2015 Beauty Favorites

My beauty addiction is a problem, but as a result of it I do act as a guinea pig for friends when it comes to trying new makeup products. I test it so you don't have to waste your money! I thought I'd compile a list of the products I tried and loved this year - some new releases, some just new to me. So if you're looking for something new to sample as you start off 2016, here is a list of things I think are worth dropping your hard-earned cash on.

Some 2015 reads

Although earlier this year I spent quite a bit of a time going down a literary wormhole that I'm not all that proud of, I have read a few other books I've enjoyed this year that I'm less embarrassed to name, and I thought I'd write a bit about of them. If like me you're always looking for a new good read, and you have liked some of my previous recommendations, perhaps you'll find something to add to your list. As per usual, my list leans heavily toward YA. My favorites are in bold.

• Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. This is the first Rainbow Rowell book I've read where I didn't feel like the characters were part of my extended group of friends. Which is not saying I didn't enjoy it, just that it is quite different from anything else I've read by her. She's kind of written fanfiction of her own work - taking characters from the clearly Harry Potter-inspired fantasy series in her book Fangirl, and giving them their own story. It was a fast, fun read, but I wasn't inspired to start my own Tumblr blog on it or anything.
• Me Before You and it's follow-up After You by JoJo Moyes. These were a "let me read the book before the movie comes out so I can act all holier-than-thou about how the movie didn't get things right" kind of read. The short plot summary, cash strapped girl from small town forms an unlikely bond with wealthy paralyzed man she's taking care of, might make it sound a little Nicholas Sparks-esque, but trust that they are A LOT less eye-roll inducing. I did enjoy both - despite the soap opera-esque story lines. 
• The Girl You Left Behind by JoJo Moyes. Since I enjoyed Me Before You, I kept going down the JoJo path. (Just writing that made me think of the singer JoJo, and this song popped into my head.) It was a good path to go down - I enjoyed this one even more than the other two thanks to the history elements.
• To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han. Sweet yet grounded YA book, full of characters that felt real, with relatable issues. Really enjoyed this one.
• How to Be Bad by Lauren Myracle, E. Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski - I have to be honest, I completely forgot the plot of this book about a week after reading it. I picked it up because I so loved E. Lockhart's We Were Liars last year, but obviously this one did not stay with me in the same way. I didn't hate it, it was fine, but didn't find it gripping or memorable. 
• Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen. This is YA I loved. I mean, I've mentioned in the past my weakness for a good coming of age tale, and about finding one's place in the world, and this delivered on all fronts. Teared up. Related. Added other books by the author to my "to read" list. I give this one all the stars. 
• You Deserve a Drink: Boozy Misadventures and Tales of Debauchery by Mamrie Hart. I've been a big fan of Mamrie Hart's YouTube series, so I had good feeling about this one, and it did not disappoint. Raunchy. Hilarious. The book I have most recommended to people not in my family this year. I quite literally laughed out loud reading it. And it has some great cocktail recipes to boot. :)
• An Untamed State by Roxane Gay. Ms Gay not only wrote some of my favorite online reviews/recaps of Magic Mike XXL and the Outlander TV show, she also wrote one of my favorite books this year, which is thoroughly different in tone than her hilarious recaps. This book is fantastic, if incredibly hard to read. Very violent and emotionally draining, but so well written and kind of beautiful. This one has stayed with me all year.
• Graceling by Kristin Cashore. YA fantasy that's actually NOT set in a post-apocalyptic world,   with a strong female lead, intrigue, adventure, and some romance. Really enjoyed this one.
• The Paper Magician series by Charlie N. Holmberg. I was so charmed by the magical fantasy of the first book, I promptly followed with The Glass Magician and The Master Magician, and read all three in about a week. YA coming of age with magic and romance. Didn't enjoy the two follow-up books quite as much as the first one, but still liked the series overall. 
• Finding Fraser by kc dyer. Cute book, reminded me of Austenland, but for the Outlander fanatic. Although predictable, still a fun read. Helped me get through the many long months of waiting for new episodes of the TV series. 

I feel like my list this year is quite a bit shorter than it has been in the past - probably because of all the trashy novels I've read that I would rather not name check, because most were pretty forgettable. There are many other books I bought or was gifted that I haven't gotten around to reading yet, (Mindy Kaling's Why Not Me?, Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Felicia Day's You're Never Weird on the Internet) but I'm hoping 2016 will be a better read year. 

Is it worth the $$?

Over the years, I have spent A LOT of money on beauty products. I've shopped online, in duty free, in drugstores, department stores, beauty retailers, outlets, home shopping channels, and even from infomercials. Although the grand total over the last 20 or so years is probably some ridiculously embarrassing amount, individually, I have lines in the sand on how much I'm willing to spend on a product. I refuse to spend more than $10 on a nail polish, so there are brands I have never tried. $30+ dollars for a mascara seems ridiculous when there are fantastic options for a third of the price in drugstores. And there is no way in hell I would spend $90 on a lipstick. (Especially considering my ridiculously large existing collection, partially highlighted in the pic below.)

2015 Movies

I didn't set a movie goal again this year - a good thing considering I haven't really seen all that many, and given all the time I dedicated to falling down the bad romance novel wormhole.

That said, I have seen a handful of new movies, and even had the opportunity to see a screening of one I really liked and actually participate in a brief Q&A with some of the cast, Of course, having learned that it is based on a book I actually did not read before seeing the movie, I then felt I had to go back and do more book reading. More on that in another post. Here's a list of 2015 movies I've seen, and my thoughts on them. (My favorites are in bold.)

• McFarland, USA: Reminded me of my years working with an AmeriCorps program that did outreach with farmworkers. I had some issues with it, but glad Disney decided to make it, and wish more people had seen it. It was better than expected, and yes, in keeping with my reputation as a weeper, tears were shed.
• Woman in Gold: Helen Mirren is awesome and I bet the real Randy wishes he looked like Ryan Reynolds. It's an OK movie, but I will say that I left the theater really wanting to see a Klimt exhibition in person.
• Far From the Madding Crowd: The design and cinematography of this movie are beautiful, but the plot was frustrating. I mean, the right choice of suitors was clear from the get-go...but I guess we all at one point make stupid decisions when it comes to a pretty boy. (Although in this case all her choices are easy on the eyes.)
• Avengers: Age of Ultron: Entertaining effects-heavy set up for future Avengers movies. 
• The Age of Adaline: beautiful costuming. Michiel Huisman is very easy on the eyes. The voice over exposition was annoying, and the plot was weak.
• Pitch Perfect 2: I'm going to go ahead and say it: I kind of loved Das Sound Machine, and feel that they were robbed. This was silly, but also a ton of fun.
• Ex Machina: Wouldn't a being with artificial intelligence know better than to go into the woods with high heels on? Interesting movie, but obviously written by a man. (Also, you'd think I'm a huge fan of Domhnall Gleeson or something, since it's one of three movies I saw him featured in this year.)
• Tomorrowland: where a smart girl with a dream can change the world, yet somehow all those in charge are still old white men. Despite my frustration with the plot, I might have still shed a few tears with this one.
• Kingsman: The Secret Service: I love Colin Firth. Turns out I love him even more as kick-ass spy. My favorite of the spy movies I saw this year, surprising in that I saw multiple spy movies this year, and they are not typically my preferred genre.
• The Duff: OK teen movie, made watchable because Mae Whitman just can't help but be great in everything.
• Me and Earl and The Dying Girl: was lucky enough to attend a screening with two of the leads and the director of this very funny (and sad - it's in the title) little movie. Unexpectedly one of my favs of the year.
• Spy: I love Melissa McCarthy, and turns out pairing her with Jason Statham playing a parody of the characters he usually plays in movies was comedy gold.
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E.: enjoyable. Henry Cavill is sure easy to look at. That said, I would be hard pressed to remember the plot of this movie, and it's only been a few months since I saw it.
• Magic Mike XXL: dare I say it - I enjoyed it more than the first. Maybe even more enjoyable than the film is Roxane Gay's spoilery and hilarious recap of it. 
• Inside Out: another Pixar movie that made me tear up. Funny and sweet, and I loved it, but it felt more like a kids movie for adults than for actual kids. 
• Paper Towns  I read the book, and it falls into my coming of age dramas sweet spot, but I felt kind of lukewarm towards this movie. 
• The Martian: The science in it may be kind of wonky, but I enjoyed it, and any movie soundtrack that includes ABBA automatically goes up a star in my book.
• Trainwreck: hilarious raunchy take on a romantic comedy. Amy Schumer has become one of my favorite comedians. 
• Spectre this one confirmed to me that I'm really not a fan of James Bond in general. Not that it was bad, it's just not my cup of tea. 
• Spotlight: an engaging movie on a difficult subject, that did a great job showing what I fear will soon be the lost art of investigative journalism. One of my favs of the year.
• Brooklyn: was beautifully styled, but I felt it lacked something. I liked it, but I kept focusing on the costumes instead of characters -given the subject matter and my leaky eyes, I expected some tears, but surprisingly there were none. I did walk away wondering how Saoirse Ronan managed not to get burnt to a crisp in the days before sunscreen, and wanting her green coat. (Domhnall Gleeson feature #2.)
• The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2: Again, surprisingly no tears from me, which is shocking given how I ugly cried reading a certain scene in the book. The one thing I walked out of the theater thinking was how did those 2 parents produce such a giant baby? 
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens: I walked out with many questions, but I enjoyed the ride. I really took a shine to most of the new characters too. That's all I feel I can say without being too spoilery for people waiting to see it. (Domhnall Gleeson feature #3 - and my least favorite of his appearances. I liked the movie, but not so much him in it.)
• Sisters: I'm a big fan of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, and although I would love to be friends with them in real life, I wouldn't be friends with their characters here. The movie was pretty formulaic, but also a lot of fun. And for some reason after seeing both this and Trainwreck, I now want a big bear hug from John Cena.

Overall, a lot less tears shed than last year. Not sure if that's a good thing. Once again I hope to squeeze in a few more movies before the end of the year in order to be better prepared to give my opinion come awards show season.

Any movies you would recommend seeing?

Awkward

As someone with chronic foot-in-mouth syndrome, I really appreciated this roundup post of awkward moments shared on Twitter. One story in particular, about having a laptop hooked up to a projector for a work meeting with execs and receiving a colorful email, reminded me of something kind of similar that happened to me, so I had to share.

I had to facilitate a meeting with a group of folks that included board members of the association I work for, and we had a shortage of work laptops, so I took my own. It was not until after I had connected it to the LCD projector that I realized that maybe I should have changed my desktop background, because up on the screen was this picture of Carlos Bocanegra, then captain of the US Soccer Team. Obviously I think it's a beautiful shot of a very attractive man, but probably not the most appropriate image to have displayed on a screen at a meeting with executives not involved in sports. Thankfully, since I was just setting up, it was just me and the AV guys in the room, and I could just laugh it off and change the background. The part that made it awkward for me was that after I started laughing and said "oops, I better change that before anyone else gets here" one of the guys said "oh, it's no big deal, you could just say it's a picture of your brother." Because a picture of my brother naked and dirty looking all sexy is somehow less objectionable than a picture of a total stranger.

The meeting went very smoothly, but I kept my interactions with that AV guy to a minimum. And I've never used a personal laptop at a work meeting again.

More bunny safe makeup

I've written a couple of posts about my attempts to be a responsible, ethical consumer and buy makeup/beauty products not tested on animals. A couple of recent conversations with folks asking for recommendations made me think it might be time to do an update.

In the couple of years since my eyes were opened up to the fact that although a company can claim they don't test on animals, if their products are sold in China, chances are the products have been smeared on some poor bunny, I've tried to keep my new makeup purchases strictly to brands that are either listed on the bunny list or my research has shown don't test on animals/don't sell in China. It can be simultaneously overwhelming and depressing to find out all the brands that are suddenly off the table if you're trying to stick to your anti-animal testing guns, so I've tried to compile a relatively comprehensive list of the bunny-safe makeup brands I've tried/currently own, and some of my favorite products of theirs, i.e. products I would recommend. It's a mix of drugstore and higher-priced/department store lines - and hopefully it will give those who might be interested in going down the same path a starting point.

More hot weather makeup

We've had some gross, swampy summer weather the past few days in DC, and as I struggle to not have all my makeup melt off during my commute into work each morning, I am reminded of a post I did awhile back on hot weather makeup. Those recommendations still stand, but as someone who has been making more of a focused effort to not buy products tested on animals, the list of products in my current rotation has changed a bit.

The following is a list of the products I have been using lately that put up a fight with the heat, humidity, and my sweat. They are in the higher end of the price spectrum, but they are what I have found work best in terms of lasting power. I'm not saying these products will survive all day when the air outside feels like you're walking around in warm soup, but they do give you a fighting chance to look somewhat polished if you have to be out working in the gumbo.

• NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base remains a holy grail product for me. I know I talk about it a lot, but I still haven't found anything, high end or drugstore priced, that works quite as well in terms of keeping my eyeshadows in place, although the LORAC Behind the Scenes one is a close second. They are both pretty fabulous at creating a nice canvas for shadows, and keeping them from fading/creasing, but the NARS still takes the cake, especially in hot weather.
• BareMinerals Locked & Coated Waterproof Lash Topcoat  this stuff is fantastic. It's an invisible topcoat that makes any mascara water/sweat proof for lasting wear without altering your initial application. And although it stops me from getting the dreaded raccoon eyes, it's not as hard to remove as most waterproof mascaras are. Love it.
• Liquid eyeliner - when it's soupy outside and my eyelids start to sweat (it happens) I have found that pretty much every gel or pencil liner will melt and leave me with the dreaded raccoon look. So I stick with liquid eyeliner, Lately my liner of choice has been the Stila Stay-All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner - which DOES NOT BUDGE. It also comes in a variety of colors which is pretty awesome, although I've only used the brown and black. 
• theBalm Instain blushes have the best staying power of any that I have used - and I've tried many. They are SUPER pigmented, and require a light hand during application unless you want to end up looking clown-like. I really enjoy theBalm products, and buy them when their site has a sale or when their products are on Hautelook. 
• Supergoop Defense Refresh Setting Mist. I discovered this stuff this year, and love it. I carry it in my purse at all times for a refreshing mist that also fortifies my sun protection throughout the day. It has a nice herbal scent that is not at all sunscreeny, has a matte finish when it dries, and controls oil while delivering UV protection. I took it with me on my recent vacation and am happy to report that despite walking around outside for hours each day, I returned home just as pale as I left. :)
• Paula's Choice Skin Balancing Ultra Sheer Daily Defense sunscreen. Even though most foundations I use have built-in SPF, I almost always apply sunscreen underneath, especially if I know I'll be outside for more than just a few minutes. This stuff dries matte, unlike most sunscreens that make me look oilier, doesn't smell offensive, and it doesn't break me out. I especially like it on the days when I don't wear any makeup, because it doesn't leave me looking like an oil slick like a lot of other sunscreens. It is pricey, but can be found on sale online. 

Because I have super oily skin, I've found that a lot of the products I love because of their staying power seem to work pretty darn well in humidity too. They might not all be great for folks with dry skin, but when summer is in full swing and the air feels like a swamp, it's 92 degrees Fahrenheit with 95% humidity, these products have shown their mettle. They have earned my seal of approval.

Beauty hangover

I recently got back from a lovely trip to Europe with my stepmother - we were in Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Germany. We spent a total of two weeks wishing we had more like 4 to spend more time everywhere. Seriously tour provider - how could you think 4 hours would be anywhere near enough time in Bruges? There are a LOT of chocolate stores to sample and cute little shops to wander into.

If I'm being perfectly honest though, I had two primary shopping goals for this vacation: a stop into a Kiko Milano store in at least one city, and a trip to a French pharmacy to stock up/try a variety of beauty products. For that latter stop, I wanted to go to CityPharma in particular, since I had heard from several sources it had the best prices/wide variety of stock.

I managed to make it into a Kiko while in Madrid. I had heard good things, and being set loose in that store, I was quite literally like a kid in a candy store. My stepmother laughed while telling me that I had a glazed look in my eyes as I wandered from section to section - I didn't want to miss anything. I would compare Kiko to MAC in terms of the variety of products, colors and special collections they offer, but much much more affordable. Some of their products are more impressive than others, but overall, for a makeup-aholic, the amount of pretty/shiny to be found was almost overwhelming.

Behind the scenes

A friendly post on FB about an open casting call for House of Cards reminded me of my one time working as an extra on a film, so I thought I'd share on this blog why I haven't jumped at the chance to do it again.

I worked as an extra back in 2008 on the film State of Play. The movie stars Ben Affleck, Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Jason Bateman, and Helen Mirren, along with Robin Wright, also of House of Cards fame. In early March of that year, I heard from my aunt that a film crew was going to be using the church where she worked as their base while filming for a couple of nights at the Metro station adjacent to it. Well, having heard of this film previously, since it starred people I was a fan of, and it had been filming all over the DC area for a couple of weeks, I immediately asked if there was a way she could hook me up with a gig as an extra. As a recovering People magazine subscriber for many years, and a pop culture fanatic, I am quite easily impressed with celebrities and am always on the alert for potential celebrity sighting opportunities. Anyway, she delivered, and I worked as an extra in one scene.

I completely geeked up about the opportunity, my first "acting" stint since HS, so I got a haircut in preparation, and spent way too much time thinking about what to wear. On the night in question, I show up at the church, and stood in line for a bit waiting to get into the holding area. While in line I get a once-over from wardrobe (I was to be part of "background" so wasn't supposed to be wearing anything bright or flashy), and got a thumbs up. After making sure my name was on the list of approved extras or whatever, I sat around for awhile, and listened while the SAG-member extras caught up with each other and bragged about what work they'd gotten as extras in different movies and TV shows filmed in the DC/Baltimore area, or their featured roles in straight-to-DVD films viewed by their closest friends and family. After rolling my eyes at the boasting and delusions of grandeur, I caught the attention of the makeup artist, and I immediately jumped at the chance of talking to a potential kindred spirit. She told me I needed some blush 'cause I looked a bit to pale (what else is new) and she and the hair woman told me my hair looked great - so the haircut turned out to be a good investment. Also, they shared some of their own delusions of grandeur stories about extras who thought they were stars (wanted their nose hair trimmed, gray hair covered, hairs removed from moles - all thinking, although the call sheet listed them as "background", that they would somehow get a close-up). We had a couple of laughs, and I was feeling pretty good.

Once everyone was checked in and people had changed into suitable background wardrobe, we all headed down to the set - which was the Metro station. This was at about 8:30 on a Saturday night. So while we were standing around waiting to be told where to officially stand around, there were real Metro riders gawking at all the cameras and equipment, wondering what was going on, and hoping to catch a glimpse of a famous person. (It got worse later in the evening when the riders consisted of drunks coming back from partying in DC.) After about an hour of standing around, and getting excited every time a production assistant came around to pick a group of extras for a specific role (one of many times during the evening it felt like being back in elementary school) I was finally picked to do something: walk from point A to point B, crossing the path of the featured actor. I was feeling pretty good that I wasn't the last kid to get picked, and maybe making it on camera for a split second.

After some rehearsing with a stand-in, the featured actress comes down, and gets touched-up by hair and makeup. I finally catch a glimpse of her - and don't know who the hell she is. Oh yeah…all those stars mentioned above? Not one of them was involved in the scene I shot. Turns out the scene I was in featured an actress named Maria Thayer (I found out after filming wrapped - I spent the whole night trying to figure out why she looked familiar and where I'd seen her before. She had been in Will & Grace and Accepted and a few other TV shows and movies I’d seen.) In the movie, her character dies under mysterious circumstances, setting up the whole chain of events in the film. We didn't film that part. We filmed her walking to the train platform and looking pensive and sad. Over and over again. From different angles. Using different cameras. But that was all we filmed - her going down the escalator, walking to the train platform, looking pensive. A couple of shots involved her watching as a train pulled up to the station, so that was a little variation on the theme. I crossed in front of or behind her several dozen times, and actually saw myself during a couple of the playbacks, so I thought there was a chance that if they used one of those takes, my hair & coat would be in the movie. I also walked around her, went up the escalator while she was going down, and spent a lot of time standing around behind her.

So after walking up and down escalators (no one told me it was going to be a workout and I was not prepared), as well as all around the Metro platform, and generally standing around from 8:30pm to 8:30am, I ended up sore and tired, and didn’t meet anybody I had hoped to see. It was cold and windy in the station, we didn't have any benches or chairs to sit on, and there was no dialogue or interesting action during the scene – pretty boring overall. We had a "lunch" break at 2:30am, and a couple of snack/ bathroom breaks. Towards the end most folks were so tired they sat down anywhere - on a stopped escalator, on the floor...we were one sad-looking bleary-eyed dirty lot. All that – for a sliver of a chance of perhaps seeing me as background for a split second. At the end of the night, I went out to breakfast with my aunt, heard her side of the story which was even less exciting than mine, and then waited for months to see if all that standing around and stair workouts had resulted in me being on screen.

The scene was in the beginning of the movie, and although I have seen it on the big screen and played it real slow on my TV and computer at home as well, I am nowhere to be seen in the final product. All that time, and you don't even see my perfectly styled coif. Maybe as a fellow redhead, they couldn't use any of the takes with me, because it distracted from Maria. Yeah, we'll go with that. At least I got a story out of it.

Hollywood glamour it was not, but if Clive Owen or Colin Firth come to town I’d gladly do it again. Not for Kevin Spacey though.

It takes all shades

So, I think I've documented how much I hated the Book Fifty Shades of Grey. I have not written a blog post about all the reasons why (misogynistic, poorly written/edited, bad character development, horrible dialogue, kind of racist) but I know I've probably bored people IRL going on and on about my dislike. I just don't understand why, of all the tons of erotic romance novels out there, THIS is the one that became a sensation. 

Here's the thing: I have read a lot of trashy romances in my life. Like A LOT. It all started back in junior high when I discovered that the mother of one of my best friends had quite a large stash of Harlequin romances (I would usually wake up HOURS before anyone else, and needed something to pass the time.) So during my alone time at sleepovers before everyone else woke up, I expanded my vocabulary (who knew "rake" had a definition other than an object to collect leaves?) and developed an appreciation for quick reads that provide some fantasy fulfillment. 

Over the years, I have kept up the habit. For the couple of years I spent commuting 3+ hours a day on a train, I went through tons of these books, both from the library and purchased. They were perfect - a nice distraction from my ho-hum day, and I could finish many of them during one or two commutes. I'm pretty sure that Nora Roberts was able to at least buy a couple of throw pillows with the income generated from book sales to me. 

Anyway, given how much really entertaining, well written and original novels are out there in the romance genre, I continue to be surprised/disappointed that the one that sparked so much interest, sales, and now a movie franchise was one as bad as Fifty Shades of Grey. I've read many think pieces basically tying it's success to the widespread proliferation of e-readers, so me being me, a few weeks ago I decided to go down the rabbit hole of the erotic romance section of Amazon, and boy oh boy, did I hit a jackpot. (Not THE jackpot, but A jackpot - from a broke casino on the penny slots, as you'll soon see.) 

Is someone influential reading this blog?

Yeah, I know I haven't posted in forever. I have about a dozen posts just sitting there waiting for me to finish them, but then I spend too long trying to be interesting and witty and then I just decide to watch a video on YouTube and never get back to them. (Note to self: finish at least one of those bad boys this weekend.)

But all bets are off because suddenly I think that perhaps this blog isn't just being read by people I know who have some time to kill and figure why not, but by strangers who have the power to make some of my dreams come true.

The reason for this sudden burst of excitement from me is that it has come to my attention that recently both NARS and Chanel have released red/brown lipsticks named Jeanne. And given that I wrote about my decades-long obsession with finding my perfect reddish brown lipstick on this very blog a couple of years ago, and my name is Jeanne, I'm wondering....has this blog actually been read by someone or someones, involved in creating makeup? And if so, would you please identify yourself so we can become lifelong friends and I can ask geeky questions about how products are created?

Don't rain on my parade my pointing out that these are both French makeup brands and that my name is probably pretty damn common in France, OK? I have to go do some lipstick shopping now...I mean, what are the chances my ideal lipstick shade IS ACTUALLY NAMED AFTER ME?!

Some beauty favs

I have a bunch of different things I've been meaning to write about - like does anyone else want to join me in raiding Cookie's closet on Empire?  (Where can I get a leopard hat that will fit my huge head?) And do I really need to say more about how much I hated the book Fifty Shades of Grey, and how I don't plan to see the movie, no matter how attractive I find Jamie Dornan? (For the record: I think he's FIIIIIINE. So much so that it creeped me out to watch the series The Fall because I was attracted to him playing a cold-as-ice serial killer.) Instead of any of that, I think I'll start with a little post about my forever weakness for pretty/shiny/lotions/potions.

I was just lucky enough to spend a few days with some friends in New Orleans, and have some genuine girlfriend time in the process. There is nothing quite as good for the soul and for the ego as spending time with good friends. We gossiped, laughed, window shopped, ate some good food, daydreamed, watched some TV, gave each other makeovers, and I think ended up feeling better about ourselves and the world around us. Of course being told I had the skin of younger woman and that my hair was fabulous did not hurt this overall outlook. :) With that in mind, I thought I'd write about some of my current favorites in the world of beauty - some of the things that have kept my spirits up and my skin looking better than it has for awhile during this long cold winter. Feel free to share/recommend some of yours back.