Thursday, June 25, 2015

Simple Cream



My first cream.  All natural, mostly organic.

On www.essentiellebeauty.com

Etude House Play 101 Pencil in #11


Gorgeous orange.

At: www.essentiellebeauty.com

Firmoo Custom Eyeglasses Are A Class Act


I love these…a rare product I took for free…because I was just so thrilled to get them.  You can get them in prescription or clear glass.  Love!

1. Our homepage: www.firmoo.com where the current promos and top picks can be found.
2. ‘Daily New’ http://www.firmoo.com/new-arrivals.html where frames are updated everyday.
3. 15% off page: http://www.firmoo.com/z/new-50-off.html where new customers get coupon code on frames sitewide.

Toxic Chemicals That Are In So Many Cosmetics…Scary...


I have to say that I was shocked with how unregulated this market is.  60% of what we put on our skin is absorbed into our bodies.  Ick!

The icky list, 60% absorbed:
Benzoyl peroxide
Coal Tar
Dea (Diethanolamide), Mea (Monoethanolamine) and Tea (Triethanolamine)
Dioxin
DMDM Hydantoin & Urea (Imidazolidinyl)
Ethoxylated surfactants and 1,4 dioxane
FD&C Color & Pigments
Formaldehyde
Fragrance/Parfum
Hydroquinone
Lead
Mercury
Oxybenzone
Parabens (Methyl, Butyl, Ethyl and Propyl)
Paraphenylenediamine (PPD)
PEG (Polyethylene glycol)
Phthalates
Placental Extracts
Polyethylene glycol (PEG)
Propylene Glycol (PG) & Putylene Glycol
Silicone derived emolients
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) & Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES)
Sunscreen Chemicals
Talc
Toluene
Triclosan

Personal Investing Styles: Investing 101 Series

What are your goals...

Original Raw Blue Jam and Black Jam Face Cream Review


Two of my favorite gel face creams on www.essentiellebeauty.com

SkinFood Black Sugar Mask Review


On www.essentiellebeauty.com

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Banila Co Clean it Zero Review


Love!  Everyone who tries this balm cleaner buys it.  With cherry, papaya and raspberry.

Get it: https://essentiellebeauty.com/product/clean-it-zero-cleansing-balm/

Book Review: The Histories by Herodotus



Cicero called Herodotus the “Father of History” and the author composed his histories around 440 BC, The Histories is The earliest surviving work of nonfiction and proceeds from the Trojan War through a monumental account of the war between the Persian empire and the Greek city states in the fifth century BC, recording the events shaping Western civilization.

The History of Herodotus is divided into nine books, or chapters, each with a name of one of the nine Muses:Cleio, Euterpe, Thaleia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polymnia, Ourania and Calliope. Their names were given at random without a link to the content of each book.
Scholars believe that it wasn't Herodotus who bestowed these names but rather a later copyist.

The book isn't always an easy read and jumps a but.  But it's a fascinating study and well worth the effort.

Book Review: The Centurions by Jean Larteguy



This book is so powerful.  The Centurions, by Jean Larteguy, is not a new book but this is a new Penguin Classics issue of it.  The forward is written by the important thinker and historian (current events, and more) Robert Kaplan.

How to describe the world as it falls apart and professional soldiers are called upon to keep it right?  French Lt. Col. Raspeguy is a POW in a prison camp in Indochina.  The French control of their territories is falling apart and a new form of warfare is also taking hold.  For now we're seeing the guerrilla warfare build and Raspeguy studies the methods of his captors, biding his time until he's free.

And when he is, he's sent to fight in Algeria, where he uses these tactics to - well - win - but also perhaps terrorize?

This book is not only timely it's also brilliant.  Comments state that it's been used at West Point.

How do war and the military mind set work?  And how have the changes in warfare over the past 50 years impacted the world?  This book is a step in answering those questions.

I love it.

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Monday, June 8, 2015

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim and Enchanted August by Brenda Bowen Book Review



I'm doing these book reviews together because Enchanted August is an updated version of The Enchanted April.

In both cases we have a simple story line of two women captivated by taking a vacation place for a month.  In April the house is in Italy during the early 1900s.  In August, a story happening today, the place is in Maine.

What starts out simple in April turns into a celebrity ridden story in August, perhaps a sign of the times.

I loved Von Arnim's narrative of women escaping restricted lives to rediscover who they are, and really embrace friendship without pretense. The writing is visual and vivid.  Indeed, it can be biting.  But I felt  as I was reading that I was transported into a different time and place.  The book is gorgeous.

Enchanted August is a lighter book, written more to appeal to beach goers looking to escape, though not as much emotionally as into a glamourous vision of a summer retreat.  The basic two initiating women who organize the cottage are joined by a movie star and the surviving gay partner of a famous composer.  It's a good book still, but a very different one.  And it doesn't delve as deeply into the women's psyches, instead looking at day to day interactions.

I loved reading the two together.  Combined, they give us a sense of how women and their roles have progressed, but we're all still just girls at heart.

Dry Bones by Craig Johnson Book Review



Dry Bones by Craig Johnson is one of those books that just grabs you.  We meet a girl, at the beginning, who is brutally murdered.  Only she is a T Rex, now re-discovered in what is a huge archeological find.  But her murder is mirrored by that of the Wyoming rancher upon whose property the remains were found.

And everyone wants the dinosaur, claiming it as their own.

Do local indian tribes own it?  The rancher's family?  The government?

This series of books has been picked up for another Netflix season and you can see some related TV focus in the story line.  But it's still riveting and very visually written.  I felt myself transported.

And I got lost in the book…a good sign for a murder mystery.

Wet N Wild Blush & Glow Trio in Solar Powered, Sunset Junction & Fair Trade Coffee


I love these every year…no better bargain…






Loreal Pure Reds Lipstick in Jennifer, Zoe and Because You're Worth It Swatches


Love these …for a lighter red formula…



Faceshop Rose Cushion Blusher Review and Swatches


The perfect soft and almost matte pink…



Thursday, June 4, 2015

Wednesday, June 3, 2015