Happy Birthday to meeee, Part II
My birthday present from my husband came today!
Obviously, I had some influence on him…it’s the Julep Color Caddy + Well-Manicured Kit. I also picked out 2 polishes, since my last box came with a “Buy 1, Get 1” coupon…I got “Beatrix” (Black polish with gold and multi-color glitter) and “Rosa” (February Birthstone Collection). My husband is so good to me…
It holds 48 polishes and is already halfway full…uh oh.
Ooooohhh Betty
Since I took my Julep boxes 3 months in a row, Julep sent me a coupon for a free nail polish. I snatched up “Betty” – Garnet for January, from the new Birthstone Collection. The polish is named for Betty White, a January baby.
If I get a coupon every 3 months…I’ll be a happy girl.
A bit goopier than the usual glitters, it clumped up a little bit on the second coat, but it’s still gorgeous. Red, purple and FUCHSIA glitter – full coverage. A few of the glitter bits are sharp – I could see this polish snagging pantyhose, so be CAREFUL.
Lunchtime Shopping 2: Electric Boogaloo
I got the email this morning…”Buy 3, Get 3 Free.” Plus, I still have the 20% off coupons to use within the next week or two.
Even thought it was 37 degrees and drizzling, I hopped in my car during lunch and picked up a full set of “Mad About You” – Body Spray, Body Cream and 2 Shower Gels. I also picked up extra “White Citrus” and “Carried Away” Shower Gels for back-up.
I noticed that the recent Shower Gel bottle redesign came with hefty price increase. Previously $11.50, the Shower Gel is now $12.50 – the same price as the Body Cream! Does that even make sense?
Big Girl Makeup
After using Cover Girl powder foundation for the last few years, I decided to take Dr. Delta’s recommendation and pick up some MAC Powder Foundation, or as I call it – “Big Girl Makeup.”
“Big Girl Makeup” is makeup that you can’t buy at Wal-Mart or the Grocery Store. Horror of horrors, I actually had to go to a Macy’s to buy the stuff. It’s not like this is the first “Big Girl Makeup” that I’ve used. I used Bare Minerals for a while when I the mineral craze hit – 2006? I used it for a while, but then as I got further past 30, the minerals began highlighting my crow’s feet. I switched to Mary Kay mineral foundation, which is lighter (and cheaper), but again, I felt like my aging skin needed more coverage. I went back to my old faithful from college – Cover Girl powder foundation – around the beginning of 2011.
On a side note, when I did a clean application Saturday night and presented myself to my husband – he said I looked pasty. I know he’s not used to seeing me in thicker makeup, but I’m also thinking that I had been wearing the wrong color of Cover Girl. I had gotten a decent tan after a few vacations in 2011-2012 and went a shade darker than when I was in college, but it might have been time to go lighter. I’d noticed quite a few pictures giving me a darker face than my neck recently, but I won’t know if I got the right shade of MAC until I take more pics…I am naturally rather pasty anyway.
I let the salesgirl talk me into buying $40 primer with my $27 powder foundation, after she tried some on my face and it did a fair job of masking my humongous pores. (Julep Blank Slate might be better though – I need to compare?) I even tried the primer underneath the Cover Girl this morning and it was better than without…but still not as full coverage as the MAC.
If I don’t end up sticking with MAC, I’m going to try Clinique. My mom always wore Clinique and so does my BFF. I’ll continue to chronicle my adventures in “Big Girl Makeup”…
Sucker for Gimmicks
I couldn’t handle it…I had another coupon burning a hole in my pocket, so I broke down and bought a bottle of Revlon Parfumerie – scented nail polish. I really wanted the “African Tea Rose”, because I LOVE rose scented stuff, but it was creme hot pink and I already have a shitload of hot pink. (I reserve the right to buy it in the future.) I went with “Surf Spray”, a shimmery bright blue.
Since I just did the glitter tips, I talked Lily into letting me paint her fingers and toes exclusively in “Surf Spray.” It was a hard sell – she has a hard time deciding on a single color, so I promised that we could put glitter on in a few days, after the smell wore off. It vaguely smells like a beachy air freshener, but mostly smells like fingernail polish. I fell for the gimmick again. That last time Revlon came out with scented nail polish, I bought a bottle of red glitter that was supposed to smell like watermelon. The Jolly Rancher Watermelon smell lasted for about 30 minutes. We’ll see how long the “Surf Spray” smell lasts…
I thought I was being slick by wearing latex gloves to take off Lily’s old polish, but somehow, it got through the latex and smudged two of the fingernails on my right hand. FUCK. The Walking Dead is back tonight and I don’t have time to redo my nails…I’ve got zombies to concentrate on. Besides, I’ve got a birthday present and a Cupid Mystery Box coming in a few days…
Glitter Tips
So Erin requested “Glitter Tips”…
I started with a base coat of Julep “Kristy” – an inky midnight blue/black. Seriously, this stuff reminds me of the India Ink I used for my first tattoo. I wore it for a day and decided to jazz it up by adding glitter tips in Sally Hansen “Mermaid’s Tail.”
I had the bright idea of using blue painter’s tape to make a clean line for the tips. That was probably overkill…next time, I’ll try painting it freehand. Of course, the painter’s tape left a clean line – a little too clean, so I put a coat of Sally Hansen Diamond Flash Topcoat over it to smooth things out.
All in all, I’m happy with the result…I feel all fancy and shit.
Into the Mouth of Madness
I’ve put it off long enough.
Although I’m sure many of you enjoy reading my posts about manicures and eye liner, I know what you really want to see…you want to see my shit-ton of hoarded beauty products. More products than a single person or even a whole family could use in a year or five.
That’s 28 bottles of Bath & Body Works Antibacterial Handsoap underneath my bathroom sink. I have 6 sinks stocked at any given time (2 in the master, kids’ bathroom, kitchen, powder room and upstairs guest bathroom). Each soap lasts an average of 3 months, so I go through 24 or so bottles a year. So that means I have just over a year’s supply of handsoap underneath my sink…
Now that I do the math, that’s a perfectly reasonable amount of handsoap…especially since it was all bought on sale – half price or less (7 for $20 is usually the best deal, especially when paired with a coupon).
I actually thought I might have a problem there…phew!
Lunchtime Shopping
There’s a saying about “money burning a hole in your pocket”…is it possible to have a coupon burning a hole in your pocket?
Amy and I both had Bath & Body Works coupons burning holes in our pockets, so after a quick lunch at Panera (which we chose because it was in the same shopping center as Bath & Body Works, of course), we stopped by to use our “Free Travel Size” coupons.
Amy chose a “Carried Away” purse spray, but I picked their newest scent, “Mad About You.” The scent is described as black currant, peony and vanilla. Since “Peony” was discontinued years ago, I’ve been looking for a good replacement. “Black Raspberry Vanilla” was retired as well, and the more I smell “Mad About You”, the more I wonder if it is possible that it’s a combo of two of my favorite discontinued scents?
After I try out the purse spray, I may be going back to get a full set. After all, I have 3 20% off coupons still burning a hole in my pocket…
Happy Birthday to meeee, Part I
My kids know me so well…they forced their scent-averse father to take them to Bath & Body Works to pick out a birthday present for me.
They picked out White Citrus – they did so good! It’s not the type of scent that I would normally pick for myself, but I like it a lot. It actually reminds me of my mother. She preferred citrus scents. Her favorite was Love’s Baby Soft Lemon. (Did that just bring you back to the 80s or what?) If she was still alive, this is the scent she would be wearing…
My husband’s present to me is winding its way through the postal system…I can’t wait to share it!
I also received this handpainted Garden Gnome from Dr. Delta. Notice the anatomically accurate lumpectomy scar. I shall christen him him “Lumpy.”
I Love “Love”
I love, LOVE, love “Love”.
The finish is so dreamy, like gold lamé, flecked with fuchsia glitter.
“Love” is my new favorite polish!
I wish I had more fingers…