Tuesday, April 24, 2012

YSL Perfects the Lip Stain

French fashion you can actually afford!
So, I'm in the process of moving. Actually, I'm in the process of packing, which isn't so much moving as it is frantically throwing paper and cardboard around while I have an anxiety attack. One look at the rooms I've lived in for the past 13 years and I get overwhelmed and just want to lie down. Needless to say, this panic hasn't done much for my appearance; I'm pallid, dusty, and generally disgusted.

No amount of makeup will really help, of course, but I have found one new product that I'd recommend even if you're not moving and a total disaster. The new YSL glossy stain is a genius product. I'm a gloss girl, not a lipstick woman, but recently I've discovered that I'm just mouth breathing and eating my gloss off. This fascinating product daubs on like a gloss, but it's thin and intensely pigmented. Do a layer and leave it for moist, juicy lips that happen to be goo free. I even ventured out of my normal neutral comfort zone and purchased a bright red (which of course I try to blot to take down the intensity). This stuff works, lasting much of the day without that dried up haggy feeling lipstick gives one.

I recommend this product, but perhaps not the YSL product counter reps; I had one try to shame me into buying a $200 eye serum for non existent laugh lines. Even my ten year old daughter was appalled ("I see no difference," she said to the rep). It's not cheap at $32, but it should last you all summer and beyond. At Sephora.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

The Toad Gets Hitched and Discovers the Wonders of Lost Crates

Wedding site: The Silver Lake Meadow
So, the Toad went and got herself married last weekend. It went swimmingly and was very easy. I credit our great friend Sue Ann Jewers (who does fantastic hair in L.A.) for doing all the hair, officiating the ceremony, making the huge paper flower I carried, designing and crafting the veils, and just being incredibly supportive. It wasn't conventional, but it sure was fun.

And speaking of fun, I happened upon an excellent wedding gift idea: Lost Crates. Lost Crates is a subscription service of one crate monthly filled with choices from categories like Housewares, or Design, or even stationery. It's a brilliant concept because it gives the happy couple a lovely little surprise for a few months. It's also an excellent way to support artists and small businesses. And it beats the hell out of Williams Sonoma; don't you have enough marinade and frying pans by now?

Take a look at Lost Crates, and enjoy the wedding pic. Read more about Sue Ann (including contact info) here.