Light up Your Life
You
may have tangoed a bit with aromatherapy, but now get ready for the newest
mood-altering medium: color therapy. Colors, which may have a more powerful
sensory effect than scent, are inextricably linked with emotions, lifestyles
and gender: Red signifies passion or rage; black is favored by punks,
anarchists and fashionistas; and powder blue and sweet-pea pink are imposed
on baby boys and girls. For the holidays, the skin-care company Philosophy
introduced Rainbow Connection bath gift packs for kids and adults
($25-$45 at Nordstrom). Each has seven vividly colored bath additives.
The junior version consists of happy-smelling bubble bath that is little
more than fragrant food coloring for the tub, while Connection for adults
reeks of too much essential oil (imagine a whiff of patchouli strong enough
to make you reel). Though the kiddie products smell astronomically better,
both deliver the same "therapeutic" effect: a Palmolive-green or sunset-orange
punch to the senses. Bubbles were never so enticing. (CM)
Happy Happy,
Joy Joy
Hate those lame, laminated posters of a guy standing on the
edge of a cliff, his arms raised in victory, with some nauseatingly
positive statement plastered across the bottom? Stop the cycle of feeble
Up With People sentiment by ordering a demotivational banner
from Despair, Inc. (www.despair.com).
Despair sells Demotivators, "revolutionary tools for pessimists, underachievers
and the chronically unsuccessful." For just $14.95, a stunning 24-inch
by 30-inch print extolling all the glorious loser virtues--agony, apathy,
defeat, failure, futility, ineptitude, procrastination, pessimism and
stupidity--can be used to harass your annoyingly ambitious office mates.
One poster features a picture of the Leaning Tower of Pisa with the
inscription "Mediocrity: It takes a lot less time and most people won't
notice the difference until it's too late." Just in time for post-holiday
depression and the overwhelming new year, Despair offers calendars (also
$14.95) that mark woeful days in history such as "Dec. 23, 1888: Van
Gogh cuts his ear off." (CBB)
Not-So-Boss
Gloss
A 1999 trend to dis: shellacked lips. Don't trade
in your matte mouth just because the magazines tell you to--amplified
lip gloss feels and looks like honey gone awry. MAC started it all with
Lip Glass ($9 at Nordstrom), a clear, coating substance that's definitely
not found in nature. Other cosmetic lines have since introduced their
own lacquers. Christian Dior Diorific Plastic Shine ($20 at Nordstrom)
hit the shelves in November in 12 gooey shades. The liquid latex look
is as sticky as it is shiny; hair, food, sand and other people's lips
inevitably get caught in the gelatinous trap. Even worse, if you try
to blot the godawful stuff off with a tissue, you'll lose a layer of
skin. You might as well kiss a tube of epoxy, or just kiss this one
goodbye. Clearly, there's no future in these plastics. (CM)
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Willamette Week | originally
published January 6,
1998
|
