Mother Nature, Bare Faced

Today was one of those wonderfully rainy wintery days where you just want to stay inside and make popcorn and watch movies in your fav hoodie and oldest jeans. Well that's what I wanted to do, so I did. It was so relaxing, I didn't even bother with makeup today. I know what you're thinking: Anarchist! But seriously, I rarely go out without at least a swipe of foundation and freshly applied lipgloss - not a pancake face which take shours to apply, just a little something that is probably not noticeable to anyone but me. I feel self conscious otherwise.

Anyway, late this afternoon the rain cleared and the sky turned a lighter shade of grey, so we thought we'd head to the Gorge to see the results of Mother Nature's furious downpour. For those of you not familiar with the Apple Isle, for one thing yes it is part of Australia and yes Australia Post do deliver here; and for another the Gorge is the most awesome local swimming place. It's totally free (except the carpark, but nobody pays for that anyway apart from tourists), 10 mins walk from the CBD, and honestly a spectacular setting for whiling away long summer days. In winter it's still amazing to look at but the main activity is watching the rapids. Lately it's been bucketing down, and the river flowing through the Gorge has flooded in a spectacular way, creating oodles of frothy rapids and rising to such a point that half the city turned out this afternoon to look at the after effects of the weekend's rain. And, as always happens when you're out in your daggiest clothes and bare faced, you run into loads of people you know *cringe*.

This is what the Gorge usually looks like:

The bridge in the background swings quite scarily, making it fun to jump on, there are two safe pools there in the middle, though they must've photoshopped out the teens who usually swim under the bridge and jump off the rocks depsite the warning signs; and in the right front corner you can just see a swing, which is a neat little playground. There's also a good cafe, gift shop, takeaway stand, restaurant, chair lift, peacocks who occassionally go wandering in the suburbs and lots of wallaby poo. But before this turns into an ad for Tourism Tas, here's what it looked like this afternoon:

The pics don't really do it justice. Yesterday the flooding completely covered the playground, and today there were big bits of driftwood lodged at the back. It's really very awesome, and the raw power of it quite chilling. Despite my reservations about uneven skin tone and mascara-less lashes, I'm pretty sure Mother Nature's bare face got far more amazed stares than mine garnered. At least I hope so, or I really need a new skincare regime.

Beware the Lancome Ladies

I'm still shaking from the attack. Such determination, resourcefulness and blatant force I have never encountered. Those Lancome ladies are really out to get you. Or your money.

The local Myer store is pretty shoddy when it comes to beauty counters. Short of helping yourself to products and attempting to walk out the door, none of the tight-skinned ladies will even look at you. Many a time I have been intent on making a purchase but have left empty handed and bought online or waited til the next Melbourne trip because apparently sorting tissues is a more worthwhile exercise then helping customers. But there is one exception, and that is the Lancome counter, perched in all it's overzealous glory right near the escalators which makes it hard to sneak past unnoticed. Especially if you're atttempting a free spritz of perfume without the sales pitch.

I know they work on comission and in all frankness it must be pretty shite, but the other day made me determined to use the fire stairs and completely avoid that portion of the shop. Most beauty counters in bigger city department stores are more than happy to let you play with colours and generally waste their time, which is a lovely way to spend a Saturday morning. But don't even think about heading to this particular counter if you have a specific product in mind (in this case, my mother was after a restock on her foundation). We knew the exact shade, type and price and simply wanted a "shade no 3 please" and let's make like sheep and get the flock outta there. But nooo, oh lordy nooo...

"would you like a brush for that?"
"no thankyou I already have one"
"oh but not one like this, see how..."
"it's ok, I just bought a new one the other day" (lie)
"what about your mascara? I think this one would be..."
"thankyou, but I have one already which works really well" ( truth, I got it free from Sportsgirl and fobbed it off to her but apparently their makeup is stellar. One of my friends loves it)
"well you probbly don't need blush as your cheeks are a little flushed" (also truth, but not the best way to make a sale). Have you tried our bronzer?" (gets out sample and scary looking brush bigger than our mop)
"no thankyou, I don't really know how to apply it. Look, I have to get to work-"
"here let me-"
"please can I just buy this foundation, I really have to go"
*Charlotte transfixed by woman's uber pink lipstick*
Reluctantly, the single sale is processed. We turn to leave.
"let me just give you a quick sample of the bronzer-"
"no, really"
"here" (leans over and starts dusting face)
we back away; "no thankyou!! BYE"

woman comes out from behind counter and continues her attempt at bronzing. We start to walk, she follows, practically shrieking the benefits of this mircale brown powder and waving the brush. She actually succeeded in a few swipes before we managed to escape out the front, and hide behind a pack of bogan children. She stands in front of her counter, sniffing the air to see which way we went, before her heavily made up eyes spot another victim...**

**mild exagerration. mild.

Must've been a slow day.

Beauty Review: 2 Thumbs Up for MAC & Revlon

The search for the perfect foundation and the perfect lipgloss is like the search for the perfect jeans: never-ending, frustrating, expensive; but still the sort of search that you don't want to end, in case you end up with nothing to shop for (the horror, the horror!). If my makeup bag was a Facebook page my current status would read: Kat's Makeup Bag is overflowing, but content *smiley face* . As you all know, if I didn't buy so many magazines and products and general crap I could probably buy more important things, like, um, a house, but houses don't make your skin tone even or your lips luscious. I have however found two products recently that make me so joyous that I hum Christmas carols in August:

1). MAC Select SPF 15 Foundation I actually wanted the Face & Body foundation that is eternally raved about but Myer Melbourne don't have it and I couldn't be bothered going out to Chadstone, especially considering I was meant to be making my way to appointments and not, in fact, having a makeover. Incidentally, if you're the type of person who gets slightly erotic thrills when you see swathes and swathes of colour pots all neatly lined up in order, then I suggest making a trip to the MAC counter to gasp in awe at the monolith of beautiful little pots of eye shadow just begging to be smudged with your pinkie. Sigh. Anyhow, a nice French lady working at the counter must've thought I looked like the arty type or something (I don't, but French people are odd) because upon enquiring as to a suitable foundation, she expertly chose the exact colour I've been looking for all these years and artfully applied it with a silky foundation brush. To half my face. Delighted with her choice, we both agreed that this was the new foundation for me and she trotted off to the counter to ring it up. I sat confused in the makoever chair for a few minutes, as one half of my face was made up and the other was not. I didn't know if this was a new trend I had somehow missed out on, but it looked a bit odd. Especially for meeting clients, regardless of how fashion savy they are. Phantom-of-the-Opera chic does not suit me. This fab foundation, however, does. I love it. I am most chuffed and will certainly be getting more, now that I know my colour (you can buy it online at the above link, or probably from Strawberrynet and Kiss&Makeup -love this store, especially for NARS - only I'm getting hungry and thus too lazy to check). The rundown: liquid foundation (best applied with a bursh), SPF 15 (in case you thought the title was cryptic), non-oily and nice and gentle. It possibly bakes yo-yo biscuits while wearing twin sets in shades of pastel, it's so nice.

2). Revlon's Mineral Lipglaze in Forever Raisin (yeah, I just do what the ads tell me) tastes so damn nice it could be bright blue for all I care. Um, I don't sit on the couch with a spoon dipping into the tube, I don't have a spoon that would fit for starters, I just mean it gives a nice sweet taste on your lips when you put it on. Plus it does stay on. Does what it says on the tin, indeed. I already have an all time fave lipgloss that is the most perfect lippy ever for everyday wear(Bonne Bell's cheapie Vitamin E range, get it from Priceline or similar bargain beauty store $6.95) but this one is my new fave "dressy" lip colour. Actually I wore it dagging around the house on Sunday because I love it. If you don't put too much on, it gives a nice deep stain; conversely if you get a bit tipsy on Saturday night and reapply it rather heavily, you'll get a slick, gorgeous gloss that lasts through more Jagerbombs then you can. I hope they release more colours, most of the current shades are either quite dark or quite light, or too brown for my liking though you might like it of course. Last time I checked Revlon weren't asking me specifically for shades, but in case they do something a tad lighter then Forever Rsin with a hint of more pink would be about perfect. Mwah.

What should come first? A wardrobe cleanout or makeup bag cleanout? Need to make room for a MAC-esque wall of colour to drool over I guess.....