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.
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!
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!