The Face-Time Continuum
I'm writing tonight because I'm doing everything in my power to avoid a continuance of Math Exam 3 studying (would you choose to return to the land of Condorcet voting violations and slot machine probabilities, if you were me?) and am pretty stoked about the subject in general, so felt I should make up for the chicken-funk blog with something nice.
It may come as a surprise to some, but I am...a girl. I KNOW, right? For all my nerdity, lack of shoe collection and dislike of the foo-foo in general, I do enjoy getting down with my Sephorizing self from time to time. And those of you who know me well know that my search for the legendary triumvirate of perfect hair care products is Pellinorean in scope and effort. I've been making some inroads on that front lately, but we'll save that for a later piece. I sense a list of previously-used-and-discarded products waiting in the wings for that one, and it could take days to get through an accurate count.
But I digress. I stopped into Nordstrom the other day, a place I tend to avoid due to their general price range and a specific lack of personal appeal. I don't know why, but everything I come across in that store, barring Privo shoes and the occasional tweed overcoat, seems...wrong. Just slightly off-kilter from what I like...too frumpy, too formal, too weird, wrong colors. I don't know. Nordie's has never been able to win my heart. It's a shame for a hometown girl to admit that, but maybe it's my Idaho roots showing. Dunno. Anyway, the only reason I've ever consistently gone in there was for makeup, because they were the only place that carried Prescriptives.
I'd switched to Prescriptives after being a Clinique girl for years, because both touted their non-comedogenocy and had the kind of creme-based foundation that I preferred. (Comedogenocy? There I go making shit up again.) Clinique's makeup line in general has always been too pink for my skin tones, and I found their cleansing products drying, but true to their word, I didn't break out using them. That I didn't look GOOD using them escaped my notice for awhile. So upon the advice of a friend, I gave Prescriptives a shot and have been pretty happy with them for the past couple years.
Imagine, then, my horror when I stopped by on this recent trip to pick up foundation and was told that the entire line...the entire company...is being discontinued as of January, and would I like to stock up?
I don't know about you, but stocking up on a discontinuation just seems...fruitless. I'm going to have to face running out and figuring out what I'll use next at some point. Why delay it? So I talked with the very nice, very Dior girl and walked out with some samples of that line and one last pack of my Photocreme foundation (because I was down to my last licks and needed SOMETHING.) Although the Dior samples felt like silk, they reeked of perfumery, and I wasn't able to use them at all. (Scent sensitivities being only another of the hurdles toward finding beauty products I can use regularly.) What to do, what to do. I'd tried Bare Escentuals in the past, and although I like a lot about them, I'm just too dry-skinned to use the makeup, and I'm kind of OCD about the level of coverage I get from my foundation....powder wasn't going to cut it.
Then I remembered a book I'd picked up on a whim at the library, a veritable encyclopedia of beauty knowledge by someone who'd put her money where her lipstick goes and did the research. And she's a local. How could I lose?
I re-requested it from my favorite branch but knew it was going to be awhile before it came back my way, and decided to see what I could find on her website.
Turns out I'd forgotten one very important thing about Ms. Begoun...she not only polices the cosmetic industry, she also contributes. Sort of an "If you can't say something nice, go create your own version instead" attitude. And all of her products are proudly scent-free, non-animal-tested, non-comedogenic, years-of-research-behind-them offerings. That being said, when I emailed the "'Ask Paula" link and told them of my discontinuation woes, I got a personal response back suggesting two other products...neither were hers...that they felt would be suitable substitutions. I like that perspicacity and lack of shove in a business model.
Hmm.
Dug a little further into the site and found that they offer samples of ALL products (probably because there is no retail marketplace...can't just go to Nords or Macy's or Sephora and pick them up), for something like $0.50 each. Ridiculous. I could sample to my heart's content for less than the cost of a bottle of Cetaphil. And so I did.
Item number two of pleasure about these skin shenanigans? Because she, and her warehouse, are local...I placed the sample order on Friday and got them at work today. Awww yeah.
I just now finished using a six-step "Skin Recovery Sampler" pack and am sitting here marveling at how good my face feels, and how little I can tell I have something on it. No whiff, no sting, no redness...from at least this first use, it's a keeper.
So if any of you are looking for something different, are curious, and have a few of these to spare, I'd say give Paula and her Choices a shot. From one low-maintenance chica to another...what have you got to lose?
It may come as a surprise to some, but I am...a girl. I KNOW, right? For all my nerdity, lack of shoe collection and dislike of the foo-foo in general, I do enjoy getting down with my Sephorizing self from time to time. And those of you who know me well know that my search for the legendary triumvirate of perfect hair care products is Pellinorean in scope and effort. I've been making some inroads on that front lately, but we'll save that for a later piece. I sense a list of previously-used-and-discarded products waiting in the wings for that one, and it could take days to get through an accurate count.
But I digress. I stopped into Nordstrom the other day, a place I tend to avoid due to their general price range and a specific lack of personal appeal. I don't know why, but everything I come across in that store, barring Privo shoes and the occasional tweed overcoat, seems...wrong. Just slightly off-kilter from what I like...too frumpy, too formal, too weird, wrong colors. I don't know. Nordie's has never been able to win my heart. It's a shame for a hometown girl to admit that, but maybe it's my Idaho roots showing. Dunno. Anyway, the only reason I've ever consistently gone in there was for makeup, because they were the only place that carried Prescriptives.
I'd switched to Prescriptives after being a Clinique girl for years, because both touted their non-comedogenocy and had the kind of creme-based foundation that I preferred. (Comedogenocy? There I go making shit up again.) Clinique's makeup line in general has always been too pink for my skin tones, and I found their cleansing products drying, but true to their word, I didn't break out using them. That I didn't look GOOD using them escaped my notice for awhile. So upon the advice of a friend, I gave Prescriptives a shot and have been pretty happy with them for the past couple years.
Imagine, then, my horror when I stopped by on this recent trip to pick up foundation and was told that the entire line...the entire company...is being discontinued as of January, and would I like to stock up?
I don't know about you, but stocking up on a discontinuation just seems...fruitless. I'm going to have to face running out and figuring out what I'll use next at some point. Why delay it? So I talked with the very nice, very Dior girl and walked out with some samples of that line and one last pack of my Photocreme foundation (because I was down to my last licks and needed SOMETHING.) Although the Dior samples felt like silk, they reeked of perfumery, and I wasn't able to use them at all. (Scent sensitivities being only another of the hurdles toward finding beauty products I can use regularly.) What to do, what to do. I'd tried Bare Escentuals in the past, and although I like a lot about them, I'm just too dry-skinned to use the makeup, and I'm kind of OCD about the level of coverage I get from my foundation....powder wasn't going to cut it.
Then I remembered a book I'd picked up on a whim at the library, a veritable encyclopedia of beauty knowledge by someone who'd put her money where her lipstick goes and did the research. And she's a local. How could I lose?I re-requested it from my favorite branch but knew it was going to be awhile before it came back my way, and decided to see what I could find on her website.
Turns out I'd forgotten one very important thing about Ms. Begoun...she not only polices the cosmetic industry, she also contributes. Sort of an "If you can't say something nice, go create your own version instead" attitude. And all of her products are proudly scent-free, non-animal-tested, non-comedogenic, years-of-research-behind-them offerings. That being said, when I emailed the "'Ask Paula" link and told them of my discontinuation woes, I got a personal response back suggesting two other products...neither were hers...that they felt would be suitable substitutions. I like that perspicacity and lack of shove in a business model.
Hmm.
Dug a little further into the site and found that they offer samples of ALL products (probably because there is no retail marketplace...can't just go to Nords or Macy's or Sephora and pick them up), for something like $0.50 each. Ridiculous. I could sample to my heart's content for less than the cost of a bottle of Cetaphil. And so I did.
Item number two of pleasure about these skin shenanigans? Because she, and her warehouse, are local...I placed the sample order on Friday and got them at work today. Awww yeah.
I just now finished using a six-step "Skin Recovery Sampler" pack and am sitting here marveling at how good my face feels, and how little I can tell I have something on it. No whiff, no sting, no redness...from at least this first use, it's a keeper.
So if any of you are looking for something different, are curious, and have a few of these to spare, I'd say give Paula and her Choices a shot. From one low-maintenance chica to another...what have you got to lose?
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