Island Scented In Winter: Philosophy Coconut Frosting.

I discovered Sephora in 2001 when I was living in San Diego. It quickly became my favorite cosmetics/skin-card store and I shopped there often while living n that city. Then I moved to Spokane which doesn't have a Sephora store unless you count the dinky corner area in the JcPenney store that opened this past year. I don't because they don't carry half the stuff I love in the Sephora stores.

I now either have to wait for trips to Seattle where there are quite a few Sephora stores or shop the store online. The later is very easy because Sephora has one of the best websites to shop from. Easy to navigate, wide selection of product, email notification if product is out of stock for when it will be in stock, samples included in orders, and quick shipping. I am shopping the site quite often to buy products that just are not available locally. This includes Philosophy products because I fell in love with their ultra rich, 3-in-one, shower gel/bubble bath/shampoo products when I was living in San Diego.

I usually buy the product in Senorita Margarita scent (and have tried the Strawberry Milkshake scent as well) but, this Christmas I asked for the product in Coconut Frosting scent due to my love of tropical fruits. It showed up under the tree as a gift from my mum.

Above: Ultra Rich 3-In-one Shampoo,Shower Gel, Bubble Bath by Philosophy

I love the richness of the product and how it doesn't dry out the skin. That is very important when you live in a dry climate like I do where you walk around all winter shocking yourself on metal objects, with skin screaming for moisture constantly. I love how it is great for traveling because you can cut out the bringing of shampoo in your luggage. That is always a good thing: to have one less product to pack.

I admit to being on the fence on the Coconut Frosting scent. It seems a bit weak to me, more sugary than coconut. I would have preferred the coconut scent be more pronounced in the product since I love tropical scents and sort of expect the scent to be stronger because of this. I think that I will go back to buying the margarita scented version because I am preferring that...or I may try a whole new scent for fun. I will save the coconut for their wonderful lip glosses.

If you haven't tried Philosophy products, I do highly recommend them. They have wonderful scents and add moisture, instead of dry out, the skin. Check out the Philosophy site online or head to your nearest Sephora store (or shop it online) to find the brand. Their products come in many wonderful scents and worth the price.

PUMA Website Failure!

I received the PUMA shoes I was drooling over for months and ordered with my Christmas money today.

They were 4 sizes too small! I had distinctly ordered size 8.5 and they came to my house in size 5.5! Huge difference in size and they look like kids shoes next to my feet! How does one misread an order as 5.5 from a 8.5? I am baffled!

I am going to send them back and I called customer service on it after seeing the shoes are not even on the site anymore. Yeah, I really want these shoes! The customer service representative said that they are "out of stock", but not "out of production" so I should check back because they should be back in stock in 30 days. Likely story...I have heard that song and dance  before and it usually means that I am out of luck. *sigh*

I checked Zappos.com as my brother suggested and they have the style, but not the colour combo I want! They were even cheaper on the site because they were on sale which leads me to believe they are discontinuing the colour. Drat!!!

There is a very slim hope I will still get them because the style is "classic" but the colours may be different as they switch to new spring styles.

A friend said the same thing happened with the same exact site and shoe to her brother's wife-to-be so, I am not the only one who has had the issue with the Puma site getting sizes wrong. Doesn't change my annoyance with the situation however.

I am VERY pissed off at Puma.com because I did enter 8.5 in the website shopping cart and they are the ones that f-ed up! If it does come back in (and I decide to order from the same site) it will definitely be by phone!

Blogging and Fashion

I have found it hard to write blog posts for this blog sometimes. I don't have lots of money in my bank account so cannot afford designer clothing. I would love to be able to because I love clothing by designers like Alexander McQueen:

Above: Alexander McQueen Bird Funnel Print Dress and Black Rouched Pumps

And clothing by Vivienne Westwood:

Above: Vivienne Westwood Anglomania Collection Fall/Winter 2009

I just haven't gotten to the point in my life where I can afford high fashion clothing items because I am struggling to get my photography business off the ground, pay the bills, and my family is not rich. I have always loved fashion and try to dress reasonably fashionable, but you will be seeing me wearing the newer styles as the trickle down to the mass market form that you find in stores like H&M, Urban Outfitters, Forever 21, and other stores of the same price range.

I love fashion but, I feel a bit weird going on and on about clothing I could never buy with my paycheck. I may post a high fashion item and drool over it in this blog, but I cannot rush out and buy it to add it in my wardrobe at this point in my life. Believe me, I really wish I could!

This does not mean I don't know anything about fashion if I write about something I wish I could own, but cannot afford. This means if you choose to leave hateful, snobby, mocking, mean-spirited, comments on my blog because I obviously am "poor", "don't know what I am talking about", or am "old and ugly", that comment will never see the light of day.

 Just because a person does not have the money to buy Prada shoes or a Gucci handbag does not make them unfashionable and not knowing what they are talking about when it comes to fashion. They make do with what they can afford and try super hard to look stylish while doing so while dreaming of what they would buy if they had the money. Smacking comments on blogs from this brand of fashionista always make me wonder about the sanity of the person and why they are so angry at people who write about fashion just because the person cannot afford $1,000 shoes. Believe me, I have seen this happen often and it has even happened to me.

I tend to try and write more in detail about things I do buy, be it Avon products, Sephora bought make-up/perfume, clothing/jewelry from LuLus.com, and other stores/sites that are not as rough on the bank account. I write detail about things I have bought and had experience with. That way, other women who like products that work or clothing that is lower price (but decent quality) can buy the item if it interests them after my talking about them. I enjoy referring other women to things I have found that are well made/work well and low price. In this economy, we can all be happy to save a little money.

This does not mean I won't make posts about my love of Guiseppe Zanotti sandals and desire to own them:

Above: Mirror-embellished suede sandals by Guiseppe Zanotti

It just means that there will be no reviews of my experience with wearing them. Just me wishing I could afford them and thinking of the outfits I would wear them with, or what events I would wear them to.

I hope this clears up any wondering about why my fashion blog is full of "wishful wanting" posts while having all the practical, hands on, "I have used this product/worn this and..." posts are of less expensive items.  Someday, I will be able to afford these shoes:

Above: Very Privé 120 peep-toe pumps by Christian Louboutin


Which I really, really, really, want. It's just that time to own them is not now.

Incoming Christmas Gifts!

My mail held a package from Dana in Germany today. A Christmas package that included chocolate candies, cookies, and these gorgeous wooden bangles:

I was so excited to see them and try the on. Why? I find it so hard to find bangles that fit my arm in the US while not being overly large. I have thin wrists so usually bangles are just way too large and slid right off at bad moments...like when I am taking off a coat or fling my arm out to point at something.

They fit the arm well...even if the angle for the photo wasn't the best you can get the idea on this photos.

I am loving the warm colour of the wood that was used in the bangles. It goes well with my most used handbag which is a plus. I can see myself wearing these bangles with my coconut wood ring and a really nice turquoise stone necklace I own.

Now, if I could just have somewhere to go wearing these, I would be so happy.

Thanks Dana! xxx

My Favorite Perfume?

Finding just the right scent can be a hard task. Perfume smells different on each person and what may smell good on one person, can smell awful on the next. That is why it is always fun to "play around" with the perfume scent strips inserted in fashion magazines and at the fragrance counters in department stores or Sephora stores.

I have found many scents I like, and that smell good on me, and like to shuffle them around according to my mood. It keeps life interesting smelling for me. My "go to" fragrance that I wear most often?

Above: Ma Dame by Jean Paul Gaultier

I discovered this fragrance last year (2008) and have grown to love it because it smells great on me. It sinks into my skin and is just very subtle on me. I love the mixture of Orange Zest, Sparkling Rose, Musk, and Cedar Wood that is blended to make this fragrance. It smells heavenly on me and isn't over-powering.

Ma Dame is a tricky scent, however, as you can see by the many negative reviews peppered amongst the positive at Sephora.com. It either smells good on you or you think it smells like household cleaner on you. There is no middle ground for this perfume when it comes to how it smells on people. Which is why when you find a perfume on a scent strip from magazine that you like, you should then try it out at the store on your wrist. It saves you from buying a fragrance that may smell great on someone else, but awful on you.

So, find a perfume you like the scent of in a magazine or smell on someone else...and head to the store to try it out on you. Scent is extremely personal and you have to actually try the perfume on to see if it smells as good on you as in that magazine or on that fashionable lady who was wearing it. It will save you disappointment in spending a lot of money on a perfume and not liking how it smells on you.

I Am Not A Mad Man Clothing Lover.

I was thinking yesterday about a time period that would be ill-suited to me when it comes to style and body shape. I settled on one that seems to be the rage amongst some of the fashion subculture at the moment.

Early 60's, "Mad Men", chic:

I am 5'9", 124 pounds (soaking wet), small busted, not huge in the butt department, and have hips but not the size required to carry off the skirts. If I were to dress like the above, I would look awkward and fussy. Like I was dressed up in a costume and the costume was wearing me, instead of the other way around.

I admire the style and the women who can carry it off but, it just isn't me or right for my frame. So, I pass on the fad and the clothing that goes with it. Which is too bad because Modcloth.com has a HUGE amount of clothing that could have stepped form the time period at it's site right now.

I am more a 1970s inspired of fashion wearer if I must choose an era. The bell bottoms, the halter tops, the huge glasses, the tight fitting v-neck/scoop neck t-shirts, the wedge sandals, the halter dresses, the trench coats, the tall boots, the suede, the hobo bags, the turquoise jewelry,  ect.  Plus you had punk rock creeping into the subculture then with all it's wild styles which I sampled in my teens/early 20s. With my height and slimness the 70s suit me as a clothing era and I look like I am wearing the clothing instead of the clothing wearing me. I suppose it makes sense since it was the era I was born in.

That explains my constantly posting about clothing that could easily have been in the 1970s. I just post what appeals to me and 70s inspired style/fashion does.

What fashion era do you know would not suit your body-type?

Another Stocking Stuff That I Loved.

Yes, my mum sells Avon and this means, at times like Christmas, I get a lot of Avon products in my stocking. This year I received quite a few Avon brand stocking stuffers and it has been fun trying out the products and seeing what works well, and what doesn't.

I received this lip gloss in my stocking:

Above: Gorgeous Lip Gloss by Avon

The colour I have it in is called "Blush" and it is a pretty intense looking, bright, pink in the tube which had me a bit uncertain of it. I am not a fan of shockingly pink, gloppy on the lips, lip glosses so wasn't sure if it would work for me. I decided to give it a try though.

It actually goes on pretty sheer with just the right amount of "pop" to the colour to make the lips stand out but, not too much. It also is fairly long-lasting while not being sticky which is also important in a gloss. I will definitely be wearing this gloss often!

If you are curious about it and want to try some for yourself, check it out at Avon.com. It's $4.50 so won't be a huge dent in your bank account if you find it doesn't suit your lip needs.

I may have to order myselfa tube in "Bloom" as well because I am liking the gloss that much.