CONFESSIONS of a 50 Y.O Makeup Junkie...

Why hello there!

How are y'all doing today?

It's just me, your friendly, LAZY blogger:)

What can I say.........

I've been getting a few things ready for my friend's shop AND for some reason,

I've had a run on tutu orders.

The Beach Gypsies are back in business!! 

 I think. LOL

But more about that another time.

For today it's a beauty blog..........

for us chickies who are over the magic number of 50.

(And everyone else, too:)

So let's get to it!

I really am a makeup junkie.

But fortunately, I am a CHEAP makeup junkie!

And when I love something, I will use it to death.

(Or at least until something else catches my eye;)

HOWEVER,

this time, I feel really good about what I have chosen

AND

I have been using this stuff for quite awhile now.

See what you think..........

First up is SKINCARE!

OOOOOHHH.......this is a biggie for us over 50 chickies:)

Some things go unspoken but assumed.

Like...........SUNSCREEN!

~Considering the fact that I grew up BAKING in Michigan as a teen,

and have lived in South Florida (ahem.......the sub-tropics, technically)

for just over 20 years, I know a bit about sunscreen.  

Actually, I know about the PRICE you pay for baking in the sun,

which led me to know a little about sunscreen:)

Here is what I have to say about it...........

Use ingredients that have it added so when you forget, you have some help.

If not, use at least 30 SPF.  50 SPF if you really want to.

But most dermatologists will say the 100 SPF is just hooey.

Don't ditch your 30 and run to the store for 100 thinking it's better.

That's just good ol American marketing at work!

I like SunBum, Australian Gold and Neutrogena.  But that's just me:)

But here's what I really want to show you and it's for every day skincare.

For less than $40.00, 

y'all can keep your skin soft and mostly wrinkle free!

* Prices above are approximate, within 20cents, from Amazon.

Let's face it.........most of us are fighting dryer skin in these magical years.

And wrinkles.

So those are the issues I'm addressing here.............

#1 Coconut Oil  

I've talked about this (as everyone else has) many times before.

But in a nutshell, it's the BEST I have found for removing makeup (especially eye makeup),

moisturizing skin all over your body, and adding shine to hair.
Oh.......and it is a FABULOUS shaving cream:)

Seriously!  

I use the brand pictured above 

but just make sure you get any extra-virgin coconut oil.
I also use Lou-Ana, found at the grocery store.

#2 Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Serum

It's actually a very light cream in a tube, but we'll go with serum;)

Now, it boasts the claim that you will see improved skin in seven days.

And guess what?????

I DID!!!  I really LOVE this product and slap it on AS WELL AS coconut oil.

#3 Pond's Cold Cream

 If you are buying expensive cleansers, you're kinda crazy.

Sometimes you have to give Grandma credit for her soft skin back in the day.

My absolute FAVORITE cleanser is Pond's Cold Cream.

Again, I'm SOOOOOO SERIOUS!

Makeup...........

For simplicities sake, I am sharing my number #1 favorite drugstore line.

After that, I'll show you a few favorites from other lines.

But for me, the winner in the all-around make-up line,

the one that makes you say your friends are crazy for buying expensive stuff is.............

NYX.  (NEVER to be confused with NYC makeup)

I was a bit of a M.A.C junkie..........and I still could be.

(more about that later:)

But this is a copycat line that is significantly cheaper!

My advice is to go to Ulta for your NYX.  

They carry a HUGE selection and drugstores are only just adding in bits and pieces.

In the above photo, you will see the items I use.  

Shades are individual but I can say I like the brown, purple and black eyeliner,

 mascara in jet black, blush in desert rose

 and the lipstick is awesome in Audrey, Tea Rose or Natural!

Honorable mention goes to:

Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzer, 

which I also use with the desert rose blush.

Since my eyelashes seem to have disappeared, 

I use a primer before my mascara.

My fav is M.A.C Prep + Prime.

Lip Pencils........

You're gonna love these, cause they are awesome and even CHEAPER than NYX,

 which are pretty cheap:)

ESSENCE Lip Pencils (at Ulta) are $1.49!!!!!

And their lipstick is pretty great too...I like Natural Beauty.

Okay, I think that covers makeup:)

Moving on to HAIR.........

Mine is short these days.  (Very short!) 

So I wear it piecey and I like it soft and shiny.

So.........Garnier Fructis is my choice, partly because of the AMAZING scents;)

I love Pixie Play for the tousled/messy look:)

And next to Coconut Oil, I am in LOVE with shine serums.  I use this one,

 but most work great.

And not just for hair.........they are AWESOME for dry skin too, everywhere:)

Okay BEAUTIES, I'm done.

Rambled enough.

Showed you how cheap I am:)

Shared my confessions with you.

Hope you enjoyed this and found something you want to try also!

Suzanne

Wait.........I forgot to show you what I'm excited to see.

M.A.C Cosmetics CINDERELLA line, coming out this week.

So pretty............

Aaahhhh...stay tuned.  I'll be sure to let you know if I try it;)

Cinderella...

You can probably tell by my blog header that I like fairytales.
I mean, who wouldn't love to live in a castle and marry Prince Charming? (heehee)


What's wrong with a little dreaming...especially when you are a little girl?
When Taylor was little, I had the words to
"When You Wish Upon A Star" painted around her room.
Jordie had "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"...
If my girls don't believe in fairytale endings,
there is something seriously wrong here. :)


Real life happens soon enough anyway.
And hopefully that real life has a happy ending...
even if it takes awhile to happen.



I'm inspired by my daily espresso minute from iMOM.
If you are a mother, please check this out!
Every day it has the greatest tips for raising kids of all ages.
Today it was all about raising Cinderellas.
It really got me thinking...

Thinking that too often we put down the "Cinderellas" of this world.
What's wrong with Cinderella?
She was kind, generous, gracious, forgiving, loving...
a hard worker who didn't expect her life to be easy...
was grateful for what she had and didn't expect everything in life to be handed to her.
She believed that if she was all of these things...sincerely,
someday her Prince Charming would come.



Hmmm...not such a bad thing to want to be like Cinderella someday.
Nothing wrong with wishing and hoping that by being "a good girl"
that someday you would meet a guy who would recognize that and appreciate that...
and sweep you off your feet:-)



On the other hand, we should be scared...
VERY SCARED...
to raise girls to be like the evil stepsisters.

You know...
girls who are selfish, conceited, superficial, shallow, vain, inconsiderate, mean...
who think that they DESERVE the best things in life NOW...
without having to earn them or work for them...
They are the ones who have the cliques...
the mean girls...


the nasty bullying types...
who belittle those who don't have the latest clothes, phone, car.
And unfortunately, this begins earlier then ever!


You might think this is too harsh...
but this is a very real description of MANY young girls today.

The pressure to "fit in",
the celebrity culture we live in...
the parents who can't say no...
combined with the thinking of many young women
that they "deserve" the best things in life...
that it's okay to go after what you want in life,
no matter what you have to say or do to get it...
is definitely more like the evil stepsisters
than Cinderella.

Not to say we should pamper and create girls who think they are
"entitled" to a Cinderella life...
That was the life of the evil stepsisters.
You could say Cinderella earned her fairytale.



So the next time your little girl says she wants to be
a princess like Cinderella when she grows up,
don't brush it off.
She might be on to something.



Maybe you will tell her the difference between
storybook characters and real life.


That's okay.
I don't remember ever having to sit my girls down and tell them
there was a good chance they would never live in a "castle".


Believe me, there are enough people in this world who can't wait to shatter
dreams and "be realistic".
(As if trying to raise nice girls who have hopes and dreams and are
willing to work for them is a bad thing:)

Maybe your life has been so un-fairytale like that you can't stand the thought of
her believing in happily ever after.
I hope not...


It's like the mother who says no to her child when they ask for the balloon
because it is a waste of money that will either pop or fly away...


But even though we know it won't last forever,
that bright, beautiful balloon is still magical to a child...
still a childhood moment to be enjoyed and cherished.

Maybe there is a little something we can take from
Cinderella for our girls today.



We should encourage our little girls to dream...
and to go after those dreams...
like Cinderella did...
kindly, graciously, morals intact, caring for others
and working hard to accomplish those dreams.

Why write about this today?
Maybe because I simply need to remind myself and my girls
that dreams can come true...
that they take hard work and planning...
and that when faced with the choice...
they should be more like a Cinderella if at all possible!
Because they will always be my princesses...

...in the best possible way.

"Life itself is the greatest of fairytales"
Hans Christian Anderson