Category — Pretty Girl: Cosmetics and Beauty Finds

My son asked me if I wanted to try a juice cleanse: he had a new client and wanted to try out their products. Seemed like a good idea: a long summer of ice cream (thanks TBG!), chocolate chip cookies (thanks Queen Mum!) and Crumbs black and white cookies (thanks…oh, I bought those). It turned cold last week and I put on a pair of last year’s jeans: a 3 day juice cleanse to detox and get in shape before the holidays would be a great jump-start to losing a 5 pounds I’d added and getting rid of my sugar craves. I’ve never tried a juice cleanse: how bad could it be?

ugh

I spent 2 weeks getting psyched to start my juice cleanse on Sunday: then MC said he wouldn’t have the juice for 2 more weeks.  I was psychologically ready for the juice cleanse. TBG was out of town for 10 days. It’s gorgeous weather for long Fall walks. Hmmm… I decided to do my own homemade juice cleanse. 1 day? 3 days? 5 days? Let’s see how it goes…

Day 1

Of course I’d done zero preparation. But we had a freezer full of strawberries and bananas for TBG’s morning smoothies. And frozen grapes for his hot summer day snack. A huge jar of peanut butter. Skim milk. Fage Greek Yogurt. A drawer full of salad fixings. A blender. Ice. Sounded like enough to get started!

• Morning: Tazo Chai Latte concentrate with skim milk (yes, I know it has caffeine. I don’t care.)

• Breakfast: 1 frozen banana, 1 cup frozen strawberries, water. Blend, pour and drink

• Lunch: tall coffee light Frappuccino from Starbucks (I wasn’t home, so it seemed easy: liquid and lo-cal and convenient)

• Dinner: Run to the convenience store and buy V8 low sodium. Drink huge glass – 16oz

• Evening: decaf coffee with skim milk and sugar-free vanilla syrup

Day 2

Need to step it up a little:

• Morning: Tazo Chai Latte with skim milk

• Breakfast: 1 frozen banana, 1 cup frozen strawberries, tablespoon of chunky peanut butter, water

• Lunch: spinach, broccoli slaw, 1/2 green apple, teaspoon of fresh ginger. Ugh: looked and tasted like chunky grass. With a little ginger. But I drank it…

• Dinner: V8 juice – 16oz

• Evening: frozen banana, scoop of chocolate protein powder (that TBG uses in his smoothies), water. Blend, pour, drink. Tasted pretty good!

Day 3

In answer to all my friends’ questions:

No, I am not starving. In fact, after my green juice experiment I am not even hungry.

Yes, I sip water all day but there is so much water in my juices that I’m very liquid.

Yes, I have to stay near a bathroom: lots of liquid.

Yes, I can tell I’ve lost some size: the jeans I wore Sunday I’m wearing again today: definitely looser.

No, I don’t know if I’ve lost weight: I don’t have a scale.

No, I don’t have a headache and I slept fine.

And no, I haven’t decided if I’m going to do 3 or 5 days: we’ll see how I feel Thursday morning.

• Morning: Tazo Chai Latte with skim milk

• Breakfast: 1 frozen banana, 1 cup frozen strawberries, tablespoon of chunky peanut butter, water

• Lunch: 1 cup frozen green grapes, 1/2 green apple, water. Blend, drink (hey, it’s green!)

• Snack: V8 juice – 8oz (the grape juice didn’t hold me over)

• Dinner: V8 juice – 8oz (last of the V8 bottle)

• Evening: frozen banana, scoop of chocolate protein powder (that TBG uses in his smoothies), water

I feel fine! Let’s see what I decide when I wake up in the morning…

Moi tip: I didn’t foresee how much I’d hate washing the blender 4 times every day! But I did do some research online, and fresh homemade juice is definitely preferable to bottled. I’ll continue to make the fruit juices, but for the vegetable juices: I’m buying V8: convenient, inexpensive and it has vegetables. It’s only a few days…

btw: I researched juice recipes online and decided that what I already had in my freezer and fridge made as much sense as the recipes. Again: it’s only a few days. If i was doing it longer, I’d add more protein and veggies.

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brought to you by @IggyFalk and the number 8:

Lil Sis Mary has been my cosmetics consultant this past year. This time, she’s advising me on nail polish. Mary’s go-to nail color is OPI Royal Flush Blush: bright and pink, shiny and pretty. Just like Mary.

It’s not a nude, but it is a neutral. Royal Flush Blush is an easy to wear color, chic and but simple. It’s a pinky coral: no orange, that looks great with or without a tan, works with pinks and oranges and reds, blues and greens; perfect for day or night.

Originally part of the Opi Nail Lacquer Las Vegas Collection,  Royal Flush Blush is now part of the OPI Classics Collection.

$9 at Ulta.

You’re a butterfly
And butterflies are free to fly
Fly away, high away, bye bye

                                      – Elton John and Bernie Taupin

-

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I started my hunt for tinted moisturizer a few years ago, and in the end just blended my own: nothing was right. Then I switched to Bare Minerals, which I love but doesn’t work for me when its hot and humid: I don’t like the extra step of primer.

Then a couple weeks ago, little sister Mary gave me a good-size squirt of her new tinted moisturizer. Love it!

Garnier Naturals Skin Renew Miracle Skin Perfector B.B. Cream is a tinted moisturizer with SPF 15 that also claims to even out skin pigment. Whew! That’s alot.

So far I haven’t noticed any improvement in my brown spots. But I like the tinted moisturizer: after my shower I apply my favorite Olay Complete SPF 15 to my still-damp face and neck (I’ll never quit Olay: its the best!). Then when I apply make-up, just a few dots of Garnier tinted moisturizer to my under-eyes, nose, cheeks and forehead; and blend. I don’t bother with my lower face or neck. If I’m going somewhere special, I’ll first pat on some concealer (YSL Touche Éclat). Done in less than a minute. My skin feels moist, coverage seems to work… no one’s asked if I’m sick, which is a good sign. And I don’t feel my color running down my face in the humidity and heat… and it hit 108 ° this week.

B.B. creams are the latest skin-care trend: Blemish Balm has long been popular is Asia, to soothe and protect pale skins. Here in the US the BB creams often add a bit of tint, with our preference for tanned faces. I like its silky smooth but light coverage: and it blends easily and doesn’t leave a seam where I stop the application.

Thanks Mary.

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Summer and barefoot go together: freedom, casual, easy living. Heading to a wedding on the beach? An afternoon on your yacht? Poolside at the resort? Don’t let your toes go bare with just a little polish: flash your feet with style!

No, I’m not talking ankle bracelets or toe rings: they’re soooo last millenium. I’m in SoFlo and the trendy beachwear are almost sandals…. literally: Almost Sandals.

I’ve seen them on the beach, but hadn’t seen them in stores until I saw Almost Sandals in the window of  The Legacy in downtown Delray Beach.

Perfect for when you want to go almost bare…with style! $19 at The Legacy or online. Personally: I like the shell style!

The Details:

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The past 6 weeks we’ve hosted 5 different sets of overnight guests. Our guests use the guest bathroom, aka TBG’s bathroom. Other than checking to see that it’s clean and fully stocked, I pretty much never go in there. But after the 4th guest commented on the jars of salt scrub TBG has in there (the 5th guest was a 10 year old boy and I’m guessing not alot of scrubbing took place in there) I decided to actually go inspect his shower and sink.

I was with TBG this August in Charleston when we ate at Hyman’s Seafood Restaurant. As they don’t take reservations – and the food is worth the wait – we spent alot of time browsing the Hyman’s Gift Shop, and TBG found the wet bar and started sampling the Holy City Sea Salts. In the end, he purchased 2 jars of the sea salts: Eucalyptus and Lavender. Holy City Salt Scrub leaves your skin feeling clean and soft and moist and smelling wonderful!

Made with all natural ingredients:

• Dead Seas Salt
•  Other Sea Salts
• Coconut Oil
• Grape Seed Oil
• Other Essential Oils

Holy City Sea Salts come in a range of scents:

• coconut
• vanilla lavender
• Ed Hardy
• French Lavender
• chamomille

(I remember sampling something citrusy, but not sure which one that is.)

If you’re not in Charleston any time soon, you can purchase Holy City Sea Salts online at www.holycityskinproducts.com or at 888.456.0382. About $20. Each jar comes with a wooden spoon. Warning: the jars are glass, not my favorite for the shower.

Lucky for me my shower is broken and I’m showering everday in TBG’s bathroom…and using up his supply of Holy Sea Salt Scrub.

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From the bed of…

Little Sister Mary is unexpectedly in town this week: she flew from Texas to Chicago for an unplanned surgery, so arrived with 1 suitcase and 1 daughter, 1 husband and 1 son to follow shortly. In all the rush and confusion of course things were forgotten, so from her hospital bed Mary started giving me lists of things she needed from Target, Gap, Bed Bath and Beyond, grocery store, etc:

• hot pink pillowcases
• pink eyemask
• cotton t-shirts
• bottled water and Crystal Light packets
• Monistat Chafing Powder

Monistat Chafing Powder? Wait: you’re in the hospital, shouldn’t we check with your Doctors before you order yeast infection ointments?

Mary looked at me like I’m crazy: Don’t you read the blogs? I use Monistat powder as a primer for my BareMinerals makeup.  Hunh?

Once home I spent an hour googling it: she’s right. Since being introduced, women have discovered that Monistat Chafing Powder has similar ingredients to much more expensive makeup primers: $7.99 for Monistat v $20, $30 or more for similar cosmetic primers. I just converted from wearing moisturizer and concealer to BareMinerals make-up, and living in very humid climates, had been trying to deal with makeup dripping down my face. That’s why I need a primer!

(What’s a makeup primer? I didn’t know either, so I looked it up: it’s a basecoat for your foundation, that leaves your skin smoother and helps the makeup adhere better. So on hot humid days, your expensive powder foundation isn’t running onto your white tank top! Apply after moisturizer, before foundation.)

Who knew? Monistat is now in my medicine cabinet…and happily not for a yeast infection.

Thanks Lil Sis!

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We recently decided to split our time between Chicago and SoFlo, which led to all sorts of chaos, challenges and problems. But no problem was greater than the scourge of all women in South Florida: the humidity.

In the North and Midwest humidity is at a critical level only a few weeks each year: rain was the bigger problem. But on rainy days a chic ponytail, brimmed hat and sturdy umbrella could meet the challenge, and all women were equal.

But humidity? To moi eyes there is some secret that South Florida women know to keep their hair sleek and straight instead of the crinkly droopy hair that I was trying to contain with a growing collection of hairbands, elastics, decorative barrettes, and huge plastic clippies. I have thick coarse hair: and lots of it. Normally I just blow my hair dry with a round-brush styling dryer. Which looks fine in SoFlo. For about an hour. [Read more →]

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A few months back I was searching for a tinted moisturizer…I never found one I really liked, and resorted to mixing my SPF moisturizer with a few drops of liquid foundation. But my readers had some great ideas. Recently I was killing time at the mall (I hate malls, even the gorgeous Gardens Mall in Palm Gardens) while TBG was at Apple trouble-shooting a software problem. I wandered past Sephora…and remembered the advice of Toma T, who suggested I check out Bare Escentuals.

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I was born blonde…really! On lazy summer days in junior high we laid out in the yard slathered in baby oil, squeezing fresh lemons into our hair: for that natural sun-kissed look. By high school I’d graduated to spraying my hair with Sun-In. And by 16, I’d become a Clairol Girl with natural blonde hair straight from a box.

I'm the blonde

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Just like everyone else I know, one of my 2011 goals was better health: exercising more, eat healthier and sleeping better. A few days ago I saw a blurb online in the Wall Street Journal on NikeWomen’s updated online Training Club. Sounded promising: I travel a lot and having a free online personal trainer sounds like a deal to me!

So I quickly tapped into Nike.com and (with a good deal of effort that I’m saving you here) found the NikeWomen’s Training Club information. After reading through (an overcomplicated) series of information pages and sample workouts, I realized all I had to do was go to iTunes and download the app. Done.  (you must have an iPhone or iPad to use NTC).

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