Thursday, January 25, 2007

In which you tell me what to do

1. My skin is suddenly a disaster: Big zits on my cheeks, terribly dry, scaly patches on my forehead and jawline. Weather? Old age? Birth control (changed in September, but this complexion stuff just started happening in the past few weeks)? Do I buy new makeup, get a facial, or head straight to a dermatologist (or what about my ob/gyn)?

2. My hair is the longest it's been in a while (past my shoulders). Cut it off? Nancy looks fantastic.

3. My parents have offered to stay with the kids for a weekend this spring while Jeff and I go away for our second ever child-free vacation. We are a few hours' drive from two major cities (one of which we have not yet visited), two smaller ones (slightly closer, some appealing attractions), and a country/antiquey destination. Your pick?

P.S.: Thanks a million to Kate at Eucalyptus Pillow for my fab new header! I posted it in a completely bass-ackwards kind of way so #4 is: How do I edit my template in Blogger to add my own image?

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would never flat out tell you what to do, but I love giving advice, so here you go:
1. This happens to me. I call it my 2nd puberty. Go to the dept. store and find a woman your age working behind the cosmetics counter. You might try Origins - it's very gentle. She'll know what to do. It sounds like you need a new cleansing/moisturizing routine, not all new makeup.
2. A friend of mine once said that 40 is too old to have hair down to your butt. That said, hair grows, right? So why not try it short, and if you hate it you can just grow it out again.
3. I like city destinations, mostly because I'm a sucker for a nice hotel with good linens, room service breakfast in bed, and lots of good restaurant choices.
4. I have absolutely no idea. Sorry!

Kate said...

Hey - it looks great!! I've been offline for so long caught up in work, I'm so behind on blogging.

So glad the banner worked out! Of course, now we have to figure out how to upload our new images. Because I still haven't been able to take the time to figure out mine either!

As far as hair goes, since I had my kids, my hair is quite unruly and I can only wear it short now.

And I love cities, so I usually like to visit cities when traveling.

As for skin -- I have no real beauty routine other than washing my face with soap, so I would be a terrible person to ask!

Anonymous said...

1. I wish I knew. I'd love to start getting facials, but it's still a bit of a luxury.

2. I'd love to cut mine off. And I think yours would look wonderful!

3. This time of year, I'd go for the cities. Wait until fall for country/antiquey.

4. Blogger Beta confounds me - I tried to edit someone else's and it didn't work at all like my old Blogger template.

Anonymous said...

1. I have that same problem with my skin too. I like Mimi's suggestion, although I don't think we have Origins here. We have Clinique, which I don't like.
2. Oh god, hair. My husband wants it porn-star long, but he doesn't have to wash it and condition it and blow it dry and style it. Grrrr!
3.We love going to big cities and doing all the touristy stuff like going to big museums. But that's just us. Plus, child-free? WOO HOO!
4.Sign in to Blogger, and on the Dashboard on the right side you'll see Edit My Profile. Click, and scroll down until you see the Photo URL box. You'll need to have an avatar sized photo on your computer somewhere, then just upload it. Email me if you have any other questions.

Summer said...

Item 1: I was having the same problems with my skin -- breakouts, enlarged pores, flaky patches. So unfair to have pimples and dry skin at the same time! But my skin has been looking much, much better since I started washing it with oil.

Yes, you heard me. Oil.

I'd seen a mention of the "oil cleansing method" on a beauty forum, researched it a bit more, and then tried it. I'd read about this whole complicated technique of rubbing oil into a dry face, using a hot washcloth to steam the face, blah blah blah, but I do not have TIME to do all that. If I'm going to floss and dry-brush my whole body every night, I'm not going to add a five minute facial cleaning routine, too, or I'd finish getting ready for bed about 20 minutes before I need to wake up. Instead I just rub oil on my dry face, wash a bit with warm water, and gently rub dry with a towel. My skin hasn't looked this good in ages. It looks clear, no zits, no flakes, and the pores are less pronounced. I'm soon going to try the recommended combination of castor oil and extra virgin olive oil (1 part castor to 3 parts EVOO) but for the last two weeks I've been using, believe it or not, a 4+ year old sample bottle of Burt's Bees Apricot Baby Oil.

Best of all? It's cheap, and if your skin doesn't like EVOO your saute pan certainly will.

Magpie said...

I just got my hair cut off - I was tired of sticking it in a ponytail EVERY DAY. I'm still getting used to it, but everyone else seems to like it. Go for it. Worst case, you wait for it to grow back.

I'd go for a city vacation if you've just got a weekend.

Anonymous said...

Re: #4: I can't believe how difficult it is to add a header in new Blogger. Adding stuff to the sidebar? No problem. But apparently they think that headers are only for computer whizzes. I don't know how hubby got mine up - but I know it took a long time, required a knowledge of XML (?), and still won't display properly in Internet Explorer.

Michelle Constantinescu said...

Advice for question #1: Just last week I got some mineral makeup. I'm amazed at the difference. I never tried it before this, so I can't tell you what brands are best. I was told the Bare Mineral stuff from TV bothers some people's skin, but what I got was Mineral Silk. I found it online, and so far I just love it. Apparently, mineral makeup gets rid of zits and excess oil. My pores are smaller after just a couple days, which is great. And it doesn't look powdery. By the way - love your new header! Wish I knew how to change mine!

Anonymous said...

i'd get a facial AND a massage, but that's really more about what I want.....and not based at all on skin care suggestions...sorry!

love the new look.

Her Bad Mother said...

I'll stick to number one for now: get thee to a dermatologist. You can spend a fortune on products, looking for the magic cure, or you can get someone to work it out for you. I swear by mine.

Lisa said...

YEAY child-free vacations. Go to the big city. Get dressed up. Eat at The Signature Room. YUMMY.

I was getting some acne and had dry skin. I couldn't get rid of the zits. Went to the dr. Gave me a Z pack -- antibiotics for five days... It cleared things right up. (Wish I would have known about that before I spent so much money on new skincare stuff and new make-up.)

Love the new header by the way.

Anonymous said...

1) I'd take a pregnancy test. But I am paranoid.

Anonymous said...

Go for the city you've never visited before. More distracting...more exciting!

Birth control changes always mess up my complexion too. I'm ready for the male pill to come out.

Anonymous said...

I have had the most horrible, horrible issues with my skin since I turned 30. Seriously, this from a person who never really had much acne as a teenager -- my skin seems to be making up for it now. ;-)

Thank you for the compliment on my hair. I like your hair the way it is (or was at BlogHer) -- you look great -- but I can attest that a change feels really, really good.

The thought of a child-free vacation has rendered me speechless, such that I cannot provide any advice. ;-)