Hair Dread

For most of my adult life, I've worn my hair fairly short.  This is largely because I have fine, straight hair, and it doesn't really do much.  I finally realized that I would never have long, luxurious, thick hair that I could fix in a number of different ways.

It also works for me, because except for special occasions, I don't like to have to spend a lot of time fooling with it.  The last few times I've gone for a haircut, my stylist has convinced me to let it be a little bit longer, for the winter, and to be honest, I don't mind blow-drying my hair in the winter, since our house is so cold!   However, I am also a person who wears hats to keep warm when I'm outside, and needless to say, my hair looks even flatter when I take off my hat, and doesn't really fluff at all afterwards, even if I use some kind of hair product.

Over the past few weeks, I've had a severe case of "hair dread" when I get wherever it is I'm going, and take off my hat.  Granted, no one else probably notices or even pays that much attention if they do notice at all.  But it's my hair, on my head, and I'm the one who has to see it.

And so, when I go to my next appointment, I'm heading back to short hair.  I came across photos of someone named Hannah Dilworth, who is apparently a well-known stylist.  I *really* like her haircut:

Now, I do realize the following:

1. She is a LOT younger than I am.
2. She is a stylist, so probably even spends time on styling her short hair.
3. It looks like she has fairly thick hair.

Nonetheless, I'm going to see if I can convince my hair stylist to at least try something like this.  She is not big on giving anyone really short hair, but at least I can take this photo with me for reference.

Wish me luck.  I'm really sick of hair dread.  I'd even be happy with hair indifference ... ;-)

Whoops!

Yikes, I didn't realize that it had been nearly a month since you heard from me - I certainly didn't intend that to happen.

Well, first of all, Happy New Year!  I hope that 2015 will be a good year for all of us.

Christmastime was busy, fun, and a happy time at our house, as usual.  We ate too much, drank too much, opened gifts, gave gifts, and generally lazed around when we could.  A good holiday to be sure.

I am in the process of deciding what I want to do this year - you know, as far as goals, projects, and those kinds of things.  I need to just sit  myself down and think it out.  I've been so busy returning to the non-holiday routine and fighting off a cold, I just have not stopped to do that.  And for me, if you are going to set goals and such for yourself, it's worth thinking about.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with this picture of Dug the Doodle Dog with one of his gifts from Santa.  See you soon!

From Me to Myself

Next week at this time, we'll all be waiting for Santa to visit, and the ultimate day of anticipation will be nearly over.  I love Christmas Eve, as much as I love Christmas Day, to be honest.

Over the years, I've asked for some cosmetics or perfumes for Christmas, but I am pretty sure that The Tim doesn't think they are good gifts, since I can buy them for myself.  I finally decided that if I want anything like that, I'll just save up and buy it for myself and not think it can only be at Christmastime.

This year, I have decided I will treat myself to a NARS Audacious Lipstick.  I love lipstick, but seldom do I buy any expensive ones.  As a matter of fact, most that I have are gift-with-purchase ones, or samples that came with some other promotion.  But I've seen a few magazine articles in the last few months, and have read some beauty blogs where they have talked about the  Audacious Lipsticks, and I have really wanted to try them out.

I am trying to decide what shade to try, though.  I like Audrey:

but also Brigitte:

and even Fanny:

Of course, by the time I have saved enough to treat myself, I may have just changed my mind altogether!

What about you?  Do you ever received cosmetic gifts, or do you buy them for yourself?

The Good. The Bad. The Verdict.

I keep reading how wonderful various serums are supposed to be, and that you should use them as part of your beauty routine.  A couple of months ago, I had a gift card from Macy's that was burning a hole in my pocket.  Having read a lot of good reviews about it, I decided to purchase Clinique Smart Custom-Repair Serum and give it a try.  My skin tends to be blotchy, and one of the things this product claimed to do was even out skin tone.  So I purchased the smaller size (1 oz.), and took it home to try.

The Good:  This is a lovely product!  A nice, light, smooth lotion that comes out of a pump bottle.  I decided I would only use this at night, and I used two pumps each time (which covered my face, but with a very light layer).  Well, it is a great product!  No discernible scent, easily absorbed, and very refreshing to use.  My face felt soft after application, and any moisturizer I used went on very easily after letting the serum set for a minute or so.

The Bad:  I was very conservative in the amounts I pumped out of the bottle, and this only lasted 22 days!  Not even a whole month, and granted it was the smaller size - but not a travel size or anything like that.  I could not believe it.  The small size retails for $59.50, which is not inexpensive, by any means.  Using the BMST, this product costs approximately $2.70 per use.  That seems on the spendy side, if you ask me.   Granted, I have not used any other serums to compare.   But if I wanted to continue using this, I might try the larger size to see how it compares, though I fear it may be the same or worse.

The Verdict:  Well, I have come to the conclusion that I would need to try one or two others in order to compare - maybe a high-end one, and an drugstore one - to have it be a fair fight.  However, I'm not 100% convinced that I actually *need* to use a serum.  As I said, I liked what it did to my skin, and how it felt, etc., but I've gone this long without using one and my skin is actually not that bad.  So until and unless I have another gift card, I think I'll just go back to my usual routine, because frankly, $2.70 per use seems ridiculous for something that, at best, is an add-on, even if it does help my skin a bit.

So there you go.  Have you tried any new products lately?  What did you think?

Thanksgiving Day

Best wishes for a very happy Thanksgiving!

"We can only be said to be alive in those moments

when our hearts are conscious of our treasure"

-- Thornton Wilder

An Old and New Fave

Years ago, I used to religiously take a bubble bath every Friday night.  Mostly so I could shave my legs, but it was also relaxing and cozy.  One year I asked for a bottle of Kiehl's Creme de Corps for Christmas, because I had read in a magazine that it was nice stuff, and I was too cheap to spend the money myself.  I really liked it, and when I would use it on my legs after shaving, it felt really soothing.

Eventually that bottle was used up, and that was that.

These days, I still take bubble baths, though not every single Friday night no matter what.  I still enjoy them, and particularly during cold weather, they warm me up quite nicely.  I've tried various different lotions to use afterwards, with varying results.

About a month ago, I was reading someone's blog (sorry I can't remember which it was to link), and they mentioned using Creme de Corps all of the time, since it was the ONLY thing that helped their skin in winter.  And I remembered how much I'd liked it when I had that bottle years ago.  And I decided to spring for a bottle myself and revisit it.

My skin gets extremely dry during the winter.  Dry as in cracking and bleeding, particularly on my legs and arms.  I have used various things, including a prescription lotion, which helps but is used up very quickly.  I figured maybe another try at Creme de Corps would be worth it.

It has been.  I treated myself to a 4.2 fluid ounce bottle, which cost $18.00.  I started out using it every time I took a shower, on my arms and legs.  And after a week, my skin was so soft, so supple, and so non-dry, that I decided to try using it every other day.  I seriously cannot believe the difference.  The other day, I was putting on a pair of tights, and there were no dry skin flakes flying around as I was getting them onto my legs!

So I am here to encourage you to try this stuff if cold weather makes your skin dry.  It is very luxurious feeling, but it almost immediately absorbs into your skin, leaving it soft but not greasy or lotion-y.  There is no discernible scent.  I also think that the bottle will last me a while, since a little bit goes a long way.

Kiehl's Creme de Corps.  Worth the splurge.  Try it.

Two Mini-Reviews

Well hello there - I know I've been gone for a while, except for some quick check-ins.  October was pretty busy, plus I caught a cold that messed with me for about 10 days (7 of those days were particularly miserable).  But fortunately it's left, except for a few sniffles, so I can get back to my routine.

I realized that there were two products I meant to write about here, and just completely forgot about it.  So here you go.

I'd read a few reviews of this product, Ole Henriksen Ultimate Lift Eye Gel, and decided to give it a try.  I was really disappointed.  The thing that bothered me most was the consistency - it didn't feel like a gel to me at all.  It was really thick and goopy, and felt very sticky on your finger, as well as when you were applying it to the eye area.  It also stung a bit once applied, which surprised me, since the ingredients and the reviews made it sound incredibly gentle.

I used it for two weeks and gave up.  I just did not like it, and decided that it was stupid to keep using it just because I had it in my possession.

Next up, Fresh Lotus Youth Preserve Radiance Lotion.  I really wanted to like this product, since Fresh products are usually so nice.  Unfortunately, this was another fail for me.  For one thing, the bottle is not that big, and you need a lot of pumps to get enough product to cover your face (or at least I did).  As a result, it doesn't last that long, so it is not cost-effective.  And this is another one that just had a weird consistency to me - not quite a lotion feel.  There was a slight, though not completely unpleasant, scent to it that dissipated almost immediately.
I will not be buying this one again.

So there you go - I realize I gave you two negative reviews here, but it's only fair when I tell you things I like to also tell you things I do not.

Of course, I do not in any way speak for anyone but myself.  Clearly, other people have had success with both of these products, and I'm sure they each have devotees.  For my money, though, I'll try something else.