Amazing Chandelier and Vegas Update

Hola from Las Vegas!

Check out this absolutely incredible gorgeous chandelier from the Henri Bendel shop at the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace:

It is a beautifully decorated and arranged show case for Bendel wares.

Thelma and I are having a great time. The weather is perfect!  In the 80's, sunny and dry dry dry!  We've packed in a lot already and still more to come.  Tonight we are going to see a show at New York New York, tomorrow Thelma booked a half-day tour of Hoover Dam.  Today we discovered at the Fresh shop in the Forum shops at Caesar's Palace that they are offering a 60 minute facial for $50 which can be applied toward the purchase of any of their products.  Now is that an absolutely amazing offer or what?  I am seriously thinking about it and having that facial I've always wanted to do here rather than spending the money to go see Rock of Ages.  Or maybe I will splurge and do both.  Despite bouts of shopping the only things I've purchased were refills on my Bare Escentials mineral make-up and Prime-Time Primer during a stop at Sephora. So I have spending money left over, darlings :)

This morning I introduced Thelma to the awe and wonder of L'Bri's Gentle Facial Peel, which is 100% natural ingredients and uses fruit enzymes to gently lift dead skin cells away from the surface of your face, leaving skin baby smooth and soft soft soft!  She doesn't have fine lines and wrinkles yet but I do, and I swear by this product for making me look much younger than my years.  It encourages the growth of new skin cells in skin of all types and ages.   I showed Thelma how I give myself a facial every few days with my L'Bri products and she too used the facial peel as well as the moisturizer afterward.  Then I gave Thelma a couple of lessons on how to use primer and apply mineral make-up, since she has always used liquid foundation (which was not really working for her skin type and causing break-out issues).  She has never heard of primer until I told her about it yesterday and so I gave her a quick run-through on what the product is and what it does and we picked out a product for her to try. 

The proof is in the pudding, at the old saying goes.  After we breakfasted at the iconic Peppermill (Thelma loved the place), we spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon at the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace and had a good girly time window shopping and I even got Thelma to try a few items on at H & M, but she thought they didn't suit her.  She didn't show me what they looked like when she tried them on -- my guess is that she looked fabulous and sexy and young and it startled her a little.  She is very conservative in her tastes. 

We didn't get back to the hotel until close to 2 p.m. local time.  Right now we are taking a little alone time.  Thelma is at the pool, I am staying out of the sun with my sensitive old skin and catching up a little on my chess games, blogging a little, and clearing mountains of emails!  I never knew I was so popular :)  Anyway, about that pudding -- Thelma's make-up was still perfect even after all our activity this morning and being in and out of the sun walking and all the wandering around the shops.  She was just amazed and very happy!  I am sure she thought I was exaggerating when I told her that I loved my mineral make-up and it was the best thing (aside from L'Bri's gentle facial peel) that ever happened to my face.  Now she knows better.  There was no clumping or smearing make-up, no build-up of makeup on her cheekbones where her sunglasses sit, no discoloration due to excessive oil formation (a natural skin defense against irritation) affecting pigments in the make-up and interacting with the chemicals in the liquid foundation.  Liquid make-up was not kind to Thelma's skin type, nor was it to mine after I went through menopause.  Mineral make-up is probably the answer, and I am sure she will be able to quickly master the techniques I showed her for applying it.  I expect many of her skin issues will clear up too, now that she will no longer (hopefully) be using harsh chemicals on her face and over-stimulating oil production.

Am now pondering what outfit to wear to the show tonight.  You are not going to believe this, so I'm just going to tell you about it.  I remembered on Monday night while I was packing my suitcase a pair of dressy silky feeling slacks that I wore years ago, before I started having weight issues.  I thought I remembered keeping them.  I dug through my storage and - sure enough - out came those slacks!  Wrinkled to be sure, but otherwise perfectly preserved.  And, guess what - they were a size 10.  I thought, no fricking way will these fit.

Guess what - they did.  I gave them a quick launder and packed them.  They need to be touched up with an iron.  So now I have sexy silky slacks, woo woo!  No high heels to go with them -- will not even think about killing my feet and probably myself too trying to teeter around walking in those suckers!  I have decent dress flats that I brought along, so now it's down to deciding what top or tops to wear.  Should it be the lacy white sweater over the sexy spaghetti strap tank top that I would NEVAH wear anywhere else except here, in this city?  Or the pleated butterfly sleeve top that I bought a few years ago and wore in St. Louis for the cocktail party at the grand opening of the chess museum. Hmmm, decisions, decisions.  Right now got to get ironing and then jump in the shower.  Hair and make-up will be fully redone.

Oh, hello - this is a self-photo that I took of myself in my room:

Not a very good one but it will do, and no, I am not having a baby.  That would be the most miraculous conception since the Virgin Birth.  Just the way the blouse looks - I didn't think I looked that broad and poofy in person, geez!  Time to get off this plateau weight and shed more pounds...

Miracle Blur? Yeah -

- I only have to take off my Walgreen's readers, look in a regular mirror and I've got instant Miracle Blur.  Seriously!

In today's mail is my April edition of Vogue, with a lovely photograph of First Lady Michelle Obama on the cover.  Even in my hay-days I never had toned arms like hers, yikes!  Jealous!

From L'Oreal website: $24.99

Inside what promises to be an interesting read this month, is an advertisement for L'Oreal Paris' Revitalift Miracle Blur, Instant Skin Smoother.  Promises to make you (your facial skin, that is), look instantly smoother, clearer, cleaner, erase wrinkles, etc. etc. Yeah, right.

Well, I'll say this for L'Oreal Paris, they're gutsy, because they included a free sample in this magazine, and I'm damn sure going to try it and I promise you I will write about what results (if any), I see in the mirror after applying (after washing my face and moisturizing) tomorrow morning. 

The advertisment says "Not a moisturizer.  More than a primer."  So, it's like a BB cream for grown-ups? 

Hmmm, sounds like a hoaxy kind of make-up to me:

"Velvety-Matte Finish"
"Unique Cushiony Texture"
"Blurs Lines, Pores, and Wrinkles"

If I'm putting makeup on my face, tell me so, flat out.  Don't BS me about it, covering up the reality of what this product actually is!  If it's makeup, of course, I won't buy it, because I love my Bare Escentials Mineral Makeup, and won't switch back to some liquidy form of foundation, no matter how much hydroxy-whatever it has in it.

Really, if you want excellent non-toxic about 99% all natural products for skin care (cleansing, moisturing, exfoliating), check out L'Bri, invented by a wife-husband team right here in southeastern Wisconsin.  Excellent stuff, love it and won't switch to anything else after years of searching, and struggling with skin problems once menopause, and then post-menopause hit.  EEK!  My youngest sister, Yvonne, got turned on to this product line in 2009 and invited me to a party to demonstrate the products at her house in early 2010.  I went out of sisterly loyalty and out of curiosity, convinced there was nothing new under the sun and that the product claims were all bogus.

Well, at the party, I was intrigued enough by the demonstrations of the products that I bought some, and I've been using them ever since February 2010.  Unlike many products, cheap and expensive alike, I've tried over the years, L'Bri products actually work for me.  So I've got nothing but 100% praise for them.

Updated Sunday, March 24, 2013:

Hola Darlings!  It's a cool, blustery and overcast day here, snow is threatening.  I HATE THIS CLIMATE.  Have I mentioned how much I HATE THIS CLIMATE...

Okay, so after I washed my face this morning I put on some L'Bri light non-greasy moisturizer and headed downstairs.  Then, I remembered that Olay L'Oreal Revitalift Miracle Blur sample I'd set aside from the latest issue of Vogue magazine.  I grabbed it off the desk in the  front room and went to the powder room.  I opened up the sample package and put some on my fingers and applied it to my face. 

Hmmmm, I did not seen any kind of transformation whatsoever.  Definitely nothing like the before/after photographs that were included in the magazine ad!  I also do not like how it feels on my face - kind of gooey and heavy, like it's smothering my skin.  Yes, my skin does feel "soft" but to tell you the truth, my skin has been feeling soft ever since I started using the L'Bri products, including regularly exfoliating with its wonderful facial peel gel (made for very sensitive skin).  In short, I did not see any 'blurring' of crow's feet and laugh lines, my dark spots weren't even partially blurred away, my redness was still quite evident, as were the dark smudges under my eyes.  My eyesight is so poor these days without my Walgreens readers I can't even see my pores, so I can't tell you truthfully whether they 'blurred' away. 

Then, I hiked to the Pick 'n Save supermarket and back.  After putting away the items I bought, I went upstairs and checked my face in my hand-held magnifying mirror, the one I used to put on my make-up on.  Seriously, I could not see any difference in how my skin looked from before I put on the product to afterwards, and when I checked in my magnifying mirror it was close to an hour after I put the product on, so there was plenty of time for it to "soak in" and do its miracle stuff.

No miracles occurred on my face!  So, this product is not for me.  That's not to say it doesn't work, but perhaps it is designed for 30- and 40-somethings, not 60-somethings.  We 60-somethings have to be SOOOOOOO careful what we put on our skin!  It sucks to get old but that's life, darlings. 

So, I'm going to stick with what I know works for me, which are the L'Bri products.  They have aloe as their primary ingredient, no lanolin or mineral oil.

Taking Care of My Skin

Hola darlings!

I do lots of things wrong when it comes to caring for my skin.  I don't use sunblock other than what's in my make-up -- using the regular stuff makes me break out in itchy rashes!  I drink alcoholic beverages (a big no no according to the Sages of Vogue).  I don't drink enough water.  I don't get enough sleep. 

This is all good advice - do the opposite of what I do, darlings - but you know, I think a lot of whether one has good skin or bad skin has to do with genetics and with one's attitude and personality.  For instance, I have noticed that people who have a sour, negative disposition and a downer attitude toward life - in other words, those who usually see the glass half empty, tend ot have sour-puss faces - maybe that's where the term came from!  Me, I tend to be an optimist and I tend to be pretty darn resilient.  Like Scarlett O'Hara, when I "think about it tomorrow" and just go to bed and sleep on things, I always feel better in the morning and rise to face whatever the challenges are.  This method hasn't failed me yet :)

I also think that not having had the additional stress of a marriage and family in my life has had an enormous impact on my looks.  Children (and spouse) wear one out and stress shows in the face, particularly accumulated stress built up over years of marriage and family-raising. 

So, the good things I do - I don't smoke, I don't do drugs (other than the presecriptions my doctor gives me to control blood pressure and cholesterol), I am very good at relaxing and shaking off things that are bothering me.  I probably have less stressors in my life than the average woman.  No matter how tired I am, I always wash my face at night and in the morning.  I never go to bed with make-up on!  And I use L'Bri products for my skin.

My youngest sister, Yvonne, introduced me to L'Bri in January, 2010 at a party I went to as a favor to her.  I was, frankly, skeptical of any product line used for skin care but I have to say I was impressed by the demonstrations given and I ordered some products.  I started using them regularly and within about six weeks, noticed a marked difference for the better in skin on my face and neck.  I've used L'Bri products since then.  My favorite is the facial peel which works by enzyme action of the ingredients lightly applied across the face and then gently sloughed off with a circular motion done with your fingertips.  I use the peel every three days or so and it gently removes dead skin cells and stimulates the growth of new fresh skin cells without irritating my sensitive skin at all!

Best of all, the rosacea problems I used to have are gone.  I also used to experience periodic break-outs which, being post menoposal, irked the hell out of me.  You would think I'd got past all that hormone stuff, but just because I stopped menstruating doesn't mean I've lost my hormones.  They are crazier than ever, methinks!

Maxi-Firm

Anyway, thanks to the L'Bri products I use: gentle cream cleanser, gentle soothing spray, gentle non-oily moisturizer for day wear, and intense moisture creme for night, the facial peel, and Maxi-Firm Skin Renewal Complex, I think my skin looks great.  Gravity, of course, can't be counteracted; nothing short of surgery can remove jowls and facial muscles that have headed south or fatty deposits under the chin.  But my skin is soft, smooth and firm to the touch.  No more rough, flaky patches, no more oily shiny patches - all on one face!  No more whiteheads or blackheads, and rarely a pimple!  Yeah, I've got laugh lines around my eyes and mouth, and saggy eyelids, but that's a function of time, not lack of skin care.  Even babies have wrinkles when they smile :) 

One other thing I did I also believe has helped keep skin issues at bay:  I switched from liquid make-up to mineral make-up that is brushed on and never clogs my pores or collects in those little creases and lines we all have :)  I did this in March, 2010, less than two months after I started using the L'Bri products.

I don't expect to look 20, but I do expect to look the best I possibly can with what I've got!