Ding Dong! Guess Who!

There are certain commercials that everyone remembers and even if you weren’t around in the 1960’s when Avon launched in the UK, you’re bound to have heard the iconic phrase, ‘Ding Dong, Avon Calling!’

A copy of the latest Avon catalogue landed on my desk a few weeks ago. I was really impressed with the amount of products they have, the bang up to date make up colours [especially the eye shadow palettes] and the fabulous range of skincare lines for all ages. Then there’s jewellery, lingerie and haircare as well. I will definitely be ordering, once I can actually make up my mind what I want! There’s a nifty new ‘7 in 1′ lipstick, the SpectraColour, which allows you turn the dial and change the colour of your lipstick – from light and glossy daytime to dark and vampy nighttime in a range of pinks, lilacs or browns. And apparently the ‘Bust Firming Cream’ is great – according to the Brunette in the office. She asked if any of the rest of us had tried it, ‘I wish I had a need to’ was the exclamation from the Blonde… She ordered something else in the end!

The star of the very first UK TV advert was Faith Hines and she’s pulling out all the stops to try and find a copy of her starring role in the 1965 ad. I’m sure you’ve noticed the beautiful Reece Witherspoon in the ‘Hello Tomorrow’ ads and more recently there’s been a bevy of new Avon ladies gracing the small screen, all real life Avon representatives. It was actually this new campaign that prompted Faith to try and track down a copy of the original, she has a Facebook page and she’s on Twitter hoping someone can help find a long lost copy. Faith still looks great today in the video above, 50 years later! And she seems like the nice kind of lady that would thank you profusely for finding it too!

Faith’s Facebook page is here and her Twitter here

How Every Friday Should Be

 

As suggested by the lovely Glamazon in celebration of not just Cathyfly getting a fab new job.. but in celebration of you! And you! And you!

It’s Friday Girlies! Go out and dance your little stilettos off! Throw them in the corner when your feet hurt and get back on the dancefloor! Oh yes, sisters are doing it for themselves!

Hindsight Is Wonderful

A post on another blog got me thinking today – credit where credit’s due, Lyndsay! This is a toughie though, what would you tell the 21 year old you if you were to meet her/ him? Some days I feel that so much has happened since I was 21 [which isn't today or yesterday] and then other days I wonder what on earth I’ve been doing in the ahem, few years since I was that age.

The first thing I would tell her is – and I’m so annoyed that I’m using a classic ‘Mammy’ line – time doesn’t stand still and that it won’t be that long before before you consider yourself old[er] and wonder where all that time went. Aaaarrgghh how depressing! But, FFS, it’s true! So don’t sit on your arse procrastinating about what you’ll do when you grow up!

For me, my twenties were all about adjusting. Adjusting to life after college, adjusting to having a job and earning my own money, adjusting to the big, bad world – to use a terrible cliche. Some things you have to move on from. Some things you have to take a run and jump at, maybe with your eyes closed because it’s not something you actually want to do but you realise you can’t avoid. And also about adjusting to people outside of the cosy family scenario, working with people you don’t like, sharing a house with people that are initially strangers and getting used to the fact that they do things differently to how you do them.

Another thing I would say is to question when and why you feel comfortable with any given situations. Comfortable can be good, if it’s different to a situation you didn’t like but comfortable can be bad when you’re just plodding along, letting things pass you by. Comfortable was my downfall in my 20’s. I stayed with a guy too long and ’wasted’ years and I stayed in a particular job too long as well. I’m not going to say I regret either as I learned a lot about both situations in hindsight and sure that’s the main thing, moving on and learning from mistakes!

Definitely I found that I’ve become happier within myself now that I’m a couple of years into my thirties. I’ve been through shitty times and really shitty times but have come out the other end. Sometimes you really have to put everyone else aside and concentrate on looking after number one.

Which stems from my next point of picking and choosing your friends. In college you’re in a big gang, that gets smaller after college and gets smaller again as people move away with jobs etc but there comes a time when you have to realise that you’re not still in the school playground. There will always be a loudmouth bully who dictates what you do as a group and where you go as a group – sidle up to the person you really like hanging out with, the one who makes you smile and who you form a really good friendship with and let the others do whatever they like. When you have a bit of money it’s always great to be part of the cool gang but they won’t be on the end of the phone when you’ve a broken heart and won’t care if you’re struggling to pay your rent.

Accept that people are different. There’ll always be someone that lands a fantastic job, always someone that seems to jump from one perfect relationship to another. There’ll always be someone with more money than you and there’ll always be someone that has less money than you. There’ll always be people you don’t like and there’ll always be people you envy. Accepting your lot in life isn’t easy but when you do, the smiling makes up for anything you think you may have missed out on.

My final point would be to say that if you’re sad or lonely or just not happy, the only person that can really do anything about it is you. Therapy can be great, getting someone else to help you see things another way, having friends to listen to you and suggest how you could change things. But when it comes down to it, you have to get yourself out of the hole, decide to pick yourself up, get on with things and do them for you alone. Having friends and lovers to share your days with is fantastic and if they really love you the dark nights will become shorter and shorter. So don’t have regrets, they’ll eat away at you, just live your own life and make the most of it.

Take That Shameless Girl Home!

Iosa Chriost people! Just watch this video [if you can turn on the sound, the comments are hilarious!], taken from someone’s apartment window in Glasgow, right beside where the recent Take That concert was taking place.

This wan is clearly plastered – oh watch her struggleto get those jeans back up *cringe* – and she doesn’t seem to have a care in the world! She clearly isn’t at all phased by the fact that she’s peeing up against a lampost with absolutely nothing to hide her considerable arse, there’s no cover, no semblance of anything to hide behind, she’s just peeing in full view of anyone walking past. Watch this for the sheer laugh out loud moment when she falls over and can barely get up! Oh. My. God.

OOoo Fancy Make Up Review!

Product #1: Girlies, I’m all about finding things I like and sticking with them – well, if they ain’t broke and all that… So I would have to say that the majority of my make up is MAC and when it comes to foundation, I’ve been a MAC select fluid girl for years. I tried other brands but gave up looking when I found this, I thought I’d found my HG foundation [Holy Grail]. Then earlier this year I started to look around, call it a seven year make up itch. Every so often I was convinced I could see a slight tide line below my chin – the horror! – I’m so pale I’ve always struggled with matching colour, and maybe the odd patchy bit on my face after a while. So when the Dior Nude Hydrating Glow Make Up was launched earlier this year, my beady eyes had a new target! I was hovering around the Dior concession of one of the bigger department stores one day and decided to try it out. A bit on my hand to start off with as I’m totally allergic to SA’s coming at me with sponges or brushes, to check out the colour match and texture – both passed with flying colours. And then I made myself wait until I finished my bottle of MAC Select – recession or no recession, it was a long wait, I can tell you!

After the longest time, really, I went back to the Dior counter with a little Muji bottle in order to try it out properly and the nice SA gave me enough to do me for the weekend. Delighted I was. And then even more impressed after it got a going out Friday night trial run! The coverage of this foundation is described as ‘medium’ but I find that even though this is probably true versus stuff like EL Doublewear, the Dior Nude glides on and covers a multitude without needing to be heavy handed about the amount of product. And it really does glide on, the texture is great and it’s definitely hydrating, what with it being 40% water and then it’s also full of vitamins, minerals and trace elements – how could it not be good for you?

Colour match - yes [I'm a 010, the palest shade], Texture – yes, glides on and gives a lovely slightly dewy glow, Staying Power – yes, less frequent touch ups needed compared to the MAC Select, Coverage – yes, I’m happy it evens out my skin tone without looking like theatre make up, Price – no it’s €43!! Or you could just buy it in Sterlingland like I did for £26.50

Product #2: OK, it’s hard to describe, but when I saw this flashy little Dior number, I just had to have it! I genuinely think I was all caught up in the hardship of wanting the Nude foundation and couldn’t stop ogling Dior counters. Anyway. I’m not really a palette girl. I’ve 10’s of eyeshadows but they all tend to be single MAC ones – I’m quite fussy about what colours I put with my pale skin and grey green eyes. I think I may have the entire pink through to purple spectrum and a few navy/blacks thrown in for doing very dark smokey eyes. It’s just that I normally like 1 maybe 2 colours in a palette and it’d be a waste as the others would go untouched.

But now that I have my lovely Dior 5 colours design in ‘navy’, I can honestly say that I heart each colour in it! The white base does what it says on the tin, then the centre colour and the navy in the top left for shading  are what would be my staples. The centre colour is more purple than appears in the pic and as you’d expect, the staying power is great, just blend, blend, blend! The iridescent purple, top right is actually very sparkly! Nice for a little night time highlightling on the brow and in a first for Dior, the darkest colour, bottom right is actually a cream liner, not powder. You get those fiddly little sponges in the compact, ditch those for brushes that work but if you don’t have a good liner, there’s a flat brush included that does actually do the job, just don’t poke your eye out using it! And finally, wear this with an even bigger smile on your face if you can cleverly manage to purchase in Sterling where it’ll set you back £37 as opposed to €55.

You Should Really Turn On The Sound

Really. This is great. And I’m not taking the piss.

Question of the Day

Would burying Michael Jackson contravene Health & Safety regulations regarding synthetic materials getting into the soil? Or if he’s cremated, would he simply melt meaning there’d be no ashes left to scatter?

Guilt

There was a really good drama on TV recently and the story and how it unravelled got me thinking. I was really intrigued by the issues the main character became embroiled in, how it all happened and where it could’ve ended up.

Very wealthy Asian family. Daughter being pushed into an arranged marriage she doesn’t want and she resents her brother’s ‘playboy’ lifestyle outside of the strict family unit. Family chauffeur is in love with the daughter, sees she doesn’t like her now intended husband. The chauffeur first drugs and then plants drugs and incriminating photographs on this guy, he gets caught through a tip off, a criminal record and his reputation is in ruins. The chauffeur tells the daughter he ’saved her’ from an unwanted marriage and wants a ‘reward’. The daughter agrees to sleep with him as a once off. She starts to hate her double life of sneaking off to her nice English boyfriend’s house and playing the dutiful daughter at home. She is intrigued by the chauffeur, his devotion to her and initiates more sex with him. For the first time in he life she feels like she’s making her own decisions.

She starts to lose any control she had when her intended husband turns up demanding to know why she ruined his life, that he knows she had something to do with his downfall. He puts two and two together and realises her chauffeur is starting her motor in more ways than one and obviously this can’t become public knowledge. As she looks on, the chauffeur kills the guy and promises to get rid of the body. Her real boyfriend wants to meet her family, wants to prove he can in fact be a good husband. He impresses her father so much that there’s an announcement that he’s ‘lending’ his now future son in law money and that they’re going into business together. The daughter feels more trapped than ever and tries to lose herself in her clandestine affair with the chauffeur.

When a body turns up and it’s identified as her ex- fiance, she starts to panic – he’d made many allegations against her when alive. The net closes in. The chauffeur loves her so much by now he’s willing to do anything for her. He quite literally loses himself in a crime of passion. He  ’forces himself’ on her, tells her to say he confessed to the earlier murder before he ‘rapes her’ and then he stabs himself. Dying on his lover in a final act of allegiance, to all intents and purpose, it looks like she killed him in self defense, when in fact, it was her faithful devotee that has, most likely saved her reputation. After all, how would a respectable, well educated girl like her ever get involved in drugs and murder?

The drama ends with her on her wedding day to her English boyfriend, the one she supposedly wanted to be with all along, the one that her father now approves of and is in business with. But she doesn’t look happy, she looks trapped, all over again. Trapped by her desire to stay the pampered princess, still trapped by her family, trapped by what she knows and trapped by her lies. If anyone found out what she was an accomplice to, her life as she knows it would end. Her guilty face says it all.

What would you have done? Owned up to knowing the chauffeur had killed your ex fiance? Owned up to having an affair with him? Owned up to wanting to be free to live your own life, even if it can only start after a jail sentence? Owned up to taking advantage of someone else’s desires and using them to protect the privileged yet materialistic lifestyle you had grown accustomed to? Or simply said nothing and lived with these secrets for the rest of your life?

Specs Appeal

I wear glasses because, darn it, I’m short sighted, I need them! I was 9 when my teacher in school noticed I kept leaning over to read whatever the girl beside me was writing down from the blackboard – I’m guessing that I was also leaning over for a bit of a chat, but sure that’d hardly surprise you!

I’ve toyed with the idea of getting my eyes lasered, but I’m just a bit chicken and even though I know lots of people that have had it done, the smell of burning eye bits that has been confirmed to me is more than a little off putting!

I wear my glasses most days, contacts when I’m going out. I’ve never really minded wearing glasses, if I’m honest, and I’ve been told by many a male that I look good in glasses, so that’s hardly a bad thing! I couldn’t wear contacts all day in work, what with being glued to an old pc monitor and all. And the thing is, I’m a lot older now so would I really take anyone that took a pop at my for being a ’speccy 4 eyes’ seriously anymore? He he, I’m laughing to myself as I haven’t even heard that for ages, let alone use it! Much more of a kids in the playground thing.

One person that got more than his fair share off the school bullies is Gok Wan – poor Gok was an overweight, speccy 4 eyes! Now as we all know, Gok has come out of his cocoon to become one of the most stylish and dare I say witty fashion bods around. Good old Gok – it’s been documented how unhappy he was with his weight and how he struggled to fit in – but he’s definitely come full circle and is easily in a position to stick two fingers up to the bullies as he sashays from place to place helping girlies with their wardrobe woes.

Now Gok is also teaming up with Specsavers and anti bullying charity Kidscape to launch the 2009, ‘Irish Spectacle Wearer of the Year’! Are you a trendy Triona that always keeps her specs to hand? A stylish Sinead? A natty Niamh? Or a very attractive Aoife that can’t do without your specs either? Enter the competition! The prizes are truly eye popping with a modelling contract, a photoshoot and a trip to Thailand and much more!

And, the gorgeous Gok will be in Dublin to judge the final! Now, how many times have you seen Gok transform a plain Jane into a fabulous Fiona and think that 5 minutes with him would lead to the biggest transformation since David Banner became The HulkCinderella  met her Fairy Godmother! I’ve often wondered how Gok would approach me, if he got his hands on my wardrobe so to speak! I don’t even know where he’d start [says she that can hear her Mother now saying 'I don't know why you insist on wearing so much black like all the time'].

Would you like a Gok-over’? What do you think he’d reckon to your sense of style. And more importantly, if the tables were turned and you could put Gok on the spot, what would you ask him? Would you ask him which celebrity he fancies, who he think has the best sense of style or who he’s absolutely crying out to restyle? Or, you simply might like to know if he’s a boxers or briefs man. Put your questions to Gok here and you never know, that very question might be posed to Gok by yours truly when’s he’s in town!

Don’t forget the competition! Entries by 30th June, that’s a week’s time

Same goes for your questions to Gok, send them to me at the contact address, glitterseeglitterdo@yahoo.com

Face Value

You’re reading this because I like to write and so I started this blog. Most of it is of a kinda personal nature, other bits and pieces aren’t, they’re maybe news items or beauty product reviews etc. I’ve been very flattered by the amount of people that read this blog and for the many, many comments and I hope you continue to visit here. But and here’s the thing, you and I chat about lots of different things, my opinion, my relaying something that happened, you commenting in reply, it’s quite easy really so let’s stay friends cos I’d love if you kept visiting!

 So, it’s a nice little thing we have going, me and you. It works! I start a conversation, you chip in a few words if you’re so inclined and we wake up tomorrow and do it all again. When you’re not here you have your own life, that I know and that I get. I don’t demand when you visit, I just like when you do! And equally, if I don’t want to talk about something, I don’t, if I want your opinion, I’ll ask and I can happily rely on your support. If I felt like you absolutely needed to know what I’m up to every minute of every day, well, you’d be following me via Twitter. But the thing is, I’m not a Twitterer, I’ve never written a Tweet and I won’t be either. I just don’t see the point. And I don’t follow anyone else’s Tweets either. If I want to know what any of my friends are up to I’ll text or ring them and ask to meet for a drink. And as for following the Twitterings of whatever celebrity, hello? what is all that about – it’s almost like an acceptable form of stalkingand really, really, why would you bother? If you don’t know this person IRL so to speak, why would you want to know that it’s sunny where they are on the other side of the world? Or that they’ve just had great fish & chips? Or indeed anything to do with their bodily functions?

A while ago I succumbedto Facebook, after a number of people asking if I was on it and then a friend that’d moved back to New Zealand saying it’d be the best way [ie cheapest!] to keep in touch, I decided to sign up. I’ve a pic up, just the one, taken a few years ago and it’s more about the signpost in the background rather than being able to recognise me [I'm also wearing sunnies] and I filled in a bit of the profile-y type stuff. I requested to be friends with those that had been asking me to sign up and accepted more friend requests within a few weeks. I don’t find Facebookthe best thing since sliced bread. I find a lot of the ‘What are you doing’ type posts very mundane, cringe inducing and don’t bother clicking into music or group postings that other put up. The odd time I’ll do a quiz one of my ‘friends’ has done and compare results – if I really have nothing better to do. And what is it with people putting so many pix up on their profile? Really?! A few people I’m friends with literally have hundred’s of photos of themselves on view. Hundreds! Talk about vanity… Get over yourselves!!

I did ponder for a bit when I got requests to be friends with the brother of and the cousin of a girl I used to be very good friends with. Then I got a request from her as well.