A little bit of 19th century misogyny for ya. Thanks, Charles Allen Gilbert!
Last week, we discussed the things that we would spend our last dimes on, and although there was a bit of thread drift simply toward things y’all wouldn’t give up, there were a couple of mentions of personal grooming products and such, prompting this week’s topic. Lip balm, particularly, was a necessity for many. I hear that, and I refer you to this resource in case your habit has become unsustainable.
So, because it’s Friday, and a long weekend for USAmericans, and because I’m kind of burnt out (and yet still have a lot of goals for the day) I’m just gonna run with the shallow awesomeness that is a vanity thread.
Now, by “vanity” I mean neither a judgey “ohhhh you think you’re all that?” nor a glassy, panting, “OMG WHAT’S THE MOST OUTRAGEOUS THING YOU DO OR BUY??? SQUEEEEEEEEE!!! GIMME GIMME GIMME!!!”
I’m pretty low maintenance, and working on dialing it down further. I’m strictly a drug- and discount-store kinda dame, and I try to limit the number of products I use as well as the packaging they come in. I wash my face with honey, occasionally scrub it with baking soda, use olive oil-based bars of soap (Dr. Bronner’s or Kiss My Face), rinse my hair with apple cider vinegar instead of using conditioner (srsly, it totally works!) and use jojoba oil and shea butter for lotion/moisturizer. Basically: if I can eat it, I’ll put it on my body.
But I do have my less-edible preferences and particularities. J. R. Liggett’s shampoo bars are the best thing in the world, and I don’t go a day without using my tweezers. LOVE. TWEEZERS. Love the word “tweezers.” I am vain about my eyebrows. If I’m going to work or out to fancytown, concealer (don’t care, whatever is cheap) is de rigueur, since I was born looking like someone just punched me in the nose: huge dark circles, always. Rested or not, healthy or not. I am vain about not looking like an ancient, exhausted raccoon. And mascara I like, plain old green-and-pink Great Lash. I’ve tried other kinds, and I always go back. And, almost forgot: a retinoid cream that my derm gave me after my BCP caused some melasma (so pritty!).
So for today’s FFT I just wanna know 1) what you’re vain about, 2) where you spend your vanity dollars. Go ahead and name products if you like, but since I don’t wanna turn this thread into a commercial bonanza for corporations who really don’t have our best interests at heart, or spend all day approving comments in the mod queue, please don’t link anything. We’ve all got google-fu.
Go nuts, you beautiful creatures.
Vanity sent me straight into the arms of the TRIA home laser machine. I’ve had my legs done professionally and was so pleased with the results. I’m doing my forearms at home (yes, that’s right – forearms. Uh, I have issues…) and I’m not quite halfway through but can tell it’s working. I was pretty hairy before, and with dark hair and light skin to boot, so this makes me happy and feel less self-conscious.
A touch of concealer. Inner corner of eyes, around corners of nose, and just above middle of upper and lower lip. A trick I learned from Cindy Crawford on Oprah in the late ’80′s or early 90′s! She said it was the best trick she learned from make up artists over the years. Basically the idea is to eliminate any shadows on your skin. It really does make your skin look nice and even.
Unscented shampoo and soap. Can’t live comfortably without it, but miss having a scented shampoo.
Eyelash curler. (How ridiculous!)
Lipgloss/lipstick of some sort.
A “good” haircut.
And that’s it! Just six things! But it’s not negotiable. At all. Ever.
@ SkipToMyLou
I can help a little bit! I like the conditioner that comes with the Herbal Essences dye, but if you go with them, pick a riduculous bright red color. Their reds fade really fast, so if you dye your hair tomato-paste red, it’ll look like a natural red in about a week, and stay that color. Their natural-on-the-box reds tended to fade to blonde on me pretty fast. I really like L’Oreal Feria in Copper (color 74, I think?) and L’Oreal Couleur Experte in Cherry Cordial. The Cherry Cordial is the only color I’ve ever purchased 3 times in a row, so naturally, my local store quit carrying it!
@PetiteXL: I’m going to get lased pretty soon, mostly just to landscape my thickly forested nether regions. I’m glad to hear it worked for you! At this point, it seems like a good investment of $$, esp. when I factor in the hassle of having to wax/shave whenever I want to put on a bathing suit or have a hot date.
@PhDork, thanks for the space to tell our personal vanities, without it being a competition and/or embarassing and/or shameful..
It’s reassuring that people I’ve never met, with feminist politics, have their vanities too. And it’s not a contradiction to have both.
I spend a fortune on trying to make my skin look okay. Not good; just okay. I’m 21, and my skin refuses to believe puberty is over. Also moving to Asia didn’t help; it doesn’t like the humidity at all. I buy mainly drugstore stuff, cause I’m cheap. So lots of mositurizers and spot-zapping stuff, foundation, concealer. I like the Body Shop stuff a lot, and I have a Taiwanese brand of moisturizing-but-also-spot-killing foundation that I love to bits.
Other than that, a stick of kohl to line my eyes and I’m happy.
I very rarely follow beauty regimens, at least for now – though this will certainly change once I’m entering the job market in another couple years. For now, I’m a graduate student, and I spend part of each year in the field, so I really don’t much care what I look like, and my boyfriend prefers me au naturel (good thing, because that’s how I usually am!). But I still have several vanities I’m particular about:
- shaved legs. I went unshaven for a few years when I discovered feminism in my early 20s, but I just can’t stand the feel of hairy legs. I shave at least once or twice a week, even in mid-winter when no one can see my hairy legs.
- shaving gel. I used to shave with soap or shampoo, but I just like the smell and feel of shaving gel.
- nice-scented shampoo, conditioner, and soap – usually Herbal Essences. After being gross and sweaty all day in the field, I want to smell nice when I come back.
- volumizer. My hair’s as flat and straight as can be, anything that gives it a little volume is welcome.
- occasional perfume (see “nice-scented…” above) and light makeup (concealer for the dark circles, eye shadow and mascara to bring out my deep-set eyes, eyebrow pencil to give my very pale eyebrows some color, a touch of blusher) when I’m going out and/or dressing up.
I don’t wear makeup, I don’t shave. I don’t buy commercial deodorant or anti-perspirant. I make my own soap or buy from local handicrafters. I do buy shampoo and conditioner but have tried to cut back to once a week use. I used to dye my hair (purple, red, green…) and may again some day.
What I use a lot of is unscented hand cream. My skin is often dry, dry, dry, even though I live on an island. When I go inland I look like a lizard.
Also, to all scented product wearers – many of us have scent allergies. That means we regularly have to leave movies, stores, theatres, meetings, sports events, public transit, and anywhere else we come close to strangers because they are wearing perfume and cologne. I know you don’t mean to, but you literally make us ill. Sometimes it feels like my skin is on fire or I can’t breathe. I had to leave a dance recital on Friday because someone a few rooms away was wafting. Please consider this when you are getting ready to go out somewhere.
A really good haircut (found a stylist I love, and haven’t gone to anyone else in 3 years now) and unscented moisturizer. I’m another person with scent-triggered allergies (which manifest as headaches that sometimes become migraines!). I really like the Cyndi Lauper Viva MAC lipstick, but I don’t usually remember to wear it – I do not wear makeup, and it’s hard to remember to do it. I carry it around in my purse in case the mood strikes, though.
[...] because it’s Friday, and vanity threads are pretty super in their fluffy, feel-good way, I would like for each of you to tell me [...]