Nails of the Week: Sally Hansen Gray By Gray

This is Sally Hansen's Gray by Gray, which I picked up after seeing that it was a dupe for MAC's Blue Indigo from the new Liberty of London collection. I was totally surprised to see the brush on this thing - it was crazy wide and flat. It did make applying the polish pretty easy, once I got use to it. It's an awesome, gorgeous muted blue, chic and sophisticated without being dull. Definite must-have.

This week has been so strange for me. The weather here has been so amazingly beautiful here (apart from since Monday when it started pouring with rain) that I just had to spend all my time outdoors. I started to run again which was great for the first 45mins, and then hell for the next three days while my muscles recovered! I used to run last summer and really enjoyed it, but then fell out of the good habit. Of course starting out with 4 miles was a little exuberant. I've done 2 more runs since then which felt pretty good, so I'm hoping I keep up the good habit.

So that's some good news. The bad news was that I came home from a few drinks on Friday night to find myself a victim of a Google special. I had an email from Google telling me my blog had been deleted for spam, and when I logged in, all it said was my blog was deleted, with no contact details, reasoning, logic, apologies or anything. You know, the usual "Do No Evil" Google corporate nonsense of how they know best and you are wrong. So I tweeted about it, and luckily some Google employee saw it and put me right, getting my blog back up in a couple of hours. Still, I was pretty mad about it, and didn't really feel like doing any posting or writing for a couple of days.

Buuut, because I don't want to leave you with a bad experience, I also was lucky enough to get a new camera this week from my lovely husband. I am the very proud owner of a new Canon G11. I'm still getting the hang of it, but mostly, it's good good times, and a little bit of a break from my DSLR.

How was your week? Did you get a chance to enjoy the good weather?

Sugar Sweet Bombs and Navel Gazing

Yesterday was a bit of a weird day. Every day I have to walk past the New York Fashion Week Tents every day - they are actually outside where I work. At the start of Fashion Week, I love them, I'm inspired, and excited, and awed by the glamour and gorgeousness of my favorite industry. Fashion, and as part of that beauty, is my first love. I've always been passionate about clothes and trends and styles, and fiercely believed in using fashion as a means to express my own personality.

However, I do not work in fashion. I work in IT for a major financial company. I love to write about beauty products here, and wish that I did more fashion things here (the only thing that holds me back is that fashion pictures can be so difficult to do), but at a certain point during NYFW I realised just how far away I am from where my heart lies. This is not about how many readers I have here (I'm surprised anyone reads at all!), but rather the larger question of how far I am away from working in the industry I love. I do plan on taking this blog as far as I can take it and maybe even cover some aspects of NYFW in September or Feb next year, but right now, I feel far away and lost from myself and my own sense of style. I am surrounded by so much gorgeousness and style and beauty that right now I simply feel a sense of disappointment in myself that I am not dressing better, making better style choices, wearing heels, rocking harem pants, layering effortlessly, and taking beautiful inspirational photos of stylish things. Instead, I'm rocking in my jammies here wearing glasses and not being at all chic. Sigh.

Anyway, I decided to think about cheering myself up by talking a wander through Walgreens at lunchtime. I was thinking of getting some of the new Maybelline quads, and I've heard rumors of a collection that is similar to MAC's Sugar Sweet last year, and I've also been dying for some of the new Wet N Wild nail varnishes. I would have thought that a three storey Walgreens in Times Square would have a good selection of things: my how I was wrong! So, no chance of a sneaky lunchtime drugstore haul. Maybe that's not a bad thing - put some money back in my pocket ;)

This isn't an all bad things post - am rocking the Sugarbomb Box of Powder  from Benefit like nothing else, and I've been loving my new lip combination which is Cover Girl Lipstain in Everbloom Kiss with MAC Dazzleglass Creme in Perfectly Unordinary. Both are girly, pretty, sweet, fun and generally spring like. See, I knew something would put a smile of my face eventually :)

Some Random Witterings About Winter and Summer

A couple of real random thoughts going through my head at the moment. Whilst on vacation I basically completely ignored my skin. I think I washed my face twice, and didn’t even use moisturizer. The texture definitely became a little rougher (gosh, that sounds like sandpaper), but there were no visible signs of trouble. Since getting back I’ve gone back to my usual cleanser and moisturizer, but also added Origins Mimosa Moisterizer, which is supposed to literally roll back time as it stimulates collagen production. This morning I’ve woken up to a couple of red bumps. I haven’t decided yet if they are the result of the change in skin cream or a hangover from being so lazy the week before!

In a recent post I talked about whether you replace products which are only quite good when they are full, or whether you diligently use them up? I’m  a mix, but if a mascara doesn’t make the cut, I toss it immediately. I’ve been testing Maybelline’s Colossal for the last couple of weeks. At first I liked it a lot – it definitely gave my eyelashes good amounts of curl and volume. However, using a product during the working day is really my test of durability, and over the last two days this product has been one big fail. By 3pm I have little flakes and a dark smudge under my eyes. Not a good look. Onto my next one.

Right when I’m struggling to take in the amazingness of all the MAC Spring Color Forecast collection, when I read about one of the MAC Summer Collections, which is beach themed. Oooh, the packaging is so cute (I always feel bad depotting the special edition eyeshadows), and anything to do with beach is going to make me so so happy. Last summer I didn’t make it to the beach once due to crazy wedding activities, so this summer I’ve already got 10 days on Cape Cod with my family planned, and I’m working on booking a couple of other weekends away. This collection is just right for getting me in the mood for that. May cannot come quick enough!

Do you use things up or buy something better?

Beauty bloggers by definition love to experiment with new products, new looks, new brands. They pride themselves on also knowing the best eyeliner, the best shadow primer, the best mascara. So, what do you do about products that you try out, and you find out that they really aren’t the best at all? For example, right now I have two choices for a liquid liner if I am going for that look: MAC Penultimate is a pen liner, which I really love, and a black Stila smudge pot which is a gel liner. I also have MAC’s Rich Ground Fluidline liner which is a gel liner in brown. From using Rich Ground, and from all the reviews out there in the blogosphere (urgh, I hate that word), I know that I will love MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack far more than my current Stila smudge pot, which, frankly, I don’t love. I mean, it has reasonable staying power, is black enough (who knew black could have so much, or so little depth?), but doesn’t have the richness that I’m looking for, nor does go it on super smooth like the Fluidline.

I am sure that you have encountered many similar situations to this yourself. Do you go straight out and buy a new one? Do you wait until you’ve used the poorer quality item up? Right now, I’m trying to wait. I’m certainly still doing looks with the Stila product, and I hate waste. I’m terrible at actually finishing a product (um, I’ve hit pan on 1 shadow and 1 blush in my entire life), but I also cannot throw things out. I’m committing to working through to at least half way on the Stila before I can even consider buying the MAC product though. I’m really interested in hearing what other people’s approaches to this dilemma are, and if they change depending on the product.

Tuesday Mood Session

It's Tuesday, so time to check in on my moooood!

1. What's my mood?
Eh. Not so great. Work's busy, feeling blah, not sure what to have for dinner.


2. What am I wearing?
I was at work today and haven't changed. So, black turtleneck, blakc and white silk ruffled sleeveless shirt over, pink wool skirt, black tights. All J Crew.  

3. What am I obsessing over?
I have a box of NYX and Elf goodies to try out and I haven't even had a chance to go near them recently. Just been busy with family things instead. 



4. How was the weekend?
Cool. Went to see a Who Shot Rock and Roll - the photography exhibition - at the Brooklyn Museum. Stayed in both nights as was out on Thursday instead at Pastis and trying to save money. I have about $40 to last me until Friday! It would have been better if my dry-cleaning hadn't been $29 - whaaaat???

5. What's happening this week?
My cousin is staying a few days so I'll be showing her the seedy nightlife of NY, and I'm also going to the theater on Saturday to see God of Carnage which is uber exciting. 


6. Go on, admit it, what did you buy last week?
All Races haul, which was reasonable but not too scary. And nothing else. :)

7. Any purchased planned for this week?
Nope. As I said last week, clothes shopping is banned in January. I am up to my ears in new kit from Elf and NYX, and I haven't even really taken the All Races stuff out apart from to swatch. So zip. Nada. Rien. Unless the China Glaze Up and Away collection goes online in which case all bets are off.

8. Random question - favorite character?
I am in love with everything in Lost in Translation, especially ScarJo's character Charlotte. She is young and lost and intelligent and mean and she doesn't know why. She is bored and does the same things we all do bored - think we should improve and try on lipstick and play with our hair. She is confused and knows she can be better. I guess she is the iconic lost college grad that I saw a little bit of myself in, without the amazing pouty lips and not-quite affair with a much older man. But who I really want to grow up to be is CJ from the West Wing - competent, intelligent, fiery, passionate, can hang with the boys but wears Armani. A wonderful, wonderful role model.

Let me know how your week was, and if you have a favorite character in a book, film, tv show.

Spreading the Love Around: Brand Loyalism vs Brand Whorism

Here is one of my beauty confessions: I am incredibly brand loyal. Really. I find it hard to break out of brand habits. For example, my make up drawer is almost exclusively MAC, NARS, and Bobbi Brown, with a touch of Benefit, NYX, and Covergirl thrown in. My skin routine is currently entirely Philosophy, and for body, I swear by Kiehls Creme De Corps line. I do like Kiehsl for skin too, and I have a bunch of moisterisers and masks waiting to be tried. I hear great things about other luxury (and drugstore!) brands like Chanel and Dior, but I can never make the emotional connection. This year, though, I am going to do my best to change that and branch out


My products and brands to try out in 2010 are:

1. ELF cosmetics - the prices are so low, it's hard to know if this will be a total bust or not. I actually just placed my order as they were offering $10 worth of products free. Review coming up shortly, for sure. I picked out a bunch of brushes, a mineral eyeshadow, some lip products, and whatever the free $10 products were. Fingers crossed for a bargain gem!

2. Aveeno - everyone raves about this line, especially the Daily Brightening Scrub. It's a definite one to try out, as goodness knows I love a scrub!


3. Lush! Oh, there is so much Lush! stuff I want to try. I think that this brand might be bigger in the UK than the USA, so I'll have to be a cheerleader to raise awareness. Basically, it is natural, handmade products on a grander scale. They have a glorious range of shampoos, face masks, and also a foot mask that I am just dying to try out, with great names such as Angels on Bare Skin and Buffy. Swoon. Can't wait.

4. Anything by Chanel. Oh please, let me treat myself this year to something from Chanel. Especially something like a lipstick (Christine from Temptalia raves about their Rouge Allure line), or an eyeshadow quad.

4. Make Up Forever. I hear great things about this brand, especially the foundation, which is my dammit I have to find something that works product of the year. I have a wee teeny primer from MUFE in my cupboard that has made the cut as part of the great primer test of January 2010. Yes, more details will be coming soon.

5. Smashbox. Again, another potentially great foundation product that I've heard rave reviews about.

6. Benefit. Okay, Benefit and I are weird. I adore all the cute packaging, but have been burnt by less than stellar products about five years ago. However, the word on the street is that they are back back back, and with great products like Sugarbomb, well worth a second look.

7. Korres Skin Care. These products have always caught my eye with their gorgeous packaging. Time for me to make the leap!

8. Etsy. There are hundreds of great sellers out there making body products and makeup from scratch, and I'm dying to try out a bunch and see what can come from the handmade community. 

That doesn't mean that I am going to stop with my old favorites. MAC will probably always be my go-to for a quick fix, but by broadening my horizons I'm hoping to find some awesome new products to share with you all. Ooooh, my Sephora Beauty Insider account is going to be embarassing!

Do you think it's better to stick to one brand? What are you excited about trying out in 2010?

Tuesday Mood Session

Moonrise view from the apartment

It's Tuesday, so time to check in on my moooood!

1. What's my mood?
Excellent. Very relaxed. As one should be after 4 days beside the pool and an extra day off work for good measure.


2. What am I wearing?
Even though I really have only left the house today to go to CVS (2 blocks away) and the park to walk the dog, I dressed myself up today. Sequinned t shirt from Topshop, tweed shorts from topshop, grey cardigan from American Apparel. I even did an FOTD which will be up later in the week. 








3. What am I obsessing over?
Blog formatting issues. Urgh. UK stuff - good! Am going home in just under a month and am very looking forward to seeing friends and family.

4. How was New Year?
Well, we dashed into the apartment at 11.50 and had drinks in hand on the patio for midnight. New Year itself was fabulous - friends, husband, warm nights, a bit too much booze.

5. What's happening this week?
A light week at work (3 days!!), drinks with a friend tomorrow night, and keeping it chill apart from that to give my wallet and liver some time to recover.

6. Go on, admit it, what did you buy last week?
Last week - a  NYX haul from Cherry Culture which I'm looking forward to swatching. The last 2hrs - eesh. Spent my drugstore.com dollars on shampoo, makeup removers and mascara, and then took advantage of an ELF offer because I really want to try them out.


7. Even after all that, are you planning on buying anything this week?
Maybe something from the MAC All Races All Ages collection, but the more I see it swatched, the less excited I get. I'm totally off clothes shopping for January, but I keep eyeing up UK companies like Topshop and ASOS for putting an order in for my Feb 1st visit. Actually, I'll have a very short window to shop as I normally go off clothes shopping for Lent as well. Eesh.

8. Random question - coffee or tea?
Coffee, but really in the form of skinny capuccinos, vanilla lattes, and anything iced. I do love a random lemon tea from our weird in office coffee machine in the morning as well, and iced tea in the summer. Yep, all over the shop.

About Me

Welcome to Jolie Laide Girl!

Jolie Laide is a French expression literally translated as "pretty / ugly", but means a girl who is unconventionally beautiful, or a woman who may not be considered pretty, but makes the most of herself. For me, Jolie Laide is also about a sense of insouciance, of being comfortable with yourself and your sense of beauty and style.

I am a mid-twenties girl living in New York City. I have been interested in fashion and beauty all my life, spending far too much time flicking through magazines and trying on turquoise eye shadows. By day I negotiate the murky world of financial services as an IT manager, and by night I debate I debate MAC versus NARS and Proenza Shouler, with a healthy dose of Topshop and Covergirl thrown in.

Jolie Laide is a blog set up in December 2008 to cover my personal perspective on fashion and beauty. I regularly feature product reviews, make up ideas, outfit posts, and shopping and blog finds across the internet. All posts of my opinion only, and I am not paid to review any product. If I have received a product as a sample for review, a disclaimer is included in my post. I do not guarantee to post on products received, not do I guarantee positive coverage.

I do really love to interact with my readers, so feel free to get in contact with me either via the comments section, following me on twitter, or emailing via jolielaidegirl [at] gmail.com

New Year's Resolutions

New Year, New You, and all that. Every year we try and make ourselves better people. I've got some definite plans to make myself into a more jolie laide girl this year:

Gotta use all this, remember?

1. Learn how to contour my face. You've seen the before and after pictures on 'slebs. Really, cheekbones can be made not born. And I'm sure I can learn how. Contouring and highlighting have not grabbed my attention before as fun eye colors are much more exciting, but I'm a growing (read aging) woman, I need to learn these things stat.
2. Find my HG foundation. I firmly believe that this is every woman's dream. A choice between looking like having amazing skin all the time versus owning the entire Laboutin collection, I really think that skin would win. Contenders in this epic are Bobbi Brown, Laura Mercier, MAC, NARs and any other recommendations. It needs to make my skin look real, but better. Yeah, nothing new there, but right now it's not happening for me. 
3. Bring more of my never-used into my sometimes used category. Yes, I've mad posted about this already. It's a big one. 
4. Tidy my wardrobe and keep it there. Photos of my wardrobe will not be surfacing on this blog, unless it's maybe in the after stage. But let's just say that I have an excess of clothes and no place to put them. The new bag of Rodarte for Target is not helping matters. 
5. Be less impulsive with clothes shopping, especially for trendy pieces. See Rodarte for Target above. But really, I do need to work on this. I've been proud of myself during the last couple of months for not bringing home too many clothes, and for getting everything I buy on sale. I just gotta keep the momentum going. 
6. Buy heels I can wear. Okay, I can try. 
7. When my nail varnish chips, fix it! I am so bad at this, and then they just taunt me!
8. If I want something, check whether I can get it via ebates and save money rather than impulse shopping. Ohmigod, this kills me. I always remember after the fact. Such a pain. Now I am keeping the tab open and trying to shop less anyway. 

Tuesday Mood Session

It's Tuesday, it's time to see where my head's at!

1. What's my mood?
Very good. My husband is happily entertained with basketball on television, Santa was great to me, work is quiet, and the blog is quietly picking up subscribers. Times are good!

2. What am I wearing?
Ha ha, funny story. I started the day wearing a J Crew long shirt and grey leggings. It is soo incredibly cold today, so I had to take the dog for a walk, so I just started putting clothes on top of my "base layer". So, Gap skinny jeans over grey leggings, black sequin tuxedo cardigan from J Crew over shirt, black Uggs, Madewell yellow madras scarf. Make up mostly from Warm & Cozy - my eyes are Chamomile, Expensive Pink (another one to tick off my list), Modellete, A Little Folie, and the darkest brown shade in the Devil May Care Palette, Lips are Warm Me Up and Feeling Dreamy, and skin is Bobbi Brown Moisture Rich Foundation and NARS Gilda Blush.

3. What am I obsessing over?
Getting my blog "out there", the fact that I'm going to Palm Beach in 2 days, and the new China Glaze Up & Away collection that should start shipping next week.

4. How was Christmas?
Lots of fun, despite the fact we are orphans far away from our family. We had Christmas morning at home with lots of presents and a yummy breakfast. Then we took the puppy for a long long walk, and went to our friend's house for dinner. A lovely, calm, relaxed day.

5. What's happening this week?
Palm Beach for New Year is the big story. I'll put up a few scheduled posts to keep my readers happy though. I'll be away for 4 days, but the weather forecast is not looking supreme. :(

6. Go on, admit it, what did you buy last week?
Target for Rodarte arrived, and then kind of sucked (better in photos than real life unfortunately. Or maybe if you are not 5' 8" and of "athletic build") so a lot got sent back. Walked around the sales but bought nothing. I have some returns to Sephora to do so maybe I'll pick up something then... Oh, duh, the Warm & Cozy stuff.

7. Even after all that, are you planning on buying anything this week?
Nope, not really. China Glaze next week. And All Races is coming out, so I'll get excited for that.

How was your Christmas? Got plans for New Year? Score anything in the sales? Leave it in the comments, I'll be sure to check it out!

Tuesday Mood Session

The weekly "where I'm at right now"

1. What's my mood?
Pretty darn good. Had a good day at work, then went to the cool new burger place Bill's for dinner. Came home to find packages from MAC (Warm & Cozy!!) and drugstore.com. Two days until Christmas is fantastic too.

2. What am I wearing?
Always Skinny Gap Jeans over tights (hey, it's cold!), a J Crew tissue turtleneck and a J Crew grey shell top with tissue down the front. Not fashion forward, but not hideous. Shoes today have been a mixture of Sorel Caribou boots, hiking boots, and J Crew flats, depending on what I was doing.

3. What am I obsessing over?
Christmas, so Williams Sonoma Peppermint Bark, my Whole Foods order (first time I've ordered a Christmas dinner!!), the fact I have to find or make stockings over the next 48hrs. Oh, and my MAC order sitting next door that I'll take pictures of tomorrow in the light, and how much I love some of the new collections planned between now and April.

4. How was my weekend?
Feels a long time ago, but it was great. Very couply. Husband and I went Christmas shopping on Saturday in the snow, got a great pair of boots and discovered my new Starbucks obsession - Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha. Kind of like Peppermint Bark in a cup.

5. What's happening this week?
Duh, Christmas. As we are orphans far, far away from our family, we have been invited to a friends for the big day. On Christmas Eve we're going to look at the Barneys, Saks, Bergdorf Windows, then have a Christmas dinner at home in the evening.

6. Go on, admit it, what did you buy last week?
Target for Rodarte is winging it's way toward me. I used my $20 voucher at drugstore.com to get a back up Philosophy Miracle Worker kit, some covergirl lipstains (post coming up soon!), MAC Love Lace Kohl Power Pencils in Raven and Sense of Style, and various things from MAC Warm & Cozy. Last week I said that I wasn't planning on buying anything, but that didn't account for the Rodarte collection, which had to be done. I'm fully expecting to return at least 3 pieces though.

7. Even after all that, are you planning on buying anything this week?
Champagne, for Christmas. That's probably it.

How about you? Make any big purchases? Looking forward to Christmas?

7,

Tuesday Mood

Tuesday  Mood 

 

I figured that if I did my mood questions on Mondays, well, they would always be depressing! By Tuesdays I hope to have gotten over the Monday blues.  

 

1. What's my mood today?

 Tired. I don't know whether it's because I've been watching 2 or 3 Fringe episodes a night (hello Pacey! Sorry, Joshua Jackson), but I keep having these crazy dreams and waking up tired.  

 

2. What am I wearing?

"Home Clothes" - some gray Gap pyjama bottoms with  a gray and white stiped long sleeve t shirt and snuggly socks. We can't be stylish all the time.  It's definitely got a cuddly chic thing going on - I had no shame in picking up my parcels from the doorman wearing that.  

 

3. What am I obsessing over?

 Getting annoyed with myself for not remembering to do all my online shopping via ebates, trying to find time to finish up making Christmas presents and decorations, and debating make vs buy on Christmas cookies and treats. Ooooooh, and the fact that a package of about 10 different China Glaze nail varnishes arrived today! A good thing too, because my current nails (Essie's Mink Muffs - not my favorite) are getting all chippy.  

 

4. How was my weekend?

Pretty good thanks. Started poorly with a much-hyped and very disappointing Arctic Monkeys gig on Friday, then hit a high point at La Esquina for cocktails (hello margaritas made with cucumber and agave), and then a so bad it's good again at my first ever karaoke bar on Saturday. Sunday, as you can imagine, was spent in a sleepy daze, made all the better for the pouring rain.

 

5. What's happening this week?

Last minute Christmas shopping and related activities. That means hitting the Wired popup down in Meatpacking to get presents for the boys. And two more bootcamp sessions. Maybe I'll actually make it to all 3 this time. Aside from that, remember to tidy my closet (it's a crazy crazy mess), maybe drinks with an old school friend before she heads back home for Christmas.

 

6. Go on, admit it, what did you buy last week?

Ohmigoodness, what didn't I buy? Well, a huge box from J Crew arrived which was a mixture of presents for my man, and goodies for me. I'm particularly loving this grey top and these ruffled tops. Of course, some of has already been sent back to the store. I also finally got around to hitting purchase on Transdesign for a bunch of China Glaze polishes  and they arrived today . I'm very obsessed with my nails right now, so I'm excited about getting festive with those. Urban Decay were doing a deal on Yeyo, Baked, and Dime 24/7 pencils for $7, and a mini  Covet, Electric, and Lust pencils for $5, so those were also picked up. Swatches to follow soon. Finally, Sephora's VIB $20 voucher was burning a hole in my pocket. I really wanted to use it on Nars Velvet Matte Pencil in Red Dragon, but it was sold out, so instead I picked up 2 more UD pencils - Gunmetal and Lucky, and Sephora's Eyelash/Eyebrow Comb which Karen reviewed over here. Phew! That's about it.

 

7. Even after all that, are you planning on buying anything this week?

Something for the guys who live next door, but no, my purchasing is done really for 2009. Ooh, apart from the MAC launches on Dec 26th. Famous last words - let's see next week what I've managed to waste my cash on.

 

I'd love to hear how your guys weekend was, what you've been buying, and what you've got planned for the week.