Rellies, Balance and Getting Lucky

I'm mostly really on the ball with my admin, but occasionally something will slip through the net. Like this post.

So I'm taking you back a couple of weeks, to when I ignored my own dressing rules and stuck with the day's "lady-wot-lunches" outfit for the evening's bar meal, even though normally I'd prefer jeans.  Pub = Jeans, one of The Pout's simple dress codes!

Out with rellies.  My Sis, two cousins, and me, at The Rockie, my local.  My lovely local ladies.  We had a great catch-up.

You can already see the fish and chips on the left of the table.  And because I've been amiss considerate in withholding food pics until my previous post, let's address that balance some more with the rest of our meals! 

For our table was piled high with other tasty morsels; sausage and mash, a seafood platter.  It groaned under the weight of this abundance.  Then I groaned the next day when I dragged myself on to the scales!  Or the balancing scales, as I think they were originally called, though sadly my electronic scales are a cruel imbalance of aspiration and reality check.

Here's my dish.  You'd think my tempura prawn tails would have had been a slightly calorie-friendly choice with that pile of salad stuff on the plate.

But then a side order of double-cooked chips had counter-balanced any hint of healthiness!

Yes, I'm all about balances today, folks.  And posting oversights.

For if I'm fessing oversights, I'd better open up to this one too.  This little pic was also in my drafts box.

There are a few things I don't skimp on in retirement, like my beauty essentials.  My quality-budget balance.   A few weeks ago I shopped for three of my four staples, YSL false lash mascara, Clarins Gentle Eye Make Up Remover and Clarins One Step Facial Cleanser (orange extract).  I've used these products for about 15 years and I love them for two reasons. 

1) They are one-stop-shops so fit in with my lazy-girl, corner-cutting approach to life.  A flick of the mascara wand or a swipe with the cleansers and the job is so effortlessly a good 'un.

2) These staples leave my lashes, eyes, and skin feeling good.  Noticeably so as when I was in Southampton a few weeks ago and I used facial wipes for travel - well, on awakening after the first day of using them my skin felt so taught and dry.  I don't use night cream, believing that the skin should have time to relax and breathe, and my skin feels so beautifully soft when I wake up after using the Clarins facial cleanser the night before. 

So I stick with these products, hang the cost.  Their priciness is off-set by their efficacy and my life gets balance, harmony, order.

And I got lucky! When I did the essentials shop recently in Creaseys,  my local department store, I totally lucked out and the freebies kept coming! I was allowed to choose three products from Clarins; and the mascara came with two gifts as well.  5 gifts!!  I haven't used them yet so nothing to report back on.  But I will.

Sometimes I have to buy these beauty essentials on line because of logistical issues, like the 100ml flying restriction.  But mostly I buy in the high street.  I get a great personal service and just occasionally I am showered with freebies! 

And we pensioners like freebies, eh?  Life's give-take balance.

Do you have any beauty product must-haves?

Products that never let you down?

Products that you don't ditch, even when money is tight?

I'd love to hear.

A la perchoine.