Saturday, July 18, 2009

Plumeria on the plane!


I went to visit my family for the Fourth of July, and this is what I managed to bring back. My uncle was more than happy to cut me a piece of his Plumeria plant for me to take home. You may have seen these flowers on leis in Hawaii or other tropical destinations. They are fragrant and beautiful, but really expensive to buy as a potted plant. I have researched plumeria guides online, and found that it is "very easy" to grow a plumeria from a cutting. We'll see how easy it is! Ha! Now, I'm surprised that I was able to take this with me on the plane seeing as how big it is! The TSA worker just asked me what it was, and said she'd never seen one x-rayed before, and let me on my way.

Now to planting. I think you are supposed to pick off the leaves and flowers before you transport the cutting. You are also supposed to let the bottom of the cutting dry out before planting it. I didn't do either of those things! My uncle told me just to put it in soil when I got home, so that is what I did. I thought I'd do it his way since he's done it before. Though, I did follow directions from plumeria 101 too.


Take 1/3 peat or potting soil and 2/3s perlite and fill the pot. Dip the cutting in rooting hormone. Stick the cutting in the soil and press the soil firmly around it. Add small rocks or pea gravel. Make sure the cutting is sturdy by pressing down on the gravel. Last, water it until water comes out of the bottom. Don't water again until the soil is dry. Leave in a sunny place.


This is my final result of planting my cutting. Days after this some of the leaves turned yellow and flimsy so I picked those off. The flowers started to open (smells so good!) but not to its best because it has no roots. I will pluck those off soon enough so the cutting can concentrate on its root growing. I stuck this outside in the hot weather.. hoping my modified version works!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Laura Mercier Grab Bag Steal

You can get a Grab Bag of products from Laura Mercier for $65. There are three grab bags to choose from. Light and Fresh, Sunkissed, and Dramatic! This is a GREAT DEAL! They are valued at $300 each. All of them are full sized products.

Buy them here.

I got into Laura Mercier a couple years ago but got out of it because the prices were too high. Laura Mercier products are really high quality. I would get this, but I'm saving for better brushes!

I originally read this on KarlaSugar's blog. One of the best blogs out there for swatches.

Here is the Light and Fresh Grab Bag.
* Margaux Eye Colour
* Eye Book
* Midnight Caviar Eye Liner
* Linen Eye Basics
* Pink Diamond Lip Glacé
* Sterling Nail Lacquer
* Undercover #1
* Opera Cheek Colour
* Mini Translucent Loose Setting Powder
* Chocolate Truffle Crème Body Wash
* Sugar Cookie Candle

Some of their best products are the Caviar Eye Liner, Eye Basics, Undercover concealers, lip glace and plumpers, the translucent loose setting powder, and foundation. Those are the products that I have tried. I used to really want the eye book, but I eventually got over it. If anyone gets this and wants to trade or sell some items, let me know!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

The She Space Review

Quad 7This is my first order from The She Space / About Face Cosmetics! A quad for $14 and one single for $4. I wanted to order something before the price increase. I had ordered samples before, and this was my first time ordering full size products. I am very happy with the quality of the pigments and color choices. They are amazing pigments. If you love sparkles you will LOVE them! The only problem I had were a few pigments were not filled up like I thought they were going to be.

I wondered if it was just me so I posted a question on the forum to compare mine to theirs because I was too scared to call. I wanted to know if my issue was valid. Mostly people said that my order must have just settled in the jar more than theirs, and I guess so!


Quad 7swatches available upon request
Broken Rules-
Soft twinkling honey with layers of gold and pink (Go glam or go home)
light honey gold with tint of pink

Shadows of Doubt-
Electric blackened cocoa with layers of copper and pink (Go glam or go home)
gold mixed with copper mixed with taupe plus sparkles
Bubble and Burn-
Golden Copper (Powdered Diamond Dust)
black with gold sparkle
Rock and Roll-
Blackenend metallic rasberry with a twinkling layer of purple (Go glam or go home)
very dark purple with dark red sparkle

Moonlight WhimsyTaupey rose shimmer. I love this color! It is so pretty. I hear it's just like Stila Kitten!!

Jar curves in at the bottom. Holds about 1 gram.
Price:
I compared their jar to an EDM sample jar (1 gram), and the sample jar holds slightly more. Those only costs $2.50 btw. The She Space sells full size jars for $4.50. Samples are only .50 cents!

Pressing:
I pressed these with glycerin and alcohol, and then baked them. They ended up too soft. I don't know if it was the baking evaporating the hold it had or what, but I wasn't satisfied. After much resistance to order EZ Prez from Coastal Scents, I caved for the sake of my pigment pressing sanity! More on that in a future post.

Shipping, Customer Service:
It took 12 days to get my order, including weekends. Way faster than last time, haha! I emailed them a couple times, and each time it got bounced back to me. I don't know what this is about since I can get their newsletter emails. I had to go on the forums and PM to get a response. Heather, the owner, saw my post on the jar levels, and so generously offered to replace the pigments I thought were less than full! Wow, what great customer service! They do live up to their 100% satisfaction.

Quality:
Highly pigmented, many many colors to choose from. So silky and smooth, so sparkly! Love the Velvet collection too! So many velvets to choose from! Love the quads under "Kits for Eyes." $14 for 4 jars is a great deal! Also being able to customize your pigments will appeal to many.

Website Design:
It could use a little work. If the shopping basket was integrated into the main site and you could have an account, that would be a plus! I noticed the newer pigments have better photos. Yay on that note!

Overall:
I would definitely order again! I already did! Check them out and at least try their samples! The shipping is cheap too!
http://theshespace.com/pigmentsforyoureyes.html