There’s something reassuring and comforting about rituals. Instead of rushing around, mindlessly going through the motions without paying attention, how about slowing down and focusing on each movement, as in a Japanese tea ceremony? During these darker, colder days of winter, I’ve revived the beauty cleansing ritual with Clarins Crème Douce Démaquillante (Extra-Comfort Cleansing Cream). Although the label says “for dry or sensitized skin”, this cleansing cream works very well on my (normal) skin. It feels like luxuriously soft pillows of whipping cream, yet it effectively takes off all makeup. I love using it in the morning and evening, followed by the Eau de Confort cleansing water which has a slight hint of peach. Clarins has a rather unusual instruction on how to use this cleansing cream but I’ve come love this daily ritual:

Warm Cleansing Cream to skin temperature in the palms of the hands. Apply by gently placing the flat of the hands over the face. Hold for several seconds without pressing. Briskly lift the hands off the face. Repeat 5-6 times, including on the neck: the milk will gradually thicken and create a suction effect to lift off make-up and impurities without irritating or pulling the skin. Rinse with water or remove with a tissue.

If you are using the cream to remove makeup, you will discover that you don’t need a cleansing water or toner afterwards. There’s no residue to mop up. You might need mascara remover for certain types of waterproof mascara.

You can buy Clarins products in most departments stores or online at Clarins.com.

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I have a weakness for paper goods: blank notebooks bound in leather or cloth, quirky greeting cards, unusual notecards, and even old-fashioned school notebooks. I look for paper that feels good which means different things for different occasions. For example, if I am writing with a fountain pen in a blank notebook, I want the paper to be smooth so that my pen does not skip or accumulate fibers.

If I am sending a greeting card or a note card, I want the paper to feel substantial, heavy, and to have texture like tiny grooves. Ideally there should be a good paper store in every city which sells notebooks, paper for writing and printing cards and stationery, and envelopes so you can go in and feel the paper. Since this is not going to happen anytime soon, our best option is the online paper goods store.

I found one called Felt & Wire Shop. They sell beautiful note cards, greeting cards, blank notebooks, invitations, posters, gift wrapping paper, memo pads and more, from different designers.

Felt & Wire also has a blog, which I read regularly: http://www.feltandwire.com/.

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Giorgio Armani makeup favorites by Esme Vos on Polyvore.com

By now, you have seen the holiday makeup kits stacked up on cosmetics counters in department stores. For some reason, cosmetics companies believe that our faces should be as decked out as Christmas trees: that means lots of sparkly eye shadows, heavy blush, glittery powders in lurid colors, and more. This is a mistake. Many women will be going to a holiday party in a sequined dress or wearing more jewelry than usual. Applying heavy, sparkly makeup is vulgar and unattractive; it throws your entire look off balance. What to do?

Go to the Giorgio Armani counter and check out their makeup range. Armani has a few bold colors but even those go on sheer in the beginning, allowing you to build up more color, just in case you do decide to go for the Christmas tree look. To help you narrow down the best products, see the photo above. These are the Armani products I recommend (beginning from left, clockwise):

• 4-color eye shadow: finely milled powder makes this shadow silky and easy to apply, colors are gorgeous;This palette is called the Pink Light palette;
• Single color eye shadow #5 – silky, rich brown color;
• Blending blush duo: a cream to powder blush which gives the face a fresh, healthy youthful glow;
• Rouge d’Armani: the latest lipstick from Armani, emollient yet long-lasting. The color above is #403, a warm red;
• Luminous Silk Foundation: cited by most women as the best of all the Armani makeup products. This foundation goes on sheer and makes the skintone look more even; and
• Luminous Silk Powder: use this powder to finish your look.

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