Post Cards from Cookie by Caroline Clarke

Imagine you were adopted at birth, had great adoptive parents and a good life. Never entered your mind to look for your biological parents, would never hurt your mom & dad by looking. You are now grown with kids of your own and a minor medical issue comes up. You start to wonder if there is any information in your file about your bio-parents that you should know.
You contact the Home for Unwed Mothers, where you were born and arrange a meeting. You go in and sit down and think that you don't expect to hear much of anything. Back in those days, not a lot of information was kept about birth mothers. A woman walks in carrying a file folder, a kind of thickish file folder…she begins to read it to you. She begins to describe to you the mother you never knew…and it sounds familiar…the young girl, the dates, a reference here or there….and you walk away from the meeting and realize that your birth mother was very likely your friend Timmie's older sister. AND your friend Timmie was Nat King Cole's daughter…your grandfather was Nat King Cole.
Sounds like I made it up doesn't it? It is a coincidence of the wildest order, fate, karma..magic?
Caroline Clarke discovered this truth and decided to contact her birth mother , Carole  "Cookie"  Cole. Over a period of seven years they wrote postcards, telephoned, emailed and met face to face seven times, until Cookie's death from cancer. This memoir is their story.
As you read along, you can feel author Clarke's raw emotion, as if she is sitting down with you and recounting the story in disbelief…it is like a fairytale, with not the happiest of endings. Written from the heart, the best kind of book.  
The book comes out in April and I recommend it whole-heart-edly.

Priscilla by Nicholas Shakespeare

It is always so interesting, this period of the 20-30-40's, to read about it's women.There were a few very strong, very surprising women who did not fit the mold. Priscilla Mais was one of these women. Her nephew Nicholas Shakespeare, through a series of love letters, photos and a draft of an autobiography, pieced together a fantastic tale of his aunt, quite different from the one the family passed down.
She was beautiful, of that  there seems to be no question..but the "survivor" of the French Resistence story seems to be just that, a story. Born in England and shipped off to France after her mother ran away with a lover, she befriended another English school girl, Gillian. Back in England after school, she was a young woman headed back to France for an abortion. There she met & married an older, impotent aristocrat, but her marriage didn't last. While her husband was off fighting the Germans, his family sent her packing so that they were not attacked for harboring an enemy alien.
Priscilla was indeed interred for a few months, but was released due to pregnancy…she was a good actress. Along came a string of lovers, single & married who were charmed by her beauty and seemingly fragile nature. Shady characters, black marketeers, German officers..you name it. She did survive, and showed up in England, on her old pal Gillian's doorstep, having "survived" the occupation. (Gillian ended up discovering the truth and wrote about it, unpublished however)
Shakespeare uncovers the not so noble truth about his aunt in this interesting story.
In his  words:
" At first glance, it was embarrassing to discover what Priscilla got up to. Of course, I wished for my aunt to be heroic. I wanted her to be an exception. But she was not an exception, she was just an ordinary woman in extraordinary circumstances".
There is no doubt that Priscilla was a survivor, and I think you will come to that yourself after reading the book. If you like to read about strong, resilient women, then this one's for you:)

Great New Skin Care Products!

Boy, this winter has been a harsh one. I am so happy to be able to have sampled lots of new skin care products because my skin has been taking a beating with dry, heated air inside and cold, below freezing air outside! 
Here are just a few of the new products I love:

First let me begin with Apothederm's Brightening Cleanser. Patented Smart Peptides target specific areas of concern such as crow's feet & laugh lines. These special peptides act as cellular messengers to stimulate and restore critical skin functions.  
Brightening Cleanser brightens, tones and refines pores as it sloughs off dead skin with malice acid and vitamin C. Loved how clean and smooth my skin felt without feeling dry. What a beautiful canvas for make-up! Shop at apothederm.com

Next , I love this serum by Sublime Beauty,  Ageless Line Smoother. It is a wonderfully luxurious serum that glides on your skin and is quickly absorbed. I used it morning and night for two weeks and  I have noticed a positive difference in my skin. It is made from three key ingredients, Hyacare Filler CL, a topical alternative to dermal fillers... Argireline, a natural botox that relaxes wrinkles... and Matrixyl, a peptide that boosts collagen production. It has plumped those tiny lines and wrinkles in my face, I am so much smoother. Love it.
Shop at sublimebeautyshop.com and amazon.com



And lastly, a product for a part of our face that we overlook so much of the time but takes a big hit in winter. ….our lips. Miracle Skin Transformer has come up with a lip balm, 
Lip Rewind infused with antioxidants that condition, smooth and create a barrier against the elements. It also includes a broad spectrum sunscreen which protects against damaging UV rays.  Love the feel of this lip balm,  and love the look… smoother, moisturized and with less visible lines, they look fuller. 
Comes in great colors and is available at miracleskintransformer.com, ultra.com, nordstrom.com

Scientific Organics Skin Care by emerginC

This winter has been so harsh..so cold & snowy and I usually get through it just fine…… BUT this Polar Vortex thing is a real downer:(
My hair, my skin..everything is so dry and lifeless looking. So when I received samples of Scientific Organics , I decided to wait for a snowed-in weekend to try them. It turned into a Spa weekend for me!
I have used emerginC products before. They are great products and used in some of the best spas nationally like Miraval, Wynn and Caesar's Palace because of the advanced anti-aging benefits of emerginC products.
So I took a nice hot shower, wrapped myself in a thick robe & slippers, put my hair up in a towel and sat in front of my mirror.
I started with the Kombucha cleanser. It was amazing that even after a shower, I still had traces of makeup that were removed by the cleanser..so I was starting with really clean skin. Next on to the Phytocell Detox Mask. It is a French green clay mask and I tell you after leaving it on for ten minutes, I could actually feel it drawing impurities from my pores.
Removed the mask and next I applied Phytocell cream. What luxury, how soft and smooth my skin felt.
Knowing I was not going out, I did not apply make-up. I just let my skin drink in all the antioxidants, algae extract, teas, and moisturizers for the day..my face was glowing !!

Next afternoon, while I watched more snow fall, I decide to try the Facial Peel & Clarifying kit. So easy to use..peel pads & clarifying pads, how simple. They are full of fruit acids so dead skin is removed and skin is brightened. Used more of the Phytocell Cream after the peel and I really felt like I had been to a Spa.

Scientific Organics products are at least 70% organic ingredients and paraben free, synthetic fragrance free and petro-chemical free. So good for your skin.

You can order emerginC products from the web site at emerginC.com..check out the other great products, too!

Two Great New Manna Kadar Products

There are so many skincare & cosmetics products out there, some good…. some not so good. I think I end up trying them all, looking for the good ones.
Two new ones that I love are from the beauty simplified line of Manna Kadar Cosmetics , Camera Ready & Sheer Glow.

Camera Ready is a silicon based primer..you can use it alone for that finished look, or do what I do and use it as a primer for makeup. I love the feel of it on my skin, smooth as silk. Fills in the pores, helps my skin look flawless and matte. My mineral make-up glides right on and stays..that's the best part.



Sheer Glow is another new product, that I love. I am a big fan of highlighters. As we age we lose that dewey look, that special glow that comes with youthful skin. Sheer Glow lights up your skin, with a luminous glow. I wear it on my cheekbones, brow bones and lightly down the center of my face. What a difference it makes under my mineral foundation. During the day, when I check my makeup in the mirror..I am always so pleasantly surprised. Glowing:)

Visit www.mannakadarcosmetics.com for more information/ordering

What I Had Before I Had You by Sarah Cornwell

Olivia Reed is a mom of two-Daniel & Carrie- she suffers from bi-polar disorder. Her young son Daniel, is in early on-set of her disease. As we learn through flash backs, Olivia's mom, Myla also suffered from the disorder, although Olivia wasn't to know that as a child.
She left Ocean Vista, her childhood home, at fifteen, running away from the chaos that was her home life. Now separated from her husband and twenty years later, she is taking her two children on a journey back for a vacation before their permanent move to NYC. Daniel somehow walks away on one of the piers while Olivia & Carrie are distracted and so begins a frantic search for him ..it also triggers an overwhelming pull of the past as she searches in places that she lived as a child. We find out just how difficult it was growing up with a mentally ill  gypsy for a mom, who would disappear for days at a time leaving her daughter to fend for herself. A mom who told fantasies about her miscarried twins, who were given a nursery in the home and treated as if they lived.. what a bizzarre world to live in.
This story narrated by Olivia, is a tale that weaves in and out of normal and crazy..typical and wild…but it is all brought so wonderfully coherent by author Cornwell.
I really enjoyed this book, I found it hard to put it down..very well written. Cozy up by the fire on a snowy weekend, this book is perfect for it.

Miracle Skin Transformer FACE & SPOTLIGHT

Happy New Year.. and for me Happy New Skin!! I have tried two new Miracle Skin Transformer products and love them both!

MST FACE Broad Spectrum SPF 20 is one of the newest products in a growing line of great skin care.  It is a multifunctional  tinted skin enhancer that hydrates, primes, offers SPF protection and more.
FACE's key ingredients are:
Ecophysalis that provides environmental protection from free radicals and also calms the redness.
Saw Palmetto extract provides nourishment & moisture.
CO Enzyme Q10 helps increase elasticity and firms  the skin.
Vitamins K, A & E  helps even skin tone, boost cell turn over and protect against pollution.
I am one to avoid the products with sunscreen, just can't stand the feel of most of them on my skin. They feel heavy and "clogging" Not so with FACE... it soaks into my skin , leaving it  in perfect shape to apply makeup. Feels great all day and I know I have done something good for my skin..and I am protecting my face against the sun's harmful rays.. huge bonus.


MST FACE "Spotlight" is a brand new addition to the FACE line that hits the market in March. Love the illumination that the mineral pearlized pigments provide. What a lift to my tired winter skin! Just what I needed.
Same great ingredients that the original FACE has, now with an airbrushed look. It feels like velvet when you put it on. I use my mineral make up on top because I need more coverage, but that pearl look comes right through, like an inner glow.
Love, love , love.

LOOK FOR MIRACLE SKIN TRANSFORMER PRODUCTS AT ULTA STORES and at ulta.com.