Monday, May 12, 2014

What I learned from Neiman Marcus

If you want to know where I was last week, I explained the situation here. The short story is that my mom nominated me to be a part of Neiman Marcus' Faces of Beauty campaign that will launch this fall. They picked me and five other women out of what one of the stylists said was 80,000 entries. Quite honestly, the whole experience was surreal. Though the experience lasted only Monday and Tuesday, I was recovering from so little sleep the rest of the week. I think I'm getting old. My lack of sleep early in the week resulted in an end of the week that went as follows: I ran into a doorknob, almost fell down the stairs, and saw stars for half of the day. I wrote the bulk of this post in a fog of fatigue. Of course, I didn't get around to posting it until now.

Anyway, I figured I'd start telling you about the experience by providing you a list of some things I learned. The whole experience overloaded my brain with nuggets of wisdom. However, several of the nuggets slipped through the holes of my Swiss cheese brain.

1. You lightly tap lotion under your eyes using your ring finger because, out of all of your fingers, it creates the least amount of pressure. (News to me!)

2. The Beauty Department Manager, Claudio, who was paired up with me, used the following analogy to describe your skin. The skin on your neck is thicker, like cardboard. The skin on your chin, cheeks, and forehead is a little less thick like printer paper. The skin around your eyes is like tissue paper because it's only two layers of skin; whereas, the other skin on your face is three layers thick. This is why we have to be especially careful about putting on eye cream and removing eye make up.

3. If, like me, your face looks like it's melting by the end of the day, you need to apply a mattifying primer under your make up. One of the Beauty Department Managers, Alyson, recommended Laura Mercier's oil-free primer. (I'll try it out and let you know how it goes.)

4. One of the other winners who is a doctor said that I needed to see a medical doctor to do the following for my acne scarring: microdermabrasion first, glycol acid at 30% second, and finally liquid nitrogen. She said it does not peel the skin on your face. (Last time I got a face treatment, it made me look like a snake shedding its skin.)

5. You should not apply perfume to your wrists and then rub them together because that friction creates heat, which changes the chemical make up of the perfume, thereby altering its smell. You should apply perfume to your sternum and behind your knees/on your calf because those are the heat zones of your body. The heat will make the smell waft off of you. If you put it behind your legs, the smell will travel upward and create a forcefield of smell around you. Now that I've had sinus surgery and can smell teenage funk like a bloodhound, I think I might need to practice this perfume applying method.

Tomorrow, I plan to tell you more about my trip. Is there anything in particular that you'd like to know?

I feel like a total turd because I was supposed to post on Monday to let you all know about the birthday dress look I suggested for Ada's birthday celebration, and she so kindly posted it on her blog. I actually DID write a post on my phone, which I thought published. I later found out that the dang post never actually posted. In fact, it disappeared somewhere into cyberspace. Forgive me, Ada!

Today, I'll show you the look that I planned for Ada. I told her that this look is perfect for a festival downtown or a little bit more of a relaxed birthday. Of course, for night, I could ditch the chambray/hat/flats and add some fun heels!



The Look:
Dress: Casual Corner Annex (it's actually a petite even though I'm not usually "petite" because of my height)--I bought this thing SO many years ago and wore it to my students' high school graduation last year. Here's a similar one from Macy's, a really cute navy/white option from Nordstrom, and a dress with bigger polka dots from Ruche (this option is less than $50!)

Chambray: Old Navy (find it here--mine is the "light" chambray.)

Flats: Sole Society (it's still available and called the "Enji" flat--find it here)

Hat: It has no tag, but I'm pretty sure it's from Target a year or two ago. (I love this men's version from Target, and it's less than $20. Don't mind if you do.)





Mom loves this picture, so I'm posting it for her :)




9 comments:

  1. Haha, I'm such a naive girl, but I had no idea most of those information points you posted! I did know about using your ring finger around your eye, but of course I don't use that tip at all. Sounds like a fun experience, though, and I'm looking forward to hearing more about it! I really like the look you put together too!

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  2. I'm pretty sure that doctor would have told me the same thing about my skin... I just need to make myself spend the money to get all that stuff done!

    I have been looking forward to hearing about your experience! Will you tell us more about what you did during the time and all that business? And of course, all of your beauty tips were awesome - thanks for sharing!

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  3. Ooh yes I've been wanting to hear all about how it went! Thanks for sharing! I'm pretty sure I heard the ring finger tapping thing from Tina Fey (not in person, obviously, unfortunately haha) and have been doing it for years! And I apply perfume to my sternum but didn't know about the back of the legs thing, I'll have to try that!

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  4. Perfume on the back of the knees? Hm, sounds like a trick. Like when people tell you that if your palm is the size of your face, you have cancer (and then they push your palm into your face). Anyway, maybe it's just because I'm nosy, but I want to know what the other five women were like. Do any of them blog? Were they down to earth? Or were you the nut of the fruitcake? (Which, by the way, I did not know the name of until I asked my husband, "What's the name of the thing that people get at Christmas that is like a cake with fruit in it?")

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  5. I know that I haven't "known" you for that long but I think you totally deserve to be a Neiman Marcus face of beauty! How cool! I think I actually knew many of the tips you listed here, but heck if I use any of them. Haha. Maybe I'll start trying a little bit harder :)

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  6. You look gorgeous!! And what a fun experience--I love the tip about perfume behind the knees! Who knew?!

    Tori
    FashionBlingGirlyThings

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  7. Hearing about your trip is so exciting! I didn't realize you were supposed to just pat cream on under your eyes instead of rub. I mean, it makes sense but I never thought about it. Those are some great tips!

    I absolutely love that dress on you. It's got a fun pattern AND a gorgeous drapey skirt. So so so pretty!

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  8. Hello DANIELLE!!

    Finally girl you are ALIVE!! I thought about E-Mailing you but I figured you were too busy. I am glad your trip went so well, tired and all. Thanks for sharing all of your tips. I knew the one about behind the knee.

    Thanks for participating in my Birthday post, too. I forgive you, I forgive you. Now stop by the blog to see that Birthday Post and other new ones. I missed you. =)

    <3 Ada.

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  9. Ah! So many fun tips you learned during your time in Texas! I'm SO not a "beauty" girl (I don't even use eye cream...or foundation...or perfume...I'm the laziest), but it was really interesting to read all that you learned! I'm catching up on blogs now and I know you have more posts about your trip, and I can't wait to read them all!!!

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Feel free to throw some witticisms my way.