Monday, September 15, 2008

Game Changers

Before I begin: Here's what last week's haircut looks like right now.



Now, it does seem like cutting my hair this short in the fall may be counter-intuitive, but we're now in the middle of Humidity Season here in HNL (i.e. steaming hot days followed by sudden rain) and I couldn't stand putting my hair up in a ponytail any more.

Also, I did forget to take off my makeup after changing into my bathrobe. What can I say - I'm kind of vain that way.

*****

With the resolution of the Major Job Situation looming in the horizon - and the backlog of unwritten blog-entry ideas piling up - I thought I'd devote some space to products that have been working pretty well for me in the last two weeks. I can't guarantee that some of this stuff will work for you, but I will say for sure that the stuff I write about here at this moment have yet to do me wrong.

- Getting my entire face waxed every fiscal quarter. A nail/wax place opened next to the Neighborhood Chain over the summer, and today I went to them to get both my brow and upper lip done. Guess what - they did such a great job with my eyebrows that they actually look much fuller now. Surprised? So was I. :)

- Arbonne Daily Nutritional Chews for Teens. In case you're wondering, let me explain: I have nothing against direct-sales companies at all. (And yes, there is an Arbonne-centric entry in the works.) That said, when I placed my first Arbonne order with my friend Trix, I balked at the insane prices for the vitamins... until she told me that the chews packed as much nutritional punch as the other stuff for less money ($24 for a box of 60). Needless to say, I tried them out - and believe me when I say that the energy boost I got from this stuff is so amazing that I had to check the box twice to make sure that there were no stimulants involved. (Luckily for me, there are none.) The chews are no bigger than a Starburst, but take one with a meal during the daytime (twice is optimum) and it'll keep you running, crash-free.

- Eye cream and anti-aging serum, in general. Again, this has something to do with the Arbonne samples that I've received recently (especially this, this, and this) - but it also made me stand up and pay attention to the other anti-aging stuff that I've stashed in various regions of my medicine cabinet, especially since I've been looking haggard lately. Until recently I thought serum was another word for "fancypants moisturizer," but using it under my moisturizer has made a much bigger difference for me. Same deal with eye cream; using it on my lids and dark circles has also helped me deal with my usual problems in that area.

- Eyeshadow on top of eyeliner. Check the above picture again; the eye sockets have been darkened with the Jordana black eyeliner pencil, which was then layered with the black side of MAC Hot Contrast (applied with an eyeliner brush) for more visual interest. It's a trick I've been reading about a lot lately - Mally Roncal, for one, swears that powdering over the pencil renders your liner "bulletproof" - but it's only now that I've managed to make the whole deal work for me.

- Suave Professionals Volumizing Conditioner. Yes, it's the one that's supposed to "work as well as" Matrix Amplify for significantly less coin - and while I haven't used the real thing yet, I've found that the Suave version works so well with my other shampoos that it's become part and parcel of my workday hair routine, just for giving my hair both volume and softness in one long-lasting package. Goodbye, oppressive ponytailers!

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