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To shave, or not to shave.....

1/24/2011

4 Comments

 
I read somewhere that French people think it is rude for one to go out in public without looking his or her best. Shouldn't we be considerate of the other people who are being forced to look upon us?  Of course, it is MOST important for us to make ourselves attractive for the members of our household, especially our spouses, who pre-marriage probably ONLY saw us at our best. 

It is largely a matter of laziness on my part that keeps me from doing the bare minimum.  It takes less than 2 minutes for me to put on eyeliner, mascara, and eyebrow color, which makes a HUGE difference in my appearance.  It doesn't take any longer for me to put on clothes that are becoming to me than clothes that are comfortable for schlepping around in.  Comfort and beauty are NOT mutually exclusive, you know. I should purge my closets and drawers of everything that makes me look sloppy or heavier than I really am. I am a busy mom, but I CAN work an extra 2 minutes in, even if it is putting on makeup in the car while I wait for red lights to turn as I drive my kids to school.

After many weeks of not shaving my legs, the other day I forced myself to engage in a major depilation/epilation session and I pretty much removed all my unwanted hair from my head to my ankles (I forgot about my toe hair). One of my beauty gurus, Sophia Loren, mentioned in one of her books that she uses a razor to remove her body hair, and she bleaches her arm hair, but she didn't address facial hair.  I KNOW she's got it!!!  Even if she doesn't own up to it. Those Mediterranean types always have an abundance of body hair, and my 2 year old has an unbelieveably hairy back and legs, which I blame her Turkish father for.  I have discovered that waxing my armpits is MUCH more satisfactory than shaving (shaving gave me painful razor bumps) and the only wax I use is MIM which I get from my favorite Kurdish grocery store. (Muslims are SERIOUS about regular body hair removal) It isn't really wax, it's the store-bought version of a hair remover I have also made at home with lemon juice, sugar, and water boiled to a taffy candy consistency.  It is more accurately referred to as "sugaring" rather than "waxing".  I also use this on my ever-increasing facial hair. I also use one of these, http://facialhairthreading.com/ and tweezers on the hairs left behind.  I wish I had money to get a professional facial hair removal every month. It is easier when someone else if inflicting the pain, I think. 

WHY is it that as I age, I'm losing the hair I want to keep and I'm growing hair in places I don't want??? I know I have lost at least 1/3 of my hair on my scalp in the past  10 years.  I even think my ponytail may even be 1/2 the diameter it was when I was a teenager. Even though MOST of the hair on my face is very light and soft, I am sure my "sideburns" are getting thicker, and I'm getting more coarse and even DARK hairs above and below my mouth.  I JUST HATE IT!.  I can get by without shaving my legs, but I have to admit that I feel prettier and cleaner and more feminine with smooth legs. Since I'm not sleeping  anymore with a man who would literally kick me out of bed if I had the least amount of stubble, I tend to not shave often.  It does make me feel ugly when it gets so long it starts to curl.  WHO was it who decided women should remove the hair God has caused to grow so luxuriantly on our bodies? And I'm used to plucking my eyebrows, but why are they suddenly growing LONGER, so I have to trim them or else have them turn into Larry Hagman-type "handlebar" eyebrows? I wouldn't complain if it were my eyelashes  or scalp hair growing coarser, darker,  or longer, but NOOOO, can't have that!

I LOVE hair on a man. I think beards and chest hair and even hairy hands and arms are VERY attractive and masculine.  I am not so crazy about shoulder and back hair, though!  If I was a man, I think I'd wear a moustache and full beard year-round. (and I'd like to think I'd wax my back and shoulders if I had hair there, but I don't know--if I was a man, I might think it made me more masculine!) But since I'm not, and I don't want to be one of those women with a moustache or beard, I pull those hairs out and it hurts so much it makes my eyes water. 

One good thing about the pain of waxing is that I BELIEVE it causes the brain to release endorphins, which ultimately lead to a mood-boosting effect.  I have also noticed that from eating painfully spicy food, and that is one of my self-medicating measures I take when stressed or depressed (the eating, not the waxing).

I also conditioned my hair the other day with some John Frieda Shine booster which really does add a shine. I got it on a fantastic sale at Walgreens and I love it.  They have colored ones, but the only one on sale was clear.  I could probably use the "red" one to good effect, but it's kind of expensive at full price.  I'm toying with the idea of henna-ing my hair to bring a little of the red back to it, that has faded with age.

I need to paint my nails, as that makes me really happy.

I think the biggest thing I can do to improve my appearance is to lose weight. I hate to say that I'm over 200 again and have been stuck here for about a month.  Thanks to Jamie for turning me on to www.sparkpeople.com and I hope it will help me keep track.  I REALLY need to be keeping a food journal.  I have been very inconsistent with my exercise.  I just got on sparkpeople.com today. It looks good, and it's free!
4 Comments
Crystal
1/24/2011 05:35:23 am

I've been watching What Not to Wear a lot lately and I often wonder what they would tell me :) As for the hair thing...I HATE shaving and wonder who invented it as well. I wish I had some fantastic tips to offer you on how to prevent its growth. My great-grandmother once told me she shaved at the right time of the moon and her hair never grew back. So, every day for a year I shaved HOPING for that to happen to me :) (It didn't work!)

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Lydia
1/24/2011 06:07:36 am

Anything to slow or prevent regrowth is worth a try, as far as I'm concerned. My grandmother told me she never shaved her legs, and when she told me this (in her 70's) she had no hair on her legs to speak of. I wonder if leg shaving is like shaving a peach-fuzz moustache in young men. Is shaving it the first time what makes it grow thicker? Really, if my leg hair was no worse than my oldest daughter's was when she felt like she "HAD" to shave, I wish I had left it alone. I remember my armpit hair when I was in 5th grade. Nasty. It definitely needed to be GONE. I can live with leg hair MUCH easier than armpit hair, but I can't live with whiskers on my face AT ALL!!!

I have heard of cutting the hair on your head in some phase of the moon to make it grow faster. It seems like the moom could have some effect on us---it sure has an effect on plenty of other earthly things.

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Marah Amasiah Mullins
1/26/2011 04:33:52 am

I have to agree with you Lydia, I have the same problem with hair-loss in the wrong areas, but thankfully not much unwanted hair growth. For me its thinning scalp hair, lack of eye brows and lashes, but I can't complain so much about leg hair, mine has grown back thinner. I don't shave very often, but that will change I'm sure, since I adore my man's strong hands caressing my upper thigh/knee when I'm wearing a skirt.

I've made my own body sugar before, I enjoyed doing that, but my results were less than desirable, probably due to lack of practice.

I henna my daughter's and my hair regularly, I love it! It makes my hair feel thicker and fuller, & I love the red highlights(which is mostly the gray or white hairs that become stained)in my brown hair. And I love the musky, Earthy smell-which is Legend to be an aphrodisiac. If you go to your local Middle Eastern store, pick up a box of fine sifted henna, the same you use for hand stain can be used, just don't let it cure to full strength. I use Jamila brand from Pakistan which fully cures at about 36-48 hours. I make a paste for my hands, but apply half of the batch to my hair at 24 hrs when it's not too strong.
I would test a small amount on my hair if I were you, b/c you have fairer hair than I, and you could get a stain that is too orange looking. It does wash out despite what ppl believe, it just takes time, up to a few months.

I think every man that can grow a full beard should, winter time or not, it's so hot!! =D The rest of the hair on a man I could do with or with out, makes no difference to me.

Kalev has a hairy back too, and his scalp hair is thick and coarse, maybe it's Missick genetics, or it could be my Mexican blood, lol.

It only takes you 2 minutes to apply eye make up?? I had no ideal you were a gold-medalist, heck I'm not even a bronze holder. It takes me minimum of 20-30+ minutes to apply make-up. My routine is shower, facial cleaning & toning, moisturizer with SPF, then eye concealer, foundation, bronzer, perfecting powder, blush then finally eye make up which consist of 2 eyeliners & 1 loose kol liner, mascara and eyeshadow blend of colors. I rarely use lip color, I prefer chap stick or high lip gloss. At the end of the night, I have to take off the gunk by washing again and using a night moisturizer. I just started this routine this year. I feel old age is knocking at my door and I refuse to go down without a fight! I wish I would have done it sooner, b/c I feel more confident, prettier and I definitely get more attention. I even walk taller and with better posture b/c I'm more conscience of my appearance.

Well, go get your nails done.

Reply
Lydia
1/26/2011 08:02:21 am

I think it takes pratice--I didn't do so well my first time, but the sugar is SO much better than the zip wax I tried when I was a teenager. The sugar's easy clean-up is a huge bonus, but it isn't painless. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMQ8dygx48o&feature=related and lots of other video on youtube.com re: "Persian waxing" or "sugaring" This product: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzOwU5VwqeU&feature=related is similar to the Mim I use. The Mim is in a flat package, wrapped in plastic rather than in a jar. I am sure it feels as good to a man doing the touching as to the woman being touched that has smooth legs. <Sigh> well, maybe someday I'll have a man, but in the meantime, my smooth legs can enjoy touching each other and my bedsheets.

Yes, looking better definitely makes us feel better! My routine is "shower and scrub face with lever 2000 body wash on a "exfoliating cloth", apply sunblock/moisturizer, black eyeliner pencil, mascara, powdered eyebrow color and a swipe of Burt's Bees lip shimmer in Watermelon or Blistex ointment." I love the lip shimmer. At night, I use baby wash to take off the makeup. That is my everyday makeup. My "full" makeup probably takes 8 minutes, but I rarely bother.

I recomment Oleda.com for anti-aging beauty tips and the "Younger Next Year For Women" book. I feel ancient! I am worrying very much about sagging skin. I think I'll have my great-grandmothers flappy batwing tricep area. Hopefully weights will help some. And maybe someday I'll be able to get a tummy tuck--I know even if I lose weight, I'll have a saggy belly, but I heard Richard Burton say Elizabeth Taylor has a "saggy, flabby belly" or something like that, right in front of her, on an interview. I'm sure she wore girdles (everyone did in her era)and I'm also sure her having 3 kids (or was it 4?) had something to do with it. Having Callie RUINED my lower abdominal area. It made me happy to hear him say that about Liz. She's another of my beauty gurus.

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    Lydia, single mom of 3

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