A beauty salon is an establishment providing services related to beauty.
Anyone who has spent a meaningful amount of time with me knows that I have a fascination with personal care products: its usage, the packaging, and the industry. Who else's childhood hobby was collecting product brochures from the Estee Lauder Company's line of brands? Some people are members of EMACS usenets, I look forward to receiving Heather Kleinman's Cosmetic Connection newsletter in my inbox each week.
This idiosyncrasy drew me to Vicky, a great friend and essential fashion reference. Jen and I, beyond serious discussions of Taiwanese politics, also share a yen for beauty care. I used to think every guy knew how to apply a mask till my freshman year in college, when Kuo goggled at me as I walked around the entry with a mask. I then realized that Galen, my younger brother, is wise in the ways of skin care because of my influence.
I remember cornering him when he was four, educating him about the importance of lip balm and trying to apply it to his lips.
My skin tends to be oily. Thankfully, I no longer have to deal with acne as often as I did during adolescence. Five years of living in Boston also contributed to my first experience of dry (!) skin. My skin has been on a roller coaster of behavior since I moved to Taiwan last September-but change is good because it challenges by forcing one to pay attention.
I don't skimp on facial skin care. That said, I don't believe in using expensive cleansers. The product is usually on your face for less than a minute-will that ten times more expensive per ounce product really make that much of a difference? I don't think so.
Somehow, I've never really spent that much time or money on the rest of me. I rarely comb my hair and I never blow dry. My fine hair has withstood nearly nine years of competitive swimming and done just as well or better with inexpensive drugstore brands than specialty brands. I remember to moisturize my body when my skin itches from dryness.
More (as in harder scrubbing, layers of products) is not better. Simple and gentle is best.
beauty salon
Thursday, July 25, 2002
In the past week, I have tried many products to remedy my sunburn: Sea & Ski Aloe Vera Gel, Body Shop S.O.S. Cool Off! aftersun spray, L'Occitane Immortelle Essential Water for the Face and their Lavender Face Mist, and a homemade concoction. The Sea & Ski Aloe Vera Gel was a waste of money, purchased the last time I got sunburnt. Even though it has aloe vera, it is in an alcohol base, and thus is not moisturizing at all. Further, it has green coloring, which gets all over my clothes. The best product was what Wayne gave me, a homemade concoction made by his ex-girlfriend, which contains pure aloe vera gel and lavendar essential oil. I don't know what else is in there, but I think it must be pretty simple and pure. And it works. Since I've used it all up, I've been using the Body Shop spray, which is both a blessing and a distraction. The spray is handy in that I can easily apply product to my shoulders. However, the pump is a bit difficult to use (maybe next time make it ergonomically designed?), so I keep spraying all sorts of placess...the bathroom wall, the floor, the sink... I like how the L'Occitane stuff smells. And the Face Mist is very light and cooling.
4:17 AM |
Thursday, July 18, 2002
It's come to my attention that people are probably more interested in beauty salon than in electronic paths. Well then. I really ought to be keeping up with my responsibilities and stop the "I will start updating this once a week starting next week. Really." business.
So, to beauty. Recently, I came across Paula Begoun's site. She has some solid information there, and some of the information dovetails nicely with my own experiences with particular products. I'll touch upon that in a future post.
I was so thrilled to see my shower Sunday night after I got back from my Jade Mountain hike. The rest of the hikers in the tour group had given me odd looks for washing and moisturizing my face Saturday night (the sinks were out in the open), but I felt it was a necessity. However, in stumbling out of bed at 2 a.m. to make it to the peak by sunrise, I did not wash my face at all till I got home early Monday morning.
A whole weekend of sweating, minimal sleep, and not maintaining my beauty routine meant that I had rough, oily skin that was threatening to break out any moment. My Peter Thomas Roth Botanical Buffing Beads did a lot to clear off that icky layer of skin cells, so that my basis cleaner clean face wash could soak up that layer of oil on my face better. basis cleaner clean face wash is my favorite facial cleanser, by the way. It's effective, has a light lemongrass-minty scent, and is cheap! For something that is effective and on your skin for less than a minute, who can justify paying anything more?
4:39 AM |
