Gesundheit.

The Place to Find Out About Good New Stuff.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

"New Music, Now. And Be Smart About It, Please."

"On January 6, 2000 a group of musicians and music-loving technologists came together with the idea of creating the most comprehensive analysis of music ever." So says the About page on Pandora.com. Led by Tim Westergren, this group of crazy kids pieced apart the elements of music and developed a seemingly successful way to create relationships between closely matching artists. They have listened to the music of over 10,000 artists and analyzed the qualities of each in order to create a system that helps folks like you and me to find new music based on what we know we already like.
Here how it works:

1) Go to Pandora.

2) In the radio box at the bottom of the page, click on the blue button (top left) that says "Create a New Station."

3) Enter any artist or band that you dig.

4) Watch as Pandora puts together a whole listening station of similar music and even tells you why it chose the artists/bands that it did.

5) Skip the songs that you don't like, buy the ones you do like (if you want to).

6) Create as many listening stations as you want.

Now, go, enjoy, listen. Don't forget to do some work when your boss walks by...

Thursday, August 17, 2006

"My quest for less oily, smoother skin."

I admit it, I watch TLC's What Not to Wear. For those who aren't familiar with the show, two fashion stylists make over an unwitting (and ambushed) guest with a $5,000 wardrobe, new hairdo and new makeup look. The makeup always intrigues me as Carmindy, the show's skin and makeup expert, never quite divulges the products that she uses. So I spend the better part of her 5 minutes of the show squinting and scanning to try to decipher ANYthing that might give me a clue. On a recent episode, Carmindy mentioned that the 'victim' of the moment should use an AHA (alpha-hydroxy acid) product every day. The explanation was that it would give this woman's skin an amazing glow in approximately 2 weeks. I immediately decided that this was something I needed to get on board with, and headed out to my friendly, neighborhood Sephora in search of just the right thing. Not before doing my pre-visit web research first, of course, so I at least knew where to start.

I had 3 products that I was after: Murad's Skin Perfecting Lotion, Peter Thomas Roth's Glycolic Moisturizer, and something else that right now escapes my mind. Well, here's what happened - The very nice, but very serious Eastern European woman who helped me pointed out that an AHA product can actually dry your skin out with too much of the wrong thing. So she led me to Perricone's Pore Refining Toner Pads and LET me tell you. Now, whether it is this or any other, I highly suggest using a toner after cleansing your skin at least once a day. The extra sweep helps remove any leftover dirt and grime, which better prepares your skin to receive the moisturizer that you will be applying next... You are moisturizing, aren't you? Toners come in all shapes and sizes, so you can find one that says it will do just about anything... maybe I'll post on that another time.

The product recommends that you should use it both morning and night. I thought this might be too crazy for my sensitive skin to handle, so I decided to just go the evening route to see what happened. In the past 2 weeks my skin has become softer than a baby's you-know-what, and sweet Lord if I don't just sit around all day running my hand over my newly soft cheeks. I'm still holding out on whether I think my pores or overall skintone are changing/improving. BUT, this is a product that for $35 I would say is worth a try.

In general, the idea of Nicholas Perricone skin care scares me because its so expensive. But at $35, I was willing to stomach the concept and find out for myself. I will note at this point that I want everyone to keep in mind that we all have different skin types, so results that I experience may not always be the same for you. However, in this case, I think that that might be less true.... You all will have to let me know!

"Back from the dead. Well, maybe just from finals."

WHOA. Look who has been very MIA. Well, here I am and I am going to make it up to all of you. I just posted an after thought or two to my fake lash piece and to my accessorize piece. Peruse on, perusers. New posts to come in the next 2-3 days are on more new, cool websites and a new beauty product I am in the process of enjoying testing. In fact, maybe I'll post about that riiiiight.... NOW.

Friday, August 04, 2006

"New Songbird on the Scene"

Tired of listening to the same stuff on the radio or your iPod all the time? Me too. So I read about a "new" artist the other day in Billboard (I think) and something inspired me to go immediately to iTunes and check her out. Meet Amel Larrieux.


Formerly one-half of the R&B duo Groove Theory, Amel released her solo debut, Infinite Possibilities in 2000. She has two albums out since then - Bravebirdand the newly released Morning - and I highly recommend investing in one or both of them. While generally classified as an R&B artist, I've also seen neo-soul, hip hop, jazz, folk and pop used to describe the influences you'll hear in Amel's music. As far as I'm concerned, my first reaction was to think she's the Erykah Badu of the 2000s and maybe with a little India.Arie thrown in... But maybe I'm the only one. GREAT, great chick music for relaxing or getting ready to go out. If you want to know a good track to start with, try "Earn My Affections." It will get you feeling sexy and womanly and no-BS. Next, I suggest moving on to "Unanswered Question." If you're looking for a new romantic song to get close to a guy with, give a listen to "No One Else."

Let me know what you think.




photo courtesy of wikipedia

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

"Accessorize!"

Want to know where to get some tasty accessories on the cheap? Don't we all! I'm so tired of going to stores where jewelry costs me as much as the clothes they're selling. Ummm, then I guess we're either going clothed with no fun sideshows, or naked with hot embellishments! Believe me, I make it my personal mission to shop for great things at discount or otherwise reasonable prices. (Why else do you think I spend so much time at outlets and semi-annual sales?....) Anyhoo, want to know some hot spots? Ok.

ALDO. Yep, its a shoe store that sometimes has comfortable, fun stuff. I mean, its almost always got a cute inventory, but not always worth the price or the pain. And yet, you can always count on them to have great trendy and decent-good quality earrings/necklaces/bags and the like. I've bought earrings there for as low as $6, and those happen to be the same earrings that I wear 3 times a week because they are (a) in style and (b) go with almost everything.

The other fun, fun, FUN place I like to go is Jasmine Sola, which sadly seems to be just an East Coast thing(?). Ok, Northeast and Miami. Ummm, right. But yeah... so for those of us in MA, CT, RI and NY - let's go shopping! Yeah, JS is actually a full-line clothing and shoe store. Lots of great denim and fun style choices, and also men's stuff. But we're talking about accessories here. Any JS store I've entered has at least 12 racks of earrings and necklaces, as well as bracelets, belts, cute socks (who wears socks?), sunglasses, hair things, and other random business. The clothing items in the store are usually a pretty penny, but they seem to balance that expense out with nicely priced fun stuff.

I'll keep looking out for good bargains on cute stuff. Until then, you know where to go. Over and out. And off to bed.

ADDENDUM: HOW could I be so careless as to forget one of my other favorite first stops for good accessories?! The place to go for classier and more work-appropriate stuff that will, consequently, cost a little more, is Banana Republic. Shocked? Tell me you haven't seen their jewelry cases in some stores. Better offerings online, as with most places. I adore their stuff, and am always willing to pay the $15 and up for stuff that is well made and classic. I suggest browsing their website for the best selection, or head to your local storefront if its a good-sized spot.

"Bat Those Beautiful Lashes"

Ok ok, so I'm a little late on this one. My cousin has been graciously reminding me to get on the ball and post my promised lecture, so here I am.
Laaaaadies, how many of you have not yet tried the wonder that IS the fake eyelash? Its a little bit of a freaky endeavor, right? Let me just say - I used to be terrified and mystified by the whole idea, until one fine day when I wandered into a MAC store and the nice lady there spent her valuable time instructing me in the fine art of eyelash application. I have decided that its about time to share what I have learned and invite the next generation of eyelash users to join me in this crazy flirtatious fiesta. Here we go...

THESE are the products you will need to buy:



The lashes I am showing you above are my personal favorites - the MAC #7. Both MAC and Shu Uemura have great selections of sexy lashes for any occasion. The lash glue you should be able to get anywhere that you can buy lashes. So here's what it looks like when you get home and get yourself set up:




Yes yes, my photography is NOT professional. But I digress. Let me enumerate the steps for application to make this as simple as possible:

BEFORE STARTING:

* Most fake lashes will be a little too long for your natural lashline. You may trim them to fit the entire length, or you might want to trim them to use just on the outer portion of your lashes, which a fair number of people do.

* Don't leave your first application attempt until right before you want to go out. Give yourself a test run or two so you can get comfortable with the process and with the look you want to achieve.

* You will get glue in your eye at some point. Don't worry, it won't kill you, but it IS a giant P.I.T.A.. Just blink it out, or use a cotton swab to try to get it cleared out.

* Fake eyelashes are reusable! You can peel the dried glue off (sounds gross) and keep them in the case for a good 5-10 uses.

THE APPLICATION PROCESS:

1. Break cotton swab in half - you will be using the stick ends to help position the lashes.

2. Some people curl their natural lashes before applying the falsies - that is up to you and your natural lashes. You may need it, may not.

3. Apply a medium quantity of lash glue along the base of the fake lashes - not too little, not too much. Allow to dry for approx. 1 minute. This allows the glue to get a little tacky before you attempt to smoosh it around your eyelid.

4. Starting at either end of the lash, gently align the falsie to your natural lash line as best you can.

5. Take one of your cotton swab sticks and use the stick end to now help push the falsie into your natural lash base. This fits the false lash snugly alongside your natural lash so its not sticking out from your eyelid. Don't poke yourself in the eye, but you want to get the base of the false lash in as close as possible.

6. Now you may apply mascara, after allowing the fake lash to dry in place for a minute or two. This helps match up the individual lash hairs. Some people choose to re-curl the ends of the paired real and fake lashes together gently, also. Up to you.

7. You may now want to/need to touch up your other eye makeup. Go for it.

TAKING OFF THE BEASTS:

Taking off the falsies is pretty easy - just gently tug. Use a good eye makeup remover to get all the gunk off. I like using the MAC or Sephora liquid removers that you can swipe over your lid with a cotton ball.

Now, go into the cosmetic world in peace and give some fake lashes a try some time. They're great for a night out when you want a little extra sexy kick. You'll be winking at the bartender all night long.