Golden Girl-A Vintage Outfit Post and a Review of Piplotex's 1950s Cigarette Pants

Obviously I dress up all the time, but I always try to wear something a bit extra special on my birthday.  This year for my 39th it was Piplotex's cigarette pants in gold lame.  

I figured I should celebrate the beginning of my last year in my 30s with something a bit wild and outside my comfort zone, and gold lame pants are definitely perfect for that!

These pant's are just amazing, I adore them.  They are cut just like the 1950's originals with a high waist and slim cropped legs.  They look like they came straight out of a late 1950s Frederick's of Hollywood catalog

except they are much better.  Piplotex sells the in a range of sizes but they will also custom make them to your figure.  Since I'm short that is the option I went for.

 I wore my new pants with my Freddie's of Pinewood Beatnick top, which I've personalized with a genuine 1950s letter K sweater applique, 1950s style gold hoops from Mrs. Polly's lucite, remix flats, and my beloved 1950's novelty cat purse.

I don't usually wear anything as fitted as these pants so I was a bit nervous ordering them,  however Piplotex has absolutely amazing customer service ad worked with me.  The pants arrived amazingly fast and while they are fitted I was pleased that they are not skin tight  and they are super comfortable.  

The gold lame version of these pants has now sold out and I'm so glad I nabbed them when I did, but they are still available in a wide range of fabrics and beautiful colors and for a great price just $64.00, which is amazing for a hand made garment.

I'm hoping my style will get ever more eccentric and wild with every passing year and these pants are certainly a step in the right direction.

Product Review Besame Sweet Heart Glaze-On Sale Now!

First I want to apologize if I haven't been visiting your blogs as much lately.  I've been awfully busy at work and of course when I'm not working I want to spend quality time with the dogs and cats.   I've been thinking I'll have to scale back on posts to this blog to once or twice a week, maybe less, but I just had to do today's post because I wanted anyone interested to now about the great deal on Besame's website.  Their sweet heart lip glazes are now $5.00 each!

Anyone who reads this blog probably knows that Besame is my favorite cosmetic's company.  In fact with the exception of my Burt's Bee's BB cream it is the only cosmetic's brand I  use.   First off they make gorgeous vintage inspired cosmetics that really look like the orginals right down to the packaging.  Secondly they are cruelty free, no animal testing, which is a cosmetics must for me.

I am already fanatical about Besame's lipsticks,  I love their opaque one coat coverage and era authentic colors (see these posts: post one, post two, post three)  I tend to prefer a semi-matte lip stick, and naturally glosses are well, glossy.   Still when I saw them on sale for $5.00 It was a bargain I couldn't resist and I decided to spring for the Rose glaze.   Naturally like all Besame products the lip glaze arrived beautifully packaged.

The color in the container is an opalescent pink with a faint lilac tinge.

You can see the Rose glaze is opalescent and sheer with an purple tinge to its pinkness.   I found the color almost invisible on my lips when applied alone, it just gave the faintest hint of shimmer, I didn't bother to take a picture.   Then I decided to follow some advice on the Besame website and tried layering it over my Besame Exotic pink lipstick one of my favorite colors which unfortunately is no longer in stock.   It is subtle but  I really liked the effect.

Here is my Exotic Pink lipstick without the glaze.  

and here it is with the glaze on top.  In outdoor lighting:

and indoor:

Now is definitely the time to snatch up a Besame lip glaze is you are interested for $5.00  you can have shiny, glossy, vintagey lips!

Spot's New Collar and Third Cross Stitch

Little Spot

Is not so little anymore.  In fact he grew to big for his collar.   I kept finding his grey break away collar around the house and when I went to put it back on him I realized it was a bit tight on his neck, so he was rubbing against thing's to get it off.  (Of course we only use break away collars on our cat's for safety.)  All our cat's are strictly indoor only, but Spot is the only one of the four to show any curiosity about the outside world.   He has gone out the door a few times and of course we always bring him back immediately, but I still feel he must wear a collar in case he escapes.  

15 years ago our now 16 year old cat Baby opened a screen in our Brooklyn basement apartment and was missing a week.  We papered Bay Ridge in fliers and miraculously found her but the experience has made me a maniac about preventing cat escapes.  (Interestingly it has also made Baby terrified of the outside world and she never even goes near the door.)   I never open windows, even with screen's, and I'm very careful about the door.  If a delivery person is coming the cat's get locked in a room.   I'm constantly checking on the cats, particularly, Spot, to make sure they are inside.  So the second I realized Spot's collar wasn't working I knew he needed another one.

Luckily I found a cute larger collar in the adorable etsy shop Furocious Kitty  and bonus!  It's a Star Trek collar, Spot is named after Commander Data's cat on Star Trek The Next Generation:

so this collar is perfect.   Spot and I both love this collar.  He has been wearing it three week's and hasn't tried to get it off yet.  

I love how the retro Star Trek fabric look's against his white fur and the live long and prosper tag is too cute.

I really recommend Furocious Kitty if you are in the market for a cat collar.  They have ton's of collar's with adorable charms in lot's of different themes Holidays, animals, food, etc.  I can already see myself purchasing some Holiday collars.  It's also nice that the shop caters exclusively to cats.  I think that's partly why the collar fits so well.   The collars are very reasonably prices, between $10 and $12, Spot's collar was $10 and the seller was very nice about answering my questions.  

In other news I finished my third geeky cross stitch.  This one is Fry and Leela from Futurama and I'm really happy with how it came out.   

I'm working on Twin Peak's themed cross stitch next.  

Happy Birthday Jean Harlow! And a Review of Besame's Vanilla Rose Brightening Powder

Tommorow, March 3,  the 106th anniversary of the birth of actress Jean Harlow:

who I think embodied the decadent glamour of Hollywood's pre-code era more then any other star.  With her pencil thin dramatically arched brows, cupids bow lips and halo of platinum curls, Harlow's look was nothing if not distinctive.  Clearly she was a girl who loved her cosmetics, and her appearances in numerous 1930s beauty adverts show that her fans where playing close attention to her look.

One cosmetic that Harlow sees to have been particularly devoted too, powder

 

Considering the platinum goddesses's devotion to the cosmetic I figured the anniversary of her birth would be a good time to do a review of my own personal favorite powder.

Besame Vanilla Rose powder.  

Now Harlow was tragically young, only 26, when she died of kidney failure, so she never had to contend with the problem that has made me leery of powders: aging skin.  In less then a month I'll be 39 and powder is one cosmetic that gets tricky with advancing age.  Powder can settle on wrinkles and dry patches making the more noticeable.   For this reason I used to avoid powder completely.  

However, I wear a very creamy foundation, Burt's Bees CC cream.  I love the creaminess and lightness of this foundation, but it can sometimes get a bit greasy and shiny or rub off completely.  That's why I decided to give the Besame Vanilla Rose powder a shot.  I love Besame, but I had previously tried their Lavendar Brightening Powder and it was the only one of their cosmetics that I underwhelmed me.  I really felt it left a chalky texture on my skin.  So I wasn't prepared to love Vanilla Rose, but I do!




It's a very, very faint pink that suits the fairest of skin tones.  The website says it corrects green and blue tones, I find I have more redness, but I still think this works well for me.  It really doesn't impart any color, just brightens and sets make up!



The video below is from Besame and shows how to apply the powder and then set it with their finishing brush:

I take lighter approach.  I don't have the finishing brush so I just tap the container, while closed of course, against the edge of the sink and then pat on a tiny bit with the puff.  I'm  very careful not to overdo it.  I certainly don't follow Harlow's advice and count my whole face, and no way am I following her step 2 press powder into tiny lines!  

The effect of powder application is definitely subtle, but I think I see a difference:

Here I am minus powder (and yes I was taking a selfie with a can of Spam, I occasionally love to indulge in some spam):

Here I am on another day with powder:

Now all I need is a glamorous boudoir a la Harlow to apply it in!

Besame Vanilla Rose powder retails for $22.00 and can be purchased on the Besame website.

Product Review-Besame Decades of Fragrance-Part 1

As much as I love vintage clothing and hair, and to a lesser extent make up like a good red lip, there is one aspect of vintage style beauty I have never been keen on: perfume.

I was always confused by the dizzying array of perfume options, put off by the price, and most importantly I never much liked how they smelled.  In fact until recently I think the only time I wore perfume in the last 15 years was on my wedding day in 2001.  Still I liked the idea of perfume:

It certainly seemed an important part of vintage beauty rituals which is why I was intrigued when my favorite cosmetics company Besame (I've written about their lipsticks here, and here, and here) came up with their Decades of Fragrance Collection.

At last this was perfume I could understand, aimed at the vintage fanatic, each perfume is meant to capture the essence of a different decade.  As a vintage lover who likes to flit from one decade to the next this really appealed to me, I liked the idea of changing my perfume to match the decade of my outfit.  Also while the perfume is definitely not cheap, each rollerball costs $25.00, it is more economical then many department store perfumes I have seen.   I decided to take the perfume plunge and try fragrance representing my three favorite decades:  the  1920s, 1930s, and 1950s.

The 1920s perfume is described as having notes of mandarin, jasmine, and cocoa (as well as a bunch of other stuff).  I have no clue what notes are, but this one smelled quite good to me.   I did feel it smelled a bit cocoa-ey and fruity and I could see it in on the neck of a flapper in a jazzy speakeasy, which of course is the idea.  I definitely like wearing it with my few 20s outfits, even if no one else knows it is there, it seems to fade quickly on me, I do.

The 30s perfume is, to my nose at least, stronger smelling then the 1920s one.  It is described as embodying Marlene Dietrich, cigarettes and seduction, which even if it isn't my look has a definite appeal.

Some of the notes are mandarin, tobacco, and vanilla, and I do notice a subtley smokey aspect in this one.  It's a bit darker then the others, which is appropriate for a dark and troubled decade in history.   The 1930s are the decade that first got me into vintage and I have lots of 30s outfits and I do like wearing this fragrance with them, it's currently the lowest of my three vials which shows how much I wear it!  It adds the perfect touch to a 30s look and it seems to last on my a bit longer on me then the others.

The last fragrance I tried was the 1950s once. 

 The 50s are, tied with the 1930s, my favorite decade.   1950s, as well as 30s, looks make up the majority of my wardrobe, and I would say my day to day look is usually somewhat 1950s. 

The 1950s fragrance is described as evoking Billie Holliday

who I adore (after all what other Diva would let her dog chew on her shoes),
with a floweryy scent of gardenia and frescia.  I find this to be the prettiest smelling scent straight out of the bottle.  It smells powdery and like flowers and make up in a good way.  Picture the most glamorous make up table you can imagine:

Sadly it fades a little quickly on me, so I need to reapply it multiple times if I want the scent to last all day.  Still I wear it quite a lot, and its a bit of mystery to me why there seems to be more of this one then the 1930s one in the bottle because I really think I wear this one more.  It adds just the right sweet scent to my 1950s  style dresses and jeans.

Since each Besame fragrance retails for $25 dollars I was able to get three for about the price of one department store fragrance, and they all smell, at least to me, infinitely better then any of the better known perfumes I have sampled. 

My only complaint is they seem to fade quickly, but that may just be my body chemistry, perhaps I reject perfume?  I haven't read  any comments on the Besame website from anyone else saying the fragrances fade quickly.  It  is also somewhat mitigated by the fact that they come in a rollerball:

and thus are easy to carry with you and reapply.  Overall I am very happy I purchased these fragrances and I am calling this post Besame Decades of Fragrance part 1 because I hope to try the other scents 1910, 1940, and 1960 soon!

Product Review: Geeky Bandannas from Electrolucy

It's taking me a while to get around to writing this post, and not because I don't love the products I'm reviewing but just due to be being busy.  I ordered 3 bandanas from Electrolucy back in September for Fry's second birthday.  

I found the shop while doing a search for two of my favorite things on etsy Star Trek and dogs.   Electrolucy makes awesome geeky dog bandannas and collars with themes such as Harry Potter, Dr. Who, Star Wars, Sherlock Holmes and of course, Star Trek.  I ordered three Star Trek themed bandannas.


A Star Trek Dr. McCoy themed bandanna:

A Star Trek The Next Generation Wesley Crusher Bandanna:

A tribble themed bandanna:

The bandannas are all made of nice sturdy double sided fabric, with the design and wording stitched on. and a tie around the neck,.   I really like the neck ties as I find them quicker and easier to take on and off then bandannas that slide  over a collar.  Each bandanna comes in sizes small, medium, and large and retails for ten to 14 dollars, depending on size.     I ordered smalls and found them to be generously sized for the pugs, and perhaps a smidge to large on Tuvok.  

These bandannas are too cute and I definitely recommend checking out Electrolucy.