Me in Melange

Awakening Beauty....

Awakening Beauty the Dr. Hauschka Way  is a new book I just ordered.  Sunday starts the "purification" of my body, and my attempt to rejuvenate my skin.  My girlfriend just visited and she is a business journalist....she wrote a story about the Dr. Hauschka company and was really impressed by their products.  They happened to send her this book after she wrote her story and she is planning on following the diet (healthy whole foods diet centered on things to beautify the skin etc.)  So we've decided the 30 days starts ticking on Sunday (meanwhile I'm drinking a lot of red wine and eating chocolate enough to abate my urges for 30 days)!!  Update in 30 days if I stay on the healthy wagon.  Signed, ME {lv}

Work avoidance....

So in a quest to NOT work, I've just spent the last 20 minutes flipping through celebrity hair 'chop-offs'....I know, I know, this site is the equivalent of US Weekly magazine, but sometimes you JUST NEED a little junk food!!  I want a new hair look and every time I go in to the stylist I get sucked into his conservative nature and end up doing nothing (and it doesn't help that I have no picture and no concrete ideas)....the hunt for a good style is on!!  www.stylist.com

signed, ME {lv}

fringe benefits

So here's my new 'do!  I'm really excited about my newest accessory... "fringe" aka bangs.  And very proud of myself for not only going to a new hairdresser, who turned out to be awesome, but for being brave and getting something totally different.  I love how a new cut can make you feel and look absolutely fresh. Just in time for spring too.  signed, me {CA}

For godsake woman, buy some self-tanner....

O.K., my husband didn't exactly say this, but pretty darn close.  I'm so excited about spring, and Oregonians bust out the capris at the slightest sign of sun (never mind the fact that it is only 45 degrees outside).   Today was a gorgeous day, and I wore a pair of cropped leggings and a tunic.  That gave me about a 10" or so strip of leg showing.  I walked downstairs this morning and my husband pointed out the fact that my translucent white legs could use a little color.  Actually, I think what he said with a huge grin was, "nice tan."  I looked down and he was RIGHT...they are particularly pasty white after being cooped up all winter, and are almost blue!!!  A little self-tanner might go a long way.  I wish the days of tanning in those coffin-like beds weren't gone forever, because I hate the smell of the self-tanner lotions and I get all paranoid about missing spots and not washing my hands enough.  I admit, I miss my ignorant youth when I thought I could never actually get a sun-induced wrinkle (eek, only really old people get wrinkles, like say, if you are 30)!!!  Little did I know 30 would come and go so quickly and 40 would be waving at me from the not so far future....and that my investments in wrinkle cream and sunscreen would rival budgets of small countries.   So....no tanning beds for me, but I also can't have my legs freaking anyone out. and the sunny days are-a-coming.    Big sigh.....note to self, get tan and get one quick.  Signed, ME {lv}

Update to the Clarisonic story!

After Christmas I blogged about getting the Clarisonic  from my husband as a gift.  I opened a box with a print-out of the Clarisonic and a promise from Saks to ship right after Christmas.  My first response was "huh?"  It felt a little like getting a blender.  My sister had apparently seen it featured on Oprah and convinced my husband to add it to my gift list.  Myself...I had actually never heard of it.  So....it was back-ordered, Saks promised to deliver it about every two weeks, but until two days ago I hadn't gotten it.  Can you imagine that, 3 months from the date of ordering it finally shows up.  Anyway, my little gadget of beauty arrived and I have now had the opportunity to test drive this $200 washcloth equivalent. 

Here is what I think.  It makes for a mean, clean, face washing experience.  It really does make your skin feel like you've just been exfoliated at a salon facial.  You skin feels really smooth and clean, and applying your moisturizer afterward feels divine (not to mention the fact that it feels like the products you use really, REALLY soak in.)  I have only used this thing 3 times, but I'm already hooked.   The brochure ensures that I will have "improved everything" shortly, so we'll see.  So far though, me likey!!  Signed, ME {lv}

New Kai rollerball perfume!

This is my new favorite thing...the Kai rollerball perfum!  The smell of this perfume is divine, lots of gardenia, it reminds me of Hawaii, and has such a fresh clean smell to it...nothing commercial about it.  The rollerball dispenser is my favorite because it is small, you can keep it in your purse and re-apply it to pulse points easily.  FABULOUS!  Signed, ME {lv}

Beauty product that I'm sold on!

I was standing with my husband the other day, standing outside in the bright sunlight, talking to friends....and I thought to myself, "yikes, you need to whiten your teeth."  Lovely huh?  On the way home I mentioned this to him and as I was saying it I looked at my own teeth in the car vanity mirror and realized, "crap, I need to whiten mine too."  SO...neither of us has ever used a whitening product for more than 2-3 days, TOPS.  A combo of being lazy, the stuff tasting nasty, and our teeth being 'not so yellow' in the bigger scheme of things.  I had heard about this whitening product that they sell at Sephora called GoSmile (I think I actually had seen it in a magazine or two, and I always notice the big display at the store.)  I went in and grilled two clerks there for the lowdown on it because it is pricey ($89) and I didn't want taken when I could buy Crest White Stripes for $20.  They assured me that it was worth it...I was still suspicious.

Anyway, I'm pretty much sold on the product now.  I've only used 3 applications (you get 20 in one kit), and my hubby has used 3 as well.  My teeth already look plenty white....I'll do one or two more applications and then stop, there is nothing worse than chicklet teeth.  It is super easy to use, it doesn't taste yucky, and you simply leave it on your teeth and then not eat or drink for 20 minutes (vs taking off those nasty stripes.)  I think it is really worth the $90 for these, and I was very skeptical!!    goSMILE at Sephora.com  Signed, ME {lv}

Kiehl's New Lipbalm

I just bought this and it is AWESOME.  It has a hint of color, and smells like apricot oil  Not very much color, it really feels more like you are putting on a light lip balm vs. chapstick or lipstick.  But I love the way it smells and the bit of color is pretty.   www.kiehl's.com  Signed, ME {lv}

ps.  I also bought the Nar cream blush and really like it--it is a really smooth blush that I put on it with a regular blush crush (which doesn't come with it), but it looks natural, doesn't sit on the skin, and I really like it!!

Coloring your hair for fun vs. necessity.

Does anyone else remember the moment they realized that coloring their hair was no longer an adventure in style, to be done or not done, extreme or subtle, at your whim and totally dependant on whether you felt like shelling out the dough?  In my 20's I had highlights every color under the sun, and was constantly going to fun new stylists who would try the latest and greatest in color.  I was always looking for something to make my average brown hair look "amazing" (incidently, the candy red chunky striped highlights DID NOT do the trick).   Anyway, I was thinking this morning as I looked at my calendar for tomorrow and saw my coveted appointment with Fen, my color miracle-worker and hair guy extraordinaire....that now I have arrived at the time when I officially HAVE TO color my hair.  Well, I take that back, I guess I could let the grey that sits right on top and right front and center at the hairline stay,  but no....I'm not so much liking that look quite yet.  Funny how in just a few years something could seem to be totally in your control, and go to out of your control in what feels like a moment.   I wonder why they haven't figured out how to prevent us from getting grey hair?  Must be a Clairol conspiracy to keep the cure under wraps :-).  Signed, ME {lv}

trade secrets...

As I was washing my hair this morning, I thought to myself that I really should share with you gals the best hair products that I've ever found.  I used to work at a salon with 2 dear friends of mine... (if you ever find yourself in Chapel Hill, NC you must go visit David and Greg at DB Sutton. They do marvelous cuts and color!! And I literally wait to get my haircut until I go home, which is not very often.)  Anyhoo, they're also a 'Bumble & Bumble salon'... B&B makes the best hair products around... sincerely, my hair always has lots of shine and hardly ever gets split ends, despite the infrequent trips to the salon.  I have a daily regimen that changes as my hair does... because yes, your hair changes!  Hormones affect it a lot... like when you're pregnant, post-pregnancy and just with getting older.  My hair used to be super curly and now it's pretty darn stick-straight, so I've changed from heavier products to lighter ones to give it more umph.  Anyhoo... I love, love, love their 'gentle shampoo', 'super rich conditioner', 'styling lotion' (spray on roots before blow-drying) and then the 'does it all hairspray'... which is not like the aqua-net of the eighties... it actually moves and you can't even feel it in your hair. If you're in the market you should check them out, it was truly astonishing to me that using nice hair products could make such a difference day-to-day.  signed, me {c}