Airshop Closes as The Ordinary Redefines Body and Hair Care

by Stephanie McCarthy

Red rectangular Closing down sign in yellow and white capitalized font & 3 exclamation marks on brick building storefront
Closing down sign by the blowup, Narain Jashanmal

One of my favorite bands is The Go-Betweens. In the original (and superior) music video for their song, “Streets of Your Town” (the sepia one that follows the kid around Australia), there’s a point where the boy is all excited to hang out at the rec center. But, to his dismay, it has shuttered. That’s how I felt when Airshop shut down in late May. It’s going to be difficult to find someone to fill their very big shoes. 

This Chicago-based company sold samples of fancy brands at affordable prices. From perfume, to body wash, to eye cream, to makeup, you name it, they carried it. They also had these black rectangular mesh bags that are put to good use in my household. I keep my beauty products that are sold in my store in them and my husband puts his medication and charging devices in his.

So, what do you do when your favorite things disappear in a world that seems to be changing so quickly, and not for the better? You replace it with something comparable, reliable, and consistent. For the kid in the video, the subtext implies it was watching The Go-Betweens rehearse at the same time every day. That’s what I need to do regarding what I spend my money on. As I said before, it won’t be easy. Maybe I’ll cover my favorite Airshop samples that you can purchase at other stores one day. Until then, thanks for letting me mourn.

Ordinary Body/Hair Cleanser, white rectangular bottle, jade green horizontal strip, mostly lowercased black arial rounded font
The Ordinary Body and Hair Cleanser, 8.1 oz

I have a very temperamental scalp, especially in these warmer months, when the air is so dry. It can get really gross and unsexy. In certain areas, it bleeds, oozes, crusts, scabs, and flakes. Having chicken pox when I was young, which resurfaced as shingles later in life, partly on the frontal region of my scalp didn’t help either. At times, I get a recurrence of it along that original area of infection. While Johnson’s No More Tears Baby Shampoo and Neutrogena T/Gel can provide relief during the cooler months, they actually make it worse in the summer. Therefore, I use The Ordinary Cleanser for Body and Hair, 8.1 oz, $9.20 at Sephora. 

This fragrance-free formula helps with scalp build-up from coloring your hair and the price can’t be beat. Moreover, it’s a great body wash if you have sensitive skin. The only thing I don’t like about it is its runny, watery consistency, which can cause you to go through it rather quickly. Finally, men can use it too.

If you’d like to learn more about The Go-Betweens, check out my review of singer, songwriter, and guitarist, Robert Forster’s memoir, Grant & I: Inside and Outside The Go-Betweens in my April 25th post: Robert Forster and Alisson Wood Look Back in Their Memoirs.

If you happen to like what I’m doing, feel free to go to the Subscribe section in the left-hand corner and hit the Follow button. I appreciate your support! :)

Consider supporting my work further by clicking on the PayPal button and leaving whatever amount you see fit to contribute or by leaving a comment below. 

PayPal
 

This post contains a Sovrn affiliate link to a product. I may receive a commission for purchases made through this link. Rest assured, I only recommend products that I've tried and love, pinkie swear!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Revisiting Judy Blume’s Forever Alongside My Own Life Updates

Image
by Stephanie McCarthy April, 2007 book cover of Judy Blume’s Forever , with the main characters, Katherine and Michael,  lying  together   on on a bed. After abandoning this blog for a little over a year, I’m ba-ack. This blogging business is a lot harder than I thought it would be, especially when it comes to making money from it. It was a busy time. Last spring, I completed my RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) studies. Then, in late September, I got married to my husband, who I’ve been with for 11 years. He's actually the one who suggested that I breathe life back into this blog. Isn’t it great when the one you love is so supportive of what you do? I’ve started adding books I’ve read, especially ones from my childhood, to this revamped blog/rebranded blog. If you happen to like what I’m doing, feel free to go to the Subscribe section in the lefthand corner and hit the Follow button. Now, on to my first book review! Forever  by Judy Blume, $11.98 at Walm...
Read more

Robert Forster and Alisson Wood Look Back in Their Memoirs

Image
by Stephanie McCarthy Best friends & fellow singing, songwriting & music partners, Grant McLennan & Robert  Forster  of the band, The Go-Betweens.   Grant & I: Inside and Outside The Go-Betweens   by Robert Forster, $13.05 at Alibris This was not a very happy and enjoyable read. Right from the beginning, you’re basically dreading the untimely death of one of the lead singers of the group, Grant McLennan, from alcoholism. It’s not easy being a musician and the book captures this very well, especially if you’re more on the sensitive side and have depression, like Grant did. At the end of the day, he was too much of a people pleaser, whereas the other lead singer of the band and author of this book, Robert Forster, was more of an oddball and couldn’t care less what you thought of him and The Go-Betweens’ music. It’s a crime that this band didn’t gain more notoriety in their heyday. Their music still sounds wonderful and fresh all these years later. It’...
Read more

Bath & Body Works’ Body Washes Worth Splurging On

Image
by Stephanie McCarthy A person’s left hand under water by Ron Lach Attribution link: https://www.pexels.com/photo/persons-left-hand-on-water-9155214/ Writing is frickin’ stressful, especially when you’re preparing your manuscript for literary publications. Not only does your short story need to be in the William Shunn Proper Manuscript Format, but it needs to be tailored to fit the guidelines of each publication as well. This leaves you with far too many versions of the same story.  “How do you keep track of all these?” my husband once asked me with an overwhelmed expression on his face. “Ummm…” I started out, not very articulately for a writer. “That’s a good question. I label the literary publications in some of the file names of each story.” “Yeah, but how do you know which one to use for future publications?” “I…uh…er…ah, the hell with it. I don’t know.” His sympathetic gaze stayed fixed on me. I swear I’m not being melodramatic when I say this process is the stuff that ulcer...
Read more