All About The Pretty

A Southern Girl's Guide to All Things Beautimous

Monday, June 05, 2006

Joie de Vivre (Joy in Life) and Staying Pretty in the Heat Part II

This past weekend was one of those days that I am thankful to live in an area where I can walk around and enjoy the smaller things in life. Sunday, after a vigorous yoga workout, Deidre and I had lunch at a cute little bistro in Dupont Circle, then headed over to the Farmer's Market across the street. This is one of the reasons I truly enjoy living in the city. The simple art of enjoying a leisurely stroll and being chatty with a good friend is a great way to enjoy a Sunday afternoon. I love a really good Farmer's Market, such as the one here in DC. Not only is the produce, organically grown, fresh and free of pesticides, but they also have fresh flowers and body products. After buying a bouquet of beautiful peonies, I was able to snag homemade soaps from a little booth across the way and which do not have any preservatives. You have to sit the soaps out in the open for two weeks before using them otherwise they disappear rather quickly. I decided to sit them on top of my bar, next to the beautiful flowers on a cute little decorative salad plate. If I have to sit them out, I might as well make the soaps look extra pretty too. I didn't realize that most soaps we buy have preservatives to make them last longer. Funny, what you learn at the market. This company has organically grown soaps in a variety of scents that are so yummy. I can't help thinking these will make wonderful "just because" gifts to my mom, aunts, nieces and friends. I love surprising people with the unexpected handwritten note or little token of love to let them know what they mean to me. Random acts of pretty kindness abide wherever you choose to look. (http://www.mountharmony.com/). As I sit at my desk and think back to the weekend it truly reminds me once again of the European outlook on life. There is nothing better than coming home to fresh flowers. The great thing now is the cost is not too expensive. Here in DC you can buy 8-10 roses outside the Metro for about $6. This is almost the price of a large fancy coffee. I try to have fresh flowers every week in my home. I love putting them in empty candle jars by the bathroom sink, one in the bedroom in a small clear votive jar and one on my desk. This is a way to make your place very pretty even on a budget. Fresh flowers and buying from the local market to support independent commerce truly reminds me of my stay in Europe. They live this way everyday, as well as, many American cities such as San Francisco, L.A. and NY. This weekend do something for yourself. Say I love you, to yourself, with flowers. I hope everyone has a pretty weekend. I sure will. I inherited my love of any kind of lotion, potion, and body butter from my mom, aunts and grandmother. My mother and I can spend hours just smelling lotions from any store, from Target to the grocery store. So, I am ecstatic to discover this amazing new collection from Origins called Shedonism. Don't you just love a name that gives us ladies even more power. Well, I bought the Deeply Hydrating Butter Cream and Shaving Mousse. All I can say is move over other body butters, there is a new butter in town. I smelled so yummy that even I had to call mom and rave. Now, I have to go back and pick her up one. It's that great and in my Texas slang, "dog gone good." We all know Origins products are natural wonders, but who knew. I was all into the Ginger Souffle, but I had to put that down for this. Staying Pretty in Heat II: I was asked how do I keep my making from running in the summertime heat. The answer for me is to make sure to NOT use foundation. I think during the summer it's a great time to let your face breathe. I live by tinted moisturizer in the summer. It's light and airy and since it's moisturizer it completely blends in with your skin. If you want to target specific areas, I believe in foundation sticks and just target where you need it the most. To keep my eyeshadow from creasing, I apply loose powder to my lids before I apply my eyeshadow. I also tend to only use a cream eyeshadow as a highlighter and not in the crease. Also, what truly irritates me is to see all this heavy makeup in the summer time. Our clothes are lighter, bags brighter, but our skin looks too "made up." Instead of constantly applying powder to combat shine, just find a great blotting paper and do this throughout the day. You can find a lot of blotting papers at the drugstore, Sephora or higher end department stores depending on your budget. I try to change mine up. My favorite right now is from The Body Shop . I hope this helps with staying pretty in the summer heat. Adieu.

6 Comments:

  • At 9:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Now, you know you can't recommend tinted moisturizer and foundation stick without giving brand names! :)

    Also, what if you have not so perfect skin and need the coverage of foundation?

     
  • At 10:45 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    #1 Lurker said...

    I co-sign with Chloe! Brand names ...please?!

     
  • At 3:10 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Girl yes!!!! Stay pretty in the heat!! Hurray for tintef moisturizers and blotting papers!!

     
  • At 8:05 PM, Blogger Shannon Nelson said…

    Teri from Beautiful Makeup Search Blog was asking this question to her blog readers (how to prevent makeup from running in the heat), you should definitely pop over and send her the link to your post!

    From a fellow beauty blogger,
    Shannon

     
  • At 10:54 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

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