the weekend + my new obsession.

before i get into this post, i just want to point you to this one. my blog encountered some, um, issues this weekend -- basically, the above-linked post got sent back into draft mode (what?!) and i wasn't able to edit anything -- but they seem to be fixed now, knock on wood. anyway, if you missed it, go forth and read! and sorry if you saw anything weird pop up in this space; it was probably me trying to fix my own blog issues. obsessive? yes.

anyway, onward and upward, right?

so, let's discuss the past four days. thursday was my birthday and it was perfect, thanks to all the calls, texts, facebook wall postings and blog comments. i was taken out to lunch by my bosses, sang to by my colleagues at an after-work party, and treated to dinner by my wonderful sarasota friends. then, on friday, my mom came to visit and we spent the weekend shopping, eating and cruising around sarasota -- which is where the title of this post comes into play.

on saturday afternoon, mom and i wandered into simply spoiled, a great little cosmetics boutique in the shopping center that houses whole foods, juno & jove, jane boutique, a great little pet accessories store and starbucks, among other things. mom, who hordes tons of skin creams, is always game to look at anti-aging stuff, and i'm a big makeup fan, as we all know. anyway, i ended up walking out with a whole bag of new products -- thanks to mom -- and i think i'm in love with them.

before i share what i got, let me tell you a little bit about my skin. not only is it the whitest white ever, thanks to my irish heritage, it's also incredibly sensitive, thanks to genetics. it burns after 10 minutes in the sun, it itches when i wear certain fabrics, and it freaks out when i use new facial products. however, i've gone merrily through life not paying a whole heck of a lot of attention to the above (well, with the exception of using tons of sunscreen), which is probably why i've seen such immediate results with these new products.bare minerals makeup is not new; i've heard about it pretty consistently for the past two years and i have friends who swear by it. still, in spite of my penchant for semi-big ticket items on an admittedly small-ticket budget and my obsession with cosmetics, i've never tried it. but when the salesgirl at simply spoiled gave my mom a fantastic bare minerals makeover, and then asked if i wanted one, i couldn't say no -- and i think i'm in love with the products. mom got the bare minerals starter kit in medium, but because i'm so fair, the salesgirl threw together a custom kit for me, complete with mineral foundation in fair, mineral blush in thistle, and mineral veil, which sets everything in place. the color is perfect -- it's literally the only one i've found that doesn't create that yucky makeup line around my jaw -- and i feel like i'm wearing no makeup on my face, which is quite a feat, especially during florida's scorching summers.

i also got some sample products, notably mario badescu's enzyme cleansing gel and chamomile cleansing lotion (actually a toner), which the salesgirl used to remove my pre-bare minerals makeup/sunscreen. as usual, i was slightly worried about the reaction my face might have to all this new stuff, but seriously, my skin is so amazingly soft after using it that it's not even funny. i'm heading back to simply spoiled this week to pick up full-sized bottles, for sure.

anyway, why am i posting about this, you ask? well, for the simple reason that it may help someone out there who has skin like mine and who is looking for some relief (and some good makeup). and if you're in sarasota, definitely check out simply spoiled; it's a cosmetics lover's dream.

p.s. as i was writing this post, i noticed that the simply spoiled web site is looking kind of, um, sparse -- but i'm leaving it linked just in case the shop decides to do a little revamp and puts up some pictures or a list of products carried. always thinking of the future, i am! xx.