Yet another birthday

Olivier came home this weekend to celebrate his 23^rd birthday.  Christian was 4 years and two weeks old when Olivier was born.  Struggling every winter with two indoor boy’s birthday parties sometimes had me asking “Why me?”  Fortunately, today they are both grown up enough to sort out their own celebrations.

I can’t believe that February is on its way out already.  Like almost everywhere else we’ve had non-stop rain.  Though we did have a couple of days of sunshine, but usually with a cold wind. There are one or two violets in the garden and around the village quite a few daffodils in flower.

Just before Valentine’s Day I had my monthly Glossybox with a rather interesting make-up pencil that I never thought would have such an interesting effect.  Those who have followed my blog for a while will know that my eyebrows dropped out about 7 years ago.  I learnt how to draw them in, but they do tend to look as if they’ve been drawn with a crayon.  I had a clear wax crayon which normally you use to slick down your natural eyebrows.  I was a little disappointed that it wouldn’t be much use to me… or so I thought.  A little bit of wax picks up and emphasizes the one or two hairs that I have and makes the overall effect more natural.  So now you know.

Good news for ordinary shaped women

This is how the deed is done

It looks like the French government is looking into banning images of women that have been airbrushed to make them look “perfect”.  There will also be investigations into the thin-ness of models on the cat walk. 

The other day I was looking at some magazines on display at the newsagents.  One of them caught my eye and I was reading the titles trying to find out what was wrong with the poor woman on the cover.  Then I realized that she was modeling clothes that were to be featured in the magazine.

Oh no, not another Glossy Box post!

When I lived in England I used to be a member of the Universal Beauty club. Every couple of months I would receive a box of beauty goodies in the post. It cost £5 at the time. When I left the country nearly 28 years ago, I had to cancel my membership as they didn’t ship abroad. I was really pleased to see a news report about these beauty boxes at the beginning of the summer and decided to sign up for Glossy Box.

I’ve seen blog posts and videos on YouTube about the boxes, but all by younger girls. I thought I do a report for the oldies. They ask you to complete a profile, so remembering that I’m between 50 and 60 years old, blonde with blue-grey eyes, combination skin and describe myself as smart casual, this is what I got this month:

Heel repair cream: Useful after wearing sandals all summer. I’m very fussy about my footwear so my feet are in pretty good condition anyway . This has a minty smell!

Eye pencil.: Just as my purple eyeliner died, I received this. It’s golden brown so I’ll have to experiment with different eye shadows to see if I will use it much it or not. I like the texture.

Body cream: I love this, just like a tube of paint! It is a light cream and spreads on easily. It smells nice and fresh, a bit like baby products.

Silk infusion: for hair and skin: you don’t need to rinse it off. Is it like a conditioner? I might pass this one to Dom.

The booby prize as far as I’m concerned: I have to swallow enough pills for medical reasons so I wouldn’t risk these which are to help your skin and preserve your tan. I don’t sunbathe so I don’t have to worry about preserving my tan anyway. Probably end up in the bin at the chemists (to be disposed of correctly).

The fist box I had last month had perfume in it.  I would have liked some this time too – perhaps next month.  The box costs 10€ plus 3€ postage.  I think that it is worth it as I will use everything.  The boxes are very well made too and pretty.  I’m keeping them for gift wrapping and to keep treasures in.

Important advice for women

The other day I was googling “what to serve with pizza” when I came upon a quote from Miss Piggy about using chop sticks. It set me searching and I came upon a brilliant site. All any woman needs to know in order to be belle, chic and je ne sais pas quoi*.

There are her beauty recipes, beauty tips, etiquette, cooking advice, finding eligible men and of course pearls of wisdom. Believe me, you will thank me for showing you the true secrets of femininity.

When you have finished reading it will be time for a teensy workout:

She even got to dance with Rudolph Nureyev.

*Je ne sais pas quoi = I don’t know what, Miss piggy wouldn’t understand because she only speaks two words in French, one of which is “Moi”.

Oh to be beautiful...

Today was the third session of my second year of injections into the veins of my legs. At the end of the session I told the doctor that I always mean to count them but usually forget. She told me that others had managed to count. ‘How many?’ I asked, ‘About 100’ she replied. I’ve still got a long way to go. So you can tell how bad my legs are. One day I’ll wear a mini skirt again….

Eyebrows and mystery birds

For the last twelve months or so my eyebrows have been thinning dramatically. I haven’t been near them with tweezers. Around Christmas Dom asked me why I’d plucked them so thin – that’s how bad they are. All I could find on Google was a link with thyroid problems. Well my thyroid hasn’t functioned for nearly 15 years now so they would have dropped out long ago. Has anyone any ideas why this should happen, what I can do to make them come back again?

The mystery birds have set up home in the roof just above the French widows so when I open the shutters first thing in the morning I get a real telling off. The bird that I see, the male I suppose, is about the size of a sparrow, reddish brown with dull orange undertail feathers which he flashes at me in warning. He then sits by the roses and ‘tuts’ at me until I go away. I tried the RSPB’s excellent bird identifier and found nothing. Perhaps he doesn’t visit the UK?

Hair Straighteners

If you live in the UK and use hair straighteners you might be interested in the special offer of cheap ghd hair straighteners. At the moment there are 9 different offers. If you are unsure which one to buy Paul Paterson is on hand to guide you in your choice of iron. It’s possible to save up to $45 on some models.


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So now we know...
Watch this film on how looks can deceive.

If you live in the US you might be interested in a photography competition.