Weekly Beauty Edit 6.14.2015

It's Flag Day in the US! And one week from today is our wedding anniversary. We live in the Chicago area and could easily take 20 vacations in our own back yard and not run out of things to do. However, we decided to go away to a nearby city. We had Madison, Indianapolis, and St. Louis on the list and chose St. Louis. When we go away, we like to be tourists! So we will pack as much as possible.into the 4 days. Soulard for sure and a great little restaurant with a patio, some music and a killer Bloody Mary, Annheiser Busch tour, Saint Charles shopping and dining, celebratory dinner

downtown followed by a one hour carriage ride, meeting a Facebook friend for lunch or coffee, (I'm sooooo excited - we've never met, she's a friend from a beauty group!), Pappy's for BBQ if we can find an off time to go (will this really compare to the over the moon BBQ from Memphis? We shall see), we hear the Zoo is a treasure, and hoping for a trip to Kimmswick for more window shopping and a piece of pie at the infamous Blue Owl. I'm really looking forward to a day in Saint Charles. Are we doing the arch? No. Did that when the boys were younger and it was not an experience I enjoyed. At all. My anxiety was OFF THE CHART. Going up in that arch, more than once, was in the top ten "tests of motherly love" in my book. Never. Again.

Well, wasn't that all beauty related? No. But I'm sure a trip to the local Sephora or an Ulta we drive buy or hopping into a Walgreens to find that elusive Fergie palette will be involved. I see other bloggers and BeautyTubers talking about "What's in my beauty travel bag?" When we take a trip, my makeup bag is minimal. I'm a very light packer, always have been. It's America! If I need something, I run to WalMart and buy it, right? As I like to say, reality is, no one is looking at me except me and I seriously doubt that when the family sitting behind us on the tram at Disney go home, they will be talking lady in the hat who sat in front of us on the tram. Right? The only place the world is about me is right here on this blog. Which is why I love my blog!

Editorial
Decisions, decisions. Now that I'm back in the swing of filming (I think I'm supposed to call it "creating content") YT videos again, I need to ponder the direction of my channel and the direction of my blog. I know many YTers use their blog as a place for better photos and swatches of products they feature on their channel, like companions holding hands skipping in a field of daisies. I don't want that. It's hard enough to talk about something once, let alone writing about it. And can lipstick be THAT interesting that I need to film AND write about it? As much as I love lipstick, and you know I do, I can't do a repeat video and blog. Link to my most recent YT video here.

You may see some experimentation on this blog. It may take a more Nutty Professor twist by using my fancy, singular interpretation of science to explain skincare or cosmetic knowledge. For example, when a pore is clogged, I call that gunk. Highly scientific terminology. Here's a snippet....BHA exfoliates gunk, AHA exfoliates snakes (picture snakes shedding their skin). I could, instead, explain that the difference is their lipid solubility.  BHA, beta hydroxy acid, is oil soluble and therefore is more effective at breaking up sebum and dead cells that fill your pores and AHA, alpha hydroxy acid, is water soluble and is more effective at dissolving the connective tissue holding dead surface cells onto the surface of the skin. I won't even talk about the proper pH of each or the difference in molecule size between mandelic acid and glycolic acid. So just remember, BHA cleans gunk, AHA cleans snakes. So much easier than understanding solubility, right?

I'm not in corporate Learning & Development but I have spent a good time of my professional career developing, training and mentoring peers and associates.I LOVE sharing knowledge, I LOVE gaining knowledge, I LOVE researching for facts, tearing away layers of opinion and getting to the nuggets of fact. Once I have the facts, then I look at opposing opinions. Only after sprinkling my magic dust on the facts and opposing opinions, I find peace. I've done public speaking and written manuals in my other career. I enjoy it and I'd like to extend my love of sharing knowledge about skincare, hair care, and cosmetics here on this blog. I hope it will help you make the right choices, spend your money on effective products and cut through the marketing messages in the glossy magazines and on shopping channels. Lots of wonderful products out there, I hope to give you the tools to help you select the best of the best for YOU and your skin, your budget, your style, your requirements which are different than mine.

Haul-A-Lulu
Eco Tool Konjac Sponge - Very odd, indeed. When it's dry, it feels like a piece of styrofoam. maybe a bit smoother. It's that light and kind of makes the same sound as when you kind of smack a piece of styrofoam. Because it's completely normal to smack styrofoam. When you wet it, it gets completely soft and mushy. I'm not sure why, but I don't like the feel of it when it's wet. It's smooth and almost gel like. I used it three times and I'm done. This is not for me. But I have no idea why.

Alba Botanica Oil Control Lotion - I don't have acne, actually I never break out even with my very oily skin. This is a part of Alba Botanica's Acne Dote line. I'm sure I don't own every oil control lotion in the world....but I bet I'm close! I like this one. It seems to work better than most. What does that mean? I'm less shiny throughout the day. In other words, I still get shiny but not as shiny as without a mattifying product.

Everyone by EO Face Cleanser - I took out a second mortgage and went shopping at Whole Foods. How much for ground beef???? Is that a head of lettuce or head of green gold???? I'm perfectly fine with eating preservatives. After all, the more preservatives I eat, the more preserved I'll be, right? Got to say, all these chicks walking around Whole Foods are not looking that good to me. Completely emaciated. Of course, how could they afford to actually eat if they shop at Whole Foods? And for Pete's say, go put some gluten free lipstick on, would you?  Why, if I feel so strongly about Whole Foods did I go in there? Strawberries. I can't find good strawberries. So I took out a second mortgage and went to Whole Foods. Bought strawberries. They tasted the same (bland) as the strawberries I buy at Jewel. But I guess I won't glow in the dark since they probably weren't radiated. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Purity cleanser by Philosophy. This cleanser looked interesting. It was certified by every kind of free trade, gluten, natural, let's hold hands and sing Kumbaya organization I've never heard of. I really was curious to see what it was like. Eh. However, I did hug my tree today. Excuse me, I have to go eat a hot dog wrapped in bacon.

Emjoi Micro-Pedi Electric - This is by far one of the most incredible gadgets invented for those of us who are a little over the top about taking care of our feet at home. It's right up there with crock pot liners.I have the original, battery operated version. When mine starts to lose its effectiveness, I never know if its time to change the batteries or the roller. This would make me crazy. First world problem, I know. Saw a great price on amazon and bought the electric. Used it yesterday. My feet could be in some kind of a commercial.

Too Faced Melted Liquid Lipstick in Melted Strawberry - If you like bright lipstick, this has to be in your collection. I'm always wondering if I have a favorite lipstick, if that is even possible. This one would be a real contender for that title.

Too Face Melted Liquified Lipstick in Melted Strawberry

Bath and Body Works Semi-Annual Sale Haul - 3 Wick Candle in Bamboo Grass, Wallflower duo packs in Warm Vanilla Sugar and Frosted Cupcake, hand soaps in Pink Grapefruit, Boardwalk Vanilla Cone, and Perfect Beach Day, two Pearberry shower gels (hey, it's limited edition of an oldie but goodie), and Georgia Peach Body Spritz. Used my $10 off  $40 coupon.

Cheers,

Lulu

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