December 2007

Mineral Makeup News : Mary Kay Joins In!

Yes, Mary Kay’s one of the makeup companies that joined the mineral makeup bandwagon! Oops, that reminded me, Crissy aka Turquoise sent me a book about her business success story - I should read it after I finish Golden Compass!

Let’s check , we have L’Oreal, Neutrogena, Physician’s Formula, Laura Mercier, Mac Cosmetics, ELF - do we have some more? let’s have a list , shall we? Please do leave a comment if you know a brand that has joined the mineral makeup bandwagon!

I’m curious about Mary Kay’s new mineral makeup line. They have really really good undereye concealers, and I am wondering how the mineral foundation would fare. A little bit of snooping led me to this cute beauty blog, with her review of Mary Kay’s Mineral Foundation.

Source: Mineral Makeup News : Mary Kay Joins In!

Fashion Is…Pink Glitter [Just a Formality]

This glittery pink dress features a wide sash at the waist and a gathered bodice.

 

Comes in sizes X-Small to XX-Large. Get it at dressesonline.com, which ships worldwide. Also check out the fantastically low prices on their sale page.  They feature a special section for plus sizes, too.

If you got to this article by some other means than the official website, please visit justaformality.com to view the homepage (and more articles like this one).

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Source: Fashion Is…Pink Glitter [Just a Formality]

Ever Get The Feeling Some Working Moms Just Get Off On “Guilt”? [Nanny Diaries]

In today’s Huffington Post, former ABC News anchor/blogger Heather Cabot is feeling guilty because she confused some kid’s nanny with his actual mother. In short: Heather and a blond caretaker bonded at the local gymborama or whatever. They made a playdate. Then Heather spotted the same child with a tall brunette wearing dark sunglasses indoors, and since the kid was blond, she assumed the brunette was the nanny. Then she projects all of her guilt about having a nanny onto this sunglasses-clad woman. When someone confused Heather’s nanny for her child’s mother, she felt “a swell of emotions - guilt for being lucky enough to be able to pay someone to help me care for the kids…and guilt for wanting time away…I can really empathize with what this woman must have felt when I just assumed she wasn’t the boy’s mother.” Oh Jesus Christ. The best part? This woman is the founder of a site she calls “a guilt-free zone.”

First off, the other woman didn’t seem insulted at all when Heather assumed she was the nanny. But more importantly, women have got to stop feeling so fucking guilty about every decision they make. The highly publicized upper middle class “opt-out revolution”, wherein highly educated women were dropping out of their prestigious careers to be stay-at-home moms, took its toll on vulnerable nanny employers across the nation. Moms like Cabot saw their peers dropping out of the partner track at their law firms and thought “Holy shit, am I a bad mommy for my ambition?” The answer is: NO…

matter what you do your kids are going to blame you for something. My working mother was the only parent who did not come to my second grade luncheon honoring the 50 states. I still have yet to forgive her, but she’s totally over it. What can I do? The woman gave me life. And paid for college! I feel guilty just thinking about what a crap mom I’ll be in comparison. But do I go and have a massive guilt-induced breakdown about it online? No.

Is it possible, Heather, you’re just feeling guilty about not taking your own advice? For rampant hypocrisy? Or maybe you’re feeling guilty about profiting off the female obsession with guilt? Or are you feeling guilty for feeling secretly triumphant you were confused with a nanny???

You know what? Don’t answer that.

Who’s Your Mommy? [Huffington Post]
The Opt-Out Revolution [New York Times]

Source: Ever Get The Feeling Some Working Moms Just Get Off On “Guilt”? [Nanny Diaries]

Photographer - Jurgen Altmann

Zune: Intergalactic Swap Meet

Source: Photographer - Jurgen Altmann

Now the Real Shopping Begins! [Dapper Diva]

As much as I love the holidays, there’s nothing like post-Christmas sales and all the incredible deals you will find just about everywhere. This year I’m on the search for basics and those marked-down amazing seasonal pieces, like cashmere sweaters and fun frocks.

Do you remember the best deal you ever got? I definitely do. It was an amazingly soft camel-colroed sweater that was originally $250, and marked down to $30! That was, by far, my best deal: what about yours?

Source: Now the Real Shopping Begins! [Dapper Diva]

Why Doesn’t Gen X Get Any Sex? [Throw Us A Bone]

Only about 791 of you have written in to tell us Generation X is being re-cast as “Generation No Sex.” We had pretty much already established that the anecdotal way, thanks v. much! A new study says people born between 1965 and 1985 — and since when did 22-year-olds qualify for Gen X? whatevs — have “significantly fewer sexual partners and are less likely to be unfaithful than those who came before and after them.” Um, after them? So we’ve had less sex than the average 20-year-old? Oooooh, another study: “probably!” Apparently younger college-type kids have a lot of sex, especially if they drink or have been diagnosed with “conduct problems” like ADD. Okay, so, my two cents: it’s all the fault of the pill.

Our parents talked about the pill as this epic moment in history, but they were too high and unemployed to realize that it makes most people crazy and depressed and dry as a bone, so when we discovered that, it was, ahem, a bonerkiller. Then when we realized we were probably not going to get AIDS, we discovered we probably were going to get herpes or HPV or the clap or the drip or somesuch, so that was a bonerkiller. When we realized our Pill-generated depression could be cured with an SSRI, that was a bonerkiller. When we realized we’d gladly trade in our libidos for a little sanity — and our fuckbuddies for a stable relationship — realizations that also were definite bonerkillers.

Too many of these fits and starts and suddenly the momentum was gone and we didn’t really want sex at all, except with our vibrators, which most of us have had longer than our longest relationship, and meanwhile where everyone portrayed in the media in the sixties and seventies was totally sexy in a sexy way, everyone portrayed in the media right now is some new iteration of Paris Hilton, which all the Gen Y-ers are too young and high on Adderall to realize is the opposite of sexy. And that’s the final insult: kids young enough to be your niece are imitating what they saw on Paris’s sidekick or whatever, and that is what modern society considers “sexy” and the the thought of that is enough to convert me to Mormonism.

And yes that is hyperbole but seriously.

Generation X Goes Slack On Sex [Times of London]

Study Links Drinking With Sex [Washington Post]

Source: Why Doesn’t Gen X Get Any Sex? [Throw Us A Bone]

Valentino: Full Of Flare When Skiing On Christmas [Snap Judgment]

[Gstaad, Switzerland; December 25. Image via INF.]

Source: Valentino: Full Of Flare When Skiing On Christmas [Snap Judgment]

Faking it 18th century stylee

In my last minute pressie rush on Sunday, Beyond Retro in Soho was one of my pitstops and I did actually stop in my tracks when I saw that they had created an  entrance dedicated to Marie Antoinette.  I’d venture to say that the homage was made to the Sofia Coppola film as opposed to the general 18th century epoch because of course on the mannequins aren’t genuine mantuas with hooped underskirts.  Instead, the clever peeps at Beyond Retro have created an 18th century illusion/reinterpretation with their wares of 50’s-80’s dresses, skirts and accessories.  The effect is a little bit more exaggerated, frou frou and candy coloured what one would expect.  It got me thinking about recreating older period dresses with more contemporary pieces. 

Generally speaking, I have always been a staunch believer in the real McCoy where possible.  Why buy a Topshop 20’s style dropped waist dress when I could wear a genuine 20’s delicately beaded flapper dress?  However when I want to evoke elements of a certain period as opposed to looking like I have stepped out of a costume drama, playing with the origins of the outfit can swing in my favour.  An 80’s shoulder padded top with a modern pencil skirt will probably have a better chance of depicting the 1940’s in the way that I’d want, than wearing a 1940’s genuine tea dress which would probably be disproportionate on me anyway.  There’s historical inaccuracy, rose-tinting and distortion involved in the process but it all enables me to make it my own.  Taking clothing from the 20th century to turn back three hundred years is something that I’ll be slapdashing with in the future. 

Source: Faking it 18th century stylee

Seasons Greetings

Seasons Greetings from the team of Talking Makeup to all our loyal and fabulous readers!  Hope 2008 will be your best year ever:)

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Source: Seasons Greetings

Happy Holiday [Spa Beautifully]

A very Happy Holiday to you and yours.

Source: Happy Holiday [Spa Beautifully]