phyllis...the acceptable practice when one of those little bims acts like that is to take down her name, note the day and time you were in there, and if you can't find a manager on duty, then contact both the store- and the cosmetic company (easy, with the web) apologies are usually profuse- customer retention and new customer acquisition is most of what keeps the companies profitable, and any sales girl who gets CAUGHT messing with that is in for a fair bit of trouble. and no, you shouldn't care if they lose their jobs- they don't deserve them in the first place. you didn't get an 'I'm sorry, I know that everyone else does that, but it's against policy, and I don't have a manager to override it'... you got snipped.

Sally Hansen Hand creme in the orange tube is for reducing age spots and aged hands. I don't use it for that purpose. I put it on my feet and heels and it gets rids of the roughness and prickly dead skin after a few uses. Before using this, I was constantly scrapping the dead skin off with that PED thing followed by the sanding paper to smooth the dead skin. Not anymore. This stuff is a keeper. I have to get another tube.

I use (from Whole Foods) Alaffia's Coconut & Shea shampoo and conditioner. No sulfates or anything nasty, and the ingredients are virtually all in "English": Herbal infusion of Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus), Vegetable Glycerin, Behentrimonium Chloride (and) Cetearyl Alcohol, Shea (Butyrospermum parkii) Butter, Virgin Coconut (Cocos nucifera) Oil, Panthenol (pro-Vitamin B5), Vegetable Emulsifying Wax, Potassium Sorbate, Essential Oil of Lavender, Fragrance, Limonene (from essential oil), Citric Acid. We use Alaffia everything. Their moisturizers are miraculous, doing wonders for my oily/dry skin, DH's dry/cranky skin, and my mother's crazy/angry/irritable skin. Ditto the face wash. Their body wash (labelled as "Everyday Shea") is outstanding and cheap: a huge bottle is well under $10.00. Here is a link that might be useful: Coconut & Shea

Well, I'm back from the salon ... and I'm in loooooove! The stylist did an amazing job, and I couldn't be happier. She spent two full hours coloring, cutting and styling and the outcome is everything I hoped for! It's very similar to the first photo I posted. She didn't want to go too dark with the lowlights so as not to give me a drastic change. My overall look now isn't something that would cause anyone to go, "Whoa! What did you do to your hair?" -- but it's caused several people in my office to look at me a bit longer than usual, smile and say, "Your hair looks really good today." It's so shiny and has a subtle multi-dimensional look to it. So now I'm out $150 (color, cut and bottle of straightening cream), but I consider it money well spent. Terriks, this was most definitely a pampering experience, which is such a nice change from my usual getting-half-nekkid in the bathroom and squeezing a bottle of foul-smelling stuff onto my head (inevitably getting a good deal of it on the floor in the process)! I may be a lot more high maintenance now. But I look better than before, too - so I think it's worth it. ;-D