Deliberate Consumption – Beauty

Deliberate Consumption is my new favorite thing. So much my new favorite thing, that it really is the only topic I want to write about on this blog these days.

What I mean when I say “deliberate consumption” is that my intention for myself is to make deliberate, careful choices about what I consume. From just what I see in print advertising and total real-estate of shopping institutions, I would say that my demographic (nearly 30, femme, white, middle class woman) is probably the most sought after for dollars. I may be overgeneralizing, and certainly have no facts to back this up, just my own observation, which being a nearly 30, femme, white , middle class woman may be scewed towards what I notice and take interest in. I’m trying desperately to overcome the idea that I “need” something, and figure out where these desires come from, and what the product I’m desiring really does for me.
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Bags! and plus-sized shopping, and good food

Gwen Stefani’s company, Harajuku Lovers, has some pretty funky bags available at Macy’s. While checking in to Macy’s yesterday to get some cosmetics, I was struck by the gratuitously cute bags, but what really struck me was the LeSportsac bags. Holy crap! Supercute Tokidoki bags overwhelp the cute of Harajuku Lovers. The price is a bit higher, but then again, this is better design and more durable (at least, more durable looking.) I bought a shoulder bag for going around Japan in a month. I was so impressed with the designs on the LeSportsac bags, that I purchased a another designer bag for the spring designed by French designer Fafi.
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Sustainable Living?

This is another Femme post. I hate to be stereotypically anything, but I do love my chocolate, shoes, handbags and skin care products. My husband and I frequently discuss our slow creeping moves towards more sustainable living through our food and food-shopping choices. This has gotten me thinking more about the other products I consume daily and how they impact our world.

Everything is a trade-off. The vegan who chooses to not wear leather and to eat a primarily soy, wheat and corn based diet inevitably supports the use of petrochemicals through the making of plastics (can’t use plastics made from caseine!) used in packaging, clothing and shoes and through the use of petrochemicals as fertilizers for all those non-animal foods. The aim is to really make the best, most informed decisions with the least amount damage total.
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Don’t Forget How Lucky You Are

My job, and my marriage, has afforded me many luxuries. Now that I’m making at least twice as what I made in retail, I’m even more keenly aware of the disparities between my lifestyle and those lifestyles of the rest of the US – and even the rest of the world. I look at the tag of my new handbag and I wonder who was the Chinese person/s who stitched it. Where do they sleep? What do they eat? What do they love? What makes them laugh? What kind of handbag do they carry? I can’t think about it too hard, or even feel too guilty. I’ve only come to that conclusion because all of us in America can sit back and say we feel bad for those worse off than us, but none of us, in honesty, would be reluctant to give up an eighth of the freedoms and luxuries we have. The luxury of being able to find food at midnight in most places in America, and to be able to purchase that luxury, is unbelievable.
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2007 – New Year Favorites

This is going to be one of those femme posts. Seven years ago, I swore off make-up, cut my hair short (well, my friend Allida actually did the honors) dyed it aqua and declared my independence. Now my hair is an unnatural red, to my shoulders (with bangs!) and during work days, I do not go out without make-up. Not only that, but after starting out my adulthood with a chain-wallet, I now carry a designer purse. In this post, I will tell you what a few of my favorite femme things are!
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