Pretty Flaky

I was stopped at a red light a couple of days ago when I glanced into the mirror on my visor, as I often do, to do my makeup. What I saw really shocked me. In the harsh glare of the sunlight, it was obvious that my skin was flaky, particularly around my forehead and jaw. Also, my entire neck looked flaky and slightly crepey as well, as if it had aged overnight. Not pretty.
I was tempted to slather on a thick moisturizer, which could have led to breakouts and more problems. I know that flaky skin is just as often a sign of sensitivity as it is a sign of dryness, so I treated it as gently as I could. And I resumed my skincare routine, which I've slacked off on recently. I started using my Clarisonic again, followed by my Giella Renouveau glycolic acid gel, and my Peter Thomas Roth Power-C Facial Firming Lift. Now, the flakes are gone, and my skin looks normal again! Since I've never had flaky skin before in my life, I'm chalking it up to one of those wierd pregnancy things... When you neglect your skin in pregnancy, it will do something to force you to take notice!

What I learned from my old pictures

was looking through some old pictures today when I came across two of myself that I actually love. In one of them, I am at a ball with my husband and everything about the picture is perfect. My hair fell just right, there are no little lines around my eyes, my skin looks smooth and glowing and the makeup is perfect. It was one of those nights when everything came together.

What I learned from this picture: I need to spend a bit more time on my makeup, even on an everyday basis. I especially need to make sure that I am wearing a little highlighting cream or powder when I go out, because I love that glow. And I need more rest. Which I'm not going to get. For a long time. Oh well.

The other was taken a couple of months after our wedding, and it was a group picture with my in-laws. My makeup looks good, the dress is cute, but the hair is what captured my attention. The thing I love about this picture is that I still have the highlights from my pre-wedding visit to Oscar Blandi.

What I learned from this picture: I need highlights again. They gave dimension and interest to my hair, rather than making it look like one long dark mass. They looked pretty and subtle and just gave my hair some added oomph! Now I just need to find the time to have them done again...

All or Nothing?

Last week I was hanging out with my aunt and my mom when my mom commented that my aunt's feet looked really dry. It turns out that she scrubs them with a foot buffer every time she is in the shower, but then she skips the lotion afterwards. This led to a conversation about how tired and busy she was, and how she doesn't have the energy to tackle her beauty routines. It seems she had fallen into the All or Nothing Trap.
I am also prone to this trap, so I completely understood. I decide that the ideal skincare routine for me involves 17 steps and 37 minutes, and since I don't have the time or energy for this, I go to sleep with my makeup on and skip skincare entirely. I may be exaggerating, but not by much. I struggle with viewing beauty routines as an all or nothing proposition. Either I indulge in elaborate time-consuming routines, or I skip my morning shower and go out with greasy skin. But there is a middle ground - a practical, common-sense, sane way to approach beauty. And it involves paring down your routine to something manageable, and doing it religiously, consistently. That's how you see results. Keep it simple. Here are a few timesaving tips:

1. Keep Skincare Simple: Find a great, multipurpose multi-ingredient anti-aging cream. Bonus points if it has sunscreen for daytime use, and a non-sunscreen version for nighttime use. Look for a cream that's packed with skinsavers like antioxidants, hydroxy acids, and retinol.

2. Try a moisturizing body wash like Olay Moisturinse. It saves you the step of moisturizing afterwards.

3. Use a single cream for your entire body. Who says you need a separate hand cream, foot cream, etc.?

4. Keep a bottle of hand lotion next to every sink in the house, and sunscreen next to every door in the house, to make taking care of your skin as convenient as possible. (Of course, the sunscreen on your way out should be a supplement to the sunscreen you already applied in the morning).

5. Save a step by using a sunscreen in place of a hand cream or a body lotion every morning. Pick a moisturizing formula. It's often less expensive to buy a sunscreen that moisturizes, as nearly all of them do, then to buy a moisturizer with sunscreen. One exception: Lubriderm with SPF15. It's light, fresh-smelling, non-greasy, and pleasant to apply all over.

Brush with Disaster

I couldn't resist naming this blog something dramatic, even though the subject really isn't. For the last couple of weeks, I've been toting my Nars Orgasm blush in my on-the-go makeup case, the one I use everyday in my car. And for some reason, it doesn't seem to be showing up the way it used to. It seems like I have to apply much more makeup to the brush to get it to show up at all, and it's not as smooth as usual. Today, I finally figured out what had changed, and it wasn't the blush. It was the brush. Unfortunately, I misplaced my Bobbi Brown travel blush brush, so I've been using some random cheap brush to apply it. This cheap brush doesn't hold the powder at all, so it flies all over the place and very little ends up on my face. The color that does show up on my face is uneven and not as intense as I would like. When I dug up another great brush (from MAC) and applied the blush with it, I was thrilled. It looked the way it should. That's why makeup artists are always emphasizing the right tools for the job. They're indispensable. A cheap brush can ruin expensive blush!

Product Review: Relax & Wax No Scream Cream

I have been getting regular bikini waxes since my early 20s, and, even though I didn't exactly enjoy the process, I tolerated it pretty well. It became routine. Until I got pregnant. Suddenly, a simple bikini wax became a date with torture. It is absolutely brutal. Pregnancy just makes you that much more sensitive. So when I spotted Relax & Wax No Scream Cream at a local salon, I snapped it up immediately. At $15.95 for 1 oz., it's not cheap, but anything that can alleviate the pain is well worth it. Here's the scoop:
Wax made a pleasure with this gentle, safe anesthetic.
Description: Wax your bikini line, or any other area without the pain! No Scream Cream brings you a topical anesthetic that alleviates exhausting wax-related pain that doesn't interfere with standard wax formulas. Safe, natural formula numbs waxing area for a painless experience easily and is ideal for all skin types.
Recommended Use: Apply 30 - 45 minutes prior to waxing.
Active Ingredients: Benzocaine 20%

My experience: The first time I used this, I didn't give it a fair shot, because I didn't apply it early enough for it to kick in by the time the wax rolled around. I didn't notice any difference that time. The second time, however, I followed the directions and applied plenty of the cream half an hour before the wax. Sadly, it didn't seem to work at all. There was absolutely no improvement. As a matter of fact, my esthetician said I seemed more sensitive. I don't think this had anything to do with the cream, but I do know that it didn't work for me the second time. I am going to give it one more try before giving up (what do I have to lose) but I am afraid that raging pregnacy hormones are too much of a challenge for a simple topical anesthetic. Unfortunately, I can't recommend it, but I am going to give it another try post-baby.

Have you tried No Scream Cream? If so, I would love to hear what you thought!

A Smart Sun Solution

This beauty tip isn't actually for mommies at all. It's for babies. Any mother who's ever tried to apply sunscreen to a fiesty, active toddler or a little baby (sunscreen should not be used on babies younger than 6 months without checking with your pediatrician first!) knows it can be tricky, at best. Now that Lola is 18 months, I have to do everything while she runs around: including dressing her, doing her hair, etc. The last thing she wants to stay still for is sunscreen. So I've been expirementing with ways to make the process easier.

Here are the options:
Sunscreen Towelettes: Easy to use, convenient, and the least messy, but they're hard to find and expensive. Also, some of them don't have enough product on them to adequately protect skin.

Continuous Sprays: These would be great if it weren't for a few drawbacks. They would be dangerous to use on a baby's face, near the eyes, they contain a lot of alcohol, and the spray is so strong and so cool that many babies won't tolerate them.

Regular Pump Sprays: These work pretty well, if the pump is a good one. Still, they can't be sprayed on a baby's face, so spray into your hand first. This is my top choice.

Standard Sunscreens: Messy, gloppy, and sticky, but effective. Sprays tend to have lighter formulations. My second choice.

So this is the little trick I discovered. Whether you are using standard or spray sunscreens, the face is always the trickiest part to tackle. My Lola has longish, baby fine hair, and any sunscreen in it makes it greasy. Plus, baby faces are so small that it's hard to get in all the little crevices and make sure they are protected. Then, one day, when I was doing my own makeup, I hit on a solution: A foundation brush. If you're unfamiliar with these, let me explain. They are long handled makeup brushes with soft, synthetic bristles that don't absorb liquid makeup. They are ideal to use with foundation if you want a flawless application. (Paula Dorf and MAC make great foundation brushes). Well, a clean foundation brush is the ideal tool to apply sunscreen to a baby's delicate face. It won't make a mess and get in her eyes or on her hair, it lets you get hard to reach areas like the earlobes, between the eyes and around the nose, and it's gentle. Even my little turbo baby tolerates it pretty well. The only problem is that she wants to play with the brush, but she wants to grab everything, so this is no different... Hopefully, this will work for you as well!

Sexy and Pregnant?

Monday night, I shimmied my way into a James Perse dress. It's a turtleneck style that's shirred on the sides and snug all over. And it's not a maternity dress. It just happens to be made of a stretchy jersey that expanded to fit my massive tummy.
When I got to the women's meeting I was attending, I was greeted by several old friends who raved about how great I looked so late in my pregnancy (I have 5 weeks left). Throughout this pregnancy and the last, everyone has commented that I look like I have a basketball stuffed in my dress, and not like I'm really pregnant. Of course I found these compliments really flattering, but I didn't really understand them, because I couldn't look at myself objectively. I just seem myself as waddling around with this huge tummy. And then my cousin Anne shed a little light on the subject. She said: "I don't know whether I would have the guts to wear something like that when I'm pregnant, because it shows everything. I think that's why people are so amazed by the way you look. They don't expect to see a pregnant woman dressed like that. They are usually wearing baggy things that hide their tummies." And then a light went off for me. I'm not remotely embarassed to be pregnant. I am proud of it, and I have been flaunting my baby bump. I don't wear snug black dresses every day, but I don't hesitate to when the occasion calls for it. And I do think it surprises people.
There's a lesson in this for other pregnant women, or even women who are struggling with weight issues: More fabric just means more of you. Voluminous styles don't make you look thinner. They create the appearance of more bulk. Slim-fitting styles (provided they are not too tight) create the appearance of a more slender body. And when you flaunt what you have, it will always surprise people.

The End-of-Pregnancy Blues

I have less than 6 weeks left of my pregnancy, and I've definitely hit a slump. Here are the things that just arent' working for me anymore:
1. My belly: It's massive. (I'll post pictures soon). I can't bend over at the waist. I can't stoop down or squat or find any other way to comfortably pick something up. I have a stitch in my left side that won't go away and I'm having cramps and false contractions. Fun.
2. My wardrobe: I have hardly worn any of my maternity things during this pregnancy, managing to skate by with this season's babydoll and empire tunics and dresses. And this strategy worked really well, for a while. Now, my non-maternity clothes are starting to look odd, comical, or just plain wrong.
3. My skin: It's dull, it's dreary, and it really needs a good dose of non-pregnancy-safe products and treatments.
But the hardest part is the exhaustion. I am wiped out, all the time, and physically really uncomfortable, which is making it really hard to keep up with my fiesty little Lola. So even though I really love being pregnant, overall, and even though these are the last few weeks of what is probably my last pregnancy, I am looking forward to the end.