New Shipment In!

Just got a bunch of new stuff!

Doctor Who graphic novel/late Christmas present from my
AWESOME ex-roomie :D

Order from Sephora in preparation for summmeerrr

Free samples! I chose all perfumes.

From Sephora (left to right) I got their refillable perfume rollerball, Buxom Smoky Eye stick in Smokin' Pistols (previously mentioned here), Sephora-brand nail polish in "wet cement," Blush Geleé by Givenchy (also mentioned in the Summer Make-Up post), annnd a palette from Too Faced called Naked Eye.

I've tried the Buxom stick but I can't really give a fair review because I know I need to get used to it, I'm so out of sorts trying to use anything but powder on my eyes. The only other one I've tried so far is the blush... it's awesome! So lightweight and the perfect flushed tone. The first time I put it on, I put on way too much because I wasn't used to the applicator, but even so it just looked like I'd been running around... not like I'd put on my blush really badly. Pretty amazing. I know I'll love the Too Faced palette because the colours are just what I wanted, and Too Faced eyeshadows are so wonderful: just the right compromise of creamy and mixable, while still being pressed powder.

The perfume samples I got are (left to right) de Lolita Lempicka (incredibly flowery, pretty overpowering - comes in a spray bottle but waaaay too much comes out, if I use it I'll have to dab), Chloé (a nice, soft rose - a modernized version of your grandma's perfume you loved), and Colette by Tocca (a scent made up of a whole lot of things, I think I can mainly smell the vanilla and sandalwood? Not really sure though...)

Just 20 days now until I leave for the Czech Republic! I feel like I have so much left to do, but getting in that Too Faced palette was one more check in the box - I've decided that's the only eye shadow I'll bring. It'll be tough, but it was that or spend agonizing hours deciding which pots and palettes from my current collection should make the cut. And then figuring out how to get them there safely and without spilling. This is a much better solution, and the palette has enough variety that I can do day and night looks without getting bored. I hope!

Old Books In A Modern Building

To me, libraries are a haven. I love the public ones the most, but even Dal's Killam (with its atmosphere of stressed out students) can be peaceful and cozy when you dash off into the stacks.

I just found an article talking about a new public library Halifax is planning. It will be downtown, a block away from the old one, and be about three times the size. I love that Halifax is investing in a new library, but when I saw the design... Well, I can't decide if I support it.

This is our current library

This is what the new one will look like

I feel like an old fogey, bashing this new-fangled shit, but it worries me! I can't find anywhere what's going to happen to the old building, and I'll be heartbroken if it disappears, or even stops being a library. I love the old library, it's everything a library should be, to me. It's old stone, and its solid. You can descend into the bowels of it and pull ancient books off the paint-chipped shelves. Or, you can go up to the upper levels, spread all your work out on old, sturdy wooden tables, and be surrounded by reference works threatening to distract with all sorts of things you don't know (but could, if you just leave your work and open them!)

The new design looks neat, don't get me wrong. It's very modern, and it even has potential to be awe-inspiring to some small child. Maybe the child will be struck by the magnificence of it and will later reminisce about the atmosphere and how it was their haven growing up. But it looks so new. That's all I have against it really: the modernity. The old stone building can't go out of style. How will this new architecture age? It's all glass. It's the modern thing. But I look at other buildings built in the modern style of their time and I cringe. Have you seen the Dal Arts Centre? It's Horrible, with a capital H. Plus! All that glass and open-concept nonsense in a library! I want the books to surround me, to protect me from the outside and take me into their world. I don't want to grab an Asterix comic and go sit by a window to watch the bustle of downtown. I want to grab an Asterix Comic and go hole up in some corner, forgetting that I'm anywhere but in Roman-occupied Gaul.

These are very personal beefs. I realise I look at books and libraries a certain way. But something inside me still obstinately believes that a library is better off being a stately stone edifice than a shiny glass construct.
Also, the old library is a memorial to those that died in the two world wars. Announcing its replacement so close to Remembrance Day? Have a little class, Halifax.

(AND WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO MY FAVORITE STATUE? Wrong-facing Winston??)