Making the World Go Away

What a week!  What a long and stressful week it has been.  The most difficult part of my week was how totally unnecessary all this stress was.  I will never understand people who love drama so much that they have to create it when it doesn't otherwise exist

You know who I'm talking about, the pot stirring office gossip, or the internet trolls who make weirdly out of place nasty comments on benign posts, or the drivers who decide to wait until the last possible minute to dart in front of heavy traffic risking everyone's safety, etc, etc.  They're little things that pile up day by day and at the end of the week it feels like death by a thousand paper cuts.  I need a refuge from that sort of ugliness.  

Living in the country may sound like a dream come true, but the reality is that I've made certain sacrifices.  It means being far away from nice restaurants, museums, theaters, interesting dinner parties and hanging out with friends.  It means a loooong commute to work and school and feeling like we spend half our lives in the car, but it also means being away from noise, frustration, chaos, and yes, even the ugly words of internet trolls.  One flick of a button and the internet evaporates.

This is the time, at the end of the week, when I only need three things to help take my mind off all the stressors: A quiet walk in the flowering fields, a beautiful easy dress, (doesn't that feel like a breath of fresh air just to say "easy dress") and a glass of wine doesn't hurt either.  I love that I can slip into a Karina Dress and feel beautiful and comfortable at work, at home, at a picnic or a party, or just here in the flower fields with no one else around.

KarinaDresses has just launched their new summer collection and this lovely Megan Dress in Mod Circles is one of my favorite prints!  Look at these colors!  And I love the fit!  Karina has expanded their size selection so finding the right the fit is easier than ever.  

I'm ready for summer and sunshine.  I'm ready for time spent outdoors in the fresh air listening to the crickets chirping in the evening and watching the summer meteor showers, and daily walks like this to pick the wildflowers while they last.

You don't have to live in the country to have this sort of peace in the midst of chaos and stress.  I am a firm believer that you can create this feeling anywhere, but the right environment is a great place to start.  As I unwind from my week, I hope that you are finding your peace and quiet too.  I hope that you have that way of forgetting about the office drama, the traffic, and the ridiculous trolls, and find you own quiet place in a field or a nook in your home.  I hope you too find a way to curl up with a good book, a glass of wine, a comfortable dress, and let the world go on being the world without you for a while.

I can't help you much beyond pointing you in the direction of the perfect easy dress and raising a glass with you in spirit, but here it is and here's to you and to me and stress free weekends. 

Shopping Info:  Megan Dress - Mod Circles from KarinaDresses.com

Product Review: Under Eye Concealer

Under eye circles can occur for a host of reasons from sleepless nights and dehydration to allergies and genetics and the simple fact that we're all getting older.  We'll all have them at some point in our lives, so it's best to have a few products on hand should you need them.  With the last few years of struggling with insomnia while simultaneously adding a few birthdays, I find myself with under eye circles more often than not these days and I've tried a number of different concealers to help cover them.  What I've learned from all this experimentation is that I can't use the same products in my mid 30s and beyond that I used in my 20s.  So for this post I'll present all the things I've tried and the pros and cons of each for women in their mid 30s and up.

Garnier Skin Active Clearly Brighter  Anti Dark Circle Eye Roller-$10

If you're looking for something lightweight, this one is definitely the best.  It doesn't settle into fine lines.  What it's not the best at is sticking around.  It seems like this stuff is absorbed or faded within an hour or so and the dark circles are back.  Even though it's reasonably priced, this product was the least effective and my least favorite.

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles Treatment Concealer, Light-$7

This under eye concealer has a spongy applicator with a top that twists to refill the sponge.  It's a mid-weight cream.  Not so light that it's barely visible and not so heavy that it cakes or settles into fine lines.  The least expensive of the bunch, it's probably my favorite and the one I use most often.  I use it in the mornings on top of my foundation and in the evenings if I need a touch up, I use this same brand in the brightener.  When applying, I lightly dab two or three dots under each eye and then gently tap the area with my ring finger to blend.

MAC Prep+Prime Highlighter Light Boost $30

This concealer carries the heftiest price tag out of all the brands I tried and sadly I didn't think it was worth the money.  I like the soft brush applicator, and it is very light and smooth so it didn't cake, but it's so light that it's easy to over blend and have it disappear completely.  This one I ranked as second best.

NYX Cosmetics Concealer Jar, Yellow-$9

This one was my least favorite of the four.  It's clearly made for younger skin because it's so thick and waxy it settled into the lines under my eyes and created bag where there were none before.