One last update: Review to come..iPhone4S

Photo credit: Forbes.com

Obviously this new iPhone just launched and due to an unfortunate theft of my iPhone4, may she rest in peace with her creator, Steve "god" Jobs, I pre-ordered this new one, because if I was paying in full for the thing, I was getting the new one.

I received it from the UPS dude yesterday morning and tried activating it pretty much right away. That failed. So I set it aside. Tried again. Fail. Then I was on a damn mission. Kept trying. Little did I know that it was the beginning of an 8 hour disaster and a half. Supposedly there were issues with all the Apple-Sold ones, the carrier sold ones were fine. So I gave up. I had purchased a phone in the ATT store where my phone was stolen, and used a wonderful and gorgeous friend's upgrade on her account to fund it at a slightly less obscene pricetag as we were on a fun girls weekend.  When the announcement for the newest messiah phone was made, I immediately decided I was going to just preorder it. While a good idea, in theory, next time I am taking the damn day off and going to wait in line and get free goodies from the store. If the Woz can do it, I CAN DO IT.

I ended up going to the AT&T store last night after I shipped the aforementioned gorgeous friend the phone I had bought on our trip so that she has a nice new iPhone4. She is and was elated. I did however just neglect to mention that I had shipped her that PRIOR to activating my new one. Woops. But thankfully after a fight with traffic, I got to the ATT store, and a few kind sirs were able to make it work.  I got home, synced it. Put on a perfect application of the screen protector--I used a Zagg Invisible Shield. So when I turned it on this morning I was pissed to spot on the middle of the screen a tiny black microfiber, under the screen protector. Gah! Thankfully I had ordered a few new ones to test out by comparison to these.  I will have to do some kind of comparison shots before I peel this off. I cannot deal with things under the screen. Of COURSE it would be a perfect application....

So, as far as the phone, so far I noticed much more "zippiness" in how things are done, I have experienced MUCH faster internet, woohoo! I can read Perez and Dlisted and TMZ faster! I have tested the camera, and so far I love it.  The screen somehow seems nicer than on the 4, and I can't pinpoint why. The iCloud is interesting, though I don't usually use WIFI so I haven't tested out the photo stream thing. I also only have specific things syncing to that, and prefer to keep my backups and syncs on my computer where I have many backups. I might try to do a weekly iCloud backup of stuff only because that way if ALL my stuff walks off one day, I at least have something backed up.  I have NOT tested out Siri, though I might because I want some damn humor in my day, and thankfully Apple has a comedian on staff, because some of the replies I've read are pure gold, Jerry.

I went again with another Speck Candyshell, this time in Pirate Cove Teal and Black. I got it at the Apple store, it's built to work with the verizon version, and works perfectly for the new 4s.

I have only made a few calls, and those have been fantastic, though now I want to go to the few notorious cell dead zones and test this out.

I will do a better review in a few weeks after I have played with it. Not a TON has changed from original.

I do have a huge complaint that I hope Apple addresses in the next iOS5 update: MAKE NEWSSTAND MOVE INTO A FUCKING FOLDER PLEASE. I have my icons arranged 8 to one page and 8 to the other. I had to make another page to put this eyesore on because I can't jam it anywhere.  I have no desire to test it til good magazines are added, and will work in iPhone, so hiding it is important.

FOLLOWUP ON PHYTOPHANERE:

So I have now used this for 2 months...and so far, I see no difference, my hair is not much healthier feeling or growing any more rapidly, my nails really aren't much different either. Nor is my skin. But I am pretty sure I have read that you need 4 months to really see anything. So I will possibly pick up one more bottle and go from there. This is the first actual vitamin anything I have taken in like a decade or more.  Though I did see something that might imply Flintstones has some for adults, which might make me take them again. I do love the sugary treats.

FOLLOWUP ON LAMER: 3 Months Later

Well, I am sad to report that I am sort of having to phase back on this line. I keep getting some weird little rash thing on my nose and cheeks and around my laugh lines and I am starting to think it's one or all of these items.  I hate that because, of course, my face feels nice, but it doesn't look so nice.

I will keep using them til I finish them or they go bad. I really REALLY wanted at least one to work out, despite the lack of true actives. Because they felt fantastic on.

PRODUCT REVIEW: Olay Smooth Finish Facial Hair Remover

For about three months now, I have been taunted and bombarded with ads, magazine writeups, and signage in Walgreens for this product, all of which say "Coming Soon". THREE MONTHS IS NOT SOON in the advertising world, FYI. So, imagine my delight when I was able to grab it, at 7am the other morning when I was stumbling into Walgreens for Sudafed (the real meth-making kind, of course) since nothing else I was loaded up on would stop this ridiculous cold/allergy fiasco I was fighting.  

PRODUCT REVIEW: Kate Somerville Clinic to Go

So it's now been a whole four weeks and I have completed the whole 8 pad protocol.  I personally probably should not have bothered with this product.  That's your review in a nutshell, the short, short version.

Photo credit: Katesomerville.com

A little bit of sappiness. 10 Years Later.

At this time 10 years ago, I was getting off of work from my new job at the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. I went home as always, taking the turnpike to Beaver Falls, through Koppel to Ellwood City. Parked in front of the house as always.  Went inside, ate something, I showered, I went to bed. I woke up around 830am on Tuesday, September 11 to head to National City to open a checking account, so I could deposit my paychecks. When I got in the car with my ex, the first thing we heard was Howard Stern talking about Tower 1 being hit. We thought it was a joke, we kind of dismissed it. We drove to the bank. We walked in just after Tower 2 was hit.  I sat in that chair with the account service girl, just riveted by the tv, completely confused, and halfway blocking her out, having given her all of my stuff to enter. Not long after,  the Pentagon was hit, right where my dad's section was when he was there for work, right where many of his coworkers and friends perished.  I remember then having the most incredible meltdown. Calling my mom FRANTICALLY, why won't you answer your goddamn phone!?!!  Where's dad? Dad's in DC this week? Where's DAD!???  She finally calmed me down, telling me he was at work, there in St. Louis. Ushered underground because of what he did. No one knew what was going on, the motive, the culprit. Was this for money? Was it for attention? Was this someone starting war with us for the laundry list of reasons that would probably be really well justified by someone not living here or even living here because we just butt in to everyone's business when we should mind our own sometimes?  How relieved I felt before I really realized how many friends and coworkers he had there? And how many families were just destroyed with that impact?

We went to Sears at the Beaver Valley Mall. We needed a TV for the new place we would be moving into soon.  Priorities. THOUSANDS died, and millions lost their everything, and we're buying a fucking tv. Obviously every tv there was tuned to it. JUST as we walked in, Shanksville happened.  Word had just hit the airwaves. I remember all these people were sitting in chairs and recliners watching tv. We bought our TV, and got in the car, and went home. I sat on the couch for like 3 hours waiting for my start time for work. Then I headed in.

Working in a newspaper, you obviously are going to see and hear it all. EVERY TV was tuned to every possible feed, and EVERYONE was just staring at the tv. We were scrambling to meet a deadline for the rest of the week's print runs but no one could really focus. I know I had a hard time making that ad for Shults Ford. As the day went on and the presses were full run, there were only the editors in our office and the print staff there with myself and Ryan, the other night guy. We just sat there, riveted. I know a few times I had to hold back tears, just thinking about how in the hell you move on from that. Who could have survived, how many people are in each of those towers, in that section of the pentagon. Then the people whose job it is to go in first and save people, what about them? And those that survived it? Now what? 10 years later they're riddled with diseases that are killing them from what they breathed doing their job, and they can't get anyone to help them.  It's not the insurance company's fault that they're sick, so no payment. Going bankrupt to pay for treatment. Many have died. Think about all those kids who lost their parents and were too young to "get it". Growing up with that black cloud, where the people around you are constantly worrying about your adjustment as you age.

I drove home that night just wanting to get home, and hoping that nothing new happened while I slept, or before work.

The next day when I got into work,  I grabbed the issue of the paper from that day. Never read it. Just put it in my bag to take home. Like some kind of a sick souvenier I could sell on Ebay later. I still have it. I also still have the whole week's papers. And then the special edition from that Sunday. They're on a bookshelf in my living room. I never opened them. Not one time. Its like a little time capsule. Amid all the clutter and crap in my living room (and there is a lot, as my father pointed out today), that pile of papers to me is priceless and is NOT clutter. I actually am relieved at how well it's preserved despite my not having archived them properly.

I watched CNN and all the cable news talking heads stream all week. I watched the names go across my screen. On the weekends I was still working at Bob Evans on Hwy 19 in Cranberry. I remember it was ridiculously dead, obviously, and that Krispy Kreme was about to open. People were lining up for these donuts. Yea they're tasty. But there's no damn way I was gonna wait in line for DAYS for those.  But I drove by every day, chuckling at those people, thinking "hey, maybe this is how they're choosing to move on and "ignore" all of this crap".  I did eventually stop watching the CNNs and all that, exactly one week later. At that point it was regurgitation, speculation and the ridiculous news machine we have today: SENSATIONALISM. Ratings. Drama. Bullshit.  Gone was the memorial to all of those lives lost. Now it was "how can we make this senseless tragedy make us MONEY!"  Fox brought on more blond bobblehead women that embarrass me every time I hear one of their  voices on The Daily Show moment of zen.

Every year I watch the "anniversary" broadcasts.  And this year I am recording a few. I just watched one on the Smithsonian Channel (didn't even know that one existed, let alone that I had it). It was about "artifacts" donated to the museum from that day's attacks. From an ironworker's tools, that he used to help recover the lost, to someone's briefcase that was recovered. She was on I believe the 106th floor and she survived. She couldn't believe it was found, let alone that this person returned it to her.  A paramedic who was lost saving lives at the Pentagon...his badge. A battalion chief's gear from one of the firehouses.  I think the most poignant one was some photos a couple who lived a few blocks from the WTC and had a ridiculous view of the towers being hit and falling, had taken from their home. The curator had asked them why they thought to take them. The photographer had said "to silence the screaming".  They were and are amazing photos. Very surreal. It captured the horror on everyone's faces like nothing I'd ever seen yet.

I see a few friends who enlisted after that all happened, and a few that already were active, and that were quickly called up and deployed to fight a war in the wrong place, for the wrong reasons.  And I remember their "joy" when Bin Laden was captured and killed. The images of the FDNY and the NYPD cheering at that news ticker are pretty incredible.

I will never ever forget that moment, or anything from that day, or week.  And I hope that the rest of us don't either. We can grow and move on, but we have to remember.

New Fossil Travel Wallets!

I am SO glad they FINALLY brought their travel wallets back. I am not in the market, as I have Tumis that I love, but for anyone wanting something under $100, these are awesome.

Check out two great neutral finds after the jump! 

FOLLOWUP ON TED GIBSON CAPTIVATING COPPER CONDITIONER--

I am happy to report that I am in love with this stuff. I've made a mini stockpile, of which I am kind of going through alarmingly swiftly....despite not really needing it more than like once a week, maybe twice. It's that potent.

Photo credit: Beautybar.com

Ted, if you're reading this: PLEEEEEASE DO NOT DISCONTINUE THIS!!!  It is my staple, my god-send.  I would love it in a gallon vat with a big pump, or in some monster tube. I don't love the work I have to put in to get the product out (I usually just take the lid off). I use like 1/4-1/3 of a bottle every time I use it, since my hair is so long and dense.

REVIEW TO COME: Kate Somerville Clinic to Go Peel

Photo: Katesomerville.com

I ordered the Kate Somerville Clinic to Go pads after reading a few other reviews, and I had some Nordstrom rewards checks to burn, so I picked it up. It is $48 for 16 pads.  That's two full months of treatments.  You're supposed to use 2 per week for 4 weeks, and then you can either keep using them after the month, or use them later when you need another round.

I will be using this for the first time tonight. I hope my face can handle it.  I am pretty excited to give this one a go, I have read about it for a while since it's supposedly the closest thing to having a facial by her.

ALSO: I am still using the Phytophanere vitamins. Since it's only been about 2 weeks it is probably too soon to tell, though I thought I read 2 months. Which means the whole bottle.

La Mer update:

So I've been using this now for about what, a full month? I am slacking a tiny bit in the diligence I started with.  I love how soft my face is, but I need to figure out if this new crop of zits is hormonal or related to the product.

I have been alternating the cream and lotion, just mostly based on the heat. I can say that I wish the lotion had spf in it, even a 15, because right now I feel like I have to go back to the Olay instead just to have SPF. Or wear both.

Another "long term" review on the way...Phyto Phytophanere Supplement

Photo: Smallflower.com

I had read a few reviews about these vitamins an how they helped folks with hair that sheds like crazy. So since I was returning the La Mer foundation powder (*sobs*) I figured id use some of the credit on this.

This was $50 for a 120 cap bottle--a 60 day supply--and I will begin taking this tomorrow morning. 2 caps a day in the morning. They are effectively fish oil and biotin, etc. But since I don't take any vitamins Im sure this is  better than nothing!

I will try to track any nail/hair growth changes as well, as I am sure those are also benefits.

Another La Mer update--Had to stop using the foundation...

Well, unfortunately I gave up on the Powder Foundation which makes me sad.  I kept getting serious oil slicks and it was making me nervous that it was the moisturizer, etc. But it was definitely this. I went without it for a day and could tell a difference then skipped a few more and had no oil slicks. I thought the heat was impacting it but it didn't seem to be making enough of a difference.

So today I returned it. But so far so good on the rest. The lotion might be the best item of them all.

LA MER UPDATE: 2 weeks in

I want to thank Cathy again, she just loaded me up with a few more samples to test out.

Photo credit: Bloomingdales.com

So for about two weeks now, I have been using the Regenerating Serum (at night), the Eye Concentrate (morning, night), and the Creme (night) and Lotion (day) for about 2 weeks now. So far I am pretty pleased. My face hasn't done any weird freaking out stuff yet. And is actually looking fabulously clear, better than it's looked in a while. Which I am both happy about and kind of annoyed about since this stuff is majorly expensive.  

PRODUCT REVIEW: Touchback Brow Marker (Auburn)

Photo Credit: Touchbackgray.com

I was wandering through the Soft Surroundings one night and happened upon this item. I had been looking for a marker like this for my brows but none came in a red shade til I saw this.  I immediately snatched it up, for I think $20. I have been using it now for about 2 months, and I am pretty pleased.

HUGE rave for MOO.com

I have to give a huge rave to Moo for my new labels! I ordered some for my business to use on the Ziplocs I pack my finished orders in (safety vs beauty!) and I also got some mini stickers for envelopes when I mail out things for the business. It took about 2 weeks from order to receipt but it was worth it. I have no idea how they can do variable printing like this at such a small cost.

They have discount codes frequently, so check them out.

Reviews to come: La Mer, Bobbi Brown, Le Metier de Beaute

And more! Gotta finish the testing and the photos etc.

But Ill start with a little prep on the La Mer.

Thanks to the lovely Cathy Kozeny, and my rapid-trigger on the mouse last week, I am now trying out Creme de la Mer, the Regenerating Serum and the Eye Concentrate, as well as the concealer and the powder foundation.  Nordstrom Anniversary had a special set available containing a full size jar of the creme, a half-size of the serum, and a thirdsize of eye concentrate.  I also got the tinted moisturizer (here's the review on that: didn't like it at all. too sheer, funky feeling. I felt greasy. So today I returned that after 4 solid attempts at making it happen). I have really been lusting to try this for so long, but the better part of me (aka the cheaper side of me) could not justify that. But since Id returned so much of my Anniversary sale busts, I wanted to splurge.

I am in my thirties now, quite firmly, and the area around the eyes is starting to show it. People are guessing I am in my thirties whereas before they would be shocked. Or at least lie to me.

So this product always gets raves and voted by editors--probably just because they're advertising--as one of the greatest things ever.  It's ridiculously pricey for a jar of face cream, this coming from the girl who uses Dove soap and Olay moisturizer.  But I have been dying to try it. I am curious to see how my skin takes to it.

I have been using it for only a couple days, and part of how I intruded into poor Cathy's life is because I didn't think I was doing it right. And boy am I glad I asked. Because I wasn't.  Now Ill try again "the right way". There IS a way to use this stuff to release the suspension in the cream.  The serum, which usually are not my ideal product, is slightly creamier than most, so I am curious to see if it works for me.  Apparently my eye cream was supposed to have some kind of funky lil applicator, and she was able to supply me with one.  That hopefully helps me apply this right.

I am using the set for all of my trials, but when I got the set, which I paid $250 for, if you spent $50 more (hence the other item I wanted to test mentioned above), you got a set of nice sample sizes. I figure that if I end up loving this, then good I have those for traveling.  I brought that with me today just in case I needed to return it. But she let me keep it :) And added a few more little samples. Extra bigger grin.  I also checked out the concealer, which she gave me a little sample jar of, and bought the powder foundation, in part because the color looked really good for me and that's hard to find, and I had read reviews that it was nice. She applied some of those products for me, and I agree that that powder is awesome feeling. I hope that in a few days I still like it. Because it's pricey.  I also am going to try out the concealer as well. But on its own and not over whatever I already was wearing.

So keep an eye out for reviews and photos on this stuff in the next few weeks. Like the Latisse I want to use it for a while before I give a full review. I can tell my face feels nice with the moisturizer already and concealer is going on nicer also. The serum I might resign to night time but we'll see.

Cathy, it was FABULOUS to meet you. And on her suggestion I will probably also add a Q&;A thing to this blog regarding diamonds. :)

It's the Most Won-der-ful Time of the Year! 2011 edition.

It's that time again, Nordstrom Anniversary 2011.

Well, it's slightly LESS wonderful this year than normal.   I look forward to the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale every year. I save up hundreds in gift card funds to buy things at this sale.  This year was quite a disappointment to me.  Attention Nordstrom buyers:  The clothes that were available...eh. The shoes...eh.  The purses were epic failure. Just nothing exciting. And from what I noticed, especially in bags, it seems that the brands that made specific items for this sale, made them of lower quality materials and lesser workmanship than others in the line. Ill use Liebeskind as one example. The leather of the two bags offered are thin, cheap "glazed" leather. I have seen some NICE glazed leathers, these were practically pleather.  Just not nice leather. Stitching not as nice as the Mia and Gloria in their REALLY nice washed leather.  The Chloé bag offered is definitely not up to the par I expect for such a brand, and such a price. It seemed to feel thinner and less impressive than the usual bag of the same name.

This year was an overall letdown for me.  I hope next year they bring it back to snuff.  If you want people in this economy to come spend, this selection ain't the way to do it.

I obtained a few pair of pants, two were nice dress pants, and two were nice KUT denim. I am on that line between plus and regular clothes, and it's frustrating to me that I am sized out of nicer lines. Like I would kill for some Paige or Citizen jeans.  But they don't really go above what a thin size 10 would wear. They show numbers that they would, but they run SO small.  With the average woman in this country being around a size 14-16 in clothing, why do so many designers have to be so exclusive to only skinny chicks? I shouldn't have to starve myself to wear cute stuff.  Michael Kors seems to get it for sure. But I cannot say that for most.

Anyway...I got a few nice things, clothing wise.  But otherwise the big purchase and "win" so far has been La Mer.  Ill do a separate post on that. But to close--I wanna say Thank you and Hi! to Cathy Kozeny.  Fantastically lovely, beautiful and knows her stuff. And we had a great time talking diamonds. :)

PRODUCT REVIEW: Tumi Capra Travel Wallet

As several of you know, I like big wallets. Big, Constanza-sized wallets. I have no idea what I need such space for but it's nice to have a big zippy wallet that holds lots of cards and the checkbook, and stows all the receipts I inevitably save. I have lusted after this quite a while in the orange shade, the perfect shade of Hermes orange, no doubt, and when I happened into a Tumi store at Mall of America last week I had to finally buy it. I paid $278 for this wallet, in a GORGEOUS green, only to find out it went on sale on their website like three days later!  Since they couldn't do the price adjust, I returned the one I got in Minneapolis back to the store by mail for a full refund and rebought online where it was almost half price on the urging of the store manager.  I ended up buying the green, the orange and then a small coin purse in green also, because it would make a good bar hopping wallet that can go in the swingpack I also picked up at the Coach outlet.  For perhaps $50 more I got three items vs just the one.  So I am nothing if not thrifty. I buy what I want at the best price I can get.

PRODUCT REVIEW: Mario Badescu Silver Powder

This is a product that I have lusted for after reading about it in the past but never thought it was a worthy investment, despite being only $12. But while at the Nordstrom Mall of America I saw it on quite a large MB display. So I grabbed it.  I tested it out after a shower one night.

PRODUCT REVIEW/Faceoff: Chanel Corrector Perfector VS Maybelline Fit Me

So before I took the Chanel back, I attempted a side-by-side with the Maybelline. Similar consistencies, though for $6 and change the coverage of the Maybelline was MUCH better. Bear in mind that the color of this Maybelline is not right, though even the right shade (20 in pics 10 is better though), its still requiring a few coats. But for $6 and change that trumps $40 a tube in a second.

PRODUCT REVIEW: CHANEL CORRECTEUR PERFECTION LONG LASTING CONCEALER

While on a totally rad girl's weekend, I went to the Nordstrom at Mall of America. I made a beeline for a few things, one of which was the Chanel counter to pick up this product.  It's retailing for $40, and had it been worth every penny I wouldn't have batted an eye, as I am sure you are aware concealer is my thing since I have serious undereye craziness.

Short version:
If you like your concealer to, I dunno, conceal things, then this is not the product for you to drop $40 on.

PRODUCT REVIEW: Speck Candyshell iPhone 4 case

Photo: Speckproducts.com

So one of the many expenses that go into a new phone purchase, a hard case is definitely one I always immediately grab and always recommend. I am not particularly clumsy with my phones, but in the event that it takes a dive, I want as much protection as possible. Especially with all the reports of broken screens on the iPhone. I got myself a Speck Candyshell, and one for the husband as well, in part because it works well with a screen protector (I like Invisible Shield and Phantom Skins, both wet-apply) and because it seems to have an extra space or airgap between the phone and the case. 

PRODUCT REVIEW: the iPhone 4 ...aka the review I never thought I'd be doing

So after Sprint screwed most if not all of their customers, especially long-time customers who were with them over a decade, by taking away their upgrades and credits and employee discounts for some asanine reason they thought was good customer service, I decided I was done. They haven't put out an exciting phone out in years, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. They also cannot seem to figure out when I really joined Sprint, despite being repeatedly provided with a copy of my receipt from when I first switched in 1999, New Years Eve to be exact.  I have been told and read several different dates and years, not one is correct.  They wouldn't correct it, even with proof, and of COURSE after repeatedly losing the copy they wanted the original (why, so you can lose that too? No.)

Despite my deep disgust for ATT, and because my husband no longer works for another telecom company and works to support ATT, I figured I might as well start looking around. My entire family and all my coworkers recently had gotten iPhones, simply for lack of any better phone options. None of us were all that excited about Android, and it seems awfully unstable in the times I have played with it, not to mention a battery destroyer.  The folks at the ATT store out by my Boss's house were very helpful with all the guys at work, so I began to harass them about contract buyouts, options, etc.  Because our Sprint Contracts were almost up, they were willing to buy us out, which really was a credit on the bill and I covered the payout to Sprint on my final bill. Easy enough.  We started the port, ironically when there was an outage after a software update for ATT, though I would probably have waited had I talked to the husband first....

Anyway...About the PHONE:

LATISSE UPDATE: again

I am still using the Latisse most days. Since its been 6 months since I started I wanted to let you all know that the length is DEFINITELY remarkable. The thickness and darkness are no different than before. I had hopes for the  thickness but at least they're longer. They also seem to curl better and the curl stays a little better than before.  I still use as much mascara unfortunately but it looks infinitely better.

PRODUCT REVIEW: Ted Gibson Individual Color Conditioner in Captivating Copper

Photo: Beautybar.com

I have been lusting after this product for a while, I read reviews, and talked myself back out of it about ten times in the last month. Because my beloved Aveda Annatto and Bixa supplies were almost completely tapped out and I cannot seem to find anymore even on Ebay to replenish (long discontinued), and Madder Root just is not the right tone, I figured I needed to track down a new coppery depositing conditioner.

I ordered 2 bottles from Beauty.com, and they are about $25 a pop for 10oz. An Aveda tube at 8.5oz is I believe$18. 

FOLLOWUP ON It! Cosmetics Bye Bye Undereye....Its falling into the PASS category.

Photo: QVC.com

I have given this a couple go-arounds now, and even several months before coming back around at it, and I am NOT impressed, not at all. I am wondering what product(s) were actually used on the models on the QVC presentation because the consistency and the total lack of opacity does not jive with the results they showed on the presentation--at all.

PRODUCT REVIEW: Too-Faced Absolutely Flawless Concealer

It's awfully hard to come back to this and talk about makeup and frivolous stuff when the last entry is about Mr. Wyatt....But I must heal and keep going.

My first post back will be a review about yet another concealer trying to cover my ridiculous circles.  I picked up this TOO-FACED one on Beauty.com though I've seen it at Ulta and Sephora.  I was buying something for the next review so I decided to lump it all together.

Contrary to the name, this is not my idea of flawless coverage, let alone ABSOLUTELY FLAWLESS as the name implies....

Wyatt's Warmth from the Heart

I am thrilled to let you all know that I am proudly involved with a non-profit organization called Wyatt's Warmth from the heart.  We have a page on Facebook, as well as a twitter: @wyattswarmth and now a blog is set up.  A lovely woman named Lisa got this started and Jillian and I among others are heavily involved in the donations collection and soon the distribution.  Our mission is to collect donations of baby leg warmers, blankets, books, and stuffed animals, or funds to purchase these items, and to distribute them to other babies in the hospital going through treatment for serious conditions, many of white are Congenital Heart Defect patients. All of this is done in memory to honor Wyatt James Greeno, who passed away from Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome on January 24, 2011 at a mere 6 months old.  He never got a fair shot at a full life, and hopefully we can raise enough awareness of CHD's to make the research of such conditions more of a focus than they are currently. 1 in 100 babies are born with a CHD, myself included.  I got a shot at a full life, and while Im only in my 30s, if I were to die today, I gave it my all.  Many of these kids don't make it beyond a few days or months to even know what impact they could have had on this world, but Wyatt made quite an impact on the few he met, and the many he never got to meet. And on his behalf, we want to spread the world and the love to other babies and families that they're not alone and we're all there for support!

Check out the blog at:

http://wyattswarmth.blogspot.com/

FINALLY: The Latisse Review

I finally finished my 16 week long term project. And it was worth it. I definitely plan to keep using it, because my lashes hold a curl better than ever, and when I put mascara on they are even better. In fact, I am still using the first bottle, I ran out of brushes a while ago, but I am using a thin eyeliner brush and washing it each night. I got a refill with brushes and liquid but I didn't want to bust those out just yet since I still have the juice left. 

Follow the jump for more info and pics!

Please take a moment...

A very good friend of mine lost her beautiful 6 month old son the other night to complications after surgery to correct a congenital heart defect.  He was born with a gene mutation causing clotting, and ultimately, it was clotting that lost the fight.

This little one was loved so so much by so many, and was wanted so badly by his parents.  He will be missed by more people than I can even comprehend.

I don't believe in deities or religions or anything and I am not spiritual, but I was calling on everything there and everyone I knew, and some I didn't know, that this little guy would win.  I would give anything to bring him back to this world, and I truly hope that they know that HE knew how much he was loved, and how truly happy he made them and all of us who knew him and know them.  I wish them comfort and strength to get through this loss and to come out stronger than before.

This little boy is one in 100 babies born with a heart defect.  Did you know that there were so many born with heart defects?  That's a pretty staggering number.  Did you know that only one penny of every dollar donated to the American Heart Association goes to the research of Congenital Heart Defects?  I had no idea.  It breaks my heart that children can come into this world with such issues, and that so many cannot win.  No child deserves that fate.