Poppy's Top 10 of 2010: Clinique's Even Better Skin Tone Corrector

Another product I was hoping wouldn't work, because

1. It's ridiculously expensive. Retail is $49.50 for one ounce of product.
2. If you use this stuff morning and night, one drop all over your face, you'll use it up in about a month.
3. To make matters worse, you can't tell when the product is running out, because the pump is opaque.

So even though this product makes me a little crazy ... I do think it works.

I'd like to spare you the sight of my creepy bits, so I won't be uploading any photos. You'll just have to believe me when I tell you that I have a dark spot about the size of Rhode Island on my left cheekbone. It is, I guess, the price I pay for being a fair-skinned automobile driver.

It was also the result of a cruel beauty establishment taking a couple of decades to get around to telling me that UVA rays

1. penetrate glass 
2. do deep, invisible damage to the skin
3. are not blocked by the standard SPF15 moisturizers I was using back in the 80s.

Anyway, I'm using a Vitamin C serum twice a day and this serum on top, and I do actually see an improvement. There is noticeable lightening of the spot.

There is also a noticeable lightening of my wallet. But at least I'm not left racking my brain for a Clinique product I can buy when I want to qualify for a GWP. Right?

Also, I've noticed that Clinique has introduced a new, larger size of this stuff. Which means I'm not the only person who thinks it works. And the new 1.7 ounce size sells for $73.00, which at least saves a little money.



For more:


See this article on age spots and what we can do about them.

Read this for current sunscreen recommendations.

Poppy's Top 10 of 2010: DDF Glycolic Body Lotion

I was really hoping I wasn't going to like DDF 10% Glycolic Body Lotion better than anything else I tried this year, because the stuff is crazy expensive. I'm usually all about the biggest, cheapest bottle of body lotion, figuring I slather it on the way they tell you to apply sunscreen--frequently and copiously--so why spend more?

The thing is, so many of my lotions (Eucerin, Nivea, Lubriderm, Jergens) haven't been enough by themselves, so I've layered them over and under other products.

Whereas the DDF lotion does it all. It moisturizes so well that itchy dry places that tend bother me every winter are soothed. I'm not hearing a peep out of them. It exfoliates, so it helps gets rid of flaky skin and keratosis pilaris and foot calluses and dry cuticles. And it gives my skin a beautiful, youthful sheen.

When I put it on--and I put it on pretty much every bit of me from the neck down--I can feel that AHA tingle. Which means if you have sensitive skin, this product probably isn't for you. But me? I love knowing that all the creepy bits of me are being sloughed off. 

Unfortunately, due to the AHAs, there's a bit of a funky yogurt-y smell. And as I said, it's expensive--roughly $40.00 for an eight ounce bottle.

I know! Crazy! But it's so good, I'm looking for an on-line coupon or Friends and Family sale or something along those lines, because I'm halfway through my first bottle.

Poppy's Top 10 of 2010: Clinique All About Eyes Serum De-Puffing Eye Massage

For several years, in an attempt to keep my readers stopping by while they were on Christmas break, I did something I called The 12 Days of Blogmas, which, if I remember correctly, had something to do with Christmas songs and random Google images.

But now that I'm a famous beauty and style blogger,  I decided to do a top ten count down where I sing the praises of products and retailers that have surprised me with their wonderfulness in 2010. Because no one has ever thought of doing a year's-end top 10 list before.

Let's start with an eye product. Now, while no one has convinced me that there's a product out there that surpasses Garnier Nutritioniste Ultra-Lift Eye Cream, which if you click on that link, you'll be pleased to discover is on sale via Amazon for $3.05/jar. (I just ordered three of them.)

For moisturizing without giving me milia, this eye cream is tops. But it does nothing for puffiness.

Which is why I'm giving a Poppy's Top 10 award to Clinique's All About Eyes Serum De-Puffing Eye Massage.

Now, under-eye bags and puffiness are not my biggest concern. My big concern is under-eye shadows. Mine are very dark. I have under-eye shadows as in cue the opening credits to Dark Shadows. And this roller doesn't help with them at all.

But after a night of not-enough sleep, or the Morning After? This roller is a gift from the gods. It's so cool and refreshing and just what the doctor ordered.

I got mine as part of a gift with purchase the last time I stocked up on Clinique's acne products for the teenagers. As far as not-really-necessary beauty products go, at $25.50/15 ml., it's not cheap.

To soften the sting, you could find a Clinique GWP by doing some research on GWP Addict. (Here's a link to Lisa's Top 3 listings: Clinique, Estee Lauder and Lancome GWP.)

You could also look on eBay--lots of eBay sellers resell extra GWP size products--some in sets of three, which is the same amount of product as you'd get in a full-size bottle.

You could also try drugstore alternatives, because there are a bunch out there: Olay Regenerist, Garnier Nutritioniste, and even one from L'Oreal Paris,
which rather hilariously, is marketed for men.


Do these eye rollers make that much of a difference? Maybe not. But when you wake up on January 1st, you'll be glad you have one on your bedside table.

• For more on roll-on eye serums, see Prime Beauty's review.

• Full disclosure: I have an Amazon Associates account, which means that when I link to stuff on Amazon--and I just did, big-time--if someone clicks over from my blog and buys it, I make a small commission. Just so you know, this Amazon Associates deal has so far added up to an $11.52 gift card. w00t!

How can you miss me if I don't go away?

Hey internet? Miss me?

OK, maybe not. But I feel guilty, so I'm here to confess.

I haven't been blogging much. I'm part of a group blog, and I've been managing to do my Mamarazzi posts. Most of the time, at least. If you've been wondering where the hell I've been, and why I haven't been blogging, here's the deal.

Right about when school started, I signed up with LiveStrong's MyPlate program. I figured out things like if I want to lose 1.5 pounds a week, I need to eat about 1300 calories a day. And if I want to drink a glass of wine, I need to walk for half an hour. So anyway, with the weekly weigh-ins and the long walks and the food journal, I've been busy. I've also lost 15 pounds.

(Don't get excited, I weigh 175 pounds and am wearing a size 14.)

I've also been decluttering my house. I highly recommend it as a complementary activity. First of all, it gives you something to do besides eat. Also, as you shrink, you get to get rid of your fat clothes, which is kind of fun. And third, you get a huge sense of accomplishment. Really. I've been decluttering a space a day. Sometimes it's something small, like the junk drawer in the kitchen; sometimes it's something appallingly out-of-control and death-trap-y, like my closet. And it feels fantastic! I could have filled you in on this, but I don't know how compelling it would be. I've been boring my husband for weeks now.

What the hell, I'll give it a try. Hey internet! You should see my broom closet!!! Pfft. See what I mean?

So anyway, dieting and decluttering have kept me away from my laptop.

But here's a big one. Did you know, going into this parenting gig, that teenagers were such time- and energy-sucks? Color me naive, but I thought that as long as truly excruciating bad behavior involving drugs, alcohol,  unwed motherhood, and fresh back-talk weren't part of the picture--well, how bad could it be?

HA.

I won't go into the awkward stage where teenagers have a ton of extra-curricular activities and no driver's license, because you're all acquainted with the second shift, i.e., the karate / Girl Scouts / choir rehearsal / music lessons runs. That's all very well and good. As long as the curricular activities are going well.

But after too many days where I went to a board meeting and got home at 2:30, only to have some huge hairy homework debacle occur an hour later, it finally dawned on me that I needed to shed as much volunteer or unpaid activity as I could. There have been too many days recently where I had to chose between my family getting a decent dinner, and a child's homework being completed.

And I am NOT a helicopter mom. But if they flunk out, they'll never get into college. And if they don't get into college, they won't graduate and come home and clutter up my empty nest with pizza boxes and video game equipment. And that would never do.

So I had to put aside some of my favorite activities, i.e., the ones where I make an idiot out of myself. For example, this Christmas, I won't be putting on my red sequin Santa hat and singing "Santa Baby" to a roomful of retirees at the local nursing home. Even though those old guys think I'm smoking hot.

Also, the blogging thing had to go for a while. I needed to husband my energy.

I would have told you, except I was in the middle of it, and sometimes when I'm in the middle of things, I lack insight. I even (gasp!) sometimes lack the words.

So anyway. Miss Doxie is back!!!! and so--much less thrillingly--am I.

(And unlike Miss Doxie, I'll try to come back more often than once a year.)

Why didn't I think of that?

Usually I don't pay a lot of attention to the emails I get from Hermès. They have a tendency to make me feel like a have-not.

But this is brilliant. I could put an orange tube over my head and go out as a Twilly box!

Or use real Twilly boxes instead of going to the trouble of buying and carving pumpkins.

Oh, whom am I kidding, anyway? My job isn't to wear a costume--it's to play Maid of Honor for my daughter as she gets ready for four different Halloween events. And I'm so glad I never got rid of my circa 1992 black lace up ankle boots, because she'll be wearing them.

Recent faves, or Friday Fun

What I'm Reading

Une Femme made a video to teach us two ways to tie a long scarf.

Deb's post at No Nonsense Beauty has convinced me to try Retin-A again.

Sally at Already Pretty ran a thought-provoking post on age-appropriate dressing. I don't know how that whippersnapper got so smart, but you should definitely check it out.

The New York Times published Dominique Browning's "Why Can't Middle-Aged Women Have Long Hair" and so far, 718 commenters have weighed in.

Where I'm Shopping:

Talbot's is running a special sale today only, from 12:00 to 3:00. They're offering 30 percent of all tops, tees, and sweaters. The offer is good on-line and in stores. The code is TOPS30.

Did you know Saks is running a Friends and Family sale? Until October 24, you can get 20 percent off clothes, 15 percent off accessories, and even 10 percent off perfume and makeup. The code is FRIEND7.

Sephora's Friends & Family Sale is on now, too. Get 20 percent off an online order by using the code FF2010. So don't buy any makeup at Saks.

Need a new coat? J. Crew is offering 20 percent off women's outerwear.

Why I'm pouting

British Beauty Blogger has a post up about Selfridge's Beauty Advent Calendar, and it's making me feel like the Little Match Girl. I'm no fan of the brown crayon-flavored chocolate in my kids' Advent calendars, so little bitty beauty samples? Sold! But Selfridge's doesn't do on-line orders to the US.  The big meanies.

Enjoy your weekend!

Is Urban Decay seriously trying to bring back body glitter? Seriously?

Because I am a famous beauty and style blogger as well as a compulsive shopper, I don't just get the usual email from online retailers. I also get flooded with PR pitches as well as newsletters from every beauty and style board I've ever joined. Which means that every time a new product comes out, I'm going to hear about it at least three times.

Which is three times more than I want to hear about Urban Decay's "new" highlighting product.

I remember when I first moved to the suburbs and had to deal with massive numbers of trick or treaters. At the end of the night, there were a few bold teenagers who were willing to risk being told they were too old to go trick or treating.

I was happy to see them, because it meant I'd be able to dump the last of the candy--less for the kids who just showed up, more for the kids who had made at least some effort to dress up, even if it was just a quick insta-costume.

Now, ten years ago, the insta-costume for teenaged girls was to put a couple of flocks of baby butterfly clips in their hair and smear on a lot of body glitter.

Can it be 2000 again already?

If you can stand to spend the 1:30, watch this video as one of the co-founders of Urban Decay applies sparkly highlighter all over a young woman whose smooth, perfect skin makes her look like a Bratz Doll, albeit slightly more animated.

http://www.urbandecay.com/index.cfm?LID=NEW2766

Ladies, I know you're not even tempted. Just use this video as an object lesson, and continue to say no to glitter.

I swear, if I wake up screaming in the night, it'll be because I had a nightmare about being caught in public with glitter down the middle of my nose. And on my neck. And sternum.

Urban Decay, you have a lot to answer for. I mean, come on--weren't you just selling all that glittery makeup, like eight years ago? Like I'm going to fall for that played out shiznit.

Lucky for you, your pencil eyeliners are the bomb-diggity.

It's been a glorious week, featuring a not-so-glorious looking Poppy

I met a psychiatrist on Monday and mentioned that I'm a style blogger. I'm sure he was all "delusions of grandeur" and "psychotic episode," because people, I looked like crap.

That's because I've spent most of the week--which has been absolutely perfect in terms of early fall weather--setting up the sewing and crafts room for my church's annual rummage sale.

Image borrowed from carla-at-home

This is not a crafts blog, and those of you who have been reading for a while will notice that I don't tend to spend a lot of time talking about sewing, quilting, embroidery, or needlepoint. You might be wondering why a glamorous style blogger like me is spending hours pricing packages of rickrack.

OK, I would totally volunteer for the makeup and skincare room, except they don't have one.

But really, the whole thing is Wendy's fault. See, I went to the rummage sale with her last year, and she bought out the sewing room. She walked out of there with something like her 14th sewing machine and several bushels of Liberty fabric, plus reams of seam binding, interfaces, and other sewing effluvia. This year she's too busy having an addition added to her house to volunteer, so somehow--don't ask me how, it's a mystery--I'm doing it instead.

At moments like this, I wonder why, when Jen Lancaster was researching volunteer opportunities, she didn't just follow me around. The way I look at it, volunteer jobs are kudzu, and my time is the southern landscape. They stick to me like burrs. They're as inevitable as white dog hair on a pair of black pants. Jen would have polished off her research in a couple of days.

Speaking of black pants and Jen Lancaster, a bunch of us will be going to a book signing tomorrow to meet Lisa Birnbach, editor of The Official Preppy Handbook and her recent follow-up, True Prep.

I'll be eating lunch with Wendy and Jen and Stacey as well as some other friends of mine that you probably don't know because they're not all over the internet.

The good news is that I've lost 10 pounds since August, and can just get into my favorite black pants. I don't know what else I'm wearing, though. I'm thinking a pink cashmere twinset from Brooks Brothers with an Hermes scarf with pink and green in it. I think that would be preppy enough.

If not, I can always add a string of pearls.

Pour le weekend

Mr. Buxom and I have nothing planned for the weekend, and we couldn't be happier. It means two family movie nights, extra time reading blogs, and time to finish getting the fall wardrobe front and center. That includes accessories.

Last August when blackbird and I were playing hookey* at BlogHer, I bought a Hermes fluide scarf. Which is leaving me feeling a little flummoxed. Blackbird put the scarf on all kinds of ways, and it always looked fabulous. And on a French website, I see that this kind of scarf is considered

Fluid and shifting, allowing a wide variety of ways to be worn, silk jersey is now recognized as a must. 

Luckily I hadn't seen this video, or I would have decided that unless I'm 24, and a flat-chested ukelele-playing Parisienne, there would be no point in buying it.



However, have you seen this Liberty series on how to tie a scarf? Here's a sample with a chiffon scarf:



Alors, I'm going to play with my new scarf. And practice speaking English with an outrageous French accent.

More Liberty scarf-tying videos available at Youtube.


* Hey, we're style bloggers. We were in New York City, for Heaven's sake. It was crucially important that we go shopping.

Instead of using a crystal ball, I just check out the Prada runway.

Recently, in a comment about my post on the rebirth of the kitten-heeled shoe, a reader mentioned her deep dislike for this picture:

This is from the Prada Spring 2011 collection. As you can see, it shows a heavy sock paired with a delicate shoe. Which, yeah, breaks every rule of taste or common sense. And that's totally Prada.

Miuccia Prada's design process starts with something she dislikes--say, a particular color or silhouette--which she works with until she's made it beautiful. This explains the shock of what comes down her runway. But what explains the fact that sooner or later, we see that shocking stuff being worn by normal people?

I think it's Prada's uncanny prescience. She's often way ahead of the trends. Who started making bags from ripstop nylon? Who got women to carry designer backpacks? Prada. Who started the return of Mad Men era prints and colors? Prada was showing them before the show was invented. The peep-toed lace up bootie that is everywhere this fall? Prada, Spring 2006.

Miuccia Prada has such a grasp of the zeitgeist,  she can be as much as a decade ahead of the times. For example, this outfit

came down the runway ten years ago. But it looks very current.

Nicole Kidman makes this shade of green look fabulous. 

But look at the texture, too ... it's my grandmother's porch cushions!

Prada's ugly-is-beautiful aesthetic has been giving fashion a much-needed goose since the 1980s. And so, when Prada talks, I listen. Not because I'm going to jump on board Miuccia's crazy train. I'm much too conservative for that. In fact, if someone were keeping a list called "The Last By Whom The New Is Tried," I'd be number one. (Except I'd be agitating to be moved further down, because I'd much rather be last.)

No, for me, Prada is a fashion canary in a coalmine. I might hate kitten heels, but knowing that they've walked the Prada runway gives me a year or two extra to adjust to their revival.

Even if my initial reaction to open-toed boots is absolute incredulity,  I know that Miuccia Prada has spoken, and eventually ... I might actually end up  owning a pair. Yes, I'm the Last By Whom the New is Tried. But I'm trying to keep an open mind.

Because closing your mind is the first step towards getting, looking, and feeling old.

And that's why I keep an eye on Prada.

There is hope! A picture post.

Seen on the street, and on the runway--styles that work for grown-ups.

Are you ready for some longer hemlines? OK, then.

Shirt dresses, Ray-Bans, long, loose hair (very Italian) closed-toe, non-platform pumps ... no kitten heels:

OK, maybe the anklets are a bit much. Love the coat, though. And the Cuban--not kitten--heels.

At Michael Kors. Lovely all white turtleneck and trousers. But please wear a bra.

This Fendi dress looks a little J. Jill to me ... but notice the length, the blouson cut, and the dolman sleeves. Very figure-friendly, for the right kind of figure. (Not an hourglass, alas. It would make you look shapeless. And forget it if you have a lot on your balcony; Dolman sleeves and blousons are the worst cut you can wear.)

I saved dessert for last. At Dolce & Gabanna. The perfect black suit.

All images taken from The Sartorialist. (You are reading it regularly, aren't you?)

Meg Ryan and Kelly McGillis at 50; a cautionary tale

Look at these before and after photographs of Meg Ryan

and Kelly McGillis.

If you're like me, you think Kelly looks better than Meg. The phrase "aging gracefully" comes to mind.

There are ways of being fifty (or in Meg's case, almost-but-not-quite 50.) There's the do-anything-you-can-to-look-younger way, starring a lot of plastic surgery, hair dye, frantic gym time, and multiple dermatological interventions: Botox to erase lines, collagen to plump lips, and Restylane to fill in hollows.

Frankly, this seems like an awful lot of work, with inevitably diminishing returns. Because you're working so hard to stave off old age ... and yet, you just keep continuing to get--and look--older.

Then there's my approach, which is a lot more laissez-faire. Yes, I dye my hair. I'm pretty rigorous about taking care of my skin. Sure, I think about getting veneers for my teeth and Botox shots for my lines, but I settle for using an occasional whitening strip, and not scowling quite as much.

It's not that I'm cheap. Or lazy. (Although I'll admit to being both.) It's that I refuse to spend all my time and energy trying to reach a goal that will always be out of my reach. Life's too short for that kind of nonsense.

On top of that, I'm chicken. I'm scared of doctors, and frankly? I'm even more scared of ending up looking like some kind of freak.

That's the difference between us and Hollywood stars. They start intervening with nature earlier and do it more and oftener than we do. Britney Spears hasn't seen her actual hair color since she was 17, and at 28, she has been using Botox for years.

I figure I've got the rest of my life to become totally high maintenance. In the mean time, Kelly McGillis, who dresses well, wears makeup, but refuses to dye her gray hair, is my role model. How about you?

Japanese snacks have destroyed me, and other stories

I continue to chart my daily input and outgo of food and calories expended. I'm seeing results--down seven pounds in three weeks--but I don't feel as sleek as I usually do after three weeks of dieting and walking my legs off. (OK, walking for an hour a day.)

I blame this nagging sense that I still resemble a sea-going mammal on The Menopause, which appears to have developed a strong attachment to my midriff bulge. And I mean that literally.

(Did I say "midriff bulge?" I meant "muffin top." It sounds thinner.)

So. It's all the fault of The Menopause. Although it doesn't help to line up lovely bowls of Japanese snacks for family movie night. Just so you know, this?

Tohato caramel corn

Which I only bought because it's caramel corn that's OK for kids with braces? Is of the Devil. It's that good.

And so while I track and walk and wait for my midriff bulge  whoops muffin top to go away, I'm getting ready to order a couple of pieces to ease me through this transition. I'm thinking easy-fitting pieces that will work both now and when I've burned off the last bite of Japanese caramel corn.

Like this waterfall cardigan from Boden, currently on sale for $62.40.

Look at the easy, graceful, forgiving lines. Notice the strong, but not-too-obvious emphasis on the vertical. Note the lack of ruffles, appliqué, beading, shirring, or embroidery over the balcony--a good thing when one's balcony already calls quite enough attention to itself. And check out the description

The Waterfall Cardigan is in a lovely soft with-cashmere mix, with elegant cascading folds of fabric at the front-making it unusual, without being daft.

"Unusual, without being daft." That's so me!

It's back in style. And you hate it.

My latest post for BlogHer is about that sinking sensation you get when a style you remem-ber--and remember hating--is revived.

In my case, it's the kitten heel.

Check out my post--it features tiny cameo appearances by LPC of Privilege and blackbird of say la vee--among the newest and oldest friends I've made in my career as a mid-life style blogger.

So far, I've got one comment expressing horror over the return of the kitten heel, and one expressing delight.

Let me know what you think.

Clean sweep

Hey internet! I'm back!

Sorry, that whole getting-the-kids-back-to-school completely kicked my ass. But now that the dust has settled somewhat, I'm incredibly excited and energetic--the way I am every fall.

I love summer, but fall--when the heat's not on yet, but the air conditioner is off? Is the best time of the year. And it doesn't hurt that my kids are in school and I can actually get things done.

So here are three ways I'm welcoming fall.


My Diet

I signed up for a free LiveStrong MyPlate account. This is a great site with fabulous free diet tools. As far as I'm concerned, this site leaves Weight Watchers's online tools (which ran really slowly and frequently crashed my laptop) sitting in the road.

LiveStrong offers a lot of important health information--so much that I feel sort of petty bothering them with being pudgy. I mean, hello, the first thing you see when you head to the site is a huge photograph of Lance Armstrong. Way to make me feel shallow, Lance.

But MyPlate has so many useful tools. It helped me figure out how many calories to eat every day in order to lose 1.5 pounds a week. (And mid-life ladies? Do we agree that a measly 1,375 calories a day is not very much food? I thought so.)

I track what I eat every day. I track my so-called workouts. And once or twice a week, I weigh myself and add that information, too.

I'm just geeky enough to sort of enjoy this kind of thing. This helps me tolerate a life of 1,375 calories a day. Which is good, because 1,375 calories = Not Enough Wine.

Also, I've lost six pounds. That helps, too.

My Complexion

Have any of you bought a Clarisonic? I've heard great things from a couple of friends, but I balk at spending $250 for a face scrubbing doo-hickey.

That's why I'm so delighted with the Sephora complexion brush I got in a party goodie bag.

A couple of my friends have popped for the Clarisonic, but I'm analog to their digital. I use a Sonicare on my teeth two or three times a day. At this point, I'm excited about using a tool that doesn't make an annoying high-pitched whining noise.

Believe it or not, this little $5 face brush does the job. I use it morning and night, and it helps bump up the cleansing power of my Murad cleanser. The cleanser rinses off better, too, probably because the brush distributes it more evenly.

I swear, I have a real glow, and my pores look smaller. Not bad for five dollars!

My Closet

I'm either bored with or sick of everything in my closet. On top of that, I have clothes that are size 10, 12, 14, and 16. It's time they went. I deserve to have a closet full of clothes that I like and that fit.

I am in serious purge mode.

This is way more than a change of seasons switch-up. It's like I walked into my bedroom and went all drill sergeant: Listen up, good-enough clothes. You're not. You're The Clothes Formerly Known as Good Enough. And your mama isn't here to help you out. It's time to shape up or ship out. Now drop and give me fifty!

I'm getting rid of an amazing amount of stuff.

I'm starting with the size 16 summer stuff. When I do laundry, I'm folding my summer clothes and putting them in donation bags.

By next summer, I'll be wearing significantly smaller clothes! Either that or I'll be wearing a barrel.

What worked for me this summer, or the Almost-Labor-Day-Blues

As the season draws to a close, I'm thinking about packing away my summer clothes, moving my winter clothes out of storage, doing inventory, and figuring out what I need--and whether what I need has any relationship whatsoever to what I want.

(Usually it doesn't.)

But have I actually started doing it? No, I have not. Not when it's not Labor Day yet. There's time for a few more Mojitos before I have to do all that, right?

So I thought I'd dedicate a few posts to the things I'll regret packing away. And I'll begin with an astonishing item:

White shoes

I don't know what hit me, because fashion experts have been railing against white shoes for years. I can hear the chorus even now: "They only look good on brides!" "They make your feet look huge!" "Only if you're a nurse!" But instead of looking dorky, like a farm machinery salesman from Sandusky, they looked fresh and clean and summery.

I wore the hell out of this pair of Kelsi Dagger Women's Ivy Espadrilles. They looked good with pants, but were particularly nice with dresses and skirts. And the wedged heel made them incredibly comfortable.


The other pair of shoes I'll miss is also white, wedged version of an espadrille--this time in white patent leather from Michael Kors.

Now, I think of espadrilles as very preppy. Thirty years ago, preps wore Jacques Cohen espadrilles. Nowadays you'll find espadrilles being produced by prep favorites like Ralph Lauren and Kate Spade.

But I opened the Zappos box, I couldn't decide whether the big silver MK and all that patent leather didn't so much say "preppy" as "retired Vegas chorine." Seriously. I don't do patent leather. Or logos. I felt edgy! But oh, my goodness, were these comfortable. And I loved them with white jeans.

Ah ... summer.

My non-BlogHer loot, or why it pays to make friends with people who have friends who work at Chanel

One of the unexpected benefits to blogging is the friends you make. I know so many women who started blogging with the idea of joining a community, but when I started, I saw it as a way for me to torment the internet with my drivel. And of course, it is.

But I've made more friends than I've believed possible. In fact, I've made more dear friends from blogging than I ever did from volunteering at my kids' schools, serving on non-profit boards, or joining gyms.

(OK, that last part was kind of a joke, because who makes friends at the gym? Not I.)

Who'd have thought that by holing up with my laptop, I'd meet so many wonderful people? People who do things like send me this:

See, blackbird has a good friend at Chanel. A Chanel Connection. And the loot can be a little overwhelming to a very small bird, so when we got together at BlogHer, bird presented me with the overload:

• A refillable purse spray of Chanel No. 5 Eau de Toilette, plus two refills
• Two eye pencils, in Le Crayon Khol in Marine and Le Crayon Yeux in Seafoam
• Two Glossimers in Sunset Gold and Pin-Up
• Nail polish in Lilac Sky
• Eye Makeup Remover
• Three mascaras: Extracils in Brun, Mascara Volume Intense in Smoky Marine, and Inimitable in Brun Noir
• Two AquaLumiere lipsticks in Waikiki and Monte-Carlo
• and a Rouge Allure in Intuitive

In a word? Squee!

Dr. Murad's assistants, or, what I did to bump up my skincare regimen

If you've been reading The Beauty Boomer for a while, you might remember that last May, I popped for a Murad Resurgence 90 Day Kit.*

I never really reviewed the kit, because I felt that I hadn't given the products enough time. I didn't want to be one of those Makeup Alley reviewers who use a new moisturizer and are all "Squee! Holy Grail!" and then two weeks later are leaving another review saying "THAT CRAP GAVE ME HIVES."

But at this point, I think I can give a pretty thorough review of the products, and explain why I added some additional skin care products to my regimen.

Mostly it's because the Murad products are so gentle. I have dry, fair, freckly skin, so you'd think it would be sensitive, right? But it really isn't. And I don't know ... maybe it was Death Becomes Her, or too many episodes of AbFab, but I kind of equate effectiveness with a degree of stinging, redness, and/or peeling. When a product warns me that my skin might react, I'm like a kid at a horror movie. I think "Cool!" grab a tub of popcorn, and get ready to watch the show.  What can I say? When it comes to complexion flaws, I'm a little bloodthirsty.

So I ended up being a little disappointed in the Murad products. The very slight tingle I felt the first couple of times I used Murad Resurgence Age-Diffusing Serum dissipated pretty quickly, to the point where I started using it every night. In fact, of the four products I received in my starter kit, it's the only one I've almost used up. But honestly, it's just an AHA product, and the stuff at the drugstore is probably just as good.

As for the other products in the kit, I've got about half a tube left of the cleaning cream and the AHA BHA Exfoliating Cleanser. Just as I had suspected, the cleansing cream didn't leave my skin feeling particularly clean, while the exfoliating cleanser was so incredibly gentle, it didn't feel like it was doing anything at all.

The Murad night time moisturizer is lovely, and I love its cake batter smell, but I find it a little rich for summer. So I'm saving it for colder weather, when my skin will appreciate it.

Long story short, the Murad kit is only OK. So I added a few products to my regimen. Here are two products I've liked. And one I've hated:

1) NuFountain® C20 Vitamin C Serum (19.99/1.0 oz.)
NuFountain's serum comes in a brown bottle (since Vitamin C degrades with exposure to light) and is dispensed with a dropper.

You're advised to start by putting five or six drops in the palm of the left hand, and painting it on with the right. This is another one of those products that warns you your skin might react to it. It has a pH of 2.5, so it's sort of like applying lemon juice or vinegar to your skin. I didn't have a problem with it at all, and since it's only 19.99/bottle, and since the manufacturers warn you that the product will degrade over time, I've been applying it all over my face, neck, décolleté, hands, and rubbing what's left on my lower arms.

I can't really describe what I think it does. I've seen some lightening of age spots, and my skin feels firmer, but more than that, there's a kind of ... well, the word is glow. I've gone through two-thirds of the bottle and will definitely be ordering more.

2) Avene Eluage Cream ($40/oz.)
This is a retinol product, where the retinol is suspended in a very emollient base. I've used both Retin-A and Renova, Retin-A's supposedly more moisturizing little sister, and Eluage feels completely different. It has Hyaluronic Acid Fragments and feels like a luxurious night cream. I've noticed no particular benefit from it, but I've also noticed no dryness or peeling from the retinol. Again, the price is right, and even if it only has a slight effect on surface lines, it's a keeper.

3) Retin-A (by prescription only, unless you sneak some of your son's supply)

OK, leading up to BlogHer I felt a certain pressure to look AMAZINGLY YOUTHFUL, stylish, slim, and gorgeous. Naturally there was nothing I could do about the slim part of things, but I got my hair color refreshed--no tell-tale roots on the Beauty Boomer--stuffed my Stila train case full of fabulous makeup, and made sure I left my baggy t-shirts and Mom Jeans at home.

But I also dipped into my son's supply of Retin-A.

I know, I know. Bad Poppy! But Internet, I couldn't help myself. He gets 11 refills in the next year! There's no way he could use even half that, and it would just be going to waste.

So this is how my skin punished me for sneaking dabs of someone else's prescription and blithely applying it every night for five nights:

OW. BURNING. PEELING.

And that's why this beauty blogger used nothing but Vaseline on her face for a few days before BlogHer.

Of course, when I showed up at Blogher, I was probably DIVINELY EXFOLIATED. But I don't recommend it.

So here's my current regimen:

A.M.

• wash face with uber gentle Murad cream cleanser
• apply nufountain Vitamin C serum
• apply Garnier Nutritioniste eye cream
• apply Garnier Nutritioniste SPF28 moisturizer

PM

• remove eye makeup with eye makeup remover of choice
• wash face with uber gentle Murad cleanser
• apply Garnier Nutritioniste eye cream
• apply Murad's Age Diffusing Serum/Avène's Eluage on alternate nights

--
*This link, as well as most of the other links on my site, goes to Amazon. Full disclosure: I finally managed to get the Amazon Associates doohickey set up properly, and last time I checked, I had earned forty cents! So feel free to click through and purchase stuff I link to, even though at this rate, it will take me until Christmas to earn a cup of Starbucks.

this, or, my lightbulb moment in a meme

This is what I know: there is a moment when you stop mourning the end of summer and start anticipating fall: wool clothes and real shoes and serious skin care and a full face of makeup. And when that moment occurs, jump on it. This is what I think: everyone who thinks their feet look terrible in the winter hasn't seen mine after a summer of going to the beach and wearing flip flops. I got home from New Hampshire on Sunday, and my first order of business was to give myself the mother of all pedicures. With the good pumice stone, not that useless one I bought in NH. WHAT A DIFFERENCE. This is what I'm wearing on my toenails: O.P.I. Crimson Carol. It's bright red, sparkly, and it's just the pick-me-up I need. This is what could change my life: OK, Funny you should ask. My son came home with a few first day of school questionnaires, and that was one of the questions. Or more specifically, "What would you change about yourself?" And I immediately thought: I'd lose weight. About 30 pounds. Maybe 40--it depends on how well my metabolism has handled the seafood and ice creams of summer. Which made me realize something. Losing weight? Talk about an attainable goal. I mean, it's not like my number one desire is to be six inches taller. So what's my problem? Easy. It would take a year to do it right.  But I'm going to be a year older, anyway. Why not be a year slimmer, too? This is what I'm eating: a sandwich made from last night's leftover lemon chicken breasts, lots of lettuce, hold the mayo. See above. Meme courtesy of blackbird and Badger.

Travels with Poppy, the Glamour Don't

Greetings, Internet. I'm blogging from a Best Western in Elyria, Ohio, which is just as glamorous as it sounds. We drove for 14 hours today, and I'm makeup-free. And I'm wearing my summer travel outfit: a black t-shirt, a pair of olive green cargo pants, flip-flops, and piles of jewelry.

The jewelry breaks one of my own rules, because I firmly believe that it looks younger and/or hipper to resist the temptation to pile on jewelry. But what happens when you've finished packing the car and find your favorite bracelet and ring next to the kitchen sink? You put them on and clank around all day.

The flip flops are for ease and comfort and for those moments when I want to stick my feet up on the dashboard. Everyone knows it's tacky to keep your shoes on when you put your feet on the dashboard.

The black t-shirt is for when I'm drinking a full cup of coffee and hit a bump in the road. OK, it doesn't look so hot, but it beats wearing a bib. It's pretty sad the way I can predict spilling food on myself. Sad, but accurate.

And the cargo pants not only give me a place to put my phone when I'm pumping gas, they also give me a place to stash the other stuff I discover that we've forgotten to pack. Which is why I spent a good part of the day carrying around a big tube of toothpaste. "Is that a tube of toothpaste," Mr. Buxom asked, "or are you just glad to see me?"

Obviously, I need to face the facts: 1. summer is almost over, and 2. I need to clean up my act!

This is not a BlogHer recap post

Even though I spent three days at BlogHer, I don't really have a BlogHer recap. For one thing, I actually spent very little time at the actual panels--two on Friday, and none on Saturday.

Nothing against the panels, really, it's just that it's my fifth blogging conference, and after a while, panels start to repeat themselves. And seem more trouble than they're worth.

One of the two panels I attended was Susan Wagner's Style Bloggers panel (if you missed the panel, there's a good write up here on Fashionista) and I left the panel with more questions than I'd come in with. Which is probably good, because it means the subject was much bigger than its time slot.

It's also good because it means the panel made me think.

In my last life, I spent a lot of time going to academic conferences, and I got used to the way they run panels. It's a big deal to get on an academic panel, and while it helps to be a big name in your field, you still really have to make a point. And it should be a good point--preferably something groundbreaking or paradigm shifting or as Faux Fuschia likes to say, visionary. You get 20 minutes to make your point. Then, if you're lucky, people ask questions.

There are fewer points and many more questions at BlogHer panels, which means the quality of the panel depends on the quality of the questions, which may explain why blackbird of Say La Vee and I escaped and went shopping at the Hermes store. Where I bought a scarf and two bracelets, but this is not a haul post.

No, this is a series of questions about fashion and style blogging.

(BTW, were you acquainted with "haul posts" and "haul videos?" The term was getting slung around a lot at the style panel, but I hadn't realized it had reached such a saturation level that no one felt the need to define it. So click on the links, if you're not aware of the phenomenon.)

Now that BlogHer is less about mommyblogging being a radical act and more about women-owned business blogging (because let's face it; monetizing your blog in any way is running a business) I'd really like to see some other people at blogging conferences. Because we are not all mommybloggers. Not even those of us who have kids.

I'd really like to see more style bloggers. I saw Susan Wagner of Friday Playdate and Kalisah of I'll Be the one in Heels. I met some new (to me) style bloggers, like the gorgeous Amber of Brown Bombshell Beauty, and Treacle of The Lingerie Addict, and Tracey of FashionForward40, who was everything good: smart, funny, curvy, and stylish.

Tracey in her wrap dress and double strand of faux gray
South-Sea-style pearls--me in Lilly

But seriously, the personal blog has been around for years. The monetized brand-crazy mommyblog has too. So enough already about privacy, the internet, and our kids. What about privacy, the internet, and What I Wore Today? 

And what's a design panel when nobody's addressing something that I've been wondering about for a while: why, with our eyes for design being so finely honed, do bloggers like Faux Fuchsia, LPC of A Midlife of Privilege, Alexis of J. Crew Aficionada and I still use the Blogger minima templates? Why don't style bloggers feel the same need to use huge splashy headers and custom-designed blogs?

How about a panel on fashion photography--specifically, on photographing yourself for your blog?

How about a panel on being an old broad? What about issues of aging in the blogosphere? After all, simply by virtue of being 53 years old, I'm way outside of the 35-year-old white, suburban mother-of-two stereotype. Even though I'm white and suburban and a mother of two, I feel distinctly ... other.

What fashion/style/design issues would you like to see covered at a blogging conference?

My 15 minutes has arrived.

.
Originally uploaded by MaggieMason

So please learn from my experience. When your 15 minutes arrives, be wearing lipstick.

(This is the incrediblly photogenic Susie Sunshine and me at Maggie Mason's get-together last weekend at that women's blogging conference you may have heard about.)

a post (short) from BlogHer

I'm borrowing blackbird's laptop to write this, so I've decided I'm borrowing her title, too.

I've been in New York for over 24 hours, and I'm already exhausted. I attribute this to a combination of things: being surrounded by literally thousands of blogging women, all talking at once; sitting through panels and keynotes and lunches; sharing a room with blackbird so that the talking and laughing literally doesn't stop unless we're asleep; a general lack of caffeine, and the weather, which is just what you'd expect, if you've been hearing about New York's record-breaking summer-long heat wave.

Also, I'm frustrated, because I'm having trouble accessing the internet.

You know those posts people are always writing about what to bring to a blogging conference? Well, one of the most important things to bring is a laptop.

But guess who left her laptop at home in Newtopia? And bought herself a compensatory iPad? That's right, me. And for the most part, I love it.

For one thing, I've downloaded sample chapters of all kinds of style books, like RuPaul's Working It, Daisy Fuentes' Unforgettable, Rachel Zoe's Style A to Zoe, and The Color of Style. So I'll be able to sample them at my leisure, impulse buy them, and then review them on this blog. Which is where you come in, internet.

Unfortunately, the wireless connector on my new iPad is a little fussy. It does not like BlogHer or New York or the Hilton. So I've spent a lot of conference time struggling with it. And that's why blackbird took pity on me and let me borrow her laptop.

So. What we've done. Yesterday, we attended a party at Martha Stewart's offices, where we drank frozen Lillet and basil slushies and ate miniature whoopie pies. Then we went to the People's Party at the hotel, where they were pouring the bourbon with a very heavy hand. And we paid court to the Bloggess in the ladies' room, which has become something of a BlogHer tradition.

Today blackbird and I went to see our BlogHer Style boss, Susan Wagner, moderate a panel on the business of fashion blogging. I discovered that alas, I am a dinosaur, because I'd rather talk about the return of the pointy-toed shoe than about marketing my brand.

What am I wearing? Yesterday, a turquoise/lime green cotton lawn Lilly Pulitzer tunic, white bootcut jeans, and Michael Kors white patent leather and rope wedge-heeled sandals. And my hair up in one of those monster butterfly clips because hello? IT WAS HOT.

Today, it's a white stretch pencil skirt from Banana Republic, navy blue Lilly polo shirt and Kelsi Dagger wedged espadrilles with white leather ankle wraps.

And I'm carrying this bag

because it's all about MY BRAND.

It's ... alive. And wearing Lilly!

Hey internet! Look, sorry I haven't been keeping in touch--I've been really busy lately, what with taking my son back and forth to performing arts camp, dealing with our post-fire condo renovation, attending various summer-themed social events, and throwing a cocktail party for a friend who has finally bitten the bullet and moved to the suburbs.

Many of these activities involved shopping for and wearing lots and lots of Lilly Pulitzer. So I will intersperse this post with pictures of the stuff I've been wearing. (Not pictures of me wearing it, because Lord knows I'm not that organized.)

For example, for my welcome-to-the-suburbs cocktail party, guess who made her husband wear a Lilly blazer?

YES I DID. And he looked adorable, with a huge, abashed grin on his face all night long.

And hey! I've just heard that a lot of you are signing up for The Great American Apparel Diet. Which I thought meant you took a solemn oath to wear only bright colored solid clothes designed for teenagers, but which actually means you promise not to buy any clothes for a year.

And you know what? If you think you have a problem with shopping, then go for it. But I've done the moratorium thing before, and really, I think it's much more sensible to clear out your closets, set a budget, and buy only what you need.

Like for example, the way I needed that bracelet. (OK, maybe not really.)

But think about it. Buying what you need. It's not faddy or internetty. It's kind of old-school. But it works.

The hard part is figuring out what you actually need. Instead of going cold turkey with shopping, how about figuring out why your closet doesn't work with your life? Figure out what clothes you own that don't suit your life, and either store them or get rid of them. Then fill in the gaps with the stuff you really wear.

Like the way I recently bought 5,000 Lilly polo shirts.

In the summer, I wear shirts like this five days out of seven. And the white ones always get messed up somehow. To me, it makes sense to replace light-colored summer shirts with fresh, new, not-stained ones.

See, here's my theory: what happens if you get invited to a wedding or you lose a lot of weight or you need new bras? I did the buy-no-makeup-for-a-year thing way back when, and later on, I did The Compact. And frankly, they didn't significantly alter my behavior.

The easiest way to keep from overindulging is to avoid triggers. People who are trying not to drink shouldn't hang out in bars. People who are trying not to smoke shouldn't watch old Bette Davis movies. And people who want to stop buying so much stuff need to steer clear of malls, catalogs, shopping TV programs, and blogs where people are always talking about the latest crappe they've bought.

Like this dress, which I wore to my cocktail party. (Isn't it cute?)

Lilly Pulitzer, my fair weather friend

I think we can all pretty much agree that Lilly Pulitzer looks best on thin, blonde, tanned Floridians, ideally accessorized with a sprinkling of towheaded children. Something like this:

Well, this is the story of a fair-skinned, dark-haired (thanks to the salon) northern girl (OK ... post-menopausal female) and her part-time, fair-weather, irrational love of Lilly.

When you live in Chicago in a small, elderly house with teeny, tiny closets, you spend more time than you'd like moving things in and out of your closet and drawers. And sometimes, in the dead of winter, when I'm all wool and black puffy jackets and purple tights and suchlike, I look at the neon rainbow of Lilly Pulitzer summer clothes, and a single thought passes through my mind:

WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING?????

And then, lo and behold, summer hits. We get our first streak of eighty-degree days, and I'm rummaging around for the self-tanner and my white sandals and bag. And my Lilly.

This year I discovered that Lilly had--hallelujah!--actually produced some dresses with sleeves. And a chorus of angels started to sing as I discovered some of this seasons dresses aren't skin tight. They're loose, cool, and comfortable.

So I kind of went on a little bit of a shopping binge. And this week I went to a birthday luncheon for a friend of mine. Five of us baby boomers sitting around a table in a private room in a private club, talking, laughing, drinking white wine, and eating gazpacho, chicken salad, and coconut cake.

And I was resplendent in my Lilly Pulitzer blue Elina toile tunic (OK, it's really a swimsuit coverup, and maybe I looked like a walking swimming pool) with my white Michael Kors "Palm Beach" wedged sandals, and a cream-colored vintage Paloma Piccaso bag.

Then I went mattress shopping, where I took a picture.

Like youth, the season for wearing Lilly is short and sweet. And I plan to enjoy every moment!