amarinth, I wanted to add that a lot of times if you get a “makeover”, the person is trying to show off their Phat Cosmetic Skillz[sup]TM[/sup]- YO! Unfortunatly, this means you wind up looking like either a) a clown, b) a hooker, or c) like a makeup kit threw up on your face.
Trust me, I’ve been there.
If you were to decide that you wanted to give a cosmitician another try, you can a) find a store that carries brands you like, and b) book at a quiet time for “A nice, easy day look.”
Generally “nice easy day look” means something very different than “makeover.”
You should wind up with something more subtle that you might actually want to duplicate.
But Alice, don’t you know that amputation is the next what can I do to my teen-age body to piss off my parents and assert my independence by being exactly like my friends fad.
Piercings and tattoos are so passé …
But on a serious note, I’d like to take issue with your statement that only 2% of women have “normal” skin.
Sorry, but I’m gonna take the hard Feminist Line[sup]TM[/sup] on that one and call you out for implying that 98% of women have “abnormal” skin that needs “treatment,” i.e., cosmetics.
No.
Your skin is fine. Really, it is. Step away from the checkout-lane magazine rack and throw out the Glamour and the Cosmo on your coffee table.
Stop buying into the bullshit that skin in its natural state is somehow defective and needs to be “fixed” with cosmetics in order to be attractive.
Alice’s advice on using sunscreen to save your skin from premature aging is fine. Follow it.
But will she tell you that slopping cosmetics on your cheeks every day for unmpteen years will damage your skin? Why not?
Okay, this is a question and a rant (so not too much of a hijack).
I have this weird skin that really pisses me off. I can’t apply foundation or my skin flakes up horribly. No matter how much I moisturise, or what kind of moisturiser I use, I’ve never been able to get foundation to just apply nice. It turns my skin into flake-city. That, and I’m also slightly oily enough to get zits. :rolleyes:
Right now I’m trying to use Clinique (the yellow soap bar, the light cleansing lotion, and once a week the ‘daily’ scrub, then following up with the yellow lotion); I didn’t splurge on these as I don’t really have money (if I knew they worked, I might, but I’m not shelling out that money to experiment). My skin still does the same thing.
My turn, my turn!
I hate lipstick, because it feels so, well, lipsticky. I hate that gloppy, gooey feeling.
I do like Chapstick and am addicted to Burt’s Bee’s lip balm, and things like that, very light-feeling stuff. I always have a couple tubes of various brands of lip balm in every coat pocket and in my car.
I want some light color, but not bright red hooker lipstick.
What do you recommend? I’m willing to spend some money, but not $50 for a tube of lipstick.
Spiff - “normal” skin is defined as being not oily and not dry, and not having oily or dry patches - but just being the right degree of moisture throughout. Obviously, if only 2% of women have this skin type, it’s not “normal,” it’s "abnormal. However, “normal” is the term that both cosmeticians AND dermatologists use.
I was implying nothing of the sort, and have repeatedly said that if a person is happy with their skin using nothing, they should use nothing.
Listen cookie, if you’re “fine” with having cystic acne that aches and bleeds and forever scars your skin, or “fine” with having skin that cracks and feels tight and aches with dryness, then by all means do so. However, your implication that ALL women should be “fine” with their skin, irrespective of it’s condition is farcical. I believe YOU’RE the one being rather narrow in your view.
No, I won’t, because it isn’t true. If you would like to provide a cite that proves otherwise, I will be happy to read it.
Moisturizing and taking care of your skin is never bad for it. Furthermore, “Look Good, Feel Better” has rather conclusively proven that for some women, using cosmetics can improve their overall health, as well as speeding healing from disease.
Finally, bite me. If you don’t like cosmetics don’t use them, but don’t you dare come into my thread condemning those of us who do like them, and do use them and expect to get away with it. It’s obnoxious in the extreme. Next you’ll be criticizing those of us who like to shave our legs.
What kind of foundation are you using? There are different types that work with different skins.
Also, zits don’t necessarily come from having oily skin - those with dry skins, combination skins and normal skins can still get pimples. Some people have sensitivity to environmental polution (smoke, smog, recirculated air, etc.) which can cause them to break out, even with a dry skin, for instance.
Secondly, Clinique is a nice brand and has some good products BUT it doesn’t work for everyone - I have normal skin and have been told by a Clinique rep that their Clinique does not have products for my skin type. Really. (Which I was rather surprised at - I think perhaps she was new.) Anyhow - how long have you been using it? Generally you have to give things at least a few weeks before you can expect to see an improvement. If after 4 - 6 weeks of use there’s still no difference, then Clinique is not the brand for you.
Regarding shelling out to experiment - never do this! Any reputable store will give you enough product to try for a week or so to see if you like it. For people that have troubled skin (bad acne, typically) I won’t sell the product to them until I’ve given them samples to try to make sure they’re not going to exacerbate the problem. Additionally, if someone does purchase something and has an adverse reaction, I will always either exchange it for another product, or refund their money completely. This is standard OP - if a counter or store does not offer this, I wouldn’t purchase from them.
Well, alice, I don’t really use foundation since I generally see it as futile. Not only do I have the flaky skin, but I’m pale as pale can be.
What I’ve tried: Jane (hahahahahaha! I have tiny pores and it made my face look like crater city! Plus their lightest shade was dark orange on me in the summer), CoverGirl (too dark), Revlon Pro (the shade was okayish), Elizabeth Arden (too dark) and Clinique (too dark). All of those made my skin flake. The upper end ones were slightly less annoying, but there still was flaking. I’ve heard good things about MAC foundation though…
I’m pale, too, not fish-belly white, but very fair. I freckle and burn in the sun, and always have a problem with foundations looking too dark or fake-tannish.
I use Clinique’s Stay True line, the “01 - Stay Ivory” color. It’s great; not too dark at all.
I also use their yellow moisturizer on my dry spots.
I have olive skin. Very mediterranean coloring all around, actually. For some reason, every cosmetician I have ever encountered either tries to sell me foundation for pale-skinned black women “because you’re so DARK” or they try to sell me something ivory “to even out the sallow undertones.” I had to laugh when I took home a sample of a very expensive foundation. The color was “clair buff” and I thought it was too pale in the store, but decided to get a look at it in my home mirror. It was like chalk. I later got a call from a friend who is a fish-belly-white blonde, saying she was delighted because she’d finally found the perfect foundation - “clair buff.” I’ve decided that we olive-skinned people are doomed to be foundationless.
Why is it bad to pierce cartilage with a piercing gun? This has been a very “in” thing around here for quite some time, I’ve never heard of anyone having problems. I need to know, because I just told my daughter I’d take her to do it… for her birthday! I do not want to be a bad mom.
The piercing gun generates a lot of force when it fires out the earring. For a fleshy lobe, this is not a big problem. However, cartilage is hard - it will shatter from the pressure. Then pieces of cartilage can sort of migrate around the area and the hole wont heal properly. Unproperly healed holes can let bacteria in. Bacteria can, of course, lead to nasty infection.
I’ve seen so many young girls come in with hideous infection in a cartilage piercing which appeared overnight (fine at bedtime, swolen, black and pusy by morning). These people are looking for antibacterial clensers and creams to try to save their piercing - they almost never do, and depending on the severity of the infection, part of the ear can need to be amputated.
Getting a cartilage piercing is fine - just make sure you go to a reputable piercer who uses a needle - the needle is much easier on the surrounding tissue.
It’s more expensive (can be a lot more), but worth the extra money.
You should probably read the whole thing, and then not get you’re daughter’s ears done with a gun. A needle is much safer - and make sure the place is reputable and licensed.
I work at Sally Beauty Supply and reading your rant was like looking in a mirror. Jeez.
I almost became a cosmetologist. Went to school but never got my license for these reasons exactly. It amazes me the amount of people who come walking in to Sally’s with bleached, breaking hair wanting to know why the hell they can’t give themselves a perm. :rolleyes: The people who can’t accept that no matter what I do they will never look like Britney or Beyonce or whoever else they brought a picture of into the salon.
People don’t get as ridiculous as they do when they are buying beauty supplies. I swear I deal with the strangest humanity has to offer.
I work at Sally Beauty Supply and reading your rant was like looking in a mirror. Jeez.
I almost became a cosmetologist. Went to school but never got my license for these reasons exactly. It amazes me the amount of people who come walking in to Sally’s with bleached, breaking hair wanting to know why the hell they can’t give themselves a perm. :rolleyes: The people who can’t accept that no matter what I do they will never look like Britney or Beyonce or whoever else they brought a picture of into the salon.
People are at their most ridiculous when buying beauty supplies. I swear I deal with the strangest humanity has to offer.
I know you’re probably using the term 'fish belly white" as a jokey term here.
I hope you are anyway. I have really pale skin and a make up lady once referred to it as ‘fish belly white’. I found it rude, truth be told. Not as rude as the one lady who told me I ‘needed’ a tan.
Granted, it may or may not be true (never having held my face up to a fish’s belly), but it just sounded,well, unprofessional. I just imagine the inverse: telling someone they have ‘black as coal’ skin or ‘brown as mud’… eek!
So, it’s just me being nick picky, but it’s my 2 cents.
Generally my phrasing goes sort of like: “You have very fair skin. I can relate - me, I’m as white as a fishbelly.” Some women are intimidated by cosmetic counters and the people who work at them - by pointing out my own fish-bellyness it helps people relax. I don’t want anyone to feel intimidated into buying something.
I would never tell a customer she was “fish-belly white” - you’re right, that is unprofessional. I have refered to my SO’s skin as “a lovely chocolate brown.” The most common response is “Umm, humm. Brown is goooood.” so I’m assuming no offense is being taken.
Secondly, Clinique is a nice brand and has some good products BUT it doesn’t work for everyone - I have normal skin and have been told by a Clinique rep that their Clinique does not have products for my skin type. Really. (Which I was rather surprised at - I think perhaps she was new.) [/QUOTE]
Yeah, she had to be new. If the higher-ups heard about that, she’d have her ass in a sling. Clinique has products for every skin type. The brand was developed by dermatologists for cryin’ out loud. You’d just use the regular “system” (the soap, clairifying lotion and yellow moisture lotion), probably #2. It usually goes #1 for dry skin, 2 for normal 3 for normal/oily and 4 for REALLY oily.
I’ve completely stopped using liquid foundation. I have found a miracle foundation that is powder and it’s about the same price or little less than counter make-up. It’s made from minerals and makes my skin feel GREAT! I can’t tell it’s on it’s so light! Liquid is just so heavy, it’s a mask my skin can’t breathe though. A little of this powder goes a long way and stays on so well during the day. Pricey for some but very worth it! I got it off the TV wink.
Wow, since this has kind of morphed into a "go ask Alice " thread, may I?
My wife has never been big into cosmetics, just a little lipstick and nail polish. That’s fine, but I’ve seen her fixed up, and she looks spectacular. Every time I suggest it, she heads me off with, something like “Oh, you can’t get the right stuff in the states, etc.” Also, she wont wear eyeshadow or liner because she says its useless on almond shaped eyes. She’s very lightly yellow toned, brown eyes with red-black hair. She’s definitely not a foundation kind of girl, but what about lipstick? Is eyelinder/shadow and blush a good idea? If so what color? Wow, this is fun
