I'm Totally Boycotting Target

So....I go to Target, which is/was one of my absolutely favorite stores, and purchase L'Oreal's Bare Naturale mineral powder foundation. I chose the color "Natural Beige" based on the color match chart provided by L'Oreal. You know where you hold the translucent card close to but not on your wrist. Well, I get the powder home and I look like some poor man's geisha, my face was so chalky white.

Of course, this is the part when you return/exchange the merchandise. But oh, not so fast! Target does not allow any returns OR exchanges of cosmetics after the seal has been broken. They claim other stores aren't supposed to do it either. Excuse my language, but that is complete and utter caca. Naturally stores don't like returns or exchanges as this means money that is lost. But when dealing with cosmetics, how a shade looks in a store can be COMPLETELY different than how it looks at home in natural light.

You know this. I know this. Target neither know this nor cares about this immutable fact in the world of cosmetics. And since this is a L'Oreal product, it wasn't cheap: $13. For me, that's a small fortune. I sent a complaint letter and all Target did was shrug their shoulders and essentially tell me "Oh well! Try better next time!"

ARGHHHH!!!!!!

So, word to the wise ladies: either don't by cosmetics at all at Target, or be damned sure that whatever you're buying is a perfect fit. In the meantime, I'm don't done with them buy a long shot. I'll post updates on my progress. I'm just so disappointed in both Target and L'Oreal, who I am also going to complain to. This is just ridiculous.

Waxing Philosophic On the Autumn Aesthetic

Take a moment to fully absorb this transcendent beauty:

(Photo from: OCRegister.com)

Though my blog mostly covers beauty as applied to cosmetics and personal upkeep, beauty is beauty. At the top I list as one of the topics applied here as 'aesthetics' which is defined as "the study of the mind and emotions in relations to the sense of beauty". This season is the best time to wax philosophic on Nature's beauty.

Also, because I'm a huge sci-fi geek, I'm tying in an esoteric philosophy from Battlestar Galactica. Don't go yet! This will make sense! But if you're not into philosophy read no further. I'll see you next post.

Keep in mind that this:

(Photo: USA-fallfoliage.com)

...is a picture of death, of dying. That which we are most afraid. Nature shows us a morbid beauty in dying. The Cylon character Leoben states in an episode to another character, Kara, who is soon to die and just witnessed her own mother's death and is positively afraid to die, "See? There's nothing so terrible about death. When you finally face it, it's beautiful." After this Kara accepts her reality of impending death.

Once I came to revere and respect Nature, pagan that I am, I found that Nature Herself, specifically the Autumn aspect, teaches us a profound lesson: death need not be ugly and dreadful. Not that any of us should go running to the grave prematurely, that's just a waste of life. But I think we should all strive, to the very best of our ability, to leave this life with beauty and grace.

(Photo: Vtweb.com.)

Fall is the season of decay. Winter is the actual dead season, Autumn is its funeral processional. That space between life (spring/summer) and death (winter) and it is indeed beautiful. How many people travel to the northern reaches of their (northern hemisphere) country to see leaves essentially dying a beautiful death, yet how few travel to see those very leaves born again five months later?

Finally, yet another Galactica tie-in is a philosophy espoused by the Cylon D'Anna Biers (portrayed by the awesome Lucy Lawless). Her species, you see, can die and be reborn an infinite number of times. D'Anna has remembered what she has seen in between lives. I want to end this post with something she told one of her brethren, "This is something beautiful...in that space between life and death."

(Photo: Northcoastcafe.typepad.com.)

NARS Nail Polish-Saratoga

(Pictured: NARS Nail Polish. Color: Gimme Shelter. Photo taken from NARScosmetics.com. Used without permission)


Saratoga is one of their new shades. What I love about NARS, and specifically their site, is that the descriptions hold true in real life. Such creative and lush descriptions. The polish is said to be "ruby red with gold shimmer" and, gloria it is. As anyone who has been in a Christmas-celebrating town or country knows, red and gold are big for this season. What better way to make your nails look festive? Use one layer for a lighter red-gold or two or more for a sultry tone, which is what I do.

This color looks great on everyone. A strong word of caution though: thin layers. Especially if you don't want your polish to chip after 24 hours. Make sure the layers dry in between applications. Of course this will take longer, but patience my dears. Long as you do this, then the polish will be better than perfect. Needless to say, use a top coat and bottom coat.

Also, NARS has a limited-edition nail polish available at Sephora.com only for Beauty Insiders called "Zulu", a deep vine green (pictured at right). If you're interested, sign up to be a Beauty Insider, it's free after all. They're temporarily out of stock though, but I'm sure more will be made since it's obviously a best-seller.

(Pictured above: NARS Nail Polish. Color: Zulu. Photo taken from Sephora.com. Used without permission.)

Not Impressed: Bare Escentuals

(Photo courtesy of Sephora.com. Used without permission.)

And I had so many hopes riding on this foundation. I was color-typed by one of the sales associates at the Bare Escentuals store at the Water Tower Plaza on North Michigan Avenue. In the store under their lights, the "Warm Tan" color fit perfectly. In fact, I had never seen my skin look so flawless. I bought the powder foundation and the Tinted Mineral Veil, eager to put it on myself the next day. I thought I had finally found a cosmetics 'counter' with proper lighting, a subject I have complained about at some length.

When I apply foundation I make sure to do so in a large mirror with natural sunlight. When I put on the Bare Escentuals there was an obvious dark ring around my face and neck. While some may like the "sun-kissed look" I don't. I was born with the sun-kissed look, I just want a foundation that matches me. Though I found that in Vasanti's EXCELLENT Face Base, I tried BE because of the skincare element.

I took the foundation back and told them way, suggesting that I need a shade or two lighter. They recommended only a shade lighter and sent me home with the "tan" color. Still not a good fit. Meanwhile I notice that the Tinted Mineral Veil is flawless on my skin. I couldn't even tell I had it on. Armed with that knowledge I go instead to Sephora knowing the sales associates at Bare Escentuals would strike out a third time.

I foolishly tried to match the powder of the Tinted Mineral Veil to one of the powder foundations; I chose Medium Beige. It was just a bit too chalky. Third strike and I'm done with Bare Escentuals. When I returned that purchase to Sephora, one of the ladies there told me that she really didn't like the look of BE on olive complexions. On top of the less-than-stellar color pigments, BE didn't cure any of my minor skin problems (redness, irritation, occasional breakouts) so there was no need for me to spend the money on it.

BE did not live up to the hype for me. My skin didn't start clearing up, evening out the complexion and getting rid of the redness until I started using a Lancome regimen, which I will post about at another time.

Lancome- Definicils

(Photo taken from Lancome-usa.com. Used without permission)


YAY!!!! Lancome's ever-popular, ridiculously awesome Definicils now comes in the darkest shade to date: deep black. I can't wait to try it! Frequent readers know I love mascara more than any sane person should, especially Lancome mascara (though M.A.C. is giving them a run for my money). I am not sure if the color is available at the counters yet but it is available on the Lancome-USA website. It is not offered (unfortunately) on their international site. Yet.

M*A*C- Smoke Signals

(Picture: Gentle Fume Eyes. Courtesy of M*A*C Cosmetics.com. Used without permission.)


This highly pigmented color quad is perfect for those who want a burst of color without having to apply several layers. The darkest color, Carbon (lower right), is not black but the deepest blue eyeshadow I have ever seen. I didn't really notice until I paired it with the Rondelle (upper left) and the contrast showed the true color. I've only worn any of the colors about three times since I've bought it, so I can't give a more thorough review but I can say that it lives up to the quality I have come to appreciate in M.A.C.

Be sure to check out the video for the Smoke Signals Collection. It is, in a word, sultry. Featuring the divine, the awesome, the puuuuuurrrrfect Miss Eartha Kitt singing in French, the video seems to take us back to a smoky Parisian nightclub, circa 1930. Sometimes I go to the site just to watch the video.

Aubrey Organics-- Rosa Mosqueta Luxurious Hand and Body Lotion

I raved about this lotion in a previous post and I promised I would dedicated an entire entry to it. This stuff is fantastic! Great smell, consistency thick enough to truly feel luxurious but not so thick that one cannot spread it. And it actually works on stretch marks, old scar tissue, etc., especially when paired with the Rosa Mosqueta Rose Hip Oil. You skin easily absorbs this lotion and you feel an immediate change in the skin. Using a good moisturizing soap/gel of your choice reinforces Rosa Mosqueta's ability to maintain supple skin.

The Rosa Mosqueta Rose Hip Oil from Aubrey's comes in a roll-on vial. Other companies have put the same oil in a dropper vial, but both systems work the same. You only need a little bit and to use it consistently. That is key. Don't expect to put it on, whenever you remember, sporadically and then complain that the oil isn't doing anything and the claims are bunk. They are not.

Your stretch marks will not disappear but they will fade to the point of being near-invisible. Dark marks formed by old scar tissue will also fade and some of the scar tissue may even heal, depending on how old the scar is. I had this perfectly round scar that I picked at a couple times on my left leg and that picking made it heal to an ugly dark, dark brown that stood in stark contrast to my goldeny-olive complexion. I noticed considerably lightening after two weeks of using the oil by itself and it has accelerated since using the complimentary lotion.

Rosa Mosqueta is the name of a specific rose that only grows in the Andes Mountains of Chile. There are other rose oils, the essences of other roses, by far one of the largest flower families out there. But the rose hip oil that lends a small miracle to the well-being of your skin is the Rosa Mosqueta rose hip oil. There are other rose hip oils out there, notably Rosa Damascena, also known as Rose Otto or Bulgarian Rose Oil, but I haven't tried it so I can't recommend it. While I usually order from Aubrey Organics, other stores carry Rosa Mosqueta and make sure it is pure. Rosa Mosqueta is expensive and in some places the oil may be mixed with other oils.

(Photos from Aubrey Organics.com, used without permission)