La Chant des Cigales? Non! Les Chansons des Gens! Or..Some Great French Music You May Be Missing Out On!

Posted on October 1, 2017 by Catherine

As mentioned in yesterday’s blog post, Monsieur Lartigue has asked me to compile a listing of French music, especially French pop music, that his students and clients may find helpful and enjoyable.

A sampling of a few of my French pop music.  There’s just so much!

How could I not turn this into a blog post of its own?

If you’ve ever been to France—whether it’s Paris or Brittany or from other points north down to the Cote d’Azur, you know that something as simple as a song that you’ve heard while traveling will trigger nothing but great memories.

And I’m THAT person who keeps all my French music alphabetized and organized.  It’s about the only thing I’m organized about!

If you’ve never been to France, and are planning a trip in the near or distant future, you may want to familiarize yourself or immerse yourself into the culture to gain a bit of an education about Gallic tastes in entertainment. Or, you just may be interested in the music.

Are you going my way in France?  Yeah, the scenery is gorgeous–but you can’t bring this home.  Buy music instead!

Whatever the reason, there is always a moment that piques your interest in French music.  For me, the “Aha” moment was while on our way to Versailles some years back.  Bonaparte was driving and I was surfing the radio stations.  I came across a station—Nostalgie Radio.  This was the equivalent of the oldies radio stations in the States.  Pop music that spanned decades was offered and boy, were my ears opened wide! The instant I heard that first French pop song, I was hooked.

This station. Solely responsible for my lust of French Pop Music!

From that point on, it was my mission to search out CD’s with every visit to Paris or other points within the country.  In Paris, it was, and remains, Gibert Joseph Musique on Blvd. St. Michel over in the 6th.

And you just never know what surprises lurk in the midst of the CD’s.  It could be live music!

When we are in Theoule, I always check out the CD offerings at Géant Hypermarché in Mandelieu and FNAC in Cannes.  My bag is always full.

True. Not only can you get groceries here, but it is a Pandora’s box of  French music you’ve never heard!

Believe me. Cannes is so much more than the film festival.  It’s a place where you can buy lots of music. Remember the pronunciation is “fnac”–one syllable. Not “Fa-nack”–and I’ve heard Americans say that!

The remarkable thing about French Pop music is that you can learn the language in a fun way.  And the music is a pleasure to listen to!

Anyway, here’s a few recommendations from my collection—not all are “Pop” but the mix is eclectic and enjoyable:

Les Chanteuses

Celine Dion’s French Language CD’s:  This is unusual for me because I can’t stand Celine Dion when she sings in English. For some reason, her voice always sounds a bit strained but when she sings in French, it’s a whole ‘nother ballgame.  Her voice is effortless when she sings in French. It’s just beautiful. If you see any French language CD of Dion’s, don’t think—just buy it.  You’ll see what I mean.

You got it Celine.  I have NO idea what you are saying when you sing. I only know that your songs sound much better in French!

Dalida: Dalida Nostalgie Collection I love Dalida. I love her voice.  I love her hair. I love everything about her. I love the fact that some of her songs—especially the ones recorded in the 1970’s were slightly on the cheesy side. It doesn’t matter.  And her duet “Paroles” with Alain Delon makes me swoon.  If you get the chance, try to watch the bio-pic “Dalida”—it’s incredibly sad.  She was an extraordinary talent and she lives on eternally in France—she’s still a hugely popular singer.  This collection of songs is a great CD to start off with.

I love Dalida so much that I follow her fan page on Instagram. Don’t judge. Dalida is epic. And this Nostalgie compilation is epic too!

Francoise Hardy: Tout les Garcons et les Filles I have two CD’s of hers but my favorite by far is this remix of her first album. It’s a great introduction to the infamous ye-ye girl sound.  The songs are short and sweet. This CD makes me want to get dressed in miniskirts, boots, and fitted turtleneck sweaters.

 

Francoise Hardy.  She’s so …so….so…French!  The epitome of the ye-ye Girl.  And the CD is as adorable as she is!

Sandrine Kiberlain: Manquait plus qu ‘ça.  She’s an actress and I had no idea that she was a singer until I heard one of her songs on a compilation.  I found this CD, in a bin at Gibert Joseph. I think I paid 2 euros and it is one of my favorites. Her voice is soft and the songs have a very middle-eastern sound to them.

Who knew this actress could sing?  And her CD is one of my all-time favorites!  Highly recommended by moi!

Carla Bruni: Comme Si de rien n ‘était. Madame Sarkozy is also a recording artist in her own right.  I’m a huge fan of Bruni.  She has one of those wonderfully raspy voices. Bruni is a talented guitarist and songwriter as well.  This is a beautiful CD. Who knew the former first lady of France, who was also quite the party girl in her modeling days, would be such a fabulous musical talent?

My kids know me well.  My son Jake had this CD burned for me.  Actually, we are a family who appreciates Ms. Bruni’s, Madame Sarkozy’s talent!  This is one fantastic CD!!

Liane Foly: Reve Orange.  Hands down. Foly is my favorite French femme singer.  Her voice is like brandy, it’s so smoky, and deep and rich and enticing.  I have a couple of her CD’s and need to add more.  You want to listen to her as you sip your aperitif before dinner.

Liane Foly.  Wow!  I wish she would tour the USA because I would have a front-row seat.  She is, hands down, my favorite French Chanteuse.

Zaz:  Zaz.  Aka Isabelle Geffroy, is one of the most popular French singers of all time.  She’s hard to pinpoint as far as style goes. She’s pop. She’s jazz. She’s friggin’ talented.  Sometimes she can sound like Piaf. Most times not. Zaz is another one of the gifted raspy voice. This, her first CD is an enjoyable way to meet her!

Zaz on the cover of her first CD. I’m happy that I own this. She’s young but an iconic singer in France.

Les Chanteurs

Michel Polnareff: The Best Of. Ain’t gonna lie. I got chills the first time I heard Polnareff’s voice.  He’s been around for a long time—since the early ‘60s, and like fine wine he gets better.  The Admiral (as he’s referred to) is still making music.   His early pop ye-ye music is sweet and adorable and he’s evolved into a wonderful songwriter.

If you can track this CD down.  Do!!  Polnareff has been around a long time and he’s one of the best talents France has to offer.  I love this guy!!!  

Michel Delpech:  The Best Of.  I’m telling you, these “best of” compilations are the best way to become familiar with the French singers you may not know about.  Delpech had me at the song “Pour en Flirt”.  It is such a catchy song and pure pop.  Many French people I know are enamored of his song “Chez Laurette” which is more of a pop ballad and was very, very popular.

R.I.P. Michel Delpech.  But you live forever in your music. This CD is a great introduction to Delpech. It’s got some of his biggest hits and it does not disappoint!

Yannick Noah:  Pokhara.  Yes.  This is that Yannick Noah. The Tennis champion.  After retiring from sport, he became a singer and a very popular one!  This CD was a find for me at one euro.  It’s a nice CD.

Pokhara has a Marley vibe.  Be warned. If you get this CD, you will be singing the song “ye-mama-ye” all day long. All. Day. Long. It’s infectious in the best way!

Joe Dassin: Les Meilleur de Joe Dassin.  He turned many US hits into French ones through the power of translation. Maybe because he was born in the USA.  He was Brooklyn boy but during the 1950’s his dad was blacklisted and the family moved to France.  He was incredibly popular and this CD is easy to see why.

Joe Dassin.  He’s like SpaghettiOs.  Totally Franco-American!

Daniel Balavoine: Master Series.  Balavoine’s voice has tremendous range.  His records sold over 20 million copies in France and throughout Europe.  He’s one of my favorites. His songs are pop and not necessarily the happiest of themes are covered.  Many are about heartbreak and despair.  Balavoine was killed in a helicopter crash in 1986 on the way to a charity concert.  The song, “La vie ne m’apprend rien,” written and sung by Balavoine went on to be covered by just about every singer in France.  Liane Foly gives the best cover version. Ever!

A tremendous talent who met an untimely passing. I’ve got a couple of his CD’s and his voice is big!  Big and beautiful!

Laurent Voulzy.  Belle Ile en Mer and Belem. This guy.  This guy.  His voice is so gentle and soft and sweet and charming and it is nothing not short of great.  I remember the first time I heard him.  We were driving in Theoule.  We were just winding a bend that overlooks the bay.  Nostalgie was on the radio and this song came on and I started doing one of those sit-down dances. The song was “Rockollection” and put a smile on my face. It’s a friggin’ happy song! One of the best French pop songs of all time. So great, in fact, that it’s been updated.  The Belle ile en Mer CD contains a playlist of his fabulous pop songs—especially poppy is “Bubble star”—another song that’ll put a smile on your face.

Voulzy’s latest CD. Belem.  Oh. How I love this. And you will too!  Go to Amazon right now and order this. That’s an order!

Belem is Voulzy’s most recent CD. It was released last month.  It’s a great collection of songs with a Brazilian flair.  Honestly, if you get the chance, buy this one. It’s one of those CD’s that’ll bring your mind directly to your favorite beach while envisioning the heat hitting your face while you drink a Rum concoction!

Alain Souchon: Comme Vous Voulez.  This is a CD among the five Souchon CD’s that we have.  His voice is soft—very similar to Voulzy.  His songs are easy to understand, his voice is very clear and the melodies are very sweet and easy on the ears! And he is extremely popular in France!

Alain Souchon and Laurent Voulzy.  Collaborators and similar sounds.  If you like a soothing voice–either one will please you!

Georges Brassens:  Best of Volume 2. I wouldn’t call his music pop.  I would refer to it as musical poetry.  Brassens is an iconic figure in France because of his words and songs.  If you really, really want to l, earn the French language through song, then listen to Brassens. His voice is so spectacularly clear and his pronunciation is impeccable.  In fact, after listening to some of his poetry to music, after a while, you’ll be able to understand what he is singing about.  I never get tired of listening to him.

Brassens. Volume 2 and 3.  I’m listening to Volume 2 as I write this now.  The clarity of his voice is sensational!

Hugues Aufray:  Le Disque D’Or.  Hugues Aufray has been around forever.  Two songs on this CD are incredible. Celine, which is one of the most beautiful love songs and Santiano, a song I have no idea what its about but I like it!

This is a remix of an old CD but I dig this guy.  He’s been around for ages!

Les Groupes and Other Pairings:

Suarez:  On Attend  L’indécideur . Every now and then you discover a gem. That’s what happened when I discovered Suarez.  On Attend was in a 1-euro bin and I went for it.  Best one euro I ever spent.  This Belgium/Madagascar group plays songs that are catchy and melodic.  The L’incedideur CD is just as good.  I can’t for the life of me figure out why this group hasn’t achieved world-wide fame. They are that good.  On Attend is one of those CD’s, that if you play it in your car, you won’t eject it for months.  I know this. I have two copies of On Attend and one is in my car’s CD player and has been there for quite a while!

How do I love Suarez? Let me count the CD’s. I have TWO copies of On Attend. Does that give you an idea?

Notre-Dame de Paris. This is a soundtrack of the play.  If you ever get the chance, try to find the DVD because it will make you cry.  I’m not kidding.  The next best thing—the CD.  When we saw this in FNAC, we immediately picked it up and ran to the cashier!  Garou, the incredible French-Canadian singer plays Quasimodo and his voice is that man-raspy voice but it is sooooo good!!  Daniel Lavoi is Frollo and Patrick Fiori is Phoebus—so right away you have three great male singers.  The big hit of the soundtrack is the haunting “Belle”—in which all three men sing their love for Esmeralda.  Oh. I just got the chills!

Double your entertainment. Track down the DVD and watch it. It will move you to the point of tears. In the meantime, if you can get your hands on this soundtrack, by all means do it!!

Amelie.  It’s bad enough that I watch the movie at least once a month.  I’ve memorized half the dialogue.  But I also had to have the soundtrack because of the music by Yann Tiersen.  The soundtrack is quirky and a bit unusual in spots but nonetheless very French!!

The music from my favorite movie of all time. Need I elaborate????

Comme des Freres. Shameless plug for this soundtrack.  Bonaparte’s cousin, Hugo Gelin, directed this film. It was his first major film.  Hugo was also very serious about the music for the film.  The group, Revolver preforms a good portion of the music.  An American hit on the soundtrack is the fun “Shame, Shame, Shame” by Shirley & Company.  Remember that adorable song?

If you look up “Parallel Lines” from Comme des Freres on YouTube, you’ll see Hugo in the video. You’ll also see a very young Pierre Niney!

Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg:  I can’t even with these two. I love them both to pieces.  What a couple!!!  Although I wouldn’t call Birkin the greatest singer, there’s something very charismatic about her voice. It’s so sing-songy sweet. She’s very dreamy to listen to.  And Serge Gainsbourg—he’s got some X-rated songs but for the most part, he’s ridiculously talented.  He kind of reminds me of Leonard Cohen with the voice. The Nostalgie collection of Birkin’s hits and the Gold collection of Gainsbourg are worth listening to if you aren’t familiar with either as singers.

I love Serge Gainsbourg because of his humor and because he always looks like he just woke up.  And Birkin is more than just a bag. OK?  She’s even better as she’s aged. I love her!

Jacques Dutronc/Thomas Dutronc: Talent sure runs in this family.  Jacques Dutronc is Francoise Hardy’s husband, Thomas is their son (not only is he talented, but the looks. The genetics here. Please.) Jacques Dutronc, in my opinion, is the Ray Davies of the French singers.  His songs from the 1960’s are witty and funny and he has that pop garage band thing going on.  Thomas is more contemporary but just as talented on the guitar.  These CD’s are fun to listen to!

Frere Jacques and fils, Thomas.  Those genes.  And yes. Thomas is very talented!

Alain Souchon & Laurent Voulzy:  Oui. Oui. Oui. They made a CD!!  And I have it and it is wonderful.  Please order this on Amazon.  The songs Consuelo and Bad Boys are worth the price.  Both these men have voices that blend so well together, it’s no wonder they tour together and record together!

Oh…this CD. I’m in love with it.  I strongly suggest putting this on your “must buy” list. These guys.  My heart skips a beat when I listen to them!

France –The Greatest Songs Ever:   This is a terrific sampling of some of the best pop songs and then some.  You’ve got your usual—Piaf, Aznavour, Charles Trenet and then you have others. And the others are what got me interested in their CD’s. Liane Foly, Raphael and Renaud were two singers I had never heard before I listened to this CD.  Now they are among my faves! And the cover insert comes with French Recipes!  How great is that?

This CD doesn’t lie.  Some of those songs ARE the greatest!

Chanson Française: OK. This 3-disc compilation was purchased over the summer at Géant Hypermarché. It was all of 5 euros. Grocery shopping in France leads to so many surprises.  Disc 1 is by far the favored, but the other two contain quite a few pop hits.   If you’re ever at Géant in Mandelieu -la-Napoule, might I suggest you saunter on to the back of the store where the books and TV’s are sold and head over to the CD section?  You’re welcome!

Top left–best five euros I’ve spent at a supermarket.  Chanson Francais. A great value and a great listen.  Putamay0’s Acoustic France is readily available at Barnes & Noble and is a great introduction to French music. There’s some good stuff on this CD!

Acoustic France:   This CD is one of the Putumayo compilations.  It was purchased years ago at Barnes & Noble.  And it is a goodie!  Again, it is a reliable source and sampling of various French singers to discover.  I found out that Sandrine Kiberlain was a singer from this CD.  This should be very easy to obtain and I think if you are interested in French music, this is a good one to have in your collection.

Naturally, there’s a lot more music where these came from, and this is just a sampling.  Amazon carries just about these CD’s and you can have them delivered to your door!

Renaud is another much-loved musician.  Mistral Gagnant is oddly, not about the mistral winds but a memory of a candy bar aptly named–Mistral Gagnant!

Hey. Sometimes you can make a purchase that isn’t all that great. I LOVE Jean-Jacques Goldman but this CD was NOT all that and a bag of chips.  Next time I’ll do better!

Julien Clerc is another well-known singer. He’s got one of those very dramatic voices. He’s been around a while!

This guy. Raphael.  He’s great!  His song “Caravane” is absolutely gorgeous and a bit ethereal!

Frero Delavega. I’m a fan of this duo. They were on the French equivalent of “The Voice” and ended up with a couple of very successful CD’s. This is a winna!!

C. Jerome. If you are in the mood for pure pop, the kind of music you remember from middle school, this is the CD for you.  Personally, I’m a sucker for bagpipes and on  the song Himalaya–yes. Bagpipes.  I’m getting the vapors here!  I love this CD!

And if you are planning a trip to Paris or parts in France anytime soon, remember to check out the music.  Purchasing music is such an inexpensive way to bring the best memories home.

What song can I give you as a sample?  Well, it was a tough decision so I picked two.  One. Liane Foly’s version of Daniel Balavoine’s “La vie ne m’apprend rien”

And..the writer of the song above, but he’s singing “Aziza”.  Daniel Balavoine

 

 

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The Swiftness of Saturday—From Running Errands to Discovering a Treasure of Old Books!

Posted on September 30, 2017 by Catherine

Fall has finally arrived on this last day of September!  We woke up this morning to those low clouds—you know, the gray ones that when you look closely, you can see a bit of blue sky but for the most part, the day is a shade of gray.  And the trees were swaying in the wind.  And the temperature dropped down to the point of welcoming today as the first official day of “sweater weather”!

The beginning of the gray weather–with a bit of blue sky peeking through. That’s Fall!

Chippy needed a day with his canine buddies and Bonaparte dropped our little rascal off while I got ready.

Is that smile because he’s going to be with his buddies–or is it because he wants food!

Today was a “drug store” makeup day.  I wanted to do something quick and easy because it was going to be errand day and afterward a relaxing afternoon of baking bread, preparing my Frenchman’s favorite appetizer, Salmon Rillettes, and my writing.

Did I ever tell you what Bonaparte does?  He’s a consultant for companies who want to prepare employees going abroad to live.  He also has private clients.  He’s always looking for ways to keep his clients interested and has created a book—he asked me to compile a listing of French singers and the CD’s that I love and listen to so that he can pass the information on to his clients.  This is actually a great idea and when I finish the list, I’ll be posting it on the blog.

Actually, Bonaparte is a lot of fun!!

Back to the drug store face.  I decided to use Rimmel’s 25 Hour foundation but first applied e.l.f. primer.  This primer, for six bucks, is decent. It does the job and keeps the makeup on.

Two drugstore items worth checking out! 

The foundation is good too. It’s a great match for my skin tone, but I find the difference between drugstore foundation and higher end foundation is that you need more of the drugstore stuff to get coverage.  This is a very liquid foundation and isn’t full-coverage but for a day of “light” makeup—it’s fine!

I applied with a dampened beauty sponge, let it “set” then sprayed fancy water on my face.

For the eyes, I wanted a lighter look too.  I took out my Makeup Revolution palette. This palette.  The seven dollars I spent was well-worth it. These shadows are like silk. I’m not kidding.  They apply so nicely.  I hit pan on a few of the colors and will have to make it back to Ulta to get another one.

This palette may have seen better days, but the shadows are so silky. Best $7.00 spent on a palette!

This look is very similar to yesterday’s but the difference is that the Revolution shadows are so silky and are incredibly easy to blend. 

Dressed and ready to go. I wore my new “Lovebird” sweater.  I’m very impressed with this one. The fit is fabulous. I got it in a “Medium” because I wanted a looser fit.  The length of the sweater is what I like because it isn’t cropped and isn’t too long. It comes just below the belly and at the top of the hips.  The sleeves were a bit long but I turned up the cuff.  Since I’m not big on bright colors, the birds added just the right amount of color-pop. Bright but not over the top.

Isn’t the sweater adorable?  I took my blue suede shoes out of hiding and wore some ladylike fake pearls. A fun Saturday look!

We headed back to J. Crew Factory because I wanted to do some early Christmas shopping but nothing struck me. So, we went to Costco to get some flowers and salmon.  The price on fresh flowers at Costco is excellent and so is the selection.

Oh!  Here’s the finished face with the drugstore makeup!  I do have the Fenty ColorBomb gloss on my lips. It looks very nice and light in this natural lighting!

What shocked me was that the Christmas decorations are out in force. It’s one thing to do early Holiday shopping, but come on—it isn’t even Halloween yet!

Look at this very “special” tree. The lights change color.  I’ll stick to our real tree at Christmas time!

Frosty here comes at a hefty price!  I’ll bet the day after Christmas he’ll be reduced to less than $25!

Our next stop was in Rosemont.  We had to run a few more errands over on the Mainline and Bonaparte decided to make a stop at a shop I had never heard of.  The shop?  The Title Page.

I had no idea that I would be entering the threshold of…

….a truly magical world of….

A shop of used, old, and rare books.  Oh, be still my heart!  You have no idea how much I love old bookshops.  As soon as we entered I was swooning from the musty, musky scent of old books. If I could bottle that scent, I would!

old books…

…used books, and more old books.  I could have spent the entire day here!

As B headed over to the “smart people” books, I made a beeline for the aisle that housed the children’s books.  I almost cried when I spotted old, old copies of Mary Poppins books—the series.  The Hollisters.  The Betsy Books.  Heidi.  Books from my childhood when I spent hours and hours and hours escaping into the world of each author’s characters.

Then I spotted cookbooks.  This was like being in a fantasy land. I had visions of being stuck here overnight with a sleeping bag and a flashlight.  I ended up making a purchase more from sentimental value.

The Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. From 1965.  This cookbook was my mother’s food bible.  My eyes started to mist up as I thumbed through the pages because I remembered so many of the photos in the book. I also remember many of the recipes she made.

While I realize this may have been an odd choice of an older book to make, it was purely sentimental..

I remember these pages!!!

..and even MORE oddly, THIS photograph of a fluffy omelet was the one photo that piqued my interest in cooking. I was completely fascinated that an omelet could look like this.  I know. I’m not quite right but I don’t care.  I could frame this!!  Tommorrow I’m going to make this fluffy omelet for dinner!

The owner, Beverley Potter, is a charming woman who is welcoming, friendly and just plain nice!!

Here’s Beverley Potter!  If you are in the Bryn Mawr/Rosemont area, stop by this treasure chest of literature used and of the past. It’s an incredible bookshop!

I’m going to be revisiting—and perhaps I’ll be able to find a long, lost copy of my favorite childhood book, Little Ballerina!

Before I became hooked on chapter books, there was this.  Little Ballerina was my favorite book–well, besides Madeline it was my favorite book.  I would love to get my hands on a copy of this.  The illustrations alone bring me back to that time….

Hard to believe that when we arrived back home it was well into the afternoon.

And so, I’m sitting here writing this as the rillettes are made, the bread is in the oven, Bonaparte went to fetch Chippy, and I need to clear the dining room table because all my “stuff” needs to be out of sight so I can set the table.

Tonight also marks the first official dinner we will be having indoors. Summer is now officially over!

Boy—did this day move swiftly!

The Costco flowers!  Aren’t they pretty under the photographs that J. H. Lartigue took?

Almost time for our aperitif!  Enjoy the rest of the weekend!!

OK. So Tchin Tchin was misspelled.  It’s the thought that counts!

One of the singers I’m including in my list is Laurent Voulzy.  He had a huge hit in France with the song “Rockollection”  I had no idea that he also made an updated version of the song. Here it is, and if this doesn’t put a huge smile on your face—nothing will!

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How To Be A Savvy Shopper and Make a Bad Purchase Work!

Posted on September 29, 2017 by Catherine

While enjoying the many photos of those I follow on Instagram earlier this morning, I was struck by an ad.  Yeah. The most annoying thing about Instagram is the never-ending parade of sponsored ads.  I hide them all.

My emoji twin and I are quite annoyed over the Instagram Ads. Is everything on this earth sponsored these days?

Anyway, I stopped to look at an ad from RueLaLa.  Are you familiar with this site?  The site has some great deals but the ad this morning was a click and bait for me.  The photo in the ad was a pair of Stuart Weitzman boots.  Stuart makes some beautiful boots—I’ll tell you that.  And the ad contained wording that boots were up to 50 percent off.  Naturally, I thought all the Weitzman boots were 50% off. Then I saw two words “Up to”.  And I knew…..

See–this is where I’m an ass.  The ad doesn’t say  Stuart Wetzman “BOOTS”. I assumed that it was for all boots being 50% off.  Look at the pictures. They aren’t 50 percent off.  And that boot on the left-hand side is on RueLaLa for 599.99

They weren’t.  50 percent off, that is.

Other brands could be found for a very good discount but the pricing of the Stuart Weitzman boots was, pretty much what most stores and sites have the same boots on sale for.

Ain’t gonna lie. The Catherine Malandrino boots are a very good buy–but I would still price them at other sites and stores before clicking.  The price on the Frye boots is very good too. But when it comes to an item like that, I would rather buy in-store because it is more convenient to return if it doesn’t work out.

Prices for Weitzman boots ranged from $497 at Nordstrom Rack up to $800 at Net-A-Porter. Note: the various pricing was for different models but they were all the Over-the-Knee boots. The shoes with the largest discount are the flat 50/50 boots which have been a constant in popularity over the past few years.

These Weitzman’s were at Nordstrom Rack for $497.

This model was $800 on Net-A-Porter’s site.

And this is an example of how to be a savvy shopper.  We all need boots. Right?  Most of us have the obligatory “snow-and-bad-weather” boots which are the ones that keep our feet warm while we are shoveling snow, at a winter’s tailgate or outside during very bad weather conditions.

My Hunter boots. Delegated for only the worst of weather.  These are not the most comfortable boots I own. And yes, I purchased them on sale!

I’m not talking about those boots.  I’m talking about the fashionable boots that we love to wear to work or out on date night or a night out with the girls or when we just want a dressier or more polished look.

Would I enjoy owning a pair of Stuart Weitzman boots?  Of could I would.  But, as I am not of the one percent, I cannot afford to spend upwards to $800 on a pair of boots.  Don’t get me wrong—if you can afford them, that’s great, and I harbor no ill feelings at all. It’s just for me and the average woman, that’s a lot of dough to spend on a pair of boots.

Pretty much the face I make when items are out of my price range!

And considering the cost-per-wear, the price escalates.

Presently in my closet are 12 pairs of boots.  I’ve had most of them for over 5 years. The average cost per pair, as I purchased them all on sale is about a hundred bucks—some a bit higher, some lower in price. I’ve purchased three pairs of these boots at Nordstrom Anniversary Sale.

I’ve also purchased a couple of pairs of Stuart Weitzman knock-offs—or dupes.  Here they are and both pairs were considerably less money than the higher end.  The cost-per-wear is great because I don’t wear these boots every day—even in season, I don’t wear them that often.

This is my faux suede pair of boots similar to the Stuart Weitzman ones.  I paid about $79 for these last year at DSW. They are by Charles David, are comfortable as all get out and..

They look great and fit very well up above the knee!

These are my faux leather (pleather)–or rather VEGAN boots from Unisa. These cost me $39.99 almost three years ago and they remain in great shape. 

These are similar to one of the Weitzman 50/50 models.  Extremely comfortable and for the price, they have done very well!

J. Crew and J. Crew Factory have great sales. I don’t think I’ve ever made a purchase that wasn’t a sale item from J. Crew. When the new roll-outs arrive, I check online to see what I like. Then I take a trip to the mall and stop by the store to check the items out to see how they are made, if they fit well, and then I sit and wait.  Because within a few weeks’ time, every item will go on sale. And that’s when I go in for the kill!

J. Crew.  No wonder it’s my favorite store!!!

In fact, today, J. Crew Factory is having a BOGO on sweaters.

J. Crew Factory and I have a special relationship.  I receive emails.

Is this really a good deal?  Yeah. And I’ll explain.  We are getting closer and closer to the Holiday Season.  Let’s face it.  In October the stores will start to bring out the Christmas artillery and the seed to start our Holiday shopping will be planted.

I’ve got my eye on that cute navy sweater with the lovebirds. It’s adorable!

This sweater BOGO is great for those who want to begin their Christmas shopping.  In fact, I know a young lady who would love the little Frenchie dog sweater!   Now is the time to start searching for good buys. And with a bit of research, you can find them!

And I know a certain someone named Oona who would LOVE this little Frenchie dog on a sweater.  See what I mean?  I could start stocking up on gifts for Christmas with a BOGO like this one!

If you are thinking of purchasing more expensive items for your winter wardrobe, wait till summer’s end when the Nordstrom Anniversary sale rolls around.  For coats, boots, shoes, and bags, this sale is fantastic. While I realize it is a bit late to mention this, it is a reminder for next year!

And you don’t have to go high end to find an excellent value.   When it comes to basics, like white tee shirts, besides my beloved white tees from Old Navy, check out the boy’s department for XL or Large packages of white tees or the men’s department for XS or small white tees.  Sometimes you have to think outside the box—or the gift box!!

Same goes for jewelry.  I don’t have much “good” jewelry.  All the good stuff has been from Bonaparte. My engagement and wedding rings, pearl earrings, another pearl ring are just about the most precious jewelry that I own.  Everything else is strictly costume.  I’ve purchased faux pearls at dollar stores.  And my hoop earrings only come from one place—Walmart!

And this is another reason I stick to costume, and cheap, costume jewelry. If you have to hock the good stuff, you’ll get what he gives!

Even my wigs are purchased at a discount price.

My hairs.  All at a cost of less than a wash and blow dry at the salon!  Although I admit, I do miss Adam but I don’t have enough hair worth spending the money!

The thing is, I research before purchase.  Yes. I still make the occasional impulse buy and I’ve made some bad purchase choices—everyone does.  But at least I got them on sale!

And who hasn’t made an impulse buy???

And I think as we get older, our spending priorities change.  These days, I would rather spend the money on travel.  Many of us are on fixed incomes so budgeting is paramount.  But it still doesn’t mean you can’t spend.  We just should be savvier when it comes to doing so.

Speaking of bad purchase choices, a while back I purchased a contour palette by NYX. It was an impulse buy at Target.  For some bizarre reason, the palette was $12 and I’ve seen this palette sold for as much as $24.  When I got around to using it as a contour I realized that the powders were too drying on my skin and just didn’t work for me.

Definitely, an impulse buy!

Then I turned things around and started to use the contents of the palette as eye shadow.  Is it a go-to or “must use” palette?  No. It isn’t. But some of the colors are a desirable choice if I want a very natural look.  I used this today because I wanted a more natural look.

The three colors I used on my eyes….

This works much better as an eyeshadow than contour and highlighter for me!

The natural look was because today I applied for a Social Security card with my new last name. I also went to have my driver’s license changed and thought that I would need a new photograph.  Hence, I wanted a more natural look.

See–the eyes look nice and not overdone!

Suffice it to say, I was a savvy shopper when it came to changing my license.  It would have cost me $47 to have a new driver’s license issued with a new photo.  The other choice was a little yellow card with my name change that I can keep with my driver’s license.  Ever the discount shopper, there was no way I was spending $47 so for $18, I took the license discount!

I wore a lot of discounted clothing this week.  Here’s a look at what I wore on the days I bothered to get dressed!

This is today’s look. I took my plaid J. Crew Lady Jacket out of hibernation. Wore an Old Navy Tee, The torn jeans by Jolt and my Repetto ballet flats.

Yesterday’s look was the ten dollar LBD and patent Repettos.

A repeat on the Repettos and another ten dollar dress–and a wig that cost $11.99!

Tuesday it was stripes, jeans and the black Repetto flats again! I didn’t get dressed on Monday.  

Are you a discount shopper?  Has the way you spend changed as you got older?  Store—or online?  Let’s talk about this!

Enjoy your Friday—it’s almost aperitif time!  XOXOXOXOXO!!!!

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Oy Vey! Hits and Misses for The Mrs.

Posted on September 28, 2017 by Catherine

What a day it’s been.  In a fun way, naturally!

The sky was crystal clear, and even though it was hot, the air was nice and crisp and cool. Just a beautiful, beautiful day!

You know the kind of day I’m talking about.  That perfect weather day. Makes you want to go up in a hot air balloon!

Bonaparte and I were a bit concerned that we hadn’t heard anything from the courthouse about our marriage certificate.  Then we found a missing piece of information.  We never sent a check.

And so, it was my mission to drive to the Courthouse to see if I could remedy the situation quickly since I want to legally change my name!

As I got ready, you know—getting all dolled up, I pulled out an old compact of Tarte’s Face Smoothing Balm.  I couldn’t even remember when I purchased it, and I can’t tell you just why I decided to use it this morning.  Better yet, I don’t even know why I kept it in my artillery because I remembered that I wasn’t crazy about it from the get-go.

This has been hanging around my cosmetics stash for a while.  Unused.  Purposely.

And when I opened the compact, it looked as though I used it more than I thought I did, so I decided to put it to task as a concealer.  And it wasn’t half bad.  As a concealer.  A lot of blending had to be done.  My right arm got a great workout.

CAVEAT:  I did write about this last year.  And I’m sure it’s been discontinued because it’s not a “good” foundation!  She’s Selling Me The Good Foundation!

Tarte is the weirdest cosmetics company for me. I’ve written about this before and the products are either great or a complete miss.

Another Tarte product that I recently “rediscovered” in my cosmetics hoard is the brand’s felt-tipped eyeliner.  Wow!  The tip is so narrow and nicely pointed that it is impossible to mess up a beautifully lined eye.  I need to buy a backup before it becomes discontinued!

A miss and a hit.  I’ve just decided that the Tarte Smoothing Balm will be used  to fill in the parting space on my wigs and to cover that “line of demarcation” where lace part on wig meets my forehead!  It’ll be a great concealer because it’s completely pasty. On the other hand, the Tarte  Lights, Camera, Lashes Precision Longwear Liner is EPIC. Look at that tip. It makes a beautiful line!  

Check out that eyeliner.  Is that not a beautiful one?  This liner is great. I better get on it and buy more before it gets discontinued!!

 I’ll tell ya, today’s weather was making me feel rather good so I decided to get casually dressed. There were more errands to run and why not look nice while running them. Right?

I wore one of the ten-dollar swing dresses from Old Navy that I purchased at the end of last Spring.   Because I am in such dire need of a pedicure, I couldn’t get away with sandals. Instead, I opted for my tan Repetto’s. My  Brown Longchamp bag tied the look together.  Casual but polished!

Ten dollar dress from Old Navy. Boy, those swing dresses were the biggest hit for the summer!  My tan Repetto ballet flats, the Longchamp bag and that Daniel Wellington watch that I love so much made for a hit of an outfit!

Banking had to be done and luckily the bank was empty.  I was in and out very quickly. Maybe there’s a shortage on money!

Next stop—the Courthouse!

Time management was on my side because I was in and out of the Courthouse in record time.  Lisa, the Courthouse Clerk in the Marriage Department, recognized me from last time.  We laughed and talked wigs for a few minutes, I paid and got my copies and I was on my way to the supermarket.

Now I can change my name! Growing up with a “W” last name always put me in the back for alphabetical order.  Then with the “U” I got too steps closer to the top of the alphabet.  Now I’ll be up to “L”.  I’m like George Jefferson. I’m movin’ on up!

Hair is the best way to network—even better when the hair is fake!

Did I ever mention that Wegmans is across from Nordstrom Rack?  Oh. I didn’t?  Well. It is.  So, guess where I went next.

It’s been a while since I purchased shoes.  I thought I would be able to find a nice pointy-toed pair of flats in the clearance section.  And I did.  But they were too wide.  It damn near killed me because the shoes were less than $30.   It also kills me because years ago, back in the olden days when I was a child, it was never a problem to get shoes in a narrow width.  My mother—ever the shoe expert— would make sure that my Buster Brown shoes had that “N’ imprinted on the inside of the shoe.

These guys. Buster Brown and Tige.  I even remember the song “Does your shoe have a boy inside?  What a funny place for a boy to hide”  “Does your shoe have a dog there too”

And she would second guess the shoe salesman.  Remember those guys?  Remember going into a real shoe store and having your feet measured?  I don’t think there are many shoe stores around these days.

The shoe salesman after Tmy mother was finished with him!

Now that my rambling is over, This is  the gorgeous pair of flats that I tried on. Look at how wide they are!

 What killed me is that the suede ties were NOT attached to the suede straps across the foot.  I thought that was the case and the straps could have been tightened.  This proves the shoes were very cheaply constructed. Look at that gap in the straps. Its a shame because this is a beautiful shoe.  No wonder it was in the clearance section!

The remaining shoe selection was not good.  It was a miss for footwear.

What was left?  Why. The jeans, of course!  And I lucked into a pair by Jolt for $26.00!  It was a hit for the jeans!

I’m very classy with the bra straps hanging out.  The dress-as-shirt isn’t bad either.  These jeans spoke to me because they are nice and tight at the bottom hem. Fetching!

When I arrived home, it dawned on me that I hadn’t weighed myself in a while.  Clothes off.  On the scale.  144.  Not bad.  I haven’t been focusing.  Those last 7 pounds are a daunting few to lose and I have to pay attention to my stress levels.

I am in dire need of a pedicure.  And, for the 999th time, I’m back on track with trying to eat healthier and lose those last few pounds!

I don’t want to get into the habit of stress eating.  That’s when the numbers on the scale get higher.

This is me.

Then, in my never-ending ability to screw things up, I tried to link Google Analytics to my blog and screwed up my entire site.  Trying to fix it was making things worse. I gotta give a shout-out to Shane from WordPress for fixing my baby.  Thank you, Shane, for keeping my anxiety at bay and for helping me!

Thank you Shane for keeping me sane!

A glorious end to my day was receiving an email from Susan Ross of Seemingly 60.  I wrote about my experiences with ageism while interviewing for jobs.

Here’s the link to my story:  Out to Pasture.

Photo by Adam Morse on Unsplash

And it seems as though we are out to pasture!

Have a read.  I know you will totally relate!

And so, today was one of those days of little hits and little misses! Overall, it was a very good day!

Did I say, “little misses”?  That reminds me of the song “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong”—and that reminds me of the Spin Doctors.  I loved them.  One of the great ‘90’s groups!!!

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My Wardrobe May Not Be Capsule—But I Have Capsule Brands

Posted on September 26, 2017 by Catherine

One subject that I always seem to be reading about is the “Capsule Wardrobe”.  This wardrobe is built around a few essential, classic and timeless items.  Google this term and you will find hundreds of articles and variations of this collection of clothing.

My wardrobe is full of classic and timeless pieces. But I can’t pare down. I just can’t!

It didn’t hit home for me until one of our Atypical60 friends, Angelin2014 (you know her ladies—she gives great replies to the blog posts and is a great friend of Atypical60), wrote about this subject in her blog, Age Is Just A Number. (click on the name of the link to read!)

Reading her two posts about the capsule wardrobe got me to thinking.  Should I pare down to a capsule wardrobe?  Hmmmmmmm.

Well, SHOULD I????

And for me, the answer is that I probably should pare down to this minimalist wardrobe, but I don’t want to.  I love the clothing that I have.  Many of the items, I’ve had for years.  I try to do a seasonal weeding and place summer clothing in plastic bins during the winter and vice versa for the summer. But the way the heat index is still at an all-time high, it looks like my summer clothing will be sticking around for a while.

But as much as the thought of a capsule wardrobe is enticing, I like to think of myself as a person with Capsule Brands. It’s true. I’m loyal like a dog.

It’s true. I’m loyal like Chippy. He’s into my clothes too. When I was taking a photo of my tee shirts, he tried to eat one of them.

These are the brands that I can trust.  They are the brand items that I will have for years.  I just about rely on these brands because of the quality, the construction, the feel, the fit and they never fail me. I’m a minimalist when it comes to brands. I  have few.

Let’s have a look at the brands and what I love about them.

J. Crew. Ain’t gonna lie. I love J. Crew and J. Crew Factory.  In my opinion, both are interchangeable. Sometimes I can find better quality at Factory while most times, J. Crew is the place to shop.   Ordering clothing online is no issue either because the shipping is quick.  The online customer service is freakin’ stellar!!

May I present the latest addition to my J. Crew blazer collection?  The Double-breasted Dover.  It is such a rich, intense dark navy that it can look black. The lining is beautiful. Striped and almost looks like a club tie.  I love the collar popped (Hey. I was in my 20’s during the Eighties. OK?) A bit longer in length and less fitted than the Schoolboy,  it will look stunning both on job interviews and for casual wear.  It’s a winna!!!

The Schoolboy blazers—God knows I have more than enough of them, are my winter staple. If I want to make a pair of jeans look polished, the Schoolboy is worn with them.  And—even though J. Crew discontinued (the story of my life) the Schoolboy, another version that is just as good, if not better is available at J. Crew Factory.

Two blazers in this photo are NOT schoolboys. One is the chambray with the ruffles. The other is the wool camel Regent blazer.  All others are either from J. Crew or J. Crew Factory. And there’s more!

The plaid schoolboy I purchased last year at J. Crew Factory.

Other Jackets—the Lady Jackets are a dressier option, but boy—Crew’s blazers and jackets have always been top quality for me.

What a difference a new phone makes–huh? This black Lady Jacket from J. Crew is another favorite-I’ll have to get a better photo with my new phone at some point!

Rather than pare down, I build up.

99.9 percent of my sweaters are from either J. Crew or J. Crew Factory.  It’s to the point that I’m just not comfortable in any other brand. Call me crazy—but I know what I like when it comes to sweaters and I feel J. Crew knows me.

Same with skirts. I am in love with the Number 2 pencil skirt. Timeless and always looks good.

Three Number 2 Pencil skirts. Both sweaters are also from J. Crew. That yellow skirt is one of my favorites. Wool. Beautiful fit. I love it!

Now—that’s not to say that everything from J. Crew is perfect for me.  I have an issue with Crew’s jeans.  For some weird reason, the brand’s jeans just do not fit me well.  The rise is either too low or, if higher, just looks odd on me.

No big deal because after years and years of searching for the perfect fitting jeans, I found them last year at Nordstrom Rack. AG Jeans.  Yes. They are on the pricey side but at Nordstrom Rack, the brand can be found for a fraction of the price.  I’ve also discovered 1822 Denim Jeans which I purchased at Marshalls but are also available at Nordstrom Rack.

I was introduced to AG Jeans last year at Nordstrom Rack and I now have five pairs. I LOVE this brand!

The fit. The different washes.  The cut. These are perfect for a curvier shape and AG’s jeans hold their shape after a long day of wear!

AG Jeans. J. Crew Breton striped shirt.  J. Crew Schoolboy blazer. I’ll get to the shoes later on in the post!  I’m pretty much a Capsule Brander!

It so wonderful when you find that brand of jeans that fit so well!

Here’s another Capsule Brand look. AG Jeans. J. Crew shirt. Repetto ballet flats and Rondini sandals. I don’t stray too far from my favorites!

Can I just say that I’m also very loyal to Old Navy for their tee shirts? The Old Navy Fitted Tee is one of my very prized basic possessions.  Might I add that I have a penchant for the white crew neck fitted tee?  I am telling you that this tee is everything and a bag of chips! I’ve written about this tee many times. In fact, I was so upset when ON discontinued this shirt I wrote to them and now it’s back—even if it is only back online!

I kid you not. This is just a small number of the fitted white tees from Old Navy. I hoard them. Notice the ones that still have the tags on them. The need to be ironed.  And when these tees get old and stained and wonky looking, I rip them and use them as dust cloths. Multi-taskers these shirts be!  See Chippy’s paws at the top of the photo. He was ready to snack on some cotton!

Word to the wise—for a truly fitted look, order a size down.  I size down from a Medium to a Small and the fit is so beautiful under a blazer or cardigan sweater.   This tee is currently selling for $8.00 on the Old Navy site but watch for sales when you can get the shirt for five bucks.  You’re welcome!

Old Navy’s Tee Shirt dresses are another item I have plenty of.  And their jersey swing dresses– I’m telling you when Old Navy has a winner—they hit gold!

My most-worn dress this summer.  I’m still wearing it.  Ten bucks at Old Navy. I went back and bought four more!

Shoes are another item that I’m brand loyal with certain styles.  You are all well-aware of my love for Rondini for sandals.  Even if I don’t make it to St. Tropez, I can order this brand online because I have the measurements for the custom-made fit.  Honestly, these sandals are the best value for the money.

Check out how well these mold to my feet. I stand with my weight toward the inside of my legs you can tell from the sandals. OMG. I love my Rondini sandals so much.  My Capsule brand for sandals.  My ONLY brand for sandals.

The cost? Comparable with name-brand sandals you can find at higher-end department stores. But the difference is that the sandals are custom fit and made. All leather and they wear beautifully. The sandals mold to your feet and they wear better with age.  It’s become a tradition for me to treat my feet to a pair each summer.

Repetto is another brand I’m loyal to because the ballet flats fit my narrow feet beautifully.  I have three pairs of Repetto’s and am in the market for a new pair, preferably in navy.  These shoes wear well and I only purchase them if I happen to be in Paris during the winter or summer sales because the discount is deep!

Repetto is another favorite brand!  Perfect for my narrow feet, they make my foot look pretty!

Loafers anyone?  The only brand of loafer I will put on my feet is Bass Weejuns. Don’t even try to get me into another brand because I won’t do it.  I’ve been wearing Weejuns since my days at St. Patrick Grammar School. That’s a lotta years.  I love my Weejuns!

My beloved Weejuns. I still lean toward the old, worn, pair to the left!!!!  It would be a sin if I wore any other brand loafer!

I’m not brand loyal, nor is any one heel within the confines of my Capsule brands.  I think it’s because the right heel is so hard to find.

I stick to what works—even with heels!

I did have a brand of heel that I was somewhat loyal to. It’s because the heels had the perfect pointy toe. The perfect height of the heel. And beautiful toe cleavage. The brand…Ivanka Trump.  Hey. I know, I know. I have no idea if her shoes are still sold because everyone knows how I feel about her daddy.   If her shoes are still sold, I would never purchase another pair.  But, I spent good money on the shoes that I do have, so I’ll just wear them until they fall apart—much like…. um.umm. I’m gonna be good.

There are two brands of bag that I’m encapsulating.  Longchamp and Nat & Nin.    I’m especially fond of the leather Longchamp bags because, like Nat & Nin, the bags are soft and pliable. I love me a buttery soft bag.  If you are in Paris, you can make a stop at Sophie Sacs on Rue du Rennes where Nat & Nin bags are sold at a discounted price, or you can visit the Nat & Nin boutique on Boulevard Beaumarchais.

Leather Longchamp bags.  All but one were purchased at deep discount.  The red one was a birthday gift from Bonaparte!

Left side:  Longchamp’s Le Pliage. This brown bag is so worn and so old but I can’t stop using it. I love the color and when we are away, it doubles as a beach bag.  Multitasker!  To the right is the Planetes tote also by Longchamp. This bag is filthy!  I love the orange and I use it mostly in the fall and spring.  I’ve lent this out to friends and co-workers because everyone just loves that color!

I haven’t used this travel bag yet, but I got it at CDG this past summer on sale. I can’t wait to use it. It’ll hold a house for cryin’ out loud!

Remember this deal I got?  The cream-colored Longchamp weekender at CDG for 43 euros?  I’ve gotten more than my money’s worth with use!

See how well my Repettos go with the Longchamp bag?  Now you have an idea of how brand loyal I am!

My nat & nin bags. Yes. I have three of the same kind in different colors. These bags are like butta.  And they are unstructured which is what I like!

One of our friends and readers, Lidia, was in Paris and sent me an email about Groom Paris bags.  I swooned.  I. Literally. Swooned.  There are some strong feelings stirring inside me because I know that if I get my hands on one of these bags, they will be a part of my Capsule Brands.  I had a dream about their website last night. Who does that???????  I do.

This. Bag.  I. Covet.  And I did not know this brand is sold in five stores in the USA. In Florida, San Francisco, DC, and Oregon. Oregon?????? 

So, I may be a few miles short of a capsule wardrobe, but these are my capsule brands.  And note—I am not sponsored by any of these brands.  There is no click and bait.  These are brands that I love and trust and I also buy EVERYTHING on sale!

Brand love.  J. Crew Factory blazer. J. Crew Tippi Sweater. Gap (not AG) jeans and Bass Weejuns.  There’s not much going out of my comfort zone here!

Old Navy Tee. J. Crew Scarf and Loft Jeans (This photo was taken before I discovered AG Jeans)!

J. Crew has sales all the time and so does Old Navy. You can usually get a good deal on some of the Longchamp leather bags during Nordstrom Anniversary Sale—but my favorite leather Longchamp bag was purchased at Nordstrom Rack. You gotta search!  In addition, I’ve gotten great deals on Longchamp travel bags at CDG airport in Paris.  Same with Repetto.

Rondini never goes on sale—but it’s fine because the price for the custom fit is everything—and Rondini’s staff is incredibly knowledgeable, helpful and nice!

How’s your brand loyalty?  Do you have Capsule Brands?  Do tell!

I can’t stop thinking about the song “Brandy” since I’m writing about brands.  Remember this trinket of greatness?  Looking Glass and Brandy!

Posted in J. Crew, Longchamp, Nan & Nin, Old Navy, Repetto Ballet Flats, Rondini Sandals | Tagged , , | 27 Comments

Bonaparte’s Waterloo. And Great $12 Eyeshadow Palettes!

Posted on September 24, 2017 by Catherine

It’s Sunday and I ate too much last night.  Add to that and the fact that the summer heat is still lingering like a drunken guest who’s stayed too late at the party and you can guess how the weekend was shaping up.

Bonaparte is hurt.  It happened while playing Tennis.  He must’ve torn a tendon and will be visiting the doctor next week.  In the meantime, he is having a tough time walking.

Tennis was Bonaparte’s Waterloo this time around!  The worst thing about this is that I have to take the dog out.

However, his stubborn nature has not been wounded.

And our dishwasher is on the fritz.  And this just about kills me because it’s a KitchenAid and supposed to be one of the best dishwashers around.  Our home is 8 years old.  Dishwashers are supposed to last at least 10 years.   Let me tell you something.  I lived New Jersey for ten years. When we moved there from Manhattan, the home was a new build—and all the appliances were spanking new.

This. It better die soon so I can have a new one for the Holiday Season–or we’ll be eating on paper plates and using plastic utensils!  

The builder-grade GE dishwasher that came with the house never gave me an issue for the ten years I lived in that house.  With a household of 5 people, that meant a daily wash cycle.  I rest my case.

We do maybe two or three loads a week and this dishwasher is acting up.  My fear is that it’ll break on Christmas Eve—so we need to start looking now!

We took a drive to our nearest Home Depot.  Now understand; my loving French husband woke up in pain.  Me, being the hypochondriac that I am, offered begged him to let me drive him to the ER.  After all, for once, it wasn’t me who had been hurt!

He declined.  I offered to drive to Home Depot.  He also declined my very generous offer.

Did I ever mention to you that I am a fast walker? I walk very fast.  It stems from all those years of living in NYC and having to shove my way through crowds.  I’m also a very aggressive walker. If you enter my private walking space, I shove.

I would say that when I’m walking I’m a cross between this guy and…

a cross between the way Ringo is strutting. But faster!

So, we’re in the parking lot and Bonaparte grabs my hand for dear life. It wasn’t because of Bonaparte’s love for me. It wasn’t because he was going to fall and feared he wouldn’t be able to get up. It was because he was pulling the reins in on me. I needed to slow down. He started speaking in French so I knew he was serious. I think he mumbled something to the effect of

“Tu et fou” “Regardez—marche doucement”!  “You are crazy” “Walk Slowly”!!!

It also didn’t help that I started laughing at him while pointing to one of those huge garden carts and asked him if he wanted to sit on it so I could wheel him around.

Hey. I OFFERED to wheel Bonaparte around in one of these!  BTW, I did not take this photo. Credit goes to I Finished My Basement!

Upon entering the store things got worse. I saw a motorized cart and explained, while still laughing, that it would be fun if he sat on this model cart and took it at a fast speed while I ran after him.

Look!  Bonaparte could have made believe he was racing in the Grand Prix in Monaco!  He coulda been a contenda!!!!

He did not laugh.  Especially when I started to sing the Hoveround song!

I was obsessed with the Hoveround song since the first time I saw the commercial.  On another note, Michael LeLand, the Hoveround singer has sadly passed away. RIP Mr. LeLand. You have made me smile for many years.

We made our way to the dishwashers and there wasn’t much of a selection. I think the complete lineup was 10 various kinds.  Ranging in price from $300 up to $900.

I liked this dishwasher but we may be able to get a better price somewhere else..

Nice interior too!

The thing is—I knew Bonaparte was hurting when I suggested we continue our search elsewhere and he said he would rather just pick up the groceries we needed for our dinner and go back home.

And so, our search came to a halt. That’s ok though because I don’t like that he’s hurt.  He’s resting now and I have the bread baking in the oven.  I’ve sautéed the tomatoes and garlic in white wine and set them aside until later.  The chicken breasts were pounded ever-so-thinly for even cooking and our dinner was a nice one on the deck.

This is the good thing about our lingering summer—we are still enjoying our meals al fresco!

It’s crazy!  Tonight we’ll be returning to the deck for dinner. It’s 91 degrees today!!  

One of our go-to dishes.  Chicken breasts with Roma tomatoes and olives.  I dredge the chicken in a thin coating of rice flour and it seals the moisture in. Try it!  You’ll like it!

Remember the two palettes I bought Friday at Ulta?  The Lorac palettes for $12 each?

Ridiculously low priced Lorac palettes. But did they work for me?

Yesterday as I got ready, I decided to use the Venice Beach palette.  It’s glittery and sparkly but not in an over-the-top way.  I’m sure a talented makeup artist can make it over-the-top because the colors are very pigmented. And that’s a good thing!

The shadows are also nicely milled.  There is no fallout and the lift is good as well. More product on the brush means more product on the eyes!

Here’s what I did.

I brushed Boho Beauty over my lid and up to my brow bone.  The lift on the brush was fantastic and virtually no fallout!

I applied Chill Vibes to my upper lid and swept Freckles in the crease.  Then applied a bit of avaitors to line the bottom lid.

The result was extremely pretty.

The eyes have it!  A nice glow around the eyes. These are NOT matte but they are very shimmery and I do believe they work very well on mature eyes!

Today I used the Malibu palette and love the way the colors look.

I started off with Afternoon Rose on the lid to brow bone-see the product on the brush?  Booyah! Then I applied  Cliffside view on my upper lid and finished with Route 1 in the crease. I also lined my bottom lids with a light touch of Route 1 and I blended with the $2.99 Eco tools blending brush–a most excellent buy!

It’s funny because at first, I thought the Malibu palette was more on the warm toned side and the Venice Beach was cooler.  But now that I see both eyes completed, it’s the opposite!

Venice Beach Palette on top.  Malibu Palette on the bottom.  I think I like Malibu better but then again….. Either way, BOTH of these palettes are well-worth the $12 each!

Even though I don’t consider myself much of a nature girl, I prefer city life to suburban.  The greatest thing about living in the city was being able to walk everywhere.  And the walking never became boring. I lived to walk.

Malibu eyes, Kimmie wig by Freetress, and  a summer outfit at September’s end makes a great “hiking” ensemble–even if the hike is at the mall!

And so, today, I decided to go on a nature hike.  Through King of Prussia Mall.  It was a very intense workout.  I walked fast and furious.   I made a pit stop at Macy’s because a considerable number of this chain has closed stores and I wonder how long the one at KOP mall will be around.   In walking around, I realized why the stores have been closing.  There’s nothing “Wow” at the store.  However, while passing through the cosmetics area, I paused at the Origins counter.  I had a cosmetics flashback.  Some years ago, back in the early to mid-nineties, I was a fan of this organic brand.  Wouldn’t you know?  I found a creamy, peachy eyeshadow.  It’s pretty with a touch of shimmer. I’ll be trying it out tomorrow and I’ll let you know how it looks.

Can you believe it?  Who remembers Origin cosmetics?  Do you still use this brand?  I’m glad to have revisited!

I’m going to watch TV now.  It’s Sunday afternoon and I do believe this princess needs to recline on the sofa and veg out—vegging out is organic!!

All this peachy talk is reminding me of the Allman Brothers “Eat A Peach” album. Remember that one?  “I Ain’t Wasting Time No More”. I’m really not!

Posted in Lorac | Tagged | 41 Comments

Forget “Where’s the Beef”—Where’s the “Pig”-mentation?

Posted on September 22, 2017 by Catherine

High-low is the way I go.  Mixing higher-end clothing with low-end is always a fun challenge—and who doesn’t love a fun challenge?

And, I love mixing higher end and lower end beauty items.   And since the price of drugstore beauty products is escalating, I’m veering toward purchasing less of the drug store items these days and moving toward the extra couple of dollars by spending more quality time at Sephora and Ulta.

I’m still on the search, though, for exceptional quality budget beauty items. And yesterday I took a drive to Walmart to pick up a few items and then headed off to Marshalls.

Baking soda and Hydrogen Peroxide were at the top of my list to buy at Walmart.  I brush my teeth with a paste made from both items. My gums are very sensitive and the Periodontist suggested these items for brushing my teeth. Both items are cheap as all get out, less expensive than toothpaste, and last longer.

I don’t “do” toothpaste anymore. It’s Fifty Cent Hydrogen Peroxide and Fifty Cent baking soda. Works like a charm!!!

As I made my way up and down the aisles, because when one is unemployed, one has the time to go about participating in activities such as this, I stopped short in my tracks.  There on a shelf stood one of my favorite brands of soapy items of all time.  Le Petit Marseillais.  I’m telling you—when we are in France, I make a bee-line to the store to grab anything I can in all things body cream and soapy goodness—and I always buy the Fleur d’Oranger sent because I’m an Orange Blossom ho!

It was worth every cent of the $3.47 that I paid for this.  I’ll pay about 2 euros in France for this ($2.39 USD) but I don’t care. The authentic Orange Blossom scent is worth every penny!

I grabbed this and threw it in my shopping cart faster than an MLB pitcher can throw a ball!

Then off I drove to Marshalls.

The pickings were slim in the shoe department and the clothing selection wasn’t great either. It was one of those “miss” days.  And as I walked around, I made a stop in the little beauty section to see what the store had to offer.

Marshalls (as well as TJ Maxx) usually has a decent selection of brushes and I found a couple of Eco brushes. I’ve got a few of this brand’s brushes and find them to be excellent.  I also picked up another brush for $1.99 because a blush brush is always a good thing.

These Eco brushes?  They are great!  I’ll use the foundation brush as a large shadow brush.  The quality is stupendous!

I picked this brush up too–at $1.99 I’m wondering why it was named Mr. Perfect–it should have been named MS. Perfect!

Then I noticed various palettes of eyeshadow.  I have enough palettes but there’s always room for one more.   I picked up a box that was taped shut—which is a good thing because I know nobody tampered with the palette inside.  At $4.99 for 24 colors I figured that there had to be a few decent shadows so it went into the cart with the brushes and off I went.

This is the palette.  All About Color from InStyle Essentials.  It certainly was not about pigmentation!

I used the eyeshadow palette this morning. Here’s how it rolled.

I made sure my face was well-prepared for my makeup with serum, primer and all that good hydrating stuff.

Let’s not forget SPF Sunscreen either!  I’m being diligent–especially since the summer weather hasn’t left us yet! I’m also using these products to review!

I applied eye primer and allowed it to “set” for about ten minutes.  While I was waiting for the primer to set, I exercised my brain by playing Candy Crush on my iPhone.  The mind is a terrible thing to waste you know!

Don’t judge.  This is how I exercise my mind! It works!

Primer set, I went over to open the palette.  All I can say is good thing I ripped my acrylic nails off or I would have broken them trying to pry this thing open!  I thought I would need pliers!

A minute or so after I finally opened the case, I noticed that the fallout of the products had begun.  And upon as thorough an inspection I could give the palette with my one good eye, I noticed the matte shadows and blush that was included looked a bit chalky. The shimmery colors held hope.

This is usually what a palette looks like after many uses. This was the palette BEFORE I touched brush to shadow. The matte shadows were more chalky than Necco wafers!

Un unh.  The pigmentation was non-existent.  The lift was awful and when I did tap, the small amount of shadow that remained on the brush was blowin’ in the wind.

Remember the ever-chalky Necco wafers candy?  These candies had more pigmentation than the eyeshadows I applied!

Because I was doing a “quick” eye, applying the shadow should have only taken about five minutes at best. It took me almost twenty minutes to build the shadow to the point where you could see it.

Can you see the pigmented eyeshadows on my eyelids?  Neither can I–or is it “eye”?

Finally, a good twenty minutes later after building up and building up–I had a bit of pigmentation.  See my eyeglass lens?  That’s eyeshadow that blew in the wind and landed on my eyeglasses!

Ever the optimist, I’m not getting rid of the palette. Why?  Because I like to line the bottom of my lids in a softer way. Since these shadows are barely pigmented, I think they’ll give a nice look to my bottom lid.

My finished look. Unintentionally extremely natural. I was hoping for a more glamorous look to go with the hair that I purchased!

Another miss was a package of makeup wipes I picked up while on the checkout line.  The package states that the wipes clean waterproof mascara off.   Well, they didn’t clean non-waterproof mascara off. In fact, these wipes were awful.  But all is not lost because I use wipes when traveling.  These wipes are strong enough to act as makeshift wash cloths.  Remember, while traveling throughout Europe, many establishments don’t have the kind of washcloths we are used to.  Wipes make a great substitute!  I’ll put these in my travel case.

This removed nothing. And they were also quite dry. My guess is that Marshalls is selling them because they have surpassed their due date.  Another miss–but I can use these as travel washcloths!

Ya live. Ya learn!

On the other hand, I purchased some new hair.  Bonaparte loves my hair with a curl and a wave and I love my hair straight. Fake. Real. I like my hair straight.  But me, being the loving wife that I am, saw a decent looking wavy/slightly curly wig on sale for $11.99 on the website Hair To Beauty.  Monsieur Bonaparte gave me high compliments today when I debuted this cutie!

The wig, “Clary” from Sensationnel Empress wigs is a lace front that needed a bit of manipulation in the form of tweezing the part wider and adding powder to it to make the parting space appear more natural.  The hair is more of a silky texture than yaki and is dense and nice and big.  I’m pleased. This will be a regular in my “VA va voom” rotation!

My new hair. Clary by Sensationnel Empress.  I was channeling my inner Dalida!  Dalida is one of my favorite singers and a very cultural diverse woman. She was an Italianliving in Egypt and became a popular singer in France!

Ok—back to the eyeshadow.  Ninety-nine percent of my eyeshadow collection consists of neutrals. The closest to a colorful palette is the Naked Smokey palette and I don’t this palette use that much. You would think that with the numerous number of palettes I own, that one would contain a bright peachy color.  One does, but I hit pan on it a long time ago and naturally, Stila discontinued the palette.

All my favorite peachy shadows in this Stila “In The Know” palette are just about gone. I hit pan in a big way. You would think Stila would bring this palette back. It’s a great, great palette!

It’s been on my mind an obsession to find a bright peachy color eyeshadow because I love the way that peach color opens the eyes.  I decided to drive to Ulta today after getting dressed.  Ulta is close to my home and I didn’t feel like dealing with parking at the mall so Sephora was out. of the question for today.  NOTE: The difference between Ulta and Sephora is that Sephora has the greatest staff.  They are incredibly friendly, willing to help and very knowledgeable.  Trying to get assistance at Ulta is like pulling a tooth that isn’t loose from one’s mouth.

And while I was roaming the goods at Ulta, I came across some Lorac palettes that were small. This was good because I certainly didn’t need a huge palette.  In fact, the palettes were darn cute.  And I spotted a blush/highlighter that was a bit on the peach side.

But I couldn’t find a price.  I finally gave my best “I need help so desperately” look and at my age, sales assistants oftentimes confuse this look with dementia—and it works!   When I was told the palettes were only $12 each, I got so excited that my wig nearly shifted!

I purchased two—the Malibu palette and the Venice Beach palette.  Now that my son Jake is living in L.A., I feel more connected to California with this purchase!

At $12 each, these palettes were a steal!

The colors are pigmented!!  And nicely pigmented.  The lift on my fingers was excellent and when I apply the shadows tomorrow, I’ll be able to report back with a review!

Venice Beach palette. I LOVE Boho Beauty and Freckles. Freckles is nicely pigmented and looks cooler than warmer on the skin. I can’t wait to try these shadows!

Maibu is just as beautiful.  I’m thinking of going back to Ulta to pick up more of these palettes!  This is what pigmentation means!

OTOH, I went to Wegmans for a few groceries and picked up a concealer from e.l.f.  It doesn’t match my skin tone but goes on in a rather bright peachy color.  I think I found my shadow in the form of a concealer.  Who’da thunk?

e.l.f. Perfect Blend Concealer in Light Beige doesn’t match my skin tone at all!  But–it could be a good sub for a peachy colored cream shadow! At two bucks how can I complain?

Remember how excited I was from the BuzzFeed feature about Fenty Beauty with Yours Truly being Number 8?  Well, I didn’t make an impression with the reward Style people.  I applied to be an influencer because I’m trying to monetize the blog while I’m out of work.  Here’s the reply I received from them:

Thank you for your interest in rewardStyle!

We’ve carefully reviewed your application and unfortunately your request to become a member of rewardStyle was not accepted at this time.

rewardStyle considers applications with a history of content with the following qualities:

  • Engaged and Growing Audience
  • Consistency
  • Quality and Original Content
  • Clean Editorial Design

This decision is a reflection of the competition for admission and does not detract from the impressive credentials you’ve submitted. We encourage you to continue publishing and apply again in the future.

Sincerely,
The rewardStyle Team

According to rewardStyle, my blog sucks.  I don’t have a growing audience (they mean I don’t have 500,000 followers).  I’m not consistent (they mean I write about a few subjects—which, IMHO is a good thing).  I don’t have decent quality or original content (WTF???  I don’t think the rewardStyle peeps even bothered to read any of my posts). And they don’t like my editorial design (They mean, I take my own photos with my phone. I keep it real. I have no fillers. I have no smoke and mirrors and that is not what they are looking for).

Waaa.  I was rejected!!  I’m really not upset.  My blog takes a different direction. Transparent and no smoke and mirrors. It’s all good!

I was also rejected by “Like To Know It”.  And that’s ok because as much as I want to monetize the blog, I refuse to turn it into one giant advertisement.  Everything I tell you about—every item I write about.  Every item I link is something I have purchased and used.  And inserting links so that you can find the products is what I do to make your search easier!

When I receive products, I always mention that they were gifted. I give honest reviews. I remain transparent.

Ya win some.  Ya lose some!

But I’m lucky because I don’t consider readers of this blog “followers”. I consider them friends. This is a neighborhood and here at Atypical60 we have a good time. We welcome the newcomers and dish and laugh and cry with each other. That’s the environment I want to keep.

Speaking of friends, our friend Juliet sent me a wonderful surprise this week.  The new book by Alyson Walsh of “That’s Not My Age”!

Two great books and a beautiful scarf!  I’m one lucky lady!!!

Here’s a better look at the scarf in action. It is absolutely beautiful!!

Anywho this week was a very laid back and casual one for me.  I didn’t get dressed every day but here’s what I wore!

The blush pink Gemma flats from J. Crew were a perfect match for this beautiful scarf  with a Parisian Map theme!

Even though it is technically Fall, it is still summer in these parts. The temp hit 84 today. I wore a sleeveless swing dress and a denim jacket.  I’m wearing my $11.99 hair–isn’t it great? I need to fake tan!

Enjoy the weekend.  Weather permitting, we will be heading to the shore tomorrow!!! XOXOXOXOXO

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 48 Comments

OMG!! OMG!! I Made It To Buzzfeed! I Made It To Buzzfeed!

Posted on September 20, 2017 by Catherine

It happened this morning.  Just before my husband (I love calling Bonaparte that!) brought me my morning coffee, I grabbed my phone from the nightstand to see if anything in my self-important life was happening.

I was shocked that I did not spill my cawfee all over the sheets after seeing the surprises that awaited me on my phone this morning!

After all, yesterday was a dreadful day.  I was incredibly pumped to attend the website-building class that Bonaparte signed me up for.  I got dressed.  I even wore one of my schoolboy blazers so that I would appear studious.

I did NOT  wear the scarf because it was too hot, but I DID wear my navy schoolboy blazer to class!  I need to look like a smart person!

Honestly, I felt like a kid going off on her first day of school because Bonaparte handed me my class confirmation email and went over the directions to the class location with me.  All that was needed was my Barbie lunch box!

Why didn’t I save my favorite lunchbox?  I could have taken it to class with me!! (photo from pinterest)

I’m that pathetic!

I arrived at the parking lot and decided to make sure I had everything.  I looked at the confirmation and noticed that Bonaparte had the right date but the wrong month.  And so, I sighed, got all misty-eyed because I could feel a slight pity-party hour coming on, and drove home.

I had my big pity party over the weekend when I became unemployed. This was an hour of pity akin to a cocktail hour…a pityhour!

The weather sucked. It was hot, cloudy, humid and by the time I arrived home, all I wanted to do was wallow in “On Demand” shows like “Bringing Up Bates”  (don’t judge–I realize I am at the opposite end of everything this family stands for–but I can’t stop watching them!) and “Dance Moms”.  My beloved “Billy on the Street” was  far too intellectually stimulating for me at this point.

I love Billy Eichner and “Billy On The Street” always makes me laugh–but yesterday, even my buddy Billy was just too MIT/Harvard/Smart Person School for me!

And so, the rest of the evening had me even more depressed over the white supremacy “TrumpCare” because I’m out of a job and will be losing my Obamacare i.e. AFFORDABLE HealthCare and need to stop now because I will become so upset that I will not be able to continue to write!

Back to this morning…

And when I turned my iPhone on, I noticed that there were an awful lot of new Instagram followers on my feed.   This was an “uh oh” moment for me!  If you follow me on Instagram, you are well-aware that I am no fan of the “follow-to-unfollow” movement.  I have no time for that. It is dishonest. It is not the proper way to gain followers.   All I could think of was a bad “follow-to-unfollow’ joke was being played on me!

Hmmmm. Could my son Roman have put his boss in on the delusional joke I thought was being played on me?

I could not figure out, for the life of me, why people were suddenly following me.  It was great—but I was a bit wary of BOTS.

Then I received a Facebook notification.  One of the women on a private page that I follow asked me if I saw the latest BuzzFeed post because I was in it!  Sweet Mother of Jesus—that was all I needed to see!

Click the link below to see the article.  It’s 40 shades of beauty!!

This is What 40 Shades of Rhianna’s Fenty Foundation Looks Like On 40 Different People

Yes. That is ME. On BuzzFeed.  I am Number 8. Shade 170.  Rihanna created a diverse cosmetics line but it took BuzzFeed to add an old lady to the mix. Thank you BuzzFeed!

Immediately, I clicked on the link, and there in all my lined glory was my face included in a post about Fenty Foundation.  I was shocked.  I was excited. So excited, in fact, that I thought I would either need an entire box of Depends or I would have a heart attack.  At my age, either could happen!

But most of all, I was thrilled!  I was as happy as a clam.  And it wasn’t so much because I was chosen to represent Fenty Foundation Shade Number 170, Light Cool, (It was –I’m being humble), but it was because BuzzFeed recognized an OLDER WOMAN!  It took BuzzFeed to include a mature woman to represent a foundation whereas none of the cosmetics companies include us!

I’m telling you, I’m sitting on Cloud 9 with my  lime soda (my diet), I’m thrilled that li’l OLD me was included and can represent my demographic!

This was one small step for women and let’s hope one giant leap for womankind.  Perhaps we  mature ladies will begin to be included. in beauty/fashion tidbits on a regular basis!

It starts with one small step.  I haven’t worn these shoes in ages.  Please God, please let me have someplace to go in these shoes.

Thank you BuzzFeed.  Thank you Michelle Rennex! for writing the article and including this mature woman!

Flowers to all the other 39 people who represented shades of diversity and flowers for BuzzFeed!

Speaking of beauty (I am supposed to be tweaking my resume now), I don’t know about you, but it just seems that lately it’s becoming more difficult to do my eyes.  They are hooded.  I shudder to mention crossed.  The skin on my upper lid is getting droopy and I can’t afford Botox or eye lift.

But—it just seems that all the eye shadow is collecting in one area and my shadow is looking too heavy-handed. Partly because I do have a heavy hand.

Something had to be done.  I went to YouTube and found an informative video on brushes and another video on applying shadow to hooded eyes.

Take notes ladies and gents!!  This video from Whitney Hedrick is great!  I learned so much….

This is another video from Ms. Whitney on applying the shadow. It worked for me!

And wouldn’t you know?  My man Wayne Goss published a video today on makeup for hooded eyes.

Wayne Goss gives great advice too.  I need a makeup artist to greet me in the morning!

Anyway, this morning I took Whitney Hedrick’s advice. I went through my brushes and found the ones closest to those she mentioned in her video.   I used them to apply my eye shadow just the way she advised to do.

I felt like such a good student. I went lightly and love the look!

I also listened to Wayne.

Proof that you can teach an old dog new tricks!!   The hints in the videos are valuable in every sense of the word.  As we age, we really do need to change the way we apply our makeup.  And both beauty experts agree that less is, at times, more! I’m running with that!

A much better view of the eyes!!  I’m so glad I watched those videos!!! I’m also glad that I’m wearing burgundy hair today!  Konis by It’s A Wig!! I have my Fenty foundation and Match Stix in Amber as well as a touch of Trophy Wife on the eyes and cheeks and Gloss Bomb!  

Have you changed the way you apply makeup as you are aging?  Comment with your tips—it’ll be a fun share!!!

I can’t wait to read your make up changes!!!XOXOXOXOXOXOXO!!!!

 

 

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 43 Comments

Hair I Go Again!

Posted on September 18, 2017 by Catherine

Recently I received a couple of emails asking me about wigs.  Questions along the lines of how do I pick a wig?  What styles to look for?  What do I like?

So, I figured that today, I would hone in on a couple of my favorite wigs and a few others.

Before we look at the wigs, here’s a look at my natural hair.

I gotta say, my natural hair has aged in not the greatest way. It has become dry and brittle and much has to do with all the years I’ve colored it.  Not to mention the pulling either! I’m also too lazy to mousse it so that the curls will be more defined.  Add to that, the bald spots are just too big these days to chance it by going out with my “natural” hair down. It’s easier to wear a wig.

After washing and conditioning my hair, I sprinkled Toppik on the now larger than ever bald spots.  Toppik still manages to work like a charm. However, the one issue I have is that presently, my fingernails are bare.  While I’m not working, I thought I would give my nails a break from the gels and acrylics and let them grow on their own.  Toppik’s fibers tend to get all over the place and that means in my nails. This makes my natural nails look filthy.  Just sayin’.

Back to the wigs.

I’ll start off by saying that Storm, by Model Model is my all-time, go-to, favorite wig. There’s a reason for this.  I’ve mentioned this in past wig posts. I’m not a fan of an overdone hairstyle.  I think those looks are great for special occasions and parties and holidays but for the everyday style, I like a low-maintenance understated look.  Storm fits the bill.

Storm, by Model Model Hair. There is not one con about this wig. I LOVE this head of hair and it is as though it was made just for me and only for me. (But it wasn’t). The length. The density. The texture. The style.  The best! I’ve been wearing this unit since June–almost 4 months and she is still in fine shape!

I’ve taken this baby on vacation to the South of France this past summer and wore the unit almost every day.  Storm remained comfortable even in the hottest temperatures. Walking and touring all day and out to dinner in the evening—this unit never disappointed.  And, managed to stay in pristine condition.  I finally washed the unit after three straight weeks of wear and she cleaned up well.

Here I am on the terrace in Theoule-sur-Mer. OMG. Look how fake tanned I am–perfect with my fake hair. Right Storm?

In fact, the first Storm unit I purchased was way back in February and after a few washings and a ton of wear and tear, I disposed of it.  Believe me, the $32.99 (sistawigs.com) that I spent was well worth it.  When I had more hair, I would spend over $40.00 a week on a wash and blow dry.  Need I say any more?

My current Storm is the one I took to France and is still aging very well.  I’ve ever-so-slightly trimmed a few ends after washing and she is in no way ready for retirement.

As you can see, I’ve got backups in both 1, which is Jet Black and 1B, a lighter, more natural off-black.

Hmmmm.  Perhaps I should pick up another Storm! Whatya think?

Now—the thing about this wig is the parting space. Within the realm of four inches apart, it can be parted either to the right, or to the middle, or to the left.  Most wigs have a right-side part. I’ve always worn my natural hair with a left-side part.

And even though this wig is advertised as being middle-and left-side part friendly, she still needs a bit of training to get her to the left.

One of my new Storms. Before I cut the lace off. I’m training this one to have a left side part.

I cut the lace and am holding the part to the left with a bobby pin.  After taking her off, placing her in the net and putting her back in the box, the bobby pin should work fine to help train the parting space.

Lace cut off and bobby pin in place, I haven’t’ even tweezed the part yet. But she’ll go back in the box with the bobby pin in.

 

Three more views of this beauty. (The wig–not me).  I realize that I haven’t tweezed the part nor added powder but without any manipulation, the wig is so natural looking.  The price ranges from the low thirties online up to $40.00 at a local beauty supply store.  If there is one wig that you purchase–consider this!

Next favorite is Konis.  Konis is by It’s A Wig.  I think I have more wigs by this company than any other company. I think the brand’s wigs are very well constructed, they are comfortable as all get out and they fit well.  The quality is superior.

Konis. From It’s A Wig.  The color TT99J/550 a delightful melange of burgundy. It’s like a fine wine!!!

Konis is also a favorite because of the “unstyled” style!

I have this unit in two colors.  In TT99J/550 which is an auburn/brown/burgundy and in 1B/30. 1B/30 is an off-black base with strands (and sometimes chunks) of light brown and golden brown interspersed throughout.  It’s really become a favorite with me because as I am older, I’m finding that a bit of a lighter color is attractive and flattering.

Konis at left in 1B/30 my new favorite hair color. I love the off-black with the light brown/dark golden highlights.  Konis at right. TT99J/530. Maybe Bonaparte doesn’t care for this color because since it resembles a great burgundy, he can’t drink it!

Another look at Konis in 1B/30. Konis is a bit longer than Storm and isn’t as dense but is nonetheless a beautiful wig. The beauty of an unstyled style wig is versatility is key. This can be worn from day-into-night. From errands and to a luncheon with the girls. From work to after work. 

Bonaparte isn’t a fan of TT99J but I love it. I think it’s a fun color that, when the light hits it a certain way, really looks very burgundy.  And as someone who is conservative with hair colors, this is a momentous change!  But a good one!

Next up is a bob.  Juno.  Another unit by It’s a Wig.  I ordered this in TT99J/530 and the same wig in black.  HairSoFly was having a sale back in May and the wigs were $9.99 each!  A deal I simply could not pass up.

Juno. I love this bobbed style from It’s A Wig.  It is an angled bob and shorter in the back–and that’s where the bobs get a bit high maintenance. They need to be combed back into shape a lot during the day. I’m lazy. And I have a nerve to say that because when I think of all the time and effort I put into wearing my natural hair in a bob–rollers, then drying the sections, then back into rollers then taking the rollers out then if I went outside and it was humid or raining…….

Now—here’s the thing with bobs.  I love the style.  I always have.  My bio hair was styled in a bob for years.  And having wavy/curly/frizzy/coarse hair, the struggle I had with the upkeep of this style was a challenge.  The bobbed “do” only behaved during the coldest, driest days of the winter.

You would think a bobbed wig would prove to be the greatest solution for someone who loves a bobbed style but the natural hair doesn’t lend itself well to doing so.  Well…yes. And no!

Yes, because it’s a thrill to finally be able to wear a bob and not have to worry about the humidity turning it either into a pyramid shape or just a mass of frizz.  But, I personally find that with any bobbed wig I have worn, I am constantly combing it or fussing with it to get it to lay “just so”.  It is a bit of a high-maintenance wig for me.

This is “Millie” by Bobbi Boss. I love the color–again 1B/30.  I lucked out with this particular unit because the way it lays on my head is perfect. My other Millie doesn’t lay this nicely.  This isn’t as angled as Juno but overall, I really like this one.  This is a great “I’m running errands and will be out and about” wig!

And the other thing is that sometimes, no two wigs of the same style will lay the same way.  Case in point with Bobbi Boss “Millie” wig.  The unit I have in black just never seems to lay right on my head, but this unit in 1B/30 fits like a charm and looks like a charm.

Another view of Millie. I really like this one!

Bonaparte has been “hinting” to me that he would like to see me in more wavy/curly styles and a bit shorter in length.  I love a straight wig—and he likes them a bit on the curly side.

This one is for Bonaparte. Texana by Freetress Equal.  Big and bouncy. I love this for date night but it is too glamorous for everyday use. I’m training this one to veer off to a left-side part!

Another wig that I’m “training” for a left-side part is “Texana” by Freetress Equal.  This unit that I’m training is my second Texana.  My original unit is a right-side part and I love this wig for a date night. It is full and lush and very pretty. There’s a lot of hair on this baby.  As an everyday wig, it’s a bit too glamorous for my taste but as a night out wig—it’s perfect.

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Another view of Texana. I wore this on our recent date night to Spring Mill Cafe!

“Claudia” by Bobbi Boss is a wig that I’ve ordered at a good sale price but haven’t had the opportunity to wear yet.  It’s a medium/long wig and is more on the silky side in texture.  This’ll be a nice winter wig!

This is Claudia by Bobbi Boss. As you can see, I haven’t tweezed the part, and literally plopped her on my head for this post.  This is where looking at video reviews helps. I saw this online and liked it. After watching TheHeartsandcake90 review on YouTube, I made the purchase and was happy I did.  This will be a winter wig for me!

On a whim and on a sale price, I ordered this unit.  “Feather Flip 4” from Isis Collection Red Carpet wigs.  This is very va-va-voom.  Should the occasion arise that Bonaparte and I are invited to any Holiday parties, I will be wearing this unit.  It’s a bit long and I’m thinking of going to a salon to have it trimmed because I do like it a lot.  But after butchering one of my wigs, I’m not going to take the chance on butchering another one! My hair cutting skills aren’t!

Feather Flip 4 from Isis Collection. Bonaparte likes this one. Actually, he loves it but suggested cutting a couple of inches off. I won’t attempt that one! This is way too va-va-voom for me. I’ll wear this at Christmas and if we go to any Holiday Parties!

Here’s another view. It’s very late 1970’s Charlie’s Angel’s looking! Nuthin’ wrong with that!

When you are looking for a wig remember to keep a few things in mind.

  • Try to stick with what is in your comfort zone. Don’t go for any offbeat styles or any colors that you are unsure of. As you become more and more familiar with wearing fake hair, then you can experiment with style and color. But at the beginning stages, I would suggest being more comfortable.
  • Stick with a style or “un” style that you like.  Remember—if you start wearing wigs to work, you do not want a wig that is high maintenance.  You want a wig that you can put on your head and forget about.  That’s why I am all about the underdone look in wigs.
  • Study the types of textures.   Take a good look at your natural hair.  Is it coarse or silky? If you have coarse or wiry hair, I’m telling you  African-American wigs are your best bet.  European-American wig companies, in my opinion, have more silky-Barbie doll-like textures and are overly shiny.  In addition, the pricing is far more expensive.

Doesn’t matter though what your preference is because it comes down to what makes you comfortable.

My online wig stores of choice are:  Divatress.com; Glamourtress.com; HairSoFlyShop.com; Sistawigs.com and Elevatestyles.com

Other online wig stores:  Voguewigs.com; Cysterwigs.com; Wigs.com

(as an added treat, if you go to the Wigs.com site and search for the Brie wig by Vivica Fox, you can go to the reviews and weed through them.  I wrote a review back in 2015 when I was a complete newbie to the world of wigs. I got a kick out of the review because I’ve learned so much since then!)

Hey. Did you ever wake up and realize that you aren’t having a good “looking good” day?  Let me tell you something.  I woke up with allergy-ridden puffy eyes. It didn’t help that I ate a ton of hidden salt over the weekend in the form of Kalamata olives either.

Anyway, the weather affects my face.  Call me crazy, but it does. Does it affect your face?

That said, I was thrilled to open a nice box of goodies that my friends at Skin Actives.   I was sent some products that I haven’t yet used and I will be using and reviewing.

I’m excited to try these products that my friends at Skin Actives sent me to review!

As you all know, when I review a skincare product, I give it a good two to three-week window of time to see if the product will work its magic.

I’ll be reviewing this Bright-I Cream.…..

Dream Cream, Desert Salt Scrub, Skin Brightening Cream (which I can’t wait to put on my age spots), and the Desert Salt Scrub (there is a caveat that the Desert Salt Scrub isn’t made for the face–but I used it on my face last night and my face felt sooooooo good!)

The Lip Care Kit is another one that I’m looking extremely forward to using because my lips are so dry…

A very unflattering photo of my mouth–but see how dry my mouth is?  I can’t wait for the Lip Kit to work magic!

Hmmmmm.hmmmmm.  This will be but to good use!

The Sun Set is another set that I’m going to take very seriously. Just because summer is about to end doesn’t mean we stop protecting our faces from the sun. Nuh uh!!!

I would think this is also great for protection against the extremes in weather during Winter sports activities!

Skin Actives is one of the two skin care companies I’ve worked with in the past.  And I’m happy to be working with this company again because if I didn’t like the products, I wouldn’t be writing about them.  And one of my HG products is the Skin Actives Collagen Serum.  I’m almost down to the bottom of yet, another bottle!

I purchased this bottle of Collagen Serum a while ago and am almost finished. I apply this every day and I love it.  Since using it on a regular basis over a year ago, there is an absolute improvement.  

So, stay tuned because a review will be in the not-so-distant future.

Hope you all had a great weekend.  Ours was relaxing and I’ll be attending a website class tomorrow. I’m excited and will let you know how it went!

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Another One Bites the Dust. And when DIY Turns Into DYT!

Posted on September 16, 2017 by Catherine

You know that I’ve always been open and honest on my blog and share just about everything with you.  Have you noticed that I’ve been running a few errands during the day this past week and that my wardrobe of sorts has been incredibly casual?

This is basically how I felt this week!

I lost my job last week.  It wasn’t the case of job performance but rather the case where business has been very slow. This makes the last one on board the first one to leave. That would be me!

This just about sums up how a person of my age feels when it comes to the job search! Get my helmet ready but don’t mess up my hair!!!

I am legally changing the lyrics to Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” with “Another Job Bites the Dust”!

I’m changing the lyrics Freddie.  Look down upon me from where you are and give me a sign that it’s ok to do so!

Luckily, I’ve got great references so I’m off to a good start.  And naturally, everyone will be following my trials and tribulations as I embark upon a job search at the ripe age of 62!  This is gonna be fun!

Next week I start a class in web design because as I’m searching for a way to help pay the mortgage, I’ll be trying to improve on the blog and continue to write on my book.   The key is to keep busy!

But—the best part is that I have my husband for support.  My daughter, Oona is also very supportive but I haven’t told my sons yet.  I can’t do that yet because I’m afraid I’ll start bawling.

So—I won’t tell them until I’m ready.

Now that that’s out of the way, I went back to Sephora yesterday to return the Tartelette palette. I had the receipt. The crew at Sephora is always helpful and pleasant and I ended up exchanging the palette for the Fenty Foundation in Number 170 and another Gloss Bomb.  The total came to six dollars that I owed.  There is still plenty of Fenty in the sample foundations I was given but I wanted to ensure that I had the full-size foundation in my stash!

The full-size foundation and another Gloss Bomb. Both will make me look great for my upcoming job interviews!  Hey Rihanna–can you hire me as the older woman inclusion?

I honestly cannot say enough about this foundation. It really hides the broken capillaries and redness…

BTW, all the hype about the Morphe brushes?  I’m really annoyed with this fan brush. I took it out of the little plastic protective cover and look.  Stray bristles.  I still used it to ever-so-lightly apply the Trophy Wife highlighter to my cheeks.  Those strays need to be cut!  I’ll get around to it one of these years!

Let’s talk about DIY—or in my case, DYT, Don’t You Try!

I’m sure many of you have been hearing about the “Do It Yourself” dermabrasion popularity. I’ve watched many YouTubers praise this treatment and that one fantastic way of doing this is to “shave” your face.

Shaving your face is supposed to be a wonderful way to smooth your skin– and, it multitasks for getting rid of lady whiskers!

Ever the timid one because I’m afraid of infection, I went to the store to get new razors.  Since I’m now unemployed, I purchased the cheap razors.

And last night, as I finished my nightly skin care ritual, I spread a bit of moisturizer upon my red, wrinkled face, adorned with the fuzzies and started to shave.

Am I the quintessence of pulchritude or what?

Ouch!  I thought I nicked my cheek but kept going in the downward direction.  Ouch. I thought I nicked my chin.

As I looked up at my less-than-gorgeous reflection in the mirror I saw a slow and slender stream of the most sanguine liquid traveling down my cheek.  It was blood.  A rather nice shade of red, but nevertheless—it was blood.  My blood.

These photos were taken after I cleaned up a bit. The photo on the far right is the “welt” I had when I woke up this morning!

I also noticed a bit of the blood on my chin.

WTF did I do?

I ran out of the bathroom that I use and into our bedroom to ask Bonaparte if I looked like I needed to go to the emergency room for stitches.

His eyes popped out of his head like two little escargot shells!  In a horrified voice, he started speaking in French.  I understood what “merde” meant.  I also understood “fou”. Especially as he started repeating the word over and over, he put his forefinger to his temple and made circles in the air.

After Bonaparte recovered, I had to get him a couple of Tylenol to get rid of the severe headache I gifted him with!

This isn’t the first headache I’ve gifted my Frenchman with!

I began to wonder if this he was beginning to regret marrying me!

And then Bonaparte brought up another little DIY project I hit upon two weeks ago.

After reading how bad commercial deodorant is, I had a serious bout of hypochondria and anxiety.  I threw my deodorant in the trash and ran to the store to buy a new box of baking soda.  I didn’t have all the ingredients required to make homemade deodorant, so I just poured a ton of baking soda in my hand, made a heavy paste with a bit of water and slathered the paste, as though it was spackle, on my pits.

Not only did my arm pits become red and irritated, but they became bumpy and rashed out. I couldn’t shave my underarms for a week.

At least the baking soda stopped my pits from smelling bad!

I am now using a crystal deodorant.

My new deodorant. I swear if the pits of my shirts turn yellow, I’ll stop wearing deodorant altogether and just walk around like a stinky little skunk!

These two incidents also brought a very sentimental stroll down memory lane for me.  It was when I was in my late teens and used my body for a DIY bikini wax experiment! Click on the link below to read about this charmer!

Wax On. Wax Off. But Please Bring a Bucket Of Ice Cubes for the Thighed Burns!

Moving forward, the only DIY projects I will be doing will be in the home décor genre and NOT on me.

Let me concentrate on redecorating the sun room and..

…adding more plants to the chateau.  It’s safer!

 Luckily, my face is healing at a quick rate. And my friend Laura sent me a photo of a better way to take care of my face.

Shout out to my girl Laura Sullivan for showing me what I SHOULD be using.  Laura used to babysit for my kids and now she is babysitting for me!! 

Instead of shaving face, I need to save face!

And I was able to cover the red welt up with the Fenty foundation. Does Riri realize her foundation has medicinal value?

I’m looking rather “human” today!

Here’s a look at the casual clothing I wore this week as I spent more time writing and doing odd things to my body.

This was Tuesday’s outfit. I went to a career workshop and HAD to get dressed. I stayed in my pajamas on Monday!

Wednesday’s outfit. This was my favorite. I wore my new jeans and was able to go braless in this off-the-shoulder shirt!

Thursday was a trip to the local library for another career workshop and the same jeans. I’m going to make it a point to get dressed every day so I don’t gain weight. I worked so hard to take it off and am petrified I’ll put it back on!  NO ICE CREAM IN THE HOUSE!

Technically it is still summer. And summer weather returned back with a vengeance yesterday.  I wore shorts and a wrinkled tee but felt like a million bucks when I applied Trophy Wife to my eye lids.  

It’s 85 degrees today and humid.  I’m wearing my son Jake’s old gym tee from St. Ignatius Loyola School in NYC.  The shirt is 24 years old. It’s in great shape too!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone!  And if you shave your face, please be careful. And make sure your DIY’s don’t turn into DYT’s!!

How could I not post this great song today. The great Freddie Mercury and Queen.

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