Monday, December 24, 2012

Ole! The Sunday rituals that happen all week long…


Best laid plans.  

Pick a topic for each day of the week and then it’ll make it easier to write.  And then as always seems to be the case, I went off the rails and had two weeks that went a little something like this:

  • Fourteen hour work days.
  • One work-related holiday dinner that I went to.
  • And one that I skipped because I couldn’t swing it.
  • A weekend out of town.
  • A scramble to buy Christmas gifts.
  • An epic push and some overnight fees to get my Christmas card done.
  • One hair appointment.
  • Karaoke.  And I actually sang.  (Apologies again to the crowd for picking Wannabe.)
  • A birthday dinner that involved two great friends, too much wine and my taking home two maracas.
  • Lots of blown of/delayed responses to texts, emails and most anything and everything that could be considered related to my personal life. 
  • A haphazard gym routine.
  • And many handfuls of Advil, Imitrex and Advil PM (though not all at the same time!)!


All in all not my best stretch of the year.  And a mess of cray cray that I have every intention of leaving in 2012.  Thanks for the memories.

But through it all, no matter how tired, tipsy or totally out of my mind I was, every night I topped it all off with a simple 60 seconds with Clarisonic.  I talk about it the way most people talk about a new relationship.  It’s my new true love.  And I have to say so far it’s going really well.  I’m going to start to go for twice a day whenever possible.  I convinced my mom to get one.  And I took the plunge – I bought the deep cleansing brush yesterday.  The display at Sephora was screaming my name and I consider myself lucky that was all I walked out with.  Well, all I walked out with from the Clarisonic line. 

I worship at the church of Sephora and here’s a little more of what goes into the illustrious self-indulgent beauty routine:

Ole:

I’m apt to scream “Ole!” just out of general excitement. And because pinkisthenewblog made it part of my vocab in what started out with a snide of snark and now I just find amusing.  But that has nothing to do with anything because today’s Ole is allabout Ole Henriksen.  Now for one, this came as a Sephora sample serum and moisturizer set, which normally I might have given away.  I am very Very VERY hesitant to put new products on my face because I walk by a place that does microdermabrasion and my face will go all sorts of haywire.

But this one-two punch had Vitamin C, which reminded me of the Bliss Oxygen foaming 5-minute facial, which I absolutely love, so I threw caution to the wind and gave Ole a go.  And it was so worth it. Love it!  Smells amazing.  Feels amazing going on.  And in the grand scheme of beauty products is in the very reasonable $45 range. 

The Truth Serum is step one an it’s supposed to help reduce fine lines and smooth the skin and even things out and help make a girl look amazing.  Since I’m at a certain age, where retaining a youthful glow is becoming more and more important I am totally in for this product. I put this on at night, post Clarisonic, and let it work it’s magic.  A little while later I’ll follow with the moisturizer, which also smells delish and goes on great and I am convinced is slowly making miracles happen while I sleep.  

They have a huge product list and everything from face wash to make-up wipes. And while I do still have massive Bliss loyalties, I am officially making the switch from their Oxygen eye cream/face cream line to Ole.  And I strongly, supremely recommend it to anyone looking for a change.  Or who is just looking. Or who can’t resist coming in with the new even before you are out with the old.  Ole!!!


More Manicures:

One of my friends at work got some free nail polish when she signed up with the manicurist who comes to our office every Friday. (Yes.  That happens.)  And one color which she affectionately referred to as “something only you could wear” is instantly amongst my faves.   I give you OPI "Every Month is Oktoberfest."

Not sure how I missed this gem (or the entire German collection for that matter) when it was released and I’m always a little sketch when polish is dark in the bottle but them comes out all streaky or not-as-dark-as-advertised.  Well, this one exceeds all expectations. It’s even darker in real life, with a hint of a deep purple under the red and I lust it!


Freebies:

I also have to say I’ve been hoarding my Sephora points because for the past I-can’t-remember-how-long all of the point-redemption gifts have pretty much epically sucked.  It’s always a moisturizer (my face is too particular), or hair oil (my hair is too particular), or mascara (I have yet to find one better than the purple Cover Girl Lash Blast I’ve been using for years) or something with glitter.   But to my total delight this week’s 500-point gift is a generous sample size of bumble and bumble’s Straight line(shampoo, conditioner and hair lotion).  Wheeeeeeeeeee!  Been very curious to try and now I can.  Woo-freaking-hoo!  Thank you, Sephora.  (And if you're really interested in trying or restocking some b&b, they have free shipping and free samples direct from the bumble and bumble site!  Happy Holidays, readers!)

Now if only you could resume giving away free samples that are not shitty perfumes.  Just saying.  It’s how I found Ole!  And Buxon lipgloss (which I’ve pretty much been addicted to since 2008).  We were so close to a truly ohh-amazing experience.  Bring back the best of beauty…because no matter how many times you give me the crappy perfume with a celeb name tied to it, it will not convince me to buy it. 

And tie it all together in a way that makes sense in my head, a little something from Beauty and the Beat, because I also worship at the feet of the The Go-Go’s.


To say I wanted to be Belinda Carlisle is the understatement of the century.  She defined cool to me.  As did this record:



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