BathroomHogs
Two Sisters, One Bathroom
Thursday is Skin Day: Puff, Puff, Pass
Oct 22nd
The other day I received an email newsletter from Total Beauty letting me know about an article they recently published about dark circles and puffy eyes. I immediately clicked and started reading through a ton of information about dark circles, which seemed helpful, but I don’t have a problem with dark circles. Finally on page 8 of the article was information about temporary puffiness with the usual advice I had known for years. I clicked on to page 9 and got the following information for constant puffiness around the eye area:
If your eyes are constantly puffy due to a significant protrusion of the fat pads under your eyes, you will only get major improvement with surgery or injections — creams and home remedies just won’t cut it. You’ll potentially need a lower lid blepharoplasty (eye surgery) — to remove or reposition the fat pad. (Warning: if you do opt for this procedure, make sure your doctor doesn’t do too much or “you can trade a puffy lower lid for a hollow lid,” Waldorf says.) Or, some people may be able to get away with adding a filler like Restylane, Juvederm or Radiesse to the cheek area below and along the bony area under your eyes. “By elevating that area, you add structure and blunt the difference with the lower lid,” Waldorf says. Your dermatologist and/or surgeon will be able to tell you which option is best for you.
And so it goes. There’s nothing you can do at home or buy at a drugstore to cure constant eye puffiness short of injections or surgery. There is nothing I can do for my hereditary EYE FAT short of spending hundreds or thousands of dollars to watch needles or scalpels coming straight for me. My father has puffy eyes, his mother has puffy eyes, and her mother had them as well. Sometimes you get dealt a weird list of genetic traits, and even though you get straight teeth that never need braces, you will also wind up with EYE FAT.
Even if I had the money to do it, I would pass, mostly out of concern that if something went wrong, I would be paying out of pocket for years for the mistakes. I don’t want the risk of a mistake on my face, and thoughts of Tara Reid’s butt often come to mind as a reminder of the horrors of plastic surgery gone wrong. I’d rather appear to be on a constant crying jag than wind up having the appearance of a melted face.
I have no bony area under my eye, so the Restylane, Juvederm or Radiesse fillers would be of no help, not to mention I have very high cheekbones, so it would be noticeable in that “cat lady” type of way. No thanks, I say in a very resigned way. Other people will just have to accept my EYE FAT and move on. It’s here forever.
Wednesday is Nails Day: The Chicken Toe
Oct 21st
On my left pinky toe is a very wee nail. It is not smooth or long, and it grows roughly and upwards from the base. My mom calls it a chicken toe. I spent a bit of time actually Googling chicken toe this afternoon, but it seems like my family is the only one in the world that doesn’t take this phrase at the literal meaning.
Taking care of a chicken toe is important, otherwise it will snag on everything in sight as well as scratch anyone who dares to lay in a bed with you. The nail is sharp and scratchy and prone to scaling. It’s like a tiny raptor claw in a way. The best possible way for me to care for my chicken toe is:
While in the shower I always use a pumice stone on my entire foot. All around the toes included. When I get out of the shower/bath and before the foot is entirely dry, I’ll push back the cuticles and clean out the foot, push under and all around my toe nails with the “knife” part of the clippers. When I’m due for new polish I remove the old, lightly go over each nail with a medium texture professional file to get rid of any ridges (especially the pinky toe). I don’t press hard, just lightly and I might not do it each time, just depends if they need it. Then I’ll buff the nail bed with a buffer (light textured). This smooths any scratches left from the file. I rinse my foot, dry and apply my polish. In order for my toes to look good, I’ll make sure there is no dead skin around the nail EVERY single time I shower.
The most major thing though is the buffer. Buff, buff, buff! The shine and smoothness help me forget all about the weird little thing staring back up at me.
Thursday is Skin Day: Review of Fresh’s Soy Face Cleanser
Oct 15th
When I remove makeup, it’s usually a multi-tasking event. I step in the shower, shampoo my hair, and then start the suds on my face. Today I did not go my usual route and instead stood at the sink for a trial run of Fresh’s Soy Face Cleanser.
The cleanser itself is a clear filmy gel that had a light cucumber scent which I noticed right away. My face was already wet from warm water and when I started to apply the cleanser with my fingers, it slid from under me and started to run down my face. I worked quickly to stop it from all falling into the sink and then worked on making some suds with it. It took about thirty seconds to get everything to a more normalized situation, and then I made sure to get every inch of my face, including my eyelids, even though I had not been wearing any makeup or lotions or creams prior to washing.
The suds did come off quickly with warm water and I didn’t have a filmy feeling, which I was worried about after initially touching the cleanser for the first time. After drying, my face did feel refreshed and clean and still feels that way an hour later (I still have not put on any lotion or creams for the day).
I did not realize that this cleanser is considered of best use for removing makeup and such until I read reviews by others. I will try it again next week with a full face of makeup. I’m interested in seeing if it easily takes off mascara, one of the biggest challenges out there.
Tuesday is Scent Day: So Fresh and So Clean
Oct 14th
While I wrote of my love for the chocolatey Princess by Vera Wang last week, I’m also very fond of fresh and clean scents. One of my long standing favorites is 212 by Carolina Herrera. It’s been around for over a decade, but I very infrequently smell it used by anyone else. That’s nice, especially when there seems to be a perfume trend in flux and you can’t escape the scents (thinking of Polo Green and Giorgio in the 80’s along with the Liz Claiborne and Hugo Boss in the early 90’s, and then EVERYONE was wearing CK1 in the mid 90s, and the late 90s were dominated by Happy, and Burberry Brit in the early 00s).
Top notes include orange blossom, bergamot and mandarin. The heart note, also floral is composed of camellia, gardenia and lily. The base is made of sandalwood and bright musk
It’s slightly fruity, it’s fresh and it’s powdery. I actually adore the cactus note, strangely enough. Apart from the cactus note, I also sense the mandarin orange and orange blossom notes which are subtle yet divine. The floral notes which make their first appearance after the initial 10 minutes, are quite powdery and strange, not at all what you’d expect. The flowers are somewhat plastic and artificial smelling, however I believe it only adds to this fragrance’s appeal.
The sillage is actually quite strong, which surprised me because most scents of this nature are soft and intimate. The lasting power is also fabulous. I would recommend 212 as a unique Spring/Summer fragrance for women that long to stand out in a crowd. It’s not a seductive scent, so it’s perfect for wearing while running errands or lunch with friends. It’s suitable for every season and occasion!
Monday is Hair Day: The Box is Not the Bottle
Oct 13th
As fall is approaching, I thought it might be a good idea to switch my hair over from my recorrected blonde hair with about 3 inches of exposed roots to something more dignified and resigned: Brown.
I’ve never been a fan of brown hair; it looks great on horses but on humans it just makes me a little sad, since it lacks a certain amount of oomph that I experience with blonde or red hair (and even the woeful foray into a black). Brown is boring and for blending in with thee rest of the masses.
That said, I knew it was time to blend. The exposed roots didn’t seem to hold any certain color that could be sorted out; it just mocked me with a “blah”. And when in blah, go brown. I don’t have the physical ability right now to spend time carefully adding highlights or lowlights, my foot is broken and can’t bear weight, and the other leg only tolerates a flamingo stance for so long before it revolts. So, brown was the easiest to take care of what I need for the next few months.
Because I couldn’t actually get to the store to stand there for an hour staring aimlessly at all the boxes, I had plenty of time to read online about what colors were available and find something that would be easy for my husband to spot in the store, grab, and hurry out of the store.
I settled on Feria, since I’ve used it in the past with no problems; now it was time to sort through the subtlety of my monitors variations of brown and guess which would work. I finally settled on Brazilian Brown. The box’s model and the color’s name had been changed, and my husband understood he was to look for the dye number first and not worry so much about the model on the box or whatever name was given. Depending on the store you buy from, there could be a product that has had its name changed within the past year or even twice in one year to hip it up a bit. Mostly it results in confusion for buyers who want to “brand” their hair with a certain dye. But what is Autumn Sable one day is Chai Swirl the next.
My helpful husband returned from the store and just as I had predicted, the model on the box looked nothing like the one on the box from L’Oreal’s official website, and the name was slightly changed, though I can’t recall the new (or old) one. The dye number was correct though, so it was time. I did look at the side of the box with the pictures indicating how the shade would appear, my “blah” was going to become a dark caramel, I assumed.
Forty-five minutes later, there didn’t seem to be a trace of brown at all, and instead a dark flaming red greeted me, haunting me with memories of clowns known to be evil. I’ll live with it for now, and after a few washes, it has definitely toned down. My point is that I really never know what’s going to happen with my hair when I decide to dye at home; I have experienced mutitudes of diasters, and I know that when it gets really bad, I can always head to a real salon and pay to get it corrected!
Friday is Makeup Day: Livable Lashes
Oct 10th
I have incredibly sparse and short eyelashes. I sleep with a beauty mask over my eyes, and on many occasions, in the morning my lashes are already twisted in some bizarre way due to the way I slept the night before. I do use a basic Revlon eyelash curler, but it doesn’t seem to have much of an effect at all. My only hope is a decent masacra to fix things up.
And for about twenty years now, I’ve been using the same mascara, because it has the only wand that understands how to grab the tiniest of my lashes and give them life: L’Oreal Paris Voluminous Full Definition Mascara. The wand’s bristles are spaced closely together, so there’s no chance of “skipping” a tiny lash stranded alone, which means I’m not double or triple coating the little guys. Sparse lashes look fat from the mascara itself after only one coat, and any more than that gives it a very trashy look.
The other thing I need from a mascara is the ability to be gentle to my eyes. There’s no sense in putting it on if my eyes are going to start tearing a minute later! It’s also why I am always very hesitant to try new mascara; how can I test it without feeling like I wasted money? I’ve found it impossible to do, which is why I will probably stick with the same mascara brand and brush I’ve been using for the past twenty years; at least until they stop making it!
Thursday is Skin Day: Soft as a Baby’s Bottom
Oct 8th
Sometimes I get the weirdest patches of dry skin on my feet and elbows. I’m not exactly sure how they get there, but I know exactly what to use to soften them away. Some people swear by Vaseline, but the smell of the petroleum makes my head spin. Instead I use Nivea Skin Creme, and I’m not sure what the ingredient difference is, but the stuff imported from Germany simply rocks. I slather it on, wrap my parts in plastic wrap, and then let the magic work overnight. The creme has a light rose scent that’s not too strong or annoying, and even after the next morning, the scent still lasts.
My other favorite skin softening product is Lubriderm’s Intense Skin Repair Calming Relief Body Lotion. My face gets incredibly dry, and this is what I use to whip it back in shape. It’s better than any face lotion or cream I’ve ever tried, crazy as that sounds. Most of the other lotions and creams wind up making my skin feel like ti’s on fire when I apply it, but I haven’t found Lubriderm to be irritating at all. And it’s unscented, so there’s no chance of added perfumes to sting my eyes. It works for me!
Wednesday is Nails Day: Nail Biters Unite
Oct 7th
I am currently a nail biter. It seems I’ve always been a nail biter, since I can remember my mom trying to get me to stop by applying some type of icky tasting stuff to my nails. It didn’t work, obviously. Instead my need to comfort myself with doing this ritual triumphed over whatever the taste may have been.
There was a time of about two years though, when I was able to stop the nail biting. It took a lot of work and patience, and a touch of bribery. The bribe was that if I stopped biting my nails, I would be treated to a weekly manicure at my local Cincinnati salon, Mitchell’s. How could I turn down an opportunity like that? And so it went, me consciously noticing me putting my fingers in my mouth to gnaw aimlessly and then putting them back down, knowing I would get something nice out of it. There were times when after I noticed the fingers to mouth habit happening, I would grab the closest bottle of polish and immediately coat my nails. I couldn’t chew them if they were wet, and who wants polish all over their teeth?
In time though, I went back to the habit. It was an old familiar coping mechanism, and I was under a huge amount of stress. Instead of drinking or doing drugs, it was a much healthier way to deal with losing a home and becoming a single mom.
A few years ago I decided to grow my nails back again, but realized that I rely on the tips of my fingers for detailed work with my hands, especially knitting. Typing and knitting go much faster for me when I can rely on my touch senses, and there’s no chance of a nail inadvertently hitting the wrong button or snagging on delicate yarn.
For now, I still enjoy all of the fun nail colors, but I keep my nails at a length that allows me to feel productive. I might decide later on to grow them, and when I do, I’ll invite all of you fellow nail biters to join the challenge with me.
Tuesday is Scent Day: Chocolate!
Oct 6th
My current personal favorite is Vera Wang’s Princess. Although it officially claims to be fruity and floral with vanilla and pink guava, to my own nose there seems to be a bit of chocolate spiked in for good measure. I am drawn to chocolate scents, so I was very surprised to see no official word stating that chocolate is used in this. I’m looking forward to eventually trying the newest in the Princess line, Rock Princess, which is supposedly geared to an older audience (what does it say about me that I liked the regular Princess enough?).
Bath and Body Works produced a line called Tutti Dolce which included lotions and body washes in chocolate. I was very surprised when the line was discontinued because I loved it so much, I thought others did too! I don’t know of any other current lines that feature a pure chocolate scent, and while I know that there are many smaller businesses out there that produce these, I’m a bit hesitant to buy without being able to sample at a store.
Although I love shopping online, there’s definitely one thing that we can’t do through a computer just yet. And as soon as I have a scratch and sniff monitor, I’ll be the first to buy!