little gift.

This year it was this:

and one of these:

I have to admit

I'm kind of addicted to 

lip balm

lip treatments

lip stick

you name it

I love it.

I am a bit picky about brands/flavours/scents/etc.

I won't use just any tube of goo

but I have them stashed all over the house.

I'd never tried anything by fresh before

but both of these tubes of loveliness score a big ol'

thumbs up from me.

The rose has a really nice, soft colour and shine to it.

I'll be putting these into my roster!

Available at Sephora

Smokin' hot!

One resolution I'm having no problems sticking to is the whole nail polish thing.

I'm hooked!

I picked up this one today:

Smokin' hot

by Essie.

It's a bit darker than glamour purse.

I'll test drive it this weekend!

Updates: Kennebunk-port + Klorane Dry Shampoo

I thought I'd follow up with some updates on the new products that I've tried this month.

First up:

 Kennebunk-port nail polish

OPI

This photo is not a good representation of the colour.

It looks kind of light above

but the truth is

it's SO much better!

I love this colour.

I'm no nail esthestetician

and I did a crap job of applying it

but the colour is exactly what I wanted

(how often does that happen?)

I was inspired by this photo:

(source)

and I got my wish.

I don't think it's quite that dark but it's a beautiful shade.

Love.

Now I just have to teach my right hand to apply the polish the way my left hand does.

On it.

Next on the docket:

I'm one of those people who feels like they've never really had control over their hair.

My hair is fine.

It's kind of wavy (often resulting in pouf)

and there's a lot of it.

So, there are several things to contend with here.

It takes me awhile to figure out new products.

Placement and Quantity are the two biggest variables.

So let's just say that while my nails may look a little messy,

the Klorane made me look....unkempt and prematurely grey.

Yeah.

I'm not giving up

but I can confidently say that my hair felt less clean than it did before I sprayed this stuff all over it.

Oh and it's messy.

I found powdery residue on my robe, my floor, my hands.
It was everywhere.

Like I said, I'll try it again

and hope for the best.

Some of you have said it's a great product and that I'll love it!

So I'm holding out for love.

I'll keep you posted!



so dry

I've been wanting to try a dry shampoo for ages

because frankly,

my hair looks ghastly on the day that I wash it.

It's kind of poofy

and frizzish

and overall

just

not

good.

But day two?

Aces

and, dare I say

day three?

(if I make it...)

even better.

So.

I googled.

And I found this!

Klorane

extra-gentle dry shampoo

$16.99 at Shopper's Drug Mart

It got good reviews

and I figure it's worth a go.

I've used Cake's "Refreshing powder"

that's for hair and body

but I find the scent a little sickening.

I generally find their products too sweet for my liking

but they work well.

I'm getting fussy on scented products these days.

This one was given the thumbs up by those "Shopping Bags" women on tv

and I find them amusing and mostly accurate so I thought I'd give them my trust.

I'll try it tonight and let you know how it goes!

Pink or Pale?

I found some more nail polish colours that I want to try.

Mod Squad

(Should one wear pink nail polish in the winter? It seems too....optimistic for January...)

Fiji

Often these pale colours are kind of disastrous on me but this one has a bit more depth to it than the one I used to buy.

I'm resisting buying too many colours until I get into the swing of painting them regularly.

I've lost count of the number of bottles of nail polish I've thrown out after using them a handful of times (ha! Punny!)

and having them separate.

I have yet to try the red one

but it's coming up.

P.S. If you're local, I've just discovered that Toronto Beauty and Barber Supply at Bay and Yonge sells Essie nail polish for $6.95 which is substantially less then Trade Secrets or Shopper's Drug Mart.

Save some pennies!

Goal #1 - new hue

I've been looking for a nice red nail polish - one that's not too bright or garish.

I'm pretty pale in the winter (well, most of the year, really)

 but I wanted something kind of dark.

Dramatic, but not

Christmassy.

That's so over.

I found this one and thought it was worth a go:

OPI Kennebunk-port

It's kind of a berry

kind of a wine

and it's kind of darker than it looks in the picture above.

We shall see!

This one is going on the fingertips next week!

New things!

Glamour Puss

I bought this nail polish about two months ago and I only just used it for the first time this week.

I have horrible nails.

They take a beating.

So I hardly ever do my nails, thinking that it is hopeless.

But you know what?

On Christmas eve, I finally got around to it

And I love the way it looks and feels.

It sounds so silly but I rarely make time to do things like that.

I'm glad I did.

Now to find a nice red.....

(the name of the colour is Glamour Purse  by Essie but I thought if I named this post that, you'd think I was weird.

And, well, we can't have that now can we?)

Luxe Box

I decided to treat myself to something a little different.

A few months ago, Janice posted about getting a Luxe Box.

(these are not my photos. I pulled them from the blogto site.

And can I just say the commenters on blogto are nasty and mean! Holey moley!

 They aren't that harsh on The Cut for cripes' sake!)

I thought about signing up at the time but decided against it

(filing it away for future reference.)

Well - something came over me today

and I took the plunge.

I bought a 3 month subscription.

I am in dire need of some new products

and I get totally overwhelmed when I go shopping

and buy the same things.

on repeat.

Pink Spice lipstick - Clinique

Phone number eyeliner - MAC

Natural Mascara - Clinique

zzzzzzz..................

I know.

Who cares, right?

I figured this was a small investment for a bit of fun.

I'll let you know what I get!

(I'm assuming the first one will be in October.)

Of course, immediately after purchasing it I found out about Glymm.com.

They only charge $10 per month! Ah well. What's done is done.

(and note to Janice - I credited you for the referral! :)