Past the Pastels?

 Soft colours have been treating me nice, lately. With a few new shades of gentle yellow-green, taupe, and peachy pink for my eyes, a creamy nude blush stick that blends itself into a natural flush easily, and apricot nails-- Avon's Apricot Mystery-- I'm set for a season of gentle prettiness. It looks good against the aching brilliance of the grass in my yard, under those evil lights in the grocery or Barnes and Noble stores, and adds color to my usual outfit of long black dresses. Much more becoming to my skintone than the hot tangerine the rest of the country is sporting, as long as I don't overuse the shimmers in daylight.

Do I still want one of the newest colors? Hell, yes.

 Though I'm not against being fashion forward, bright oranges are HARD to wear on paler skin unless it is perfectly even-toned; they bring out the sallowness that lurks below the peaches-and-cream. I did see a sharp looking woman our age in a parking lot last week, flaunting a a slash of bright pink lipstick that looked fantastic against her matte ivory cheeks; but pink is not orange. As Reese Witherspoon says in Legally Blonde, "Whoever said Orange was the new Pink is seriously disturbed." Yet Sephora et al have collections full of of tantalizing tangy tangerines, bronzes, mangoes and undeniably orange shades for all your features, right now. When I look at them, I'm filled with desire to have each and every one, despite my recent post on saying NO to more purchases. Not to mention that orange makes my teeth look yellowish, too.

 Part of the problem is, unlike pink, it's not a great color for most of us to wear all over the face. Most brights aren't, really. A touch here and there, or a single feature in a stunning shade, keeps the balance better; and this is true for many skintones. Maybe the deepest, darkest skin looks great in brights everywhere; but why let them fight for attention? That woman in pink lips, in fact, had a low key look otherwise-- just barely there black liner and mascara, and shadow & blusher that didn't announce themselves stridently and take away from her lips-- a perfectly focused daytime look with a little extra pizzazz.

 Using the new oranges is kind of a trick, really-- do you want to add a hot flush to the underdside of your cheekbones? Go for it, grab something like Sephora Collection's Coral/Desert Flower blush duo, (or brighter, like BE's Fresh, if you can find it-- or Illamasqua's Vibrant Coral) and leave the eyes softer, in greens, blues, taupe or pale gray... then use a lipcolor in a different intensity. 

 There's another way to experiment, too, one I favor highly: go to the Dollar-type store nearest you and pick up their cheapo version of the eye and blush colors, to try your preferred level of brightness on for size. At worst you waste a few bucks, and the brands carried there, like L.A. Colors, have a nice smooth feel to their powdered makeup products. The liners aren't bad either, but the lipcolors are not as nice, in feel or ingredients, and I can't recommend them.

 The whole Color of the Year idea is kind of neat-- take whatever version of that color you can afford and wear, integrate that into your daily or going-out look, and know from then on that you are Fashionable. On the other hand, the specific color choice could be looked at as a mere update to the usual pastels of spring collections; which is fine, since it's a fresh-looking twist. And now that I've outlined, for myself at least, a way to approach it, I'll be adding a hot bronze liner or a bright peach blush to my daily look. At least while the sun is out.


 Peace, Mari

Fast Focus: 100 percent Pure Mascara

 Let's put a spotlight on this company and their products for a moment-- my experience is with the mascara, which I love so much, I've mentioned it to death! and also, bought some for both my niece and her mother for their birthdays this week. I also purchased a fruit butter lip balm for my sister, so I'll be able to update this post with a review of that later today, I think.

The products are cruelty free, made of pure plant-based ingredients, mostly vegan, and in lovely colors and formulas. The containers are recyclable and made from post-consumer recycled materials.

Here's their EARTH DAY prep email to me:

"100% Pure products are truly environmentally friendly: our formulas, packaging, labels, and packing materials are all safe for you and environmentally friendly. In honor of Earth Day (April 22nd), we wanted to highlight some ways 100% Pure is green.

Biodegradable formulas

It starts with our 100% natural, biodegradable formulas that don't contain any harmful chemicals or toxins that can pollute our bodies or our earth. This means our formulas are so pure, you can pour our formulas into the ground and they easily decompose into safe natural matter.

Recycled packaging

100% Pure packaging is made from recycled materials - post-consumer recycled glass, plastic, tin and paper. Materials otherwise that would have compiled into ever-growing landfills. Instead of creating more trash, we always package all our pure formulas in packaging that was once a water bottle, old coffee paper cup, old beer bottle, etc..

After you are done using your 100% Pure product, please continue the cycle and instead of placing in your trash, put in the recycling bin. If it is a plastic container, recycle with your other plastic #2, #4, or #5. If it's a glass container, please recycle with other glass; if it's metal packaging, please recycle with your soda cans.

Non toxic soy and vegetable inks

We use soy and vegetable inks on everything we print - from catalogs, labels, boxes, ribbons and even our makeup which is all colored from fruit and vegetable dyes! These natural fruit / vegetable / soy inks are non toxic and don't pollute our environment or our oceans when washed down.

Recycled packing materials

When you order from our website, the boxes that carry your products are from 100% recycled paper. The popcorn that cushions to protect your item is from 100% biodegradable (melts into corn starch when you add water to it). And when you finally open up your package - everything you're holding is from recycled materials. The outer box for our skincare is from recycled paper printed with soy / vegetable ink. The glass packaging is from recycled glass. The formula inside is 100% biodegradable! Its a full cycle. Thank you for supporting 100% Pure and we promise to be as green as possible.

Our future

Our neighbors are Reel Solar and we're planning on putting solar pannels on our roof as soon as they begin production of their solar panels (US solar manufacturing company). We have planted 1000's of plants / trees / flowers to beautify our local city of San Jose. We have installed a well to catch rain to use in our gardens and in our bathrooms. Our building is in the process of getting LEED certified because of how little waste we produce - we recycle / compost most everything. Of course all the light we have installed are energy saving. We reward our employees who take public transportation. Our company has a rebate program to whoever buys 100% electric cars."

So what's not to love? Here's a link, and my review, once more, of the fruit-pigmented mascara: this mascara smells divine (but not overbearing) from the fruit extracts. It leaves lashes softly flexible, with buildable coverage. Once on, lashes are water-resistant. It comes in four colors, not just two.  

And if it starts to clump or dry out before you're done with it, you can run the brush under cool clean water a second, then stick it into its tube and smush it around to thin out the color again like watercolour paint. it really works! I've had my first tube, in gorgeous Blackberry, for well over a year. The Blueberry is newer, just as sweet, and especially nice for my night-time looks.

 Of course, there is more to 100 Percent Pure than their fine mascaras, and if you have a review of another product, please send it along here. In any case, it's always good to see a company trying harder, and this company does.

 Treat yourself to something really worthwhile, pretty, and eco-friendly, and see what I'm talking about.

 Peace, Mari

So Many Colors, So Little Time

 Remember when there were three, four places you could buy makeup? At the drugstore, at department stores, at fine salons (that would carry one hoity-toity brand only), and from independent sales reps, like Avon ladies and Mary Kay reps and, eventually, Arbonne chicks?  You had your basic colors, you had your change-it-up lipstick or eyeshadow for special occasions or holidays, you might have some new shades for Spring or Fall-- not all new shades, just some. Unless you were a working makeup artist, though, you never had every color it was possible to have for every part of your face and body, just in case.

 It was a different culture of beauty, then. Some of the changes, like more acceptance of more kinds of beauty, greater choice, and products that serve multiple purposes, are wonderful. But as I look around, watching other makeup mavens and store patrons, I notice a change that is just sad. The instant availability of makeup through stores and websites, and the increased usage of beauty for every age, gender, and and socioeconmic group, had caused us to lose our perspective. Women freely and joyfully calling themselves 'beauty junkies' make no bones about the fact that they are happy to let cosmetic companies' marketing depts. encourage them to ignore all restraint, and really, all shame; they are happy to spend a bigger chunk of their weekly, monthly or even daily budget on more more more, than my mother used to spend feeding a family of 8.

(The definition of too much?)


 I'm telling you, I'm telling us, this ain't right. I'm telling us that although we should have a right to play, to experiment, to capture a mood in color, to spend what is ours however we want, it is still improper to consume the luxury that makeup is, as voraciously as we habitually do. We have lost our ability to tell the difference between needs and wants, and in extreme cases, we have learned to justify any want, however costly to ourselves or others.

What costs, you say?

 First of all, there's the eco issue-- all these things come in packaging that must be thrown away, to lie in landfills or pollute our oceans. You can't take that lightly, not without losing any arguments about rights afterwards. The planet isn't ours to ruin, especially for something as frivolous as glamour. Even when most containers were made of glass, and therefore could become sand again, we were only helping to make our deserts slowly bigger.

 Then there's the starving children of the world. It IS our problem too, and no matter how blase we've gotten from seeing the tragic pictures splattered over ever media surface we own, we need to remember that beauty can't be built on selfishness. Whether we can afford it or not, any one person that owns 150 eyeshadows that cost between $15-$40, or even $3-$13, has too many colors to actually wear, and too much, period. I'm pointing fingers at myself, here, too, so don't get ruffled up. I ask myself just as often-- how can I face the world knowing that so many don't have clean drinking water, decent education, food to live on, medical care? How can I honestly say that my next pink blusher matters more?

 And what about younger women-- why are they spending all this cash on materialistic shit that will be worth nothing as soon as they've used it? Do they even have half a clue that someday, they will not have another person footing their bills, or such a generous income? It isn't really disposable, ladies, take the word of a forty-something beauty junkie. Put some of that money away, for goddess' sake! Save some for college and afterwards, and if you still have so much that you could spend it on another five kinds of tangerine lipstick, give some to someone else that needs it for college. Then you'll know you're gorgeous.

 Here's a cold fact: more than 99 percent of the girls that call themselves makeup artists will never work in that field, and most of those that do, will quit. It's lovely and glamorous and cutthtroat and not as easy to get into as they think. I worked on the fringes, and found that that was all I could stand, and I ADORE beautifying others, and am very very good at it. But there's more to any job than the fun parts, and the un-fun parts of this one are many. There may even be better things you could do with your life, that will make you happy. Try some of them.

 So, what can we do, how can we find balance? Well, for starters, I dare you to keep track of every beauty purchase for six months to a year. Every moisturizer, cleansing cream, and each tube of lipstick, eyelash glue, every vial of mascara and bottle of nail lacquer. In fact, line them all up and think about how many of the containers you actually can and do reuse and recycle.

When you see how few, you might want to join me in petitioning all makeup companies, not just the precious few, to begin using biodegradable packaging. If Josie Maran can do it, they can.

 Then look at the big number-- how much you spent on your beauty habit. Let yourself realize other things that could have been done with part of that amount, while still looking damn good.

 Find something worthwhile to spend such an amount on. Aim for it. Maybe tell yourself no to every other "want'' purchase, and save the cash for another, better, use. Hell, you could even donate some new makeup to your local women's haven or homeless shelter instead-- those ladies can use a little kindness, and it's easier to make a fresh start looking great. I guarantee you, the programs that help out women in distress don't provide for such things.

 Myself? Every purchase I make, from now, has to pass some tests. Is it something I need, or just want? If I want, how bad-- and no matter how bad, how often will it get used? If the answer isn't "weekly'' or better, then it fails the test: and I'll pay a bill, buy a gift, donate to the volunteer fire dept., put something away for the cat's next vet checkup, or some other useful thing.

 Because true beauty has alot to do with how we behave in the world, and how we spend our resources. I've been lax too often lately. How about you?

 Peace, Mari

The Color Chronicles, Part 4: Having a Lashback

When it comes to eyeshadow, I have a craving for cream tones as big as The Pink Sith's yen for taupe,  even if I do keep far too many other colors on hand, just in case. But when it comes to covering my lashes, I not only want every color imaginable-- I use them, too.

This is contrary to what most makeup artists choose-- they almost always vote for black, for all uses.
Not me.

Black is nice for dark nights, for a fluttery Marilyn Monroe look, for out-and-out glamour, and for showing up against darker or black eyeshadow. But what about the rest of the time? Black can be too blatant, and it can also play up lines or puffiness around the eye.

Green against blues or peaches, or rusty browns, makes a nice contrast. It looks beautiful against gold or silvery shades, too. Blue adds depth to brown or black eyes, gives blue eyes a greener or greyer tone, and looks spacey or disco cool with purples, pinks, lavender.

 Purple is just rich, on any eye color, and very deep on black eyes. Burgundy mascara, my current favorite, warms and softens the whole look of the eye-- though, if your eyes are bloodshot, it's not the best choice that day. With browns, golds, rose colors to bolster it, burgundy gives a very romantic tone to the whole eye.

Brown mascara can either be subtle, against browns and darker colors, letting the shadow carry the day, or it can be a stark contrast with blue or cream tones, giving a refined elegance where black might seem too much. And against green or peach, it's an easy complement.

 Then there are the harder to find colors-- white, silver, gold, bronze. All of these have a place in a proper mascara wardrobe, but unless you use them frequently, the cost may be prohibitive. Unlike false lashes, that can sit unused for decades and take no damage, mascara needs to be replaced several times per year, so it makes sense to buy only colors you'll use.

 But I'm here to tell you, the more colors you use, the more you'll get out of them. Just start by trying on a blue or berry or green mascara someday when you'd normally put on black, or brown-black. Notice the differences in how your eyecolor pops. Then try it with colors that match-- another new look.

 It can be addictive. Perhaps it's best to experiment with less expensive brands, till you know what colors you'll really wear... for myself, my burgundy and purple colors are the most expensive mascaras in my makeup kit nowadays, and I think they're worth it. I'm also putting a little cash into higher end glue for my false eyelashes-- now that they have clear or black colored glue, in gentler formulas, I'm getting into those bad boys again. Another way to point up a great colored mascara, I think-- giving it more lashes to flirt with! And there are so many specialty lashes-- but that's another topic.

 Here's a sampler of some very usable mascaras that come in both standard and fun colors, that I've tried, liked, and kept buying:

 Lumene Blueberry Curl mascara, available at Ulta & Target stores-- a nice, gentle mascara with an easy to use brush. There are other formulations from this brand, and due to the generally great quality of their other products, I would recommend any of them that suit your needs.

Great Lash, by Maybelline-- still a well-priced everyday mascara, in many colors and formulas. You can't go wrong with this one.

 Exact Eyelights, by Cover Girl-- A slim brush that coats easily and great new colors with a hint of glint, meant to point up and brighten your particular eyecolor. DON'T stick to their agenda! Branch out, and try a color meant for a different eye-- you'll like it. I have several, in both waterproof and regular formulas, and they are lovely. Also by Cover Girl, NatureLuxe Mousse; not lots of color choices, but a nice, light coat in a gentle formula that feels more expensive than it is, and the brown is pretty.

100 Percent Pure Fruit-Pigmented Mascaras--  I've talked about these before, and I can't say enough! The colors are gorgeous, your lashes stay soft and flexible, the formulas are gentle and nourishing, and the stuff even smells good from the natural fruit extracts. Plus, when it starts to dry out, adding a little purified water to the container thins and refreshes it like a watercolor paint, helping you to get every last bit to be used and enjoyed. It's a might pricey, but nothing so much as Dior. My favorite brand, overall.

 Mark Lash All You Want Volume Mascara (Avon)-- this formula took over the neat colors, like violet and wine, that Mark's Scandalash brand used to offer. Luckily, it's just as good, and gives thicker lashes, too. The colors really stand out, and it's reasonably priced, all the time.

Smooth Minerals Mascara, by Avon-- a light and lush natural mascara with a great Navy color. Fairly gentle, wonderfully smudgeproof as all Avon's mascaras tend to be, and you cannot beat the price. I'd recommend any of Avon's mascaras for daily usage-- they always work.

BareMinerals Flawless Definition Curl & Lengthen Mascara, by Bare Escentuals-- Top of the line in both performance and nourishment, despite it's relatively low price compared to other high end mascaras-- at $18, this is the blackest black I have ever used. Can't wait to try their Brushless version.

Almay One Coat-- all formulations are gentler than your average drugstore mascara, and even the waterproof is okay for most sensitive eyes. It works on me, and I can only wear certain brands in waterproof. Not many colors, but the black/brown is deep and attractive.

 I'm slightly embarrassed to tell you, this list does not represent every brand/type I've liked and currently own, but it's enough for now. I'll say right here, I've never been impressed with Defencils, or any Clinique mascara, although I've used any and every other product of theirs happily since I was sixteen.

 I do still use and adore my cake mascara, a dry pack with its own little hairbursh-looking applicator that you wet each time you apply, from Maybelline. I believe it's discontinued, yet it's still around here and there; not easy to find, but gentle and unmatched for natural-looking, starry-eyed lashes. If you find it, buy one-- washing your brush each time you use it makes it last virtually forever. It's the one type you don't throw away after a few motnhs-- I've had mine for 10 years or more, and it's still good, and clean, and perfectly textured when used.

 To my mind the pricier brands are best tried after you've decided you like using a certain color, although colors vary from brand to brand. But getting used to wearing blue (or wearing blue again, for some of us) is a first step-- then go buy that nourishing, expensive or glossy upscale brand, and pamper your precious lashes. They deserve it, and so do you.

 Wishing you a colorful April!  

  Peace, Mari

Maybelline Cake Mascara in Velvet Black-- a pic!

Maybelline Cake Mascara in Velvet Black, a photo by Van Michelle on Flickr.

Rare and special! I've found it on Amazon for $39.95-- a little pricey, yeah. But that means that it is out there, somewhere.

Refresher Course

I spent the last week being sick, and recovering from being sick... well, some of me is recovered. I feel healthier, stronger, and have begun to be interested in food again. My skin isn't itchily dry anymore, and I can pick up the cat without groaning from the effort.

My face, however, came out of this pale enough that I could pass for being Albino, the circles under my eyes were hollow lavender pits, and my facial skin was dull, dull, dull.

 Lucky me, I received a much-needed care package from a reader and friend, (Thank you, A!) and I'm going to tell you about it right now.

 The goodies arrived a few days ago, from sephora.com; a wonderful, if coercively delicious, resource; and I opened up the box and went nuts on it as soon as I had the strength.

 It's the bareMinerals Radiant & Refreshed Collection, from Bare Escentuals:

  

 What it contains: A 30-day supply of moisturizer for combination skin, a full size black mascara, full size lip gloss, a full size tinted Hydrating Mineral Veil (powder), full size loose eyeshadow, and an antibacterial-treated mini powder brush to use with the Mineral Veil.

 How does it stack up, color wise? Well, the Renew eyeshadow is blessedly lighter than it appears on the box-- it's actually a honeyed opal, with plenty of shimmer but easily used for softer effect. Like most bareMinerals products, the color and coverage is buildable, so you use this (I can use this!) all-out super-glimmery, or softly done. I've already worn it over my everyday matte bone color, to add a hint of gleam, and it's lovely... even feels lovely on your skin, like a wash of silk.

 The Tinted Hydrating Mineral Veil gives the most delicate difference, compared to the regular Hydrating, a gentle radiant addition that is is no way shiny, but subtly brightens-- which I do so need just now, being both sun-starved and somewhat anemic. I'm using this as my daily powder for a while.
And the brush, unlike most of the bareMinerals natural hair brushes, doesn't shed-- a first!

 As for the Flawless Definition Curl & Lengthen Mascara, the name is an understatement-- this is the blackest mascara I've ever used, including Maybelline's Blackest Black. It has a several-sided textured brush, meant to separate and define every lash. The formula leaves the lashes fairly soft and flexible though-- a very nice, dramatic colored mascara with a natural-looking thickness; and it's always good to have one in your mascara wardrobe that you KNOW is nourishing, rather than drying out, your eyelashes. Especially at my age, where my lashes are thinning a bit. In my thirties, I wore hardcore brutal waterproof stuff constantly, but not anymore. I save that for when I truly need it, and for daily use try to coat my lashes with more gentle, moisturizing formulas, like this one. I'd recommend it without hesitation, but you do need to spend  a moment learning how to use the brush to it's best advantage. It's water-resistant, but removes easily with eye makeup remover or cold cream.

For the lips, let's take another look at this goodie box: 

  

You may be able to see from the pic that the Pretty Amazing LipGloss seems to match the picture well. And it does, to a degree-- what it is, really, is a very wearable nude, with a touch of something just between an opalescent and a pearly finish. Very glossy, sheer, not sticky on the mouth, and a revelation for me-- I've been trying for ages to find a nude lipcolor that didn't turn orangey on me, or bring out deathly sallow undertones in my skin.This does the trick! I tried it alone, and also with a flesh-toned lipliner just outlining my lips and blended to soften the line, and it really looks great. Finally, Mari gets to join the nude lip revolution! Of course, it could layer over a deeper color for a swirl of opal shine, too. This is a lipcolor with many uses, and especially pretty for wearing in Spring sunshine.

 I've saved the best for last, because I'm still trying to gauge the full effects, but the Purely Nourishing Moisturizer has, after four days of use, made my skin seem tighter, smoother, almost as poreless as in my early thirties, and it appears to be evening out my skintone as well. Yes, I mean it, and yes, I am shocked to find a moisturizer that actually does what it says it will do-- it's not taking away my wrinkles, okay, although they seem less apparent; it is making my skin look fresher, healthier, younger, clearer, prettier. I can't say what it would do for you, but I'm hooked-- I have been enjoying Philosophy's Hope in a Jar, knowing that it would be too rich for me in summer. But the bareMinerals Purely Nourishing disappears instantly, is utterly non-greasy, and I could use it during the steamiest summer, not worrying about my slight t-zone. For the coldest winter, I might need to step up to their dry skin formulas, but for now, I'm happy. I've always known that regular use of the bareMinerals makeup enhanced and improved my skin's texture, and now I can't think why I didn't try their skincare, too, apart from financial considerations.

 But let's face it-- good skin costs less to prettify, at all times.  Based on my experience with this kit and these products, I believe I'll soon be trying bareMinerals cleansers, too, although I do love my easy-to-use facial wipes from the Christmas Tree Shops... and their low cost can help offset higher end cosmetics and skincare.

 Who knew?

 All in all, I feel that I will be able to walk into the big family Easter dinner this weekend looking pretty and well, despite having spent a week hunched over a bowl on the couch. So let me thank, again, my friend and reader, A, for this sweet, unexpected bounty; and let me thank all of you that do pop in here from time to time. I'd love to hear more from you, and all about your beauty strategies and your must-have products, too.


 Here's hoping you have a radiant, refreshed weekend. Peace, Mari

Beautiful Reading

 In past posts, I've mentioned Kevyn Aucoin's books several times. I've been reading them, and now I want to specifically recommend them to you, as a valuable resource, and just good reading on the subjects of beauty, confidence, and makeup.

 One of the reasons I enjoy Kevyn's books so much is that our background ideas about beauty are similar: what works for you is the key, for both of us; not some trendy idea based on another person's bone structure. Both of us came to be makeup artists through trial and experimentation on anyone and everyone that would be our guinea pigs. I understand where he's coming from, deeply, and wish I'd gotten the chance to chat with him before his unfortunate passing. So there's a family feeling I get from his books, but that wouldn't be enough of a reason to recommend them as helpful.

 What blows me away about his approach is that he throws out the ubiquitous and limiting bullshit about face shapes, tosses aside bigoted beauty standards that for years and decades have told some women that their lips or faces were too full, or too long, or too thin. Too anything that didn't fit the single look of the time. Standards that ignored the loveliness of most races, and mixed race or descent, and promoted ungettable goals to most of us, making us miserable. When I look through other makeup workbooks, I'm stunned afresh at the limiting and negative language. 

 Old makeup books were full of advice on how to make your lips look less full, or fuller if they were thin. On how to fake cheekbones, on how to change your skintone or hide freckles... how about celebrating the unique qualities that make you YOU? No, that kind of advice was in short supply.

Kevyn's workbooks show how any look can be adapted for our own needs and skin and shape, for our own personal beauty. And he does it with freshness, clarity and infectious good cheer, a constant stream of "yes, try this," instead of "no, not for you." Rather than curtailing your options because of face shape or coloring, he speaks in terms of textures, like softness and dewiness, or in terms of balance (light eyes, light mouth, dark eyes, light mouth, etc.). There are exciting, interesting new ways of using products you probably already have on hand, and good ideas for how spend your beauty bucks in future. Best of all, there is beautiful inspiration for all ages.

 Over my 4+ decades of trying to look pretty, I've read dozens of makeup manuals, hundreds of beauty articles, watched many an instructional video, and I can say that Kevyn's books are utterly different in the best way-- groundbreaking, really, and invigorating even to a jaded makeup junkie like myself. If I'd had them as a teen, I would have progressed to a healthier beauty outlook much faster. I wouldn't have courted sun damage trying for a tawny golden bronze goddess look, I can tell you that. Having them now, is still good. Inside them, you'll find some classic makeup looks and some current ones, all with step-by-step instructions and tips.

 Read them, try out what you like, leave what you don't. My library system carries them, and it's a smart way to decide if you want to spend the money on them, first. Have a look, and while you're there, pick up The Makeup Wake Up, also worth reading.

 And let's get ready for Spring, shall we?

 Peace, Mari