The weather has been very nice here for the past couple of weeks. Probably too nice, really. Temperatures have been in the mid to upper 80s, which is highly unusual in early June. And we hadn’t had any rain until today, when it rained hard for about 15 minutes, and then the sun popped out again.
I’m a big fan of warm weather, but it gets pretty unbearable indoors when you don’t have air conditioning. So I do what I can to keep cool. I keep the blinds down and run fans from the time I get up until I go to bed (besides the ones in the bedrooms, which run all night).
I have long and fairly thick hair, which can be a real pain when temperatures rise. But I’ve found a way to use it to my advantage. I take a shower when it starts getting hot in the house and wash my hair. Once I’m out and dressed, I put my hair up in something similar to a French twist. But instead of tucking the ends in, I leave them loose. I secure it with a hair clip that’s flat on the bottom (because the rounded ones always flop to the side and bug me to death).
This hairstyle is simple, attractive, and works out very nicely on hot days. Twisting my hair up like that makes it stay wet instead of air drying, which keeps my head cooler than it would be otherwise. And it helps that my hair isn’t laying on my neck, too.
I can leave my hair up all day, and when I take it down before I go to bed, it’s still very damp. So I guess that explains the excellent cooling effect. For those of you out there with long, thick hair, maybe this little tip will help you find some relief from the heat.
Since I was a young teenager, I’ve had terribly oily skin on my face. It’s one of the things that contributed to all those breakouts through the years, I guess. The good thing about it is that I could put pretty much anything on my face and not have to worry about dry skin. I didn’t even have to use moisturizer.
Well, those days are over. It sucks trying to effectively treat the world’s most stubborn case of adult acne while having to be careful not to overdry your skin. Mine is still oily in general, but after I use my acne scrub, it feels rather parched. So I have to make it a point to use moisturizer every single time.
I know what dry skin feels like, because I get it on my legs and hands during the winter. But it feels so strange having dry skin on my face after all these years of never having to worry about it. Just another sign that I’m getting older, I guess.
Pumpkin is growing up way too fast. A couple of weeks ago, she decided that she needed to start using deodorant. And now her face is starting to break out. She can thank me and my acne genes for that.
I started getting zits when I was around her age, and they were the bane of my existence when I was a teenager. I eventually got prescriptions to keep them to a minimum, but I really don’t want to go that route with her. The antibiotics worked miracles for me, but if I knew then what I know now about antibiotic resistant bacteria and such, I don’t think I would have taken them. And knowing what I know, I would rather she didn’t, either.
So I guess it’s time to start really researching acne products once again. I’ve looked at them off and on for myself, but I haven’t tried out many of them due to budget concerns. But I know how it is contending with breakouts when you’re young. It makes you extremely self-conscious, and if other kids are picking on you over it, it can make your life a living hell. So for her, I’m willing to spend a little money when I have it to spare to try to find something that works.
If I find the miracle cure, I’ll probably buy enough for both of us. And I’ll be sure to share it with any of my dear readers who are in the same boat!
When I went to eat with my family for Thanksgiving, I made it a point to give my older sister a hard time about her age. I do it pretty much every year, because her birthday is conveniently close to the holiday. But this time I picked on my brother, too, because he’ll be turning 40 in a couple of months.
I’m several years younger than both of them, but I know I’m not getting any younger, either. Since I hit 30, it seems like everything is just going downhill. Maybe some of it is in my head, but science does back up that notion. I’ve read that thirtysomethings have to contend with, among other things, increased levels of stress hormones and dramatically lower levels of HGH. These things increase the effects of aging, and they make it harder to lose weight.
The only difference I can see in the mirror so far is the occasional gray hair. That drives me batty at times, but at least I haven’t found any fine lines or wrinkles yet. I know it will happen eventually, I’m just not ready for it to happen yet. When it does, I just might have to quit giving my siblings such a hard time.
I’m not getting any younger. I know, nobody else is either. And I’d like to think that I’m capable of growing old gracefully. But every time I look in the mirror and find another gray hair, I go ballistic.
I’ve thought about dyeing my hair, but I’d rather do highlights or streaks than dye it all. However, highlights and streaks won’t necessarily cover all the gray. It’s not to the point where it’s noticeable yet, but I’m flipping out over the possibility that it soon will be.
I at least thought that my skin looked youthful. Partly because I still have regular breakouts, but also because the overabundance of oil in my skin helps prevent the formation of wrinkles. But a week or two ago, when I was helping Pumpkin clean her room, she found an unopened box of face cream that someone had given to her with some makeup. She asked what it was for, and I told her it was to help keep you from looking older. She said, “Oh, you can use that then.” Way to make Mommy feel good, girl!
Still, the stray grays are my biggest concern. My mom went fully gray early. Nobody’s sure just how early, because she dyed her hair for many years. I’m just hoping the same thing doesn’t happen to me. If it does, as much as I’d rather not, I’ll be dyeing every last hair on my head.
I woke up this morning to a headache and pain underneath my eye. It didn’t take me long to figure out what was going on. The headache was, of course, the result of that stupid sinus infection. The resulting swelling was widespread, and included my lower eyelid, which is where that zit I mentioned yesterday (also known as a sty) is located.
My eye was noticeably swollen. Well, noticeable to me, anyway. Hubby didn’t notice it until I mentioned it, and Pumpkin hasn’t said anything about it. So maybe I’m the only one to whom it sticks out like a sore thumb.
I just wish I could get rid of the thing. I know that my usual zit remedies, rubbing alcohol and tea tree oil, shouldn’t be used in the eye area. So basically I’m just trying to keep it clean and not put anything on it. No makeup, no under eye cream, no nothing until that sucker is gone. I hate to not even camouflage the redness, but I want it to disappear as quickly as possible. I don’t have any big plans for the next few days anyway, so I suppose I can live without makeup if I must.
If anyone has any tips for making a sty go away faster, do tell!
Acne is something that I’ve more or less learned to live with over the years. As a teenager, I tried various treatments, some of which worked and some of which did not. Most of them that didn’t involve antibiotics would work for a while, but then my skin would get accustomed to them and start breaking out again. And I didn’t like the idea of staying on antibiotics for long periods of time, especially for something that was more a nuisance than anything.
Lately I haven’t really been doing anything about my breakouts, except for dabbing a bit of rubbing alcohol or tea tree oil on the most annoying bumps. But over the past few weeks, I’ve been getting zits in places where I’d really rather not have them. Like my underarms, my hips, and certain, er, unmentionable areas. But the worst so far is one that’s coming up on my lower eyelid. Can you say painful?
I suppose I really should read up on some of the best acne products and try to find something that’s not too expensive to try. Constant breakouts are no fun, and when they start getting painful, it’s time to do something about them.
Pumpkin has always had fairly long hair. Up until last week it was nearly halfway down her back. It was beautiful, but she had a hard time brushing it. And she almost always cries when Hubby or I brush it. So Hubby finally decided it was time to give her a haircut.
She reluctantly agreed, and allowed him to cut it to just below her shoulders. I got a couple of pictures of it, but I haven’t gotten around to putting them on the computer yet. Her former bangs are still a couple of inches shorter than the rest of it, but I couldn’t talk either one of them into going that short. But it still looks great.
Pumpkin’s hair is her favorite feature, and she gets tons of compliments on it because it’s a beautiful shade of blond. So I’m surprised that she hasn’t been after me to go to the store and compare prices on hair growth shampoos. But so far, she seems to like it better at its current length. But she still says she’s going to let it grow back out. Maybe by the time it does she’ll be better at brushing her hair. I certainly hope so.
First, let me say that I have not disappeared from the face of the earth. I’ve just had a busy week and a half. I won’t apologize, because there’s more to life than blogging. Just wanted to put to rest any rumors that I’ve given up blogging for good (if anyone cares enough to start them).
Anyhoo, one of the smallest problems I’ve been contending with is my acne making a comeback. I’ve been breaking out around my jawlines for some time now, as well as sporadically in other places, and it’s bugging me to death. I suppose I need to step up my nearly nonexistent skin care regimen. I ran out of my acne wash, and I’ve been using Dial soap. It used to actually help, seeing how it’s antibacterial and all, but it’s not doing much right now.
I’m not sure why I’m breaking out. I’m a bit stressed, but not nearly as badly as I was there for a while. I guess it’s just one of those things that happens from time to time. Hopefully it’ll resolve itself soon.
If you’re a regular reader, you’ve probably seen my previous posts about Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty and their self-esteem workshops. If you haven’t, please take the time to take a look. As the mother of a young daughter, this is a subject I’m very passionate about.
One of the Dove Self-Esteem Fund‘s most recent projects has been a study entitled Real Girls, Real Pressure: A National Report on the State of Self-Esteem. It revealed some alarming statistics that point to the existence of a self-esteem crisis among young girls. Here are a few of the findings:
- 7 in 10 girls feel that they do not measure up in some way, whether in looks, school performance, or relationships.
- 75% of girls with low self-esteem said they engaged in negative behaviors, including such things as smoking, drinking, cutting themselves, bullying and disordered eating.
- 25% of teen girls with low self-esteem have purposely injured themselves.
- 25% of teen girls with low self-esteem have engaged in some form of disordered eating.
The study also found that the older girls get, the less likely they are to talk to their parents when they feel badly about themselves. That means that it’s never too early to start fostering good self-esteem.
These statistics are frightening for any parent of a teen or preteen girl. Isn’t it time we did something to turn it around? Dove has been on a mission to do just that. It is their goal to reach five million girls around the world with self-esteem programming by the year 2010. In addition to their self-esteem workshops and advertising campaigns, they offer a wealth of online tools for girls, moms and mentors on their Campaign for Real Beauty website. There you’ll find booklets, interactive exercises, and even tools that can help you hold your own self-esteem workshop.
I’ve had several people ask me about where they can attend Dove’s self-esteem workshops. I finally found a page where you can sign up to receive alerts about workshops in your area. I’ll leave you with another short film produced by Dove that sums up a few of the reasons behind the self-esteem crisis.
