Xotic Items

Sharond here! When I was young (and dumb) I used to go straight to bed after a night out, leaving makeup and all the days dirt on my face.  I shudder when I think about it now.  I soon accepted the fact that my face could not handle such abuse and that I better do the whole remove makeup, wash, tone and moisturize before going to bed.

I started out trying drug store brands of makeup remover and felt they did not work any better than plain facial soap and water.  Then I tried cold crèmes and found they worked much better, but me being me, I felt I was above using something my elderly aunts used.  I continued my search off and on for years, however I did not find anything that I felt was worth the money the product cost and just used what ever I was using to wash my face, nothing geared to removing makeup.

A few years ago I got a catalog from DHC in the mail which included four samples, olive oil based makeup remover, pure soap, mild lotion toner and olive oil moisturizer.  I used Meg’s advice from a column of hers about stretching samples so that I could give these samples more than one use.  I was impressed at how well they worked and made my skin feel clean and hydrated.  I finally placed an order and have been using their superstar, the Deep Cleansing Oil ever since.

SharonD here! After watching Meg telling us about the “overnighter” I got to thinking of other handy multi use makeup. Even higher on the list are the ones that are easy to use and deliver first class results.  In my opinion, Cat Cosmetic’s Smolder Shadow/Liner Duo is one of the best in that department.  This product was reviewed on Meg's almost three years ago to the day, but feel it is worth bringing to everyone’s attention again.

I was introduced to Cat Cosmetics many, many years ago quite by accident.  I accidentally received a neighbors Soap Opera Digest magazine in the mail and naturally paged though it.  There was a column called Product Queen written by Catherine Hickland that caught my eye.  The article was very informative, including her rating of a few products and mentioned you could go to her site and read past columns.  At that time I was looking everywhere for any bit of information on makeup reviews.  I looked up those articles and discovered Catherine had her own makeup line, Cat Cosmetics.  I was so impressed by all the positive ratings of her products and knew I needed to try a few.   I telephoned Cat Cosmetics to ask a few last minute questions and talked to the lovely Gillian, Cat’s hard working VP of graphics and development, who quickly answered all my questions.  Since I am very much concerned on what goes into products and how they affect not only the environment, but how they will affect me, I was heartened to hear that Catherine Hickland is a firm believer in the connection between looking good and feeling good.

Sharond here! Ahhh...Valentines Day. Do you believe people can fall in love at first site? I did and we now have been married 22 years, 11 months. It was a first for both of us and neither of us was looking for anything serious. Jay and I worked at the same company though we didn't know each other except for a quick smile while passing in the hall. One Friday afternoon a friend invited me to happy hour. When I arrived at the lounge, I looked around and didn't see anyone I knew except Jay. I went over and introduced myself to him and discovered he too had been invited by my friend. We had a couple drinks, talked and waited for everyone to show up. Finally after a couple hours we knew that this happy hour was no party so we decided to go out to dinner. Jay ordered octopus and I couldn't believe he would eat that. As we were eating, those suckers were sticking to his teeth and I couldn't help but laugh and dread a goodnight kiss. Later we went dancing and really had the most wonderful night. After that first night, we went out every evening for the next week and then he popped the question, on his knees no less. We both knew it was real. A few nights ago on Nightline they talked about love at first site and the consensus was there is such a thing, it does happen more often than first thought and that it can last a lifetime. I am a firm believer in true love at first site.

We both wanted to do something different this Valentine's day. We decided to not celebrate on the 14th, but take a long weekend starting the 20th and spend it in Denver playing tourist. For this getaway I wanted a fragrance that would be light and subtle so Jay would have to lean in and nuzzle my ear to get a whiff while bonding all over again while listening to soft jazz. I was thinking something romantic when Crabtree and Evelyn came to my mind. Looking over their products, I found a body wash, body lotion, body cream and a body shimmer mist in Vanilla Blanc which had my two of my favorite scents, vanilla and jasmine. The items were on sale for $3.00 each! so I ordered the set thinking this would be make my skin soft, smooth and glowing and I could go without perfume. I tried the products last week to see how they smelled on me, how long they would last and most of all, did I look like I was all dewy from the shimmer mist. I liked the products and the scent was soft and sexy though it didn't last very long. The next day I tried the products again and this time added my favorite Lush scent, Silky Underwear, over the Vanilla Blanc products and came up with a winner. Finally I tried the shimmer mist expecting a shimmering gold highlights like Crabtree and Evelyn describe.

SharonD I am a person who has always put my money in facial products that are suppose to do something, erase lines, brighten, lift or whatever. I ignored the toner or bought a cheaper brand as I figured it was really not the important part of a beauty routine. Sometimes I felt ordinary witch hazel could do the job. In the last couple years I have been buying the better toners and still did not notice any great improvement.

 A couple weeks before Christmas, I went way out east of where I live to a small one stop sign town to find a little store that supposedly sells exceptional organic and therapeutic products and handmade gifts all created by locals. I was pleasantly surprised by the store, but was ecstatic to discover there were items by Joining of Herbs. I had met these ladies last summer at the farmers market when they were just starting their business. Armed with a whole batch of new face and body products they now sell their items at this store to supplement their mail order business. After I gushed over bath salts, bath butters, massage oils, inhaling the therapeutic essential oils, I decided to buy the toner among other items.

At the shop I did not open the toner and when I went to use it that first night, I almost lost my breath. I was not prepared for the strong vinegary, tea tree oil scent. I used it anyway and decided to give this toner a try and see if there was any benefit. Faithfully twice a day after cleansing I put some of this toner on a cotton ball and dabbed my face and neck, let dry and then went with my normal routine of serums and moisturizers. I did get used to the vinegary scent as it reminded me of my mother pouring vinegar over our hair when we were children as a conditioning rinse. After about a week I noticed my face was smooth and exceptionally clean. A few days later, I met a friend for lunch and she asked if I had just had "breakfast in bed" because I looked so radiant. How can a toner do that? As I kept using this product I found other benefits on my skin. My pores look smaller, the telltale blackheads are gone, skin is soft and tightened but not dry, and my turkey neck is less noticeable. I also find that I am using less makeup and can now skip the concealer under my eyes. My makeup also seems to last longer without needing touch ups.

This toner comes in a 4 ounce bottle for under $5.00;

Xstatic817 here, and I’m afraid this review will have to be my swan song - at least for the time being. Sadly, I’ve been overcome with work pressures, school pressures, home-buying pressures, crappy-economy pressures, and, well, I think you get the drift. I’ll try to check in every now and again when I unearth a new treasured find. I hope to be back in the spring with my masters degree, a house, and considerably more free time.

But on to the makeup!

So I have been dying for a black gloss every since I realized that this would be fall’s next-big-thing. Maybe its my obsession with Halloween (I’m going as Alice this year, of Wonderland descent), or perhaps some deep-seated regret for never going all-out with the goth look when I had the chance. In any case, I needed me some black gloss.

I missed out on this gloss when it was first offered as a limited edition at the end of August, but lo and behold, it made a second appearance on YSL’s website a few weeks back and as far as I can tell, its still in stock, still limited edition. It’s the first release of a new gloss formulation for Yves Saint Laurent that will launch in Spring 2009 and promise to be “full of pure color and high shine.”

But what does one do with black lip gloss?

Well, when worn alone, it definitely has a high-fashion, NSFW-or-really-anywhere vibe to it. And yet its awesome. There’s something about wearing black gloss that makes you feel instantly cooler, hipper even if your husband requests you remove it “this instant” the same way your mother did when your 12-year-old self pranced downstairs with lipstick on for the first day of 6th grade. Ok, so it can’t really be worn alone unless you’ve got major cajones.

So today I took the advice of makeup artists everywhere and decided to blend, blend, BLEND. I first applied a very light coat to my bottom lip and then put Bobbi Brown’s Black Mauve lip gloss on my top lip and smushed around. Alone, black mauve has its own quietly goth thing going on - a little bit purple, a little bit gray and disturbingly pretty on. The YSL gloss added more depth - obviously - and added more of a brown tone. I definitely think this would make a nice winter lip color. Then I tried another thin coat atop MAC Desire lipstick, which is a dark plum to begin with. This made a divine berry-eggplant color that I think fits perfectly with the dark fall lip trend we’re seeing. I even wore this out to the grocery store. I’m sure there are numerous color combinations out there and if you’re adventurous and like to experiment, you’ll have a lot of fun with this lip gloss.

The gloss itself has good lasting power, is not overly sticky, and has that tropical fruit smell of all YSL lip products. On the lips, it felt very much like YSL’s Golden Gloss - minus the bit of grit.

Here are the gory details from the YSL website: “A cosmetic jewel that turns lips into a spectacular fashion statement. Mysterious, sensual, luminous... For fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, black is THE color. And as a make-up artist, lips are THE focus. YSL GLOSS PUR Black unites these two facets of his art in a superb Limited Edition. From plum to ebony, it dresses lips in an infinite range of shades, depending on how it is applied - feather light or rich and bold. Transparent yet intense, it plays on the depths of black and the pure shine of a sparkle-free formula.”

Has anyone else tried this product? Or maybe you too have bought an outrageous, completely frivolous beauty item that you knew you’d hardly use ?

Buy It Here!