TotalBeauty.com content:

Ah-ha Uses for Beauty Products

Consider this the MacGyver guide to beauty. These “off-label” tricks will solve last-minute emergencies and more

Don’t throw out that metallic gold eyeshadow just yet! Instead of chucking products that don’t work quite like you had hoped, find out what else they can do for you. These tips, culled from blog confessions, expert advice and our own personal experiments, will have you reusing your makeup in no time, not to mention save you money and get you out of emergencies (like that day you forgot your concealer at your friend’s wedding). See tips

This article Mad for Mascara: Latest and Greatest from Fashion Wire Daily (via Yahoo!) critiques some of the mascara innovations already discussed on this blog (LongerThickerBetter Part I, Part II, and Part III) such as the oscillating mascaras from Estee Lauder and Lancome.

Also reviewed are Imju’s FiberWig, tube mascaras such as Kevyn Aucoin Volume mascara and Too Faced’s new Lash Injection Pinpoint, and Givenchy Phenomen’eyes with its spherical wand (supposedly for coating each eyelash).

Givenchy Phenomen’eyes mascara

Most intriguing is the advice about Maybelline’s Great Lash mascara. Although Allure has put Great Lash mascara in its cosmetics Hall of Fame, I find Great Lash a terrible mascara, as it smears. Makeup artist Craig Jessup recommends “aging” Great Lash by waiting two or three weeks after opening to let it dry some.

Hi folks,

I’ll be away next week (the flag gives clues about my destination), so I might not have an opportunity to blog then. After I return, expect reviews of Saude Pele from Christopher Drummond Beauty and WNW Beauty Benefits. Also, I expect to have another interview with an as-yet-to-be-announced beauty entrepreneur to share with you – see my past interviews with Lubna Khalid of Real Cosmetics and Lydia Mondavi of 29 Cosmetics.

An update to the previous post Former Model Waris Dirie Reported Missing.

I’ve relieved.

Tragedy, it seems, comes in chunks. The morning after my post on the Virginia Tech massacre, my mother called and told me that my father had been admitted to the Cardio ICU. I called my brother, whom I hadn’t seen in nearly 13 years, and our family friend Susan to let them what was happening. I set aside all my plans for that weekend and began packing for St. Louis. As I packed, my husband went online to make plane reservations for me. He completed making reservations at 12:30 PM, and my flight was to depart at 2:30 PM. I had a connecting flight from O’Hare, and didn’t arrive in St. Louis until that evening. Fortunately, Susan gave my mother company before my brother and I could arrive.

My father was put on a respirator. By Sunday, it was apparent that he wasn’t going to recover, so my mother, brother, and I made the fateful decision to have the respirator removed. It was removed at about 1:30 PM. We sat by my father’s bedside, held his hands, listened to his breathing, and watched the heart rate monitor. His breaths grew less and less frequent, as his heart rate dropped. When his heart rate dropped below 30, the monitor sounded. The nurse came to shut it off. My father died 3:42 PM, Sunday, April 22, 2007.

That was not the end of bad news. Susan called to let us know that her son was diagnosed with cancer. Also, the daughter of my mother’s late friend called to say that her father had died. As I had to contend with my mother at the same time, I’m sorry that I couldn’t be fully present for these people when they called.

I am now enrolled in a doctoral studies program. Between my studies and regular job, I have precious little time to devote to this blog.

However, I’m trying to provide fresh content everyday through ThisNext – just look for the ThisNext “badge” under SHOPPING in the left-hand navigation bar everyday or visit ThisNext by thestylepage and vote on your favorite reviews and lists by The Style Page.

I’m also interested in guest writers who can provide content for those areas of interest to The Style Page: fashion, beauty, interior decorating, and media.

Categories: Home, Interiors, Accessories

Red coral motifs have become so commonplace that they are a design cliché. However, when pillows with red coral motifs are mixed with these pillows in brown silk with white beading, the result is a fresh and dramatic combination.

Silk Beaded Pillow – Brown, 20″ x 20″ from Uno Alla Volta.

I was invited by Jill to participate as a donor in Blogathon 2006, a 24-hour marathon blogging session to raise money for charity. Jill’s charity of choice was the The Marrow Foundation, which supports the National Marrow Donor Program®, as a tribute to her friend Jennifer Baker, who had been treated for acute leukemia.

Jennifer K. Baker

Sadly, Jennifer passed away on Thursday, August 10, 2006. I extend condolences to Jennifer’s husband, her family, and her friends, including Jill.

Categories: Books, Bookstand

Portrait of the Brontë sisters, as painted by brother Branwell. Look center right to see that Branwell has been painted out of the portrait.

I don’t keep up with the latest movies, but the film Brontë, which is about the writing Brontë sisters – Charlotte, Emily, and Anne – will be a must-see for me (the film is in pre-production). Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights are among my favorite books. In fact, I’m so obsessed that I’ve read three biographies about the Brontës.

For more about Brontë, visit The Brontes as You’ve Never Seen Them Before… and click on Comments to see my feedback.