Tag Archives: glamour

My Fab Finds of 2010…

28 Dec

Another year has come and gone, and much like last year, I have no clue where the days went. I could spend endless hours sitting around with my friends from high school, remembering so many of the fun times of our teens just like it was yesterday. We’d talk about the fabulous hairspray metal bands of the 80’s, headlines, fashions and trends like we were still in class together. But if you asked me what I did last month, last week, even yesterday?… it all blurs together like cream in coffee. I should follow in the footsteps of the hilarious bogus talk show host, Jiminy Glick (played by comedian Martin Short) and use “Ginko Bilobo” to improve my memory. But like him, I’d probably forget to take it.

There are a few things, however, that I never forget as time goes on: my fabulous discoveries in the world of fashion and glamour. Once a hot find gets burned into my mind, I truly believe it is there to stay. Not only do I personally get the benefits of these little treasures, but I get to share them with the people around me! Nothing makes me happier than to talk about a product, look, style or sale that I have stumbled upon with my friends, family and blog followers. It is like graduating from the student to the teacher!

So, as I sit back and enjoy my memory-stimulating treats (rosemary-mint hot tea and those dark-skinned… umm…. berry things, the name escapes me), I will share with you a few of the things that Sassy found and fell in love with this year:

1.  Maybelline’s Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner – I love the look of defined eyes with a deep black liner, but I could not find a pencil that had the stay power I wanted or a liquid that I could perfect. The oil-free formula of Maybelline’s Gel Eyeliner is highly pigmented for dramatic color and keeps going strong all day with its smudge-proof, water-proof wearability.  Although it was hard to master the look I wanted with the brush it came with, I decided to try something different. Which is how I came to fall in love with….

2.  Bare Escentuals’ Slanted Liner Brush – For those of you who feel like a five year old who can’t color inside the lines when using liquid/gel liners (like me), try a brush specifically designed for those who are straight-line challenged. This brush enables you to keep your hand straight in front of you without bending your arms in ways that would make Gumby frown. It works well with gel liners as well as powder eye shadows that can be used as eyeliners too. Plus it cleans up easily with regular soap and water and holds its shape. A must have brush in anyone’s collection.

3.  pureDKNY Perfume – Talk about squeaking in under the wire! I received a small bottle as part of a promotion that Sephora was running when I ordered my slanted liner brush two weeks ago. I’m a big fan of DKNY’s BeDelicious perfume, so I was happy to give this newer scent a try. I must say, it is totally different from BeDelicious. And that’s a good thing. With that scent focusing on top notes of apple and grapefruit, pureDKNY is primarily a floral perfume wrapped in the soothing scent of vanilla. Normally I lean towards citrus-type scents, but I absolutely love this one. I can see me wearing this as an every day scent. It’s genuine, soothing, simple and calm. And that’s exactly what we all need in our busy lives!

4.  bebe Logo Knit Top – I don’t care what age you are… everyone needs a little bit of bling in their closet, and bebe is well-known for their logo tops with some sparkle! The white logo top I found at bebe has half sleeves and is ribbed for a bit of extra style. It’s classic yet eye-catching, and is always worth a head turn or two when I wear it out. Even on a basic jeans kind of day, my bebe top makes me feel NYC chic!

5.  Vintage Leopard-Print Trench Coat – Some people call them thrift shops. Others call them vintage stores. I call them a gold mine… on the right day! Earlier this year, while looking for items for a costume party, I stumbled upon a brushed velvet animal-print trench coat with the original tags still attached ($75). It was stylish beyond belief and it was mine… for all of ten bucks.  Anyone who has ever watched “Sex and the City” knows that their infamous costume designer, Patricia Field, is the queen of mixing high-end designer fashions with off-the-wall vintage finds. I LOVE that! It inspires me to seek out great items at my local thrift store that can be worn “as is” or to be vogued up to push the style envelope.

6.  Cardigans, Cardigans, and more Cardigans – Before this year, the word “cardigan” brought to mind a four button, argyle sweater with the pizzazz of a slice of white bread. Yawn. This year, however, designers brought this layering piece to front of the class! Ruffles and lace, long and cropped, metallics and neutrals, buttons and belts… the styles were amazing. It brought a whole new dimension to my closet, and the mix and match possibilities were endless. And now that the colder temps are here, they are stunning and functional too!

7.  Over-The-Knee Boots – Usually when I think of high boots, visions of Goldie Hawn on “Laugh In” wearing her slamming white go-go boots always came to mind. (Did I just date myself?) For the past couple of years, the height of the boot has continuously been getting higher and higher. And with jeans getting skinnier and skinnier, the tucked-in pants look has been growing more popular. Of course, this look is NOT for everyone. I think when worn correctly on the right person, the OTK boot look just screams style and self-confidence.

As we all think back about what 2010 brought us, don’t forget to realize that on January 1st, we will be given 365 blank slates to use for whatever we want. Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, “Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.” We can expand our knowledge, learn new things, and develop new talents. I challenge you all to do, be or learn something new next year. You will be so glad you did!

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Jumping On The Tweet Wagon….

10 Oct

It was inevitable…..

Anyone who knows me knows I’m a Facebook junkie. I upload photos of my family and trips frequently. I probably change my status three times a day or more. I also have over 2000 friends. Some are family, some are friends I went to school with, and many play the Facebook games I like. I have a well-stacked Mafia, my YoVille house is city chic, and I’m sitting pretty with Zynga poker chips. I do not, however, have any crops or animals in Farmville and I plan on keeping it that way. It has even been rumored that if you nag me enough to play Farmville, I will send my Mafia in to burn your crops and steal your animals. I will not admit or deny that is true, and if you ask me why Sassy’s Waste Management trucks are near your barns, I will tell you I know nothing about it.

Recently, my husband told me that he created a Twitter account. Initially I thought, “What the hell for?” I always thought that Tweeting was more of a way to stalk famous people you likes in a legal, acceptable way. I had never really gotten into “Tweeting” because I felt I could keep up with the people that I cared about on Facebook. But earlier this evening, I read in my latest Glamour magazine that in addition to following people, you can also follow brands. It was a stated that following your favorite brands on Twitter will enable you to “get pro tips, trends and special offers all in one place.” Ohhh, okay now, I’m all over that in a big way.

So today I created my Twitter account. In addition for me to keep track of what is hot and what is not in the fashion and glamour industry, I also think it will be a way to have my blog followers and fashionista friends see what hot items, deals, finds and steals I am running into while I am out and about doing Sassy things.

I encourage you all to follow me on Twitter!! Find me at:

http://www.twitter.com/sassyauburn

Please make sure you let me know that you a fan of the blog too!

I know I haven’t been blogging as much as I used to, but I promise…. I will “Tweet” more than I blog. I tend to get very involved before I do a blog post. Lots of research with seasonal themes, pictures, designs, opinions, etc. Sometimes it becomes so drawn out, an entire season has passed before I finish my entry. What can I say… I’m a chatty, wordy kind of girl. Just ask my husband. He says I’m the only girl he knows that takes a half an hour to tell a 5 minute story. But since Twitter updates are more impromptu (and have a character limit to your Tweets… damn!), I will make them short and sweet. Plus, having my new iPhone will make this easy for me too!!

Tweet at you soon!!!

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Fashion Magazines: Little Annoyances…

8 Nov
Photo courtesy of allure.com

Photo courtesy of allure.com

I spent this entire week lying around the house with a terrible case of laryngitis and a cold I inherited from my daughter. It was so bad that my doctor told me to rest my vocal chords for several days. What did that mean to me? What it should mean to everyone. Just don’t talk. But you see, you don’t understand. I can’t handle that. I worked on hot-talk radio for over a year just because I like to talk. I’d talk to strangers at a race track, local politicians, Playboy models and strippers. It didn’t matter. Even now? During a conversation, I really have to be aware for how long I’ve talked … and talked… and talked. In fact, it took me over an hour to tell my husband that I wasn’t even allowed to talk. You see the pattern. Hmmm. Maybe that’s why I got the laryngitis in the first place. I’ll just keep telling myself it’s the virus.

Flat on my back in bed, my mouth was shut tight and my brain frying by the minute thanks to daytime TV consisting of soap operas, judge shows and reality reruns. I tried to pick up on the fictional dialog of Maria, the beloved wife of a psychiatrist who was cheating on him with her step-daughter’s husband only because she had lost her memory (for the third time this season) and thought she was actually a southern bell from the Civil War era. Yeah… um, that’s not happening for me. So instead, one rainy day, I ventured off to my mailbox to discover my own little treasure chest had been dropped off in the bin. What had arrived? My guilty pleasure. My escape from reality. My throat’s savior. Not a box of Hall’s cough drops. Even better. My monthly loot of glamour magazines!

Because of my love for the cosmetic, skin care and glamour industry, it’s only natural that one would assume that I am a collector of these monthly periodicals. Some come wrapped in plastic, others with special editions attached. But no matter what the title, who’s on the cover, what the season it is, or what the fashion faux pas of the month is, I’m sucked in. I usually run through each one first to see what catches my eye (pictures, products, models). Then a few days later, I go back to read the “How To’s” and “What’s Hot” tidbits. Then I research everything that jazzes me to see if it is something I want to invest in. Finally? It ends up in the library (aka: bathroom) and over the next month, it gets looked over at “convenient” times to see what I might have missed.

In my years of reading over my glam-rags, two things haven’t changed. And I wish I could say that they are good features. But they aren’t. In fact, they are annoying as hell. I keep hoping they will get better, but actually they have gotten worse. What are these little bothersome items? Let’s break them down, one at a time:

    1. The perfume samples. The last thing a girl with a sinus infection wants to deal with while sick in bed is opening a relaxing magazine that inflicts a scent-induced sneezing spasm. What’s worse? I get sucked in every month. See when I get a magazine, the first thing I do is open the front cover. Immediately I can smell a fragrance that I love. Or so I think. So what do I do? I go hunting through the pages looking for this glorious perfume. I find the first sample. I tear back the little sticky flap and see if that’s it. Nope. Not that one. I keep going. I get to the next little peel-n-sniff sample. I peel back the corner. I inhale. Nope, that’s not it either. This continues for about two or three more before I realize two things:

    a. None of them are the aroma I enjoyed when I first opened the magazine. It most likely is a combination of ALL the little scents blended together into a big cluster-cologne that made the one I loved. Dammit. What a big frigging tease.

    b. I now have the headache from hell. My little annoyed nasal passages, at this point, couldn’t tell the difference between Gwen Stefani’s L L.A.M.B. perfume and Sassy Auburn’s LAMB dinner still in the fridge from last week. I could stick my head in a bag of coffee beans at this point and it wouldn’t matter. (Ferragamo Incanto’s) “Heaven” help me.

and….

    2. The endless subscription postcard insertions. There literally so many, I could use them all to wallpaper a New York City townhouse. Oh come on fashion magazines…give it up! I’m not an idiot. I know how to re-up. And if you think you are going to lure in the poor saps sitting in anyone’s waiting room that might not get your magazine already, you are sadly mistaken. They have all been thrown out. Like I did. When they fell all over my bedroom and living room floor the minute I opened up the magazine to sniff the first damn perfume sample! In my last magazine that came in the mail, I actually counted eight. Eight annoying, cluttering, postage-paid-but-who-cares postcards that I won’t even look at it. Why? Because I know what they are! Magazines should just do myself… and the earth!… a favor. Just send me a letter a month before my subscription runs out. Feel free to offer me a free tote bag or a cosmetic sampler and then… just then… will I consider it.

Thanks to my doctor’s advice, a hidden cell phone, and an occasional piece of packing tape across my mouth, I have managed to get most of my voice back. Just in time for football Sunday screaming. Maybe I’ll be daring and wear one of the magazine perfume samples during the game. I could choose that one I love, Marc Jacob’s “Daisy”. Or was it Armani’s “Diamonds”. Maybe it was Britney’s “Believe”. Or could it have been Paris’s “Fairy Dust”. Never mind. I am getting a headache just thinking about it.

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Sassy’s “Top 10 Beauty Tips” (August, 2008)

27 Aug

When it comes to humor, I think the one-liner joke is severely underappreciated. They are timeless and tacky but always remembered. “Men are like parking spaces—all the good ones are taken.” “If a turtle doesn’t have a shell, is it naked or homeless?” “What is invisible and smells like carrots? Rabbit farts.” Priceless! Simply priceless! “Take my husband….please!” Okay, you get the idea.

Sometimes I feel like I am the Henny Youngman of beauty tips. I have many that are short, sweet and right to the point. It probably is the only time I have the ability to give suggestions and opinions in less than 10 seconds too. Of course, after I throw in my two cents under fifty words, I can only hope someone will respond with a “Why?” so I can then talk for 10 minutes giving a detailed explanation that would put most men into REM sleep.

Today you will find the first of my “Top 10 Beauty Tips” that I have personally found to be priceless to my beauty routine. They aren’t just given lip service here… they all have been or are being used by myself at some time or right now. Plus you will see that whenever possible, I will try to avoid suggesting a specific name-brand product too. I’m not here to promote the sales of any specific item. Well, unless I am paid to put in some shameless product placement plug to generate me some coin. Then a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. But primarily, my duty is to just bring you great ideas because I get great joy to reach out and touch someone. (Cha-ching!)

  1. Apply your body lotion, cream or butter when you get out of the shower while your skin is still damp. Don’t dry off completely! The oils in the body lotions will help seal in the waters and keep your skin hydrated AND moisturized!
  2. Enjoy those long hot showers in the morning? Remember to splash your face at the sink with cool water after you get out and before you begin putting on your makeup. You want to make sure you close your pores so the makeup doesn’t “sink” into them.
  3. Witch hazel is a fabulous toner for normal /combo skin. Diluted (with distilled water) apple cider vinegar is a perfect toner for oily skin.
  4. Whenever possible, put your under eye concealer on with a specially designed brush. The bristles help fill in any lines and creases and the long handle of the brush helps to prevent any heavy-handed tugging around the eye area.
  5. Sweet almond oil should be a staple on your bathroom counter! It’s great for moisturizing your lips, face, cuticles and hands. It also has scar reducing properties for face imperfections and doesn’t clog pores for those that are acne prone.
  6. Got yourself a great eye cream? Make sure you use a little of it each night before bed around the edges of your lips. The fine lines around your eyes are very similar to the ones around your mouth.
  7. Moisturize and exfoliate your lips at the same time. Mix 1 teaspoon olive oil with 1 teaspoon white granulated sugar. Place mixture in a small sample or cosmetic jar and into lips for a minute each night. Gently wipe off any excess sugar with a soft towel.
  8. Don’t throw out an old banana! Once the skin on the fruit has turned dark brown, mash it up in a bowl till it’s almost creamy like pancake batter. Spread it all over your cleaned face at bedtime and let it set for 10 minutes then rinse with warm water. Bananas are one of nature’s best anti-aging foods!
  9. Feet tired? Take a bag of dollar-store marbles and put them in the freezer. Fill a basin with cool water. Add your favorite foot soak (or just drop in two Alka-Seltzers and a slice of lemon or a sprig of fresh mint) and put the frozen marbles into the basin. Sit back and roll your feet on the marbles for about 15 minutes. Ahhhhh.
  10. Your pillowcase is not your washcloth. Always always always take ALL of your makeup off before bedtime. Someone once told me that if you sleep with your makeup on, it will prematurely age your skin by ten days. I have no idea if that is true, but even if it was only by ten seconds, that’s ten seconds too much for me!

The list isn’t seasonal, but the tips are “must knows” and will be the basis for other lists to come. Like any good house, it all starts with a good foundation. Now that I think about it, so is a good glamour look!

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So, you want to feel a little “sassy” today?

6 Jul

‘Then get spruced up

and laugh and dance

And turn away from worry

with sassy glance.‘

~ Weekend Glory by Maya Angelou

Welcome to my blog! Man, I hate that line. It’s so routine, so overused, so blasé. But honestly, what the heck are you supposed to say at the beginning? “Hi! I have PMS and am craving salt & chocolate at the same time! My nail polish is chipping, I have three loads of laundry to do, and I just got my bank statement in the mail!” Come on. That kind of fun doesn’t start for at least another week or so. At least not till the PMS really gets here

.So I guess the main reason why I’m doing this blog is because 1) I can make people laugh by telling them about my life and 2) I’m a glamour junkie. Now, you are asking yourself, “How do those go together?” They don’t. Not at all. Only when I put on a new sparkle eye shadow wrong and my eyes look like two disco balls, do the two intersect. But that doesn’t happen…well, not that often.

You’re going to find two things on this blog. The first is an occasional story or journal entry about something crazy that has happened recently in my life. What makes that so funny is it probably has happened to you, and you will find comfort and humor in knowing you are not alone. The second thing I’m going to do is discuss glamour-type girlie stuff. This will range in reviewing some of my favorite cosmetic items, tricks of the trade, new goodies and finds, and whatever else girls talk about over coffee at Starbucks.

I don’t have a regular 9 – 5 job. I can thank various health issues for that. Then again, my bickering teenage children, my endless doctor appointments, my cats’ constant hairballs, and my mother’s mission to discuss bowel habits 24/7 makes it almost impossible to have a normal day anyways. No wonder I medicate.

So I hope you enjoy this. Feel free to email me if you want to throw your two cents in about anything regarding cosmetics, fashion, or men. Don’t bother to try and throw your two cents about my mother though. You’ll need those two cents to put towards your therapy. My mother will do that to you.

Like what you see? Have some comments you’d like to share? Want to tell me you think I’m awesome or I’m as whacked as a feline on catnip? Feel free to email me. You can reach me by email at: SassyAuburn@nycap.rr.com

Ready to have some fun? Grab a cocktail and enjoy!

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