December's Six
Image Credits: upper-left tile via @rituals, upper-middle tile via www.loreal.com, upper-right tile via www.ambitiouskitchen.com, lower-right tile via amazon.com, lower-middle and lower-right tiles credit unknown.
The Dutch company, Rituals, is something of a superstar in the cosmetics/home/bath and body industry. I had never heard of it until I noticed a crazy long line outside of a newly-opened store. When I later checked it out, I was so surprised at what I found: the store is beautiful and spa-like (for starters, you’re greeted with hot green tea), and leaves you with the impression that you’d have to spend a fortune to walk out the door with something. The surprise is that it’s actually not expensive. While Ritual‘s offerings set you back quite a bit more than its drugstore counterparts (i.e. candles for about $30, body wash for about $10, body scrubs for about $20), their price point is competitive compared to its department store counterparts. And the comparison to department store lines is appropriate because the scents are sophisticated and unique, the packaging is attractive, and the formulas are great. I love the cedar and orange notes in the Happy Buddha line and the herbacious freshness of the Hammam line, to name a few. Check Rituals out here.
One more cosmetics recommendation while we’re on the subject. While I wear makeup no more than twice a week, I now don’t even bother wearing mascara unless it’s on top of this amazingly effective L’Oreal primer (here for $6). Truly, your lashes will appear twice as full and long with this primer than without it. The trick is to make sure you’re putting your mascara on top of it while it’s still wet—to achieve this, do one eye at a time.
My friend recommended a recipe to me that she promised would elevate me to hero status as one of the few omnivores in an otherwise vegan family. She said they’re absolutely delicious, so they’re on my to-make queue. Find the recipe for Ambitious Kitchen’s salted tahini caramel millionaire’s bars here. Let’s make them together!
Now onto less fluffy material. My husband and I cannot wait to start watching “A French Village,” which fortunately can be streamed for free via Amazon Prime. If you need motivation to commit to a subtitled series, read this terrific review by Martha Bayles.
I thoroughly enjoyed Aeon’s interview with Philip Pullman (find it here) and especially his embrace of fairy tales and thinking-by-analogy as crucial to scientific thinking. In an age of rationalism and materialism, such a position is refreshing. All the more reason to continue to include such stories in our kids’ bedtime story rotations.
I first heard Edward Holcroft in my sister’s car and had one hell of a time finding him and more of his music. That was years ago—fast forward to now, and some good samaritan (who seems borderline-obsessed with him given the picture montages) uploaded many of his tunes to YouTube. I especially love “Trains,” “Helen of Troy,” and “Beyond the Sea” (listen here, here, and here).
Alison