I am not a "product" girl. I have makeup, but most of it's from Target, and I have moisturizer, also from Target, and I have facewash, and it might be from Walgreens, but most likely Target. Last year, my mother-in-law gave me a giftcard to Sephora and while I absolutely adore the idea of being a product girl, clearly I am not cut out for it because Sephora gives me serious anxiety. You just walk in, and everything is So!Cute! and the packaging is adorable, and the choices are endless, and it all costs over twenty dollars, which means it must be really, totally worth it. Yet somehow, all this adds to up to just make things confusing for me.

So, I have not really bought much makeup or other girl products since that overwhelming trip. I did, however, score some good stuff back then- Benefit Bad Gal Lash mascara and Nars blush in Orgasm. I mean, who could say no to a mascara called Bad Gal? And a blush called ORGASM?!? Talk about spicing up your life. Unfortunately, I also bought this really disappointing all-in-one concealer and foundation that didn't really conceal, but it did a super job of turning my face orange. This is when things get depressing. I moved on to Neutrogena pressed powder that again, had an orange-y tint and was only slightly better at concealing my blemishes (i may be getting older, but my skin is still hanging out in adolescence) Then I upgraded to Clinique. Um, orange again? Check. When I was home at Christmas, I stole one of my mom's Cover Girl powders - she keeps about 4 colors on hand for I have no idea why _ and although it was a nasty consistency and had basically no concealing power, it did not turn me orange.

But just today, I discovered that there is still hope for me to become a product girl, and this hope was discovered at the Prescriptives counter in Macys, where a lovely girl named Maggie introduced me to CUSTOM-BLENDED POWDER. Yes, your wildest dreams can come true, and if your wildest dreams are anything like mine and include getting rid of an orange chin line forever, you are in luck. Well, let's talk about how this stuff is amazing. First they find your underlying skin tone using these little concealer sticks - it turns out that mine is blue/red. But almost all makeup is made with a yellow/orange base. Hence, the sweet potato color I've been sporting for years is actually not my fault. No one ever told me this! Then, they dump out a powder base onto this slick white slab, chop up carefully selected color pigments and mix it all in (which IS strangely reminiscent of Coldstone) and,voila! The perfect color. They can even add oil-control or moisturizer or whatever you need to your powder. You get to take home a big tub of the loose powder, and then they press part of it into a compact. And it lasts for A YEAR.

Even Joshua was very impressed. I was practically falling out of my little stool, and I may have told Maggie that I loved her and quite possibly I made a big fool of myself over pressed (and loose!) powder. Pressed AND loose! And in the perfect color! Does life GET ANY BETTER?!?!

Yes it does, because they give this gloriousness to you in a special bag that says Custom-Blended Powder on the outside, so everyone knows how fabulous and smart you were to buy this product. So, if you live in the Chicagoland area, and can find your way to Old Orchard Mall, ask for Maggie at the Prescriptives counter in Macys and she will chop up a powder just for you.

Oh, and Oprah uses it too.