Comments on: Friday Fun Thread: You’re so Vain, I Bet You Think This Post is About You.

By: Friday Fun Thread: You’re Hot. - The Pursuit of Harpyness

Friday Fun Thread: You’re Hot. - The Pursuit of Harpyness — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:13:23 +0000

[...] 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 [...]

By: silameril

silameril — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 18:22:12 +0000

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.

By: wondering

wondering — Mon, 31 May 2010 16:30:31 +0000

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.

By: viajera

viajera — Mon, 31 May 2010 15:05:12 +0000

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.

By: Alecto

Alecto — Mon, 31 May 2010 08:01:55 +0000

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.

By: Mackey

Mackey — Sun, 30 May 2010 01:33:28 +0000

@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.

By: BeckySharper

BeckySharper — Sat, 29 May 2010 19:59:54 +0000

@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.

By: Emaloo

Emaloo — Sat, 29 May 2010 16:06:46 +0000

@ 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!

By: PetiteXL

PetiteXL — Sat, 29 May 2010 07:04:37 +0000

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.

By: Tall-in-Heels

Tall-in-Heels — Sat, 29 May 2010 04:07:57 +0000

I have zero product loyalty, but I have spent loads of money on reams of beauty products and services over the years. I credit low self-esteem for that. Over the last few years I’ve largely given up the ghost because: (1) I’ve finally accepted that there is no magic haircut, hair color, skin care regimen, or make-up routine that will make me look the way I’d like to look; (2) I am lazy and don’t stick to a beauty regimens even when I have the money to afford products and services; (3) because of (2), spending money on that stuff is a huge waste for me; and (4) I’m trying to be a little more conscious of chemicals and environmental impact.

I used to be really vain about my hair, not because I was proud of it but because I thought if I could just get it to look a certain way it would fix [insert any number of real or imagined flaws]. I spent gobs of money getting it professionally cut and colored. Now I get it cut maybe 2 or 3 times a year, and sporadically color it at home. If my financial situation changes, I suspect I’d go back to the salon for coloring because my home jobs are messy and occasionally uneven. Plus getting it done at the salon feels luxurious.

Two things I really can’t live without, though, are concealer (I break out more now than I did when I was young), and blush (without it I look dead). I should be a lip balm junkie because my lips get so dry that they crack and bleed, but I hate the feel of stuff on my lips so I’m piss poor about using it even though I have plenty.