Beauty Bargains

I am a beauty products junkie!! It's very sad. Actually, it's not sad at all - it's affecting and exciting!! Many a-shopping mini excursions and retail-therapy sessions begin, concomitantly, with a stop at the beauty counters of my staple dept. stores. It's just that make-up is so alluring and stunning in its ever-pretty, tempting bottles, tubes and packages. Ooohhh la la. Simply - multiple orgasms. Pure loveliness: the color palettes and matrix forms of eyeshadows; delicious tubes of lip color; pots and jars of skin creams that smell oh-so-decadent, I sometimes wonder if the products are too good to be true and are really just sold for their velvety textures and yummy scents; fragrances, ooooh fragrances - I think dad's responsible here, standard gifts for us, his gyrls, when he comes to visit, so we have some fragrances way before they're introduced in the US :); blushes and cheek stains - also in a myriad of colors and textures; nail polishes - remember the Chanel Black Satin nail polish, I was sporting that last summer before the all the frenzy!! Actually, years before, I'd be in black nail polish for periods of a month or two just because I love it!! Oh, and did I mention beauty tools?? The feel of a new natural brush...remarkably cool. It's a wonder I've managed to not to rant effusively about beauty products in my writings!! Just you wait...

This past Tuesday, I stopped at the Saks and Neiman's Beauty Events. I needed to purchase something for my mom - Ultimate Lifting Creme. Estée Lauder skin care, among reverent brands, has been in my household since I can remember mommy attempting some semblance of a nightly beauty routine. It was more like every fortnight. Haha, but obviously that didn't stop her owning all those products!! I've inherited that gene; hmmm, must be a dominant allele. Anyway, I picked up the jar, as well as some Pure Eyeshadow and got talking with the Beauty Expert lady - their compact cases are exquisite - and next thing I knew I was asking her if she wouldn't mind giving me two of the Beauty Gift Bags; since technically, you got the gift bag if you spent $100, and that jar alone was definitely more than twice that... "Sure honey, you've made my evening!!" she says, "I'll throw in an extra Estée Lauder free treat!!" Well of course, I am exhilarated and grinning like a Cheshire cat. I paid for my purchases, we hugged and parted ways. My mommy was so happy when my younger sister arrived with her goodies two days later. She'll use them at least three times, I think. [The power of bargaining: Lesson #1.]

Next Stop: Barney's. Helloooo black mesh skirt with a puce satin underlay. On sale!!
Sorry, that was just a detour.

Next Stop: Neiman's. Chantecaille Detox Mask and Rose Water. Well, that's all I wanted and was willing to spend money on. I'd be able to get the Neiman's Gift Bag for sure, but I didn't make it (tax excluded) for the Chantecaille Beauty treat. Anyway, I was already positively glowing from my other purchases and gushing to the lady about how wonderful I felt - she's gushing back, "Not many African American women use Chantecaille, but it's an exceptional skin care line." I pleasurably agreed, thinking, "oh well, so what?? The detox mask got wonderful reviews and I just had to try it" - and I asked if I'd still be able to get Chantecaille treat. "I just can't afford to buy anything else and I'm definitely going to be eating ramen noodles for the next couple weeks," I prodded her conscience. It worked!! She'd love for me to try the samples and come back soon. Wrapping up my purchases, she directed my attention to some four-hundred-dollar?? compact case - as we had been talking about the Estée Lauder ones, to which I politely declined and reminded her of my impending ramen noodle diet. I thanked her for all of her help and waved my farewell floating on cloud nine. [The power of bargaining: Lesson #2.]

Thank you Lord for the bargaining gene I know I definitely inherited from mom!! She'd be so proud!!
Beautyfull kisses.