Friday, April 27, 2012

Retro Education: How to put on fully fashioned stockings

Thanks to the people at Secrets in Lace here's a great tutorial on how to wear a garter belt and stockings.


Friday, April 20, 2012

Margarita Bloom Review!

A few months ago I featured Margarita Bloom's fantastic website for browsing retro beauty products. Never content with just browsing I had to place an order, which I also mentioned later on the blog. The packaging is simply divine but how does what's inside measure up? I've had a chance to sample all the lovelies so here's a quick product review!


The Fairy Tales & Folklore luxury bath soak ($22) is a treat. As a bath soak don't expect it to froth or bubble up, it scents the water and creates a softening bath experience. There are large chunks of cocoa butter to moisturize the skin. I ordered sweet dreams which smells like snickerdoodle and buttercream, the scent is strong in the jar but dissipates in the water, in fact my only complaint is that the scent is not strong once it hits the water. I use two tablespoons per bath and I've gotten a dozen baths out of one jar. I would order this again.


The Joie de Vivre beauty potions treat bag ($15) was soooo worth the money. The samples were sizable and diverse, I was able to try a bunch of products and figure out what I want to buy full size. I already purchased another bag and I can say now that each bag is different, I actually liked my second bag MORE and I loved this one! I would recommend buying a sample bag with every purchase! Let's go through my samples for a mini-review:


Wanderlust Hibiscus & Ginseng Shampoo & Conditioner ($25 each) - I received these in the Roses scent and I think this is my favorite thing EVER. I had no idea I would love the rose scent so much and it stays on your hair for several days. I'm afraid to use it too much because I don't want to get too used to the scent! The shampoo is a very gentle cleanse so if you are super oily like me use a clarifier first then the shampoo for superbly scented tresses for the next two days. I will order this!
Splendor Wild Rose Violet milk+butter bath soak ($22) is pretty much like the bath soak reviewed above but the one difference is the floral scent lingered longer in the tub. Since the bath soaks have bits of potpourri this makes sense (and if you don't want the potpourri bobbing around the tub scoop the soak into a nylon knee-hi and knot the end.) I will order again.
Oh, Lolita! Bubble Gum lip balm must be discontinued or yet-to-be-released because it is not available to order on the site. Which is a shame because I LOVE IT! The bubble gum scent is perfectly pretty, the sheer pink color is heavenly, and this moisturizes like nothing else (I love Jack Black lip balms and this is on par with those!) I would order a full size if it was available!


Black Rose whipped butter scrub is another item that is discontinued or yet-unreleased, which is a shame since I really enjoyed the black rose scent. This is wonderfully scrubby and leaves the skin moisturized with oils and butters. The scent was strong on the skin all day and the softness! I will be ordering more scrubs as long as they are as good as this one!
Colleens Mixed Martini cooling cucumber toner mist is also not available on the site. This toner smelled amazing (noticing a pattern here?) and was wonderfully cooling on the skin. I experienced a bit of redness with this toner and it did not help control oil for me at all (I use a tea tree toner daily.) If you have normal and non-sensitive skin I would recommend this if it was available on the site, as it is I will be sticking to my normal toner.
Pinktini raspberry lime sea salt soak ($10) was the item I was most disappointed with. The scent was delicate in the package but disappeared once it hit the bath water. The water felt like I hadn't used anything in my bath at all. There were no flecks of cocoa butter or potpourri in this one so it completely disappeared. The scent was too delicate. I would not purchase this again.

The good news is that my second sample bag had all current products so maybe I just received an older bag. Ms. Bloom also mixes up customer requested scents and potions, which is very tempting with that bubble gum lip balm. This review was unsolicited and the products were purchased with my own money.

Must-haves: Joie de vivre treat bag, hibiscus & ginseng shampoo in roses, and Oh! Lolita bubble gum lip balm
Nice-to-haves: Fairy Tales & Folklore Luxury bath soak, wild rose and violet milk+butter bath soak, black rose whipped butter scrub, cooling cucumber toner mist for non-oily/acneic skin
Skip-completely: Pinktini sea salt soak

Thursday, April 19, 2012

The perfect travel companion!

The perfect retro vacation is a road trip down Route 66 and what better companion than this old-school trailer? Travel in style like The Fancy Farmgirl and customize your own little piece of retro-refinery. Tie your hair up in a scarf, put on your Franca sunglasses, and grab your luggage for the ultimate glamorous road trip! With a trailer this cute I might be able to forgo indoor plumbing. Maybe.