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!!

So Hair's the full story...

So when I was posting pics of the bad hair cut, I was doing my darnedest to make them as flattering as possible. But in the interest of full disclosure, I will show you exactly how crappy of a cut it was.

This is me a few weeks ago after the bad cut, before we fixed it. This was probably the best it looked over that interim time without using hot rollers or the cop-out ponytail. Usually it didn't even look this good.

(Back story to very new readers - a month ago I went to someone new for a hair cut and it was awful - he talked me into layers - they cut the layer - yes, singular - about twice as short as he said he would and then, before I could stop it, proceeded to "texturize" my hair - which you never, ever, ever do to straight fine hair. The multiple "wow, you're hair really *is* straight comments he made should have been the sign to send me running. So the end result was a cut that took much longer to style and didn't look as good unless I gave it major heat damage. And gave me frizzy hair, which I never had before.  Nice, real nice.)

At a distance, it's not too bad. A bit shaggy looking, a bit scraggly. Of course, after going out in the humidity, it went fuzzy because of the awful "texturizing" the bad stylist did. I think the logic was that I was supposed to start flat ironing my hair. But why would I add extra heat damage that I didn't need to? and wouldn't that flatten the volume that the texturizing was supposed to create.

Here are the close ups:

Yes, they do look like mug shots.

So you can see, as the next stylist pointed it, he basically cut 1 layer, and then left the remaining hair in a heavy blunt cut, with fuzzy edges from the texturizing.

But the upside...I got a call from the manager at the salon, since I had only given them a 7 out of 10 on the online survey (kind of me, I thought) wanting to know how they could have improved my experience. After I very politely explained how bad the cut was, she offered to refer me to another stylist for a complimentary cut to fix it. Which was nice and the right thing to do. (Of course, I was still out an extra $15 since I tipped the new stylist because it was the right thing to do.)

So Sue agreed that the cut was really bad and didn't work with my hair and we basically chopped 3" off the bottom to bring the length up close to the "layer". She even asked if I'd had the frizziness before and when I said "no," she was like "oh, wow."  And so now I have to wait a year or so for the fuzzy texture crap to grow out.

So here's the new cut, which I'm still getting used to, but it's much easier. And it's fun to have my hair at a shorter length for a bit. I may even keep it for a while.

But in the meantime, I have my hair products to help me out. I've been using both of these products for about 6 months and have been really happy, so I thought I would share.

First up:  Umberto Blow Dry Lotion ($9.99 at Target). Grab it when you see it because it always sells out at my Target. And shoot, I should have looked when I was there this morning.

I love this product because it does a little bit of everything - heat protection, smoothing, and hold - so you get all that in 1 product instead of having to layer.  My mom just got some after I recommended it and I think my sister did too.  I have been bouncing around trying out different serums, cremes, mousses, whatever, and this one seems to be spot-on perfect for my hair.  And it's not expensive. 

Next, we have:  Tresemme 24-hour Body Finishing Spray.  This is available at most drug stores, grocery stores, Target, Walmart, etc.  And it's cheap.  What I really like about it is that it's not quite as heavy as a true hair spray but it helps hold and protect your style.  Kind of like a hair-spray-light.  And I do need help holding that volume in my hair..even with the fuzzies. 

So that's the full story on the hair cuts...and I'll try to stop whining about my hair for a while...because if it's boring me, goodness knows it's got to be boring you.

J Crew Alice Ruffled Tank

J Crew Alice Ruffled Tank (#26725, orig $79.50, curr $49.99 online).  I got this in PEA (pearl) in an 8 and LOVE it.  I hear it's been spotted in store for as low as $29.99.  I paid $49.99, plus 10% off for giving them my email (again), and don't mind.  And I ended up returning the Ruthie shell in ivory because I liked this one so much more.

So let's break it down.  First of all, what are all those gewgaws down the front?  Let's see..some ruffles, some strips of the silk, some tonal grosgrain ribbon, some clear paillettes, and big old rhinestones.  But it all works.  I love that it's symmetrical and it's all right there front and center.  So it's GREAT under a cardi. Or a jacket.

But it's not one of those wacky tanks where you need a topper to tone down the wackiness (come on...we've been there...). The Alice is perfectly lovely all on its own.  All that "stuff" on the front - it all works together - probably because it's so tonal, it just looks textural.  And it has a bit of shape to it as well, unlike MANY camis we've seen.  So it's flattering without a topper.

I love the length - not too short at all (thank you, J Crew!!!) - works great on my long torso.  Got a short torso?  You're in luck...it comes in petites, too.

I have said before that I love the Pearl color, and it works so well with this cami.  In fact, I think the subdued colors (also available in faded black, fig, and hyacinth) really play up the textural element.  And the pearl Alice matches my pearl Jackie for when I want some more tonal texture going on.  But really, the pearl color works with so much in my wardrobe already, without being just a white tank. 

The cotton/silk fabric feels great.  And...should have mentioned this earlier, and this is a key point...the Alice tank is not, I repeat, NOT see-through.  I'm guessing it's because the tank has a double layer of fabric.  Not that I care why, I'm just thrilled to be able to wear it solo, sans cami.  It is dry clean only, but with all the gewgaws, I don't want to be responsible anyway.  (and at least it's not white)

I wore it last Tuesday for a client meeting downtown with my black Loft suit from a few years ago.  But as I was playing around on Polyvore last week with it, I threw together 3 other looks for different times of the year using the Alice. It should be quite a versatile piece.  For the meeting on Tuesday, I just added diamond studs and black patent heels.  the ruffle front made it interesting enough.

The kids were very funny that morning, because unlike my usual WAHM wear, I was wearing the suit as they got ready for school since I headed to the metro right after they got on the bus.  M said to me "Mom, you look really nice...I think that's the nicest I've ever seen you look...You look like you're about to go into a meeting with a lot of people."  Well, sweetie, I am.  Isn't he sweet?

Then there was my very truthful daughter.  About 5 minutes later..."Mommy, I really wish you'd wear your hair not in a ponytail or not in curls."  You mean like I used to?  "Yes."  Well honey, that's not really happening, but I'll try.  (ps - when I wore my hair straighter another day by just blowdrying it, she agreed it really did not look good.)

Ugh, let's talk hair another time.  To cut to the chase - layers & bangs - ok, I've made peace, plus the bangs have grown out enough in a week and a half that they are fine.  The texturizing - oh no, it's even worse than I thought...because the rain & humidity came. 

But let's go back to the very pretty Alice....
Polyvore from last Tuesday:

4/20/10 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

And then some other looks featuring the Alice tank, all of which I plan on wearing as weather permits:

Alice-Look2 by HeidiGblog featuring J Crew

Alice-3 by HeidiGblog featuring Jeffrey Campbell shoes

Alice-4 by HeidiGblog featuring Nine West shoes

J Crew Cashmere Tie-Front Cardigan and well, a Crappy Cut

Quick outfit and review...J Crew Cashmere Tie-Front Cardigan (#18248, orig $198, curr $129.99, purchased with % off for just under $100, I believe).  Still available in black, heather nickel, heather natural, and heather gray.

I got this a month ago on one of the %-off sales, in an M, and in navy (duh).  I admit that I hadn't thought much about it, until dinagideon talked it up so much.  (Check her out rocking it most recently here. I believe she has it in the heather natural and black, and goodness knows what other colors.) And I don't really have any v-style cashmere cardis, so I got it on a whim just to see and figured I may end up returning it.  (Dina and I have very different figures even though we are close to the same height so things just fit us very differently - I'm a brick and she's a pear.)

But, lo and behold, I absolutely loved it, as she swore I would.  To me the biggest downside is that with the tie, you can't really go with a tie belt type coat.  So when I wore it today with my trench coat, I just left the coat open.  Hey, I was wearing cashmere...it kept me warm.

No pilling so far, and I've worn it about 3 times in the past month since I got it.  For cashmere in the spring with some of these super hot days we've had, I think that's pretty good (esp considering that it sat on a shelf for 2 weeks while I decided whether or not to keep it).  It's a great cashmere piece to have for fall or spring because the nature of the tie front is more open, so it's not as potentially hot as a full cashmere pullover would be. 

And because it's so open in the front, it is quite nice for showcasing a fab necklace, as I did today with my Anthropologie yellow beaded necklace from 2 summers ago.  I forget the name, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it on Polyvore when I started the PV habit last spring, 9 months after it came out.  It's also great for showing off some pretty detail on a cute tank or tee underneath. And I bet it will be great with my classic stripe tissue tee.

There have been differing opinions online about the sweater.  The always-fab Post-Fab Princess got in the light ginger, maybe?, and got a major bathrobe vibe.  Well, shoot, once you get that, there's no going back and you're gonna feel shlumpy every time you wear it.  I totally understand her viewpoint...but I actually felt the opposite of shlumpy.  You all know I love my big oversized sweaters, and I like that this did define my waist with the tie.  Plus, I think doing the tie in a bow makes it less bathrobesque...plus when it's just knotted, I feel like the ties are too long. 

To finish off the outfit, yellow Born Lovely flats (love me some yellow, navy, and white).  Matchy matchy with the shoes?  Meh, whatever, worked for me today.  And then a plain white perfect fit crewneck tee and some white jeans.  Springy for me.

Now...about the hair.  I know...it's rather wackadoodle.  Try to be kind.  I thought of cropping my head out, but didn't want to do that for the next 2 months.  Well see what happened was... 

Ok, the last person who cut my hair, I loved.  And I had been going to her for several years.  But when I showed up with E for our appointment this past December, she had completely blanked and wasn't home. No problem, I understand, she had a lot going on.  Happens to all of us.  A friend gave both of us a trim and I figured I'd call the next time.  Then when I tried calling twice this month to make an appointment, the first time she was closed through Easter, and then last week, she was closed for the next 10 days.  And I just couldn't wait any longer....  (serves me right)

So I got a referral from a friend and went to a new guy.  (Looking back, I realize that the 2 people I know who go to him have either mega-thick hair with a wave, or really curly hair.)  Note, when someone new cutting your hair says about 5 or 6 times, "wow, your hair really is straight" after convincing you to do layers to get more volume at the top and then starts texturizing it, that's a bad sign.  Plus he didn't really listen to my direction on my bangs - which I was REALLY happy with and I've been trimming for the past 4 months - they were perfect - keep them long and graduate from the middle outward so it's not a line straight across.  Well, they are just barely long enough and much straighter across than they should be.  Ok, that's not so bad - I need to be much more insistent on the bangs next time - and within a week, they'll be totally fine. 

But the texturizing!!!  Noooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!  It looked really cute after he spent 30 minutes blowdrying it and making all the ends bend the exact right way.  I actually was ok with the cut for the most part the day of (which was Friday). 

Then Saturday morning when I went to style it, I spent my usual 3 minutes with the round brush to bend under the bangs so they don't stick out and give the top few pieces a bit of lift and shape.  And oh it was tragic.  I know this hair style.  Mega shag.  And shaggy.  I had this hair style when I was 8.  That was back in 1979, and it was stylish then.  Not so much now, esp on a 38-year old woman.  Up into a ponytail it went.  (I will say that it looked really good in the ponytail with the layers.)  Did I mention I was doing this before an 8:00 am soccer game?  Yep, that's how the day started. 

Today, I tried out the hot rollers.  Darned if I'm going to spend 20 minutes with a frickin round brush and blowdryer - I don't have that much time in the morning.  At least with the hot rollers, you put them in and can do other things.  I think I left them in too long.  Crazy curl today.  Although E loved it and asked me to hot-roll her hair, too (which looked gorgeous on her).  I think my hair worked fine today IRL, when it could moved. But I really don't think it photographed well at all.

I am so utterly disappointed in this hair cut.  Clearly this guy is not good with uber-straight hair like mine.  It wasn't the layers so much as the texturizing.  You don't do that on superfine hair.  It's never a good idea.  And he was doing it before I could even stop it.  Plus, he did cut the layers shorter than he said he would. 

What do you do when you hate your hair cut?  You can cry...but that just gives you red, puffy eyes and makes you look worse - and you don't need that when you are starting out with bad hair anyway.  So, you suck it up and deal...try to find a way to make it work...and wait for it to grow.  That is, after all, the great thing about hair...it does grow back.  So you may see lots of ponytails or other experiments.

Question - with such a bad cut, do I even try it out again with a stronger mandate?  Or just cut my losses and go somewhere else?  And go ahead, tell me your awful hair cut stories...I know most of you have them, so that I can at least feel in good company. 

Oh yeah, by the way...Polyvore from today:

4/18/10 by HeidiGblog featuring Born shoes