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.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
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.
Monday, February 15, 2010
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.
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.
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