It's the Little Things

I feel it is my civic duty to inform you all of the wonder that is Fresh Brown Sugar Body Polish.  I have been devoted to Fresh products for some years now, beginning with the Hesperides body wash and lotion and migrating to the  Lemon Sugar scent over time.  But one product always eluded me.  On many a trip to a Fresh store or Sephora, I've lingered over the display for the body polish, but couldn't bring myself to fork over that kind of coin for a freakin' scrub.  Well, finally, my waiting, wondering and longing has come to an end. 

My mom got me a jar of it for my birthday, and I am here to tell you it is every bit as heavenly as I'd imagined.  It smells even better in the shower than it does in the store, and it makes your skin ever-so-baby-soft.  The grains are big and exfoliate-y, and the scent has a hint of citrus to tone down the sweet notes.  I exhort you to try it.  It's expensive, but the jar is huge -- it might better be described as a drum -- and will last a good long while.  So go!  Go forth and purchase! 

In other groundbreaking bathing news, I have located the coveted Softsoap Pomegranate and Mango body wash, which was initially recommended by Metalia and which I first tried when visiting Jonna.  After weeks of searching (or, uh, looking on the shelves of my drugstore), I found a stash at the nearby Duane Reade.  Between that and the scrub and my Fresh stuff, I may never leave the shower. 

(The thing is, none of that was particularly interesting or funny.  I realize that.  Awareness is the first step to recovery.)

Last weekend, I had my first experience ever with a personal shopper.  As part of my birthday extravaganza, my husband found a stylist who would come to our apartment, assess my wardrobe, and shop with me for whatever she felt I needed (i.e., everything except button-down shirts and v-neck sweaters).  After the big reveal of my gifts, though, I did some careful calculations and figured out that paying someone's hourly rate in addition to the cost of the clothing meant that I would net less clothing.  (I know!)  And the thought of having someone drag me around the city to shops that may not be J Crew made me tense and a little shaky, so I cut out the middle man and made an appointment with a personal shopper AT J Crew.  Right there!  At the store!  Does it get any better than that? 

Oh, mama.  Did I have a time!  I emailed with my designated shopper to tell her what I was looking for and how much I wanted to spend, and when I waltzed into the store she'd reserved a dressing room for me and pulled tons of clothes for me to try on, and a couple of hours later I emerged with a boatload of new outfits.  New suits!  A cute corduroy dress!  Sweater vests!  Sweater sets!  Printed shirts!  Sashes!  Jeans!  Somehow, the planets converged and this fall's collection is right up my alley.  I love love love it.  It's cute and preppy but feminine and fun and I want to run skipping down the street laden with shopping bags as in a Pretty Woman-esque scenario, except without having to be a hooker and with much smaller lips.  Also less money. 

It's weird -- if my husband hadn't done this for my birthday, I never would have taken it upon myself to set up the personal shopper (or go buy a bunch of clothes at all), even though it's free and it's the perfect solution for someone like me who loathes setting foot in a store (let alone a dressing room) but has hit-or-miss luck online (even at J Crew, my size varies by garment/fabric/tidal patterns in a maddening way).  I have trouble giving myself permission to spend money, even on things I need (except, apparently, anything that is meant to be used in the shower), so without his endorsement it would have seemed wasteful and indulgent, like treating myself to a spa day for no particular reason.  Which is silly, of course, since I work hard and bring in plenty of dough, and it's not like updating my fall wardrobe at J Crew involves profligate spending in the vein of Michael Jackson and his 20-minute, $10 million shopping sprees in Vegas.  Although now that I've had a taste of the good life, I'm not going back.  Oh, I'll still shop the online final sale compulsively and hold the line on my arbitrary spending limits (no shirt over $80 and so on), but now I've got a personal shopper, and I'm not afraid to use her.

To close this most pointless and frivolous of entries, I shall give you all a little something to look forward to:  an entry written by someone other than me!  Yes, people, it's time for another guest post.  We've previously been graced with the literary stylings of my dad and his true tale of the Man from Wuhan, and my brother with his cautionary tale of inadvertent cross-dressing.  Well, my brother is coming back again with a hair-raising story of his recent aviation adventure.  I hope you'll all listen carefully and raise your hands if you have any questions.   

Comments

[jonniker]

YAY! And for everyday shopping, it's not just the personal shopper that helps, because oh yes, they help, and I've used them, as I told you. On a regular basis, when personal shopping is impractical, the remarkable assistance of the sales associates is something I often forget to leverage. At a semi-decent store (J Crew, Ann Taylor, Banana), they're shockingly good at helping you pick out things that suit you, at least here. I find when I seek out a good sales associate and explain what I want, they come through every. single. time. And they win, because they make more money, because I buy all of it.

[metalia]

FINE. I'll get the Fresh body scrub. You know, I recommend a drug store body wash that costs 12 cents, and you hypnotize me to buy this one, which costs eleventy billion dollars. Not fair! ;)

*Runs to Sephora*

[Shannon]

What a very thoughtful husband you have!

Glad you had fun!

[Mar]

NEXT time you you're in the mood for some lavish treatment and spending, book an appointment with Bloomingdales personal shoppers -- it's been a while, but I believe their services are free (w/purchase...) and you get the range of the store made so much more manageable for the amateur. Perfect for pre-season shopping, suitwear updating, etc.