Throw out every single beauty product you have. Jill Kargman, the daughter of the former chairman of Chanel (BIG money, access to all of the best beauty secrets on the planet) has revealed in the New York Times every single beauty procedure and beauty product she uses. Let’s skip over the fact that Jill doesn’t allow the sun to touch any part of her face or body. As she attests, her goal is to look like a corpse.
Let’s also skip over the fact that Jill starts her day at 5:30 at the gym. She takes a 6AM SoulCycle class. SoulCycle is named that because it goes so fast that it rips the soul out of your body and sends it spinning into oblivion. Plus you lose about 30 lbs every time you do it.
(Note to readers: At approximately the same time that Jill is spinning away every ounce of her non-fat, LBL is most likely throwing a large pillow at Miracle the Cat, who is fond of clawing her way up LBL’s silk comforter every morning, between 5:30AM and 6:30AM)
Now on to the products Jill swears by. LBL, not to be outdone by Jill, will reveal some of her own secrets after Jill’s :
Soap: J uses Jo Malone Red Roses Shower Gel
LBL uses whatever she pilfers from various hotels and motels and whatever people give her as gifts
Face Lotion: J uses P50 1970 by Biologique (J says “it smells like something you’d pour in your car engine”)
LBL uses Pennzoil (Thanks for the tip, Jo!)
Brightening Cream: J uses Shiseido Brightening Cream
LBL uses AC Moore Craft Store Glitter Glue when she feels the need for extra brightening
Facial Cream: J uses Chanel Sublimage
LBL uses nothing (once the Glitter Glue sets, nothing else will adhere to the skin)
Nighttime: J does a redo of the entire daytime routine, plus a Shiseido Brightening Mask twice a week
LBL falls asleep during reruns of General Hospital
Day Makeup: J uses the following:
MAC Face and Body Foundation
Nars Crystan Setting Powder
Lip Gloss or Sheer Lip Tint by Flower
Nars Eye Pencil with Sparkles in it
LBL uses free products that her friend gives her because she models for a skin care company
Evening Makeup: J puts on a heavier application of the MAC white and likes dark eyeshadow and glitter
LBL doesn’t understand why make up has to change from day to evening, especially since you have to wash your face again
Tattoos: J has both bottom and top eyeliner tattoos and got two special tattoos to celebrate her “midlife crisis at 35”
LBL has no tattoos but she has had several pens explode on her and so knows what it is like to walk around decorated in ink.
Facials: J goes to Aida Bicaj for facials but says “I don’t go regularly because I’m house-broke from my move.”
LBL, as a service to readers, will now calculate how many facials one must give up in order to pay for a five million dollar house. Luxury facials in NYC run from $250 (cow placenta) up to $1000 (goodness knows whose placenta is used for this). Let’s assume a mid-range $500 facial and a schedule of two facials per month. That’s 24 facials per year. To make this easier for LBL, who hasn’t used math since high school, let’s say 25 facials per year, or $12,500. This means that it would take about 400 years to pay off the house. This is longer than LBL’s current mortgage.
Lest you think after reading any of this that Kargman is nothing but a pale rich twit, rest assured she is an accomplished author. Three of her books are The Ex-Mrs Hedgefund, Arm Candy, and Momzillas and she has written a collection of essays titled Sometimes I Feel Like A Nut. Since LBL hasn’t read any of these, she can’t say whether or not they give insight into any of the weighty issues that face humankind in this first part of the twenty-first century.
Kargman is soon to be a reality star. “Odd Mom Out” is based on Kargman’s life and, according to Hollywood Reporter, “captures the outrageous world of uber-wealthy “momzillas” of New York’s Upper East Side. Kargman will star and play a version of herself negating a world that has become so elite, hip and trendy that she’s now the odd mom out.”
LBL’s psychotherapist tells her she is actually an outcast version of herself and, when she isn’t obsessively checking her WordPress stats and counting the number of subscribers she has, enjoys negating the uber-elite, uber-hip, and uber-trendy alternate universe of blogging in which she exists.
Lynda Bernard
April 13, 2014
this has to be the funniest, truest, out of my world piece ever written. i loved every bit of it because, gosh darn, i’m aging the old fashioned way and i can always learn there’s a better way to go about it; give or take a bunch of millions or so. have to reread, i do love a good laugh.
Life in the Boomer Lane
April 14, 2014
Oh my. I am honored. Are you famous or connected to anyone famous? If so, I would like to be featured in the New York Times. I will even spring for a mani/pedi and a professional blow dry at Hair Cuttery.
Lynda Bernard
April 14, 2014
you’ll be so disappointed. i’m neither famous or connected, just a retired advertising writer who has seen so much garbage written that i deeply regret that silly woman actually wrote a book. now she’s connected and will make money while i try crisco!
Life in the Boomer Lane
April 14, 2014
You’ll win.
ashleyomelia
April 13, 2014
LOL! Love it! A nice little satire that reminds me of how most women’s magazines are filled with nothing but beauty products and clothing that you could never possibly afford, and even if you did buy them you would be too tired to use them. 🙂
selectiveapocalypse
April 13, 2014
Hahaa this was a fab way to start my day.
Valentine Logar
April 13, 2014
Well, thank you for this. I think I will stick with my routine which I suspect is much cheaper. While I do not look like a corpse, it works for me. Though I admit to tattoo’d eye liner which I love and have had for 10 years, twice applied (refresher).
The rest of mine is simple and shockingly cheap.
Life in the Boomer Lane
April 14, 2014
I think even dead people don’t want to look dead. I save on eyeliner, because when I line the bottom of my eyes, it sort of seeps into the skin and stays forever.
Geraldine
April 13, 2014
she looks good but very pale. I think a bit of Sun is good for all of us,in moderation.
Life in the Boomer Lane
April 14, 2014
Vitamin D (from sunshine) is essential. Of course, she may be getting very expensive Vitamin D treatments instead of the free stuff outside.
wordsfromanneli
April 14, 2014
I got turned off by the total lack of sunshine in that girl’s life. She looks like she’s ready for the grave. I’m not a reptile. I love the sun, but I can still be sensible about it. It’s worth it to get a few wrinkles and enjoy life. I think generally, I’m with you, LBL, Pennzoil and all.
Life in the Boomer Lane
April 14, 2014
My problem is that, aside from the expense, it’s very confusing to use all those products. Can’t they mix everything together and call it “Skincare?”
wordsfromanneli
April 14, 2014
They probably do; then change the labels and prices.
joeyfullystated
April 14, 2014
I have Rosacea so I am MAC white, tinged with pink or red depending on whether I’m consuming everything I love, or eating “cooling foods”…I can’t be in the sun much, not without a hat, and certainly not without sunscreen. I also can’t use 99.9% of beauty products, but lemme just say, good genes and common sense go a long way, and other than small children, who believe I am very, very old, no one ever thinks I am 40. I mean, NO ONE. So I will stick to my basic bar of soap and my basic tube of lotion, and I will laugh hysterically at the maintenance other people seem to need, all the while making more wrinkles on my skin. Thank you LBL for deepening my laugh lines!
Life in the Boomer Lane
April 14, 2014
Any time, Joey. Time and again, there are articles that say that basically, all these products are the same. And aging trumps everything anyway. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t keep our faces clean, moisturized, and protected from the sun. But all that is pretty basic. Like you said, good genes and common sense go a long way.
Kristal Hollis
April 14, 2014
Loved this. Would you mind if I reblogged this? -k
Life in the Boomer Lane
April 14, 2014
I’d be honored, Kristal.
katecrimmins
April 14, 2014
Pennzoil? Hmmm….reminds of the year we spent 2 weeks in Arizona. It was pleasant (high 80s) but there wasn’t any humidity. None. Zilch. Maybe even minus humidity. I come from the east coast. Humidity is my middle name. It makes my face dewy and my hair curly. My skin was so parched I went out and bought the heaviest cream I could find and it was very similar to axle grease but it did the job until I got home! I like your products. I’m going to try the glitter glue for my next party.
2dogsonly
April 14, 2014
Dermatologist from decades past said Crisco was the best. I thought it was made from lard but wiki said nope, it was first all vegetable shortening. And it took me forever to even find a lard shortening .;-)
I know whatever you use should be in pump form to keep it fresh. I’m using drugstore brand, Amlactin pump and I swear my skin looks less icky and brighter. But it could just be old boomer eyes.
It’s how I do housework…remove glasses—house is clean. One of the benefits of old age.;-)
Life in the Boomer Lane
April 14, 2014
My hands get pretty terrible in the winter, and I use a Mary Kay product that was intended for the face. It’s like Vaseline mixed with candle wax. And it does help. Humidity does wonders for my skin but makes my hair look like I stuck my finger in a light socket.
Sienna (@datingseniormen)
April 14, 2014
Years ago I watched a TV panel discussion among representatives of the cosmetics industry (Revlon et al) and researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, which institution is apparently a leader in dermatological studies. There was talk of beautiful scents and luxurous textures but the bottom line was this: smearing Crisco on your skin will achieve results equal to if not better than those produced by the industry’s wildly expensive concoctions. The cosmetic companies at first recoiled in horror but ultimately settled into the smug knowledge that packaging is everything (why else would Jill use Jo Malone products instead of, say, drugstore Garnier?). What’s more, the docs readily conceded that pure vegetable shortening is a romance non-starter.
Life in the Boomer Lane
April 14, 2014
I have a friend who has been using Crisco for years and her skin always looked flawless. It’s only now that she is 70 that she says she has started to see wrinkles. Amazing.
Betty Londergan
April 14, 2014
I can’t stand those profiles in the New Yorker where the celebs tell you every single outfit they wore to every single fabulous event they attended over their marvelous weekend in Europe — not to mention their beauty routines, which of course, involve the hands-on work of several other people … bletch!! You livened up the dialogue PLENTY with your own tips — but I have to say, I’m a Jo Malone believer, if only I could afford all that stuff!
Life in the Boomer Lane
April 14, 2014
It would seriously depress me to the point of having to up mu meds if I were to read her books. But, not that you are the second person to mention Jo Malone, I have to see what all the fuss is about.
pegoleg
April 14, 2014
Stop negating me. It’s not nice.
Life in the Boomer Lane
April 14, 2014
I actually thought of you when I wrote that line. I was going to write something about stressing over only getting 10-15 comments per post and SOME PEOPLE always have at least 100 likes and 100 comments every time they write anything. Do you have an unusually large family?
pegoleg
April 14, 2014
I pay 25 cents per word for comments.
Life in the Boomer Lane
April 14, 2014
Damn. That would seriously cut into my ice cream budget.
Main Street Musings Blog
April 14, 2014
Is Thing in the box behind Morticia?
Life in the Boomer Lane
April 14, 2014
Oh funny. She does look Morticia-like. But I must admit, I did some research on her and she looks perfectly normal in the other photos.
Rebecca Latson Photography
April 14, 2014
You’ve done it again: written another one of those laugh-out-loud-all-the-way-through blogs. I must say, I would much rather have a $12,500 prime telephoto lens than 25 facials…..those facials are just too ephemeral.
Life in the Boomer Lane
April 14, 2014
And I’d rather you had that, as well. At least it’s something I understand.
Kristal Hollis
April 14, 2014
Reblogged this on KRISTAL HOLLIS and commented:
Life in the Boomer Lane tickled me funny with this …
nrhatch
April 15, 2014
So funny. Thanks for a great write, Renee.
Life in the Boomer Lane
April 16, 2014
Thanks, Nancy. How is everything in Paradise???
nrhatch
April 16, 2014
Not too shabby. Happy to be here, now.
izzimac1
April 16, 2014
Fabulous stuff LBL, we have the same taste and wallet for products 🙂 thanks
Life in the Boomer Lane
April 17, 2014
And thanks for the read, Izzi.
Sandra Parsons
April 18, 2014
Think of all the things you could do in the time she needs for all those treatments! Not even mentioning the cost. Loved your comparisons, I am a faller-asleeper myself. And I love the sun. Yes I do have a few lines but at least I look healthy!