observations of an 8 week old twitter user

Ok, admittedly it’s been more like 11 weeks, but really my Twitter use is very much in its infancy.  At this point, we’re still counting my age in weeks.  Weeks. 

Yes I was late to the game but it took a long time before someone succinctly explained why I would like Twitter.  While I don’t recall having anyone say something specifically stunning, the suggestion that I would like the forum came from so many places in my life I finally gave it a whirl. 

Incidentally I signed up for Pinterest the same day and I’m not so much loving it.  And while I’m fessing up, with LinkedIn I continue to fail to find the a-ha so far, but I’m keeping it on the ‘not dumped yet’ list.

In many ways we are living through a very intensive and interesting change in consumer conduct and interaction.  The mobility of the average consumer makes them that much more in tune with their options beyond what is available to them.  The internet has become the best and worst gossip venue - ever.  So while you have to temper what you read with not only what value the opinion has for you but also whether or not it is an anomaly, it is now almost impossible to continue to deliver bad service without the word getting out.  Combine that with changing delivery methods for shopping as the retail space tries to figure out how keep abreast of very diverse habits, it’s almost like the Wild West out there.

As a consumer, and acutely observant of my own behaviour, and all while trying to not to get too far off on a tangent, I can’t help but notice, that I tend to browse on line but want to experience the item in person before committing to it, with rare exception.  However a liberal and easy to use return policy can be used to sway me.  And I’m slowly learning who employs a really good in-house photographer.  On the other hand I think the drug and grocery store industry is completely missing the boat.  But again I’m trying to stay on point and the point is; we’re changing the way we consume.

As already discussed in this space my limited interaction with companies via Twitter has been fascinating.  And influential.  While I’m astounded at some of the responses from companies I really don’t expect much from, I’m equally perplexed by companies that I expect to be on top of things, being not on the ball.

Influenced so much that I am considering whether or not to continue to shop at retailers that choose not to interact directly with their consumers when tweeted directly.  Ikea I’m looking at you, and I like Ikea, or I did, but now I’m on the fence.

On the other side of the coin, I’ve recently been blown away by responses from Greyhound, which is often on my top ten list of annoying but essential companies that I must deal with because I have no car.  Yes their reply was pedestrian but it was prompt.  And believe me when I say I’ve complained to Greyhound over the years, via e-mail, phone and in person essentially to no end.  PC Financial falls into this odd space too, as I didn’t even use their handle in my complaint, again a canned response but still a response.

The only issue that will come of this canned ‘thank you for your feedback’ responding is that it will quickly smell of what a good friend calls the ‘PFO’.  Back in the day when you went to a job interview and didn’t get the job, eventually you’d get a form letter, addressed to you via mail merge, basically saying ‘Thank you for your time, Please Fuck Off’ and then you knew for certain the job wasn’t yours.  Of course as I write about it, this feels so quaint.   Now you’re to assume that your resume fell into a big vat of computer rejected filters and you and all links to you were deleted upon receipt. 

So as Christmas approaches and I’m forced into the mall to shop for others on a deadline, with people who generally avoid the mall, do I consider taking up the challenge and confining my dollars to those who are harnessing the Twitterverse, early, and in novel ways?

i seem to be on a bit of a writing spree lately

Course, I'm avoiding spending time on finding a new life's work, but in part because I got so excited that I finally figured out what I'd like to do, it stunned my momentum.  But helped my writers proficiency.

P-O-tato - Pot-A-to.

duck lips: or how i accidently became the world’s leading expert on lip gloss.

When I was a teen, almost every girl carried a little, colour topped pot of Rachel Perry Lip Lover gloss in their pocket.  The container was awkward, and you had to go to the ‘health food’ store to get it, but this colourless, flavoured gloss was way popular, mostly because, in addition to being a good product, it tasted and smelled amazing.  Mint Tingle was the favourite of most, but my aversion to mint made me a Raspberry Cherry girl.   Sadly, after having had a pot of RP’s Lip Lover on my bedside table since I was a teen, the company seems to have closed up shop and my Raspberry Cherry, once the last of my half used pots are done, is no longer.

The internet is rife, still, with people seeking this favourite product, which I suppose means if you have any aptitude with making cosmetics, or could figure out how to purchase the recipe, you might have a little bit of license to 'Mint Tingle' money for yourself.  However, failing that anything you’d find now has been around for awhile and eek.

So the search began for a replacement.  Certainly there are lots of options on the market, but something that smells and tastes good and will stay on overnight, to protect the thin skin of the lips turned out to be a tall order.  Admittedly there’s not really anything wrong with anything I tried, but I was looking for that special combination of taste and pliability and that was hard to find.

So here we go.  Smith’s Rosebud Salve was rated a favourite over and over again so I picked it up.  Unfortunately I don’t really like rose smell or taste so it has a fairly unsavory start to it.  Once the rose perfume dissipates the gloss is pretty benign.  Absolutely nothing wrong with the product but missing the smell/taste combo I was seeking.

Nip and Fab’s Lip and Nip Fix, which it turns out you can use for chapped nipples too, should that be an issue.  Found at the drugstore and reasonably priced.  It’s a step up from something like Blistex but again, no smell and tastes like Vaseline.  Might be handy for really chapped skin in the winter, but for lips, it went in my no pile.

So I moved on to Smith's Rosebud Strawberry Lip Balm, which also comes in Chocolate flavour.  Again nothing wrong with the product and it seems to give a bit of colour to the lips when applied even though it’s clear, but missing the taste.  The smell is so good it initially fools your senses into thinking there is a flavour but there isn’t.  A potential keeper, mostly because the tube is lightweight and purse friendly.

Hope was high for Eos.  The package, a round coloured container is cheerful.  The gloss smells and tastes good and there are plenty of flavours, including mint for those missing their Mint Tingle.  My only objection to the product is the delivery, a hard gloss that you do not dip your finger into but instead apply right to your lips and because of this, it is really hard to get enough on.  The other issue I have with it is the esthetics of the package, because once a male friend commented it looked like a testicle, well I couldn’t see it any other way.  And, this package is every weirder looking that Lip Lover, in your pocket!

The latest product I’ve tried, Tokyo Milk Dark Lip Elixirs, I bought the Cherry Bourbon flavour holds the best option, the gloss, a little firm but becomes viscous with a bit of heat from your finger, smells good, tastes OK.  It will probably be the one I try again when this batch is done with.  However if I could somehow combine the features of the Eos with the Tokyo Milk, I might be happier.

Carmex, with its yellow lid, not really a contender, but worthy of a mention because it has camphor it in and it’s the only thing I found useful in treating cold sores.  I keep a pot in the medicine chest for this explicit reason and when I feel that weird tingle, it goes on immediately.  This gloss is difficult to spread, but they do have a version in a tube now, smell pretty unappealing and doesn’t taste much better, but cold sores, the gift that keeps on giving and often the little reminder of x’s past, need to be treated.

It’s always tough to replace an old favourite, and boy do I have a drawer full of products meaning it will be awhile before I need any more lip balm.  All I can say to Lip Lover is farewell old friend, we’ve been through the ages, and you’re a hard act to follow.


P.S.  A friend tried in earnest today to find me more of my old standby online but came to the same end I did, that Lip Lover is no longer.  But kudos to her for efforts.  It gladdens this old crusty heart of mine.

oh come all ye faithful

With each year that passes we all seem to feel that retail Christmas creeps just a little bit further ahead stretching the season for all it’s worth.  But here’s the thing I can’t quite grasp.  People will Christmas/Hanukah/Insert-Holiday-Celebration-here shop regardless of when you do or don’t start the festivities.

A veteran of retail sales, I can tell you I am almost completely immune to the charms of Christmas carols, unless they became popular after 1993 and that I have a healthy antipathy of the mall during December.  Let’s just say I’m a big fan of order it and pick it up at the store options, letting me get in and out fast.  A quick trip to the liquor store and I’m content to head home and enjoy the holidays that way.

A colleague who has started her own online store asked me what my opinion about when to start talking about the holidays on her site.  I suggest 4 to 5 weeks before her last day to ship, which puts us pretty close to now.  And this is where I see both sides of the argument; 5 to 6 weeks is about what is needed to be successful at a season in retail and like it or not that puts Christmas pretty much immediately, like the-next-day immediately, after Halloween.  And in order to do that well, a retailer has to put stock out with Halloween.  However I do concur that going to Metro on October 31^st and finding a giant Christmas tree made of soda cases, wearing a red hat, was off-putting. 

SDM did a survey via their twitter feed asking when people thought it was a best time to start the caroling and December first was the consensus.  I was a little surprised, I suggested November 23^rd figuring it was a month prior to the holiday and so a decent interval, although, as mentioned above, I’m somewhat immune. 

I guess what I’m trying to say dear retailer, is that they will come faithfully.  So stop trying to shove it down our throats quite so early.