Narciso by Narciso Rodriguez

Review by Luca Turin.

Gardenia?  Sign me up!  I need a sample!

Update on Addiction "Last Scene" lipstick

I'm still in love with the warm red color of Addiction "Last Scene", but I have come to realize that I like a slightly glossy finish.  Not a fan of matte.  While the lipstick looks great topped with a gloss, the drier texture of this lipstick just doesn't appeal to me.  I don't think I'll repurchase this.  Maybe I'll let myself buy the Revlon Balm in Romantic after I use up "Last Scene".
 
I love the way glosses look, although I've come to realize that it's easier to apply lipstick than apply gloss.  Yes, those few seconds really matter, somehow.  So, liquid lipsticks really work for me - the gloss factor and the color factor.  Right now I only have 2 liquid lipsticks:
1) Shiseido Lacquer Rouge 資生堂ラッカールージュ RD 413, the perfect bright, warm red
2) Coffret d'Or Bright Up Rouge (Creamy Liquid) コフレドールブライトアップルージュ（クリーミィリキッド）OR-110, a cheerful coral-orange that I think has a good amount of white pigment in it.

As I use up some of my beige lipsticks, I'll probably add a nice tan color to my liquid lipsticks.  Sigh, the road to a new lipstick purchase is quite long, but it has been fun to find out ways to use my current, less beloved lipsticks.

* Note, these mint m&ms are pretty tasty.  I do like mint chocolate...  Interestingly, the dark chocolate m&ms are not as yummy as the regular chocolate ones.

Mini Review: BareMinerals Lash Domination

Love the brush!  It coats lashes and separates them nicely.  But what's the point of a formula that smears?  Is there a waterproof version of this?

Mini Review: The Little Book of Perfumes

The Little Book of Perfumes by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez is a subset of their opus PERFUMES The A–Z Guide, and a very entertaining book that will make you want to go out and sniff all of the perfumes they talk about.

Dangerous, dangerous book.  A handy size, easily digestible; it would make a nice gift for the budding perfume fan.

household tip: use shampoo to remove makeup stains

Any shampoo works to remove makeup stains - I'm using up some Johnson's baby shampoo.  Just apply as a pre-treatment and wash out in the laundry.  If you're worried, you can apply and then rinse out by hand to make sure the stain comes out.  This works on everything including red lipstick.  I've saved many shirts this way.

Parfum Sacre by Caron

Oh my, this is amazing!

I know I've tried the sample I have before, but I don't remember this.  The top notes were immediately lovely, but the midpoint is delicious!  That's going to the top of the "Need a decant" list.

Mini Review: LeSportSac Miranda bag

Last year I bought a Miranda-style bag from LeSportSac.  It's a nice bag with some convenient pockets, but I find that it's not deep enough for my purposes.  It's always overflowing, and as it only has a snap closure, I am often liable to lose something.  Also, it has snaps for narrowing the sides a bit, but the snaps are a tad loose, so they unsnap quite easily.  Perhaps my penchant for carrying a bottle of water is not suited?

Conclusion: I really need purses that zip close.

Garlic noodle recipes

This recipe from the Noodle Guy worked pretty well for me, but I'm going to try tripling the garlic next time.  I used Thin Egg Noodles from Golden World Food (a California company) - I enjoyed the texture and would buy them again.  Half a 15 oz package of noodles was about 3 servings that the two of us scarfed up.

Inspired by this recipe, I made shrimp to go with the garlic noodles.

The real winner was this broccoli recipe from vegetarian times.  I even forgot the balsamic vinegar but I enjoyed it a lot - I will definitely be trying it again soon.

Now I can keep those tubes of epoxy in better order...

Courtesy of a beautiful post from WorshipBlues.com about Gill Mechanical Company's TubeWringer 401 Heavy Duty.

In other news, I've been taken with a fit of recycling fever.  Every plastic object that enters this house must be recycled!  Did you know that you can recycle electric toothbrushes?

A moomin totebag

http://kikra.ldblog.jp/archives/4966645.html
- super cute, but I have too many tote bags as it is.

Mini Review: Biokleen Sport Laundry Liquid

Biokleen Sport Laundry Liquid is working out really well for me.  I like the soft lavender scent, and it even gets the stinky SO's clothing smelling nice and fresh.  And it's theoretically ecologically friendly!