I have more than 25 lip balms — maybe 30. I have at least one balm in each purse. I have a lip balm in my coat pocket. I have four on the table beside my couch. I have four on the table with my laptop.
My name is Janine Falcon and I am LBD. Lip balm dependent. I think.
Sounds worse than it is. Sure, I panic when I’ve somehow managed to leave home without one — it happens, usually when I have a sudden yen to use a specific balm and forget to put it back where I’d had it. But my lips don’t actually require balm to feel comfortable. Sometimes they need it (they’ve met winter), but in general I just like the feel of the stuff and the sheen it delivers.
All my favourites contain ingredients such as shea butter, Vitamin E, aloe vera, beeswax, and olive, sweet almond, jojoba and sunflower oils. They make lips feel supple, smooth and comfortable without becoming a gummy layer as time passes. Some current faves are in the image above: Canadian Vasanti Cosmetics Tinted Lip Balm ($15); Kiehl’s Lip Balm #1 in scents such as mango and pear ($11 CAN/$8.50 US); Canadian Green Beaver’s Aprés Ski 100% Natural Winter Lip Balm ($3.99 CAN/$3.82 US); paraben and petro-chem-free Korres Lip Butter ($11 CAN/$9 US) which I had to get my hands on after hearing beauty-obsessed friends Lesa and Katherine rave on; Yes to Carrots Lip Butter ($4.99 at Shoppers Drug Mart), a 95-per-cent-organic stick more emollient than most; and paraben-free Canadian Cake Beauty Cake Kiss Lip Butter($10).
I have many other lip balm loves (DuWop IcedTeas Lip Treatments make me swoony), but I couldn’t fit them all into the image. Besides, I didn’t want to make it look like I have a lip balm problem.
Bet you’re taking advantage of this week off to hit Joe Fresh at least once, especially if you live car-less in the city, far from the Joe meccas in ’burbsville. Smart, you. [geek on]
So you asked for a professional flat iron and he got you… an iron. Well, fixing that gift-blunder yourself is what Boxing Day is for, as well as for stocking up on beauty treats if you’ve got enough chutzpah to brave the frenzied crowds.
“We’ve noticed that men go straight for the electronics department, and while they’re checking out big-screen TVs and Wii units, women head for the beauty department,” says Wayne Peterson, Divisional Vice President of Cosmetics and Fragrance for Sears Canada, about post-December-25th shopping. “Women have spent the holidays looking after everyone else; this is the time they need for themselves.” [geek on]
Your mission should you choose to accept it: find the perfect spokesperson to represent a luxury jewelry store’s line of official Olympic accessories. The ideal candidate must be a superior athlete, with two World championship titles, four World Cup titles, a Gold medal and current status as reigning Olympic Champion and first female to win Gold in her sport. Bonus if she’s also a jewelry designer. [geek on]
Adi Lando made me feel pretty. On a frumpy, grumpy, so-not-happy-with-myself day, Adi, a well-known makeup artist you may have seen on “CityLine” and “Superstar Hair Challenge,” made me very glad I hadn’t played hermit at home like I’d really, really wanted to. [geek on]
Seems like the latest don’t-leave-home-without-it is a hand sanitizer. And yes, it’s got a lot to do with fear of contracting the H1N1 virus, which, according to James Scott, a microbiologist and associate professor at the University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public Health, “unlike most other influenza viruses, likely has some amount of contact transmission.” [geek on]
I’ve fallen in love with a notebook. I’m sweet on a lovely string-closure softcover recycled-paper type from Botanical Paperworks, a Winnipeg-based company. The 150-page (lined), 4.75 x 8.5″ journal ($24) has a nubby wildflower-seeded cover almost too pretty to plant. [geek on]
