archives: August 2009
I constantly feel like I am on the prowl for The Perfect Lipcolor. That perfect shade of pinky-brown that is long wearing and not too glossy or slippery. I feel that I may have found some of these things in CoverGirl’s Outlast All Day Lipcolor.
You may have seen this product advertised–it’s that one with the two tubes. One that is color and one that is some sort of clear, moisturizing business.
I went with color 621 (pictured above), Natural Blush. According to CoverGirl, this falls under “Neutrals & Nudes,” but I find it a definite rosy color. I also have used 619 Lingering Spice but found it a tidgy orange for my coloring.
Anyway, because this lip color involves two tubes the packaging has very clear instructions. Something along the lines of (my words below, not CoverGirl’s):
1) Apply a layer of color on your lips. Do not rub your lips together to even out the color.
I can attest to this. I ignored the clear instructions and rubbed my lips together. It then created a weirdo line on my top lip that dried and remained there for the bulk of the day; never to be blended out again.
2) Wait one minute for the layer of color to dry and then apply the clear, moisturizing topcoat to activate color.
I usually apply the color while I’m in the car after leaving the house in the morning and by the time I get to the first stop sign on our block, I slap on the topcoat–not even really needing the mirror.
From here you can rub your lips together and I sometimes even blot or blend it with my finger. And you’re good to go.
The CoverGirl site claims that this lip color “lasts up to 16 hours” and is “food, kiss and workout-proof.”
The great thing about this product is that it does stay on infinitely longer than any gloss or tube of color. It hangs on. Once the topcoat wears off, my lips are just kind of pleasantly stained with color. Reapply the topcoat and the color is a bit richer and your lips will feel much more moisturized.
There are, however, a few drawbacks to All Day Lipcolor. For one, I don’t reapply it after 3pm unless I’m looking ahead to a serious evening of drinking and/or making out. The reason being is that once reapplied and given NEW strength–well, you’ll be going to bed with this stuff on your lips. For real. No soap, makeup remover or rubbing with a washcloth will get it off. Like I said: it hangs on.
Secondly, I am on my almost-gone-second tube of moisturizing topcoat and I haven’t even made a dent in the tube of color. I find myself reapplying the topcoat all the time, sort of in the vein of lipbalm, in order to keep my lips from getting weird and chapped. I think CoverGirl must of foreseen this inequity in use and thankfully you can buy additional tubes of topcoat separately from the color.
But even given those two considerations, I still wear this on most days. I like that it goes on without being sticky. I like that I’ve found a shade I can wear dressy or casual. And I like that it really withstands use fairly well.
Bottomline: I recommend, with some caveats.
CoverGirl Outlast All Day Lipcolor, under $10.00, available at Target, drugstore.com and most other major retailers.
You know how some people love to browse the aisles of Sephora, dabbing on lotions and tinctures, dusting themselves in the fine powdery glow of bronzers, carefully evaluating the subtle differences between two apparently identical eyeshadows?
I am not one of those people. I ENVY those people, as I suspect they know how to apply eyeliner in such a way that it does not look like a toddler was practicing his artwork on your eyelids. I envy them, but I am not one of them.
But I CAN easily burn a couple of hours wandering through stores that sell craft supplies, paper goods, and kitchen wares. John, my husband, finds this habit charming.
Katie: “Look, honey! A ravioli press! If I had one of these I would totally make us ravioli, like, at least twice a year.”
John: “can we go now?”
/scene
Usually, these treks through kitchen and craft stores leave me marveling that anyone is so silly as to purchase most of these products. (Really? You need a separate device for slicing an avocado? It is like the softest food in the world! You could slice it with a chopstick!) But sometimes, my fiscal responsibility flies out the window and I impulse purchase something that seems frivolous, but ends up being AWESOME.
My Opinel knife is just such a thing.
I have long aspired to be a perfect picnicker, (if only so I can maximize my opportunities to use the words “picnicker” and “picnicking,” whose surprising “k” in the middle brings me inexplicable delight.) I imagine myself buying a crusty baguette, visiting the cheesemonger for something stinky and delicious, and taking myself and my darling, sailor-dress wearing children to the Jardin du Luxumbourg to eat and bask in the afternoon sunshine. Sure, technically, I don’t have children, and I do not live in Paris. But I have a vision.
So when I saw the Opinel knife in a bin in a kitchen supply store, I bought it because it looked, with its smooth wooden handle and sturdy looking folding blade, like something a French woman with sailor-dress wearing children would have for her picnics.
It turns out it looks that way because it IS something a French woman would have in her arsenal. Opinal is a family-owned French company that has been making these knives in virtually the same way since 1895.
The design of the thing is brilliant as well as lovely. (In fact, according to Wikipedia, the Victoria and Albert Museum selected the Opinel as one of the “100 most beautiful products in the world.” Don’t I have good taste with my impulse purchases?) When folded, the blade is stored safely stored in the handle. When you unfold it you twist the ingenius metal ring at the base of the blade to “lock” it open so it doesn’t slip.
That blade itself is nice and sharp- I’ve used it successfully on cheese, apples, bread, and once, in an emergency, a Snickers bar. Just wipe it clean when you’re done and you’re good to go.
The one I have is the “number 8,” which is apparently the most popular size. It’s small enough to carry anywhere, but the blade is long enough to slice comfortably through a block of cheese. Recently, I’ve been putting one of these and a corkscrew in the utensil pockets of a hand-sewn picnic mat and giving them to people as shower gifts- huge hit.
Opinel folding pocketknife, $11.95 at KnifeCenter
I got a free sample in the mail of Caress Evenly Gorgeous Exfoliating Body Wash, and being the opportunistic lady that I am, thought it would be a perfect time to try it out and blab on and on about what I think.
Hey. It’s what I do.
Let me just throw it out there that as soon as I opened the cap I wasn’t too thrilled with how it smelled (seeing a theme with me? Smells = important) but soldiered on anyway. Thus is my devotion to you.
It was lathery and foamy and luxurious, yes. It made my skin feel soft and I have no doubt that it sloughed off the nasty bits around my elbows because of the magic exfoliating beads. And now that I think about it, a little did go a long way which is always appreciated. But the smell! I’m sorry but I just can’t get past that. It was too brown-surgary for me. Too sweet. But again, I have a sensitive sniffer so please consider the source.
I was faced with another problem once got out of the shower to apply my lotion. What should I use that wouldn’t compete with the smell of the body wash? I actually had to dig through to the back of the cabinet (which was about due for some thorough purging. Thanks Caress!) and unearthed the most neutral and plain-jane smelling lotion ever to have been purchased. So my problem was solved but I don’t know. I guess I just don’t like to panic as a result of a body wash. Call me crazy.
My breakdown: If I could extract the smell this would be a fabulous body wash for me. I felt like I was being pampered until I couldn’t handle the ’burnt brown sugar’ any more, and I’m bummed I can’t continue to use it. If you have had the pleasure of trying this yourself please let me know what you thought–I’d really love to know.
Caress Evenly Gorgeous Exfoliating Body Wash, price varies from $6.99 and up, found at drugstore.com and most other major retailers.
My son E has some crazy great hair. It’s cute and it’s curly and it has a mind of its own (Exhibit A). I am absolutely in love with it. The only characteristic our hair shares is that mine is also brown, however, mine also mainly hangs there like bad drapes at your grandma’s house–so, you know, maybe not a great comparison.
Anyway, with his curly hair comes tangles (Exhibit B)–particularly in a one square inch area right on the back of his melon.
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
This area is snaggly no matter what I do. Comb it wet, comb it dry, comb it after being washed and conditioned–doesn’t matter. It’s just a patch of super tight curls.
While a dropping a hot dime at Target last week on lots of other things I didn’t need (new t-shirts, cookie dough, headbands), I thought I should see if I could find a detangler that would work. I was faced with two options: one by L’Oreal Kids and Johnson’s No More Tangles Detangler Spray.
Johnson’s can be used on both dry and wet hair, comes in a bigger bottle for less money and, frankly, is a company with upteen years of baby care behind them. I went with the Johnson’s.
I used it that next morning when E’s hair was especially snaggly, especially in the back. One spritz didn’t seem to do the job, so I spritzed 2-3 times, did a comb through and it he was tangle free (and with minimal whimpering). Also, since I used it while his hair was dry, I wanted to see what his hair looked like at the end of the day. Guess what! It was still tangle free and nice and curly and smelling lovely.
Since I first whipped it out, I’ve used after a bath (fabulous!) and on continuous days on dry hair in the morning (still performs with zero bizarre build-up). The product is wonderfully gentle on his hair and has a pleasant scent.
But would it work on my drape-esque hair? I don’t get many tangles but earlier this week it was hotter than hades here in the Midwest and I drove with my windows down all day. This did result in a few tangles. I took a shower and tousled my hair up real good to create a few more snarls (no one said this testing would be scientific). Using the Johnson’s No More Tangles worked as well on my super straight hair as it did on E’s super curly hair.
Bottomline: I recommend.
Johnson’s No More Tangles Detangler Spray, price varies from $2.99 and up, found at drugstore.com and most other major retailers.
If you’ve been paying attention to the kitchen gadgets section of stores in the past few years, you’ve probably noticed a dramatic upswing in the number of these for sale:
This is a microplane grater/zester, and I’m guessing several of you already have one in your kitchens. But I’m also guessing many of you are holding out, wondering, as I did, whether you really NEED a separate grating device when you have a perfectly functional box grater sitting in your cabinet already.
A microplane grater has very thin, sharp blades, which create a very fine grate. Its best known for its excellent work with cheese and fruit: it makes lovely pillowy piles of hard cheeses, like Parmesan, and it zests citrus peel thinly so you get the good stuff without catching any of the bitter pith underneath.
But it’s a star at other tasks, too. It grates fresh nutmeg effortlessly (and once you taste freshly grated nutmeg, you’ll be a convert, I swear to god. Buy some at Spice House, it’s cheap.) It shaves chocolate beautifully. And, I was delighted to discover that it excels at grating fresh ginger into a nice fragrant paste, a task that I’ve found to be pretty much impossible with a standard chef’s knife.
All told, given its small stature (its long and skinny and fits easily in a silverware drawer) and its excellent performance in a variety of tasks, I’d say its a keeper.
So: Do I need a Microplane Grater?
Verdict: Yes!
Microplane zester/grater, $11.95 on Amazon
I guess I knew that so many people love Burt’s Bees (even the Husband uses it), but it was great to read in the Comments section what exactly people use and why.
Via random.org, the lucky winner is…
Lisa G.
Congratulations!
Thanks for all the interest in the organic yumminess! And don’t forget, Brittanie’s Thyme is happy to announce that they are now certified USDA Organic, which means its manufacturing facility and 85% of its products are now certified at 95% or higher. And because of that, they are celebrating by offering all items 20% off through the month of August.
Our lucky winner is:
True Random Number Generator
10
Kristin C.! May your face enjoy some extra pampering!
I am a mascara fiend. As my friend Amy put it, “You are the only one I’ve met who will spend money on a new tube of mascara and throw it away if you don’t like it.” This is true. I pull no punches with mascara. Although, as an earlier post mentioned I am to apt to just return them now.
When the t.v. spots first started running for the L’Oreal Double Extend Mascara and I literally saw Linda Evangelista’s eyelashes extended with tubes, I gasped. (Ask the Husband. I did.) Questions flooded my brain: Is this a load of crap? Do they really just wash off like that? How much does it really lengthen? Is the brush suitable? (It’s always all about the brush.) I may or may not have bought this mascara the very next day.
Basics: This mascara works on the principal that you first use the white end to lay a sort of foundation for the tubes to do their work. The L’Oreal website calls it “an ultra-nourishing base coat with Ceramide R and D-Panthenol that protects and strengthens lashes creating the perfect base for tube application.” Got it? The opposite end, the one with the actual mascara-y pigment, is considered “ultra-lengthening” and states that it will “lengthen lashes to amazing new lengths.”
Okay.
Using advanced photo technology (aka bizarre-o eyeball pics taken yesterday morning with our digital camera while I was getting ready before work), I documented my personal experience with this mascara. Now I’ve been using this mascara for awhile, but the photos taken below are with a brand new tube, cracked out of the package mere moments before the first picture.
Picture #1: The mascara-less eye.
Picture #2: Lashes after having curled my lashes and applied the white base coat. The base coat doesn’t really do anything more than coat your lashes in white stuff.
Picture #3: Lashes after having applied the other end containing the tubes technology.
Picture #4: Lashes after having two coats of Double Extend applied and then needing yet another coat of a different mascara. Having done so made my lashes a little stickier than wanted, but looked darker and at least noticeable.
I find this mascara disappointing in adding fullness, darkness and noticeable length. The alleged tubes only become truly noticeable if adding a second, different mascara on top. Then I think the length is longer than perhaps with just a volumizing or thickening mascara. And while I don’t mind layering makeup (I do so with mascara, lipstick, blush), not many women want to take that extra step.
I think the washing-off consistency is important to mention as well. L’Oreal mentions that Double Extend doesn’t smudge, flake or run off and it doesn’t. In a pinch, I’ve worn this swimming with my Small Fry and even with water splashed in my face–it doesn’t run off. A plus.
And while it doesn’t warrant a makeup remover like waterproof formulas do, it does take a bit of gentle rubbing to loosen the tubes off your lashes. Once loosened, the mascara comes off in…chunks? Blobs? I’m not even sure what the correct descriptor would be, but it’s different.
Bottomline: This mascara does not deliver like I need it too. It does, however, work well when I want to wear at least a dash of mascara and not worry about it running. I’m willing to keep it in my makeup bag, but not consider it a heavy hitter.
L’Oreal Double Extend Mascara, prices varies from 8.99 and up, found at drugstore.com and most other major retailers.
It seems, my friends, that moving season is upon us. Across the country, recent high school grads are gearing up to go to college, current college students are readying their duffel bags and keg tubs for another year, and recent college grads are moving to new cities to start new jobs. (Um, hopefully. Good luck, recent grads! So sorry about the lousy job market!)
And some of us full-grown adults are also moving, to be closer to our spouses’ graduate school programs. Ahem.
All of this moving means assembling and disassembling furniture, which can only mean one thing: we need tools.
Enter the MUJI screwdriver set:
MUJI is a Japanese company whose name is derived from the Japanese phrase for “no brand goods,” and they make basic, well-designed products that are well-designed, affordable and compact. They’re sold in the U.S. through the MoMA store, and they’re just generally swell.
Now, this set is not going to be enough for you if you’re, say, building a house from scratch. But for most dorm-dwelling, apartment-renting types, this is a thoughtful, lovely gift. It’s got 8 interchangeable magnetic screwdriver heads, a handle with a sturdy diameter (just about the only thing I remember from physics is you need a decently wide handle on a screwdriver to achieve the necessary leverage), and a compact carrying case small enough to stash in a desk drawer or under the sink. And did I mention it’s from Japan? Via MoMA? Seriously, what could make that college-bound kid in your life feel more worldly than that?
Best of all? You’ve just nailed the sendoff gift for a mere $10.
MUJI screwdriver set, $10 at MoMa Store
The thing I love most about perusing the ol’ Internet and looking for fun skin elixirs is stumbling upon smaller companies that fly under the radar. One such discovery was Brittanie’s Thyme, a fabulous women-owned company that produces natural and organic products without it costing an arm and a leg. That’s what we like to see right?
I was sent a few things to try out and I’m not even kidding you, I fell in love instantly. The first thing I tore into was the Organic Almond Oatmeal Facial Scrub with Yogurt.
This is only $12.00 for a 4 oz. jar and what is just so genius is it’s dry. You put a small amount in your hand and add a smidge of water to make a paste and then you’re off to the races. So this jar is less expensive because you’re not paying for water and it costs less to ship. Ah-MA-zing! It worked wonderfully and had a faint oatmeal-y scent. My skin felt smooth afterwards and some of the bothersome flakey bits were gone too.
I was also given the French Green Clay with White Tea mask and my eyes may have very well rolled into the back of my head when I felt my skin afterwards. Tight! Smooth! At least ten years youngerRefreshed! This also comes dry so you put a small amount in your hand, add some warm water and apply. It is $7.00 for 40 mls. Is it wrong that I liked that it was green because I felt like I was in the movies? That I should have had a white towel wrapped around my head just-so with cucumbers over my eyes engulfed by a terrycloth bath robe? Wait, don’t answer that. MOVING ON!
The last thing I was able to review was their Organic Acne Treatment which is $9.00 for 2 oz. I’m lucky in that I am finally to the point of not breaking out all that often (blood sweat and tears to get here my friends), and when I do it’s usually not too bad. Maybe a few on the chin or around my hairline. I noticed one or two problem areas cropping up and applied the treatment using a cotton ball. It’s made with tea tree oil which has a distinguishing scent, so if you’re not a fan be advised. The smell didn’t bother me. I also liked that it didn’t sting my face when I put it on, as other acne treatments usually do. Now, I can’t say this worked and I can’t say that it didn’t. My chin cleared up within a few days. Would it have done that anyway? Or was it because of the treatment? No one can know for sure. But it didn’t make my face any worse, that’s for sure, and I liked knowing I wasn’t drowning in chemicals. All natural FTW!
Brittanie’s Thyme is happy to announce that they are now certified USDA Organic, which means its manufacturing facility and 85% of its products are now certified at 95% or higher. And because of that, they are celebrating by offering all items 20% off through the month of August. How great is that?
I have a fabulous giveaway to offer, thanks to Brittanie’s Thyme. One lucky reader will have a chance to win an Organic Facial Care Gift Pack! It consists of: 4 oz Almond Oatmeal Scrub, 1 oz French Green Clay and 4 oz Organic Facial Cleanser valued at $25.00.
To enter, leave a comment on this post (manditory). You can get extra entries by:
–Following us on Twitter (@livespend) and mentioning the contest : “Organic facial gift pack #giveaway @livespend http://tinyurl.com/mpq8cx” and be sure to come back and in a separate comment leave the link to your tweet
–Blogging about it and in a separate comment leave a link to your post.
–Referring others here and they tell us you sent them (“Sam sent me!”) both you and the person you referred will get a BONUS entry!
Contest will run until August 16th, 11:59 pm CDT. For full information on how we run our contests, see our Disclosure policy.
