in sleepy town

Pictured above: One of Tara-Lynn's deliciously soft cowls, the Belleville Shawl and the familiar round these parts  Carlington Scarf. See more incredibly cozy knits here.

A couple months ago I received a glorious delivery of lovingly crafted knits from Canadian knitter and constant source of inspiration, Tara-Lynn. I've been meaning to make a post sharing this bundle but have found myself rather swamped this past month with various (exciting) duties in preparation for TLO's lingerie launch! Today we completed our hunt for the perfect fabrics in downtown Los Angeles and promptly began plotting our launch party(ies). If you are a Los Angeles lady and don't mind modeling in your skivvies please let me know! I'd love to set up an appointment with you this friday in our Altadena showroom (I will feed you mini chocolate bars, assorted fancy nuts, something with cheese and coffee).

Alright friends, the allergy pill that I took after greedily filling myself with said miniature chocolate bars is taking it's toll and I'm starting to make up words. I promise one day I'll write a post of true substance and not just a post containing brief updates and a promise of better posts to come. I'm the shopping mall Santa of the blogging world. Full of empty promises and allergy medication. I see a kitty is coming to visit me and that is most definitely my cue to get off of here and enter kitty dreamland.

(ps. I believe it was 100 today, which may also account for my abnormal sluggishness, can you imagine? 100 in November? Well, when I was a little girl there was often snow in the first week of November! Granted, I was living significantly north of my present location. See this? wondrous allergy medication at work, turning me into your grandpa.)

Product Review- Lancome Teint Miracle

Good morning! I of course have ANOTHER product review today. :) This one is Lancome Teint Miracle. My foundation was starting to look too dark so I decided it was time for something new.

 I had known that I wanted to try this for a while now. So last week I headed to the Lancome counter to check it out.

First, What they say:
"Light emanates from the most beautiful skin. We can reproduce it.

With Aura-Inside™ technology, Lancôme invents its 1st foundation that recreates the true natural light of perfect skin. Instantly, complexion appears lit-from-within, beautifully bare, visibly flawless. With 10 years of research, and 7 international patents pending, this lightweight texture is enriched with soothing rose extract, gives 18 hours of hydration.

Suitable for sensitive skin. Oil-free. Fragrance-free. Non-comedogenic. Dermatologist-tested."
My review:
I like this one! It's not heavy at all and has a light to medium buildable coverage. At first, the color that the girl at the counter was using on me looked to light (Bisque 1N) but she advised me that the color would get a little darker once it was on my skin. I took her word for it and Bisque 1N was definitely the right color. This foundation blends in really well and just gives a natural glow to my skin. I wish it was a little more moisturizing though. My skin doesn't necessarily feel dry with it on, but it doesn't feel hydrated. (Does that make sense?) This foundation does stay on all day and it easily washes off at night. It has a light scent to it so that may bother some people, but it hasn't irritated me at all. If you're looking for a step up from tinted moisturizer, this is a great choice. Those who need full coverage may want to skip this. It costs $37.00 and it comes in a pump bottle. (Love!) It has SPF 15 also. I recommend giving the bottle a good shake before each use. Overall I give this a 4 out of 5.

Anyway, I hope ya'll find this helpful! I'm spending the day running errands and reading for class. Woo! Have a good Wednesday!

Cute Pair

I bought a few things from The Space to cheer up my work desk. Among them are pink sweets and the Eiffel Tower. I also bought the bunny candle that many of you love too. What lives on your desk?

Different Grades (Quality)of Hair Extensions and WIgs

We often get calls from people wanting to know what the difference is between our hair and other brands. There is a lot of confusion out there surrounding hair and the different quality of hair so we though this blog posting would be great to help people understand what what they are buying and decide what is the best value for them.


Low quality human hair:
The hair is not cut hair, it's fallen hair so the cuticle of the hair can be mixed up
The hair is removed from the head and allowed to fall to the floor, allowing  the roots and ends to be mixed up, creating cuticles that do not run in the same direction. This causes tangling.
Because of the reverse cuticles the hair goes through a lot of chemical processing to the cuticle to reduce this tangling as much as possible. This processing causes extensive damage to the cuticle. This creates dull, dry hair. To hide this, the hair is covered with a grape seed oil or silicone. This coating slowly washes off as the hair is shampooed.  The hair then goes through additional chemical processing to create various textures and colors. Dyes used on low quality hair are often fabric dyes, and because of this, the hair will not react properly if colored later. 


Good quality human hair is referred to as "Remi", "Remin", or "Remy." 
The cuticle of the hair is facing one direction and should be fairly intact the hair may go through a process to orient the cuticles into the correct direction. This hair is sometimes chemically treated just in case the procerssor missed a hair on two while trying to orient them. Cheaper brands of remi hair can have some damage to the cuticle caused by processing. This hair should not be colored and will still dry out faster over time. It has longer wear than low quality hair but still will need to be replaced  on a regular basis. The hair experiences additional chemical processing to  create various textures. This hair is sometimes referred to as "European Quality Hair." This is not actually European hair, but hair that has been stripped dowm slightly so that it resembles the feel of a European cuticle strand.


High quality human hair
This hair has a healthy cuticle, if not fully intact. The textures of this hair are natural, not chemically introduced, some hair is straight and some is wavy. High quality hair will wear up to a year if treated properly. Again, natural colors are dark so hair goes through a stripping process to create lighter colors, therefore causing the cuticle to open a little. Try to avoid coloring. If you want to color use the same color process and products that you would use if you were coloring the hair growing form your head. 


Very high quality human hair is Remy as well as "Virgin" or "Raw." 
It has never been treated with ANY chemical process, and has usually been grown with the intent of selling. The cuticle is completely intact. Even within this category the hair comes in separate grades, with A being that of a young child's suffering little environmental damage, and D being that of an older donor with slightly more coarseness to the hair, If you are ordering longer lengths chances are the client is older. It can safely be colored or permed, and is extremely expensive and rare. Many companies try to pass their hair off as this fraudulently. This hair can be worn for years with proper care.  


Miss MyMy Specializes in this type of hair. www.missmymy.com/virgin_cuticle.html


Next time you are trying to figure out the difference between the 300 dollar wig and the $1200 dollar wig or $70 dollar extensions versus $300 extensions think about the above information.

Here's to happy hair days...
http://www.missmymy.com/home.html

Halloween Hangover (sugar hangover that is)

Happy Tuesday! It's very rainy and kind of cold here this morning.  (by cold I mean its 50 degrees) I do not under any circumstances want to go to class today :( Day's like today make me wish for a job that allows me to work from home every day. Anywho, so a few weeks ago when I realized that I had torn through a bag of Halloween candy by myself in just a few days, I swore that post Halloween I was going to drastically cut back on sugar. I have a terrible sweet tooth and while the rest of my diet is pretty healthy, the sugar always sneaks up on me. So yesterday should have started the great sugar cutback.What's the first thing I do? Hit up Starbucks for a Pumpkin Spice Latte. I realized halfway through it that I was not supposed to have anything like this. Oops. I made it through the rest of the day, but I'm starting to realize this will be harder than I originally thought. I'm not cutting out all sugar, just unnecessary sugar. I do not need dessert after every single meal. I don't need 2 or 10 fun size snicker bars. I don't need Starbucks every time I drive past it. I just don't need it. So I'm putting this all out there so you all can hold me accountable. As soon as I'm done with this post the rest of the Halloween candy is going in the trash. I will not be baking cookies or cupcakes this week. And sorry Starbucks but you may not see me for awhile. I'm not going to deprive myself to the point of craziness. No, I'm smarter than that. It's just time for a change. Anyway, have a good day ya'll! And don't forget to vote! (is anyone else as excited as I am that those political ads will finally go away?)

Happy Birthday Mooi!

On Saturday, Nadia and I popped into Mooi for their first birthday party. We really like to support Mooi because it's such a special store. I edited these pics with Sydney's awesome tutorial. Thanks, Syd!



Pictured above are Mooi's lovely owners, Fiona and Lauren. The gal in the 1st and 4th pic is Nadia x

Crowded House (Rocked the house!)

Cheesy title! So last Thursday, Cath, myself and our other halves went to watch the House or the geriatric  Kiwi's as my boss likes to call 'em! (Some of you may have been subjected to our maniacal tweets.) Both Cath and I are huge House fans and we have alot of special memories to their music. Before we even knew each other, we would both play the House in our best and worst times. One day when I was living in London, I collected a prezzie that Cath sent me across the seas. I attempted to surreptitiously open it on the train and as I tore off the wrapping, a million stars burst out the package onto everyone's feet! Inside was a 'Best Of' House mix by Cath and I was so chuffed! Anyway, when we got to the concert we summised that we were pretty much the youngest there by about two generations - 'twas a sea of 'mom jeans' and Pringle sweaters! Thus, we did what all obnoxious 'youths' do - purchase random flashing spiderman glasses. Then we wandered into the auditoriam and saw that everyone was seated - LAME! We were not up for that so when the House came on, we ran to the front and everyone joined in! It was epic! (Going wild with the exclas here) Then the craziest thing happened - Neil Finn saw our glasses and was like, 'Is that a South African World Cup thing?' We were like, 'Nope, just some random Spiderman merch!' Lols! Then he and the bassist asked to borrow our glasses for a song and it was hilarious. Cath and I basicially fell down dead with excitement. It was so awesome and to top it off, I also got a guitar pick and a shirt from Cath - thanks friend! Shew, are any of you also House fans? Did you catch 'em in SA?