Paint the Day Red February 23, 2007

One of my favorite new fitness tools is my Streaming Colors fitness journal. It’s actually a calendar, as you can see below. I snagged this image off their site, but since this is free publicity in their favor, I’m sure they won’t mind.

This calendar fulfills all my compulsions. I get to color coordinate my activities, set goals, keep track of data, and more! And it’s really cute. In January I used it for all fitness goals, but in February I decided to use it to track my “daily chores,” too. No, I’m not a teenager. I’m an adult with a mortgage, job, and retirement plan, but I can use all the motivation I can get to keep on top of the mundane daily tasks I have to complete around the house. Now I color my days to reflect my accomplishments. Hey, whatever works, right? You can read more about the calendar at Streaming Colors Web site.

A List of 10 February 22, 2007

1. peppermint tea

2. a hot bubble bath

3.  going to bed early

4. a cold water bottle from the fridge

5.  10 minutes in the jacuzzi or sauna

6.  dark chocolate

7. cuddling my puppy

8. lavendar (lotion by my bed, oil in my home diffuser, milk bubble bath, sachet, and even a potted, aromatic plant in the house)

9.  a glossy magazine

10. yoga

After a long day, any of these 10 help me to unwind and relax.

My Personal Stylist February 21, 2007

Around this time of year, work gets a little overwhelming and the first thing I lose is my sense of fashion. Last year during this same season, after my work had been packed away for the day, I’d look over my appearance in the mirror and be puzzled. How could someone who shops so much look so disheveled? How many times could I wear the same too-casual corduroy pants to work in one week without feeling any sense of shame?

This year I came up with a plan of attack. Every time I sit down with a magazine, I have scissors in hand. When I find a look I like, I snip it out and add it to a little look book. My look book is a 4×6 slip-in photo album flip book. I slip the cutout from the magazine into the book and have it by my closet. The cutouts are fairly small, so I can usually fit one to three looks in a page. I typically lay out my outfits the night before, and when I’m feeling a little brain dead or indecisive, I grab the look book and try to recreate a look I admire.

My look book has become my fashion coach. Since I’m trying to replicate the looks, I’m noticing the shapes of the clothes, the lengths, and the pairings. Shopping is less haphazard. I am less afraid to try newer trends. Rather than going to the sunglasses and looking at them as compared with one another, I’m thinking of them within a larger context, as a piece of a larger look or as a part of a movement or trend.

I guess you could say my look book is my personal stylist.

Product Review: Flirt! (Kohl’s) BIG DEAL Lip & Cheek Tint February 20, 2007

When a cheap product is mentioned in any magazine, I’m sucker enough to go and pick it up. Which is why I found myself at Kohl’s one Friday afternoon looking for the Flirt! BIG DEAL lip & cheek tint in Berry Flair. The article suggested Berry Flair, advocating it as a tint anyone could wear. Well, the author was wrong. Thank goodness Kohl’s has testers. Berry Flair looked like clown makeup on my fair skin. It was much too dark. I was hoping to find a new tint, so I picked up Tini Bikini instead. The color reminds me of a cheek tint I had in high school from Clinique. It was during my luminescent phase where every piece of makeup I wore was dewy. On a side note, I checked the Clinique Web site, and it doesn’t look like they make this product anymore. Anyway, I do like the color, on both my lips and cheeks, although this tint doesn’t last long on my lips. On cheeks, it works best when wearing either no foundation or a liquid/cream foundation. It doesn’t work well over powder, and is drastically muted under powder, but I suppose that shouldn’t be a surprise. There are days when it is nice to swipe this on my lips and cheeks, add some mascara and head out the door.

Handbag.com Reviews Mascara February 20, 2007

Read the top picks here.