I hope you had a lovely weekend. It was a busy one for us but I can’t complain because I got to spend time with friends I haven’t seen in long time both on Saturday and Sunday. Always great to catch up and share some new memories and laughs. I also got to watch “The Hedgehog” again…this time with Brett. I wasn’t sure if he would like it or not but that renaissance man surprised me again–he did! I enjoyed it even more the second time and fell in love with the soundtrack. So much so that I ordered it from Amazon. It has the most amazing cello music…very moving and solemn. I decided it would be a good CD to have to play on PMS days. You know, to help me mellow out (or cello out!). I think the first time I play it will be at night with just the fireplace on for light and a glass of 1919 Malbec. I will let you know how that goes.
So, yes, the other day I wrote all about my love of compacts. I loved all the comments I got from those of you who love them too–especially you who had received one as a gift years ago and still cherish it. That is too cool. When I started hunting for the perfect compact to carry, of course I started with the vintage ones. Oh, I was more than tempted, on many an occasion, by some of the beauties that are out there. However, most of the vintage compacts were designed to hold pressed powder and a mirror. I don’t wear powder. A few others featured a lipstick holder but I wear lip gloss. Even if I did wear lipstick, would a modern tube fit one of these vintage holders? And how did that all work anyway? I didn’t want to invest money into something that would just end up taking space in a drawer. So I opted for (gasp) a new compact (Kelly, please brace yourself) made by Mary Kay.
Have you ever seen this little gem? Until this past May, I have never used Mary Kay. But when Chelsea (Belle Fille) got married, a dear friend of ours, who has been a make-up artist for years, did the bride’s and bridesmaids’ make-up. This friend now works for Mary Kay and was very enthusiastic about the product and told me a lot of good things about it. I was impressed by her recommendations/knowledge because she worked for Estee Lauder for years and was always a Lauder gal. She became a mother and wanted to work from home so that is why, after doing her research into their products, she decided to represent Mary Kay. I bought a couple of eye shadows and a liner from her at the time of the wedding but didn’t think much about Mary Kay again until a few weeks ago.
While frustratingly looking through my make-up drawer one day I realized a couple of things. One, some of my stuff was really old…as in, I couldn’t remember when I bought it. Second, I had a lot of make-up I never seemed to use. It was time to clean out the drawer. I threw out a ton of eye shadows, some lip colors, passed on nail polishes to a co-worker and then surmised what I needed to replace. I then headed over to Beautypedia.com to start some searches on products. This made me remember what my friend had told me about Mary Kay. I happily found out that many of Mary Kay’s cosmetics are highly rated by Paula (I love Paula and use some of her skin care products–great stuff!). And then I remembered the Mary Kay compact! This was the perfect solution for fulfilling my desire to carry a compact and for streamlining/minimizing my make-up supply.
I picked out ONE cheek color, four eye colors (to add to the two I had), two lip glosses and a Lash Love mascara. The compact is designed to carry a mix of stuff or if you just want to carry a lip color and powder, that would work too. Here is what mine looks like:
The products are held in magnetically so I can pop out the eye colors for others when I feel like it. And then the compact smartly fits in my purse. It has a slim profile so it is less bulky that having a make-up bag (which I didn’t) in my purse . And it is more efficient than having glosses, liners and other cosmetics rolling around in there (which I sometimes did). It’s brilliant! I am so happy with it and I feel like such a lady when I pull out my compact to re-apply my lip gloss. I try not to do it too often even though I love doing it so much this has become a new life struggle. ; )
One of the biggest surprises of the whole Mary Kay venture was finding Lash Love mascara. Oh my word. It is THE BEST mascara I have ever used. Just one coat and my lashes are VOILA! I used to be a L’Oreal Voluminous loyalist but I would often get dark shadows under my eyes. I thought it was from liner or shadow because I don’t wear mascara on my lower lashes. I don’t remember how long it was before I finally figured it out but the mascara was the culprit. I changed to another L’Oreal offering…one of the “tube technology” mascaras. Yuck. Hated it. Then I tried Paula’s Choice. It was OK. I was planning on sticking with it but thought I would just try Mary Kay’s because of putting in an order and I needed a new tube. Good decision. I will not go back to any other mascara, and from here on out, I consider the hunt for the perfect mascara over. It doesn’t smudge. One coat is all I need. It doesn’t come off until I take it off. Really, what’s not to love with Love Lash? Of course, now I do live with a slight dreaded fear that MK will change something about it just as I have discovered it. Oh I hope not! Want to see a before and after?
Before (sans mascara):
After (avec ONE coat)
(Just a note: it was quite difficult to take these pictures and the next time I will clean out the eye boogers prior to doing so. For heaven’s sake.)
And who the heck knew I could write over 1000 words about a compact and mascara? It wasn’t supposed to be this long. But I do have a couple of more things to add. Remember in my post about compacts I told you all about the Dodge La Femme “package”? Well, click here if you would like to see what the handbag and accessories looked like. I nearly had a stroke. If you want to see some vintage advertising and read more about the Dodge La Femme, click here for an interesting article.
OK, that’s all I’ve got. I’ve typed my silly self tired. Have a great Monday!!
~~Heather~~
