Jennifer Lopez eyelashes

I love Dior Show Mascara. I used it for years. But somewhere down the line it just felt too expensive.

It sells for about 200 dkk here, which is about $30. That's not so much more than the $28 it sells for in Sephora, but suddenly $30 for mascara seems so expensive. Kids? Priorities? Common sense? Whatever it is, I just can't do it anymore.

But mascara here is quite pricey, even the drugstore brands like Maybelline or L'oreal. So, when I saw that Matas was having a 2 for 1 mascara sale, I decided to try a new one. 

I will admit that the idea of having Jennifer Lopez eyelashes was appealing, so I decided to try the L'oreal False Lash Superstar Mascara.  And, it looks like it's not even out in the U.S. yet, so ha-ha, Europe gets something first!

The normal price is 149 dkk, which is $22.50 and waaaay too much to pay for L'oreal mascara IMO. But, $22.50 for two tubes works for me. Especially given the fact that there is primer included.

I tried it this morning. It went on really nicely, and I think I had some seriously false-lash-superstar-looking lashes today. If I'm still hooked on it after these two tubes, I'll have to check out the price in Germany to see if I can stay with my whole less expensive beauty product quest.

A new perspective... nude nail polish

The idea of blogging is very appealing. Consistently writing one, not so much, as is evidenced by the three year gap between blog posts. Perhaps it was the mommy blogger path I was on. The mommy part was getting in the way of the blog part.

But today, I had a "ah-ha" moment. This blog is about my expat life in Denmark, and one of the biggest challenges is how to feed my beauty product obsession without going broke. The price of skincare and make-up in Denmark is shocking. Yes, there is a Sephora in Copenhagen (still a two hour drive), but it's really pricey and doesn't have the same brands as in the U.S. stores, so I can't love it the same way.

I was imposing on every single person I knew who was traveling between the U.S. and Denmark to bring me products. However, this is not sustainable (although I did alright with it for about a decade) because the dollar is strong again (yeah! and boo!) and there are less people willing to mule for me. 

So the past few months I've been on a quest. How can I find products I like that won't break the bank? It's harder than it sounds. 

One solution has been trips to Germany. The border is only a little over an hour away.  Last week, I had a work trip to Hamburg and found a new nail polish. I had read about Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in "Shell we Dance" #160 and hadn't found it in Denmark. It was 8.95 Euro, which is 67 dkk (which is still $10). The same polish is 90 dkk ($13.50) at Matas, (Denmark's answer to Ulta or Sephora, I think is the best way to describe it) So, although I had to drive for over an hour to save $3, it still felt like a win.

The polish is a nice sheer nude, flattering on fair skin as Allure Magazine so kindly informed me. This is the third day I've had it on, and there is already some chipping but it's not as obvious as a darker or more opaque color would be. But given my expat mommy lifestyle, three days is really not bad...