Blame it on Granny

My grandmother (dad’s side) has had the same glass bottle of circa 1970’s Maybelline roller-ball lip gloss prominently displayed on her bathroom shelf for at least the last 30 years. As a wee one, I remember summers at her house, just gazing up at this mystical vessel in wonder. In awe of its magnificence. Though every fiber of my being wanted to touch it, to adore it, to anoint my parched lips with its silky essence … I never dared. I was never told to stay away, but somehow I instinctively knew of its importance. Well … given that the same vial now resides on that same shelf, (seemingly never even been used) it bears a greatly different significance than I had intuited all those years ago. It is not some sacred beauty elixir, waiting for a special moment, but merely a symbol of the shameful disease running rampant throughout our family. Apparently, this beauty-hoarding is genetic. A couple of weeks ago I sat on the pot, looking around my grandma’s lair, and realized that she has 10 times the hardly-ever-to-practically-never used vanity products as I. The only difference is that hers date back to 1930. What’s more, having just returned from a visit to my mother’s princess palace, I realized that my affliction was handed down to me from both sides of the family. A double whammy! Yes, my mother has more un-to-slightly used beauty concoctions than (possibly) even my grandmother. Yet, on any given trip to any given beauty boutique, she still seems to be on a quest for some other coveted and truly “needed” unction. What can I say?  I guess it's in the blood. …Oh yeah, I’m screwed.

*Product Review: Witch Hazel

A nod to the simpler days of Grandma’s yesteryear, let’s talk Witch Hazel. You can find it at any drug or grocery store, and this multi-tasker never costs more that $6 for a 16oz bottle. ($3.49 at Rite-Aid or Drugstore.com.  Even less at Target.) What’s not to like? It’s natural, it’s timeless, it’s unpretentious. With all the fancy-schmancy skincare goodies I use on a regular basis, this is what I use everyday, twice-a-day, as a toner. Pretty anticlimactic, huh? See, I really am a simple girl. Trust me, you don’t need anything more to tone that pretty little face of yours. Save your money for the fun stuff. For its affordability, practicality, availability, and countless other -ilities … 4½ Stars