Neutrogena Wave Duo
By my early twenties I have already come to a conclusion that the beauty products are the last things on which I can economize! I love L’Occitane honey and milk scrub, Shiseido wet clothes – they come in handy when I travel or go out and can’t carry a full bottle of toner. What else? I can’t live without a bottle of Caudalie’s grape water- it’s great in early mornings when I need a wake-up call or when I travel South, meaning the sun exposure. And of cause, Complexe aux Résines Tropicales combined with Soin Teinté Phyto-Hydratant (all by Sisley Cosmetics) as a daily moisturizer and “foundation”(which is, in fact, a moisturizer as well only with a hint of color). I admit that all these products are not cheap (some of which are far way from being even moderately priced!) – but what can I do! I am picky and want the best for my skin!
However, I was pleasantly surprised on my last trip to the near grocery store when I treasured an amazing product out of the cosmetics isle! I must say thanks to my mum (yes, she is my steady companion to that store!) because it was her who pointed to this novelty to me. So – thank you, mum!
Neutrogena is one of the few “grocery-store” cosmetics that I still rate. Now to the product itself – it’s called Neutrogena Wave Duo. This is some sort of a machine with exfoliating pads. It’s got 2 speeds – one for everyday use, the other one (higher speed) is for the more intense level of cleansing. The appareil is small and very easy in use. The price is great ~ $17 plus extra pad refills for ~ $15. I don’t know if it will last too long but it’s a great change to my nightly routine! I am quietly lazy, so now on, all the work will be done by “power-cleanser”!
image from www.neutrogena.com
Pasta Carbonara
My carbonara
I did not really plan anything special for today - just another plain boring rainy Sunday. This morning I did not feel like waking up and doing anything – just another “pre-”Monday depression: “G, another week of “hard” labor is coming soon, very soon.” It’s my usual Sunday morning mood. So, I stayed in my bed until 2pm instead of doing my rather annoying homeworks for UNI (how productive I am).
One moment I am still in my bed, another I am at grocery store with my mum who luckily decided to get me out of the house. Then it hit me – I have to make dinner for the entire family tonight! Since I don’t know much about cooking, my conclusion was that I had to make a pasta! This summer I made pasta au pesto for couple of times (until I bought pin-nuts from China and it got me the salty taste in my month for about 2 weeks, only then I stopped). This time I went with carbonara…not complicated:
for 4 persons servings
1) spaghetti / fettuccine / rigatoni / bucatini , choose which you prefer, mines are bucatini
2) ~ 10 slices of bacon or pancetta
3) 4 egg’s yolks
4) Romano or Parmesan cheese ~ 4-6 tbsp
5) Italian parsley ~ 4 tbsp
6) olive oil ~ 4 tbsp
7) 15% cream ~ 8 tbsp
Preparation:
Boil the spaghetti (or whatever you have chosen), don’t forget to add olive oil in the boiling water!
While your spaghetti is boiling, put another pan on the cooker, add ~2 tbsp of olive oil and leave for couple of seconds to heat it up. Chopped your bacon and add it to the pan with your olive oil in it, render the bacon – cook until the fat is melt. Turn off the heat.
Now, combine the other ingredients: mix yolk, cheese and cream all in the same container.
When your pasta is cooked (it takes around 7-10 mins) drain it through a colander. Then transfer all of your pasta into the pan with bacon and stir. Then add the egg mixture, the warmth of the pasta will cook the eggs ( but make sure that the pasta is not going to overheat the yolks – you will end up with scrambled eggs). Stir. Add the desired seasonings and the parsley.
Serve and enjoy!
Bon appetit!
Serve and enjoy!
Question of the day: Victoria Beckham’s style is glam or slam?
I see her on all the different blogs and fashion news portals – people admire her style, they call her a fashion icon. I must be insane to say that I don’t buy it. I really don’t think that she has any kind of extraordinary sense of style. All I can say is that she looks great and always pulled together – what is not very hard when you have that much money! BUT she is boring to me. She has no edge. I don’t try to criticize her but give me a break…Why people think that she is a fashion icon!!!? Her standard outfit: YSL tribute platforms, some sort of a Oscar de la Renta dress with a super tight waist, huge sunglasses and an assortment of Hermes Birkin or Kelly bags. There are some variations on the theme…sometimes…rarely I’d say. So, please explain to me the Victoria Beckham effect? What is so special in the way she styles her cloths?
Shop ’til’ you drop!
May be it’s been a week since I promised to post pictures from my Friday night’s shopping BUT I have finally recovered my camera and as a result all the photos taken last Friday!
It wasn’t a bad trip…after all. I had a lot of fun going through tones of designers clothes for less! (Yes, may be it’s not from the latest collections but they still worth much more than they ask at hat place!)
My absolute favorite was this furry white MaxMara waistcoat, I could not resist it…I had to get it! (and I did eventually) I think it’s a good find considering the tough winters back here in Canada. This waistcoat is adorable with skinny jeans and boots (consider the ones with heels, may be something like this ones, Pierre Hardy for Gap).
MaxMara
In general this place i not the best choice if you are looking for something particular – simply because there is almost no chance that you will find it there! The best way to shop there is indeed to go there and just look around. that’s eventually what I did last week. I am one of those freaks who can’t shop with friends (or even worst with family) – I need to be alone. Yes, back to this place, it’s called Winners as I already mentioned in my previous post and it’s a Canadian store which does not necessarily specializes on the luxury brands or on any brand at all. Yet, once more, if you just come there, looking for nothing BUT knowing what id your particular style and (hehe) your brands, you can always (well almost always) find something special just for you!
Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti
Something else that I love about this store is that it’s populated by all these unaware people who can just pass by an amazing Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti read coat… and never even look at it!
Oh and I almost forgot! THE best thing about this store is its prices! Almost entire designer section is so well priced that nobody would ever guess that your Missoni blazer was only $120! However there are certain caveats as well - there are some exceptions when I found a piece which was more expensive than it should have been. The other thing is that every fifth thing that you find there is either broken or ripped or is permanently stained! So, be aware of those things while shopping there!
On my personal list of places where I love to go this places stands almost on top (not to say on the top-most position). Now you know all you have to know about it and how to make your shopping at that place enjoyable and profitable!
Now, the most interesting part – what is the assortment there! I think I did a great job trying to picture all of the things that I was trying on that day! It was a wonderful day, the shelves were collapsing from the amount of designer cloths – some of which I’d rate as vintage!
Here are the pictures:
This Robert Rodriguez dress impressed me with its incredible weight! It’s probably around 4 pounds!
The price is not that bad huh? If you know any other places where you can get a Missoni silk dress for only $400, please tell me ASAP!
Keep going! It’s not all…
This psychedelic tye-die pattern looks kinda cool on this Versace top 
Quick update!
In Alexander McQueen for Puma post I forgot to mention that the collection consists not only of shoes but of bags, gloves, tshirts, pants and griffin belts and cool punch bags!
Some pictures:
