Miracles at the Drugstore...or Target...or wherever...

Miracles?  Yes...they are to me.  A sample here of three of my latest, life-changing products, two of which are cast-tested to make life easier when you only have 1 completely functioning hand.

#1 and definitely tops on my list: Olay Professional Pro-X Advanced Cleansing System.  (usually $29.99 in drugstores) 

I was seeing ads for this all over this winter, and while still casted, picked one up figuring that it would help since I really only had the use of 1 hand for exfoliating and this might make showers easier.  I have friends with the amazing Clarisonic system, but I never wanted to spend $200 on it...even though I know, yes, they *swear* by it. 

Admittedly, I haven't tried the Clarisonic but now....I *swear* by this one.  Wow.  The brush is nice and soft so it's not harsh on my skin.  But it definitely clears away any flaky skin and really gets the cleanser working.  I have used this with both the cleanser it comes with and another one - and they are both great.  It feels like a facial massage. The only problem is I can't decide whether to keep it in the shower or to keep it by the sink because I'd love to use it twice a day - it feels that good on my face.

If I'd known how amazing it was, I would have scoured the DC metro area for one - or ordered from Amazon sooner. No wonder all the stores were sold out.  I got mine at an off-the-beaten-path CVS, but it seems like the stores are better able to keep it in stock now.  But if you don't need immediate gratification, the link above takes you to the Amazon sight - where you can get the Free Shipping option - have I ever mentioned that I really HATE paying for shipping?  But I've also seen it at Target now, too.

I said I loved it.  But....how well does it work?  Well, let's see....when I went to see Black Swan with friends about a month ago, the ticket guy ID'ed me...yes, at an R movie...because "you can't see it if you're under 17".  That's what he told me when I started laughing because I didn't think he could possibly be serious. I figured it was "be nice to moms" night or something.  Oh no, he wanted to see the ID.  And then a couple weeks ago, out with other couples for dinner, the waitress said she probably should ID us, but even I looked like I was probably an 84 or 85 birth year.  Ummmm, no, 1971.  So that's my testimonial right there. 

#2: Garnier Anti-Dark-Circle Eye Roller ($11.39 at Amazon...I got mine at Target)

So here's the deal with this one.  I love it.  I really do.  The color is supposed to be one-size-fits-all, and I don't know about anyone else, but it's perfection on me.  It is a totally awesome everyday product for me.  And here's why - it's concealer and eye cream in one.  Ta da!!!  Yep, saves me a step.  And I do love it when I can save a step in the morning...at least most (all) mornings...

I often have trouble with eye cream in that a lot of them are way too strong for my undereye tissue - ow, the stinging, the burning...you know what I'm talking about.  My faves are: Arbonne RE9 Advanced Corrective Eye Cream, Kinerase Under Eye Rescue, and Olay Regenerist Eye Serum.  And the last combo eye cream/concealer product that I tried (Clinique's) was a bitter disappointment - too cakey, not moisturizing enough - blegh.

I thought I'd give this one a try while I was in the cast because I was all about saving time and keeping things easy.  And this one was a winner.  I will be honest - when the directions say to roll on the product and then blend in any excess - hahahahaha - um, yeah, I have yet to use it and not have to blend.  So, I roll on, pat in (don't rub!!), and I'm good to go.  It feels nice & cool, no stinging to be had.  And I bet it's going to be even more amazing in the summer. 

Yes, I still use my regular eye cream with my Bobbi Brown Corrector sometimes.  But I'm going to sub in this product on a regular basis - and in the summer?  It's likely all I'll use. And um, fyi, better than YSL Touch Eclat.  Oh yes, I said it.  And I mean it. 

#3 and most recent purchase (yesterday at Target): John Frieda Full Repair Touch-Up Flyaway Tamer ($9.99) 

Wow!  Love love love!!  I just got this yesteday - had seen it in magazines and thought "well, heck, why didn't I think of that" and "OMG, where has this been all my life?"

I can only speak to my very fine hair (we don't need to revisit the appalling haircut I got last spring when some idiot thought it would be a good idea to texturize my hair all while saying "wow, your hair really is fine").  Yes, it's fine, it's not thin - just fine.  So I get those little wisps of hair at my scalp where the hair broke that stick up and always prevent me from using any type of volumizing products on my hair.  UNTIL NOW.

As you can see from the product pic, it's basically like a mascara wand for your hair.  And the product inside is like some wacky-good combo of smoothing/fixative/oil/hairspray whatever.  I don't really care what it is, it works.  Totally kept down the icky pieces and didn't make my prone-to-be-oily-and-needs-to-be-washed-every-day scalp greasy.  So mega bonus for the not-greasy scalp.

The only caveat I have here is that I've only used this for a day.  But I really think it's that good.  I may even need to get one to tuck in my (voluminous) purse. 

So those are my 3 absolute bestest products I've found lately.  Enjoy!  And happy shopping!

Do you have any recent discoveries you want to share?  Speak up!!

Harbour Oxford Capris, Some Sewing To Do, and the Ponytail Trick

Let's get right to my outfit for today so I can get on to the other parts. Harbour Oxford Capris (love these - so summery!!), white bf tissue tee, and Danielle sandals. Fireball necklace and rope rose-gold bracelet. I felt very pastel today.

E had a follow up doctors appointment for some warts on her hand, poor thing. But that gave us an excuse to stay home from the pool today, so I got my laundry room cleaned out and organized. Oh, I've been dying to tackle this project and it looks so nice now. All the nicely, neatly organized shelves... Lots of stuff cleaned out. Hubby needs to go through the baseball hats and golf towels, and then we are 100% done. Yay!

That left me a bit of time for some sewing work this afternoon. Specifically the harbour oxford capris from today and my linen-cotton seaside pants. Both of them fit when I first put them on, but after about an hour (or less), they start slipping and give me saggy butt. Solution - sew a couple of darts in the back waistband so they stay up. (Seriously, you didn't think I was actually going to wear a belt, did you??) And since I plan to wear them with tees, shirts, sweaters untucked, it's a good interim solution. But what I really need to do is to stop trying on the size 10 pants...unless something is really TTS or not vanity-sized, I think I actually need to size down at this point. (Yes, I hear you cheering, Dina.) Although, in my defense, I did purchase the seaside pants back in April, pre-most of the weight loss. The harbour oxfords...well, they fit when I first put them on.

And here's the ponytail trick... I read this in one of the August or September magazines over the past 2 weeks. (August mags at the beach, September mags at the river the following week. We need to have a magazing talk, but I'm not there yet.) Anyway, I can't remember which magazine had it, but it was the Chris McMillan column - to get the messy/full ponytail look - put in a low ponytail, divide in half, and pull on 1 half with each hand. This will tighten up the middle & side pieces but leave the top pieces fuller. I've been trying this out (and did today as well, not sure if you can even tell), and it does work pretty well. I've used it to move the ponytail a little higher up to get a bit more fullness at the top. Have at it and have fun!

Polyvore for today:

Wearing Today-8/18/09 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

Wearing Today - plus some hair tips and updated Lucy pics - what more could you ask for?

Crazy spring weather here - started sunny, poured, sunny again, poured, then sunny/cloudy. But plenty of time to take Lucy for some walks, and oh my plants are so happy! Of course we've had an issue or two with plants in the backyard because apparently, to a puppy (or at least *my* puppy), this:

looks a lot like this:

Who would have thought? Fortunately, the clematis buds are just about to burst and hopefully there will be too many for Lucy to get all at once. At least my peonies are safe...for now.

So a note about today's outfit...the not-so-great hair. I had an appointment for a cut and toner (not full color, thank you very much, not there, it's just like a little watercolor on my head) on my hair this afternoon and - you all know this, right? - (hair tip #1) color takes much much much better on dirty hair. The accompanying rule (hair tip #2) is that you are supposed to wait 72 hours to wash your hair to complete the bonding of the color to your hair shaft. Of course, we have the DC JCA tea on Saturday - so my stylist suggested, and is permitting me to, just using a teensy drop of shampoo that day, and start at the ends and work my way to my scalp so that it's really diluted by the time it gets to the color at the roots (hair tip #3). Same with conditioner. My hair gets oily very quickly. My mom & sister can go a few days without washing their hair - I am very jealous of that. I have to do mine every day. But usually to do the shampoo, I put massage a bit into my scalp and then let the rinsing take the shampoo all the way down the hair shaft. That's enough to get it clean, and leaves the ends in better condition. (hair tip #4) I read that somewhere a while ago, one of my magazines probably, and it seems to work really well for me. So, since I couldn't wash my hair this morning, I just tried to smooth it and tie it up. Works for me...a little more often than it probably should.

Back to the outfit...I have on a new ON striped tank. Sparrowsandsparkles gave me the inspiration to get this tank since I saw her sets with one. It's very fun with the J Crew navy short sleeve sweater. And I did pull out the new Target pewter peep toe flats that I posted a week ago. They are very comfy. And I still have OPI You Don't Know Jacques on my toes, so they match the polish quite well. comfy outfit. Would translate well to other pants, such as white pants/jeans, or some khakis. Maybe the linen-cotton seaside pants, speaking of which, I really need to iron those!

Polyvore set for today:

To Wear Today - 5/7/09 by HeidiGblog featuring Old Navy jackets

And to complete...some updated Lucy pics. I love the outside ones because you can see so much more detail on her coat - which got a bath today, so it's nice and shiny.