Oh! For the Sake of Vanity, Already!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010 at 9:09PM Oh, people. The stress of moving. The stress of MY CAT moving. The fact that The Candyman can't stand a stair step below me while I just huuuuuug on him at eye level. I seriously have no idea how I will emotionally endure. Boo Hoo. Poor me. Yes, I shall continue to wallow in my own self-pity at least through the long weekend. I owe it to myself, me thinks.
And I have things to bitch about this week.
We all know how incredibly vain The Thirty-Something Bride is, right? I mean, you people saw my hair and make-up budget. I spent $624 on my HEAD. For one day. Worth every mother-fucking penny too. I think I might have said that a time or two as well (the worthiness of the money spent, not the MF-bomb). So now that we are on total financial lockdown again (essentially The Candyman is kinda unemployed, kinda not), there is absolutely no way in hell I can justify the amount of money I spend to cut and color my hair. None whatsoever. I tried. I really did. I just cannot find anything that says that dropping $230 every three months on YOUR HEAD is an OK thing to do. It's totally not. I mean, my stylist does a fabulous job and has been worth budgeting for. I've been going to her for the last 6 years but paying a LOT of money for my hair to look, well, like natural hair seems excessive right now.
And here's the thing, I don't think my stylist particularly likes me. I think she tolerates me. She never seems happy to see me. She seems to be annoyed by me worrying about my budget. I always ask her to explain my options, even though I usually get the same thing every time maybe just a hair (no pun intended) lighter or darker, depending on the season. She just does really good hair, so I kept going. And what do I care if she likes me or not? I'm paying her to do a good job and she does it. So there you go.
So I decided to DIY my own hair color. Yes, it's true. I was scared to go to another stylist. I used to color my own hair years ago, so why couldn't I do it again, right? Of course! I am certainly confident in my DIY abilities. I mean I did my own invitations, why not my own hair? I had no idea what brand of color to get. I did some research on-line. I tweeted the question and got little assistance (ahem). I put feelers out on Facebook and all my gal-pals were like, "Bitch, just pay the damn stylist, quit bothering us with actual questions and post some meaningless Facebook crap instead!" I actually called my stylist and asked if she could recommend a brand (I don't suggest doing this, by the way). No help anywhere. So I went out on my own and did the deed.
Oh. No. Yeah, it pretty much looks like shit. It's WAY too dark and just too brown. I'm more of a natural auburn kinda girl. It just looks flat and dead and sucky to the nth degree. It's been over a week now and I'm still pretty much hating it. So, say hello to the daily Bradshaw Bun.
This is pretty much my go-to hair style on crap hair days. I can rock the messy bun like nobody's bidness. But who wants to wear their hair back every damn day, ending with a nasty pony-tail headache? I do not. But my hair just looks so dull and sucky. SUCKY! So what did I do? I made a freakin' hair appointment, that's what. However, I did not make it with my old stylist. I will take a HUGE flying leap and will go with someone new. But not thatnew. She does know me and my hair. Who? WHO? You ask? I'm going with Julie Marler from J.Bangs Salon. She's the lady who did my hair and make-up for my wedding. She's a color specialist. She totally "got" my hair and how to do it. AND, she's like half the cost of my other stylist. THAT is a good thing. I couldn't get in for another week, but I can live with the Bradshaw Bun until then.
So I think we can ascertain that when it comes to vanity, it's all about my hair. There are a couple of other things that I get my panties all hitched up about, but my main focus is my mane. I have friend who seems to OBSESS over mascara. She curls and re-applies throughout the day and I have no understanding of this whatsoever. And I went to college with a girl who DEFINITELY had a lipstick/gloss obsession. She would NOT leave the confines of her bedroom without a thick, protective shield. So, do you have a thing? Are you freakish over a particular product or part of our face/body? Do you know WHY? That's what I want to know. Why do I care so much about my hair when for the most part, I wear it back or up? Sheesh, why can't obsessions at least makes a little sense?
Designer, TruLu Couture
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I OBSESS over my eyebrows and upper lip hair. They are trimmed, plucked, and threaded often. I was made fun of for my uni and stache for YEARS growing up. One day I was so fed up I slapped some boy in the face. I came home that day sobbing and my mom took me to my first waxing appointment. She really felt for me- mostly because she used to have similar issues with her brow region. In her defense (and in mine) I was only in 6th grade. In my opinion there was no need to primp or do any of that at that age. I didn't care about beauty really, I just wanted to get those jerks off my back.
Funny thing is, I went to a birthday party the weekend after getting waxed and NO ONE recognized me. It was sad, but I didn't have to slap anyone in the face.
Moving is so hard. I'm sorry the Candyman is not there to help. And I hope your cat adjusts quickly too.....
Moving, sweetie out of pocket, AND the hair isn't cute.? I feel your pain and I am saying a prayer for you, girlfriend!
My beauty obsession would have to be my skin - I was flawless all through my teens and twenties and then I hit my early 30s and it was like pizza face! I took Accutane for a number of years but monthly blood tests and potential liver damage for vanity sake was a bit too much so I stopped and have been bumpy ever since. I have purchased THOUSANDS of dollars worth of products, but had to lay off the monthly facials to save for wedding soooo and plan to pay $200 for airbrushing and makeup on wed day...adult onset acne is a be-yotch.
@Karen: UGH! Me too! I had crystal clear skin in middle and high school and then I suddenly when I turned 28, it was like I was a teenager all over again - horrible cystic acne! Oh. My. God. I wanted to die. Do the facials help? Is this something I need to consider once I'm off financial lock down? I've kinda got a skincare system that is sorta working now, afraid to mess with it at this point. I still get baby zits, but no more cyst-like stuff.
Eyebrows. I have eyebrows that can either look like two caterpillars parked their behinds atop my eyes or mad scientist or Spock-ish (and not the baby doc, either).
I have been trying to properly groom those suckers since I bought my first pair of tweezers with my allowance in junior high school.
I'll third the waxing comment. I'm part Japanese and Spanish which means if I don't practice CONSTANT VIGILANCE I end up with a unibrow and a mustache. I envy people with blonde facial hair. Lucky bastards.
Re: skincare, I read The Skin Care Solution a while back and thought it gave sound clinical advice. It was also the first skin care type piece I'd read that really addressed the different types of skin out there (instead of the normal, dry, oily, combo advice I usually read).
Let's see, beauty products, obsessions, money spent to improve my appearance, um . . . Nope. I'm coming up blank. Which is a problem since, for one thing, all of my bras are seriously old and raggedy. It's not like they have to do much work, but still. It might be time for me to drop a few bucks. And the hair? I've had it cut once since January and haven't had highlights touched up in about a year. I think I'm due. And I'm thinking about getting bangs. Bangs or no bangs? What do you think?
@GEW, I think no bangs. You have a nice smoothe forehead and that's something to be proud of. And your hair does flippy things on the ends, right? That might be problematic with bangs. Or is that just your weird growth pattern in the back? I can't remember. And your hair is light, so gray isn't an issue. I think I'm like a third gray or some crazy bullshit like that. I've been coloring so long I really have no idea. And think of all the money you've saved by NOT having an obsession. Oh wait, books. I retract the obsession statement. ;)
Told you so.
.....So, I take it these are not the ladies to whom I admit that I have pale blonde eyebrows? That are shaped perfectly and require zero attention? Sorry, ladies. :D
Ms. Louise, I'm right there with you on the mane thing. But my thing is more scattered-- I want it to look good, but I can't decide HOW. I've had it long (like right now, damn you, wedding updo), chin length, bangs... I've chopped it every which way. Next might be a super short (pixie!) cut, but I'm still getting the cojones up to do it. However, I've never (NEVER, not once in my life) dyed it. I'm really lucky to have great color, and it's so much easier and cheaper to avoid coloring it. But I hear you about needing it to be awesome. Vanity's a bitch.
I hear ya, sister. I balk at spending a lot on updos, and I'm refusing to spend money for someone else to do my makeup (I do that quite nicely myself, thankyouverymuch), but when it comes to cut and color, I'll spare no expense. I'm due for a cut/color this week, and my wedding is next week (OMG, MY WEDDING IS NEXT WEEK! *ahem* Carry on ...), so I am quite happy it worked out so well. I'm also getting a keratin straightening treatment. Not "for the wedding," per se, but for me, and the wedding happens to fall right near it. :) So, yes, I'll be dropping about $150 this week on my hair. But, then, I balk at hair updos and am going to the JCPenney's salon to do my hair? I know, I have issues ...
@Louise and @Karen
I hit 22 and got adult onset acne and rosacea. Bare Minerals has saved my skin. It's still not perfect like it was when I was in high school/college, but it is not unsightly anymore.