Put on some red lipstick and take on the day..

Men become much more attractive when they start looking older. But it doesn't do much for women, though we do have an advantage: makeup. -- Bette Davis

I so needed a spirit lift..a boost to my morale... meditating or a Starbucks chai latte wasn't going to help at all this time. I had a wicked head cold last week ( I'm a whiner ..I know ) had a bout with a shawarma induced food poisoning episode this week...and my mother ( who is almost always a trip ) was mauled by her $1000.00 ragdoll cat, Star, who I call Montecore for obvious reasons. I mean MAULED...the cat launched an attack on my mother that resulted in her requiring stitches and antibiotics..hence a trip to the hospital..and since my mother does nothing without an entourage...my sister and I were summoned from opposite ends of Ottawa to escort her. Do animals ever suffer from psychosis?? I have often wondered about this since my mother purchased this fluffy, beautiful, but so obviously, heinous spawn from Hell .. I digress....anyway...

Today I went shopping...with full intentions of picking up Christmas stuff..but, in all honesty, I wasn't ' feeling it '. I WAS however feeling blah..icky..and sullen. I went to Bayshore..not my favourite mall in the world..but it's convenient. I was cutting through the cosmetics/skin care section and decided to stop to pick up a new bar of Clinique soap, since my youngest son had recently flushed mine down the toilet...a mistake he said...uhhuh....I waited at the counter....and waited.....shifting from foot to foot..clearing my throat...clicking my car keys on the glass countertop....the two attendants working the Clinique counter never saw me...I caught my reflection in one of the many mirrors and was saddened to discover that I didn't suddenly possess the Power of Invisibilty..they were simply ignoring me. I said...." excuse me girls...all I need is a bar of soap here." that seemed to make them happy, the fact that I wasn't about to be taking up too much of their time.. I paid and left. I was irritated but in all honesty...I have come to expect this level of service almost everywhere. I started past the M.A.C counter and stopped..something I rarely do because the M.A.C girls intimidate the crap out me....they're kinda like the really cool but somewhat bizarre drama class girls from highschool. All dressed in black..various streaks of colours in their hair...artfully applied lipsticks on perfect matte faces. I felt it was safe to stop momentarily because the M.A.C girls were huddled in a corner chatting and given the fact that customer service no longer exists...I figured I had time to peruse.

I was wrong....dead wrong.

The M.A.C girls are like mascara weilding ninjas. I didn't even see her come over...she just materialized in front of me. I heard her offer her assistance, and for a moment, I felt panic. Clearly I didn't belong here!! I look way more ' soccer mom ' than ' rockerchick'..and I've always associated M.A.C with trendy and young and so not me. I always purchase L'ancome or Elizabeth Arden or Clinique...all my makeup is ' neutral' or ' classic ' ...I think that translates to boring. I was fumbling for an exit line...and she said...( and this is where it gets weird )

" You have gorgeous eyes. If you have some time, I'd like to try some colours on you that I think would really look incredible? "

weird, eh?

a customer service representative actually OFFERING customer service??? AND a flattering remark to boot...and with that, the other two M.A.C girls approached, offering palette suggestions, application tips, seating me in a chair and working their magic like fairy godmothers...well ummm..not quite...more like fairy goth inspired ravers.

And I gotta tell you....M.A.C has some outstanding products. They chose colours I would simply never have tried...golds, fuschias, deep royal purples....I have greenish blue eyes and after an application of a seriously hot pink eye shadow called ' passionate ' my eyes looked ' awake' and the colour truly popped. You have to try the
StudiomistFoundation. ......very cool...amazing finish.

I was with the M.A.C chicks for nearly an hour...I bought a few items that I had to have..( I'll add the rest to my Christmas wishlist ) . Thanked them for the excellent service and left seriously happy.

It may have just been makeup, but it lifted my spirits. I felt great. It was that little something that took me out of my ' neutral ' rut...and now, I'm sold. M.A.C will certainly receive my business from now on and I'm sure after my mother tries some of their concealer on her cat inflicted scars..she'll be an avid fan as well...

http://www.maccosmetics.com/home.tmpl M.A.C's website

http://www.maccosmeticsmakeup.com/ A M.A.C fansite with a forum and some cool tips

http://www.maccosmetics.com/mac_aid/news.tmpl M.A.C has raised over 80 million dollars for the M.A.C aidsfund.. Every cent from the sale of VivaGlamLipstick goes towards fighting AIDS and HIV... way to go.

What a girl wants!

What does every girl want? A hot partner that is sensitive to her needs, understanding, compassionate, who loves to shop, gossip and who is so intent on making sure her every need is attended to? No way Baby! According to our findings, hip chicks want plump lips, frizz free hair and an amazingly tiny waist. Who would have thought.

We stepped out, did some searching and look what we’ve found – the answers. These come with absolutely no guarantees for performance and reputation, rather like that hot partner we just described. We did think they were well worth mentioning though. Feel free to add comments of your own.

On the plump lips front, we found tons of products that claim to turn thin, unattractive lips into seductive full bodied morsels, to be envied by all. We give you Benefit Cosmetics from San Francisco and their products which they say ‘will solve your beauty dilemma’. From their website: ‘Watch your lips go from 'now' to 'WOW' the first time you apply. Your lips will appear younger, plumper and sexier with these neutral 'wear-me-all-the-time' shades. The proof is in the pucker. The tripeptide complex moisturizes lips, decreases lip furrows, enhances lip volume, improves smoothness of lips.’

Now on to the issue of frizz free hair. We turned to a few tried and true to help us out in this area. First, there is Pantene - the Proctor and Gamble company we’ve all come to know. They offer a product line for all hair types. Their newer ‘Pro-V Restoratives’ line offers a frizz fighting serum which works very well on most types of hair.

Marc Anthony Hair Care products has shown it is on it’s game with a few anti-frizz solutions as well. With any product however, results vary with different types of hair. We’ve tested two of the MA product line up: Moisture Gloss Daily Drops which is applied to dry hair and claims to give you deep moisturizing while you are on the go and Humidity Shield Anti Frizz Balm which claims to give curls frizz free shine all day long.

Our verdict – We’d go with the Pro-V Restoratives line over the slightly more expensive Marc Anthony line up. We found the Moisture Gloss Drops required huge amounts to be effective and we found the Humidity Shield just made the hair look dull and feel heavy, though it certainly did the job on the keeping the frizz away.

All of these products were tested on thick and curly heads of hair. We caution use of these products for anyone who has fine hair as they are simply too heavy.

In the case of hair care products we insist that no two heads are the same. It does pay to ask what that ‘great head of hair’ is wearing though if you feel it is of similar texture and consistency as yours.

We’d love to hear what you think and what products you recommend and those that you don’t wish on anyone. Oh and in case you are hanging on, waiting for the secret to a tiny waist – sorry, we haven’ t found that one just yet, but when we do, we will be here to share it with you.

While you are considering what little morsels you are going to share with the rest of us, here are a couple of interesting facts and numbers: Women in their 40’s refuse to skimp on their faces, this age group reports the highest increase in skin-care spending. 20 somethings site Angelina Jolie as the person they most want to be, while 30 somethings prefer Jennifer Aniston and 40 somethings want to be Cindy Crawford and Oprah is celebrated by 50 somethings. Hot Cherry’s of all ages though, cite mascara as their #1 can’t live without beauty item.

Would you like more information about these products we’ve reviewed today? Here you go:

Visit the Pantene Pro-V site by clicking here.

Benefit Cosmetics would love you visit them here.

Marc Anthony product descriptions can be found here.