lipstick revival

So I might have gone a bit overboard on my new lipstick obsession.  I blame it on our Mad Men marathon.  Staring at those perfectly colored Joan/Peggy/Betty lips every night for weeks on end inspired me to rethink my ideas about lipstick (and men in hats, cigarettes, and hard liquor while I’m at it). 

Feeding this obsession while isolated in Ethiopia was challenging.  Sadly, Nordstrom will not be franchising in this city any time soon. That means I’m stuck with shopping online.  Being limited to the Internet for my lipstick purchases meant I was taking a much bigger risk every time I ordered a tube.  My odds of finding a great color were pretty low when I only had photos of the lip color to go on.  No testing the color on the back of my hand for this girl. 

My past relationship with lipstick was limited.  My first real tube of lipstick was Clinique back in high school.  I’m certain it was a free gift with purchase. Then Carmex and clear lip gloss became the beauty staple for most of my adult life.  I splurged on a great Chanel lipstick for my wedding day and an awesome red to wear with my Marine Ball gown last year.  That dress demanded lipstick.  Other than that I have been pretty intimidated by lipstick for daily wear.  As a mom of three young children I wear make-up less than when I was working.  I just don't have as much time to spend on myself.  Now when I find the time to apply make-up, I focus on the eyes.  Chap stick is applied as I run out the door; and always as an afterthought. 

Revlon Moon drops, left to right: creme Blase Apricot, frost Apple Polish, frost 24K Orange
Love the old school green and gold tubes

Feeling inspired, I ordered a few lipsticks, some work better than others.  In an attempt to save some money I jumped on the drugstore bandwagon initially.  I ordered three Revlon shades of Moon Drops lipstick.  24 K Orange is a great fun orange/pink shade that I wore the most.  It’s a color that demands attention. The $8.99 price was right but the feel (and smell) was all wrong.   The lipstick was dry and stiff and smelled like and old lady's neglected makeup drawer.  I wanted a silky glide and I still hadn’t nailed the color selection.   

I decided to move back into my department store brand comfort zone.   After extensive research, I ordered Smashbox Posy Pink and Melondrama ($19), NARS Love Devotion and Christina($24), and Clinique Golden Brandy ($15).  I had much better luck with this batch.  I love the feel and color of the Smashbox tubes.  Melondrama is an intense melon/pink color that pops on my face.  The Posy Pink is a perfect pink for my skin tone.   Both Smashbox colors are highly pigmented and last a long time.  The Clinique feels nice but the Golden Brandy looks a bit old fashioned; kind of boring.  Maybe because it could quite possibly be the same color of my first Clinique lipstick all those years ago. Plus the color kind of crept beyond my lip line a tad (which is exactly how old lady lips look to me).  

From left to right: Smashbox Melondrama and Posy Pink, NARS Christina and Love Devotion, Clinique Golden Brandy

You get what you pay for holds true here because  the NARS is pretty exceptional.  It feels even more silky and smooth than Smashbox.  Christina is the satin formula and is pretty much perfection.  The pigmentation is amazing.  A very light application lasts a very long time.  It’s a perfect golden raspberry shade.  It’s quickly become my go-to color.  (I think it has something to do with my pink skin undertones, I guess colors with blue in them look best on me).  The Love Devotion, on the other hand, is the sheer formula and makes for a nice tinted chapstick look.  It’s unnoticeable and not what I was looking for in a lipstick.  Ultimately, I recommend Smashbox or NARS and if you splurge on the NARS, stick to the Satin lipsticks.  Finding the right color can be challenging online but not impossible. 

Smashbox Posy Pink is my favorite pink

NARS Christina, my favorite overall

 I learned some things on my online lipstick journey I’ll share with you.  The key to picking out lipstick online is having more than one website up with the brand of lipstick and the color options that you are browsing.  I clicked between Nordstrom.com, Sephora, Amazon and drugstore.com.  The trouble is, photos of the lip color are different between each site.  It was good to compare pages to try to get the best estimate of what that color would actually look like when I opened the tube and applied it to my skin.

Reviews were helpful too.  Only most people forget to include the name of the lip color they are reviewing.  “Most amazing color for any skin tone” means absolutely nothing when you don’t tell me which color your using.  On a few occasions I found reviews from people with similar skin tones and hair color that led me in the right direction.  Note: pay attention to the age bracket of the reviewer.  I found a few reviews helpful until I realized the reviewer was 30 years older than me and knew we couldn’t possibly have matching tastes. 

Taking a close up is really scary.  I hated every single one of  them.  The next thing on my list to research is eye cream.  Hello crows feet, no one invited you!

Lipstick has become my favorite makeup item (and it’s a good thing now that I have a drawer full of tubes in all sorts of color).  When I apply makeup now I completely ignore my eyes (with the exception of under eye concealer-since I’m perpetually exhausted).  I never go without lipstick when I’m leaving the house. It’s truly the perfect makeup for busy Moms. If I’m being honest, I usually grab a tube for my purse and apply it in the car after I’ve gotten the kids settled.   A quick application of lipstick instantaneously makes me look more polished and put together.  Throw on some sunglasses and earrings and the lipstick bumps my daily look up a notch.  Looking a little more put together makes me feel a little more put together.  I used to feel undone without mascara on.   Now it’s lipstick for me.  I’m proudly a lipstick convert.

my revised opinion on cloth diapers

I  reviewed Ashlynn’s cloth diapers a few months ago and I have to make a few revisions since we’ve moved back overseas. 

 

I love our cloth diapers now.  Ashlynn has outgrown the Kissaluv’s and Thirsties duo wraps. They were wonderful for when she was smaller.  I highly recommend this combo for babies under 12 pounds. I still squeezed them on her when she was three months old but as she approached 12 pounds then just didn’t cut it any longer.  She’s now purely wearing bumGenius all in one diapers with snaps. 

When we first arrived in Ethiopia I had to start relying on our cloth diapers because we simply didn’t have enough disposable diapers in our suitcases to get us through the weeks until our air freight or consumables shipment arrived.  As Ashlynn grew, the cloth diapers held in the explosive breast milk poop much better than the disposable diapers.  She’s also had zero diaper rash or even a hint of redness since we’ve moved to using solely cloth diapers. 

I bring disposable diapers when we are traveling.  It just makes things easier.  For our Mekelle trip last weekend we didn’t have space to pack around a wet bag and dirty diapers all weekend.  Gross!  Disposable are the way to go for air plane flights and overnight trips. 

At 2 AM I slap a disposable diaper on Ashlynn for the nightly diaper change.  Getting the cloth insert arranged properly in the pocket and snapping the diaper closed feels like rocket science at that ungodly hour.  I barely have to open my eyes to put on the disposable.  I allow myself this tiny luxury. 

In America, my biggest complaint about cloth diapers was all the washing.  I have three kids.  Spending that much time washing every day was eating into other important things like eating and sleeping.  The first 10 weeks of any baby’s life is just too hectic no matter how many other children you have.  Adding all that cloth diapering just made me crazy.  We live in Ethiopia now.   Ash is 4 months and now that she has a nice neat schedule, I’m not a walking zombie (maybe on occasion).   I also have a housekeeper to do the majority of the diaper washing.  Now cloth diapers are a piece of cake.  The weather is glorious here on a daily basis so all the diapers get hung to dry outside while the inserts tumble in the dryer.  We are generally running to grab a hanging diaper to throw on the baby as it’s still in the process of drying but that’s just how it goes.  We haven’t had a blow-out yet. Charlie's Soap is perfect because it's powdered and can be shipped through the pouch no problem.

We are in the land of zero disposable diapers so my small stash of disposables are sacred.  I squirrel them away for my middle of the night changes and our travel.  I can’t imagine having to order a box of diapers on a weekly basis to get sent through the pouch to get to us.  With all that cash we are saving I can order powdered milk or instant oatmeal.  Cloth diapers are pretty cool if you have the help for washing.  So many people don't have the help and still do it.  These people are Saints!  You have my kudos if you are making washing cloth diapers a priority in your family on top of the rest of things you are doing.   

I highly recommend Jillian’s Drawers website for ordering.  Definitely invest in bumGenius.  They are going to take us all the way until Ashlynn’s potty trained. 

cloth diaper review

Cloth diapers seem to be the new craze for uber cool moms. I jumped on the bandwagon quickly when I realized how much money it will save me from shipping diapers to Ethiopia. When I started doing the research I was completely overwhelmed with all the options and accessories. It's a far cry from the pre-folds and pins my Mom used on me! In the end, I followed some great recommendations from a mom friend in Manila.

I have Kissaluv's cotton fleece fitted diaper size 0 with Thirsties duo wraps (Velcro size 1) for Ashlynn now. When she reaches 12 lbs or so (pretty soon-holy cow!) I have bumGenius one size diapers (snaps).

I only have 9 Kissaluv's and 6 wraps to go with them. I use them during the day when we are going to be home. If we are going out or it's bedtime, I use disposable Up&Up diapers from Target. Cause here's the deal; cloth diapers are a ton of work! I definitely didn't anticipate being overwhelmed with the normal housework and mothering of three let alone remembering to rinse, wash and line dry the cloth diapers. You must change the Kissaluv's much more frequently than disposable diapers as well. They saturate much faster. I will say they do not leak, not an ounce. I've never had a cloth diaper blow out. The only urine leak I had with the cloth diaper was user error. I simply didn't make sure the wrap was in place correctly.

It doesn't make any sense to use these Kissaluv's at night time since they have to be changed so frequently. The goal is to keep Ashlynn asleep as long as possible and have only one or two, at the most, diaper changes a night. Disposables preform better for nigh time wear.

I am using the bumGenius diapers on Arabella for night time. I really love these diapers. They are very absorbent and the inner layer wicks away the wetness so they don't feel wet on the skin. I still find washing an inconvenience. They will be great for when Ashlynn is a little bigger and we are in Ethiopia without a Target down the road.

In conclusion, if you are a busy Mom of three or more kids I don't recommend adding cloth diapers to the list of things you have to do on a daily basis. Getting regular laundry washed is hard enough.

But, if you are living overseas with a house keeper who does your laundry I say go for it. It definitely saves money in the long run. Best yet, the environment wins.