Tales from the USA

A short while ago, I spent a week in the Bay area of San Francisco. Admittedly, several days were spent in corporate heaven in Silicon Valley, but I did manage to get a couple of days in the city (and at least three trips to Sephora).

I took the opportunity to try out one of the new Hourglass Opaque Rouge liquid lipsticks, after trying and failing to find one of Stila's Stay All Day lipsticks in a neutral shade that didn't make me look a bit dead.  I tried Edition - a soft pink with a subtle golden shimmer.  And I was surprised to find I hated it - it didn't dry down properly, leaving my lips slightly tacky, and it wore off after lunch.  I took it back.

I also spotted the new Pantone foundation colour matching machine the internet has been talking about so much - it samples your skintone in a variety of lighting conditions and uses the data to select the perfect foundation shades for you.  Unfortunately, I failed to either try it out or take a photo.  Oops.

Another thing I failed to take a photo of was the entire stand of Hello Kitty themed makeup.

Having dropped my usual Kiko red brow shade on the floor and smashed it to bits, I also picked up a Makeup Forever red blush to apply on top of my brown brow-filling shade.  As a result, my brows now match my hair much better, even if my husband's convinced that I'm colouring them in purple (pah).  The Sephora professional brow brush I picked up is fantastic - firmly bristled, with the exact right size and shape for brows, it's a bit of a bargain at $14.

Before you think I spent my entire trip in Sephora and/or Walgreens, I'm pleased to let you know I also spent quite a bit of money at Bettie Page in the Haight on yet more Fifties silhouette clothes.  And then ensured I wouldn't be able to fit in them by eating this monstrously large brunch of pulled pork eggs benedict.  No, I didn't manage to finish it.

Overall a rather successful trip (on the shopping front and the work front).  I just wish there were more/bigger drugstores around - the smaller Wallgreens and CVS stores in San Francisco proper don't have the treasure trove like selection of drugstore stuff that you'll find at places like Target.  Perhaps that's not a bad thing for my wallet, though....