Nicolas Feuillatte Reserve Exclusive Rose

My mother’s nephew paid our family a visit last Friday, January 2nd, and we enjoyed hosting him. Since we knew he was coming for dinner on January 2nd we waited for him before opening our New Year’s Eve bottle of champaign. Although I’d rather eat than drink, I have to admit when I do have a glass of wine or champaign with a meal, it has to be a delicious glass, and for sure, this hit the spot!

I can’t claim to have discovered it. That honor goes to someone I know who has excellent taste in everything from food and drink to dry goods.

I learned Nicholas Figueroa is the number 1 selling brand of champaign in France, the beverage’s country of origin. It isn't sweet, but the taste is middle dry and fruity, crisp and refreshing. It is characterized by medium bubbles and acidity.

According to a write up about the champaign by Lisa’s Liquor Barn, "it’s bursting with red summer fruit flavors. A delicious cavalcade of red currant, blueberry and raspberry notes, combined with a hint of strawberry. From within its refined and vibrant structure, its clean flavors are extremely delicate and nuanced.” Scores 92 points. Frankly, I couldn’t have said it better, myself ... no, seriously and honestly, I literally could not speak the lingo, so thank you, employees of Lisa’s Liquor Barn!

Suffice it to say, we, the January 2nd taste testers of the bottle, recommend it also! It’s worth the splurge when an occasion calls for good champaign! As French natives know, there’s no need to spend $100+ for fermented grape juice!

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Axe Body Spray Cherry Spritz

Sometimes my local CVS drugstore has free samples for the taking, which introduces me to unfamiliar products I wouldn’t normally pick up like Axe Body Spray Cherry Spritz. The spray is marketed as a man’s “fine fragrance,” yet is widely considered unisex. 

The scent is cherry-amber with hints of red apple and eucalyptus. Many women like the sweet, non-traditionally masculine fragrance, and I am one of them! It has a clean, fresh -- minus a strong, or artificial perfumey scent.

Photo: Madisondecinq

Like the new deodorants on the market, the Cherry Spitz can be safely sprayed all over the body, but I wonder if some people are going overboard fearing they have body odors that they really don’t. A daily shower should stop most of us from stinking. 

Still we enjoy smelling extra good, and this pleasing, clean scent is a winner. 

It’s also considerably cheaper than many fine fragrances and lasts a reasonable length of time. Costing around $7 for a 4 ounce can, it’s a worthy expenditure to smell delightful!

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It’s The New Year 2026

New Year's Eve is a holiday I like very much. As a younger adult I went out to celebrate sometimes, but always to places which were easy to return home from and with good friends. In fact, my favorite way to celebrate New Year’s Eve is with family and/or friends at home, or nearby in the neighborhood. Without fail, we do stay up past midnight to ring in the New Year while munching on a few tasty treats. One way we never spend the night is traveling a distance from home that requires a long drive back on a highway. 

I suppose a reason I like New Year’s Eve is it closes out the Christmas season. It’s the cherry on top of our high spirits. Christmas and Easter are two major holidays, each stretching out over a week, with Easter the more solemn one. The yin and the yang of Western cultural holidays. I love the sparkle, glitter and gaiety of Christmas completed by New Year’s Eve, and the anticipation of Spring and the renewal of Easter. I’m also happy Easter hasn’t become commercial like Christmas.

I prefer eating to drinking, however this year I intend to open a bottle of Champagne. 

Allow me to thank all my readers and fellow bloggers for your support. On THE SAVVY SHOPPER, we are one global, multi-cultural community, and my life is richer because of you! It's meaningful to share and exchange ideas. I enjoy learning right along with you. Dear friends, much appreciation for your time and contributions! Let’s make next year even better!🌍🌎🌏

🍾🥳Happy New Year 2026!🥂🎉

New Year’s Eve Party Dresses I Like

As we sit home with 4 inches of snow on the ground today, I’m browsing online at Macy’s party dresses pretending I'm selecting one to wear to a fancy New Year’s Eve party.

I like the silver sequin bowes against a velvet black fabric on this top image, but after looking for it online, the dress seems to be this liquid shimmering one, which is too long for my liking and not as classic in appearance as it would be against a black velvet fabric. So initially catching my eye, it didn’t make my list.

Below are 5 dresses that did --

Why did I select these 5 styles over other choices? Because I would wish to move and have fun at the gathering, not fuss with dress length (yards of material I could trip over) or cleavage (nothing too low, revealing or unstable). Also nothing too short so I wouldn’t need to worry about where and how I sat. Classy with a bit of comfort and freedom to move around the party room spearheaded my selections!

With the 1st 4 dresses I wouldn’t have to carry a shaw either, but likely would just in case the room was not warm enough. 

Finally forget about open toe shoes in the winter months. I’ve never liked the look in winter, nor the possibility of having cold toes. I’d pair my party dress with pretty block heels for comfort.

Adorn the green dress with a tennis necklace and bracelet. Hey, we’re still dreaming aren’t we?

What are your thoughts and do you have a favorite style to wear to a dressy (though short of a gala) New Year’s Eve gathering?

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Merry Christmas In New York City 2025

All around Manhattan the Christmas trees are up, and the brownstones are decorated. Below is a festive one on the Upper East Side.

In my kitchen, the cookies are baked. This year, I made Springerle (I do not have the molds!), Czechoslovakian cookies, Scottish Shortbread and Gingerbread cookies. We are ready to have Christmas teas with visitors!

Many of my friends are off to midnight Mass, but my senior Mother and I will watch the 1st American Pope say Mass on tv. Over the years, Mom and I have spent Christmases both together and apart.

By phone, I've had lovely catch-up chats with 4 friends today.

I hear many poor people, including a friend, are suffering with the flu. Mom and I got our flu, RSV, and the latest Covid vaccines in October, 2025. Thank heaven for shots! Get your up-to-date vaccines, dear readers, from your doctors or local pharmacies!

Adoration of the Shepherds by Jacob van Oost (1603–1671), a Flemish Baroque painter

We wish everyone near and far a Merry Christmas!🐑🐪

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Don’t Buy Pricey Shrinking Snacks

My weakness isn’t sweets but savory snacks, namely salty, spicy, greasy snacks. If I choose wisely like French fries, occasionally I can eat them for dinner. On the other hand, potato chips are so light and airy, many of us can consume pounds of them without thinking. SunChips, Nacho Corn Chips and Spicy or Nacho Tortilla Chips are other favorites. 

Nowadays I rarely buy chips because the quantity in a bag shrunk to a point it’s not worth hauling them home anymore. We’re lucky if a $6 bag contains 7 ounces. I mean, it’s enough for me, but what will the rest of my family eat?😛 What we get in a bag for the increased price makes buying chips no longer worth it. Personally, I feel ripped off!

When I was a toddler around 2 - 3 years old I remember my father buying potato chips that came as huge twin bags in a box. You got a lot of crispy potato chips that a family could share. I googled the cost. Over the length of 2 decades (around 1955 - 1975) they sold for 25 cents - 99 cents at A&P. A one-serving bag sold for 5 cents - 25 cents over the years. As I write this blog, I realize it was my Dad who got me hooked on salty snacks at a very tender age, but, I digress!

I want to thank all the major chip manufacturers for helping me kick my habit! The prices at grocers and Target for very small quantities of chips means they are no longer in my cupboards torturing me like a bag of crack would a cocaine addict.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average price for a 16-ounce bag of chips in 2014 was $4.27. By the end of 2024, it was $6.32. The price hikes are partially, due to inflation. The researchers must have rounded the quantity up because I never see 16-ounce bags of chips at a supermarket!

When quantities shrunk while prices rise, at some point we, consumers, must say no to stop the insanity! Nowadays we can buy 5 pounds of Russet or Idaho potatoes for the cost of a personal bag of chips!

Instead of chips, I’m bringing home pizza plus am baking french fries brushed with olive oil, or making baked potatoes loaded with extra sharp cheddar cheese, chopped onions, lettuce, beans, and salsa.

Whoever thought that eating bags of chips would one day break the bank! It’s disappointing to say the least!!

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Lady Gaga’s High Performance Makeup

Haus Labs is a vegan and cruelty-free cosmetic line started by Lady Gaga in 2019, focusing on high-performance, clean, and sustainably packaged products. The beauty company’s makeup consists of skincare-infused ingredients like fermented arnica (reduces redness), squalane (nourishes), hyaluronic acid & hydraberry (hydrates), vitamins C & E (antioxidants), prickly pear (nourishes with vitamin C, magnesium & copper) and proprietary complexes like BioFerment 7 Complex for anti-aging. It’s on the pricey but not obscene side as it contains rarer (as opposed to common) ingredients. I'm featuring it because beauty editors love every product in the brand from the makeup brushes to the foundation and concealer.

Consumers benefit from introductions to quality brands. One day if they land at discount retailers, or a major department store runs a bonanza beauty sale, you know about the cosmetic line.

It doesn’t surprise me that Lady Gaga would develop high quality makeup. We’ve never met, however, she impresses me as an artist who would never attach her name to junk, or subpar quality. Authenticity and excellence seems to motivate her over money and profits. She appears to be a hard-worker who is passionate about what she does and cares deeply about her fans.

Rarely would I spend this price point for makeup but if I did, I'd get the 3 makeup brush set. Good makeup brushes are a must-have and are never cheap. You need them for an even application of makeup, and the brushes will not shed.

You can find brushes for less, however repeatedly picking brush hairs off you face while applying makeup makes you open your wallet to stop the annoyance! 

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Let’s Discuss Effy Jewelry

Effy on its website and Macys

Effy sells its jewelry on its own website, by appointment at its headquarters in New York’s diamond district and at major retailers like Macy’s, Saks 5th Avenue, Belk, JC Penny and Nordstrom Rack. They also set up international boutiques on cruise ships where I suggest you don’t make impulse buys on big ticket items you may regret later!

Effy has an eye for beautiful design on commercial grade fine jewelry. Customers are not buying or paying for top-grade or heirloom quality diamonds, sapphires, rubies or emeralds. You do get real nature-grown or lab-grown gemstones and real 14k gold at reasonable costs that people with jobs can save up for to purchase. Certainly not cheap, but mid-priced fine jewelry.

You’ll get the most attractive prices at Macy’s and Belk as these two department stores frequently offer the best promotions. You can put a piece of jewelry on a wish list, then wait for the higher discounts of 25% - 30% off -- the ideal time to ponce!

Two causes increased the price of jewelry in recent years: The price of gold rose, and the Trump tariffs put a tax on diamonds. 

Consider lab-grown gemstones if you want gemstones bigger than 2 carats because the price of over 2 carats increases exponentially. Lab-grown gemstones are physically, chemically, and optically the same as earth-grown gemstones. They cost less partly because presently people will pay more for natural-grown gemstones. In the future with wider acceptance, this will likely change, and well-known jewelers have began setting their collections in gemstones of both origins. Never buy jewelry for its resale value as jewelry is a luxury buy and not a true investment. Usually we lose money by reselling jewelry.

Along with 14k gold, Effy sets some of its jewelry in 18k gold and with gemstones over 2 carats for high rollers with deep pockets. In mid November Effy annually has a trunk show at Macy’s Herald Square featuring its higher priced biggest gemstones. I attended one year, and it was fun trying them on! I advise customers to shop mindfully at such special events. Don’t break the bank because large, gorgeous gemstones are sparkling in your face!

Bracelets, earrings and rings cost less. Necklaces tend to be the most expensive piece in a set because more gold and/or gemstones are used to make it. On a budget, you can usually buy the earrings and matching ring for less than the cost of a necklace. You’ll get just as much if not more joy out of wearing the sparklers that fit your budget!

Finally, if you buy classic pieces that are versatile, you can wear them daily ... and to fancy galas. Signiture pieces tend to stay in a box. After you splurge on a luxury item like jewelry, you should get a burst of endorphins every time you look at it on your neck, wrist, finger, or ears. Get your money’s worth by tossing out the box and wearing any jewelry you buy!

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Top 6 Budget Anti-aging Skin Care Brands For Mature Skin

Although it's never too early or too late to take care of your skin, you probably think more about doing so as you mature, let’s say after you hit 40. But as I always say, what good is skincare with efficacy if it's too expensive to use every day? Luckily there are several budget brands dermatologists recommend based on science with effective ingredients that are also affordable and widely available at drugstores, Walmart and Target. Some affordable drugstore brands have more effective ingredients such as retinoids, hyaluronic acid, antioxidants like vitamin C, and optimal delivery systems than higher priced products because they were developed by dermatologists!

6 Top Dermatologists Recommended Budget Brands are:

CeraVe

Its Daily Moisturizing Lotion was a top pick in testing for instantly smoothing dry skin and fast absorption. Moisturizing your skin makes you look years younger instantly! CeraVe’s many formulas contain ceramides and hyaluronic acid to repair the skin barrier and lock in moisture, which is vital for aging skin. Its cleansers for sensitive skin rank high with skin doctors.

La Roche-Posay

Known for its testing and evidence-based results on sensitive, dry and acne-prone skin, this brand tops leading dermatologists' lists. Its Lipikar Balm AP+M Triple Repair Moisturizing Cream is a top choice for sensitive skin. Its Redermic R Retinol Cream forcefully targets aging.

Neutrogena

A top affordable brand hailed by dermatologists for its retinol creams and serums at lower costs, Neutrogena's wide range of products target all skin types and have a long history of clinical efficacy.

Gold Bond

The Gold Bond the Retinol Overnight Body & Face Lotion is a top-rated drugstore brand for both -- you guested it -- the body and face. It contains retinol to help tighten and lift skin for a more youthful appearance by treating fine lines and wrinkles. Shea butter and coconut butter hydrates the skin for 24 hours.

No7

The Protect & Perfect Intense Advanced Face Cream is cited as an effective anti-aging moisturizer that includes hyaluronic acid and collagen peptide technology to help erase fine lines and wrinkles.

Cetaphil

Very effective on dry and sensitive skin, it contains niacinamide (vitamin B3), panthenol (pro-vitamin B5), vitamin E, glycerin, and hyaluronic acid. Some formulas have added almond oil and ceramides.

If you know which budget brands are favored by dermatologists because they really work, you’ll have the knowledge and flexibility to save some major moola when one of them goes on sale. When discounted buy 1 + 1!

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