The Style Page: What’s appropriate?

Cold Cream 'n' Roses

Today Melanie objected to my criticism about Michelle Obama’s choice of a light teal suit and the infamous boob belt for the wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. How appropriate that Melanie posted her comments on Remembrance Sunday (as it is observed in the UK)!

I do like the decorum that Brits show on Remembrance Sunday, and I wish that we have more of the same.  To me, it’s a sign of respect.  Melanie came around to my point of view after I explained it.  Below Tony Blair’s wife Cherie came under flak for wearing a purple trench coat to Remembrance Sunday services in 2009:

Source: The Style Page: What’s appropriate?

Paula Begoun and her Beautypedia team review Allure’s Best of Beauty picks

Cold Cream 'n' Roses

The October issue of Allure might be one of the most anticipated issues of the year, as it features its Best of Beauty picks.

Allure October 2015
Allure October 2015 “Best of Beauty” issue

In this link, Paula Begoun and her Beautypedia team pick the best (and worst!) of Allure’s Best of Beauty:

Source: Allure’s “Best of Beauty” Makeup Winners, Reviewed!

Finding Mr. Righteous

Cold Cream 'n' Roses

Finding Mr. RighteousFinding Mr. Righteous by Lisa De Pasquale
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I discovered Finding Mr. Righteous through the conservative web site PJ Media. Initially I submitted a request to Fairfax County Public Library to carry it, but there was no follow-up: strange, because I had thought that FPCL would support a local writer (Ms. De Pasquale lives in Northern Virginia). I had to wait the mandatory 6-12 months after publication to submit a request through Interlibrary Loan.

Finding Mr. Righteous is about Ms. De Pasquale’s search for God in the context of the men in her life: Chris the Atheist, Joe the Catholic, John the Evangelical, etc. I looked forward to reading this book, as I thought there would be a spiritual component to the book, but most of the book is about Ms. De Pasquale’s attachments to men who have other women in their lives and won’t commit to her. I wonder why Ms. De Pasquale didn’t go in therapy to try to break this pattern. The spiritual component comes at the end of the book when she has an epiphany about her relationships and her role in them. I won’t give away the ending: that’s for you to read.

This book dredged up my unhappy experiences with men and my feeling insecure and that no one would love me. If Ms. De Pasquale ever revises her book, I could contribute a chapter on Ali the Muslim.

Altogether, Finding Mr. Righteous is a quick read. As I said, the spiritual component comes at the end of the book, and I’m glad that I read it to the end.
View all my reviews

#TBT vintage African-American beauty ads

Cold Cream 'n' Roses1 Comment

Time was that African-American women had to turn to ethnic beauty brands to meet their needs. Even as recently as the 1990s, Revlon and Maybelline has created lines especially for African-American women. Here are other blasts from the past:

Flori Roberts Cosmetics makeup artist demonstrating products to women, Los Angeles, 1970.
Flori Roberts Cosmetics makeup artist demonstrating products to women, Los Angeles, 1970.

Do you know that Flori Roberts is a white woman? She later developed Dermablend corrective concealer.

Today, Flori Roberts cosmetics are sold through Color Me Beautiful’s direct selling and mall kiosks.

Posner ad from Ebony Magazine, October 1965
Posner ad from Ebony Magazine, October 1965

Posner Cosmetics was introduced in the 1940’s.  I’ll occasionally find Posner cosmetics at drugstores, but not a comprehensive selection.  Posner’s web site features online shopping.

Zuri ad in Ebony, 1980
Zuri ad in Ebony, 1980

I haven’t been able to find out much about Zuri. I found miscellaneous products at Dollar General years ago. You may shop Zuri at Texas Beauty Supply and House of Beauty (note: not an endorsement, I’ve never shopped these places).

Aretha Franklin for Fashion Fair
Aretha Franklin for Fashion Fair

Here a svelte Aretha Franklin serves as a spokeswoman for Fashion Fair.

Dorothea Towles Church for Maybelline
Dorothea Towles Church for Maybelline

Dorothea Towles Church was the first Black Maybelline model to appear in Ebony Magazine in 1959.

8 life hacks for laundry

Cold Cream 'n' Roses

How many of you are like me and do laundry only when you’ve run out of clean underwear? 🙂

Woman using wringer washing machine
The happy homemaker and her wringer washing machine (1940)

Photo credits | Permissions

Here I share 8 life hacks for laundry.

  1. Take a cue from Linda Cobb, the “Queen of Clean.”  Every now and then, remove buildup from your washing machine by filling the tub with hot water and adding a cup of white vinegar to the water.  Run as usual.
  2. Remove blood stains by pre-treating with a stain stick like Resolve Spray n Wash.  The enzymes break down the blood. It’s best if the blood stains are relatively fresh.
  3. Use less detergent than recommended on the label.
  4. Use hot water to dissolve powder detergent.
  5. Soak soiled clothing before reaching the maximum water level, stop the washer, and let it sit.  The detergent is more concentrated.
  6. Put matching socks into mesh bags to keep them together.
  7. Wash delicates separately from the rest of your clothing.  Run them in either the delicates or hand-washables cycle.  I use Forever New, which a salesgirl at Trousseau, a lingerie store in Northern Virginia, recommended for washing delicates. I don’t know if Woolite has changed its formulation, but I quit using it because its fragrance was too strong.  I have separate mesh bags for bras, hosiery, and silk pillowcases (an indulgence).  Choose the absolute finest mesh for bras: on more than one occasion, the hooks have gotten entangled with the mesh bag, and all I could do was to cut the mesh.
  8. Remove clothing piece by piece from the washing machine, shake out each piece, and then put it into our clothes dryer.  More surface area, don’t cha know??  Popular Mechanics says that it’s difficult to detect a noticeable difference when using dryer balls (aside from extra noise).

I have not tried the KonMari approach to folding clothes, but since Marie Kondo is from Japan, I liken it to origami.  Profiling! 🙂 There are nearly 400 holds on The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing before I can check it out from my local library.