Welcome DST!

Daylight savings time started here this morning. While I'm up waaaaay too early today, I do love the extra bit of energy the extended nighttime daylight always seems to provide. I'm going to take advantage of the sun and hit up TJ Maxx this afternoon.

Smart is Beautiful!

Tonight is the season premiere of History Detectives, a show Mr. Caroline and I adore.

In addition to being very educational and entertaining, the detectives are among the most stylish women on TV. Elise Luray has gorgeous hair and wears a lot of fabulous big-city bohemian clothing. (Watch for great boots and beautiful sweaters.) Gwen Wright is more the "arty" type, and rocks short hair and bold bright frames that contrast beautifully with her pale skin tone. Both women have great style! (The men are awesome, too...)

I'd like to hope that this continues a trend I think came about with the popularity of the original CSI-- yes, Virginia, you can be beautiful, stylish, and smart at the same time. Overwhelming for some women? Maybe, I suppose, but I have plenty of confidence in myself and would much rather watch intelligent women who look great at the same time.

No-Makeup Makeup

I watched The September Issue on DVD last night, and a few things kept popping back into my brain.

1. Grace Coddington is a genius. The artistry of the photos in comparison to the other shoots really stood out for me. I plan on looking at back issues of Vogue the next time I'm in the library.

2. EVERYONE (even Anna Wintour, to an extent) was wearing the "no makeup" face. Creamy foundation/tm finish (not a powder in sight), well-groomed brows, pinkish blush, pinkish creamy balm (no gloss, no glitter). This is a look I like, but find hard to achieve. What's worked for me:

NARS Penny Lane blush. I'm actually out of this right now and should probably get some more, but I'm trying to use up a Tarte blush stick in Flower Child, which is sort of similar. NARS creme blushes are blendable without being too sticky or dry.

Burts Bees Pomegranate Lip Balm/Fresh Rose Sugar lip balm. This is funny, because the former is $2 and the latter is about $22. The Fresh Balm is infinitely more moisturizing, but sooooooooo expensive. Fresh apparently has a plum version of this out now-- I've read conflicting reports of how plum or fuschia it reads. The Rose balm is a semi-bright pink/red on me. In each case I think it's the *lack* of shimmer that matters for this natural look.

What hasn't worked for me (yet!):

Brows. I have relatively full brows and wear glasses always, so I find it hard to groom them regularly. It's painful!

Skin. As I age, I find it harder to achieve a creamy finish that still blends out my skin tone. Right now, I have a Josie Maran tinted moisturizer in Creme. It's a pretty good color match and the argan oil in the product is soothing to my skin. My only caveat: I think it's gotten darker as the tube is running out, as if the pigment is separating from the base. I know that Laura Mercier is great, but I'm sort of between Porcelain and Nude, which makes buying that one hard for me at that price point.

Funny that Vogue kind of "sold" me on this look, when the issues are so "done" in other ways.

Minimalist Chic

(Fluevog Fannie... :) )

So as I've gotten older, I seem to be trying to embrace minimalism more and more often. I would very much like to be one of those people with a tiny closet-- but everything in it looks fantastic and fits perfectly.

Hard to do when you're shopping on a Target budget. I've been doing some spring cleaning by removing pieces I just haven't worn and allowing myself to keep weirdly special items like a sweater that's 25 or so years old (my husband's first birthday present to me, horribly stretched out now but still warm and cozy in the winter).

Lots of authors-- Bobbi Brown, Tim Gunn, et. al, seem to have an idea as to what makes a perfect "mini" wardrobe. I hit a wall when I reach dressier clothing. I need one very staid pantsuit for special events at work (otherwise casual is very appropriate), but I really only have two easy to wear dresses-- an old J Crew Lisa that's in navy and a grey dress that has some unfortunate connotations for me as I've worn it to a few too many funerals in the past couple of years.

I'd like to be one of those people who owns just one pair of sandals-- but they're Fluevogs or something similarly cool.

Wintertime Cleansing

I'm exercising a lot lately and need a decent cleanser. My age and somewhat dermatitis prone skin has made finding one for this time of year pretty difficult.

I seem to have hit on some success from the Shiseido Benefiance line:
. The cleanser has a rich, plush foam, is enriched with oils, and has scrubbing beads that moisturize (as they exfoliate) rather than just scrub. (There aren't many of them, so I wouldn't expect this to take the place of mechanical or physical exfoliation.)

Too bad I hadn't thought of this earlier-- when I was younger, the Shiseido line was also the best way for me to keep my skin acne free (I had pretty good skin) as long as I had the money! At around $35, the Benefiance cleanser is pricey but you really need only a tiny amount, so I'm hoping the tube will last around three months.

Sunscreen Again

I am a "fearful" sunscreen wearer-- fearful because my redheaded father has already had skin cancer removed from his face, and also because at 42 my face already shows some signs of sun damage.

I use a lot of lotion with sunscreen-- daily, no matter what. One of my favorites for inside is this product from Korres. I suspect I like this product because of the cream formula and the Wild Rose content-- a natural, oil based source of Vitamin C (my face loves essential oils). Unfortunately, the cream is only spf 6-- from the titanium dioxide I see listed on the box. Korres does make a facial sunscreen with spf 30 but I haven't had the opportunity to sample that one yet.

In the winter I had been enjoying a Neutrogena product, but it now seems to be stinging and running into my eyes-- I'll probably return to it come fall, when I'm outside quite a bit for my job (the lotion is spf 45).

What to do in the summer in the mean time? I'm trying to stay away from oxybenzone, after reading some health concerns about long-term use of this chemical. It's tough to find a US-available sunscreen that doesn't contain oxybenzone and has a high spf. One baby sunscreen from Coppertone does fit the bill: At spf 50 and with a relatively high (for the US) UVA protection rating (the zinc oxide, I think) I can wear this comfortably outside without doing more damage to my face.

I don't understand why it's been so difficult for the US to approve sunscreen ingredients that are available in European and Asian brands. When I've felt particularly rich, I've splurged on Bioderma and La Roche Posay and been quite amazed at the texture and quality of the products (thinner, quicker to absorb, and *no* tanning at all). Possibly this will be of more concern to our aging population.

Wardrobe Matters: Concert Dress

Mr. Caroline is a professional musician and I was lucky enough to attend a free concert his brass quintet gave last night.

As you might expect, dress for the audience varied widely even though it was an evening performance. Many people were in what I'd call "business casual": khakis and nice polo shirts for the men, summer dresses for the women.

I don't have a lot of dressy clothing, because my job can be a messy one. I'm always a little anxious about dressing for concerts. I know I shouldn't wear blue jeans and my Springsteen t-shirt, but I also don't want to wear a suit or an overly formal dress (I've also seen audience members at these events in very formal attire; nice, but too much for this community.)

So what did I do? Back to basic black, with a pop of color. An old (two seasons, I think) black jersey skirt from J Crew, which is full enough to make me feel comfortable about my figure/sitting down, topped with a nicer jersey t-shirt and tank top (again, layers make me feel more comfortable, so I enjoy the performance more).

Pop of color, you ask? Bright yellow ballet flats, cheap ones from Forever 21. I decided it wasn't too bumblebee since the rest of the outfit was so monochromatic. I think "plain" can be flattering if you're also wearing something fun.