Archive | January 2016

Ulta chuckle for the day!

Jan10

I volunteer for a local organization teaching financial literacy to high school students.  This past Friday I was teaching a new group of kids about savings accounts versus investing. I do a slide presentation which had saving vs. investing on one slide.  The class was all boys except one very disinterested girl.

I told the boys I had recently purchased stock myself for the first time.  On the slide were the usual suspects for American investors-Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc. I told the boys I did a lot of research before buying the stock, having been a customer of the company for over ten years, etc. Also after only owning the stock for a short while, I had made money.  While a few of the kids tried guessing what I purchased, I finally told them that I had purchased Ulta stock.

One boy piped up and said “My sister works at Ulta, and she’s not pretty at all.”  I was trying so hard not to laugh, as I told this boy that you don’t have to be pretty to sell make up.  Kids!ulta_social_logo 1-10-16

Garnier SkinActive Micellar Cleansing Water

Jan8

I have to say Garnier is really stepping up their game in skin care.  I’ve used various Garnier products over the years, and have always been satisfied.

I am totally loving this new cleansing water.  I had tried Simple Micellar Water in the past, and was not impressed.  I’m pretty lazy when it comes to washing (or worshing if you are from the Midwest) my face.  My mom the local Avon lady did teach me at a young age to always wash my face before bed.

Now I wash my face as soon as I get home from work. I’m pretty frightening looking without make-up, and am sure I’ve scared a few of my neighbors when the dogs take off, and I have to go chasing after them. All no make-uppy,  frizzy hair everywhere.  Generally quite a sight to see, but I digress.  I want the easiest way to take my make up off.  I was using wet towelettes for awhile, but them seem to dry out too fast.

This cleansing water not only cleans all make up off, but takes off eye make-up as well.  It left my skin feeling very clean, with no residue.  Winner winner, chicken dinner!

I bought it at now wait for it- you guessed it Ulta! Here’s the link  http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?productId=xlsImpprod13531031# I paid a whopping $6.46 for 13.5 ounces.  The regular price is $8.99, but it was on sale, and I had a coupon.

It’s really gentle on your skin, containing no oil, alcohol or fragrance. One cotton square was all it took to remove both my eye make-up and foundation.  They also have a formula for water proof eye make.  I highly recommend this if you want to clean your face in no time.Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water 1-8-16

 

 

 

Evolution of Make Up-At least for me!

Jan7

Blue Eyeshadow 1970'sWow! I can’t believe I’ve been wearing make up for over 40 years. Man, that’s a long time.  I’ve seen so many trends come and go.  I sold make up and was a make-up artist for a number of years part time. I had a flash back this morning when I was applying some olive green eyeshadow.  When I was a sophomore in high back in 1974, my then boyfriends’ older sister rocked a pale green eyeshadow with bright blue mascara that I loved. I adopted that look for the next few years.  My senior photo had that same look. I have blue eyes and thought for some strange reason that this would enhance the color. Not really, at least according to my friend Susie Lin.  I met Susie in my senior year; I really admired her fashion sense.  She was kind of enough to tell me that my green/blue eyeshadow just wasn’t cutting it.  She had a plethora of Clinique products she turned me on to.  She said I really should be wearing brown eye shadow to enhance my eyes.  I looked at her like she had two heads! But she did a makeover on me, and OMG! What a difference!

While I would like to think I’m up on the latest trends, I don’t necessarily follow them. Except for maybe in the 1980’s.  Everyone wore a ton of make-up, me included.  I see pictures of myself back then and cringe at the amount of eyeshadow I was wearing. Yikes! I was certainly in style.  When I sold make up, I could always tell how old a woman was by the color of her eyeshadow. I’ve read studies where when a woman finds a make-up look she feels that she looks her best; she will stay with the look forever.  I still laugh when I see someone wearing sky blue eyeshadow. Hello the 1970’s called and they want their look back!

I have several beauty magazine subscriptions, so I’m always up on the latest looks. As I’ve gotten older, I may not be wearing the latest style with my make-up, but I look pretty darn good for my age.  One trend that I wish would go away is the need for young women to have to feel that they have to wear a ton a make up to look good.  My eighteen year old niece was visiting and I couldn’t believe the make-up ritual she went through to go out.  The contouring was out of control.  If you need contouring, great.  My niece didn’t need contouring; it did nothing for her other than make her look a lot older.  I’m all about looking your best, please don’t get me wrong. If you have great skin, you don’t need to wear a crap load of make-up.

Good skin care is critical.  Applying a SPF of at least 30 is crucial to long term skin care. I’ve been using a daily SPF for the last thirty years. I stopped tanning years ago.  I know some ladies are getting Botox in their 20’s.  To me, that is beyond messed up. Again, I’m all about looking your best, so please don’t take offense.  The point I’m making is good skin care is the key to long term beauty.  My mother always took really care of her skin, and she looked great up until her death at 84.

As we get older, and skin care becomes more advanced, we have an arsenal of tools to keep us looking our best.  I would rather spend my money on traveling than having a cosmetic procedure done.  Be kind to your skin, don’t smoke, eat right and don’t forget the sunblock! Every single day.