In the Buff

A couple of weeks ago, I lost the fight with the nail polish I'd been wearing for about two and a half weeks. And instead of going and repainting them (as I'd been planning on doing), I stopped and thought I needed to give my nails a bit of a break. So I buffed them -- I got out a little nail buffer block and buffed my nails smooth and shiny. And I got to thinking -- does anyone actually buff their nails anymore?

I first started buffing my nails when my grandma (this should tell you something, yeah?) gave me a little nail buffer along the lines of this one -- shaped like a nail file, with one side having the first two steps and the second side the third and final "shining" step. And so I, being ten, thought this was awesome. While I haven't been keeping my nails buffed consistently since then, it's always been somewhere in the back of my mind.

Anyway, I thought I'd find some fun buffing products, especially since summer is the time to get smooth, and, uh, buff. So here we go!

- The Red Flower Japan Rice Buff is a bag of rice bran with aloe vera and various scented oils. I'm a huge fan of Japanese-inspired products, obviously, but at the same time, I don't know if I'd pay $24 for a bag of rice bran that's good for about seven washes (about $3.50 per wash!). Even if it is cherry blossom-scented. Still, I do like Red Flower's products in general; I'm just not super-sure about this one.

- I use Bliss skincare and love it, but I mostly keep it to my face -- I haven't branched out into their body stuff, really. They have a carrot and sesame body buff spa set that includes a scrub and a moisturizing foam thingie. I sniffed the scrub at Sephora and wasn't totally thrilled (maybe I just don't really like the smell of raw carrots?), but I've heard good things -- the Non-Blonde loved the scrub. I would rather get the Lemon & Sage scrub, if I had to have a Bliss scrub, but I'd rather get another Product Body scrub anyway. Mmm, Butter Scrub...

- Benefit makes a lip gloss called "Streakin'", which is described as "buff nude". Oh ho! I very much like Benefit's glosses, and a good neutral lip gloss is always good to have. (Which is why I have, like, a bajillion of them.)

- When I was in Vegas, I picked up a "Buffy" bar, which I think used to be called "Buffy the Backside Slayer". Clearly there was a name change...

- Speaking of our favorite Slayer, if you haven't already started reading Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, you definitely need to check it out. It's the continuation of Buffy the Vampire Slayer after the TV show ended, written by Joss Whedon; because it's a comic instead of a TV show, so much more can happen that would just be impossible to put on TV... (And actually, my favorite slayer is Faith, who doesn't show up until No Future For You (Volume 2), which I haven't picked up yet. But apparently she is awesome. Would you expect any less from her?) For a preview of Season Eight, check it out at DarkHorse.com.

Have you ever buffed your nails, or am I the only one who does this? (I've never seen any other beauty bloggers refer to it, at least that I can remember.) Any favorite buffs/scrubs you want to share? Or any favorite Buffy moments? And are you looking forward to Dollhouse, the new Joss/Eliza Dushku collaboration? (I'm not sure yet, but I'll probably be checking it out...)

images from drugstore.com and darkhorse.com

Yikes, tagged!

I've been seeing this interview/meme thingie floating around, and so I was surprised when I got tagged by Beauty 411!

I know I'm supposed to follow the rules and all, but I don't think I'm going to tag anyone besides Karen and Kati, who will probably answer in comments. (Cool with you guys?) And if you want to take it yourself, by all means!

Anyway, reposting the rules because that's part of the rules. (Rule #1: No water. Rule #2: No fire. Rule #3: In case of fire, disregard Rule #1.)

* Post rules at the beginning of the post.
* Answer all the questions.
* Tag 6 people, and go to their blog and leave a comment to inform them that they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. (If you want to, you can! Everyone gets to play!)
* Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

What were you doing ten years ago? Summer vacation! Man, do I wish I still had summer vacations...

What are five things on your to-do list today? (Considering it's already after 6:30 pm, I'm going to make this tomorrow's to-do list.)

1. Take care of the dogs and water my tomatoes.
2. Take the train and BART up to the city.
3. Maaaaybe pick up something at Sephora or Bloomingdales. Maaaybe.
4. Meet up with Elle for lunch!
5. Come home and spend some time with the family for Father's Day.

Snacks you enjoy? EVERYTHING. I have a major sweet tooth and a major salty/crunchy tooth. Chips, cookies, fruit (or, um, fruit snacks), cheese, tofu, edamame, whatever.

Places you've lived? SF Bay Area and Oregon. That's it!

What are 5 things you would do if you were a billionaire?

1. Leave my job so I could write full-time. (Although I do like my job! But I would love to be able to write full-time and not worry about publishing advances, etc.)
2. Buy real estate in a couple of places -- particularly San Francisco, New York, and London. (Aaaand there goes my billion, right?)
3. Travel! And no more of this staying-in-youth-hostel stuff. I would want to spend a long, long time just relaxing in Hakone, Japan, for example.
4. Be an angel investor for friends who need start-up capital -- those who want to start a new restaurant or music venue or art studio or just need a cushion so they can work on their projects without worrying about making rent.
5. And I'd definitely give large chunks to charity. I mean, come on now.

People you want to know more about? Our readers! You're welcome to answer this in comments, too!

This Week in Total Beauty: June 13

Dun dun DUN! It's Friday the 13th! I've had some middling-to-not-so-great luck the past two days (particularly involving public transit, yay), so today, being Friday (at last!) should be a good one. Right? Right. (Fingers crossed.)

Last week I left for the airport so early that I didn't have time to submit and post the Total Beauty web round-up, so we're back on track this week. (And if you feel really strongly about the round-up, whether you love it or not, could you let me know?)

So here we go!

Meredith at Daily Dose of Coffee gets a makeover and checks out the new Stila summer collection eye shadow palette.

Fifty-Cent Head reviews the 2008 Readers' Choice Awards in two posts, because there are so many (and so much to say!): Part One and Part Two.

Viva Woman takes a close look at ingredients in mineral makeup that can cause irritation to your face.

Who couldn't use a little stress relief? Beauty411 raves about Johnson's Melt Away Stress line; check it out and enter the contest to win a free assortment of Melt Away Stress products!

Beauty Anonymous loves Chanel Levres Scintillantes Glossimer for lips!

Talking Makeup loves Smooth Indulgence Concealer by Dermablend.

Alison (aka. "Advice Sister Alison") of The Advice Sisters de-mystifies beauty product labels.

Kitiya from Mischo Beauty invites you to enter her “Mischo Beauty Johnson & Johnson Melt Away Stress Giveway!”

The Beauty of Life welcomes in the dog days of summer with an assortment of cocktail-inspired beauty products!

Bare Escentuals' Warm Radiance has passed muster with Toya of "The Life of A Ladybug!" Come check this out and the rest of her "Bronzers for Brown Girls" series!

Hair Therapy continues for Monique at Beauty Girl Musings!

Jeanne from Periodic Style is back from her Vegas vacation and wonders what to do with her winnings...

Beauty in Real Life has the scoop on the soon-to-be-released, fab new colors for CoverGirl Eye Enhancers.

Joy from Makeup Junkie is wondering if no! no! is A No-No? Check out Week 1 of her review!

Henna from Canadian Beauty found a gloss that really lasts - find out which one she's using!

Laurie at Beauty's Spot sacrifices her perfect tan to bring you the skinny on L'Oreal Sublime Bronze ProPerfect Airbrush Self Tanning Mist.

The Beautiful Fall

I think I'm probably the last to talk about the passing of Yves St Laurent almost two weeks ago now. While I feel like a Jeanne-come-lately to the whole thing, it's only been really recently that I've been realizing the impact.

The first real exposure I had to YSL was through fragrance, through my mother's bottle of Opium perfume. It was the first scent that I knew by name, by bottle, by smell. Back in the day, when the coolest restaurant I knew (okay, it was Planet Hollywood -- also, I was in elementary school) had bottles of perfumes for you to touch up, Opium was the one I recognized, the one I wanted to spray onto my red paper napkin rose, and the one I proudly brought back to my mom as "Look! Opium! You have this!" and sniffed constantly through dinner. I haven't smelled it (the fragrance, not the paper rose) in years, but just thinking about it, I can remember it.

I have a stack of fashion books to read through, and I'll be writing more about them, but the one I took to Vegas and read through the airport, through the flights, and in my downtime at the hotel was The Beautiful Fall: Fashion, Genius, and Glorious Excess in 1970s Paris, the story of the rivalry between YSL and Karl Lagerfeld. Susie Bubble did a fabulous review of this book early in 2007, and this book had been on my list since then, but I only got around to reading it just this past week. (I'd had it since, oh, February or March, but my stack of books just keeps growing lately.)

And the passing of YSL definitely colored it -- reading about the relationship between YSL and Pierre Berge, of course, but particularly about Lagerfeld's own fear of mortality. Lagerfeld didn't attend either of his parents' funerals, and sure enough, he didn't attend YSL's, either. And I definitely felt a pang of sympathy -- how awful it must have felt for him, to have mortality stare him right in the face like this.

And while I don't always agree with everything Lagerfeld does or says (like when he takes over the Manolo's blog), I know that he, like a lot of people in fashion, is a wounded person. It's like Drake says at one point -- fashion attracts people who want to be consumed by something, and that's what it does. (Does it still? Have things changed enough?) But he's made it in the industry for over 50 years now -- and he's paid a lot of prices for being able to.

The book itself is an amazing piece of journalism -- I even read through all of the sources and notations, which had some excellent adventures briefly alluded to. (I would definitely read a book just on the research process for this one.) I was sometimes surprised and giddy that I was "in the know" when I picked up on name drops and brief passing references -- I've learned a lot since my days of red paper roses.

image from yslbeautyus.com

Lucky Number Seven

I've returned from Vegas, and I came out winning -- well, not so big, but that's okay! I came home with $7 in winnings. Wooo, $7! So I got to thinking, what could I spend my big money on? Here are a couple of things I could have bought if I hadn't spent $5 of my $7 on frozen yogurt yesterday. (It was hot!)

First off, there's the classic Rosebud Strawberry Lipbalm/Salve. I already have the original Rosebud Salve, and it's not bad, but I'd definitely switch to strawberry if I ever used up the tin of salve I already have. $5.59 from Drugstore.com.

Secondly, remember how I was so excited about the new Lush in Las Vegas? Turns out it was right there in my hotel (Mandalay Bay)! Even better! The staff was super-nice, and I did come away with Hot Milk?, a bubble bar for my large hotel room bath (among other things, of course). $6.65 at Lush.com.

I'm a nail polish fiend lately, as you may have guessed, and there will definitely be more on nail polish later. One of the places I've been lurking about lately is Head2ToeBeauty.com, where you can find Essie nail polish at $3.50 each. $3.50 each! For Essie! (They also have several other brands, including China Glaze and OPI, for equally good prices.) Essie isn't Big 3 free yet, so if that's something you're concerned about, now you know. (And how awesome is it that AllLacqueredUp is the first Google hit I got when looking for Big 3?)

My hair is probably long enough to take a hair clip now, but I'm going to get it cut on Thursday... so there goes the hair clip option again. Still, I think everyone should check out these vintage plastic hairclips on Etsy; they're colorful, fun, and cheap! $3.25 each (!!).

And finally, check out some of the crafty things at FancyFeast.etsy.com, all under $5. There are beads, pins, pendants, and they're all girly and cute and want you to take them home. I picked up a pair of these bad boys for $5 (including shipping) -- awesome.

So hey, $7! Not bad for someone's who's fairly new at the game. And there's plenty of cool stuff to be had for $7.

What would you spend your Vegas winnings on?

image from head2toebeauty.com