girly things, episode two

As I discussed some years ago, Icelanders are very prone to trend mania, and just like a few years ago, I decided I had to try out the latest craze and see what it was all about. Last time I went through duty free, I bought the smallest size of the #1 best seller in the cosmetics department, the EGF serum. This thing has been gushed over on the international press, and stories go that women in Iceland and abroad are using it with rave reviews.

This is my first foray into serums and I've never used a product with magical promises like this before, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but so far I've been underwhelmed. After a month of using it every night before bed, just like instructed, I haven't really seen any difference. It's just like with every other skin product I've ever tried. Some smell nice, some don't, some make my skin really unhappy, but none have really produced results impressive enough to make me buy again. So, I've got to say that unlike the last time I ventured into Icelandic woman-products, this one has failed. Maybe I'm just not in their target age group or something.

In other more positive news, I discovered that the Icelandair shop is selling a dress designed by a friend of a friend. The first time I spotted it in the catalog I wasn't particularly thrilled by it and didn't realize the few degrees of separation between me and the dress. In November I was on a Skype call with my longtime friend K, and as usual, we segued into discussions of Fabulous Dresses. She mentioned that a friend of hers is the head designer for a label in town, someone I've had sunny wine-soaked afternoons with, someone whose house has hosted several fabulous dinner parties, someone whose dog I've walked when I lived on the same street.

After our call I stopped by the store downtown, and to my surprise, many of the dresses and skirts in the store were indeed gorgeous and fit me superbly. I had a friend coming to Iceland buy the dress from the Icelandair duty free, and have been extremely happy I did ever since. It's the perfect weight of jersey with the perfect neckline, and I love that someone I know had a hand in its delightful craftsmanship. Such is life in Iceland, where the people you spent an evening dyeing your eyebrows with are the people designing beautiful things with international recognition. Also, K rarely steers wrong when it comes to gorgeous dresses.

Update: Reading the morning news I discovered that yet again there's a mania for this EGF serum, this time in France. What am I missing here?

*since America cares about this, nobody has paid me or given me anything to write about either of these products