The Girly Girls Go Shopping

I know, I said no more girly girls, but I went shopping with my sister-in-law-to-be yesterday and wanted to share the experience with you. We also made our flip flops for the wedding, aren't they adorable?!? (The bride's are the light pink ones, mine are the darker pink)

Then off we went to Town Square, one of those urban "shopping villages" which I had never been to before (it's on the Strip and South of Tropicana, two things I usually avoid) but I really liked, it was nice. It was a beautiful day (today is cloudy and cooler with a chance of rain so yesterday was the right choice for outdoor shopping.) We stopped first at Claim Jumper to fortify ourselves for the expedition and sat in the 'saloon' area where they have happy hour appetizer specials from 3pm to 7pm and we got a couple of little plates along with lemonade. These were small portions, which was really nice given that usually the portions at Claim Jumper are enough to feed a small village. The bartender also asked us if we were both over 21, since we were sitting in the bar. And that was before we had our makeup done! The Claim Jumper is right next to a kids play area with all these water spouts for kids to splash through and it was a warm enough day that I was a little jealous.

It turned out to be good that we goat a little sustenance first, since we spent the next three and a half HOURS at Sephora. Yes, you read that right. I wanted to get the high definition makeup for the movie. They are so cool at Sephora, all of their floor people can help you with makeup application and color matching. I told the girl who was helping us (Marianne, she's awesome, see her if you go) what I needed and she showed me three different brands and color matched me in two different lines. I had half my face in one brand and the other half in a different one. She even took me outside so I could see it in different lights and choose the one I liked the best. I chose the Smashbox High Definition foundation and yes, I got the primer too (see, I'm a sucker, I buy into the beauty hype) and also got the Blu-Ray kit by Cargo which had a great blush and lip gloss and had a mascara and bronzer too and was less expensive than just buying the blush and gloss separate.

I asked her if there was anything else I should do to get my face 'camera ready' and she sent me to a different part of the store to see Maria, a skin care expert. She was awesome and she told me how to augment my normal skincare routine. (Mostly just a few exfoliating treatments and a lot of moisturizer.) The people at Sephora are AWESOME and really help you. They aren't paid by any one line, so if there is something from a company that's better than buying everything from just one company, they tell you. And they don't pressure you into buying stuff you aren't sure about. I was hesitant to buy the really expensive moisturizer (since I know how poor I am) so they hooked me up with a bunch of samples. I really felt taken care of but Val says that's just my personality, that I make people want to help me (is that a good thing or does that mean I come cross as hopeless?)

Once we were finally done with that, then Val decided she wanted some makeup too, so we went back to Marianne and started the whole process over again. See why it took forever? But I have to say, we looked FABU! I learned how to do my eyebrows, we found perfume we liked (again, with free samples, and Val is going to wear hers on her wedding day) and got some great advice. it was so much fun, we were like kids in a candy store. Marianne even told Val that if she called the morning of the wedding we could come in and have our makeup done for free. It's not practical because the wedding is so far away that we will still have Marcy do our hair and makeup, but it was so nice of them to offer. Apparently they will provide this service to anyone, you just have to call ahead on the day of the event.

The only bad part of our experience was when I got to the checkstand and had to pay for all of that 'candy'. I bought the Blu-Ray kit, the foundation, the primer, two pots of lip salve (one was a gift for Val), the brow powder, a moisturizer and three new makeup brushes (you don't want to use a makeup sponge with HD makeup because it will just soak into the sponge and you'll lose a ton of it to the sponge instead of your face, which was a useful and economical tip.) And the total? A sphincter clenching two hundred dollars (Val reminded me that I got a tax refund and I was stimulating the economy, so I wouldn't cry). But since I buy and wear makeup so infrequently, I guess if you amortize it I still spend less than the average woman.

We then went off to Soma, a bra store (sorry, 'intimate apparel' store). Apparently Val has been wearing ill-fitting, unflattering bras. So I had the saleswoman fit her and she is a D cup as I suspected instead of the C cup she thought. After trying them on she found them to be comfortable and very flattering (they made her look bustier and thinner, bonus!) So I tried some on (they made a push up model in my size, can you believe it?) and they really were comfortable and flattering. Val insisted on buying me one, bless her (my SIL bought me cleavage!). How girly girl can you get when your whole shopping day consists of makeup and lingerie?

I had an AWESOME time shopping with Val. I'm so glad she is going to be my sister. I love my brother and would never give up the life we've had together but having a sister to do girly girl things with is nice. (He would NEVER go makeup and bra shopping, and he actually likes shopping but that's pushing it too far.) Now I'm going to slather myself in ultra moisturizer and make myself look fabulous. Hmmm, if I put enough on will I look like a teenager again?