Yeah, yeah... I'm all about organic skin care, but I still love Cetaphil. If you use the Clarisonic skin brush, there's no need to buy the cleanser that comes with it -- Cetaphil liquid cleanser works just as well and costs much less. It does contain parabens, so strict devotees of organic beauty will want to avoid it. I, however, am mainly interested in natural products because they are less likely to contain irritants like artificial fragrance and are usually more gentle than most of the stuff you find at the drugstore.
The Clarisonic Skin Care FAQ says you can use any non-abrasive cleanser with the Clarisonic brush. What does "non-abrasive" mean? They don't say. My definition is anything that is hypo-allergenic, does not contain physical exfoliants (meaning it is not a scrub with microbeads or any other rough grains) and is free of alpha hydroxy acids, salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, lanolin, and other ingredients that can clog pores or cause a reaction in people with sensitive skin.
11/5/09
Is sensitive skin just another beauty industry lie?
"Sensitive" is one of the five skin types so often described in beauty magazines, product infomercials, and commercial website filler text that reads like a Sarah Palin speech. The other four types: dry, oily, "combination" or normal, and "mature."
Maybe the recent use of "mature" is meant to convey respect, but it still means "way too old" and "in dire need of expensive cosmetic deathproofing."
Some of the most common ingredients in skin care are caustic chemical irritants that may make your skin more sensitive with long-term use. Perhaps even worse are the physical irritants: exfoliating scrubs, microdermabrasion, loofahs and pumice stones...
Does it hurt? Good, that means it's working. Suck it up and take it like a man... because the cosmetics industry does not like women.
Maybe the recent use of "mature" is meant to convey respect, but it still means "way too old" and "in dire need of expensive cosmetic deathproofing."
Some of the most common ingredients in skin care are caustic chemical irritants that may make your skin more sensitive with long-term use. Perhaps even worse are the physical irritants: exfoliating scrubs, microdermabrasion, loofahs and pumice stones...
Does it hurt? Good, that means it's working. Suck it up and take it like a man... because the cosmetics industry does not like women.
11/2/09
10/29/09
My latest beauty obsession: false eyelashes.
I bought two sets of fake lash strips today: one brown, one black. I figure I'll need the black lashes for when I'm out dancing the night away. The brown ones will be great when I want to look somewhat less like a drag queen.
I also had to purchase a tube of surgical adhesive to glue the furry little things on. It seems bizarre to me that someone once thought, "hey, I should totally use this latex surgical superglue to stick strips of real human hair onto my eyelids."
Am awaiting the arrival of my new fake/real eyelid fur. Will report back on how my skin does with the superglue.
I also had to purchase a tube of surgical adhesive to glue the furry little things on. It seems bizarre to me that someone once thought, "hey, I should totally use this latex surgical superglue to stick strips of real human hair onto my eyelids."
Am awaiting the arrival of my new fake/real eyelid fur. Will report back on how my skin does with the superglue.
9/25/09
Suki cleansers for sensitive skin = love!
Until recently, I'd given up on trying to wash my face with any sort of bar of anything. I think all cleansing bars are actually soap, even the ones that claim not to be. If they aren't bars of soap, what are they? Why are they being made to look like soap if they're something different? All I know is, my face hates these bars. I only use Ivory in the shower now -- none of that itchy man-smelling soap with names like Clean Mountain Goat or Chick Magnet Fresh -- and only on my body. But then I bought a Suki Sensitive Cleansing Bar, and bang... total paradigm shift in soap bar theory.
Beautorium is offering the Sensitive Cleansing Bar as a free gift when you purchase $50 worth of Suki skin care.
Click on the image to shop Suki.
I also purchased Suki's Transformative Cleansing Clay. I suppose I figured I'd use the bar in the shower for my body, and the clay mask for deep facial cleansing. Turns out, I want to use both of these products everywhere. They're amazing. I don't know why I let them sit on the shelf in the medicine cabinet for weeks.
The cleansing bar is gentle and silky, with a nice rich lather that works well and rinses clean. It doesn't actually have much scent, which is fine; to me it smells pretty much the same as Ivory. The clay isn't quite what I thought; it's not a thick mask that you leave on and let dry. I guess you could leave it on a while if you wanted, but I just massage it into my face like a cleanser and then rinse it off.
Beautorium is offering the Sensitive Cleansing Bar as a free gift when you purchase $50 worth of Suki skin care.
Click on the image to shop Suki.
I also purchased Suki's Transformative Cleansing Clay. I suppose I figured I'd use the bar in the shower for my body, and the clay mask for deep facial cleansing. Turns out, I want to use both of these products everywhere. They're amazing. I don't know why I let them sit on the shelf in the medicine cabinet for weeks.
The cleansing bar is gentle and silky, with a nice rich lather that works well and rinses clean. It doesn't actually have much scent, which is fine; to me it smells pretty much the same as Ivory. The clay isn't quite what I thought; it's not a thick mask that you leave on and let dry. I guess you could leave it on a while if you wanted, but I just massage it into my face like a cleanser and then rinse it off.
9/12/09
Flat-Chested Fashion Fiend
Boobs. Titties. Itty bitty ones, but still. Bazoombas. Knockers. Melons. Aspirins on an ironing board.
That last, I got from my friend Carol. Go see her; she's lovely. But first, perhaps you will be so kind as to visit my tits?
No, I haven't posted them on the internet. Sorry, never gonna happen. But I have published a bit of text about my girls. They don't seem to mind being used this way, so I thought I'd write them a quick note of acknowledgment. Thanks, babes. Love ya.
They're over at The Itty Bitty Bra Guide. Tell them Sage sent you.
9/3/09
Yeah, I'm awake again.
As usual.
Let me take this opportunity to... uh... what am I supposed to write about at this hour that has any relevance to beauty or skin care? All the beautiful people are busy sleeping, and the rest of us are busy being envious. I wish I was more of a geek so I could write about video games or open source code or something else that makes many eccentric insomniacs all crazy with glee.
But I'm one of those rare eccentric insomniacs who doesn't care about technology, so here I am at 4:57 AM, trying to think of something to say to all those healthy but perhaps not-so-beautiful people out there who will wake up tomorrow morning and (hopefully) see this post.
Well, ok... this is for them.
Dear Healthy But Perhaps Not So Beautiful Reader:
You're beautiful. You just don't realize it.
Not only that, you're lucky... but I won't go there right now, because I know how annoying the "children starving in Africa" argument can be. Let's just leave that alone.
When I said that you are "perhaps not so beautiful," what I really meant was that you don't think you are. In fact, the insecurity you feel about your looks has very little to do with how other people see you. I bet most of you are considered attractive by your peers. Like, on a scale of one to ten, you're a 6 or above. Not that I like to use this system of rating beauty; I think it's ridiculous. But in case you're wondering, I've rated myself a 7.
F*** that, ok? Let's just take this one minute -- or one second, even -- to avoid evaluating how we look on the outside and check ourselves out on the inside.
Um, no, I didn't mean you should take a mirror into the bathroom and examine your womanly parts... but feel free to do so if you are so inclined. What I meant was to suggest that we look at our thoughts, feelings and desires. You know, all that stuff that goes on inside your brain. What are you thinking right now? How do you feel? What do you want?
Feel free to respond to any or all of these questions in a comment below.
Let me take this opportunity to... uh... what am I supposed to write about at this hour that has any relevance to beauty or skin care? All the beautiful people are busy sleeping, and the rest of us are busy being envious. I wish I was more of a geek so I could write about video games or open source code or something else that makes many eccentric insomniacs all crazy with glee.
But I'm one of those rare eccentric insomniacs who doesn't care about technology, so here I am at 4:57 AM, trying to think of something to say to all those healthy but perhaps not-so-beautiful people out there who will wake up tomorrow morning and (hopefully) see this post.
Well, ok... this is for them.
Dear Healthy But Perhaps Not So Beautiful Reader:
You're beautiful. You just don't realize it.
Not only that, you're lucky... but I won't go there right now, because I know how annoying the "children starving in Africa" argument can be. Let's just leave that alone.
When I said that you are "perhaps not so beautiful," what I really meant was that you don't think you are. In fact, the insecurity you feel about your looks has very little to do with how other people see you. I bet most of you are considered attractive by your peers. Like, on a scale of one to ten, you're a 6 or above. Not that I like to use this system of rating beauty; I think it's ridiculous. But in case you're wondering, I've rated myself a 7.
F*** that, ok? Let's just take this one minute -- or one second, even -- to avoid evaluating how we look on the outside and check ourselves out on the inside.
Um, no, I didn't mean you should take a mirror into the bathroom and examine your womanly parts... but feel free to do so if you are so inclined. What I meant was to suggest that we look at our thoughts, feelings and desires. You know, all that stuff that goes on inside your brain. What are you thinking right now? How do you feel? What do you want?
Feel free to respond to any or all of these questions in a comment below.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
