Vanity of a tomboy

Here's fun Friday fact about me: I don't wear makeup.

After, no before coz
 I don't want to break your screen!

It's already hard enough for me to get ready in the morning. As a teen between having to wear make-up for dance performances and watching my mom and sister put make-up even on the hottest, muggiest days back East, I just couldn't cope with that. Well let me be more specific, I don't wear foundation on a regular basis. I rock lipgloss, sheen, stick daily. Wear eyeshadow occasionally on weekends. But I've never worn foundation to work, even now that my job is about 95% office. I don't wear it when I'm going out, or on most dates. Usually it's when I dress up nice, and I'm trying to look a little polished. Even then, my foundation consists of some concealer under the eyes and corners of the mouth and light weight powder. Liquid foundation makes me look like caramel coated sumo. >_<

Admittedly I'm pretty lucky. I never really had acne, a few "Marcia Brady" zits, that's about it. My face's not flawless, but it's fairly clear and soft. I have slight darkness under my eyes from anemia but they're not noticeable with my glasses. Face care regimen? I don't have one. Aside from using sunscreen when I'm working outside, no matter the season. (I get sunburn fairly easily considering, yep that urban myth is untrue or maybe it's the Asian in me who knows :P) In NorCal, I started using grapeseed oil 3-5 nites a week because of the drier climate. Wash my face in the shower, use cold cream to remove makeup whenever I do, and that's it.

So what's the issue? When I got back to Oakland last week, I got this random cold allergy attack from Hell. I'm not sure if it was the Vitamin E oil I bought, or a cold or what. Suddenly my face was super dry, reddish, rashy, and my eyes and lips had gotten super wrinkled. It was not cool. at all.

I bought some 1% hydrocortisone, which cleared the rash in about 3 days. The grapeseed for the ensuing scars and dryness wasn't cutting it. It was driving me crazy, it hurt to smile. I kept wearing sunglasses I felt my face looked so bad.

Yesterday I bought some Nivea cream and it helped immensely, I could finally smile without pain. Though the wrinkles were still there. So last night after my 18th holiday party of the season, I googled some remedies and realized I may need to exfoliate. Mind you I don't think I've ever used a scrub on my face. But I was desperate and it worked!

Sugar Scrub

1 tbsp organic cane sugar 1 tsp olive oil drops of water to form paste

Directions 1. Wash face with lukewarm water. 2. While face is still slightly damp massage in scrub. 3. Then wait 15 minutes 4. Rinse well with luke warm water.

The internetz suggest following up with a mask I just followed up with some Nivea cream. This morning when I woke up, there was such a difference! My face felt smooth and soft again, the random creases around my mouth were gone, my lips weren't chapped anymore. Definitely a great way to start the weekend.

I'm also starting to realise, as 30's gunning for me. I should start taking measures to maintain my looks so I won't be trying to fix them years later. I don't ever want to feel the need to wear make-up on a daily basis.