The Shop Tart used to be mightily offended at being called a girl, and she still is, if the usage merits offense. But when she herself uses the term, in reference to herself and a friend? Totally okay, because they are cute and young and adorable. Right? Right. Anyhow, the other day, she and one of the girls from the office headed to Nick’s House of Pizza. This is the sort of place where deals get done, at least in the Shop Tart’s imagination. An unassuming Greek place in West Columbia, Nick’s is usually filled with guys in suits. And women in work clothes. And people with kids. And grandparents. So, basically, everybody likes it there, and for good reason. The food, including this Greek salad with lamb, is delicious.
Near the end of her meal, the Shop Tart noticed a lot of delicious stuff — a mixture of dressing, cheese and well-marinated lettuce — left on her plate. So she ordered pita bread. Just before she ordered, the guys at the next table asked for tzatziki, which sounded like a good idea, in case she had extra pita left over after sopping up the heart of the salad. Yum.
Yes, that’s a copy of Free Times on the table. The cover story is about Valentine’s Day, and includes a piece about What’s Love, a darn find way to spend the evening. Will you be there? Read all about it in Free Times. Or just show up!
After lunch, the girls decided to finally check out Atomic Owl, Columbia’s only totally awesome, retro-modern, kitsch-filled home shop. (This whole “girls at the office” thing? More than a little inspired by lunch at an old-school Greek place and the shopping that followed.) All the Shop Tart’s coolest Facebook friends* were posting about it and the Shop Tart had been meaning to get there for a while. And is she ever glad she did. Proprietor Nelson Dowdey is the coolest, and has the coolest taste. He does the searching so you don’t have to. First and foremost, the Shop Tart finally found the perfect ice bucket — for $28 — for her pool room. Look and be jeals!
She considered scoring this fab piece, to use as a larger ice bucket or wine chiller for parties.
If she allowed smoking in her pool room — or anywhere in her house — she would have snapped up this smoking set, a holder for cigarettes and a table lighter. Do you smoke? The Shop Tart would like to buy you this for your birthday.
She fell in love with this fab booster seat, the perfect way to make your table child-friendly without being cheesy about it. She feels sure the child would want to use this around the house, too.
Speaking of children, they can be really fun. You could get this snack set for one of their birthdays. They could use it for tea parties. You could borrow it for afternoon espresso and cookies with friends.
Speaking of tea parties, let’s have one!
And we could serve coffee, too. (True Story: These old school percolators brew an excellent cup.)
Need napkins for your next luncheon or tea party? These are all hip as hell and in perfect condition.
And surely you need fab, party-ready serving dishes. These are perfect with that hostess apron you inherited from your grandmother.
But back to the pool room, because you know there was a little Bailey’s in that coffee and you might be ready for a game. And possibly another cocktail. This cheese server is the coolest.
And this one!
Now you’re in the pool room, and you’ve had a drink. You may even be ready for a second, something a little stronger than Amaretto in your coffee. This mad chic bar will save you a trip! (Just $349, because there are a few chips in the veneer, but be honest: You know you’re going to chip that thing sooner or later all on your own, so that shouldn’t stop you from buying this one.)
Need a double decanter? Not afraid of clowns? Done!
And that over head lighting in the pool room, after a couple of cocktails? Not so flattering. This lamp is half of a set. Looooooooove.
Though she doesn’t need them, the Shop Tart was sorely tempted by a pair of chrome lamps with built-in glass top tables. Two for $250, perfect for either side of the sofa.
But what if your sofa isn’t cool enough to manage all that lamp awesomeness? Here you go! (Yes, it goes all the way around. Nothing says party like a rounded sectional couch. Trust.)
Need side tables, but you already have the lamps? Yessssss!
Did you forget to shave before your tea party? Quick and easy, no shower required, electric shaver. The Shop Tart is pretty sure her mom had something similar. (She also had one of those poofy hat hair dryers and a sun lamp.)
Need to whip up a quick meal for your family so you have more time to party? This cookbook is in colour!
And the Shop Tart can’t stop. She had a few more faves, like this stacking snack server for potato chips, pretzels, nuts and “snacks.” The generic snack one may be filled with the snack of your choice, perhaps wasabi peas or Whoppers.
For your next dance party. And it doubles as a console table!
For car snacks! Or you could hook this over your balcony rail.
The Shop Tart has a thing for vintage Pyrex. You should, too.
Speaking of the kitchen, this is pretty awesome, and would serve as a fun reminder of the time the Shop Tart’s father forgot his wallet and left her, her three siblings and her mother at Shoney’s while he went home to get it.
And for the office! Remembering to change it will be good for your brain. Now that our computers set these things for us automatically, we’re getting dumber. You still need to know how to read a wrist watch and change your own calendar.
As you can see, the Shop Tart covered about one millionth of one percent of the goods in Atomic Owl. So you need to go there, yo. The Shop Tart will be back!
By the way, did you win the free skirt? Please check the post to see if you were the lucky winner and contact the Shop Tart to arrange for pick-up. Congratulations!
Don’t forget, the Columbia Women’s Show, featuring Shop Tart hero Rosie Pope, starts today!
In today’s post…
- Nick’s House of Pizza, 1082 Sunset Boulevard, West Columbia, 794-9240
- Atomic Owl, 505 Twelfth Street, West Columbia, 629-5696
Happy Shopping and don’t forget to tell them you read it on the Shop Tart!
* Hi there, Jessica Gibbons, Tracie Broom and Ashley Hayes!!
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9
This post is brought to you by…
…In honor of 29 Heart Days!
You remember this? The Shop Tart made a super fancy, eighties-inspired heartlast year to remind you to take care of yourself.
Did you do it? Did you post it on your fridge? What have you done for yourself this year? Palmetto Health Heart Hospital is on your side. They’re offering you 29 — hooray for Leap Year! — days of heart healthy tips and information. Each day reveals a new video and there are things you can do every day, with your friends and loved ones, to get heart healthy. Check the full calendar here, and mark yours for the ones that look like fun.
The Shop Tart has been rolling out the yoga mat regularly. Yoga is great for relieving mental stress, and the less stress on your brain, the healthier your heart. But you need to get moving, too. The Shop Tart is planning to participate in the Walking Challenge. Who knows? She may even take it up to a light jog! Did you know? Walking for 30 minutes a day can reduce blood cholesterol, lower blood pressure, boost bone strength and burn calories. Use a pedometer to record your steps. The person with the highest number of steps wins a $35 VISA Gift Card. Register here or call 296-3070.
And diet counts. Not the kind of diet you go on before your poolside high school reunion party, but the kind you live. This year, the Shop Tart has been exploring a more heart-healthy, vegetable-full diet, as much for her family as herself. On February 26, she’ll head to the 29 Heart Days website to watch a video featuring dietitian Lisa Akly talking about how to read labels and make heart healthy decisions when buying groceries. She met Lisa at another event, and can attest to the fact that she’s smart, practical and non-judgey.
At 1 pm on Saturday, Lisa will be on the Cooking Stage at the Columbia Women’s Show demonstrating how to make a heart healthy winter soup. Keep an eye on that cooking stage, where you’ll find plenty of healthy cooking demonstrations (and probably see the Shop Tart drooling).
On Valentine’s Day — and every other day — the Shop Tart will be sure to get her daily dose. Of chocolate. Because studies have shown that eating a small, 1.6 ounce portion of dark chocolate every single day can reduce your risk of blood clots and slow down the immune responses that lead to clogged arteries. Hooray for studies!
Don’t know about you, but the Shop Tart is always looking for inspiration in the kitchen. Also? She likes to party. Historic Columbia’s Annual Chili Cook-Offwill be a blast. Did you know? Chili can be healthy. The Shop Tart may just have to enter her now-famous vegan pumpkin chili. Don’t have time to make your own chili? Well, you can’t enter it in the contest, but Rosewood Market makes a fine vegetarian version that’s a Shop Tart family favorite.
Eating well isn’t just good for your heart, it’s good for your social life. Eat well, have more energy to exercise. Exercise more? And you have more energy to party. The Shop Tart is looking forward to dancing the night away at theAmerican Heart Association Heart Ball, a social event with a life-saving purpose: building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. Wear red for extra fun! As an aside, you know what else is good for your heart? Having close friends. According to Dr. Woodson Merrell, “Friendships Promote a Healthy Heart, Even While You Sleep.” Do you remember the prom? And how it was more fun to dance with your friends than your date? Why not score a block of tickets to the Heart Ball and take a crew? Summerdaze is a fun band, y’all!
The Shop Tart is also a fan of massage, because why wouldn’t she be? February 24 is Stress Free Day. Free massages will be given by the Southeastern Institute in the Palmetto Health Heart Hospital Atrium. And you’ll be able to get tips on reducing stress in your life. (Hint: Massages! Especially if they’re free!) Yeah! Free massages! On February 28th — often the last day of the month, but not this year! — head to 701 Whaley Street for the Heart Spa. Lisa Holland Ph.D. will be there to explain the link between emotions and heart health and offer tips to manage emotional stress. Not sure about you, but this is a big one for the Shop Tart, who has had high blood pressure since she was 19. She can feel her heart raise rise when she’s sad (and, yes, that’s one of her reasons for being a yoga junkie). This one will fill up, so call 296-CARE to register.
What are you doing to make your heart sing this month? With the fantastically magical, unseasonably delightful weather we’ve been having, a walk a day should be a pleasure! Don’t forget to check out 29HeartDays.com for tips and a new short and informative video every day. Want to get your heart pumping even when the weather’s dreary? Register to win a Nordictrack treadmill. Go, you!
Happy Heart Health Month and don’t forget to tell them you read it on the Shop Tart!
This post is brought to you by…
…In honor of 29 Heart Days!
FEB
8
This post is brought to you by…
Rosie Pope is lovely. She makes the Shop Tart want to move to New York City and have another baby, just so she can be a client. On her Bravo show Pregnant in Heels, Rosie shepherds new moms through pregnancy, helping them with everything from real estate and decorating to breastfeeding and diapering. Rosie’s first son was born in 2008, her second not long after, and she’s now expecting her third child, a girl. Somehow, she does it all. She had to reschedule her interview with the Shop Tart and they started their conversation the next day by acknowledging that life doesn’t always happen as scheduled. Though the Shop Tart could have chatted with Rosie for three hours, she tried to keep it short.
Shop Tart: [in a totally dorky, fan-girl voice] I am a huge fan! I recently watched the entire first season and one thing I noticed was that — you read that these moms are so dramatic — and I didn’t think they were. It’s so lovely the way you talk to them. You’re so calm. You seem to me to be very empathetic. How do you do that?
Rosie Pope: I think, a few things. Women, we can be our best friends or our worst enemies. I was shocked when I entered into the world of wanting to be a mom and be a parent. I thought it was going to be a much more supportive place. And it ended up being, sometimes amazing, and in other ways, even more judgmental. It got even more extreme, like, “How did you give birth? Did you have an epidural? Did you breastfeed? Did you not?” and I just think it’s a hard enough time as it is and we’re all trying to do the best we can. It really doesn’t help if other people that don’t know our full situation make us feel like the worst parents because we didn’t make the same choices they did. For me it’s really important, as an expert, to point out that there are many ways to be a great mom and it’s not always the same for everyone. One of my favorite stories is that my oldest son, he went on a hunger strike, which I think every toddler goes through, and the only thing he would eat is Fruit Loops. He’s three and I said, “You know what? If you eat Fruit Loops, that’s fine with me.” We would be out, when the show was going, and we got really mixed reactions. People would either be horrified that I was letting my son eat Fruit Loops or really happy that I did just like they did. It’s really important for me to make moms feel okay about the choices they make because generally speaking, we make the best decisions for our kids based on what we are going through. Whether you’re a mom on the show and you have access to all these experts or whether you’re not. We’re still all in this boat together.
ST: Speaking of moms on the show, they do have access to so many things in New York that other women might not have. What do you recommend for moms in smaller towns?
RP: I think now, if they have access to the internet, there are a lot of great places to find information. There’s a lot of misinformation, too, so they have to be careful. There are places like our website, MomPrep.com. All the experts I work with are there. You can ask them questions any time you want for free and they’ll respond to you. Being in a smaller place does mean you have to be much more proactive about rooting for yourself when it comes to the medical care you’re getting or the pediatrician you choose. You have to be much more well-informed to make sure you’re getting the best that you can get.
ST: What do you suggest to moms who have their parenting choices questioned? How can they handle that? And what about mommy guilt?
RP: It’s so hard. We go through it every day. I have mommy guilt all the time, too. People are like, “How do manage to stay so well-adjusted?” I am not well-adjusted. But I think it’s a sign that maybe we’re doing the right thing. If I run around in life being so confident in my abilities, I’d almost be a little worried that maybe I wasn’t as good as I thought I was. If you’re worried about how good you are, you’re probably good to go. It is really hard and the only thing I can say is you have to do research and be sure of the things you’re doing, because people will question you every day. And then you’re tired, and maybe it’s time to feed your baby and your mother in law asks you, “Why are you using formula? You’re going to poison your child” or “Why are you breastfeeding? Your baby won’t gain weight.” Whatever extreme things they say — which are not true — it’s really hard not to break down, but that’s why you have to believe in what you believe in. And the only way to do that is do enough research so they know you’re right. And you have to brush it off.
ST: Looking back to your first pregnancy, if you had had someone like you, what do you wish she had told you?
RP: I think for me the biggest shock was right after I gave birth . Being pregnant is all-consuming and everybody’s so nice to you and helps out. And then, you’re in the hospital and you have a baby and then you’re home, you’re being a mom. Those first few weeks, for me, every time I have a baby, are really, really hard. It doesn’t matter how much I know or how many times people tell me my baby sleeps 18 hours a day. It’s just really emotionally and physically difficult. I think if someone could have told me, “Don’t feel bad, because it’s not a big bunch of roses when you bring the baby home. It’s so beautiful and you love your baby and you want to stay up all day, but it doesn’t mean you’re not going to also be emotional and terrified and sad.” And that’s all okay, as long as it gets better.
Also, you know I’ve had unusual difficulty getting pregnant. I wish I had known going in how different it is for everybody, just like being a mom. It’s really hard when you’re around people who are like, “Oh, it’s so easy for me to get pregnant.” It’s hard not to take their story and think it will be your story. The journey to becoming a parent is really so different for everybody. I usually come to clients at the end, when they’ve been pregnant for a while, but I try to tell people to become educated before they get pregnant. I’ve been working with Clear Blue Easy — they have all the fertility monitors. Whether you use fertility monitors or ovulation sticks, whatever it is, it’s good to be empowered with the information so that you don’t have to worry. It can become very stressful, so it’s good to go into it with a little bit more knowledge. I think knowledge makes the whole thing a lot more enjoyable.
ST: What’s been the biggest change, on or off the show, that you’ve seen in a client?
RP: That’s hard, because so many people change in different ways. I had one client whose partner, the dad, was very free-spirited. He really didn’t believe in what I was doing with the mother. He was very much like, “We don’t need any help. We’ll figure it out. Babies don’t need structure. They’ll tell us what they need.” I was like, “That’s a beautiful way of thinking about life, but a baby still needs to go to bed at a certain time and needs to be fed every so often.” It was very frustrating because he was very idealistic about the way he’d raise the child and he thought of all sorts of extremes, like “Why do we need rules?” I found myself being very conservative in a way that I’m not normally. I was worried that, once they had the baby, their relationship would really suffer, because I could see she was finding it very difficult not having any structure or stability going forward. I hate leaving a couple when I don’t know how it’s going to go, and I didn’t know that it was going to work out very well. What was amazing to me was that for the delivery, he changed. In ten hours of labor, he became this very responsible, very admirable father. I didn’t expect that. He came back to me and said, “You were so patient and so flexible with me that I saw what you were saying. Finally. You know in the moment when my baby was handed to me.” And for me that was so emotional; that felt really good.
ST: I love that you work with the whole family.
RP: [laughs] It’s like couples therapy.
ST: Has your job affected your friendships with other parents? Do they ask you questions all the time or do they feel self-conscious around you, since you’re an expert?
RP: They know I’m pretty easy going, so I get like a million questions. My text message in box is always really, really full. They tend not to ask when they’re pregnant. It’s like, “Oh, she’s so busy, I don’t want to bother her.” But then the second they give birth, it’s like, inundating. I’m like, “See, I told you guys to take a class!”
ST: Over the last few years, you’ve built your brand and a family at the same time. How have you done it all?
RP: I think I have to give up sleep!
ST: In that case, who’s your dermatologist? Because your skin looks great!
RP: [laughs, but does not give up the secret of her glorious skin] You have to resign yourself to the fact that it is crazy. I normally like to be in control of everything and have everything scheduled and everything together and at a certain point, you just have to laugh about it. And my husband’s been really great with this, by helping me realize it. You get to the point where you’re like, “Okay, who’s having a bath tonight? I don’t know that everybody can have a bath.” You kind of just have to go with it and think it’s funny. And I think my kids enjoy it. There was a period when I was very stressed about it all and I found myself apologizing to my older son that I had to go to work. I think it really negatively affected him; he would have a very negative association with filming and work. We try really hard to make everything we do really positive. Instead of “Sorry, it’s so crazy,” we say, “This is so great that it’s crazy! You get to have grandparents over all the time and siblings!” You have to look at it as glass-half-full. Kids pick up on that. If you apologize for it, it becomes a negative. Every now and then when I can, I’ll bring them to work and it’ll be like, no work happens for me, but they love it. There are pens and paper…they get to play and they get very excited about it.
ST: You travel a lot for work. Can you offer expecting mothers who travel some tips on making it a pleasant experience?
RP: Food is a big one. Every time I’m pregnant, I’m paranoid about various bacterias and listeria and other bacteria, so I like to have food with me. I’m hungry all the time when I’m pregnant. There’s nothing worse when you’re pregnant than being on an airplane or in an airport and not having snacks in your bag. The other thing is clothing. I know people like to look nice on the airplane and land and look cute, but it’s just not practical. This is kind of a funny one, but I try to enjoy it. There are very few times when you can just turn off. I actually pray there’s no wireless on the airplane, because then I can’t work and I get to sleep. Travel has become a whole new restful thing when you actually have a certain number of hours you can just take for yourself. I try to look at it like that, as opposed to being irritating.
ST: So, this question is selfish, but I always wonder what you do to your hair. It always looks fantastic.
RP: [laughs] I’m like the worst hair person ever. I wash it with Paul Mitchell Tea Tree shampoo and I only wash it once a week. That’s the secret. I always wear it down the first few days. Then it goes to a ponytail, then it goes into a bun.
Have you seen the new ____? I think they’re by ___. It looks like a sponge, You pull your hair through it and then you sort of push your hair around it, then pin it in so you have this big, Kardashian bun.
ST: I’m definitely getting that bun thing. Let’s talk fashion. Can you offer new moms who haven’t quite gotten back to normal some style tips? Also, do you have a favorite piece during pregnancy?
RP: For me, I’m obsessed with shirt dresses. I can wear them to work. I can change the look with a belt. They’re so versatile. I think it’s a great piece when you’re pregnant. After you have the baby — people think maternity clothes are for nine months, but they’re really not. You kind of have to wear them after, too, so I encourage women to buy stuff that they like and make it part of their wardrobe. And the color I always love after giving birth is kind of surprising. I like to buy ivory sweaters, because all that spit-up is ivory! Everybody likes black, and then you can’t go out of the house because you have spit-up on your shoulder and you’re covered in white stuff. It’s kind of a surprise, but that’s the only time you can wear an ivory or a winter white sweater. When they get older, it’s over.
ST: Because of the show, you went through every part of pregnancy in the spotlight. Do you have any tips for newly pregnant moms who aren’t ready to announce their pregnancies yet?
RP: Do it on your own time. Even if people ask you don’t have to tell them yet. Wearing flowing tops and long scarves can also conceal the bump!
ST: Can you tell us anything about the upcoming season? Were there any new issues with moms you hadn’t seen before?
Oh my goodness this season is full of surprises from alternative birthing options through to sex while pregnant. It’s going to be a wild season.
ST: What will you be doing here in Columbia at the Women’s Show?
RP: People want to hear my story, how I ended up here. They also want to hear my infertility story and I’m pretty passionate about talking about that. And of course there will be a Q and A afterward. That’s my favorite part. I really like to see what people have to ask.
ST: Thanks so much, Rosie. I hope to meet you when you’re in town! [gushes the fan girl]
RP: Thank you!
For Rosie Pope and more, come to the Columbia Women’s Show this weekend. The Shop Tart will be there, won’t you?
You can see the Entertainment Stage schedule here. (Rosie will be there at 3 pm on Saturday.)
For the Cooking Stage schedule, click here.
Dates: February 10-12, 2012
Hours:
Friday: 10am-8pm,
Saturday: 10am-7pm
, Sunday: 11am-5pm
Tickets:
Adults $8
, Children 6-12 yrs old $4,
Students with College ID $5,
Military with Military ID: $5
Have a great day and don’t forget to tell them you read it on the Shop Tart!
This post was brought to you by…
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8
The Shop Tart is always embarrassed when she misses something obvious. Villa Tronco is legendary. When the Shop Tart’s mother was a senior in high school, already admitted to Erskine College but not yet a student there, she and a friend traveled from Winnsboro to Columbia for a day of shopping, probably headed to Tapp’s to scope out the Villager selection. They decided to eat somewhere fancy and chose Villa Tronco. Seated at the table, she ordered,
“We’ll have two beers,” she said primly, surely with her purse on her lap.
Their waiter — who also happened to be the owner — asked them if they were of age.
“Oh,” the Shop Tart’s mother said, in the age-old manner of underage drinkers trying to get served. “Of course! I go to Erskine. I’m a sophomore, business major.”
Hey, kids? When you’re trying to get away with something? Adding extra random details never, ever helps.
“A sophomore at Erskine,” the proprietor bantered. “You must know …”
“No, no I don’t think I know him,” her mother chirped.
The name escapes the Shop Tart, but her mother learned later that he was a star basketball player, and she had surely blown her sophisticated cover. The ladies were served, and their fatherly waiter sat with them for the entire lunch, making sure they didn’t over-indulge or try to order a second round. But that was back in the day.
The Shop Tart was looking for a cozy lunch with a friend. They were hungry enough that they couldn’t think of a single place they wanted to go. Her friend had heard there was some new place on Main, the Shop Tart was wondering about some place, somewhere, someone had told her about and neither of them could remember a single detail. Then they thought of Villa Tronco and it seemed perfect.
The lunch specials looked fantastic and they were priced right.
In honor of her mother, the Shop Tart ordered a glass of wine. Her companion had a glass of bubbly.
The catfish bruschetta sounded mad delicious, but the salmon plate won. With pesto cream sauce and a deliciously creamy risotto with spinach, it was hardly a sacrifice. The Shop Tart asked that the salmon be prepared rare, and it was. The sauce was divine and the risotto perfection.
And it came with a classic salad, topped with plenty of cheese.
The bread was warm and homey. Love, love, love.
The Shop Tart’s lunch companion ordered a crab cake over spinach salad. Crab cakes can be difficult, because it’s hard to use enough crab and still be cost-effective. Villa Tronco succeeds. Hooray!
Next visit will be for a burger. Look at those choices. Original, but not annoyingly so. And the Shop Tart has a feeling they’ll be prepared just right.
This post wouldn’t be complete without a mention of the excellent service. Charlie was perfect, polite, friendly and really good at checking on them without appearing to do so. Go, Charlie! In researching Villa Tronco on the world wide internets, the Shop Tart found this. Love!
According to their website, on Mondays you can create your own pasta bowl and have a salad and homemade bread for just 48. On Tuesdays, they offer $10 off any bottle of wine (and they have some good ones). And they serve Paolo’s Gelato, you know, the really good stuff they sell at the All-Local Farmers’ Market. The Palmetto Opera performs at Villa Tronco on the first Thursday of every month, which sounds like a lot of fun. See you there!
By the way, did you enter to win yesterday’s Trina Turk skirt? You have until midnight!
In today’s post…
- Villa Tronco, 1213 Blanding Street, 256-7677
Happy Shopping and don’t forget to tell them you read it on the Shop Tart!
FEB
7
UPDATE: Congratulations to Rebecca Hamby! She won the skirt! Rebecca, please email the Shop Tart to claim your skirt and congratulations!
Maybe you have zits? Occasionally? The Shop Tart, in spite of all her best efforts, has the occasional glaring monster. If she can make it there before she picks at it, her dermatologist will give her a fancy injection — okay, it’s some kind of steroid — that makes the thing disappear within hours, all for the cost of her co-pay. (For those who want to know: It’s called Kenalog, also known as a tac injecton, and can be a real face saver.) Pretty cool. If she doesn’t get there in time? Totally different scene. She picks. Then it looks worse. Next comes a band-aid. Then more picking. The thing has a life of its own and that life has a span of about three weeks. No lie.
In an ideal world, the Shop Tart would never let this happen, but…yeah. Sheknows what causes the offending spots and she can control some of them, but chooses not to. Other factors are beyond her control. (Causes in the back. Fix in the front.)
She is always in search of a good primer from the drugstore. Primer is essential for long lasting coverage and mattifying, in her personal experience. Anyhow. We know how to control the zits, but sometimes it just doesn’t happen. The Shop Tart has discovered a miracle cover-up product. She bought RoC Instant Facial Smoother
as a primer.
as a primer.
It promises to prime, smooth and illuminate. The Shop Tart would like to respectfully refute the illumination promise, but that’s okay. It does enough without illuminating. (She will stick with her favorite for color correction and illuminating.) If you have oily skin, this is the primer for you. It makes any area matte, which isn’t evident from the packaging, since it’s marketed as an anti-aging Retinol product. It does fill things in — like wrinkles and craters — and reduces shine. The Shop Tart uses it right in between her eyes and occasionally under them, to make the puffiness look flatter. But let’s say — and do skip this next part if you are squeamish — but let’s say you are on your way out and you just picked at a pimple, or scraped the skin with an exfoliator. You could use concealer, but it will ooze right through it. On a whim, the Shop Tart smoothed some of the RoC Instant Facial Smoother over a recent spot. Lo and behold, the flood gates closed and the spot was flat enough to conceal. Hooray! Illuminating? Not so much. But if too much shine is your issue — or you have unsightly oozing bumps to conceal — this is the stuff for you. Gross? Maybe, but it happens, yo.
over a recent spot. Lo and behold, the flood gates closed and the spot was flat enough to conceal. Hooray! Illuminating? Not so much. But if too much shine is your issue — or you have unsightly oozing bumps to conceal — this is the stuff for you. Gross? Maybe, but it happens, yo.In more fun news, the Shop Tart has a skirt to give away. The lovely Tracie of Flock and Rally fame is, in her spare time, a brilliant thrift shopper. She could be a professional picker, able to spot the one awesome thing in a huge jumble and snap it up for pennies. About a year ago, she brought the Shop Tart a mint condition Trina Turk skirt. It’s lovely. Cream and gold tweed, it could be dressed up or down. It’s a size 6 and the Shop Tart needed to have it altered to fit. She was too lazy and has finally given up. Her loss, combined with Tracie’s good eye and generous spirit, is your gain. Want to rock an awesome skirt for free? Leave a comment — any comment — by midnight tomorrow and be entered to win the skirt! The Shop Tart will even offer styling suggestions (but only if you want them, because she certainly trusts your judgment).
Ready, set, go!
Happy Shopping and don’t forget to tell them you read it on the Shop Tart!
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