Rambling: Skin care and cosmetics

When I was a teenager, I hated wearing makeup. I hated even lip balm. My OCD tics and hypersensitivity and just plain Me-ness made it so I didn't want stuff touching my face. Even when I was going through an acne period, I would reluctantly use medicated products, but nothing else. Drove my mother crazy. She used to do makeup and fashion as a job, and here was her daughter not giving a damn. Then I got to college. And then I discovered the world of natural and organic cosmetics. Oh, gods. I fell in love.
I am never without lip balm and moisturizer. I hate the feel of dry skin, and since I am prone to dryness and eczema, I always have some sort of balm or lotion.
I never liked mineral oil and petroleum jelly. Too slippery, too slimy, too suffocating, too gross. I could not fathom why anyone would want to put Vaseline or baby oil on their skin without wiping it off immediately and rinsing fanatically. I found vegetable oils, plant oils, botanical extracts, essential oils. I fixated. I hyperfocused. I obsessed. Sea buckthorn, tamanu, hemp seed, neem, pomegranate, acai, goji, buriti, shea butter, coconut, camellia, squalane, sesame, pumpkin, helichrysum, sandalwood, myrrh, frankincense. I researched like mad. Within six months, I had obtained so much knowledge that I startled people. Fortune fell on me when I found Vicki and her Walk In Beauty store. We emailed back and forth. I helped her create and reformulate lotions, creams, and cleansers. I gave her ideas for toothpowders, lip balms, and soaps. It was exhilarating.
My makeup became natural or organic or skin-loving, not a trace of petrolatum or mineral oil. I found that I didn't like mineral powders, that the texture and look irritated me. So I found liquid and cream versions of mineral makeup. Now I don't go anywhere without concealer. Cory Cosmetics and Lauren Brooke Cosmetics and Earth's Beauty make the best natural mineral cream concealers and cream foundations. Fresh Umbrian Clay Concealer is good, too. MAC makes a good one, Studio Sculpt. Not completely natural or mineral, but skin-loving.
I love red and berry lipcolors. (BareMinerals Natural Lipstick in Red Zin and Berry Glace. NARS Satin Lipstick in Rouge D'Enfer. Honeybee Gardens Natural Lipstick in Desire.) Eyeliners and eyeshadows in various shades of brown and purple and gray. Those don't need to be natural or mineral, but I do like them to have skin-loving ingredients. (I adore MAC Technakohl eyeliners and Tarte eyeshadows.) I buy from Ebay for cheap and the products last forever. I am still skittish about mascara. (But I love Almay Pure Blends and I have a travel tube of Fresh Firebird.) I don't like blush. If I really want to make my cheeks look red, I apply a dot of my lipstick.
I can't imagine my skin without nourishment and enhancement. It's not even a "feminine" thing. I love seeing eyeliner on men.
I always make my mother smile when I tell her that I woke up and applied makeup in less than ten minutes.
There is a reason I will always look several years younger. Genetics plays a big part of course, but so does good body care.

/ramble

Rambling: Skin care and cosmetics

When I was a teenager, I hated wearing makeup. I hated even lip balm. My OCD tics and hypersensitivity and just plain Me-ness made it so I didn't want stuff touching my face. Even when I was going through an acne period, I would reluctantly use medicated products, but nothing else. Drove my mother crazy. She used to do makeup and fashion as a job, and here was her daughter not giving a damn. Then I got to college. And then I discovered the world of natural and organic cosmetics. Oh, gods. I fell in love.
I am never without lip balm and moisturizer. I hate the feel of dry skin, and since I am prone to dryness and eczema, I always have some sort of balm or lotion.
I never liked mineral oil and petroleum jelly. Too slippery, too slimy, too suffocating, too gross. I could not fathom why anyone would want to put Vaseline or baby oil on their skin without wiping it off immediately and rinsing fanatically. I found vegetable oils, plant oils, botanical extracts, essential oils. I fixated. I hyperfocused. I obsessed. Sea buckthorn, tamanu, hemp seed, neem, pomegranate, acai, goji, buriti, shea butter, coconut, camellia, squalane, sesame, pumpkin, helichrysum, sandalwood, myrrh, frankincense. I researched like mad. Within six months, I had obtained so much knowledge that I startled people. Fortune fell on me when I found Vicki and her Walk In Beauty store. We emailed back and forth. I helped her create and reformulate lotions, creams, and cleansers. I gave her ideas for toothpowders, lip balms, and soaps. It was exhilarating.
My makeup became natural or organic or skin-loving, not a trace of petrolatum or mineral oil. I found that I didn't like mineral powders, that the texture and look irritated me. So I found liquid and cream versions of mineral makeup. Now I don't go anywhere without concealer. Cory Cosmetics and Lauren Brooke Cosmetics and Earth's Beauty make the best natural mineral cream concealers and cream foundations. Fresh Umbrian Clay Concealer is good, too. MAC makes a good one, Studio Sculpt. Not completely natural or mineral, but skin-loving.
I love red and berry lipcolors. (BareMinerals Natural Lipstick in Red Zin and Berry Glace. NARS Satin Lipstick in Rouge D'Enfer. Honeybee Gardens Natural Lipstick in Desire.) Eyeliners and eyeshadows in various shades of brown and purple and gray. Those don't need to be natural or mineral, but I do like them to have skin-loving ingredients. (I adore MAC Technakohl eyeliners and Tarte eyeshadows.) I buy from Ebay for cheap and the products last forever. I am still skittish about mascara. (But I love Almay Pure Blends and I have a travel tube of Fresh Firebird.) I don't like blush. If I really want to make my cheeks look red, I apply a dot of my lipstick.
I can't imagine my skin without nourishment and enhancement. It's not even a "feminine" thing. I love seeing eyeliner on men.
I always make my mother smile when I tell her that I woke up and applied makeup in less than ten minutes.
There is a reason I will always look several years younger. Genetics plays a big part of course, but so does good body care.

/ramble

Rambling: Skin care and cosmetics

When I was a teenager, I hated wearing makeup. I hated even lip balm. My OCD tics and hypersensitivity and just plain Me-ness made it so I didn't want stuff touching my face. Even when I was going through an acne period, I would reluctantly use medicated products, but nothing else. Drove my mother crazy. She used to do makeup and fashion as a job, and here was her daughter not giving a damn. Then I got to college. And then I discovered the world of natural and organic cosmetics. Oh, gods. I fell in love.
I am never without lip balm and moisturizer. I hate the feel of dry skin, and since I am prone to dryness and eczema, I always have some sort of balm or lotion.
I never liked mineral oil and petroleum jelly. Too slippery, too slimy, too suffocating, too gross. I could not fathom why anyone would want to put Vaseline or baby oil on their skin without wiping it off immediately and rinsing fanatically. I found vegetable oils, plant oils, botanical extracts, essential oils. I fixated. I hyperfocused. I obsessed. Sea buckthorn, tamanu, hemp seed, neem, pomegranate, acai, goji, buriti, shea butter, coconut, camellia, squalane, sesame, pumpkin, helichrysum, sandalwood, myrrh, frankincense. I researched like mad. Within six months, I had obtained so much knowledge that I startled people. Fortune fell on me when I found Vicki and her Walk In Beauty store. We emailed back and forth. I helped her create and reformulate lotions, creams, and cleansers. I gave her ideas for toothpowders, lip balms, and soaps. It was exhilarating.
My makeup became natural or organic or skin-loving, not a trace of petrolatum or mineral oil. I found that I didn't like mineral powders, that the texture and look irritated me. So I found liquid and cream versions of mineral makeup. Now I don't go anywhere without concealer. Cory Cosmetics and Lauren Brooke Cosmetics and Earth's Beauty make the best natural mineral cream concealers and cream foundations. Fresh Umbrian Clay Concealer is good, too. MAC makes a good one, Studio Sculpt. Not completely natural or mineral, but skin-loving.
I love red and berry lipcolors. (BareMinerals Natural Lipstick in Red Zin and Berry Glace. NARS Satin Lipstick in Rouge D'Enfer. Honeybee Gardens Natural Lipstick in Desire.) Eyeliners and eyeshadows in various shades of brown and purple and gray. Those don't need to be natural or mineral, but I do like them to have skin-loving ingredients. (I adore MAC Technakohl eyeliners and Tarte eyeshadows.) I buy from Ebay for cheap and the products last forever. I am still skittish about mascara. (But I love Almay Pure Blends and I have a travel tube of Fresh Firebird.) I don't like blush. If I really want to make my cheeks look red, I apply a dot of my lipstick.
I can't imagine my skin without nourishment and enhancement. It's not even a "feminine" thing. I love seeing eyeliner on men.
I always make my mother smile when I tell her that I woke up and applied makeup in less than ten minutes.
There is a reason I will always look several years younger. Genetics plays a big part of course, but so does good body care.

/ramble