In search for the perfect foundation

I'm sure I'm like most women when I say that finding a foundation that matches my skin color perfectly has been an ongoing quest with very little result. Available colors are either too fair, making me ghost-like or too tan, causing me to look like I just hit the Jersey Shore with Snooki! Regardless, neither of the two is a desired look. So as I  waved the white flag of surrender to the foundation manufacturers, ending my pursuit of the perfect shade, my discovery presented itself. Instead of seeking out one perfect shade for my skin right now, I should be searching for two shades: one slightly lighter than my skin tone and one slightly darker.

Just like the seasons change, so does the color of our skin. Obviously our skin is slightly lighter in the winter and darker in the summer, so having two shades allows me to adjust the foundation color as needed. 

When applying my foundation, I dispense dime-size amount of the lighter shade on the backside of my hand just below the lower knuckle of my thumb. I then add a small amount of the darker shade, being careful not to equal the amount of the lighter shade. After the second shade is added I blend the two colors with my finger before applying the mixed foundation to my face. And as the summer months approach, I will be adjusting the mixture as my skin tone gets darker with the darker shade being the majority of the mixture and reducing the amount of the lighter shade.

And the bonus is that if you need to cover a blemish, dab a tiny amount of the lighter shade of foundation on it and blend it in. Because the lighter shade is part of the foundation mixture it will blend into the rest of the foundation without being as noticeable as concealer can sometimes be.

Oh Coco, you are so right

 I don't understand how a woman can leave the house without fixing herself up a little - if only out of politeness. And then, you never know, maybe that's the day she has a date with destiny. And it's best to be as pretty as possible for destiny.                -Coco Chanel

This has been on my mind for quite a while now. It started shortly after I quit my job last April and I started to miss wearing dresses and heels. I would stand in my closet and stare at the dresses that were no longer being pulled from their hanger in the hopes that I could find a reason to wear one. But the image of me pushing a grocery cart wearing a black wrap dress and nude colored heels with my son grabbing at every glass jar on the too easily accessible shelves at the market just seemed, well ridiculous. With the arrival of summer the wrap dress and heels were traded for long maxi dresses and wedge sandals, a more seemingly suitable ensemble for my errand-running. But running around midday I started noticing a uniform of many, what I can only assume, stay-at-home moms: yoga pants, fitted tee and a sparkly baseball cap. And those are the women that are the more "presentable" versions of what I have seen. I hate to say this, but I see more and more girls in pajama bottoms! I shake my head at the thought of this. OK, I get running into the store for a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread after a yoga class. But when I see these girls in line at the checkout stand with full carts of groceries, two things come to mind: I really hope she just didn't come from any sort of class that takes place in a gym and then spent the better part of an hour at the market (eew, gross!) or she's just plain lazy! I know this might seem harsh, but my question to all is:


When did yoga pants become an acceptable form of clothing to wear in public?


Now, before some of you start huffing and puffing that you've seen me in yoga pants outside of a yoga class, YES I wear them! I wear them when I'm lounging at home on the couch, sitting behind the wheel of a three hour long drive, and while running at the park pushing a stroller! I wish that the public acceptance of attire could be one similar to the early 1960's, where people dressed up to go to see a show, to travel, to have lunch with friends, to go to church. Heck housewives back then made vacuuming look fabulous. This is why when people watch movies form the 1950's and 60's they comment on how glamorous smoking a cigarette while holding an evening cocktail looks. It's not what they are doing, it's how they are dressed doing it. People of that time looked pulled together and fixed themselves up. People.com has entire section dedicated to celebrities looking great traveling, often catching them walking through an airport looking fresh and awake. The reason why they stand out is because now it is completely acceptable to walk onto a commercial plane in your pajamas!

People's Stars' Airport Style

And men are just as responsible for this lack of style. Oh the grunge days of the early 1990's followed a few years later by underwear-showing skater boys come to mind. Men in uniforms are sexy for one reason: they looked pulled together. I have to say that my husband looks hot in his work uniform! He makes flipping bottles sexy! As far as I'm concerned it's not the type of uniform that the man wears that makes him attractive; although police and firemen know how to wear their uniforms well. There is a scene in the movie "Despicable Me" where the young Agnes asks Vector, who's sporting a warm up suit, why he's wearing his pajamas. The conversation between the two is hilarious. Even Agnes doesn't understand this form of attire.

Despicable Me: The girls ask Vector about his pajamas

After all this my discovery is that even though I'm no longer interacting with clients in a professional setting, I'm still interacting with the public. So now as I pick out my clothes I ask myself one thing: If I were to run into someone I know while I'm out, would I be embarrassed by what I'm wearing? You never know what or who the day may bring. I may get looks for wearing black suede platform wedge boots to the market or four inch booties with my jeans to a doctor's appointment, but I rather turn heads for my shoes than my lounge wear.


What are your thoughts on this? 


Oh and by the way, I own no rights to the contents of the above links, their owners do!

When life hands you lemons

During this past summer I noticed that my freckles were getting a little darker than I liked and my skin tone was becoming uneven and I immediately thought I needed to head to the dermatologist for a microdermabrasion treatment ASAP! But after doing a little research on natural skin lightening treatments I found that lemons can be used to even out your skin tone, as an exfoliant and help with diminishing breakouts. Now I have to say that I am not a professional, so if you're allergic to lemons or have a skin condition in which lemons or lemon juice can irritate, please do not try this. With that said, I decided to give the lemons a try. I wish I had taken a "before" photo so I could compare the progress. But I didn't. I can say that the lemons have helped with evening out my skin tone and my skin is softer than before. I've also noticed that they help heal breakouts and reduce redness and inflammation associated with blemishes. I've been using the lemon treatment 5 times a week for about six weeks and I'm pretty impressed with my very inexpensive discovery.

After washing your face, cut a lemon in half and discard any seeds. Rub the open lemon in a circular motion until the skin on your face and neck are fully covered with lemon juice. Keep in mind that if you have any dry spots or blemishes, that area will sting slightly, but will stop as soon as the juice dries. It's nothing unbearable. Leave the lemon juice mask on for 10-15 minutes then rinse it off with warm water. Then apply your moisturizer.

Now you can discard the used lemon half, but I have found several other uses for it:

• If you have kids in diapers, throw it in the diaper pail to help with the odor
• Throw it in your garbage disposal to help with the odor from food that stays in there after rinsing your dishes
• Rub the lemon under the faucets of your sinks and on your shower head to help prevent lime scale build up (just rinse the juice and pulp after a few minutes)

But the best use I found for the leftover lemon is to clean the floor of my shower with it. The floor of my shower has a textured nonslip material that has tiny raised bumps in which dirt constantly gets trapped in. No matter how often or what cleaning product I used I could never quite get the floor as clean as I wanted. That was until the lemons! The lemons are now taking care of that problem as well.

If you've discovered other uses for lemons besides lemonade, please share! 

My unexpected discovery

I love when I stumble across an item that solves a problem that I didn't know I had. A few weeks ago I picked up some snacks for our weekend trip to California. After we opened the snacks I realized that the plastic containers were designed to fit into the cup holders. I know, I know looking back, I should have realized this feature the minute I picked them up since the product does mention this on the front of the packaging!

Anyway, I thought that these containers would work great for snacks for Rory since his car seat has a cup holder. I peeled the plastic product wrappers off and gave them a good hand-washing. (I'm not sure they will hold up in the dishwasher!) Well today it turns out that I was really glad that I had kept the reusable containers. With an early morning appointment followed by a few errands, I didn't have time to feed Rory or myself breakfast before heading out. So I mixed a couple of different types of dry cereal in one, slapped the lid on and headed out the door. I knew that the containers would work fine in the car, but what really surprised me is that they fit in the abnormally small cup holder on the tray of Rory's stroller! Bonus! It may not have been such a great thing if I discovered this on any other day, but having the cereal where Rory could reach it and not scatter it everywhere was a relief while we waiting in a line that seemed to be a mile long. And as most mom's know sometimes it's the little things that help make a potentially miserable experience a little more enjoyable for everyone!