"Wendy" wrote in message
...
I am 40-ish and rarely wear makeup. But I've been realizing lately just
how many beauty regimens I've built up over the years. I'd like to cut
some if they're useless and I sometimes think I ought to wear
makeup and/or contacts. Do you do these things? Do you do more?

1.) Pluck & trim eyebrows (had them shaped with electrolysis once)
I have blonde hair, so I just let my eyebrows go wild since you can't really
see them...

2.) Bleach brunette facial hair (and pluck occasional beard hairs)
I think I'd just pluck, I have an occasional chin hair that keeps coming
back. Bleaching sounds like it'd be hard on the skin, but I have sensitive
skin

3.) Have hair cut & color & foiled every 6 weeks (this is a BIG expense)
I get my hair cut about every 3 months. Do you have gray hair? You could
just learn to color at home, with that semi permanent stuff. You might want
to look into a hairstyle that doesn't require so much maintenance...

4.) Shave pits every day, below knee 2x week and above knee occasionally
I shave my pits weekly, and I only shave my legs when it's warm enough to
wear shorts (at least when I'm SINGLE). Again, blonde hair, and fine, so
it's not that bad when its long.

5.) Pumice callouses on feet, keep toenails cut & polished
Nope, not me. I like my callouses, and I just chew off my toenails...

6.) Use cuticle remover on cuticles and orange sticks and buff fingernails
again, teeth do a great manicure job if your not picky! Seriously, I wear
my nails short, and under stress they're the first thing to go!

7.) Use wart remover patches for rare wart here or there (not genital!)
If it's not visible, why bother?

8.) Brush teeth 2x day with whitening toothpaste, floss daily
Oh yes - definitely. Sometimes even more often. I have an oral hygiene
obsession. I keep a toothbrush, paste, mouthwash and floss at work...

9.) Put whitening peroxide solution on teeth at night.
Yes. I have the trays and I sleep with them in, about 1-2 times per month.

10.) Treat chapped lips (mostly from peroxide) with lip balm
I chew on my lips and the inside of my mouth when I'm nervous or stressed,
so I have lip balm on my keychain...

11.) Wash face 2x daily with face soap
me too.

12.) Use face lotion with sunscreen and body lotions as needed
occassionally as needed.

13.) I will occasionally, in the winter, go for tanning sessions.

With my fair skin, I've pretty much given up on maintaining a tan - too
costly healthwise in the long run

The things I don't do (or do only very rarely):
1.) Wear eye makeup of any kind (my eyes get red & irritated easily)
I wear mascara and eye liner during work days that I get up more than 30
minutes before I have to leave the house...

2.) Wear perfume (it seems like everyone is sensitive to chemicals lately)
only if I don't have time to shower. Just kidding! I wear it when the
fancy strikes me...

3.) Wear blush (I have good skin tone without it)
never.

4.) Wear lipstick (I do occasionally, but it always makes my lips chapped)
when I feel like it. It generally doesn't make it past the first cup of
coffee if I do.

5.) Curl eyelashes (I possess such a tool but don't use it)
Only when I'm going somewheres fancy

6.) Wear cold cream or some sort of night cream on my face
Yuck! My grandma used to.
7.) I don't usually have a manicure.
uh, does gnarring on fingers with front teeth count?

8.) Wear contacts instead of glasses (I used to but allergies irritated my
eyes so much that the contacts were uncomfortable and I just stopped
wearing them.)
I hate my glasses, but hate contacts more. Going to get laser surgery next
spring...

9.) I don't do anything with my hair besides wash it and occasionally
use conditioner. I've got a short curly cut and I don't even comb it, I
just run my fingers through it. No gels, no dryer, nothing whatsoever.

Oh, I go through the rigors of blowing, curling etc M-F.

Am I missing something important that everyone else does?

Does anyone believe this whitening polish works? I've found that the
peroxide gives me chapped lips and the lip balm makes my chin break out,
so all in all my teeth might be whiter but my mouth and face now look
awful so who can tell?

I don't know about the OTC products, but the stuff I get from my dentist is
magic. I have amazingly pearly white teeth, and they were definitely
showing the effects of caffeine before...

I don't work directly with the public face to face. I am an office
manager/dispatcher for a plumbing company, so it's more important that I
sound fresh and happy on the phone. If I forego all that "gussy up" crap
for 30 extra minutes of sleep to achieve that, so be it. I'm more
interested these days in getting enough sleep, eating right and often
enough, and lifting big heavy weights...

det