Let's Discuss The Rouge Dior Lip Coffret Gift Set: Less Is Not More Dior

Frankly, I've been keen on but never purchased Dior's annual holiday Coffret Lipstick Sets -- in 2022 it's called Rouge Dior Lip Coffret Gift Set (see above image👆) -- but I enjoy Christmas browsing and always look for the limited edition gift bag, um set after Thanksgiving.

 

2018 edition - photo pulled from the internet, it is my favorite design - a constellation

Over the last few years, it sold for $175 and included 6 lipsticks, a lipstick holder, and a popular cosmetic bag that customers enjoy using as a clutch purse, as well as, finding clever ways to add hardware, converting it into a small shoulder or crossover bag. It's become a convention among handy Dior beauty buyers.

2019 edition

This holiday season after a tough couple of years for many consumers, how are the luxury brands treating their loyal customers? By hiking up their already steep prices and giving clients even less value for their money. One retailer is Chanel whose, classic double-flap bag rose in price to just under $10,000 without improving its craftmanship.

2020 edition of the gift bag.

Dior is now charging $240 (a $75 price increase) for this year's Rouge Dior Lip Coffret Gift Set but has reduced the lipsticks to only 5. Adding insult to injury, the gift bag no longer has a faux leather outer surface, but is hard plastic! Dior added a gold metal clip-on chain to the plastic box, so consumers no longer have to be clever to turn it into a crossover bag, and yet it's plastic! Really Dior?

Here's a clever YouTuber showing us how to convert a 2021 Dior makeup case into a bag.

Why are multi-million dollar companies treating their customers this way? In fact, skimping them! Charging customers more and giving them less. And ... how will loyal customers respond?

As a longtime admirer of Dior and Chanel, I'm disappointed! I suppose I should thank the exclusive duo for removing all potential temptation, but I'd much rather appreciate top-of-the-line quality and fair pricing.

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Skincare For French Girl Beauty

Skincare Holiday Gifts Everybody Will Love

Ho, ho, ho! Hard to believe the holiday season is here, isn't it? Let's consider the beauty mavens on your shopping list. A good skincare gift can be either an introduction to a stellar new brand or something extra for a friend who already has the knowledge and skincare basics. If your giftees use Retin-A or
its non-prescription derivative retinol (for nighttime), and perhaps vitamin C (in the mornings), they have an excellent anti-aging skincare routine even if they do nothing else. Other products may do good things for the skin, but they are less essential. Dermatologists call Retin-A or retinol the gold standard in anti-aging skincare. THE SAVVY SHOPPER has written a number of blogs explaining and recommending good retinol and you can use the search box to pull them up to read if you wish.

Today I'll feature skincare extras to give as holiday gifts that go beyond the basics. Sometimes it takes a friend's holiday gift to either introduce you to an unfamiliar brand or spoil you with ingredients you're not using -- the skincare extras - that provide additional skin benefits. They include:

1) The Ordinary Hyaluronic acid 2% + Vitamin B5 (see top image👆) - Hyaluronic acid moisturizes dry skin and Vitamin B5 helps the skin attract and maintain moisture. As we age our skin gets drier so keeping skin moist and dewy instantly makes us look younger ... and it feels better too.

2) The Ordinary Niacinamide (B3) 10% + Zinc 1% - Reinforces and balances the skin's protective barrier. Also treats acne by unclogging pores and drying oils and pimple-causing components.

3) The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution - Promotes mild exfoliation to correct dullness, uneven skin tone, or textual irregularities. Also contains skin-loving ingredients, such as Tasmanian pepperberry, aloe vera, and ginseng root to soothe, balance, and hydrate the skin. Amino acids are added to support the skin barrier. I'm surprised at how often YouTube dermatologists recommend glycolic acid + exfoliating the skin, a practice I rarely do. It speeds up skin turnover to promote new skin cells to rise to the surface.

The Ordinary is offering a 23% discount on their entire skincare line through December 23, 2022, on top of their already high quality and low prices.

The last two gift ideas are Korean skin barrier-protecting face creams. The Korean market excels at making beauty serums and creams. The following skin moisturizers will check Old Man Winter:⛄

4) Etude House Soon Jung Hydro Barrier Cream - Is packed with lipids and fatty acids to strengthen and protect your skin barrier, including “Panthensoside”: Panthenol (Protection of skin barrier & maintenance of hydration) + Madecassoside (Soothing effect for irritated skin).

5) Pyunkang Yul Intensive Repair Cream - Contains ceramides, shea butter, macadamia seed oil, and antioxidants to protect the skin barrier and smooth the skin.

Extra find: Bakuchiol (a phytoretinol). A good one is IMGN Beyond Retinol🎄🎄🎄 

This year make your beauty gifts count! Think quality, not quantity! Frequently beauty sets come with items nobody uses like bubble baths. Instead consider giving a skin elixir backed by science that really works, or an introduction to a fabulous beauty brand your friend or family member doesn't know about. A new discovery is exciting ... and how thoughtful of you to share your tips in the form of a gift!

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Fine Jewelry Under $125 As Gifts

Over the next 3 weeks, I'll write a few holiday gift idea blogs. Today I'll focus on reasonably priced fine jewelry under $125 (and that is before applying promotional codes for further reductions). It means sterling silver (a precious metal) with lab-grown white sapphires. It also makes excellent travel jewelry that dazzles and looks expensive.

I'm featuring Italo jewelry since I'm happy with my own Italo purchase  (shown here) -- the sapphires sparkle like mad! Read my review on Italo jewelry to know the good and what to avoid, namely having to return the jewelry. Try to forgo the hassle of returns if possible. Italo Jewelry is an online-only Italian manufacturer whose plant is located in China. The retailer is legitimate and does stand behind its jewelry, but customers must pay for return shipping on jewelry they don't like. So take a beat so you don't order mistakes!

What I like about Italo is its enormous selection of beautiful designs from classic to unique, huge enough to suit every possible taste. I wear my Italo jewelry often and it's durable. Of the offerings, the earrings are super affordable for lovely glittering pieces, and I think they're safer than giving rings as gifts. The necklaces will have more metal and stones and therefore cost more too. Throughout the blog are several of my favorite Italo earrings, which I'd be happy to receive!

Italo Jewelry seems to have a bigger collection ... more styles than its competitors who sell similar jewelry. My only experience is with Italo, so you'll have to research their competition for legitimacy and good customer service.

I don't gift rings simply because people work with their hands and if a stone falls out, there is no brick-and-mortar Italo shop to fix it, so it's likely cheaper to rebuy the jewelry than have it repaired. Earrings are less likely to sustain mishaps as they don't get banged around.

Italo jewelry comes nicely presented in boxes and ribbons. Inside is a silver polishing cloth, policy information, cleaning tips, and a travel pouch.

With Italo Jewelry, you're not paying an arm and a leg for what is real sterling silver and lab-grown white sapphires that (if taken care of) last so why buy fashion jewelry?

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Blue Everlasting

💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

Blue has alway been my favorite color. I have never waivered. I suspect there are people like me who early on have a favorite color that never changes, and others whose favorite color fluctuates. 

While I know blue is considered a cool color on the color spectrum while yellow and orange are warm colors, I'm unfamiliar with the psychology behind having a favorite color -- what it says about us -- nor do I know why some people switch a favorite color. I have no idea what it all means. I just know my favorite color is, was, and likely will always be blue.

🔵🔷🔵🟦🔷🔹🟦🔵🔷🔹🟦🔵🔷

How do I know blue is my favorite forever color? Because for some unexplained reason, looking at blue makes me extremely happy! It also calms me. I like wearing blue. I own items that are blue. I will pick blue over another color. Something blue will tempt me more than another color. A blue room catches my eye. Without a doubt, blue is a gorgeous color. I L💙VE it!

Scientists aren't sure why people have color preferences, but there are theories to try to explain it. You can read them here. Since my love of the color blue began as a toddler (according to my memory and parents), I do think the preference for blue is in my DNA, my unscientific theory. :-)))💙

Photo: Lord and Taylor

What's your favorite color? Have you changed it over time?

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Apple AirTag

An Apple AirTag is a genius invention! Ever misplace your purse, wallet, backpack, or keys? Attaching an airtag is an "easy way to keep track of your stuff." You can then use the Find My app on your phone to lead you to your lost possession.

Loosing your wallet is no longer a time waster. Find it by going to the "My app" and say, "Siri, find my wallet." If hiding in the next room or in plain sight, you would follow a ping sound that leads you to your wallet.

If your item is further away the AirTag sends out a secure Bluetooth signal through an anonymous and encrypted process to locate and send its location to the iCloud. On your phone, you'll see its location on a map.

You could also attach an Apple Airtag on your dog's or cat's collar to put them on your radar if they are in the habit of getting loose and lost outdoors.

In a once upon a time safe-family neighborhood, a thief stole my mother's front pouch chairs and later her folded-up grocery cart that she used to balance and steady her walk. The chairs had sat untouched on her front pouch for 60 years, and the grocery cart was rusting, so some people will take anything! Wouldn't we like to show up with a police officer at the thief's house to surprise them!

Friends of mine tend to lose their cars in a supermarket parking lot. Now they can pin it to find it!

This basenji cutie is a hound breed of dog. A crack in a door or fence and he's long gone.

On Amazon, Apple Air tags are about $4 cheaper than a purchase at Apple. The devices are not super expensive, yet pricey enough to make attaching them to all your worldly goods impractical. So you'd likely put them on the things you lose the most.

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The Wisdom Of Thanksgiving

Photo: Simonton

The following ... turkey images and Thanksgiving quotes are pinched from the internet. Go to their sources here and here for more. Visit some of my Thanksgiving blogs of the past for Thanksgiving reflections. The wise sayings and breeds of turkeys I selected below are more lighthearted fare:

Know that I can only eat a store-bought turkey. Any creature I were to feed and raise becomes a pet. I mean, you take care of the bird, acquire it as a chick, worry about it being warm, and it trusts you not to harm it, right?

In the 2nd grade, I got to take home our classroom's on-display dried tri-colored ear of corn, which thrilled 7-year-old Debbie to death! The adult Debbie realizes that our 2nd-grade teacher must have bought the colorful ears of corn with her own money and is grateful for all that teachers do for their students. I kept the ear of corn for years.

These turkeys look like an old married couple walking home.

And what is this crowd of feathered friends staring at? Are they lining up to feed, or waiting for a concert in a field to start? :)

 

I just know these 3 birds on the left are gagster turkeys. Look how they're taking over the walkway, not making room for pedestrians to pass! Watch it, boys, I didn't know you as chicks, and an attack will give me a ferocious appetite for turkey pot pies!

Are you watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade followed by the National Dog Show? I have seen the parade standing on the sidewalk (on Central Park West at W75th Street) and from a highrise (on Broadway at W53rd Street paired with refreshments), so nowadays I'm satisfied watching it on television while having breakfast. It's become a Thanksgiving tradition. BTW: The night before Thanksgiving, you can watch the balloons being blown up on West 77th Street. I've done so twice. Years ago, it was unorganized, but over time it has grown to attract more people.

🍁Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

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I Took The Colbert Questionert

CBS talk show host, Steven Colbert, likes to ask celebrity guests 15 questions. The exercise has taken off with bloggers, and for fun, below are my answers:

1. Best sandwich?

Fried breadcrumb-coated cod fish on rye with lots of ketchup.

2. What's one thing you own that you really should throw out?

A black, Chanel-patterned London Fog raincoat with a worn-out-ripped inner lining. Ralph Lauren took a 2nd glance at it as he jogged past me in Central Park! See, it's still stylish.

3. What is the scariest animal?

Alligator or crocadile, reptiles that drown and eat parts of you.

4. Apples or oranges?

Oranges ... but if I had to pick apples, I'd say a tarty McIntosh or Granny Smith.

 

5. Have you ever asked someone for their autograph?

Nope, but I attended several meet-and-greets at People magazine where I got autographed swag, and I received a Christmas card from a famous person, and therefore an autograph.

6. What do you think happens when we die?

I don't know with absolute certainty. It requires a leap of faith. Why wait for the next world to perfect this one? Make things right now!

7. Favorite action movie?

The very 1st Die Hard (1989). Saw it in the 20th Century Fox screening room in New York City with a fun co-worker and got pulled into the adventure.

8. Favorite smell?

Rose🌹 in scented soaps, lotions, oils, etc.

9. Least favorite smell?

A gym. I've never survived a trial membership ... due to boredom and that smell.

10. Sparkling or Flat?

Flat.

11. Exercise, worth it?

Absolutely. Whatever you can stick with ... walking, biking, hiking.

12. Most used app on your phone?

YouTube.

13. You get one song to listen to for the rest of your life: what is it? 

Nearly impossible to answer and it's the only question I will cheat on answering. The City of New Orleans - Steve Goodman, writer; Arlo Guthrie, performer. The melody is catchy, and the lyrics have a lot of imagery to occupy my mind. I'd like to have two songs and if allowed, Supersition by Stevie Wonder. Readers, if I can't have both, help me, pick the one? 

14. What number am I thinking of?

Will this go anywhere? How will I know if I'm correct?

15. Describe the rest of your life in 5 words?

Life ... curated and with purpose. (Made it up before this questionnaire.) 

If you, readers, want to answer these questions, please do under comments.

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Saks Fifth Avenue Holiday Widows

Photos: Saks Fifth Avenue

Tonight Saks Fifth Avenue unveiled its 2022 Holiday Windows and light show. Every December, I walk from the Upper East Side to Midtown to see them, take in the decorations at Rockefeller Center and see the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, then I pop into Saks to see their ornaments and return home. Sometimes I also step into St. Patrick's Cathedral or save it for another day. Before the holidays are over, I also visit Bloomingdales and Macy's to see their ornaments. It's become a Christmas tradition. Frankly I no longer go to buy things as I have every Christmas decoration I need for my apartment. If coming to Manhattan, you have about six weeks to catch the festive displays, which are spectacular!

You can guess who entertained the crowd tonight. He's fairly recognizable. Happy Sightseeing!

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