Saturday Snippets Must-Have

Mascara.  An important tool  the ESSENTIAL tool in a girl's make up kit.

I discovered this mascara about 15 years ago.

YSL false lash, or faux cils (French)

It. Is. Fabulous.

I've stayed pretty much faithful to it over the years and that is because it is everything I could ever want from a mascara.

• Excellent lash coverage, lengthening and definition.
• Leaves the lashes silky smooth and nourished.
• No clumping.
• No panda eyes as the day wears on.
• Removes easily at night, with no snapped lash casualties.
• No panda eyes the morning after.
• Goes on and on forever like a Duracell bunny.

It's no surprise then that I've sung its praises on the blog.  Why would I keep quiet about something so good?

Yes ok, I've strayed a few times over the years, naively thinking there was better out there but I've always returned, feeling a tad guilty for having been seeing other mascaras.  But its heart is big and it holds no grudges when its errant lover (me) sheepishly returns.  And it wastes not a moment in pouring its black velvety  love back onA my lashes.

During the summer I did dally again, but probably for the last time.   A charming lady at Gatwick duty free told me about the new YSL mascara that had taken the beauty world by storm.  I usually pride myself on my resilience to the hard sell technique, but this sweet lady mentioned "curl".  And that was my trigger word, for my lashes are straight.  Straight like cows' lashes. 

I dropped my salesperson armour and bought one.  And my usual YSL faux lash, just in case.

Turns out "just in case" was prudent and my back up plan proved  its worth.  

Curly left my lashes hard and spikey.  

Curly refused to allow a second coat.  

And curly didn't curl.  

After a few dates with curly, I returned to the faux cils fold, justifying my dalliance to my old faithful mascara with such  classics as "but we were in a break",  " it didn't mean anything" and "I'd always wanted to know what it felt like to have curly lashes just once".

Like I said, YSL faux cils mascara is forgiving and it got straight back to business, defining and lengthening my lashes, and I can live without all this fancy curly-curly stuff.

Dear reader, maybe you haven't tried YSL  false lash mascara, so why not give your eyes the mascara they deserve.  

Click on the mascara image and if your lashes can speak they will say "Thank you!".

A la perchoine,
Mary.

COMING UP:    Let's talk about an eating plan!

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.