I’ve said it before and I’ll proudly say it again — when it comes to mascara (whether drugstore, premium or luxury) Essence’s Lash Princess formula, is hands down my favorite of all time. When I found out the drugstore beauty brand was launching a new member to the Lash Princess collection, I knew I had to get my hands on it STAT. While I love the original Lash Princess Falsies Effect Mascara and have been using it for over five years (I always use the waterproof version), I simply had to give the new Lash Princess Curl Mascara a review.

Essence decided to launch this new addition to the Lash Princess lineup because fans had been requesting a curling formula for years — the collection already includes False Lash Effect (my tried and true holy grail), Sculpted Volume, and Volume formulas — each designed with different formulas and brush shapes to help create the desired result. The Lash Princess Curl Mascara is designed with a peanut-shaped wand, which allows you to get from root to tip and build volume while maximizing the curl factor. Best of all, this formula doesn’t flake or clump — sure, sometimes I do like that look, but on the daily — not so much.

Courtesy of Essence.

Buy: Essence Lash Princess Curl Mascara $4.99

Compared to the other mascaras in the Lash Princess line, the Lash Princess Curl Mascara definitely adds more of a lift and curve, but the difference is subtle. With that being said, the formula is still stellar and it wears all day without smudging, smearing, or transferring — and yes, I did try the non-waterproof version and it held up like a dream. For reference, I applied this mascara at eight in the morning in ultra-humid Austin Texas weather before boarding a flight back home to Los Angeles, which made for about a twelve-hour day, so I’d say it passed the long-wear-friendly test without a doubt.

Courtesy of Mia Maguire.

Above see the difference between my bare lashes (left) and two thin coats of Lash Princess Curl Mascara (right).

Buy: Essence Lash Princess Curl Mascara $4.99

Full disclosure: my best pandemic beauty habit was being consistent with my brow and eyelash serum (I swear by both the GrandeLASH and GrandeBROW formulas, BTW), so my lashes are already in good shape, but this mascara really did tighten the curl without having to use an eyelash curler. In comparison to its fellow Lash Princess counterparts, the Curl a drier, thicker consistency, which I personally think helps add more volume to the lashes as opposed to solely length.

Unlike the Sculpted Volume formula, however, the Curl doesn’t allow you to build up as many layers without clumping, but that’s the price you pay for that extra curl. Overall, while the Lash Princess Falsies Effect will remain my ride-or-die, the new Curl Mascara has definitely made its way into my go-to mascaras drawers and you best believe I’ll be taking it with me the next time I travel.

My cellphone rang after 10 PM, as I put on soft pajamas. Screen said it was my Chicago son.

“Hi, what’s up?” I forced a chipper voice, my intuition light flashing red.

“Sorry it’s late, Mom… but we need help!”

Trouble Stirring or Great Times Rising?

I sat down. My heart hammered, fearful for my four-year-old grandchild, afraid Covid-19 caught their household. Did my son get laid off? Most calls from him during the pandemic weren’t joyful.

He continued, “My wife and I are going nuts in our cramped townhouse. Working virtually plus taking care of our son is tough! Can’t go anywhere in Chicago with this lockdown. That plus getting our place ready to sell makes everything impossible… We argue a lot.” His voice broke up, but not from a bad cell phone connection.

“We want to drive out and stay with you and Charlie (my husband) for a month, maybe more, and bring the dog, too.”

An hour later, I said good night, after talking through a plan to bring my son’s family to our upstate NY house. (That included everyone getting tested for Covid-19 and following CDC guidelines.) Two weeks later, they dragged into our driveway in their packed SUV, after almost 19 hours and 900 miles on the interstate.

Bringing the Family Together

A few days after our clan arrived, another four-year-old grandson and his parents joined the fun! Our New York City daughter also wanted to escape from their crowded townhouse with no backyard for their kiddo to play. Family #2 ended up overlapping time with Family #1, spending many extended weekends and a few full weeks together at our house.

Good thing we have 5 bedrooms, 3½ bathrooms, big double office, large kitchen, great room, huge deck, and an acre lot with interesting outdoor activities. We could accommodate everyone – even the dog.

The cousins loved being together. Living about 1,000 miles apart, they rarely spent more than a few days at each other’s house during special visits. While they played and did activities with Grandma and Grandpa, their parents could do their professional work uninterrupted, accomplishing much. We also prepared most meals and managed household tasks to free them up.

These 42 “Camp Grandma & Grandpa” Activities Made Each Day Special

• Gathering wood for the crackling firepit – to toast marshmallows and make delicious sticky s’mores with graham crackers and chocolate.
• Riding in a restored vintage Radio Flyer wagon – originally was daughter’s ride 35 years ago.
• Running through the spray from a gigantic, inflated plastic elephant’s trunk in the backyard.
• Building castles, roads, and water moats in a big sandbox shaded by towering trees.
• Swimming in the refreshing pool with floaty tubes and wind-up fish toys.
• Drawing colorful rainbows and designs with sidewalk chalk.
• Baking and eating yummy gingersnaps, chocolate chip, and peanut butter cookies.
• Picking lettuce from the garden and watering the other growing veggies previously planted—tomatoes, green beans, carrots, beets, and basil.
• Helping set the big brass table and for family dinners together on the deck.
• Laughing in the bathtub bubbles before nighttime jammies.
• Hitting colorful wooden croquet balls through the hoops.
• Speeding scooters down the driveway and trying out a junior-sized bike with training wheels.
• Turning the great room into a big playroom, complete with a camping tent for two.
• Dangling from a tree rope swing.
• Trying to catch fireflies at dusk.
• Reading favorite books while snuggling close.
• Writing poetry with Grandma’s prompts and proudly framing the result to display in the hallway.
• Chasing the dog around the fenced yard after she figured out what real grass was!
• Helping make homemade waffles for breakfast and filling the little squares with maple syrup.
• Playing with a life-sized stuffed tiger cub toy and a menagerie of others.
• Packing a picnic lunch, colorful tablecloth, lawn chairs, and frisbees, for a state park outing.
• Assembling picture puzzles without forcing pieces to fit.
• Building little racecars with tiny-sized Legos and racing them across the great room.
• Watching popcorn tumble out of the hot air popper and turning this into an impossible-to-resist sweet caramel candy corn.
• Begging for “just one more story, please” before bedtime tuck in.
• Walking masked up through the neighborhood for a change of scenery.
• Running across the lawn after the kickball.
• Building a fort with sheets and chairs.
• Popping 4^th of July “bang snaps” (with supervision) for a minuscule explosion and audible crack.
• Playing simple board games including Chutes and Ladders.
• Creating a birthday card and putting lots of candles on a cake baked for dad.
• Keeping screen time to a minimum to watch a few educational shows during cool-down breaks.
• Assisting to grill burgers on the deck.
• Planting bright pink geraniums along the front walk, with Grandpa’s guidance.
• Printing alphabet letters in pre-school practice workbooks.
• Building tall towers with red plastic Solo cups and crashing them down.
• Jumping in backyard puddles after a rain shower, splashing each other.
• Making homemade popsicles and sucking these on hot afternoons outside.
• Hiking a mile around a municipal park lake trail and skipping rocks in the water.
• Shucking sweet corn for roasting and eating it on the cob.
• Listening for different bird songs.
• Being in the fresh air outdoors whenever possible!

Every day was an adventure with our grandsons. Grandpa and I tumbled into our bed most evenings, falling asleep faster than the time it took to eat one of the kids’ homemade popsicles.

Here’s a one-minute video including some of our active days together:

Plans for the 2021 Summer Are Underway

This coming August, our family will be together again. Indeed, several aunts and uncles also want to join us for a few days. Some will base out of a nearby Airbnb, depending on everyone’s travel plans.

Being past the worst of the pandemic, we can add activities such as enjoying a nearby playground, amusement park, miniature golf course, local ice-cream shop, boat ride, some restaurant dining, and more without fear. With everyone vaccinated except our ineligible young grandsons, we expect to be masked in some public spaces. But mostly, we’ll be freer than we were last year.

Treasured Time Together

The best benefit of “Camp Grandma & Grandpa” for us during last summer’s pandemic peak was precious time with our grandsons and their parents. We never shared this many weeks together with them since their own childhood… and they probably won’t be able to spend this much time together with us in the future.

The parents caught up on professional work. Family tensions lessened. The cousins bonded beautifully. Our Chicago family even sold their townhouse virtually while out-of-state. Then they started the process of buying a more spacious house in the suburbs. That included a backyard “to run around outside… like in NY.”

Was all this hard work? Yes, certainly. I’d be Pollyannaish if I said everything went smoothly all the time. But everybody put in effort to make it work, and I believe we became closer because of our treasured time together. These happy memories will linger long in my heart.

What have been some of your most cherished times with family members? Have you hosted a variation of “Camp Grandma & Grandpa”? Has the pandemic impacted your gathering with grandchildren? Have you considered writing a brief memoir like this as part of your own legacy writing?

After you’ve been through a personal disaster there is usually an upside. It’s the time when you have regained your equilibrium and understood that you learned important lessons. You start making new and better decisions and feel proud that you made it through.

But, how did you get there? I’ve been through several of these upheavals throughout my life and I’d like to tell you about one that I still remember vividly.

Don’t Let Age Deter You

In 2008, I lost my business. The downturn in the economy abruptly ended my career, and I was forced to retire. Not that I wasn’t appreciated for my work, but with the recession, my clients could no longer financially support my services. I was already 69.

I bought into the idea that I was “older,” and therefore not hirable in younger recruiters’ eyes. I had never thought about not working, because I loved my work. But now, what was I going to do?

Searching for My Next Me

Being the active person I am, I looked for new outlets to enjoy. I became a very involved volunteer, joined a walking club, and took classes for people over 55 at the local university (no homework!).

I tried an acting class at the community college to test out my skills, and even became a Weight Watcher leader. All these activities and more kept me busy using my energy and abilities. But something was still missing inside me. Something was waiting to be born.

Be Open to New Ideas

Then, one day, I picked up the newspaper and read an article about a man who was a retirement life coach. And, I thought, I can do that! After all, I have solid experience. I’ve led workshops, facilitated retreats, consulted and coached people at different companies in organizational behavior skills and processes.

I know how to help people reach their goals and improve their lives. And, I’ve just gone through my own forced retirement. I get it! I immediately went online to search for how to become a certified retirement life coach. I found and took a 10-week class and was ready.

As I started to focus on my new career, my other skills began to show up. I wanted to speak professionally again, and write another book, and write for publication, and on and on. I wanted to give workshops on how to have a life after retirement because through my personal experience and research, I was forming my thoughts on what people can do at any age to create their best lives.

I also learned that when people don’t have a reason to get up in the morning, they get sick, get depressed or die. I wanted to help. Before I knew it, I was creating my next business.

Today Has Overcome Yesterday Big Time

Today, I’m doing it all. I have a new business and I have a life. I’ve written my book: Revivement: Having a Life After Making a Living. I’m speaking and writing and more, and I’m having a blast.

Here’s How to Reinvent Yourself

So when disaster strikes, here are eight ways to reinvent yourself:

#1: Take control. Remember, you get to choose what you want your life to be like. It’s always your choice.

#2: Take action. Find activities and try them out. Keep what you like and discard the others.

#3: Use your skills when volunteering; this helps you and helps others.

#4: Don’t buy into ageism. No matter your age, it’s up to you how you feel.

#5: Know your skills stay with you. You’re as good or better than ever.

#6: Check out local resources for things to do. There are many activities in your neighborhood and online.

#7: Make sure to interact with others and gain support.

#8: Listen to your inner voice and let it guide you to your future.

You don’t have to wait until you are a certain age to have a great life. The time is now!

Have you ever turned a bad situation into a good one? What happened and what did you learn from it? Are you still coping with a loss and need support to get through it? Since lost and found are part of life, let’s start a conversation that can take us to higher levels of overcoming and personal success.

Crystal King Minkoff’s $95,000 Purse

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 11 Episode 5 Fashion

Dana Wilkey and her $25000 sunglasses can move on over when she’s done getting your additional fifteen seconds of fame talking about Erika Jayne’s personal business on Hulu because Crystal Kung Minkoff has arrived with her $95,000 Birkin bag! And if that wasn’t expensive enough, it’s so rare and hard to find the only one I could dig up online is going for $195,000! So unless you or someone you share a bank account with is about to produce the next Lion King, I suggest you take a look at a Style Stealer and Hakuna Matata.

The Realest Housewife,

Big Blonde Hair

Click Here to Shop her Hermes Birkin 20 Sellier Faubourg

Rare: Now $195,000!!!

Originally posted at: Crystal King Minkoff’s $95,000 Purse

Garcelle Beauvais’ White Embellished Blazer

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 11 Episode 5 Fashion

On tonight’s Real Housewives of Beverly Hills some major news about Erika Jayne’s marriage to Tom Girardi continues to unfold. And while that is pretty shocking, the fact that Garcelle Beauvais’ white embellished blazer is sold out is quite the opposite.

The Realest Housewife,

Big Blonde Hair

Click Here to See her Zadig + Voltaire Visko Blazer

Originally posted at: Garcelle Beauvais’ White Embellished Blazer