Episode #61 - Boots, Inglot, and Some Stylin' Shadow

Listen to Episode #61 of Lip Gloss and Laptops at the podcast page or download the MP3 directly.

Back to reviews of new products this week.

Kerry Anne's Picks:

1. Maybelline's Shadow Stylist

At the recommendation of a friend, I tried Maybelline's Shadow Stylist and, hot damn, I like it. Shadow Stylist can be used as a regular shadow, or as a substitute for eyeliner when using the darker shades. It has a sponge tip applicator and is very blendable. The pigments are also great and the colour stays put all day. I wish their colour selection was a little better, as most of the twelve shades are a tad shiny and pastel-like, and the powder has a tendency to fall beneath the eye upon application it you don't tap the brush a bit. Quibbles aside, this is going to be a permanent addition to my makeup bag. It retails for $7.99CA or $5.99US.

2. Inglot Blush

I was in the local mall the other day, when I happened upon a store that was undeniably MAC-like, yet not MAC. It is Inglot, and although the name sounds like a piece of IKEA furniture, it is actually a Polish cosmetic line now migrating to North America and other parts of the world.

They have a wonderful array of products in bright colours with packaging similar to, ahem, MAC. I picked up one of their AMC (Advanced Makeup Components) blushes and was very impressed by the richness of it's colour. Inglot carries a full range of cosmetics and brushes and the shade selection for their nail polishes and eye shadows are in the hundreds. I paid $22CA for a blush, which I thought was steep, but I'm happy with it.

Airdrie's Picks:

In this show, I give Kerry-Anne a mud mask hand treatment, and describe how both these masks are applied. Listen to the show for a full review of both products.

1. Mask of Magnaminty. By Lush. I have been using this product on and off for a couple of years. It is wonderful. Ground-up aduki beans lets this green mud mask double as a scrub. With a shelf-life of four months, this product does go bad if you don't use it, and I recommend buying the small tub for that reason. ($9.95 CDN)

2. Botanics Conditioning Clay Mask. By Boots. As we mentioned last week, "Boots No. 7" products are now available at select Shopper's Drug Mart stores in Canada and Target in the USA. I went to check it out, and noticed that Boots has another line called "Boots Botanics." I picked-up the Conditioning Clay Mask from this line, as well as three products from the No. 7 line (that I will review in future shows.) I really love this mud mask, and at $9.99, the price is right. I noticed an improvement in my nose-area blackheads with just two uses. I am also using a three-times per week micro-dermabrasion, which is also helping in that area.

Enter our draw:

Our give-away this week is from Therapy Systems. Listen to the show to find-out how to enter to win a gift bag of three full-size products from Therapy Systems, two eye shadows, and one lip gloss. Be sure to check-out the Therapy Systems website to learn about this line; the oil-free moisturizer gets a good review on Makeup Alley.

Reality Check: The Science of a Bad Crush

* Did you know that when a crush lasts longer than three months it is often called Limerence?
* The person you have a crush on is called the Limerent Object (LO). While it's always fun to have a little crush, bad crushes can interfere with your life if they are not understood.

Limerence has certain basic components:

* intrusive thinking about the limerent object
* acute longing for reciprocation
* some fleeting and transient relief from unrequited limerence through vivid imagining of action by the limerent object that means reciprocation
* fear of rejection and unsettling shyness in the limerent object's presence
* intensification through adversity
* acute sensitivity to any act, thought, or condition that can be interpreted favorably, and an extraordinary ability to devise or invent "reasonable" explanations for why neutral actions are a sign of hidden passion in the limerent object
* an aching in the chest or stomach when uncertainty is strong
* buoyancy (a feeling of walking on air) when reciprocation seems evident
* a general intensity of feeling that leaves other concerns in the background
* a remarkable ability to emphasize what is truly admirable in the limerent object and to avoid dwelling on the negative or render it into another positive attribute.

(source Dorothy Tennov, Ph.D.)

Limerence Links:
* Wikipedia definition
* Answers.com
* Limerent.com
* Unrequited Love: Agony and Rapture
* Psychology Today article

Next week: self tanner season!

Makeup is scary. When I do it myself, it's just mascara, and sometimes I forget even to do that. - Sandra Bullock