how dry i am.
While I wouldn’t say I’m obsessed or anything — shut up! I’m not! — I do have a love for “product” and beauty rituals and treatments. There’s just something appealing about the way the lotions and potions smell and feel… and how they feel on me.
Not to mention that I usually end up looking at least a little bit better for the time I spend. Usually.
(We won’t get into that one masque I tried that turned my face green. Or, uh, the wax that left giant welts on my… legs.)
(Ahem.)
The funny thing is, for a girl who loves treatments, there’s a heck of a lot of treatments I’ve never had, or had with such infrequency that it surprises my like-minded (like-treated?) friends.
The only things I’ve really done routinely are brow waxes (I do love my brows) and manicure-pedicures (which would seem silly, given my lack of toenails and my stupid fingernails, but walking around barefoot and typing all day take their toll.)
But.
Massages? One in my whole life. Which is actually impressive for a girl who breaks herself as often as I do. And it was a nice massage, don’t get me wrong. But hello? 80 bucks to make me feel less wonky for about a day? Riiiiight.
Arcrylic/gel nails? Well, a) they scare me, and b) my nails are shaped like tiny ski ramps. You can’t even GLUE a good nail onto those suckers. And they scare me a little anyway, like clowns do.
Makeup application? No one but me has ever done my makeup. Not even at some beauty counter. Not at a salon. Not for an event. Nada. I have no idea why, but I just don’t like people touching my face unless they’re planning to kiss me. And if you’re gonna kiss me, you should probably stop applying my lip gloss, yeah?
I’ve had maybe six salon haircuts in my whole life. And I’ve never had a salon updo (oy, they can go wrong SO fast) or a perm or whatnot. I’m actually a little scared of hairdressers. And the highlights I got? Turned green. Huzzah!
So.
Facials were another pool into which I had never dipped my toe. I think it had something to do with the “Don’t touch my face!” thing, as well as the “I’m not paying you $80 bucks to touch my face!” thing. I can do most of this stuff myself, you know?
I’ve been reading how to’s and trying vials and vats of stuff for 20 years. I ran spa nights for groups of women. Why would I shell out for that?
But, as with all things in my life, eventually I look my choices in the eye and go, “Eh. Try it once.”
So I did. With my dear Catherine. We went to get facials (and our eyebrows done) as a part of her Christmas/Birthday present (since they happen awfully close together, in about a month.)
I think it’s funny I got myself her birthday present, too, but hey… it was a fun shared experience, right?
And an illuminating experience.
(I’m not even talking about the shockingly bright light she shone onto my shameful pores, though I wouldn’t have wanted to see myself like that, no way, no how.)
It was pretty good, I’ll admit. Except for when she kept massaging over my nose and cutting off my one good nasal passage, which would lead me to open my mouth to breathe… and then she’d massage that part of my face so I’d have to close my mouth. I would get half breaths and no more, which isn’t super relaxing.
But I did learn a lot.
Apparently, the following is true of my skin:
1. It’s not oily, it’s dry. Everything I use on it? WRONG. WRONG, I TELL YOU. WRONG. Which sounded like a complete load of crap until she asked me all sorts of questions about how my skin behaves and lo… she was right.
2. Blemishes I get are from a) hormones (out of my control as a function of my disorder… and apparently out of control in general) and b) me stripping the crap out of my (it’s oily! I thought!) face. Well. And she’s like, “Sorry, do you have any?” Well, I THOUGHT I DID.
3. I have giant pores. Wait, I knew that. But! They were not all clogged. Not even most! Granted, she reefed the HELL out of the ones that were, but apparently? Good skin. Not even 33 year-old skin. And minimal sun damage? What? Seriously? That’s just dumb luck at this point.
4. My eyebrows? Wickedly resistant to plucking. Which I always thought. I mean, you have to really PLUCK to get those suckers out. She says it’s the dark hair. I say they are Follicles of Satan.
So. I have to buy new products.
I am grinning. Woohoo!
Dry skin products always seemed more lovely and soothing and intense and squooshy than the oily skin products, which feel kind of like Lysol combined with dish soap and a little bit of sand.
Even if you put the words “refreshing” and “clarifying” all over them — as though you were taking a mini-vacation of some sort, a vacation of clean — they’re still pretty fierce.
So bring on the love!
Any recommendations?
November 19th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. DERMALOGICA. AND, facials rule - I love my esthetician.
November 19th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
But is your skin dry, Shannon? I never looked closely enough. All it looked like was PERFECT.
November 19th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
I just switched from Aveda to a brand called Suki and I LOVE it. LOVE IT. You are talking to a girl who has spent upwards of thousands of dollars on my genuinely-oily skin over the years. Unlike Aveda that claims to be “all natural,” this stuff actually is. They don’t use harsh surfactants or chemical fragrances. Yes, I’m a hippie, but I’m okay with it! Congratulations on your license to splurge.
November 19th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
I use Eminence Organics which I totally love and they’ve made a huge difference to my (dry!) skin. There are all sorts of lovely quenching masks that smell yummy! You can buy them at Markus J Hair on Broadway at Trafalgar. Also, a woman named Julia runs a spa out of there and her facials are amazing. Her number is 604.731.8383.
November 19th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
What language is this that you’re speaking, foreign girl? I didn’t understand a word. Although now I have a strange urge to run out and buy really expensive shaving cream.
November 19th, 2007 at 4:12 pm
About those $80 massages — your health benefits package covers you for up to $500 worth annually, no doctor’s note or anything. Best way possible to spend a rainy lunch hour. I usually max out my limit by October or so.
And Spa Utopia has registered massage therapists on staff. :)
November 19th, 2007 at 7:41 pm
you have not had a truly great massage. get yourself some!
November 19th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
I thought I had “oily” skin as well..well I do…and I don’t…I have good ole combination skin, which is also VERY sensitive (can you say HIVES)…
I tried proactiv, my dermatologist (that I had to go see after the proactive burned my cheek skin) said “No no no that’s just women ripping off other women”…you want a good product - use DOVE! Yeah, just plain old Dove…and just when this was going on they came out with their facial line - SO SO GOOD…I used it for about a year and it was great!
Then my mom started selling Mary Kay, so I got “samples” (ahem, daughter discount, like the 5 finger discount but legal LOL), and now I’ve switched to MK…they have stuff for all skin types - it’s really gentle and I have noooo problems - if you’re interested (I’m so shameless) send me an email and I’ll get you some info.
November 19th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
It’s crazy, Kat, but I WAS using Dove and my facialist was like, YOUR SKIN IS STRIPPED TO BITS. So I don’t know!
November 20th, 2007 at 4:47 am
I use Aveeno in the winter and I find it relieves the chapped skin and takes all itchiness away.
A couple of weeks ago I saw one of your pictures in the corner and thought man that girl has some wicked eyebrows, where did she learn to pluck them? I was going to ask you to direct me to some kind of online tutorial but now I know that it’s a professional who did them. So I guess your advice would be to head to a spa?
November 20th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
Dove, or any other commercial detergent bar you can buy at the store is going to be drying. Even if it says “moisturizing.” As a soapmaker, people (or corporations) who claim “moisturizing” as a benefit of a CLEANSER make me a little nuts. Nothing that cleans and is rinsed off can impart moisture–the best it can do is not strip your skin severely.
I have crazy dry skin, too. Just about the only cleanser that doesn’t slaughter my face is my own homemade castile soap, 100% olive oil, no fragrance, no color. Say something sweet to me, and I’ll send you some!
Still on the prowl for the perfect moisturizer.
November 20th, 2007 at 6:23 pm
I’m just going to be the rich bitch and say it: Creme de la Mer. Even the tiniest of samples lasts months and it’s like little droplets of pure silk on your skin.
November 20th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
To clarify: I didn’t use Dove the bar soap even though it was Dove.
They came out with a really nice facial cleansing line a while back - cleanser/toner/lotion and it is lovely - if you thought you had oily skin, and used their “for oily” skin stuff it would be drying. But now that you know you’re “dry” try the “for dry” skin stuff.
I do enjoy my MK stuff though ;)
November 21st, 2007 at 1:07 am
Biotherm, Seriously. Aquasource dry skin. London Drugs has a promo on right now with moisturizer.cleanser.toner and it’s much cheaper. I use the normal/combo and the clarity of my skin has improved like 100 fold.