The Bellesphere: May 2011

I've had several manicures since you saw me last, but here's the story of one: Ulta was having free shipping and I wanted to try a beachy-waves spray that I'd heard about that's not readily available anywhere else, so in order to bring my cart up to $25 to qualify, I decided to try Butter London brand nail polish, which I'd been wanting to do for a while. I picked up a shade called Yummy Mummy, which BL describes as "universally flattering." It's a greyish nudie with a slight hint of lavender and a barely perceptible shimmer. As I'd heard, application was quite smooth, although in my usual poor lighting (and looking up to watch the Amazing Race), I had to fill in some bare spots after the two coats I applied.

I like it. It's very similar to Revlon Grey Suede, which is one of my all-time favorite nudes, but Yummy Mummy is less pink. Oh! I almost forgot. When I added this polish to my cart, Ulta added a free two-ounce bottle of Butter London's Powder Room polish remover. I tried it a couple manicures before this one, just because I had the bottle out, and it was, hands down (ha!) the best nail polish remover I've ever tried. It just swiped the polish RIGHT OFF. And it was acetone-free...now, here's something odd, I've been using remover with acetone for a while now because I do my nails so often and I thought the acetone stuff would be faster, removal being the most annoying thing about the manicure. And I've noticed that my nails have become thinner and prone to peeling (especially my thumbnails). So I was shocked to find how quickly this non-acetone stuff worked. It also had a bit of a not-quite-oily-but-almost finish, so i'm not sure what else in it makes it work so well. Anyhoo, after being blown away by Powder Room, I went to the Butter London website to see how much a full-size bottle cost, figuring it would be way expensive. But. The full-size bottle is just the two-ounce bottle; I thought I'd gotten a small sample, but no, two ounces is IT and...it's $5.00. $5.00! So...if you have money to burn and space for dozens of two-ounce bottles of the Greatest Polish Remover on Earth, well, have at it. I don't, but this experience inspired me to go back to acetone-free and I picked up a jumbo bottle of the Target brand for under $4. Regarding Butter London, the polishes are $14 a pop, so I don't think I'm going to return, however, they do have a limited edition shade called No More Waity, Katie, a tribute to Kate Middleton, which I may have to get because it's kind of a cool Royal Wedding commemorative (remember Pope Soap on a Rope?) even though I think a shimmer would have been more appropriate than a glitter...I mean, don't you think? By the way, have you seen the Kate Middleton FTW tumblr? It's kind of awesome. My favorite might be the shot of her and Pippa entering the church: "Yes, We've Brought Sleeves Back. You're Welcome."

What did I do for Mother's Day? Brunch? No. Day at the spa? Heavens, no. I took my two-and-a-half year old daughter to Day Out With Thomas! I know, MOTHER OF THE YEAR. Since I waited so long to buy tickets, we were on the last train of the day on the last day of the event. B was very excited about riding on Thomas but less so about the other activities. Did she want a temporary Thomas tattoo? She did not, shrieking "No! No!" as if we were threatening to give her a real tattoo. She waited in line for the (tiny) carousel, then changed her mind at the last minute, then decided later she did want to go on it, then held on to me for dear life with a very worried look on her face during the extremely slow ride. She expressed interest in the moonbounce, even took her shoes off and stood at the entrance, but couldn't be persuaded to go in. At last it was time to board the train. Upon hearing this, B got decidedly more animated and got cutely impatient when the line would stop. "Don't stop! Don't stop!"

I do think she was very excited to see the life-size Thomas, but she was rather subdued. In awe, maybe? We found a seat on the train (an ancient Amtrak car) and settled in for our ride. It was not nearly as...scenic...as the Island of Sodor, but I'm sure B didn't mind the graffiti and rusting old train cars. And trees. There were some trees. All in all, a worthwhile event. She loves her souvenirs.