On Ask a Clean Person: Laundry School - Bras and Mildew and Taffy, Oh My!
@Genghis Khat : 1) red bra. 2) wrap a strip of clear packing tape around your hand, sticky side out. It's a lot more lint-pick-up-y than most lint-picker-uppers. If your bra fabric isn't super fragile, you can also scale up to duct tape, which is extra fun because it comes in like treebark camo and zebra and polka dot prints!
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On Friday Bargain Bin: What to Do With Your Allowance This Week
@i make lists : I KNOW. I even like it better than beloved (discontinued) Chanel Extracils, which I thought was unbeatable. No clumps and gobs, no flaking off, no end-of-day undereye smudges (which I am extreeeemely prone to). It is championship mascara.
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On Friday Bargain Bin: What to Do With Your Allowance This Week
@hulia : If you guys are looking for stuff to buy, I have to proselytize about MakeUpForEver's Aqua Creams. I'm late to that particular party, but omg they are so amazing. Anthracite and Steel, yo.
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On Friday Bargain Bin: What to Do With Your Allowance This Week
@aliceandstuff : OMG SOCKDREAMS. I love that store so much forever.
Gave up on elastic-topped thigh highs years ago. Feel creepy, never stay up, and leave gross marks on your legs. Instead get the kind with NO elastic at the top (I think that's where I got all my giant mesh thigh highs?) and a good garter belt. If you're willing to invest a bit, Trashy.com makes garter *skirts* that are so much better than most belts, also cuter, and with nice metal clasps that won't break.
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On Friday Bargain Bin: What to Do With Your Allowance This Week
@thebestjasmine : THIS DRESS. I love it so much. http://tinyurl.com/dym257k
I just live-chatted a CSR to ask if they were going to have it in other sizes (right now it's only in women's, though they have a different style (sleeveless) in ladies') and she said nooooo. :(
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On Friday Bargain Bin: What to Do With Your Allowance This Week
@thebestjasmine : SPIN ARRRRT. But not the wedges, because I just bought the cute green ones from LandsEnd. You guys, how adorable are these? http://tinyurl.com/7t3fffz This weekend they were marked down to $50, AND there was a 30% off thing.
I KNOW, "ha ha, Lands End." But I live in their Sun Life Cargo Skort (which they better bring back, damn it) and also they have the most adorable dress in the universe right now, but not in my size.
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On Friday Bargain Bin: What to Do With Your Allowance This Week
@Spicy Bubbles : OH NO, and I was trying to buy blush! But not the mascaras thing, because Benefit's "They're Real" FOREVERRRRRR. Love it so much I bought three backup tubes, just in case.
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On Ask a Clean Person: Dude, Where's My Coach?
@camanda : TOTALLY appalling. They're exclusively targeting label whores / collectors of cheap trendy crap now. I have *one* Coach bag, from like eight years ago? When they did the zebra-patterned gallery totes? Because oh god it is zebra, in white patent and kelly green and HOW COULD I NOT?
A related "remember when this brand used to be great?" : Rafe. I have two of their/his early Big Giant Awesome Totes, and love them sooooo much -- embellished, but not too embellished! No gold hardware! Functional designs in fun yet wearable colors! Now everything they have is awkward, wonky, covered with sparkly crap, and $750. Boo. And of course now I go look at their site and I actually found one I like. Uh oh.
Also - fun well-made leather things from a company who doesn't go batshit stamping their logo all over it like we should care? Furla.
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On Beauty Disasters: How to Cover Up Almost Anything
@Four Horsemeals of the Eggporkalypse : I tried a number of types of quick-dry drops (Qtica/Zoya, Sally Hansen), and...eh. They help a little, but in the meantime your fingers are all greasy and also they don't protect your polish.
SECHE VITE. YES. You don't even need a UV dryer thing (I've never used one of those). Base coat, polish, and a thick-ish coat of SV *while polish is still wet*. Dry to touch in less than five minutes, totally stone dry and cured (like, feel free to make your bed or do your hair now) in less than ten.
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On Ask a Clean Person: Laundry School - Bras and Mildew and Taffy, Oh My!
@Sarah H. : Oh GAH, that's the worrrrst. Ignore the unhelpful bog troll and just roll with the fact that it'll take a little more effort for you to find something you really like.
It's helpful to look at stuff online to find styles you like, and THEN go into the store. This works for chains, and also department stores who seem to all carry the same brands. So at least you're not walking in the door and freaking because WHERE TO START, SO MANY BRAS. Get the ones you liked online and drag them into a fitting room in a few different sizes each. Do not even worry about the numbers and letters and buying "the right size." Everyone's boobs have a different shape/size/positioning, and every bra style will fit differently -- different cup angles, strap positions, distance between cups.
Oh, and? BACK LUMPS. The worst. Look for longline bras, or bras with a wider back strap. A skinny back strap with a single hook is lump city. The standard two-hook width is not much better. Often a two-hook bra style will come in "full figure" sizes and will have a wider back with three or more hooks. (Frederick's has a lined but unpadded stretch lace demi that this applies to. It's pretty good, doesn't shift around a lot, and comes in lots of colors. Yay!)