There’s just something about an immaculately made up sales assistant / make up artist / part time model who takes you by the hand and blends some miracle product gently into your skin as they tell you what amazing skin you already have that makes me abandon logical thought as I utter the magic phrase, “Yes thanks, I’ll take that”. And now that I’m forty, time poor, sleep deprived and have pure caffeine and sugar making up at least fifty percent of my blood volume, I’m an even easier mark than before.
The executive summary of that bit of mansplanation of my current first world problems is that I went to Mecca Maxima after the gym yesterday and left with my very own Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette ($87 AUD). And it’s the best bolstered ego make up product I’ve bought myself in quite some time.
Quite a few of my friends have been raving about Hourglass for a while now and being the die hard MAC fan that I am, I’ve been deaf to their glowing reviews of the range. Hourglass is an American brand that launched in 2004, selling first at Barneys, New York before achieving global domination and opening the flagship Hourglass boutique in Venice Beach, California.
Many if not all the products are made in Italy. The packaging is sleek and understated with a nice weight to the compacts and sturdy finishes to things I tend to break like the hinges of lids and opening clasps. It’s the little things that justify the price. I was also told when I made my purchase that the Ambient Lighting powders are vegan and gluten free. It’s nice to know that my make up makes the effort to look after me even if my diet doesn’t always do so.
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- though expensive (it would cost $96 to purchase the three full sized versions of these powders), the convenience of having the three shades in one travel friendly compact swayed me to justify this purchase
- the powders are soft and finely milled with minimal glitter or shimmer in the pan, they applied evenly with my powder brushes without any fall out or frosting up on my skin or in my pores. I find the compact format of this product much more workable than loose powders or loose balls of product that other brands favour
- the colours worked well on my medium toned skin with none looking too light, dark or muddy on me
- the overall effect was that my skin looked finished and polished, like an Instagram filter only more practical for daily life.
- easy to use if you’re short on time, technique or tools. I used the palette for the first time this morning over a BB cream and the effect was very natural and polished. I didn’t have to work too hard with any of the shades
- works well over liquid and powder based foundations
- the colours are multi use with Radiant Light being a good subtle bronzer and Incandescent Light being useful to highlight at the brow bone
- I’ve heard that these powders last for ages and travel well
- the palette works with practically every kind of make up you’re likely to do from everyday to going out so it will work hard to give you a good return on your investment.
- besides the price, I can’t really think of any except that the shades may not suit your skin tone.
- just sharing information on technique I picked up in store yesterday, really
- Dim Light is great all over the face as a finishing powder or else brushed out over the forehead and down the the nose
- Incandescent Light works well on cheekbones and brow bones
- Radiant Light works well brushed over the jaw line.
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| www.itunes.com |
I’ve also got an app to share with you today. It’s not exactly cheap for the full / pro version but it could be just the thing you need if you’re a home exerciser who does interval type workouts. The app is called Seconds Pro and it is currently $7.99 on iTunes.
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| www.itunes.com |
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| www.appchartcompass.com |
This is how the circuit template looks. You can save, edit and export your templates. It’s very addictive once you get started.
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| www.mikeroulston.com |
What I like best about the app though is the way the screen looks as you power through your workout. Everything you need to know is there in one easy to read screen. You know what’s coming up after what you’re doing, you know how much longer you have to go, you can pause. Audio cues can also be added to your template which is great when you’re doing push ups and can’t read your screen.
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| The science experiment that is the rubber seal of my front loader right now. |
The last bit of today’s post will probably be of no importance to most of you because I know you’re all way more diligent than I am about keeping the rubber ring of your front loader clean, dry and well ventilated in between cycles. But I have to come clean about the state of mine. Actually, it’s not clean, it’s filthy. There’s a black build up in the folds that’s a combination of many things but not limited to fabric softener, mould (!!) and unidentifiable debris.
I’m in the process of soaking the deeply stained parts with bleach and I found this trick to do it that actually works! Before pouring the bleach in, simply pack the folds with wads of damp paper towel. The paper towel soaks up the bleach and acts like a compress on the stains. I could see the improvement within an hour and have left the packs in place overnight. I’m pretty sure it’s going to sort the problem out and that I won’t need to get the ring replaced. I just need some ideas on how to keep the ring clean and dry. Can you help?