----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- putting on your face Ironically, today I got an email saying that Everyday Minerals is shutting down. They are a small clean make up company. I got samples from their eye shadows years ago and since I hardly ever wear make up, I still have them. But, I have wanted to get more from them for years. I just know how little I wear make up and how little money I have, so I've put it off. Mica, Wax, and pigment, that's what their eye shadows are made of. That's it. And yeah, I know of the Mica mines and all the horrific conditions there, so we can skip that lecture. You go find make up without Mica in it. I got an email a few months ago telling me that Sjaaks chocolate, a small vegan and organic chocolate company is shutting down after the holidays this year too. They were bought out a few years ago, and personally I thought their quality was not anywhere as good, which is probably why they are shutting down, even though they try to blame it on the pandemic. But maybe in this economy, luxuries like clean make up and clean gourmet vegan chocolate just can't exist side by side dollar store make up that has a "cruelty free" label, as well as the ubiquitous "Snickers" bar. Both the make up company and the chocolate company I found out from a site called Abes Market (or something like that). It started out as a place for eco-conscious and vegan/ veg-o companies could be introduced to the public with samples of their products. Abes Market is long gone too, and I'm guessing most of those companies that were promoted through them are all shutting down like Everyday Minerals and Sjaaks. These are all luxuries, not really worth crying over, but I definitely feel some sense of loss, even though I barely bought anything from them. It's more the impending dread that is collapsing economy keeps dragging over all our heads. The loss of any small businesses is a loss to a certain way of life that keeps getting devoured by mega-corps. I mean, I still miss K-mart and Sears, and they weren't exactly small business, but I do think when they both shut down, there was a huge shift in the economy. So yeah, I did buy some eye shadow and blush because they were selling off their remaining stock at 50% off. Since there are no oils in them, they don't go rancid like most other make ups do. What I bought will probably last me the rest of my life. It's probably the last luxury item I am going to be able to get for a very long time. I shouldn't have bought them at all, but I did, so that's that. It's funny since I bought all that other make up recently (and then returned it all). Ironic, I guess. Life is nothing but not ironic. I mean, it's the end of 2023 and Rancid has a new album out. Yeah, I bought that too. It's pretty good. Seeing punks hovering around age 60 is inspiring, at least to me. I'm not sure if Tim Armstrong will ever be applying for his AARP card, but if he keeps making music, I'll be happy to give it a listen. 12:22 PM - Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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