Luxury Novelty Goods

Over the years I've enjoyed stepping into Chanel on West 57th Street in Manhattan when I passed it periodically. The employees always treated me well despite the fact I was only a browser. Although famous for its pricey classic bags and small leather goods, one of the items for sale I examined (or should I say played with) was a huge lambskin jewelry box (for the consumer who has everything😛). The big case measures 5.5" x 22" x 9.3" and sells for around $26,000. It comes with elegant gold keys to lock it. A sales associate told me the store sold one a few days prior to my visit. If a customer spends that much on a jewelry box we agreed, we'd love to see her jewelry! 

It turns out many luxury brands sell novelty goods. Liberty's Advent Calendar began as novelty stock before becoming a much anticipated annual October launch which sells out within days.

Azature Back Diamond nail polish cost $250,000 

A novelty item is an object created to serve no practical purpose; or is designed fanciful to be unique, humorous, or something new and different with no additional functions. For example, a jewelry box is useful, but does a customer really need a Chanel $26,000 box to hold her jewelry? Of course not! Likewise, for nail polish containing ground black diamonds that sells for $250,000 a bottle. Wild, right? Nonetheless, people talk about it!

Burberry Thomas Bear - $620

Luxury brands produce novelty goods for 2 main reasons: 1) It's great marketing for the brand, generating lots of buzz and publicity, and 2) Retailer studies find that luxury shoppers spend less money on others (i.e. on gift giving) than they do on themselves. Many luxury novelty items, called tchotchkes in the industry, including Dior candles, Hermès' incense sticks, a Burberry Teddy bear, or a Louis Vuitton Christmas ornament, sell for $25 to under $100 much less than designer handbags or clothes. Highrollers (The rich and HENRYS [High Earners Who Aren't Rich Yet] buy them as gifts, and wannabes who can't afford luxury bags will buy something smaller and cheaper to own a coveted designer's name.

Nowadays luxury brands are expanding their entry-level priced novelty inventory to boost both their revenues and demographics. And, guess what? The proliferation of tchotchkes is very profitable for elite fashion houses as the demand for luxury continues to grow. 

You can google a slew of articles that try to explain what motivates luxury shopping ... and whether making trinkets priced within reach of more people helps or hurts a luxury brand. Are you willing to pay more for brand exclusivity? HENRYS and Wannabes do! Long-time readers can guess my answer.🙂

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A Relaxed Oversized Fit For 2023

Photo: Esquire magazine

If you wonder what's in store for Spring/Summer 2023 ... designers, runways, and magazine covers are embracing a relaxed oversized fit in fashion, and to be honest I'm not on board with it from head to toe. Hey with this trend's yard of extra fabric, you'll only get one outfit in a suitcase.😁

Uniqlo Spring/Summer Collection

Frankly, I dislike wearing a lot of layers, bulk, or weight. Not only do I like fitted tops, bottoms, and outerwear but I'm also a matchy, matchy gal. Not a tight fit, loose is not the same as oversized.

Right - Refinery 29, , middle - Gucci, left - Editorial List

That said, there's usually a way to adopt aspects of a trend into your wardrobe if you wish. For me, it will not be with an oversized pair of trousers, but a relaxed oversized shirt paired with slender jeans or leggings is super stylish. Baggy pants just aren't me. If I oversized both the top and bottom halves, I'd feel swallowed up by my clothes. When passing, people might yell out, hey is anybody in there!?! Or do you need a rescue? A rope to climb out of the suit that captured and is holding you hostage?!😂

Thankfully in our modern day, everybody doesn't have to adhere to one, inflexible standard, and people can embrace their own style. 

Baggy, um slouchy is coming our way! Do you like oversized clothes?

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Self-sufficiency Makes Life Better

Photo: Shutterstock.com

If you think you can do it, or you think you can’t do it, You are right.–  Henry Ford

The last few years have been like no other. First, in 2020 the pandemic shut down the world, and then in 2022 I became a full-time caregiver of my senior mom. What's more, I couldn't have predicted I would become a good amateur haircutter! Starting with cutting my own hair!! When everything closed in March 2020, I remember thinking, "Thank God Penny, my hairstylist, cut my hair last week. What would I have done otherwise!?!" Little did anyone know how long the shutdown would last, and I would eventually find out! Surprise!! :0

I learned being unafraid to literally take matters into my own hands makes life better. I felt and looked better trimmed than as a hippy-dippy, scraggly-haired woman.

Unlike many Manhattanites, I'm in the habit of cooking dinner at home instead of mostly eating out or ordering in, and knowing how to cook and bake was also a useful skill to have during the pandemic. In fact, when my careless hookah-smoking upstairs neighbor set her apartment on fire forcing everyone below her floor into hotels for 2 months during the renovations of our waterlogged apartments in 2019, it wasn't fun eating every meal out. Unlike when a person is on a business trip, few of us can afford room service 3 times a day. ($30 for eggs, toast and coffee!) Finding nutritious food by wandering around the blocks of Madison Avenue became horribly tedious!

I also keep my home organized, clutter-free, and easy to clean so I don't have to hire other people to help manage or clean it.

Another skill I've always found easy to do myself is grooming my own nails. I've enjoyed a few manicures and pedicures to understand their appeal, but I find it more convenient to do it myself at home while listening to music or watching the news or a television show. For years, I cut and polished my nails twice a week, until I began to appreciate a natural, clean, trimmed nail look and pondered why artificially painted nails are considered more glamorous or sophisticated? 

 

Not exactly my old signature colors of nail enamel, but close enough.

In my 20s and early 30s, my signature nail color was Relvon's All That Jazz, a sparkly cardinal red; and later on, it became Nicka K's Sea Shell, an iridescent soft white. Now I think healthy, well-groomed, natural nails rock, and there's no real need to polish them. Who knows if I'll change my mind again, however not painting my nails is a huge time saver! {For my male readers to know, it requires a base coat (to protect your nails), 2 coats of color, and a top coat (to protect the polish). The effort every week is nuts, no?}

Without Gumby arms to trim the back of my head, I no longer cut my own hair. Oh, snipping the back was slow and tedious, but I still trim my mom's hair and groom her nails. I wouldn't have thought I could do this for another person before necessity became the mother of invention and convenience! Doing things yourself sometimes also keeps life simple (I don't have to make appointments or take her elsewhere). Simple is better because it's less rushing, schlepping, and directing others in exchange for more hours of relaxing. 

Despite the top blog image, I wouldn't consider going off the grid or buying a farm. I love city life! City Girl Extraordinaire suits me.

I highly recommend: Be as self-sufficient as possible ... but as is sensible. Try to develop a few new life skills just to see what you can do for yourself. Strive to save time and money by keeping life simple and making it better. Remember no matter what happens in the rest of the world, if it shuts down, or businesses leave the neighborhood, you can always depend on yourself! As the song goes, nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky.

The best lightning rod for your protection is your own spine. –  Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Happy Valentine's Day Savvy Shoppers

Have a look at several Valentine's Day images to put you in a festive mood to celebrate it. Every February 14th we love the color red, roses, jewelry, and dark chocolate! This year I'll add an easy Strawberry Sparkling Rosè Wine (or Champagne) recipe to follow: 

Ingredients:

16 ounces strawberries

2 teaspoons honey (or Stevia to taste)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

A bottle of sparkling rosè wine

Directions

1) Toss the strawberries and honey into a food processor and puree until smooth (a blender will work if you can figure out how to get it out. Perhaps pour 1/2 cup of wine into the blender:). Transfer to a pitcher.

2) Add the lemon juice and sparkling rosè wine and whisk.

What a refreshing Valentine's Day sparkling wine + strawberries sangria.

💋❤️💋❤️💘 To all my Valentines, my darling readers!💘💋❤️💋❤️

💖💟💝Enjoy! Use the day to take the frost out of winter.😉🌹🌻🌷

Photo: Creative Culinary

What do you love about this day?

Happy Valentine's Day my lovelies! xoxo

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Temu Is A Popular Free Shopping App

Travel Jewelry Box - $3.03

Temu is the most downloaded free app in America, according to TIME, beating out TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. As a shopping app, the prices seem almost too good to be true, and although definitely not a scam website, customers have complained about long waits to receive their goods, or mistakes with items sent out or left out of their orders, as well as, disappointing cancellations and a lack of telephone customer service.

← $6.29 Temu, is a subsidiary of Pinduoduo Inc., just like Pinduoduo, its giant Chinese e-commerce sibling. Recently Temu opened a US office in Boston, Massachusetts. While the retailer has many unsatisfied customers, it also has its share of happy customers plus people who have taken advantage of its opportunities to get free stuff by using credits for getting their friends, family, and followers to sign up for Temu's free app. TIME interviewed consumers who had both good and bad experiences with Temu.

$4.49

TIME's article quotes Douglas Schmidt, a professor of computer science at Vanderbilt University who says “'It seems like they’re being subsidized to be a loss leader in order to gain market share, which is not unlike what Amazon did for a long time,'"

Temu sells too many categories of products to list. The e-company reminds me of a closeout trader, World Market, and dollar store all rolled into one. Not only are the below-market prices tempting but so are the free shipping and free returns!

← $8.88 Temu has relationships with a number of different merchants and its variety of goods are sent out from a myriad of warehouses in China directly to customers. I think this more than any aim to scam people explains why deliveries can go awry. It's a relatively new business and they are still working kinks out of their operations. Moreover, because articles originate from various factories, similar items on the website, for example, a 10 cm x 10 cm travel jewelry case, can vary in price by $2 -$3 dollars.

Amethyst beads $2.79

The takeaway is to (1) Never risk cash you can't afford to lose; (2) Buy do-or-die essentials from a 100% dependable source; and (3) Don't expect merchandise to arrive soon. Chances are very good you won't lose your money, but hey you may get something you didn't order or a cancelation.:)

So now let's figure out what kind of risk-taker to get something cheap you are, shall we? Due to Temu's alluring bargains, I'd likely risk ordering a few desired things -- despite its wobbly legs practices:) -- spending only $5 - $10 using Paypal to see how it goes. How about you? 

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Moisturizing Creams: CeraVe Versus Cetaphil

Every year we battle Old Man Winter, and during the season I slatter on moisturizers from head to toe every single day. My two favorite moisturizers are dermatologists-approved drugstore brands: Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream (body for very dry, sensitive skin) and CeraVe Moisturizing Cream (with 3 essential ceramides). Both are fragrance-free. Each absorbs completely into the skin and is non-greasy. 

I'll cut to the chase: Both are super moisturizing, and you can't go wrong with either brand. But, there are a few differences ...

CeraVe

- Has 3 essential ceramides (lipids - Ceramide NP, Ceramide

Wamart's brand

AP, and Ceramide EOP) to restore and protect the skin barrier.  

- Contains hyaluronic acid to help the skin retain its moisture.

- It's non-comedogenic so it won't clog pores.

- I have no problems applying it on my face periodically.

- The cream is thinner and wetter than Cetaphil.

- Leaves a slight residue on the skin after application although you have to touch your face to feel it, and it isn't greasy or uncomfortable.

- It usually comes in 16 ounces.

Cetaphil 

- Contains glycerin, niacinamide (vitamin B3), panthenol (vitamin B5), sunflower seed oil, and almond oil.

Walmart's brand

- It's non-comedogenic and non-irritating.

- As with CeraVe, you can apply it on the face without clogging pores.

- The formula is richer than CeraVe making it terrific to use as a body cream after a shower to lock in water to stay hydrated.

- It moisturizes elbows, knees, and all other areas of very dry skin.

- Cetaphil is a more beneficial hand and cuticle cream than CeraVe.

- Plus it moisturizes lips. CeraVe is a tad too thin to treat dry lips with lasting power although to be fair neither cream claims to treat dry lips.

- Cetaphil disappears 100% into the skin while leaving it moist and smooth. Although richer than CevaVe, it doesn't leave a film of any kind. 

- Comes in 20 ounces.

Conclusions:

To treat battered or dry flaky skin, I like CeraVe as it's wetter and contains ceramides to bring the skin barrier back into balance, but for skin that is not flaky and already hydrated, such as, after a shower or after washing my hands, I prefer the richness of Cetaphil to lock in the moisture. Cetaphil keeps your skin barrier healthy so it won't get dry and flaky, then you won't need to repair it.

Amazon's brand equivalent here.

I also like Cetaphil's bigger 20-ounce size making it the better value, and it moisturizes with staying power over more areas -- body, face, hands, lips, and heels. CeraVe's thinner formula + ceramides with hydromantic acid makes it a better face cream, especially for an oily complexion. If you already apply face serums you can use either brand to seal the serum in if you wish.

Buying a jar of each brand isn't wasteful or too extravagant. You'll end up using both at various times. There is no more effective moisturizing cream than these two drugstore brands on the market, and neither brand will break the bank! But if you wish to only buy one cream, Cetaphil's richness works on more body parts during the dry winter months. For spring, summer, and fall CereVe's richness is sufficient -- and both are great.

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Wamart Has a Fine Selection Of Activewear

Walmart is partnered with some winning brands for basics and activewear clothing. Desperation led me to them! Considering the ongoing joke of how inappropriately some shoppers show up to shop at Walmart, you'd be surprised by the retailer's array of smart pieces at ultra-reasonable prices!

My elderly mom needs a few comfortable t-shirts and trousers to do double duty for wearing around the house, as well as, leaving home. Her fashion sense isn't up-to-par with the latest easy-to-care-for fabrics, so I'm stepping in!

Know that I have a bias against loungewear, sweats, and leggings-that-are-t00-casual. Since you can find these same functional pieces in polished styles that are also in easy-care fabrics, why not look polished around the clock? Dress once in the morning and let your dapper attire take you throughout your day, no? If you select the right style and color of leggings or casual-smart knit paints, you can dress them up or down with shoes, a lovely cardigan, a blazer, and jewelry. As much as my mom's senior years allow, I try to dress her as stylishly as I'd dress a 30-year-old woman. She doesn't want to look shabby just because she's older and her limbs are less flexible. No sweatsuits for her on my watch! She didn't wear them as a young woman.

That said, I'm pleased by the quality and price of Athletic Works socks, therefore I ordered the brand's 100% cotton knitted pants for my mamma in navy blue (in fact, they're close to black) to match her tops. If you select navy or black they look like fashionable dark trousers and not athletic pants. As you can see by the image 👆above, lighter colors look sportier exposing the trousers as activewear.

The next brand, JustBlanks, I stumbled upon as my usual suspects for t-shirts, Uniqlo and Old Navy, aren't making t-shirts in enough bright colors. What's going on here, a shortage of fabric dye? For a few years now my 2 favored retailers for cotton t-shirts have eliminated vivid blues and instead offer navy, very dark teal, beige, white, gray, and black. Since my mother and I prefer black or navy bottoms, we rely on a rich rainbow of colors in tops to liven us up so we don't look like we're going to funerals every day of the week. A beige, gray, or black t-shirt doesn't cut it paired with black pants! If not too Grim Reaper-ish, then just plain ole dull!

We love vibrant pink, blue, red, and purple. I'm puzzled by the disappearance of bright-colored t-shirts from the shelves of so many retailers for a few years already. Whoever thought Uniqlo and Old Navy would stop offering basic cotton t-shirts in at least 4 lively colors. I assumed t-shirts were their bread-and-butter items. And years of no vivid blue, a favorite color of many customers (including me) is odd, indeed. My mom likes pink which Uniqlo has, but hey, we need to mix it up and can't just wear one color over and over!

Of course, I love the excellent quality of t-shirts from Landsend and L.L.Bean too but don't want to pay $22+ for every t-shirt I buy. I like to supplement higher-caliber t-shirts with good enough cheaper t-shirts that can be mindlessly worn, machine washed, and dried. My family tends to hang dry, i.e., baby, our pricier cotton. Frankly once on your back, nobody knows the difference. The difference in cost means you can purchase brand-new t-shirts more often. At Walmart's bargain prices, the re-buys truly are a wash!😊

I found glowing colors at Walmart. The selection is also decent in quality, style, and price. Not boxy or too thin or low-quality at all! Moreover, Walmart is partnered with many different brands, and by visiting a store and/or reading item descriptions and customer reviews, you'll find your preferences whether they are for 100 cotton fabric, thick or thin material, fitted or relaxed, crewneck or v-neck, solid hues or patterns.

Hanes is one of Walmart's vendors

Ok, great! But, what's going on? Why have so many other retailers dropped bright colors in t-shirts? How you noticed the switch to muted or dark hues also? 

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Aquamarine Is Emerald's Cleaner First Cousin

Queen Elizabeth received her acquamarine taria, earrings, and necklace from the people of Brazil in 1953 and 1957. Later she added more aquamarine pieces to her collection.

On Monday we discussed colored gemstones. Today let's focus on Aquamarine (Be3Al2Si6O18) as it has no or few visible inclusions. As a type 1 gemstone, it is both eye clean and loupe clean, as well as, a relatively hard gemstone, rating a 7.5 - 8 on Moh's Hardness Scale making it strong enough for everyday wear.

Photo: Gemstones (on YouTube) as it was found in nature.

What a difference a cut and polish make. This is the famous Roosevelt  Aquamarine, which President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave to Eleanor Roosevelt.

The teal gemstone is a beryl just like its green (or red) first cousin, an emerald. A few of the key differences between the 2 gemstones are worth noting. They include emerald has many inclusions (internal flaws) and is rare in nature making it expensive while aquamarine is free of inclusions and abundant in nature making it less expensive.  

The Don Padro Aquamarine

March's birthstone, as well as, the state stone of Colorado was named after the waters of the bluish-green sea. The sea beryl gets its depth of color from the amount of iron in the crystal. Darker-hued blues and greenish blues are the most valuable aquamarine gems. Maxine, a rare deep blue aquamarine, has its own special name. Aquamarine is found mainly in granite pegmatites [crystalline granite] but can also form in the veins of metamorphic rocks.

The Hirsh Aquamarine

The soothing teal beryl is mined mainly in Brazil, but it is also found in Nigeria, Madagascar, Zambia, Pakistan, Mozambique, the United States, Australia, Minas Gerais and so many other parts of the world.

What ordinary people might buy, give me! :) 

Perhaps it's fair to say the semi-precious gemstone is underappreciated by the masses, although not by royalty. [BTW: precious and semi-precious are arbitrary classifications of gemstones that jewelers agree should be retired.] 

Queen Elizabeth's Brazillian aquamarine brooch is another piece in the set gifted to her in 1953.

Queen Elizabeth II has a gorgeous set of aquamarine jewelry she wore on many occasions. 

The Kock Aquamarine Kokoshnik replica of the personal jewelry of Empress Alexandra, wife of the last Czar of Russia, Nicolas II. 

Likewise, Czarina Alexandra Romanov of Russia (1872 - 1918) loved the stones so much that Nicolas II often gave them to her. The above tiara is believed to have been made in Germany in 1910 for her by jewelers Robert and Louis Kock, yet there are no photographs that survived the revolution of the Empress wearing it. Its aquamarines and diamonds are set in platinum and gold. The set resides in Japan's Albion Art of Institute.

Photo: Geologyin

Teal is a dreamy, tranquil, versatile color and a popular shade. For jewelry lovers who desire big, clear, flawless, affordable gemstones, you really can't go wrong with aquamarine. You'll get more beryl for the money!

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