Sephora by OPI has finally hit stores!!! Just in time – I need some nice new polishes!
- Mini slant Tweezermans, (I like a shorter tweezer, I find they’re not as cumbersome) which I am just LOVING!
- Clean & Clear Persa-Gel 10 – you can’t get more than 5% here in Canada! (This is for my sister, not me, so there won’t be a review…sorry!)
- Blistex Clear Advance SPF 30, because I wanted an SPF lip balm that didn’t suck. Haven’t tried this yet, but the reviews on it are great!!
- Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Stick, which I’m using as a lip balm and loving. The awkward, glue-stick size is easily adjusted to.
- Vaseline Gel Oil,which will get its own review eventually. It smells AMAZING.
- All that’s here is Redken’s Mint Clean men’s line… in my defence, it doesn’t smell *that* manly!
- Holly Brook, Like Blood Like Honey. I thought she was too generic-pop for me at first, but after listening to the album a few more times, I simply adored her. Zoom forward about six months, and I finally found her album in a store ^^
- Sally Hansen’s Hard as Nails, bought based on a rave review on a site that I adore. Erm, I just can’t remember which site. Haven’t tried it yet, but I wanted to use it as a base coat (which it says you CAN do, on the back)
- Aquafresh toothpaste… crazy, I know. But I’ve never seen this here… my uncle has a tube in his bathroom, it is truly ingenious! One day, I’ll post photos…I know you’ll love it too.
- Sephora Bubble Bath/bath gel, a free birthday gift. Smells delish, if not a little overwhelming!
- Clinique Black Honey. I have the review for this open in the next tab and will be working on it shortly!
- Drawer organizer from Storables, the best store ever. More on that in another post, I used it to reorganize my cosmetics drawers.
- A spritzer, also from Storables. 97 cents… so cheap! I plan on either using just plain water to set my MMU, or someday mixing a glycerine fixer.
- Marc Jacobs Pear and Grapefruit Splashes, which I have been hunting high and low for. I had such high hopes for their descriptions, but I’m finding they dry down too heavy for me :( Thank goodness for Sephora samples!!
- BE Blemish Therapy… funny story alert!
- Lots of pointed cotton swabs!!! I have been looking for these FOREVER. $1.50 for 180 that have a pointed head and a normal head, and $1.50 for each of the others… maybe 80 in each, I think, but with two pointed ends.
- THREE eyelash curlers, two bought after I loved the first so much. $1.50!!! The curve is not nearly as pronounced as it usually is in a curler made for Caucasian eyes. I figured, Japanese people have monolids. I have monolids. Therefore, drugstore Japanese curler = made for my eyes. (I was right.)
- The little piggy bank that mom noticed me loving at Storables!! It was made to be decorated, but there’s no way in hell I’m doing that… I loved it because of its simplicity, not in spite of that!
- A zipper pull from SAM, the Seattle Art Museum. (The store part, not the actual artwork part) The whole “thing” around this is that you buy a box and don’t know which zipperpull you’re going to get, sorta like those little machines we put money into as children.
- (Okay, so I never did that. I was like, why would I put $2 in there when there is and ice cream store right next to it?! I made my family so proud, lol!)
- Lastly… a red blood cell from my sister as a partial “get well, Rae!” gift. Such a sweetie! (You can find that line here, at ThinkGeek.) I have been looking at these, they are so cute! And the vote was unanimous: if we ever have kids, they are SO playing with these instead of teddy bears and barbies.
- (She bought her boyfriend Mono, lol!)
- 71% read for the beauty related posts.
- 28% read for the personal posts
- And the most exciting? 57% read because they simply like me!
On the cheap:
Use old boxes, and their lids, as drawer partitions to keep everything nice and tidy! Another option is buying cheap inserts from the dollar store; they don’t have to be pretty, just practical!! (I mean, pretty is always a bonus, but seriously? No one is going to see the inside of the drawer unless you let them) (we hope!)
Why am I posting this? Well, I know it wasn’t exactly cheap ($16, a good price for a drawer organizer this nice, but I think I could have gotten it for less if I tried), but I bought a fabulous bamboo drawer partition box at Storables on my trip. It’s expandable (the sides can extend outwards for another two long spaces) and one of the partitions comes out, so you can make a big box or two smaller ones (I don’t know why more of the slots weren’t removable… would have been nice!)
If you do want one of these, though, I urge you to shop around. Find out where you want it in your house, what you want it for, and go from there – make sure the organizer does what you want it to, and never buy one because you’ll “find somewhere for it”! Also, find things on sale – a messy drawer for one more week is well worth it if it saves you $10!
So here are my “after” photos (I forgot before photos, lol!)
Top drawer: I’ve used a box lid (box is used to store stuff in the bottom drawer; the box was $1 from Dollarama) This “tray” holds my commonly-used items, making them a lot easier to grab – an eyelash curler that I use every morning, my brushes, and a pair of tweezers.
Beneath this “lid” is a lot of space for cosmetics – the organizer is about 2 to 2 1/2″ deep, I’d say. I’ve got things I don’t use often on my right (hardest to grab in the narrow space), and moving clockwise from that I have: tools that are used less often, concealer and foundation; stick lip balms; long items, and occasionally used MMU; blushers and face colours; balms and glosses that go on clear; balms and glosses that impart colour.
The best part? How much space I have left for my collection as it continues to grow!
Bottom drawer: Back left: what I’m hoarding! Backups of hand lotion and eyelash curlers. (As well as pointed q-tips in the container, $1 for 2 at Dollarama). Also in the black organizer: old eyelash curler, small travelling containers, not-often-used body butter. Bottom box (the one whose lid is used above): boxes of items and items up for swap. Left hand side: packing materials.
Last tip of the day? Always put in a little extra room for when there is more!!
Book: Model Student: A Tale of Co-Eds and Covergirls, by Robin Hazelwood
Summary (edited down a LOT):
“It’s the late 1980s… every girl in America dreams of becoming the next Cindy, Claudia, or Naomi, and seventeen-year-old Emily Woods is no different. She looks different, though – striking enough to start a career… but Emily is more than just a small-town beauty with stars in her eyes: She’s been accepted to Columbia University, and she’s not about to let couture and klieg lights get in the way of an Ivy League education.
Thus begins Emily’s double life… Before long, the seamier side of the fashion industry-cocaine and cads, collagen and implants, fad diets and eating disorders-becomes close up and personal. All of a sudden, Emily realizes how far she’s strayed from her dream of having it all. With sliding grades that threaten her future at Columbia andspotty bookings that put her career as a model in question, Emily is finally forced to make a choice between style and substance.”
How I found it: through Candy Covered Books, through a recommendation for that site by Daneen over at spoiled pretty.
Well?: Surprisingly, I loved it. Though it fell flat at parts and took a good chapter or two to get into, it was a ton better than I expected from a dated book written by an ex-model. But it hands over a raw-feeling view of the modelling industry from the eyes of an 18-year-old model who you grow to love; you’re right there yelling at her when she makes stupid decisions and grinning in encouragement when she bites back. It darkens substantially as you read on, and this works well to keep you interested – I started reading and finished this (400 page novel) in all of two days!
Ages: I don’t know. I’m U18 and it was fine for me, but I’m not your average Jane Doe. I’d say 18 and up to be safe, so don’t go recommending this to your 12-year-old niece! Most of it’s pretty clean, but some of it’s pretty gritty.
Rating: 3.5/5
I loved it, but it is understandably written for a very specific audience. The sweet old grandma down the street isn’t going to love this, and neither is your mother!
I’m just going to do this the easy way: photo, brief overview, move right along!
The first is from drugstore.com for the things that I wanted to pick up, but decided to order online so we wouldn’t have to search for them.
In the drugstore.com haul?
The next one is from Trade Secret, the American answer to Pure Beauty (formerly Hair Express or something). I think they’re affiliated?
A mixed haul day…
A moneyless haul, in part.
I walked into the U Village Sephora in Seattle, and asked for a sample. She says no!!! I asked her why not, and guess what her response was? “It’s a powder!” Um, so? I acknowledged that it was, indeed, quite visibly a powder. And then I asked again, phrasing it differently. She goes, “I can’t make a sample of a powder! I don’t have anywhere to put it!“ I tell her this is fine with me, I don’t need a sifter jar or anything, a regular Sephora sample jar would be just fine.
She offers to put it on me (erm, try on an acne treatment, that is visible, in the middle of the day, over my makeup? I think not!) because she doesn’t know what else to do… I slowly try to explain to her that powders don’t always need a sifter and a puff, but she looks SO scared of doing the unknown that I tell her it’s okay, and ask someone else (who goes right away to make the sample, lol!)
Ah, how nice it would to be THAT slow. Can you imagine the peace and quiet in that girl’s head? Anyhow…
Haul from Daiso, a Japanese store that we don’t have in Edmonton. Most things are $1.50, like a Japenese dollar store-ish. The difference is that there is SO much stuff, even more than in Western dollar stores, and it’s not as crappy quality!
Birthday gifts from my mom and sister :)
can anyone read this to me?
Tired Rae from too many sleepless nights = photos but not lots of text. XO. We’ll start with Storables (heaven!!!) : an array of containers (heaven-ier heaven!) and the cutest pig ever.
My camera takes amazingly clear photos at 120 kmph…
All I really wanted for my birthday was a pretty bouquet of flowers. I didn’t tell anyone this, though, and I didn’t think I would get one – no one thinks I’m a flower kind of girl. Leave it to the aunt who knows me least well to get me flowers – I underestimated how lovely others’ ignorance was!
These are my beautiful geraniums, perfect in every way…
Wearing: Black Jacob capris, green Jacob Connexion Tee (“Coffe Anyone?!”), A2 by Aerosoles black slide-on heels (so comfy!)
Also wearing: MAC Tendertone in “Take a Hint”, Estee Lauder Blush All Day in “Plum” to contour, CG correcting concealer (which, sadly, is an almost perfect match for my pale skin), Everyday Minerals foundation in Fairly Light Neutral (semi-matte) to tone it back down. Simple. Why? Because of where I’m going…
Going?: TO SEE THE DARK KNIGHT!! *excited*
This guest review of Mario’s Aloe Moisturiser was written by Grace, a (quite lovely!) reader of theNotice. If you want to do one too, or if you would like to contact Grace, email me at my.make.belive (at) gmail (dot) com! I absolutely adore the idea of occasional guest blogging; I think it helps bloggers expand their reader base, and encourages people who read and comment (but don’t write) on blogs to start blogging!
What they say: “Daily, lightweight moisture and sun protection all-in-one. Oil-free and Aloe based for soothing, non-clogging hydration and sun protection.”
At first sight: For an aloe based moisturizer, I expected it to be a bit runny, but I found instead that it was quite thick, like a night cream. It doesn’t necessarily smell like aloe, but it doesn’t smell bad either, so it wasn’t a failure just yet!! No sparkles, no odor, pleasant to look at, so far so good.
At first use: I’ve used this twice and could not really bear to use it a third time because it made my face feel heavy, like I was wearing a night cream. If I didn’t mind that then I would’ve continued to use this product except it made my face oily – so much so that I found myself blotting my face away with blotting tissue [link to post on staying matte], even before I even had any makeup on!!
The verdict: I think this is more like a night cream than a moisturiser. It is definitely not “lightweight” and it pretty much has the same consistency of the Seaweed Night Cream. Even though it says this product is good for skin types for combination, oily, and sensitive, I think they might have made a typo for the first two :P
Well, what did you think? Personally, I loved Grace’s take on this product, which I’m adding onto my Mario Badescu series. (Especially the last line, lol!) She followed the same format as the rest of the MB series, so I think it’ll slot quite nicely in there… Grace, feel free to comment back to the commenters in the comments thread! (wow. What a mouthful!
Elie Saab’s fall ’08 collection is so gorgeous.
I found the link cleaning my bookmarks, because really, what can you do at 4:09 AM but clean?? (and try to fix whatever’s screwed up about your blogger photos)
So the poll (which more of you should have voted on! *menacing voice* I know you’re out there…)
Erm. Anyhow, before I started threatening you guys… the poll results came up as expected. If you haven’t checked, here are the results!
That’s all :)
So the skin condition (that I’ve had almost all my life) on the backs of my arms, legs, hips, ass, and a bit on my face is getting worse. I finally figured out what it is this week – Keratosis Pilaris. It is:
Worldwide, KP affects an estimated 40 to 50% of the adult population and approximately 50%-80% of all adolescents. It is more common in women than in men. Varying in degree, cases of KP can range from minimal to severe.
There are several different types of keratosis pilaris, including: keratosis pilaris rubra (red, inflamed bumps) I occasionally have this on my arms, alba (rough, bumpy skin with no irritation) this is what I usually have on my arms, as well as my bottom, knees, hips, and minimally on the backs of my thighs, rubra faceii (reddish rash on the cheeks) I have a bit of this, moreso on my left cheek, along my jawline and related disorders.
Many people with keratosis pilaris do not know they have it. While KP resembles goose bumps, it is characterized by the appearance of small rough bumps on the skin. As a result, it is often confused with acne. Squeezing them may cause bleeding. WTF?! I would never think of squeezing them! That’s just stupid!!
So, what can help? “Exfoliation, intensive moisturizing cremes, lac-hydrin, topical retinoids such as Retin A, alpha [and beta] hydroxy acids or urea may be used to temporarily improve the appearance and texture of affected skin“
What I need is suggestions for a good drugstore AHA or BHA cream! It can be for the face OR for the body – either one, as long as they’re not going to cost a fortune. I want to know my skin’s okay with hydroxy acids before splashing out on one! The KP is definitely getting worse recently, and I’m finding it pretty annoying.
On a slightly related note, here is the “worse” news: I may be allergic to mineral oil. We’re not sure yet…but I really hope I’m not. That would make life such a hassle.