Josephine's Blog

Howdy! I am mothballing this section also; all of my future product reviews will reside here:

The Lipstick Page Forums Online Beauty Reviews

aka

OnlineBeautyReviews.com

I also post on the forums there:

The Lipstick Page Forums

aka

TheLipstickPageForums.com

After six years of posting as Josephine, I've also decided to do everything Net-wise under my real name...so look for Colleen.

See you there!

Sunday, June 30, 2002 ( 7:56 PM )

Hummm...I'm deeply ashamed to admit that I have stopped collecting makeup. I just have.

There is maybe one lipstick that I could still attain...a rose lipstick. Maybe. Maybe. It could be an Ecco Bella rose lipstick, there are several..."Rosewood," "Tuscany Rose"...or MAC. Not "3D," I already tried that, too dark for me.

There's also this funky line called Palladio that I've seen hanging around Longs Drugs...if they had a rose, it might be worth investigating ($7 iirc?).

Or I could just stick with my Revlon Ab Fab "Enrapture"...it's more pink than rose though.

Tuesday, April 16, 2002 ( 5:33 PM )

It's been what, 2 months since I last posted here? Shame on me.

Well I haven't been buying much...more like zen buying. ;) I was really fed up with having so much makeup...it'll sound strange...it's like complaining about eating too much. The only solution is to eat less, and in this case, to buy less, so that's what I did.

I've been wearing two lipsticks, mostly. (I put aside my Permatones, I don't really need them now but I will someday.) My Revlon Absolutely Fabulous "Crave" and my Ecco Bella "Peach Frost." The Ecco Bella's have, imo, superior shades to the Ab Fabs...the Ab Fabs are good, but the Ecco Bella's are sublime. But, but, but. The Ab Fabs hold up much better to hot, dry weather...they don't feel super moist on, but they don't dry out and they don't make my lips at all flaky. The Ecco Bella's leave my lips ever so slightly flaky, it must be noted.

I have been thinking about adding on another color...another Ab Fab. They have lots of shades and they're all good, so I'm taking my time to pick just the right shade...so far...

1.) Pink creme...just a regular, muted pink creme. But, you know lipstick is more than just a color...it has to fit your personality. Pink is just too innocent a color for me.

2.) Rose...now this is more tempting. Something along the Jane "Loco Cocoa" lines...your crushed iridescent muted rose. It wouldn't need to be as complex a color as "Loco Cocoa"...it would not need to have the little notes of peach and plum, just be a soft muted rose lips shade.

3.) Brown...creamy, lightish brown with a flick of pink. Medium brown is too dark, all I get is a muddy mess.

Those are the candidates...with "Crave," I already have a red-based shade, and "Peach Frost" covers anything pinky-peachy coral. I'll have to decide between rose and brown or else get both.

Eyes...mmm...tossed my L'Oreal Wear Infinite "Pebble." Nice shade, but my Revlon "Brown Suede" PowderLiner is so much better. I've been happy with my 3 MAC's...Shroom, Vapour (this is highly versatile) and Sable...and my SK's. I'm thinking of maybe, maybe another MAC. A sort of creamyish light brown matte...SK had one, "Latte," but I detected a note of mauve in it and that's not what I want. I'll have to look.

That's it...that's what's on my wish list.

Saturday, February 16, 2002 ( 5:57 PM )

The mad scientist is in the house...probably. My newest mission: reformulate my tinted frankenmoisturizer. I have to actually. I've been using Differin for almost two weeks now. The good news: it does work. It works better than anything I've ever tried, including OTC salicylic acid treatments, prescription retin-A, prescription Erythromycin 2% topical antibiotic solution...Differin literally strips your face off, that's how it works. It shears the acne right off your face. Plus, it prevents new clogs...or at least prevents new clogs that you can feel. The whole time I was using the Erythromycin, I could still feel bumps under my skin.

OK. The thing is this. You really need sunscreen if you use Differin. Exposing Differin-treated skin to even small amounts of weak sunlight can cause burning. And, you need moisturizer. Differin dries out your skin...even someone with life-long oily skin like me, suddenly needs a major moisturizer.

I tried out putting a small amount (couple of drops) of my jojoba oil today on the flaky parts of my skin. I expected my skin to get oily sometime today, but it didn't...my Differin-soused skin sucked the oil right in. It feels pretty good now...soft, smooth, un-flaky.

Then I went out to find a micronized zinc oxide sunscreen...as if. I did actually find one...it's a sport sunscreen called TerraSport (brown plastic tube), around $8 for 3.5 oz. The active ingredient listed first is Z-cote zinc oxide (it also contains a chemical sunscreen, octyl methoxycinnamate). I got the SPF 15 one...their SPF 30+ featured zinc oxide but not "Z-cote" (if I understand correctly, the Z-cote is the micronized, non-whiteface one).

So my plan is this. I'm going to try mixing small amounts of jojoba oil and liquid foundation into this sunscreen...my tinted moisturizer is going to be almost entirely sunscreen. The only tricky aspect is, how much jojoba oil I'm going to have to use in order to make it moisturizing enough...too much will kill the sunscreen effect. If it works, I'll be back to the two-layer thing--I still have to use a topical antiobiotic, generic clindamycin phosphate 1% solution, in the morning after I wash my face.

Lessee, what else. I've stopped buying makeup. I really have. I'll be honest, I am even sick of makeup. I have makeup'd (madeup?) myself into oblivion. I've boiled it down to a few products I have and like...here they are:

* Ecco Bella "Peach Frost" lipstick. Did I say I don't do peach? I do peach. It's a medium peach-pink though, almost a light coral. A pink with a soft orange tone. It's all I've been wearing the past week or so.

* Revlon Ab Fab "Crave" lipstick. It is drying...you have to put Burt's Bees lip balm under it or over it. The color is this warmish red-pink-brown lips color, natural without being why bother.

Those are the two new colors...the rest have been reviewed here or in the stash section:

* Ecco Bella "Cafe Au Lait" lipstick
* MF Lipfinity "Spiritual" & "Indulgent"
* Burt's Bees "Play" lipstick and "Love" Lip Shimmer which I need to franken
* Hemp Color "Red Zin" lipstick
* CG Outlast "Cherries Jubilee"

And the usual eye stuff...I've maxed out low end eye shadow. If...if I get any more shadow...unless Sonia Kashuk comes up with new shades, I'll have to do MAC.

cheers...

Friday, November 30, 2001 ( 8:33 PM )

Hmmm...on second thought...I don't need that peach lipstick, do I? I like the idea of peach lipstick much more than I like peach lipstick itself. I don't wear peach lipstick. I don't wear salmon, apricot, orange, terra cotta...I love these colors, I just don't wear them. The closest thing I have would be the BB "Love" Lip Shimmer, it's barely, barely coral. It's described on the BB website as coral, but it's not truly coral. It's more a warm red with pink and brown.

And...retrying "Inspiration" Lip Shimmer...it's not bad. In fact, when worn alone, it is a soft raspberry color, similar to my SK Lip Sheer "Magic" (which I didn't toss, I merely put aside).

And do I need that "Forever Fawn"? Probably not. I would like a brown Permatone, but there's no reason I couldn't find a MF one. ("Caffeinated"?) Somehow, no Cover Girl cosmetic has ever worked out for me, except the LipSlicks. Or I could wait to see what Revlon comes up with, if I couldn't find a MF one.

All in all, I think I'll sit with what I have, and see how it all works out. I'll check out the Lipfinities again for browns, but I'll pass on the peach lippy and I'll keep "Inspiration."

Thursday, November 29, 2001 ( 10:38 PM )

Woohoo! I had a major cool cosmetics binge. I went to this distant Mecca of health food store cosmetics (and any other sort of beauty product you can imagine)...I was entranced. You see, I have largely converted over to Permatone lipsticks, they're really addictive. You apply once in the morning and forget about them...the only drawback is that they dry out your lips unless you can figure out what to put over them.

I have and love 3 Max Factor Lipfinities (Ethereal, Radiant and Spiritual), am eagerly awaiting the Revlon version (whenever that's going to happen)...even contemplating trying another CG Outlast ("Forever Fawn"). I have tried several lip balms over the Permatones, here is the rundown:

1. CG Outlast topcoat--greasy-feeling--hated it.
2. MF Lipfinity topcoat--not greasy, quite glossy, moisturizing too, but not long-lasting. You have to reapply often.
3. Lip Trip lip balm--not bad, very long-lasting, but not quite "it"...lips are still a tad dry.
4. Burt's Bees lip balm (pot)--almost perfect, but pot? I don't do pots, except at home.

Naaowww, here is the rundown of lipsticks I bought/am trying out with the Permatones:

1. Burt's Bees lip balm in a tube--fabulous.
Packaging: yellow plastic Chapstick-style tube.
Price: $2.50
Fragrance/flavor: burst of strong tingly peppermint.

2. Hemp Organics sheer lipstick (shade: "Cinnamon")--hm. About the same as the Lip Trip in regards to moisturizing...it moisturizes sufficiently. Not as sublime, as fists-full-of-moisture, as Burt's Bees, but better than the topcoats. (But not shiny as the MF topcoat is.) "Cinnamon" is a beautiful sheer medium brown, light enough not to get muddy. Am I tempted to try another Hemp Organics sheer? Yes and no. Yes--"Warm Shine" is a lovely sheer warm pink. No--these are $12 and Burt's Bees are more moisturizing over the Permatones.

Packaging: plain, matte-texture black lipstick case with a shiny silver band in the center.
Price: $12.
Fragrance/flavor: none added, but these taste faintly good somehow.

3. Burt's Bees lipstick in "Play." Hm. I couldn't find the sampler pack. "Play" is pink, a medium, neutral-to-warm straightforward muted pink creme, no shimmer, full coverage. Plus the same burst of peppermint, lip-balm quality.

I got a gander at "Grace"--it looked quite peachy...think Jane "Out of Apricot." "Adventurous"--true terra cotta. Think L'Oreal "Matte Terra Cotta" Rouge Virtuale. "Strength"--straightforward deep brown creme. "Honesty"--was it Honesty I saw? Deep purplish color. "Spontaneity" was behind a whole bunch of "Grace" so I didn't bother to get one out; according to the BB website, "Spontaneity" is a deep, dark plum tone, their darkest shade. I don't think they had "Willingness," which I'm interested in. I'm interested in "Grace" and "Willingness"--the other colors strike me as too dark for me.

Packaging: kinda weird at first...you get this sort of matte silver tube, it looks industrial if anything. The top comes off (not easily) to reveal your lipstick, which you use a teeny lever to slide up in its tube. Once you've used it a couple of times though, the design makes perfect sense. The top "pops" off, it's held by a little nub. The lipstick is protected in its inner tube, so you don't nick it while you're getting the top off and on.
Price: $9
Fragrance/flavor: peppermint.

4 & 5. Burt's Bees Lip Shimmers in "Inspiration" and "Love." Hm. "Love" is fantastic, warm red with pink and brown. Rather Almay One Coat "Romance," really quite perfect. "Inspiration," I don't know. It's cooler on than how it appeared swatched on my hand. I'm still fiddling with it. It's a sort of clear fuchsia. Hopefully not as in evil fuchsia.

While I was there, I swatched the other two Lip Shimmers, "Joy" and "Surrender." "Joy," I'm glad I didn't get it. It was more purple than "Inspiration"...it was pure plum, with silver shimmer. "Surrender" was pure shimmer, it gave a white/silvery shimmery appearance when swatched.

Packaging: little matte silver pot, with a wing and "Burt's Bees" embossed on the top. Nice.
Price: $6.50 for .25 oz. (less than the .3 oz. in a regular Burt's Bees pot lip balm). For "Love," it's worth it.
Fragrance/flavor: the same peppermint.

6. Ecco Bella lipstick in "Cafe Au Lait." They have a whole Ecco Bella display there--lipsticks, lipliners, chubby lip pencils and blushes. (They might have had a couple of concealers too.) Hm. It's not bad. The color is complex...I think somehow that the Burt's Bees lipsticks have very straightforward colors. "Cafe Au Lait" is pink-brown with a tad of shimmer, more like a conventional lipstick. Imo though it's not as moisturizing as Burt's Bees. It's about the same as the Hemp Organics. It's quite pigmented.

The other two shades I eyed were "Napa Grape Frost" (more pink than grape) and "Peach Frost."

Packaging: nice, actually...shiny black plastic tube with a wide gold band in the middle. "EB" is stamped in gold on top, the shade name stamped in gold on the bottom.
Price: $9
Fragrance/flavor: none.

Now for the combinations...interesting. "Ethereal" and "Spiritual" both looked great with either BB "Love" Lip Shimmer, or Hemp Organics "Cinnamon" lipstick, on top. The other three--BB "Play" lipstick, EB "Cafe Au Lait" lipstick, BB Lip Shimmer "Inspiration"--nah. I would say then, that those Lipfinities look best with either a sheer warm red-pink-brown, or a sheer lightish brown.

"Radiant" Lipfinity looked best with nothing over it...I tried all 5 and none added anything to it. Possibly that BB Lip Shimmer "Surrender" might have done, but I don't know...silver shimmer is not my thing. I prefer gold or bronze.

BB "Play" and EB "Cafe Au Lait" looked quite good on their own, so they're not a total loss.

The only oddball in the lot is that BB Lip Shimmer "Inspiration." That might really have to go. Well, let's try it out on its own. brb!

OK I'm back. It is fuchsia. The nicest possible fuchsia, but fuchsia, so how you feel about it will depend on how you feel about fuchsia. I don't know! It's actually quite pretty, by itself.

Game Plan

I'll have to play with these for a while...I don't mind going on makeup splurges, but I don't like doing it too often. I have to have time in between to figure out what I like and don't like. My gut feeling now is, that the only other BB lipstick to try would be "Grace." "Willingness," I didn't see it, but I suspect it's too much color to layer over my Permatones.

I won't need any more Lip Shimmers! I might get some mileage out of "Inspiration."

Ecco Bella...they're good conventional lipsticks, maybe not good layering-over-Permatones lipsticks, so I don't need any more of these.

I might go for that CG Outlast "Forever Fawn"...I suspect it's more neutral than MF "Spiritual."

So, there would be a possibility of two more lippies...ack...a possibility of chucking "Inspiration."

Current stash then:

1. Jane "Loco Cocoa" frankenlippy
2. Hemp Organics "Red Zin" lipstick
3. Hemp Organics "Cinnamon" lipstick
4, 5, 6. MF Lipfinities "Spiritual," "Radiant" and "Ethereal"
7. BB Lip Shimmer "Love"
8. BB lipstick "Play"
9. Ecco Bella lipstick "Cafe Au Lait"

10. BB Lip Shimmer "Inspiration"?
11. BB lipstick "Grace"?
12. CG Outlast "Forever Fawn"?

Thursday, November 08, 2001 ( 3:56 PM )

Howdy... If I have the time today, I'm going to try Feria "Pure Diamond." It's a tad lighter looking than what I used to use in Preference (Lightest Natural Blonde 9-1/2), but Feria "Candleglow" was definitely too dark.

I think I have reached stash nirvana, in the main. Not 100% though. Here is my breakdown of what you actually need in your stash:

1. Moisturizer/sunscreen...eh...ew! Something is eating up the memory in this computer. It's one of those "vintage PC's" btw, what is it they call them? legacy machines? You can't upgrade the memory anymore without springing for a new motherboard. OK, I just closed everything else down and emptied out most of the cache. Now the letters appear on the screen as you type them!

I've been using Purpose Dual Moisturizer SPF 15. I'm not entirely happy with it...it's a nice moisturizer but an imperfect sunscreen. Next year, I predict, you will be able to find transparent zinc oxide sunscreens here, the way you already can in Europe, so I'll look then.

2. Foundation...one foundation. The formulation will depend on what you like. I like my tinted frankenmoisturizer just fine.

3. Concealer/loose powder...I don't use concealer. You could use concealer as "foundation" (ie dabble the concealer on instead of foundation, and set with loose powder). You could use foundation as concealer (dabble the foundation where you need concealer and set with loose powder). You can skip the loose powder altogether if you don't need it. I do use loose powder.

4. 1 or 2 eyepencils. One of the pencils should match the color of your eyelashes. If you wear mascara, match the pencil to that. The idea is, you can line with this pencil to create the illusion of lusher lashes.

The other pencil, should you want 2, can be a colored one, or a fun one, or one that picks up the color of your hair.

5. Mascara, if you wear it. Imo you should need only one mascara, and it should be cheap (ie something you can afford to replace every three months).

6. 5 eyeshadows...off white matte, champagne, brown, a colored shadow that complements your eye color, and a frivolous, unnecessary shadow.

7. 5 lipsticks...red, nude, your-lips-but-better, Permatone, frivolous.

8. 1 or 2 blushes. In theory you need only one, but the one I love best is so expensive, I bought a cheaper version to wear more often.

9. Now I don't wear lipliner, but it seems to me that if you did, you could do with 2 lipliners...a neutral one and one that is your-lips-but-one-shade-deeper.

10. 2 shampoos (use one to keep the other from building up).

11. 1 daily conditioner, if you're lucky (I use 2 actually).

Naaaowww, that is a basic stash. That is what I actually own, plus the extra stuff that a girl must have. :) To whit:

1. Moisturizer/sunscreen--the aforementioned Purpose Dual Moisturizer SPF 15, possibly will replace with that transparent zinc oxide sunscreen when I find it.

2. Foundation--tinted frankenmoisturizer (the foundation in it is L'Oreal Feel Naturale).

3. Concealer/loose powder--Coty Airspun loose powder.

4. 1 or 2 eyepencils. One of the pencils should match the color of your eyelashes--Revlon PowderLiner "Brown Suede."

The other pencil, should you want 2, can be a colored one, or a fun one, or one that picks up the color of your hair--I'm going to see if any of the L'Oreal Wear Infinite powderliners fit this description for me, since Revlon only makes like 3 !@#$ PowderLiners.

5. Mascara--n/a.

6. 5 eyeshadows...off white matte--Sonia Kashuk "Whisper" powder single

champagne--MAC "Shroom"

brown--L'Oreal Colour Fresco "Iced Coffee," which is growing on me...I bought it for a laugh, but it's actually fun to put on.

a colored shadow that complements your eye color--hmmm...Sonia Kashuk "Blossom" and "Golden," MAC "Vapour." I have 3 of these (all pink--pink/mauve, pink/golden/brown, pink/white).

and a frivolous, unnecessary shadow--the "Iced Coffee."

7. 5 lipsticks...red--Hemp Organics "Red Zin"

nude--SK Lip Sheer "Angelic"

your-lips-but-better--Jane "Loco Cocoa"

Permatone...hm. I have MF Lipfinities "Ethereal" and "Radiant"...essentially, nude and pink. And CG Outlast "Berry Preserve" (berry, but it might be replaced by the Lipfinities). I still intend to try MF "Spiritual" one of these days. You'll note that some of the Permatone colors duplicate my standard lipstick colors. It is possible I might replace some of the standard ones with Permatones.

frivolous--SK Lip Sheer "Magic."

8. 1 or 2 blushes. Lancome Blush Subtil "Rose Charmant," Neutrogena "Sweet Raisin."

9. Lipliner--n/a.

10. 2 shampoos--Jason Tea Tree Oil shampoo, Pure & Basic Non-Medicated Dandruff shampoo. The Jason one is good but way thick and I don't know how long the bottle will last. The P & B is a repurchase, it's a good shampoo and the bottle lasts OK.

11. 1 daily conditioner, if you're lucky (I use 2 actually)--Neutrogena Clean Volume daily, sometimes I add a smidge of L'Oreal Feria conditioner to that.

Sooooo...there are only a few things that I need to do, to attain the perfect stash:

1. Find that freakin' zinc oxide sunscreen. I don't need a separate moisturizer, since I've been using prescription topical antibiotic (as opposed to salicylic acid, which is drying).

2 - 3. Nothing.

4. Check out the L'Oreal Wear Infinite powderliners.

5 - 6. Nothing...I already have more shadows than I need.

7. Find that freakin' MF "Spiritual" already. After that, nothing. I'll have to see which Permatones I end up wearing.

8 - 11. Nothing.

Cool, eh?

Wednesday, October 31, 2001 ( 5:25 PM )

Wow...post Taliban makeup shopping.

I tried returning something at Target today...a MF Lipfinity ("Iced"). They wouldn't take it. I would have argued it, but then I realized I might have been confused, I don't think it was "Iced" I got at Target (I've been trying out Lipfinities lately and I've gotten them from Target, Walgreens and Longs). But that means Target is using some sort of system to "mark" their products.

Looking at the receipt more closely, it says that Target is going to have a "new return policy" starting tomorrow. I suspect the new policy is, no returns on cosmetics, opened or unopened. I dunno. Does that mean that Target puts returned cosmetics back on the shelf?

Longs...I did exchange the Lipfinity I got at Longs ("Cool") successfully, but you have to fill out a form. *sigh* I'm wondering if the stores are trying to phase out "not your color, not your problem."

In any case, there's only one more Lipfinity I want to try...then that will be it for me.

I did try "Spicy"...it's terrible on me, but it's not a terrible color. It's a strong dark warm pink. It went somewhat fuchsia on me. If you had strong coloring, it might look good on you. On me though=clown mouth.

It's a good thing I've slowed wayyyyy down, cosmetics wise...if we're gonna get into the bunker mentality, then it's going to be like the old days, when you were stuck with whatever you bought.

Tuesday, October 23, 2001 ( 11:01 AM )

Weeellll...I'm gonna try Target for the frivolous item. They have advertised L'Oreal cream eyeshadows (in a tube) for $5 a pop. But, I am truly drawn more toward the Colour Fresco's. The medium is the message...heh heh...I like the crayon concept. But, are they all shimmery? I want something only slightly shimmery.

The Saks Target is likely to have the MF Lipfinity I want, for cheaper than Longs, so I'll pick that up as well.

I'm using Jason Tea Tree Oil shampoo now, alternating it with my Pure & Basic. It's pretty wild, it's much more like a treatment than a shampoo. I won't post a review for it until I've used it longer...you never know, some hair products build up over time or else wear away your color.

I'll have to change some things on BeautyStreet...a few things. The Sonia Kashuk eyeshadows can move to My Favorite Crap. $5 vs. $12.50! And, the Kirkland conditioner did not work out for me. The Neutrogena has, and it's turned out to be very economical. I've hardly made a dent in my $4-for-10.1 oz. bottle. My $$ weakness for hair products is in shampoos. Terrible...I hate spending money.

I'm trying to think of how to turn the 'street product sections...My Favorite Crap and Sometimes, It's Worth It...into blogs. Stuff like philosophy doesn't change often, but product recs do. But how can you do it? You could use document level style sheets, but then only some browsers would render the results. You could try to format the tables inside the posts. That miiiiight work. I could set up a table for each poster, and see if blogger would roll out the tables properly. Hmmm...I like it, even though it sounds like a pain in the butt to do.

Well I've gotta go...pack some lunch, etc. I'm going to see what I can find today...my theory is that the L'Oreal cream shadows are identical to the Maybelline ones, only different (usually better) colors.

Monday, October 22, 2001 ( 5:27 PM )

Hmmm...I don't do frivolous very well.

I had this idea to get a totally frivolous eyeshadow/eyepencil...but it's much easier to do that lips-wise than eyes-wise. I don't know why...I got my frivolous lippy, SK "Magic" Lip Sheer, on a whim, and it's been great. But I looked all through the eye stuff today at two different drugstores...dunno, I don't want to MAC my frivolous eye thing, the whole point of doing frivolous is not to spend $12.50 doing it.

The most obvious place to look for this sort of thing is L'Oreal. There was a L'Oreal magenta eyeshadow...something Fuchsia, was the name...as a side note, their "Pink Breeze" really looks magenta in the pan, light magenta, but I already have SK "Blossom"...the "something Fuchsia" was a strong, medium magenta. It might be just the thing. $3.89. Then, I poked into the Colour Fresco's..."Gold Coin" caught my eye. It swatched--unlike the name, which makes you think it would be really golden--a pale, silvery champagne, not overly shimmery either. Very, very tempting. "Pistachio Ice" Colour Fresco also drew my eye...pale shimmery green. The Fresco's feel good on, they're cool feeling. "Gold Coin" lasts longer on (my hand anyway) than "Pistachio Ice" btw.

I also investigated the On the Loose powders...there's a light green one called "Tart"...the thing with those is, they are shimmery to the point of being outright sparkly. That's not what I want. I've chucked out shadows for being too shimmery.

Wondering...are the Maybelline Cooling things similar or even the same? The Fresco's have a better format, I think, you don't have to sharpen them like a regular pencil, or put them on with your finger. I don't like putting anything on with my fingers that I don't have to. It just becomes another thing to wash off your fingers, I don't have time in the morning.

This store barely had any of the Wear Infinite powderliners...what's up with that? They're hard to find, actually.

I also dug into the MF Lipfinities. I've decided to try "Spiritual"--I do wear my CG Outlast "Berry Preserve" often enough to justify buying a second Permatone. But I was short by like a buck. !@#$ I could have swung Outlast "Forever Fawn," but, comparing tube-by-tube, the "Spiritual" really looks superior in color.

So looking on it...it's down to either "something Fuchsia," the medium magenta powder shadow single, or "Gold Coin" or even "Pistachio Ice" Colour Fresco (I couldn't find the price, but iirc they're not overly expensive?). And MF "Spiritual" Lipfinity. Those will be my next two additions to my stash.

Thursday, October 18, 2001 ( 10:33 PM )

Hmmm...this topical antibiotic really does work, it's quite dramatic. Overnight, I stopped getting new zits, in the main...still some, but a paltry few. Then gradually, the stubborn stuff that was already on my face is disappearing. Also, it dries out the excess oil on my face--yay! All without making my skin tough (like salicylic acid) or super dry. It is slightly dry, but not dry? I can live with it. It has itched slightly a few times, similar to when I was using St Ives Fade Cream.

It does have one side effect, and it's important: you have to be very, very careful not to get it anywhere near your mouth. I get these little zits around there, so I'd been putting the stuff there...not on my lips, but close to them. Now I have a cut on the corner of my mouth that isn't healing. Since I don't normally have that problem, and I'm not taking any new medication (the only medication I take anyway is my birth control pill, and I've been using the same one for over a year), I can deduce that it's the antibiotic that's causing it. The last few times I used it, I avoided that area, and the cut seems to be getting better.

Well at least I know a couple of eye looks that I like. One is, SK "Whisper" (basically a superior off white matte shadow) as a wash, lined with, what else, Revlon PowderLiner "Brown Suede." I've decided I'm only going to use powderliners for the rest of my life. It sounds like a dull look, but it's stupendous.

Fancier, but more work, is to use the "Whisper" as a base shade and put SK "Blossom" (it's pale magenta actually, I finally figured out why I like it so much) on lids. Line with "Brown Suede."

Another look I like is SK "Starlight" (warmish ivory shimmer) as a wash, mostly on lids (a little goes a long way) lined with the same "Brown Suede."

I don't wear my SK "Golden" shadow often, but the only way is on lids (concentrated on the outer third) blending up into the crease. I haven't had my MAC "Shroom" and "Vapour" long enough to truly fiddle with them, but "Vapour" is good as a wash, ditto "Shroom"....

You know, the last time I was in the drugstore, I poked into the Revlon PowderLiners...they had like 3 shades of them. Shame! Shame! L'Oreal had a bunch of them, very tempting. But the other liner I have is SK "Plum" and it's really perfect--a plum that is neither blue (ashy on me) nor red (which somehow doesn't look right).

Since all of my shadow looks are, a wash, or else, lids...I think I will invest in one last shadow. Sort of a contour shadow. I'll know it when I see it. I'm gonna get a MAC one...I like their stuff.

Monday, October 15, 2001 ( 6:36 PM )

So far so good, eyeshadow-wise:

1 - 6. SK Whisper, Starlight, Sunlight, Blossom, Golden, Plum.
7 - 8. MAC Shroom and Vapour.
9. Revlon "Brown Suede" PowderLiner.

Mayyyyybe I could spring for another MAC shadow, but it's too soon to say.

Lipstick-wise:

1 - 2. SK Lip Sheers "Angelic" and "Magic."
3. Jane "Loco Cocoa" frankenlippy.
4. CG Outlast "Berry Preserve."
5. Hemp Organics "Red Zin."

Blush:

1. Lancome "Rose Charmant."
2. Neutrogena "Sweet Raisin."

Could it all really be so easy? Yup. The perfect blend of the necessary and the frivolous. I don't actually own a frivolous blush, but how could blush be frivolous anyway?

The missing MAC shadow might be the frivolous one...

*whew*

God I'm tired today. Resting, for a SAHM, involves trying to lie down while the kids jump up and down on the bed and hit you with their books, and the old man calls every half hour with something for you to do. It's really just amazing...well I should have known. There's no way taking care of kids would have been given to women, if it were not endless, unappreciated, unpaid drudgery. I always had it in the back of my mind that you could do something else and take care of kids at the same time...programming at home, is what I was thinking. But that's crap. Every five minutes you have to get up and see what the kids are destroying. I mean literally, you have to get up every five minutes and clean something up, fix something, find something, yadda yadda.

When you do have the time to think (i.e. you've gotten the kids to take a nap, good luck), you're too tired to really do anything! It reminds me of something someone in Washington told me...he knew this guy who had a job where you work extended hours for four days, and you get four days off. He thought it was a terrific deal until he took it, and realized he was too tired from slaving the four days to do anything other than rest, the other four.

It's why I started my web sites...it's the only kind of programming I can do under these conditions. It *is* programming after all. At least I can say I've gotten good at it.

Sunday, October 07, 2001 ( 12:20 PM )

Heh heh...well I've scratched the idea of re-trying the duds. I've tried and re-tried the dang things to oblivion, just let 'em be duds already.

I'm warming to this couple of MAC shadows concept. I checked out Dain's list of color descriptions...much better than the MAC site I might add. I copied the list to a text file and immediately deleted anything with "dark" or "deep" in it...I use so little of anything dark or deep, it wouldn't show enough to merit filling my MAC slot with a dark or a deep. Also, I zapped all the frosts. Matte is my thing.

What to get? I feel that good old cosmetic excitement. I'm wearing my SK "Whisper" today (with a touch of SK "Sunlight" on the center of each lid and a touch on browbones), lined with Revlon "Brown Suede." "Whisper" is an excellent light matte vanilla shade, so I don't want anything exactly like it. But what about "Shroom"? So far, I'm thinking pink..."Yogurt." And perhaps a light white shade of some sort.

Mayyyybe a soft medium to light brown of some sort, but...dunno. Most of my browns bombed. I ended up with only "Malt," which is a medium golden brown matte. I like "Malt" but how many of these do I need.

Anything grey goes off my list.

Hmmm...Dain is right about "Blossom," it really is perfect...most lavenders are too grey/blue on me and look ashy.

Think I'll go back to my Dain list and check out the pinks/whites/possible browns?

Saturday, October 06, 2001 ( 6:34 PM )

Hmmm...did I say I was done with my eyeshadows? I dunno...I've at least figured out what colors I like. I know, I know, everyone and their dog figures this out in high school, but I didn't, so now I am. The colors are: white, gold, pink, golden brown, and plum. Armed with this precious info, I've pulled out some of my discards that contain these colors for yet another round. To whit:

* Lancome Blush Subtil sample "Cappucine" (it's nice but I tried it today and rejected it as a shadow)
* L'Oreal "Rose Petals" duo and "Earthen" single (it's dark bronze but might fit into the golden brown category)
* Sonia Kashuk "Sunrise" and "Aubergine" (I'm willing to play with them one more time, they are both pinks)

I just tried a dab of Neutrogena "Sweet Raisin" blush as a shadow, it was gorgeous.

At the same time I've pondered getting a MAC shadow or two. I went to their web site to check them out...$9 for a small palette refill, to $14 for a large stand-alone single. Not exactly cheap...they have a small 4-well palette for $3.50, that would be (4 * $9) + $3.50 = $39.50, * 1.08 = $42.66 for what boils down to a glorified quad. Christian Dior sells a quad for something like $50, right?

So I'm thinking, scout around for some info on something like a 2- or 3-well palette that would fit MAC shadows, and get 2 or 3 of the refills. I'm sure it's a topic that either everyone on the beauty boards already knows about and is sick of, or else it's one of those hard to find items.

What sort of MAC shadows would I like? (Yes, I like frittering away as much time thinking about what I'd like to get as actually getting it.) Well I don't know yet. I'm happy with Sonia Kashuk "Whisper" as an off white matte shadow. Ditto:

* "Plum" as a dark plum matte
* "Malt" as a medium golden brown matte
* "Golden" as a medium rosy golden brown shimmer
* Revlon "Brown Suede" PowderLiner as a dark brown matte liner.

Leaving, in my present collection, doubts about "Sunlight," "Starlight" and "Blossom."

Naaowww, "Sunlight," I've discovered, is best used as an accent shadow, not as a whole-lid shadow. Covering my lids with gilt, however subtle, is just not "me."

"Starlight" is basically an ivory shimmer shadow. Again I need to fiddle more with that. I don't fancy buying a $9 MAC white shimmer shadow, since it's not something I use often.

"Blossom"...hmmm...now here I'm entering MAC territory. I just might be persuaded to try a MAC lavender shadow of some sort. Miiiiight.

But my vision of MAC, after reading all the raves and loyalty attached to them, is not to buy something obscure, but rather to find 2 or 3 colors that I'd like to wear often. So they would most likely be neutrals of some sort...I adore neutral shadows.

Aha, so...to find the palette, then from there, 2 or 3 neutral shadows for a neutral to warm gal.

The neutrals should not be dark colors. The only thing I can do with dark shadows is hide in them (sorry)...is line with them. So paying $9 for a teeny bit of liner...nah. Logically then, they should be medium or light shades.

Shimmer or matte? Hm. Shimmer is not really my thing. I don't dislike it, but...how many of my lipsticks even have shimmer in them? "Loco Cocoa" and SK "Magic" Lip Sheer have shimmer, but it's subtle. My other three lippies are cremes.

I have the aforementioned "Starlight" and "Sunlight" but I use them sparingly. "Golden" is my only shimmer shadow I can shamelessly slather all over my lids.

So I suspect, the MAC shadows should be medium or light, neutral to warm, mattes.

Which mattes? I don't need an off white one or a medium golden brown one. I'm iffy about lavender, mayyybe about pink...it's hard to find a good pink shadow even though there are lots and lots of them. I'm wondering about Yogurt, it seems to be popular.

Thinking on it...I am open to another off white matte. It would have to be whiter than "Whisper," which is a vanilla color.

OK, enough...I'm gonna check out the stuff on Dain's site now.

Tuesday, October 02, 2001 ( 3:02 PM )

I'm done with my eyeshadows. I have 7 now. It would be slightly more accurate to say I have 8, because my Revlon PowderLiner "Brown Suede" functions the same way a dark brown matte eyeshadow would, i.e., as a liner. Anyhoo:

1. off white matte (Whisper)
2. soft white shimmer (Starlight)
3. pale gold shimmer (Sunlight)
4. pinky lavender matte (Blossom)
5. medium golden brown matte (Malt)
6. pink shimmer--medium rosy golden brown shimmer (Golden)
7. dark plum matte (Plum)
8. dark brown matte (Brown Suede)

So far I'm happy with this configuration. It's like my lipsticks...red, nude, pink, rose-brown, berry.

Thursday, September 27, 2001 ( 4:54 PM )

Well, I've gone through the first round of eyeshadow stash-paring. Interestingly, it is not dissimilar to my first round of lipstick stash-paring...I feel simultaneously lighter, and less secure. Ultimately though I know I'm doing the right thing. It just irks me to have too many eyeshadows.

(all Sonia Kashuk)

Toss:
* Sable (dark brown matte)
* Larkspur (medium dusty purple matte)
* Aubergine (dark purple shimmer)
* Amethyst (blue purple shimmer) and Lilac (blue lavender matte)
* Bronze (light bronze)
* Sunrise (light peachy pink shimmer)
* Barley (medium brown matte)
* Mink (medium brown shimmer)
* Sadye Pink (light pink matte)

You're thinking, one long ouch, but I've had these shadows for months. When I have too many of something, I end up not wearing it at all. I have a simple mind, and simple minds need simplicity.

Keep:
* Whisper (off white matte)
* Starlight (soft white shimmer)
* Blossom (pinky lavender matte)
* Sunlight (pale gold shimmer)
* Malt (medium golden brown matte)
* Moonstone (medium mauve/brown matte)
* Golden (medium golden pink shimmer)
* Plum (dark plum matte)

Here are my cosmetics junkie rationalizations for the choices thus far:

* Sable--I have Revlon PowderLiner "Brown Suede," which is essentially the same color in pencil form.
* Larkspur--a tad too cool. I thought I could sub Moonstone for it, but they are entirely different colors, so I might have to give Larkspur another try after all.
* Aubergine...I never wore Jane "Purple Heart" when I had it, or "Amethyst." Maybe purple shimmers just aren't my thing.
* Lilac--too blue, prefer Blossom.
* Bronze--too warm.
* Sunrise--too bland.
* Barley--nice, but too boring.
* Mink--I might keep this.
* Sadye Pink--ditto.

* Whisper--the best in its class, and one of my fave shades anyway.
* Starlight...it's good for going out.
* Blossom--this is very flattering on me, most lavenders are too blue, and this one is heavy on pink.
* Sunlight--this is very subtle, it sort of gently gilds your eyelids.
* Malt--I was gonna toss this, then I tried it again.
* Moonstone--I'm wearing this today, it's good.
* Golden--one of my most beautiful shadows (along with Whisper, Sunlight, Blossom, Plum).
* Plum--see Golden.

Hmmm...let's revise these lists:

Toss:
* Sable
* Aubergine--yes, I can toss this, since Plum is better.
* Amethyst and Lilac
* Bronze
* Sunrise
* Barley--it's not bad but I have Malt and Moonstone which are similar but more interesting.

???:
* Mink
* Sadye Pink
* Larkspur

Keep (as before): Whisper, Starlight, Blossom, Sunlight, Malt, Moonstone, Golden, Plum.

Which leaves us with a potential of 11 shadows. I doubt Larkspur is gonna make it though. It's just too greyish on me. Sadye Pink might flop because Blossom is better. But I will give all 3 a fair shake. There's nothing written in stone yet...not all of my 8 so-called keepers might make it, either.

I went through this with my lipsticks...my original projection was up to 10 lipsticks. Then I thought, somewhere between 3 and 7, and it ended up being 5. I might add another on though...another Permatone. It will depend on how often I wear the Permatone that I have (CG "Berry Preserve"). If it's often enough, I'm going to want another shade.

I went to a dermatologist the other day...I tell you, I've suffered from adult acne since 1995 and I have tried everything. I don't eat regular meat...the hormones in it break me out. I take Ortho-Tricyclen--these two things have helped my skin a lot, yet for the past couple of months, it's started getting bad again, so I went. I got some topical antibiotic to put on my face twice a day. This stuff works, so far...the guy told me it could take up to two months to really start working, but I saw some results overnight. It's very strong stuff...there's something in it that's drying out my face as we "speak"--I'm naturally oily, so that's good. I had much fewer zits and clogged pores this morning. Woo! Of course, I will have to use it faithfully twice a day every day, but I feel positive about it.

Hey and I got some earrings. Now normally I can't wear regular earrings, I have a sensitivity to nickel...I get the swollen, red earlobes, the itching, the oozing. Ech. I can't even wear regular 14KT gold ones. This time I splurged and got some 18KT ones, I wore them yesterday and today and no problem (knock wood). Woohoo!

It's not as if I'm stuck buying expensive 18KT earrings, I have a bunch of sterling silver and brass ones and a pair of 14KT hoops--what I did before was change the wires on them, to the surgical stainless steel or 24KT gold over stainless wires you can buy at drugstores. Heh heh! I remember when those very wires were obscure, only Payless carried them.

But, this has the very cool implication that I can now buy any 18KT gold earrings that I like/can afford, including studs or other styles that you can't change the wires on.

Well that's all for now...

Wednesday, September 19, 2001 ( 5:05 PM )

OK, I haven't posted here in a while, perhaps for obvious reasons. :)

I've boiled my lippy stash down to five: SK Lip Sheers "Angelic" and "Magic," Jane "Loco Cocoa," CG Outlast "Berry Preserve," and Hemp Organics "Red Zin." Of these, by far I wear the first three most often. In fact, I don't even bother putting lipstick on at home anymore; I just keep the "Angelic," "Magic" and "Loco Cocoa" in my purse. The Outlast is great for Permatone days, "Red Zin" is, well, the perfect red, so I need that.

I found a long-lost copy of Jane "Kind of Carob," I haven't thrown it out nor have I worn it...I'll keep it, why not.

Happy with my Neutrogena Soft Color "Sweet Raisin" blush for everyday, my Lancome "Rose Charmant" for special occasions. Ditto, my two eyepencils, L'Oreal "Light Golden Brown" Brow Colourist and Revlon "Brown Suede" PowderLiner. I tried Feria haircolor and I like it (not the shade though, "Candleglow," too dark). I've been using its conditioner and Neutrogena Clean Volume daily conditioner (the latter more than the former) for some weeks, I feel settled there.

I'm going through my SK eyeshadows, otherwise I feel quite settled, beauty-wise.

Strange...this whole Taliban thing makes me love my makeup even more. Fundamentalists do not like makeup. It represents female power to them. Women in Iran can get acid thrown in their faces for wearing makeup publicly. It's ridiculous. I don't advocate painting your face like a whore...in fact, fundamentalists use whores too, I don't think it bothers them much...but makeup lifts the spirits.

Wednesday, August 01, 2001 ( 6:10 PM )

Definitely, Revlon "Dune Rose" is better than Terra Tints "Blaze." The "Dune Rose" is more pigmented...even mine, which was frankened. "Blaze" is probably healthier for you, :) but "Dune Rose" so far is *the* pink-red lippy. I haven't put it head to head (lip to lip?) with Jane "Cinnamon Stick" yet, I'm waiting until someone figures out if Jane is going to keep the dang shade!

Sheesh, I'm tired. What to make for dinner. You see, that is where the Green Choi Blog has the potential to become indispensable...every freakin' housewife goes through this every day. It's much harder for me now because of those stupid hormones they put in meat and chicken. I can no longer stock up on cheap beef and chicken...the beef is too expensive to stock up on. Chicken--the nearest shop that carries hormone-free is in another town. My SO isn't too crazy about pork. Seafood...I'm thinking seafood tonight. The shop down the hill has halibut on sale, fresh. What do you do with halibut though? Can you make fish and chips with it? Mmmmm...if you can, fish and chips tonight. My favorite food.

Monday, July 30, 2001 ( 10:10 PM )

Heh heh...why are all my blogs posted at 6:15?

( 6:57 PM )

Hmmm...I have discontinued my "Ramblings" section. From now on, all of my ramblings are going to be here. Also, "Dain's Section" is now "Obsessively Yours"--a fellow blog!

Looking at the template more closely, I'm not sure now if it uses Perl. I think it does though.

Where am I makeup-wise. I am tired, but gratified. I now have the makeup to go just about anywhere. I really want less makeup. I wore Terra Tints "Blaze" the other day and felt disappointed...it faded too quickly into a harmless pink. If Jane decides to keep "Cinnamon Stick," that may be the pink-red of choice for me. Revlon "Dune Rose" does turn bright pink as it fades...not the "hot hooker pink" of fame, but bright pink nonetheless. I will really need only one pink-red shimmer.

I am just so sleepy. I've got to think of what to make for dinner. Zzzzz. Salad, obviously. Our tomatoes are ripening by the drove, we have cucumbers...what's truly missing is fried chicken. Yipes! Fried foods are just sooooo fattening. One bout of fish and chips and I blow up like a balloon. While, I can stuff my gob with an infinite amount of, say, coq au vin (mmm!) and gain nary an ounce. The key to weight loss is fried foods.

OK, now I've talked myself out of the fried chicken. Mexican food would be nice, actually. Or, chicken curry. Aha! that's it.

Did you know that's one of the hardest parts of being a SAHM--coming up with what to have for dinner? Besides the intellectual insult of it all...if it's so great "not having to work," then why was it given to women to do? Is there any logic to that? Is anyone claiming that women are treated better than men in any other aspect of life?

Yep--I think of that, every time it's time to change a dirty diaper. *lol*

I was thinking, part of our united site effort has to include that--what to make for dinner. Not a la Good Housekeeping, I mean what you *really* make for dinner. The same way that we've demystified makeup, we have brought it to the level of practicality without sacrificing glamor.

I'm thinking of a dinner blog...I haven't figured out yet how to allow several people to post to the same blog (it's not complicated, I just haven't done it). What do you think? A group blog? All you do is post what you made for dinner. You don't have to post everything you cook or be a slave to the blog, but then we could all just check in and have instant dinner ideas.

Lmk...

Saturday, July 28, 2001 ( 11:04 AM )

OK, I definitely like this program. I have no idea what's going to end up here though.

( 10:14 AM )

another test