Miss Moon's Musing About: My Five Fall Must-Haves!!

Summer is on its way out the door here in Brooklyn. The leaves on the trees (The trees that are still standing, that is - what was up with that tornado yesterday!?!? Yikes!!) are starting to change color, people are starting to wear jackets more and the weather has a crisp, brisk feeling to it.

In preparing for the change in season, I've stocked up on some goodies recently that I thought I would share (these are in no particular order)!

To usher in the Autumn, I've said "See ya later, alligator" to Essie's Mint Candy Apple and have welcomed in three exciting new nail polish colors for fall (These count as one of the five, fyi... LOL):

From Essie's Fall 2010 Collection, I snapped up Merino Cool, a color I'd describe as a taupe-y, lavender-y shade.



From O.P.I.'s Swiss Collection (Fall/Winter 2010), I selected two colors, Ski Teal We Drop and The Color to Watch





I am looking forward to combining the two O.P.I colors together... I think this fall I am going to be bold and try out a two-finger Blackberry Bling look. After all, I have a Blackberry! LOL

I have been hearing oodles and oodles of rave reviews about Mixed Chicks products, so I decided that I will give their Deep Conditioner a try. I actually have it in my hair as I type this blog entry!



My hair was lapping this stuff up as I was applying it to my hair. I was super exhausted last weekend, so I decided to give my hair a break and go two weeks without doing the whole wash-deep condition-braid routine. Suffice to say, my hair was an oily, stringy, product-laden mess tonight and my hair was so grateful for the attention (Lesson learned - I will never do that again! LOL).

Of course time will tell if this Deep Conditioner is up to the challenge of moisturizing and nurturing my thirsty curls, so be on the lookout for an official review in a few weeks!

In my never-ending quest to find a lipcolor that will last a) my cigarette habit, b) my propensity for constantly swigging from my bottled water and c) my overall awkward clumsiness...without crumbling and feeling dry... My lips are grateful for Revlon Colorstay's Overtime Lipcolor. I selected #26 - Perennial Plum. I really love how the color looks on my lips!!!



Ever since Essence Magazine provided a sneak peak of Terry McMillan's sequel to "Waiting to Exhale", I have been waiting with anticipation for the release of "Getting to Happy" this month. Thanks to a "just-because" gift of a $25 Borders Gift Card, I was able to snatch it up this week.



I started reading the book on the subway after work... and finished it around 1:00 AM that same night. It was a total page turner!!! It was exciting to see what's become of Savannah, Bernadine, Gloria and Robin, and I must say, Miss Terry did not disappoint!

Last but certainly not least, I took one look at Old Navy's Women's Plus Embellished Cardigans and knew it would be mine. I picked up the cardigan in Mauve Over and can see myself rocking it to work with a black camisole and slacks, or possibly with jeans and a graphic tee (with the right accessories and color scheme, I think it's doable!)



So, there's my list for Fall. I enjoyed making this entry, so this may be something I do every season (If there's an interest, of course!). I'd love to hear from you about the hair and beauty products, fashion, movies, music, books (or anything!) you're excited about this season. Leave a comment and let me know!!!

***********************UPDATE**************************

I am a woman of my word. In doing my Saturday Night manicure, I decided to give the Blackberry Bling a shot and I used my newest O.P.I acquisitions, Ski Teal We Drop and The Color to Watch. Since I was snapping pictures, I decided to try on the Revlon Colorstay Overtime Lipcolor in Perennial Plum to show that off too!



I really like the color combination. I decided to use the darker Ski Teal We Drop for the ring/thumb, because my toenails are completely that color.



In this picture are three of the five products listed above: The nail polish on my nails, lip color on my lips and of course, my hair was deep conditioned using Mixed Chicks Deep Conditioner. I braided my hair with Carol's Daughter Loc Butter, because Kizzi Stay-Put Hair Pomade is nowhere to be found (Rumor has it that it's being reformulated!). Any Kizzi fans will take heart in knowing that Loc Button is very similar and will yield the same results.

Venturing further off-topic, I was contemplating adding the caftan I am wearing to the list. Ever since I bought it from a local street vendor for ten bucks, I have been rocking it like it's a uniform! (Yes... I've washed it! LOL)

Miss Moon's Musing About: Tokens, Sweet Tokens...

Definition from Wikipedia:

Tokenism refers to a policy or practice of limited inclusion of members of a minority group, usually creating a false appearance of inclusive practices, intentional or not. Typical examples in real life and fiction include purposely including a member of a minority race (such as a black character in a mainly white cast, or a woman in a traditionally male universe) into a group. Classically, token characters have some reduced capacity compared to the other characters and may have bland or inoffensive personalities so as to not be accused of stereotyping negative traits. Alternatively, their differences may be overemphasized or made "exotic" and glamorous.

In perusing the web, checking out the new television series scheduled to reach the small screen in the fall, I noticed (Hell, I think Stevie Wonder could see this!) a trend in the cast line ups. Let's see if you can spot it:



The cast of ABC's "Off the Map"



The cast of ABC's "No Ordinary Family"



The cast of ABC's "Mr Sunshine"



The cast of ABC's "Happy Endings"

In compiling this list, I initially thought that I was noticing a trend in the fall television programs from several networks.... imagine my shock when I discovered that every single one of these programs are appearing on the same network.

I certainly do not knock the brothers who are portraying these rolls, but how lazy are the executives over at ABC? What a half-ass, transparent, super-fail attempt to appear diverse!!!