Weekends are for Random Thoughts

Today's Saturday goodness: Spiders, Avon reviews, and random musings...

Name that spider! I found him waiting in a corner of my back patio. I love him! He's a Globe Spider, considered incredibly good luck by the Navajo. Don't let his size fool you - he's even bigger than you think!

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I handed my stuck tub of Avon's Mark Worldly Glow to my burly cowboy neighbor this morning. He looked at me through eyelids puffed, red heavy from a tequila-laced evening at the local saloon.

"Geeze, Birdie, what the hell do they lock this with? Krazy Glue?" Markus handed the tub back to me and rubbed his hands on his jeans. "I bet my rotweiller couldn't bust that with his jaws. Want me to give it to him?"

I laughed, shook my head. Markus sat on his cement stoop with a guttural groan, picked up his scratched silver travel mug, sipped strong coffee. Steam rose from his mug and formed a ghostly figure in the morning sun.

Maybe I'll leave this tub on the railroad tracks, see if the train can bust it open.

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I woke up thinking about my customer and her problems with the avon.com site. The responses to that post show me that it's not an isolated problem. Let's brainstorm, come up with a list of suggestions for Avon. I know, I know, they have a marketing team to handle that sort of thing. Well, in my opinion, that team is doing them no good. I'll make a grand itemized list of our problems and potential solutions, post it here at Beauty Dish, and send it along to Avon. Will they listen?

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Now, a few mini-reviews:

Review of the new Avon Anew Clinical Advanced Retexturizing Peel

This product takes the place of the old Anew Clinical 2-Step Peel. It consists of one large white plastic canister filled with the same textured pads of the original peel, but this product contains a stronger exfoliator PLUS the soothing botanicals in one pad.

Bottom line: I love it. I love it as much - and even more - than the original formula. It still slightly stings my sensitive skin, but leaves it smooth, clear, and refreshed. The instructions tell you to go ahead and plop on your moisturizer immediately after applicator, but I do wash my face first with a gentle cleanser.

Review of the new(ish) Avon Anew Alternative Photo-Radiance Treatment SPF 15

I've spoken about this product in the past. It supposedly reverses sun-damage and erases age spots. It's expensive, too! 25 sorry bucks! I will give you my honest bottom line: Don't buy it. You will get better results with the Clinical Advanced Retexturizing Peel and your usual sunscreen. This product barely faded one of my tiny age spots, but at great cost. I was covered with horrible zits the entire time I used it. My customers have had the same pimply response! Don't purchase! Evil product! Evil!

Review of the Hanes Footless Tights

Avon sells all kinds of underthings these days. I have sold quite a few bras and panties from the Hanes and Bali lines. You can find these products in your regular Avon brochure each campaign. It's nice to be able to offer my customers a way to purchase high quality underwear in the comfort of their own home.

Now. Having said that...

The Hanes Footless Tights are called "Fall's Hottest Look" in the new Avon book. Yeah, I've seen Lindsay Lohan and her ilk sporting tights with tunics and short dresses. It's a look that looks best on those with trim (some might say quite thin) figures. But in the interest of fashion, I gave these a whirl. I ordered the tights - they come two to a package - in black.

The brochure calls these tights "opaque." Now, in my world "opaque" means you can't see through them. Yeah, right. I tried getting away with an upper-thigh skimming tunic and these tights - as demonstrated and promoted in the literature. A model lounges on a park bench wearing a short (!!) tunic and these same tights.

My son, 11, took one look at me.

"Uh, mom? You forgot your pants."

Yup. Don't try this at home.

Comments

[Devra]

Birdie - I totally agree on both the Anew products.

The 1-step peel is terrific. It's still quite gentle, but it's a wee bit stronger than the 2-step, it's just active for a shorter amount of time. I'm probably not quite as sensitive-skinned as you, but I don't rinse or wash it off, I just give it plenty of time to self-neutralize before putting anything else on.

But the photo-radiance blah-blah-blah is just one more unnecessary item in an ever-expanding list of INEFFECTIVE AND OVERHYPED PRODUCTS to blow your hard-earned money on. A good hydroxy acid product plus a good Vitamin C serum (which, sadly, Avon no longer has - the fools!) will do more & do it better, IMO. I'm a big fan of quite a few of Avon's skincare items, but they've got a bad habit of including way more ingredients in their products than are truly necessary - even Alternative (night cream), which is a GREAT product, could stand to have its ingredients list reduced by half. The Photo-Radiance suffers from the 'too much stuff in it' syndrome, with not enough in it that is actually ACTIVE in doing what the cream's marketed to do. I give it a year before it's 'last time in brochure'.

*sigh*

If the R&D team would only listen to me, the world would be a better place ... heh. ;)

[matt]

for the spider i suggest Parker.

[Shrexy]

the Spider's name is Fred !! I vaguely recognise him...he used to live here but took offence to my bi-ennial Spring clean and took pasage on a slow boat to Mexico where he obviously made his way to Rancho Birdie.. dont annoy him gal..he has a mean right hook...and he likes cornflakes for breakfast !!..and only one bowl or he'll keep falling off his web..funny as !! lol

[Louise]

His name could be Ocho.
8 in Spanish for all his legs?

He looks more like an octopus to me. He also appears to have eyes at the top of his body (as you look at the picture!)

[Terri]

What a pretty spider! I hope she blesses you with her presence for a long time.

[Birdie]

Devra, AMEN!! Thanks for your comment about those products. Have you tried the Hanes, though? Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!

These are great name suggestions. My spider is fat and happy tonight. We watched him snag a moth, a fly, and a wasp (!!) this evening.

[sunita]

this is so bizzare. i just stumbled across your site when i tried to find some info on avon's mark product -worldly glow.

i've been selling avon for years and i have an african grey that i've had for almost as long too. how strange? we both sell avon. we both own and love african greys. .... hmmm? strange.

is there some twisted connection between the two? je ne sais pas.

sunita.

[Kat]

Hi Birdie,
I just started selling AVON and found your site while searching for product reviews. Great site! Hey, and you know what's weird? I ALSO have an African Grey!!! I've had her for over 17 years!!! Maybe Sunita's right, and there is some twisted connection between the two, lol.

On another topic, I was bewildered by the different skin care products available. Anew? Hydro-whatever? Daily allowance? I bought a 3 pack of Avon Solutions: Dramatic Firming, Moisture Shield, and Lighten up Plus, along with other products and a zillion samples. Last night I tried the sample Anew thermafirm and Anew Ultimate night cream, along with the Anew Ultimate eye cream. I loved the smell of the Anew Ultimate line. I had no idea which way to put the products on and, in my way, did it completely opposite to how (I just read 3 seconds ago) I'm supposed to do it. It didn't matter, my skin felt great and I was astounded to find it didn't react negatively; I have rosacea and allergies and super sensitive skin. This morning after cleansing I tried the trio I purchased, and I have to say (in my opinion, you get what you pay for. I liked the Anew line WAYYYY better. Not that the cheaper line is bad, it's just, on my face, it looked like I landed face first into an oil slick. Trust me, if anyone from greenpeace had been around, they'd have be on me like white on rice. I waited for the shininess to disappear, and when it didn't, topped it off with Beyond colour foundation. It was nice, but seemed thin to me. Which could be because I've been using a mouse foundation. It looks nice though, smooth and even and not cakey, but, even after adding pressed powder (not Avon), I still look very, very shiny. On the bright side, my face feels as soft as a baby's butt and my pores are not visible (yahoo!!).

Anyway, I wanted to thank you for your site. I'm new to the whole avon thing, and not getting much (read ANY) help. I don't have an upline, so the district manager signed me on. She followed up with a short visit, where she asked me if I had any questions. I had one question, and she looked at me with great disdain (I have witnesses; my 3 cousins were present and the consensus was "disdain" with a smattering of "disgust"), and said "Didn't you go online? The answers are online!" I explained, rather nicely I thought (considering I would have liked to strangle her with her own dangly necklace), that I HAD gone online. I explained that I read all of the literature online, including from the American sites (I'm quite compulsive; I also read the "getting started book 3 times and watched the Avon successes video 3 times, once in Spanish...but that was an accident). She said "Dont' go to the American sites; do you have any more questions?" Needless to say, I said "no". So, I've decided to get my training from your site. I'm looking forward to exploring the rest of the site; I've only read a bit so far. So, thanks; I'm off to learn about Avon!
Kat