Fashionable Friday: DIY Eyebrow Maintenance

My current beauty obsession are the little caterpillars that live on my forehead. I have always loved a good, strong brow, but I rarely have the extra cash to pay for proper waxing. Last year, in a fit of definace, I let my brows run (very) ragged for about six months. I plum gave-up. But then Shrek opened, and this princess was having a tough time getting ready for the show. I finally decided enough was enough - this princess needed neater, stronger, more defined eyebrows.

Because I am a savvy modern woman, I turned to the only reasonable resource at my disposal: YouTube. I ran a simple search (Eyebrow Maintenance) and came up with this perfectly perfect video:

I don't want to overstate my case, but this is quite possibly THE BEST VIDEO IN THE UNIVERSE. If you want to free yourself from the evil grip of salon pricing, Zukreat can show you the way.

Here's how my mini-makeover came out:

I was - and am - extremely pleased. This is how I've been maintaining my brows for months, and I couldn't be happier. (Real talk), my brows don't grow in symmetrically, but now I have them faked to perfection! I tweeze from the top on my right side, the bottom on my left, and I use a pencil to fill in both sides.

I use Anastasia Brow Wiz in soft brown. This product is amazing - the pencil is very hard, and makes soft, light strokes. Most eyebrow pencils leave thick, crayonish lines, but this one is perfect and subtle. 

Instead of wax strips, I use a tiny brow razor to clean above my brow line. I like to protect my hair follicles for now, since I'm still in the process of perfecting my brows (yeah, it takes THAT long for your hairs to grow-in correctly).

I will admit, eyebrow maintenance is a bit daunting. The hairs grow back almost as quickly as I can pluck them, which means I have to tweeze every. day. I suppose that's the price we pay for beauty, huh? Wouldn't it be great if we could all buck the system? I wish I could walk into an audition with inch-thick brows and still land the part. Unfortunately, the world doesn't work that way. I'd like to be a one-woman revolution, but Mama got bills to pay.

Aaaaaaaand now I will leave you, since I feel like a sell-out.

Fashionable Friday: Your Make-up Is Not Frivolous

Uugh, I am SCREAMING AND CLAPPING AND YELLING over here, because Anais Mathers, one of the best people I have ever found on the internet, has done it again - she's expressed Myself:

"For as long as I could remember, my guilty pleasure was beauty. Haircuts, hair products, moisturizers, eye cream, lipsticks and eye shadow and blush in every color, as far as the eye could see. I loved editorial hair and makeup and I loved the way a well made shirt hung and how a shirt you found thrifting could fit just as well* and the fact that I could put on characters and I could be more myself in looking different or just with mascara on. Even now, I still feel like I’m going to bore my husband by being excited about finding a new lipstick I’m obsessed with, that he’ll suddenly think I’m a vapid idiot, as if loving one thing negates everything else about you. It’s weird how society pushes you towards all these things you’re supposed to like and do as a woman but there’s a shame about it, you should do the things you need to do to be beautiful but you shouldn’t talk about it, you shouldn’t be excited about it, you shouldn’t have any control over it at all. Well, quite simply, no. I don’t do my hair and paint my nails and wear a variety of red lipstick (“but they all look the same,” says my husband when they obviously don’t) for anyone but me. I do it because I like to try things on and express myself and I like to play with the idea that I can be whoever I want on any day I choose. There’s nothing shallow or self-centered about exploring who you are, about feeling good and pretty, that’s just what they want you to think, that caring for yourself, whether that means a perfect cat eye or skipping makeup, is something you should feel guilty about. Fuck that and don’t let anyone make you feel bad for what you love and how you show it, especially all over your goddamn face. Femininity isn’t awful and vapid, society making us think that’s the case is."

*I mean, right?

Your assignment for this February Day: perform a phenomenal Act of Self-Care. Take a shower, get dressed-up, or drink a glass of water every hour on the hour - take your pick. Celebrate your body, because you are your greatest love affair (at least, you should be).

Fashionable Friday: Why You Should Wash Your Face With Olive Oil

It's Bath and Beauty Friday! Here's your background info:

• I used to have the oiliest skin of all time (foreshadowing: used to)
• I'm a bit of a dirty hippie

When I was a senior in college, Eva, my Best Friend In the World (my mostly companion of 26 years, the friend I have had since before I was born) experimented with a chemical-free beauty regimen. This included baking soda instead of toothpaste, corn starch instead of deodorant/antiperspirant, baking soda instead of shampoo, and olive oil instead of face wash.

I was so. jealous.

I'm fully integrated into the 21st century - I have an iPhone and a Kindle and a car with Bluetooth and I get checks direct deposited (when I remember to turn in my voided checks) but sometimes I'm afraid of all the Chemicals in my life. There are Chemicals in, like, EVERYTHING - not only will our phones give us brain cancer, they will eventually break down and seep chemicals directly into our soil and water and give us stomach cancer. And there are tons of Chemicals in the other things we use every day - cleaning solutions, foods, and beauty products. Do we really NEED all those extra preservatives and detergents hanging around our bodies like that?

This flower child wanted to see how much she could simplify her beauty routine. I tried to use baking soda as toothpaste (it tasted disgusting, but felt okay; mostly, it was a little complicated to do, so I stuck with regular toothpaste), corn starch instead of deodorant (left my pits BONE DRY, but didn't do a THING to combat stench - I have literally never smelled worse in my life), baking soda instead of shampoo (my curls laugh at this method, and refuse, as usual, to be tamed), and olive oil as face wash.

My face LOVES to be cleaned with olive oil. 

It sounds counter-intuitive, I know - why would oil help oily skin? But when you look at the *science*, it all comes together. The best, most succinct explanation I've read comes from Crunchy Betty:

"You know how your skin – all of it – secretes oil? Even if your face feels dry, it still has oil on it. Well, according to chemistry know-how, like dissolves like. So, effectively what you’re doing is dissolving and wiping away all the icky dirty oil from your face and replenishing it with clean, nourishing oil. There’s no harsh chemicals involved. No suds. Nothing to actually strip your skin of its oil. And this is good, because when you strip your skin of its sebum, it goes into overdrive, trying to create more. Which leads to clogged pores. Blackheads. Whiteheads. Just plain old irritation."

Don't you want to slather your face in oil?! I hope so, because I think if you try it you will fall. in. love.

There are a lot of different ways to cleanse with oil - a Google search will return a ton of options. Here's my method:

• I have a soap dispenser filled with equal parts olive* and grapeseed oil.
• I turn on my hot water and let it get really warm.
• While I wait, I pump a dime-sized amount into my hand and massage it all over my face (This is how I remove my makeup, by the way. Oil will lift the waterproof mascara straight from your lashes. Oh, and it's ridiculously gentle - if you poured the oil straight into your eye, it wouldn't hurt at all).
• I soak a washcloth in the hot water, lightly wring it out, and then lay it over my face for a minute. The steam opens my pores for maximum cleanliness.
• I wipe the oil off with the washcloth, rinse it out, and hang it to dry.

That's it! I do this at night, and in the morning I splash my face with cold water. If it's particularly dry outside, I'll put a few drops of oil on my whole face as a moisturizer. You can use the same stuff you wash with. 

I've been cleaning my face this way for four years, and I love it. My skin has never been softer, and it's not oily any more. Guys, science! 

Oh, and the OCM is insanely inexpensive. So chew on that.

I will say, this method doesn't always travel well. It's ever so slightly annoying to cart around a washcloth, and since it gets completely soaked, it's even more annoying to take home. When I was in Israel, I washed my face with a traditional cleanser (by First Aid - I got it as a deluxe sample from Sephora) and used maracuja oil (a gift from the aforementioned Eva) to moisturize at night and in the morning.

That's another thing - oils are really "in" right now. If you go to Sephora, Ulta, or even CVS, you'll see a lot of oils on the shelves. The maracuja oil is AMAZING stuff (I seriously adore it), but I urge you to save your money with this. Grapeseed, almond, avocado, safflower, olive, and castor oils can ALL work for cleansing and moisturizing, and you can get them for a fraction of the price.

So guys, don't you think it's about time to embrace your inner hippie, give your wallet and your face a break, and treat yo self to some oils?

*According to Crunchy Betty, I might be a freak, since olive oil works for me. You might want to try other oils, since it seems to cause trouble for most people.

Fashionable Friday: Let's Go To THE MALL

First of all, if you don't know the song I referenced in the title, then our friendship is over. Unless you watch the first two seasons of How I Met Your Mother in the next 24 hours.

Or, you know, the following video.

Now let's talk about my trip to the mall with everyone's favorite Roomie, Mandi!

My number one destination was, of course, Sephora. Guys, the Jasmine line finally came out! It's real! It wasn't just a fever dream! Jasmine has always been my favorite princess, but it seems to me that she always gets the shaft; Cinderella, Aurora, Snow White, and Belle are the go-tos, and our poor desert flower usually only shows-up when at least six princesses are invited to the party. Not in my house, and not in these hallowed black-and-white halls. I'm really impressed with the collection - they really did my gal proud.

I had a tough time deciding how to spend my Christmas money. Luckily, my favorite Roomie was there to offer her advice. It came down to the compact, the large eyeshadow palette, and the body shimmer.

Beautiful compact to reflect a beautiful Galen?

Gorgeous packaging hiding pretty colors?

Or GLITTER???

I'm a child of the 90s (and a teen of the 00s), so I am particularly susceptible to body glitter. But this stuff took me completely by surprise. Don't let the bottle fool you - there is zero liquid in there. It is pure, dry iridescence.

Unfortunately, Very Excellent Boyfriend hates glitter. So to ensure domestic tranquility, I chose the palette. Right now, it is perched on our bookshelf, bringing a touch of Disney whimsy to the bedroom.

It'll keep the Community whimsy company

I'm sure you already noticed the magic lamp decorating her décolletege (scandalous!), but did you notice Rajah by her feet? Or the Genie? Or what I can only assume is Jafar in snake form?

That's not all I got at Sephora, but I won't bore you with the details. At least, not right now - maybe another time. I'll give you a hint, though: the color emerald is involved.

After my makeup splurge, I didn't intend to spend more money. But Mandi and I stepped into Forever 21, and I momentarily lost control of myself. How could I not?

Y'all, I've only had one run-in with a leather skirt, and it wasn't a very positive experience. But this one and I were fast friends. This is my Dominatrix Catholic Schoolgirl look - let's see if it sticks. 

That's it for this week, folks! March is hitting its stride, and spring is finally rolling into town. Let's all wear our pajamas inside-out tonight and pray for a 70-degree weekend. I'll see you when the flowers are in bloom (and the pollen is a-fallin').

Make-it-Monday: Lip Scrub and the Roomie Refashions

I don't know if you guys have noticed, but it is winter and the air is DRY. I am guzzling about a gallon of water every day, but I still have crackly lips and scratchy palms. You know it's bad when the magical balm by Fresh can't even keep your lips hydrated. So I turned to Pinterest in search of a lip scrub recipe - and I wasn't disappointed.

The best thing about these recipes is that you already have all the ingredients. You do, I promise. All you need to make your own lip scrub is a few of the following:

• Sugar (brown or white)
• Honey
• Olive oil
• Coconut oil
• Vitamin E
• Essential oils (lavender, vanilla, rose, etc.)
• Grapefruit juice

All you have to do is take some sugar, mix it with a conditioner or two (olive oil, honey, Vitamin E and/or coconut oil), and add essential oils or  fresh grapefruit juice to give it some flavor. I used 1 tsp Turbinado sugar, 1 tsp honey, and 1 tsp olive oil. Stir the ingredients together, and then massage the mixture onto your poor, chapped lips for a minute or two. Rinse away with warm water, and apply your favorite lip balm. Hallelujah! Happy mouth!

This recipe isn't just useful for your smackers; you can use it as an exfoliater all over. I wash my face with oilve oil every night, but I rarely exfoliate. Last night, I used this mixture as my cleanser, and it worked great! Olive oil is the BEST makeup remover you could ever imagine, and it is beyond gentle. I will say, if you're going to rub this all over your face, be careful - sugar is quite coarse, and over-exfoliation can make skin look worse, not better. I have super sensitive skin, so I only use the scrubby stuff once in a blue moon. 

I used my freshly exfoliated lips to make part of the Very Excellent Boyfriend's Valentine's Gift. Shh, don't tell him! I'd post a sneak peek, but Lord knows it'd be the one time he actually takes a look at my blog. I'll let you see it on Friday. 

In other creative news, my Roomie did a refashion yesterday! She has had this jumper for a while, but it hasn't had much circulation recently. 

Last night, she decided to give it an update, and turn it into a skirt. It was an easy fix. She removed the straps and buttons, cut away some extra fabric from the bust, and then reattached the straps horizontally to form a waistband. 

She reattached the buttons at the end, and now she has a delightful new skirt to swish around in!

Maybe if I'm nice she'll let me borrow it.