![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elizillaRecently I have been suffering from zits on my nose. This started a couple months ago. I decided I had better do something about it. So I bought some foaming face wash stuff. It made my eyes sting, so I stopped using it. I got some bar soap instead. But the problem just got worse. The first zit didn't heal, and another one started developing, and there was this patch of skin that got all bumpy like it was going to erupt next.
Finally I conceded defeat. As a teenager my skin never broke out so I don't have any experience in this area. I thought about making an appointment with the doctor and trying to get a referral to a dermatologist, but I decided that would be overkill. Lots of people have zits, there are nine million different products at the pharmacy, I'm just clueless about them is all. There are women who spend their whole professional lives worrying about their faces, and they are not rocket scientists. Time to engage one of them and get her professional advice.
The Fantastic Sams where I sometimes get my hair cut, is usually staffed by people whose hair looks like they were electrocuted, and who wear pounds and pounds of pancake makeup, they probably can't tell me anything useful. I decided the thing to do was to visit a high rent beauty salon. I might pay more money, but these salons wouldn't survive in the high rent locations if they didn't know how to do this stuff.
So I went to Briarwood Mall, found a very fancy looking beauty salon in an expensive corner space, and asked if they do facials. They did, and they would give me a free consultation if I would wait until the technician was available. They took me into a room at the back that looked like an exam room at the doctors, complete with the framed certificates on the wall. The technician (cosmetologist? beauty consultant? what do you call these people anyway?) told me that my skin is actually too dry, the dehydration is messing up my pores, and the soap is making it worse, which is making me develop more zits. She told me of some drugstore products which are less expensive than the stuff at the salon. I said I would buy her salon stuff even though it is more expensive, since I have come here and taken up their time, they need to make their rent, and I appreciate their expert advice. She seemed a little surprised, and concerned about whether I could afford it, but she sold it to me.
So I bought $48 worth of facial products and I did what she told me to do last night. Amazingly enough, the lesser of my two current zits has already cleared and the bumpy patch is less bumpy today. Maybe the other zit will clear up soon as well. I have an appointment to go back there next week and they're going to do something to my face. I may cancel it, depending on how my skin does this week. If it totally clears up I won't go because I don't need to, and if it gets worse I won't go because that will mean their advice was wrong. If it's steady slow improvement this week, yet there's still something to clear up, I will go and sit in the chair and let them put goop on my face. It will be a new experience. They promise it is relaxing.
As I was leaving the mall, I thought about why the woman at the salon would think I would walk in there and ask for a consultation and then be too cheap to buy their products. Does this happen to her a lot? Or was it something about me?
I thought about my appearance, and about how the other people at the mall looked. I don't wear any makeup, and my eyebrows are not plucked. My hair is long, uncolored, well past my waist, no mousse or hairspray, just a single long braid down my back. My glasses are old and loose, so they slide down my nose. I was wearing a black t-shirt, a long blue cotton skirt, sandals, and no jewelry. The t-shirt and skirt are both at least eight or nine years old. They're faded and fraying at the edges, and they were not expensive even when they were new. The sandals cost $5 at Meijers.
I think that salon technician sized me up. She saw someone who obviously doesn't spend a dime in salons, and who was wearing old, tattered, unfashionable clothing that cost next to nothing even when it was new. I bet she decided I was either too poor or too cheap to buy anything from her.
What was the last new clothing item I bought? Probably that pair of $5 sandals. Before that, what was the last thing? Last Christmas I had a Target gift certificate and I bought two bras. Before that, what? I made a purple skirt to wear at ConFusion, but it's not exactly something I'd wear anywhere else. I bought some cool embroidered suede boots, but they're too uncomfortable and fragile for everyday wear, and I bought them at the Toronto Worldcon, that was two years ago! And I've bought lots of motorcycle stuff. Other than that it's been five years or more since I bought much of anything other than t-shirts and pairs of basic black pants. Even the basic black pants are all about two years old; they're more charcoal grey than black. My closet seems full but there's very little in there that's actually wearable. Right now I am wearing pants that are too short and which are coming apart at the seams.
I don't care if I am fashionable. I don't like the currently fashionable pale green stripes, and I think the pattern of fading and fake dirt on the current styish jeans is disturbing and wrong. But it would be nice to look as if I actually cared what I wore. Lately I have felt increasingly unattractive. My lack of attention paid to things like this is probably why I feel this way.
I'd try to get some girlfriends to go shopping with me but I'm too tall, so no one carries anything I can wear in their retail stores; that is an exercise in frustration. Back to the catalogs, I guess. Maybe this winter I will sew.
Finally I conceded defeat. As a teenager my skin never broke out so I don't have any experience in this area. I thought about making an appointment with the doctor and trying to get a referral to a dermatologist, but I decided that would be overkill. Lots of people have zits, there are nine million different products at the pharmacy, I'm just clueless about them is all. There are women who spend their whole professional lives worrying about their faces, and they are not rocket scientists. Time to engage one of them and get her professional advice.
The Fantastic Sams where I sometimes get my hair cut, is usually staffed by people whose hair looks like they were electrocuted, and who wear pounds and pounds of pancake makeup, they probably can't tell me anything useful. I decided the thing to do was to visit a high rent beauty salon. I might pay more money, but these salons wouldn't survive in the high rent locations if they didn't know how to do this stuff.
So I went to Briarwood Mall, found a very fancy looking beauty salon in an expensive corner space, and asked if they do facials. They did, and they would give me a free consultation if I would wait until the technician was available. They took me into a room at the back that looked like an exam room at the doctors, complete with the framed certificates on the wall. The technician (cosmetologist? beauty consultant? what do you call these people anyway?) told me that my skin is actually too dry, the dehydration is messing up my pores, and the soap is making it worse, which is making me develop more zits. She told me of some drugstore products which are less expensive than the stuff at the salon. I said I would buy her salon stuff even though it is more expensive, since I have come here and taken up their time, they need to make their rent, and I appreciate their expert advice. She seemed a little surprised, and concerned about whether I could afford it, but she sold it to me.
So I bought $48 worth of facial products and I did what she told me to do last night. Amazingly enough, the lesser of my two current zits has already cleared and the bumpy patch is less bumpy today. Maybe the other zit will clear up soon as well. I have an appointment to go back there next week and they're going to do something to my face. I may cancel it, depending on how my skin does this week. If it totally clears up I won't go because I don't need to, and if it gets worse I won't go because that will mean their advice was wrong. If it's steady slow improvement this week, yet there's still something to clear up, I will go and sit in the chair and let them put goop on my face. It will be a new experience. They promise it is relaxing.
As I was leaving the mall, I thought about why the woman at the salon would think I would walk in there and ask for a consultation and then be too cheap to buy their products. Does this happen to her a lot? Or was it something about me?
I thought about my appearance, and about how the other people at the mall looked. I don't wear any makeup, and my eyebrows are not plucked. My hair is long, uncolored, well past my waist, no mousse or hairspray, just a single long braid down my back. My glasses are old and loose, so they slide down my nose. I was wearing a black t-shirt, a long blue cotton skirt, sandals, and no jewelry. The t-shirt and skirt are both at least eight or nine years old. They're faded and fraying at the edges, and they were not expensive even when they were new. The sandals cost $5 at Meijers.
I think that salon technician sized me up. She saw someone who obviously doesn't spend a dime in salons, and who was wearing old, tattered, unfashionable clothing that cost next to nothing even when it was new. I bet she decided I was either too poor or too cheap to buy anything from her.
What was the last new clothing item I bought? Probably that pair of $5 sandals. Before that, what was the last thing? Last Christmas I had a Target gift certificate and I bought two bras. Before that, what? I made a purple skirt to wear at ConFusion, but it's not exactly something I'd wear anywhere else. I bought some cool embroidered suede boots, but they're too uncomfortable and fragile for everyday wear, and I bought them at the Toronto Worldcon, that was two years ago! And I've bought lots of motorcycle stuff. Other than that it's been five years or more since I bought much of anything other than t-shirts and pairs of basic black pants. Even the basic black pants are all about two years old; they're more charcoal grey than black. My closet seems full but there's very little in there that's actually wearable. Right now I am wearing pants that are too short and which are coming apart at the seams.
I don't care if I am fashionable. I don't like the currently fashionable pale green stripes, and I think the pattern of fading and fake dirt on the current styish jeans is disturbing and wrong. But it would be nice to look as if I actually cared what I wore. Lately I have felt increasingly unattractive. My lack of attention paid to things like this is probably why I feel this way.
I'd try to get some girlfriends to go shopping with me but I'm too tall, so no one carries anything I can wear in their retail stores; that is an exercise in frustration. Back to the catalogs, I guess. Maybe this winter I will sew.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-08-15 03:38 am (UTC)I've got to get out of this rut. Don't wanna buy clothes 'til I lose weight, yet am doing nothing to move in that direction... Arghhh.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-15 06:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-15 02:00 pm (UTC)I know what you mean about the clothes and not feeling fashionable. The last time I bought new clothes - I think it was a pair of jeans because all my old ones had developed holes in places that made them not appropriate for public consumption. I do GET new clothes on occasion, because Dad takes me shopping when I visit him, but I don't generally initiate my own shopping sprees.
I would put aside fashionable and go with what feels good to you and says something about your personal style. I personally like classic - clean lines, no ruffles - ala K Hepburn. I'll never look like her, but the style works for me and won't become unfashionable next year when the trends change. I'd also be happy to shop with you if you like (even if it's online/via catalog.)
Another thought, come with me to the gym. Even though I probably don't look any different from the way I did before I started going, I feel better. (I know, hokey, but true.)
no subject
Date: 2005-08-15 06:28 pm (UTC)But with all of that, she took the time to give you the free consultation, and went out of her way to recommend inexpensive options to you. I'd patronize the place just for that.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-16 01:45 pm (UTC)It was sad to clear out those clothes when I dropped 3 sizes, and I had to find out anew which styles looked good on me when my body shifted. I also got a chance to find out which colors I liked, and which looked good on me. It makes such a big difference to feel like one looks good.
Let me know if you'd like to do something - I'm just planning on cleaning this coming weekend.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-26 07:16 pm (UTC)2. I sometimes ask to go shopping with friends who I think look good. I did that with a buddy from barbershop quartet, it works very well. A trip to europe for shopping also works well, Yan took me shopping in Italy, and I've gone with Mike and Brian in Paris/Edinburgh.
3. The fact that you're technical and intelligent doesn't mean that you'll necessarily dress well. I was in the airport in Newark and overheard a mother yell at her college-age son, "where are you getting the money to buy that? are you putting it on your charge card?" and then observing his obviously expensive haircut, clothes, shoes, and the way he was ignoring her... okay, maybe he's dealing drugs, maybe he's just a typical american consumer idiot, contributing to the $25K average of credit card debt that everyone but you and me are carrying. Either way, his father should probably knock that kid down and kick him in his pretty face with a pair of steel-toed boots until he gets a clue, but it is probably too late, his parents have obviously failed.
4. Maybe the drug-store products are better quality.