Author: Cold Cream 'n' Roses

#beauty #cosmetics #makeup #skincare #fashion An eclectic collection of #music posted on #Mondays

DHC Premium Lipstick GE delivers color and emollient benefits

Cold Cream 'n' Roses

DHC. Quick – what do you think of? Its mail order catalog? Its Deep Cleansing Oil?

DHC is rolling out a new collection of color cosmetics this month. Take a look! The new collection includes 6 shades of Premium Lipstick GE, 4 shades of Face Color Palette EX blush, BB Mineral Powder, and Q10 Moisture Care Face Powder.

I’ve swatched the lipsticks on my arm (thanks to Mr. Style Page for the staging and post-processing).

DHC Premium Lipstick GE swatches
DHC Premium Lipstick GE swatches

From L to R:

  • Rich Raspberry (RS107)
  • First Blush (RS105)
  • Bold Persimmon (OR112)
  • Rose Gold (BE111)
  • Velvety Red (RD109)
  • Petal Pink (PK102)

There are no wash-out nudes or vampish dark shades among them: just simply complexion-flattering shades  There’s a slight but appealing sheen to the lipstick, which is apparent when applied to the lips.  DHC Premium Lipstick GE keeps your lips soft and supple with emollient ingredients such as macadamia, olive, and rice bran oils. If that doesn’t prove the power of makeup, I don’t know what does.

DHC Premium Lipstick GE costs $19 per tube and may be purchased via catalog or DHCcare.com.

Disclaimer: DHC Premium Lipstick GE and other cosmetics in DHC’s new collection were provided by PR.

Pixi Glow Tonic restores your skin’s glow

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Pixi Glow Tonic is a bestseller in the UK and now has been brought stateside.

Pixi Glow Tonic
Pixi Glow Tonic

What is Pixi Glow Tonic? It’s a toner that contains a low concentration (5%) glycolic acid solution to exfoliate the skin and give it glow. I swear by alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs) like glycolic acid to keep my complexion looking smooth. Also, AHAs improve the application of moisturizers, serums, and makeup.

Ingredients: Deionized water, Aloe Vera, Witch Hazel, Horse Chestnut Extracts, Propylene Glycol, Glycolic Acid and Ammonium Glycolate, Hexylene Glycol, Glucose, Fructose, Sucrose, Urea Dextrin, Alanine, Glutamic Acid, Hexylnicotinate, Ginseng Extract, Potassium Alum, Diazolidinyl Urea, Biotin, pixi Natural Fragrant Oil.

Active ingredients: Glycolic Acid-5%, partially neutralized by Ammonium Hydroxide.

Pixi ascribes these benefits to other ingredients:

  • Aloe Vera soothes and hydrates
  • Witch Hazel refines and tightens
  • Glucose and fructose brighten: I knew that there was a positive use for fructose 🙂
  • Ginseng extract is an antioxidant and improves circulation and energizes

There is fragrance in Pixi Glow Tonic, but it’s at the bottom of the ingredient list. It reminds me of fresh-cut meadow flowers.

I’ve incorporated Pixi Glow Tonic in my skin care regimen. I use it twice a week.

To use: follow up your cleansing regimen with Pixi Glow Tonic. First pat skin dry, then apply Pixi Glow Tonic on dry skin with a cotton pad. I use DHC Silky Cotton, which are silk-wrapped cotton pads – also a favorite of the beautyinfozone.com blog (see 6 #beauty sites to follow).

I rate Pixi Glow Tonic 4 (very good) out of 5 points.

Pixi Glow Tonic cost $29.00 for 250 ml/8.5 fl. oz. You may buy Pixi Glow Tonic at pixibeauty.com. It is not available from target.com.

Disclosure: Pixi Glow Tonic was provided to me as a PR sample.

A snowy Tuesday afternoon – and Rush Limbaugh

Cold Cream 'n' Roses

It’s Tuesday afternoon, and it’s snowing here in the DC metro area.  The Federal Government offices are closed.  I marvel at the people who are obliged to go out and do their work as the snow continues (anywhere from 6 to 10 inches is expected); in fact, UPS delivered a parcel to me today.

My husband and I went out today, nonetheless, to get some lab work done. We were the only ones at the lab, along with 2 technicians.  Lately, my husband’s been in the habit of listening to Rush Limbaugh, although he supports the Democrats.  Believe it or not, this is the first time that I’ve listened to Rush.   He’s obnoxious, all right, but he can be entertaining and funny, particularly when he skewers celebrities (Neil Young and Madonna were his targets today).  He gives voice to many who wouldn’t otherwise have a voice.

Rush is a flunkie.  He comes from a family of lawyers – in fact, his grandfather had the distinction of being the oldest practicing lawyer in Missouri at age 101 – but he flunked out of Southeast Missouri State University.  It boggles the mind that he’s become as wealthy as he is – you should see pictures of his spread in Palm Beach.

#MusicMondays Alma Cogan “Hello, Young Lovers”

Cold Cream 'n' Roses

On our long trip home from India, I whiled away the hours by listening to music on the in-flight entertainment system.  I looked over the playlists and played some of the Leonard Cohen playlist (natch!), but what piqued my curiosity was a playlist featuring Alma Cogan.  Who is Alma Cogan?  Never heard of her.

Here’s what I found out:  Alma Cogan was Britain’s highest paid female entertainer in the 1950s.  In the 1960s, she got swept away by the Beatles and was considered passé.  There are, however, unsubstantiated rumors that she had an affair with John Lennon. She died young, at age 34, in 1966.

For our #MusicMondays feature, here is Alma Cogan singing “Hello Young Lovers”:

What do you think about that dress? I love it. Alma Cogan studied fashion design, and she might have designed those hoop dresses herself.

Alma Cogan - I Love to Sing
Alma Cogan – I Love to Sing

Target’s Beauty Department to Go Upscale: Will It Catch On With Shoppers? | Fashionista

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Fashionista.com has a feature about Target’s introducing higher end skin care at its stores: Target’s Beauty Department to Go Upscale: Will It Catch On With Shoppers? | Fashionista.

Target introduces high end skin care
Target introduces high end skin care

Call me skeptical, but several years ago, Target introduced skin and body care brands from all around the world.  After a lot of fanfare, shelf space for these products gradually diminished and ultimately, Target discontinued the brands.

As for me, I hope that the new concept will succeed.  One of the brands to be introduced is 29 by Lydia Mondavi.  I felt honored when Lydia Mondavi called me from the floor the day her 29 Cosmetics line was launched at Neiman Marcus in San Francisco.  Congratulations, Lydia, on the expansion of your brand.

Warm, woodsy, and sensuous: Oud Sumptuous 75213 by Krigler

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As weather gets colder, we are drawn to heavier scents. Scents with heavy base notes can heat up too fast in summer and be overwhelming. Lighter scents seem to go along with lighter clothes and layers, whereas heavier scents seem to go along with the heavier clothes and layers of autumn and winter.

Oud Sumptuous 75213 by Krigler
Oud Sumptuous 75213 by Krigler

Enter Oud Sumptuous 75213 by Krigler. It features precious woods, and I figured that it would suit men as well as women. I was right.  Olfactory notes:

  • Top notes: Laotian Oud, Vietnamese Benjoin, Mongolian Coriander
  • Middle (heart) notes: Vanilla, Sandalwood, Morrocan Labdanum, and Lavender
  • Base notes: Papyrus, Cinnamon, Amber, and Cedar Wood.

It is indeed a warm, woodsy, sensuous fragrance.

I’ve already touched upon a little of the lore about oud, also known as agarwood, in my review of Lisa Hoffman Japanese Agarwood Variations. While oud is a popular component of Middle Eastern fragrances, it originates from points east. James McHugh, in his book Sandalwood and Carrion: Smell in Indian Religion and Culture, contrasts the warming property of agarwood with the cooling property of sandalwood. In ancient India, Agarwood was harvested in Assam, in India’s far northeast. In her article on Fragrantica, http://www.fragrantica.com/notes/Agarwood-Oud–114.html (accessed November 10, 2013), Naheed Shoukat Ali notes that India was the principal source of agarwood, until the scarcity of trees forced people to go further east to Indochina to harvest agarwood: indeed, Krigler sources its agarwood from Laos.

The Krigler perfume house has a remarkable history. It dates back to 1876, when Albert Krigler moved from Berlin to Moscow. He created his first fragrance in 1879. The Russian Revolution forced Krigler to go back to Berlin, and after the upheaval of World War II, Krigler relocated to the US, where it maintains a boutique at NYC’s Plaza Hotel. Its other boutique is in Monaco.

A 1.75 fl.oz./50 ml bottle of Krigler Oud Sumptuous 75213 costs $305.00 US, while a 3.4 fl.oz./100 ml bottle costs $505.00 US.  Fortunately, I received a sample vial from Krigler’s PR rep to try.

My money or my life, Part 2

Cold Cream 'n' Roses

In last week’s post, I wrote that I’d discuss my end-of-the-month evaluation of my spending.   I was to review my spending and answer the following 3 questions:

  • Did I receive fulfillment, satisfaction and value in proportion to life energy spent?
  • Is this expenditure of life energy in alignment with my values and life purpose?
  • How might this expenditure change if I didn’t have to work for a living?

Life energy is yet another YMOYL concept. Life energy is the unit of time you trade for earning money. YMOYL recommends deducting all work-related expenses (commuting, clothing) from your pay to compute your real pay; at the same time, it recommends adding hours for activities such as getting ready, commuting, decompressing after work to your actual work hours.  The results are pretty depressing, aren’t they?

I evaluated my spending by answering the three questions, and here are my findings:

  • There’s not a lot of wiggle room with respect to housing and utilities.
  • My spending on what I call “adornment – beauty” is about where I want it: to account for my monthly visits to the salon
  • My spending on eating out is out of proportion to the amount I trade my life energy for.  I’ll work to reduce eating out expenses this month.

My husband and I went on a Labor Day weekend road trip to visit Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater in Pennsylvania.  We had also made reservations to see Kentuck Knob, another Wright home.  However, we discovered that Shanksville was nearby, and skipped the trip to Kentuck Knob to go to the Flight 93 National Memorial.

It is said that people get more happiness and satisfaction from experiences than from things: although my husband might disagree, as he loves to spend money on decorating the home!   I derive happiness and satisfaction and memories from travel and shared experiences.

My money or my life, Part 1

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Can you believe it? I have gone 4 weekends without buying makeup to add to my stash, or better put, my closet.

I kept buying makeup, with the intention that I’d review them for The Style Page blog. Didn’t happen.

I decided to track my spending by embarking on the Your Money or Your Life program. One of the YMOYL concepts is the “gazingus pin.” Gazingus pins are items that we obsessively spend money on: for me, they are food out, Starbucks CD compilations, and makeup.

Here are some gazingus pins that I would have spent money on:

  • Pati Dubroff Aquatint lip gloss set from Costco
  • Vincent Longo Pearl-to-Matte eye shadow trio in Untitled (Soft Rose, Sable, Cherry Brown)
  • Revlon nail polish in French Roast
  • DHC eye shadow palette

That’s nearly $90 that I didn’t spend! I decided to reallocate that $90 to enroll in an online course on Understanding Hindu Identity from the Oxford Center for Hindu Studies, something that would give me more satisfaction (see the Bahu of Bengal tab).

The YMOYL calls for tracking every penny spent and developing your own spending categories. At the end of the month, you tally your spending and evaluate each expenditure category by answering the following 3 questions:

  • Did I receive fulfillment, satisfaction and value in proportion to life energy spent?
  • Is this expenditure of life energy in alignment with my values and life purpose?
  • How might this expenditure change if I didn’t have to work for a living?

It’s nearly month’s end and I’ll share with you my answers to the three questions early in September.