Monday, December 7, 2009

Infomercials

Of all the odd things that I enjoy I am going to share another oddity with you: infomercials. Not all, just a few:

Burt Sugarman's The Midnight Special
Romancing the Seventies
and BareMinerals by BareEscentuals



First up, The Midnight Special. Even though I've seen this a bajillion times, I STILL have a hard time falling asleep once this one starts! I think it's because I love watching musicians perform and it features a couple of David Bowie performances. I also think I continue to hope that the infomercial will change and show different clips. OR it could also be due to the late hour that I usual see it.

Next up, Romancing the Seventies. WHERE do I start? There are so many things to love about this silly program. First off, it's hosted by Tony Orlando and some lady who has apparently made a career out of hosting music on TV type programs because she seems awfully comfortable with the whole deal. Setting aside the obvious awesomeness of Tony Orlando, some of the music choices are really horrible. REALLY horrible.
  1. Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone Again Naturally" (#27 on my playlist) While the song may appear to be just another mellow piano and cymbal based song, take a minute to LISTEN to the lyrics. Yep, he DID just say he was contemplating suicide by throwing himself off a tower AND his life really sucked.
  2. Engelbert Humperdinck's "After the Lovin'" Oh, I don't know if I can even get past his name and the song title. I find the idea of singing someone to sleep with a song you "wrote yesterday" not particularly romantic. Not so much writing the song but specifying WHEN you wrote it. Also I have problems with the phrase "the lovin'" and the name Engelbert Humperdinck. Why change your name from Arnold George Dorsey? Is it that bad?
  3. Diana Ross's "Touch Me In The Morning" It's probably just the clip they show but every time I follow her line "touch me in the morning" with "don't even think about touching me any other time of the daaaaay." Probably only really funny to me and at 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
  4. America's "Horse With No Name" Since when is this a love song? Seriously, have I been missing something?
  5. Same goes for Paul Simon's "Kodachrome."
  6. B.J. Thomas' "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" Holy CRAP, that is A LOT of words in that title. I'm putting this on this list for the sheer tongue-tying aspects of the title alone.
  7. Helen Redding "Angie Baby" I'm pretty sure this song is about a "lady of the night" or a "lady of questionable morals" or a "strumpet" or the same subject as the Reba McIntire song "Fancy." (A side note, Jessica Simpson's perfume is called Fancy. It STILL cracks me up!)
  8. Bread "Guitar Man" Just because a song contains the word "love" I don't think it qualifies as a love song.
There were a few others but I honestly can't remember what they were. Maybe I'll write down my ideas the next time I'm sitting around and the informerical comes on.

Last up is something I actually really LOVE.
I started using Bare Minerals in September and I have actually seen an improvement in my skin. Honestly. I bought it via Sephora and it was well worth the expense of $60.
The kit contained three brushes, magical primer, two foundations, "warmth" (sort of bronzer that doesn't have a cheeto effect) and "mineral veil" (a translucent powder that looks really sparkly but somehow isn't.) It also came with a how-to DVD and a booklet. While the infomerical sort of drove me nuts with the host (CEO Leslie Blogett) repeating "swirl, tap, buff" so many times it could be a drinking game if I were the drinking type. Plus, it all seemed too good to be true: it covers, doesn't feel like make up AND it is good for just about any skin type? It took a couple of conversations over the summer to help me make my decision to purchase the kit (namely two conversations with actual users and numerous infomercial viewings.) The prognosis?
I love it!
My skin is a heck of a lot clearer than it has been, well, since I started wearing make-up and it feels softer too. The only downside is I ran out of primer a month and a half ago (the kit contained a deluxe sample size, just enough to get you hooked.) I've been substituting Benefit's Dr. Feelgood and Korre's Face Primer. (I purchased the Benefit product on a whim a couple of months ago and only figured it out recently. I received a deluxe sample of the Korres primer via the Beauty Insider program.)

There you have it, the infomercials I sort of like. I'm even more strange than you though!

4 comments:

Annie said...

It cracks me up that you love infomercials, but seriously, what's not to love?! Also, I appreciate a good drinking game. I've often thought I should do that when I watch Jeopardy...any questions about Canada would mean a shot of...gingerale?

I've kind of secretly wanted to try the Bare Minerals makeup but never taken the plunge. You may have convinced me now...

Erin said...

I love Bare Minerals! My only gripe is that the brushes they sell with the kit are totally crap. The bristles are always falling out and staying on my skin and making me look a little silly. When I was younger I used to love watching infomercials on Saturdays. I used to drive my siblings nuts!

Me said...

Every time I see the Bare Minerals infomercial I totally want to try it. I've only bought one infomercial item. It was when we were first married, and it was called the Scunci steamer and it was CRAP. BUT I keep hearing good things about Bare Minerals, and since I am always too tired to wash my face at night my skin could need some HELP!

Leslie said...

this reminds me that i need to get some more bare essentials!