Bustin' loose

[Kay/NC]

Now that I have no dress code to follow once more, and am for some odd reason (a new supplement?) finally able to grow fingernails after a lifetime of thin, frail nails, I decided yesterday to get them painted by a pro. 

I try to have a maincure and pedicure monthly, which is my one concession to diabetes, to keep my feet maintained.  Due to being sick for two weeks, I had fallen a bit behind on my schedule.  Did not want to sit and hack in the technician's face. 

As she painted my toenails yesterday, I realized that I could finally have fingernail color, too.  I have used a sort of pearly periwinkle on my toes for several months now, so I am typing with shiny, sort of moonstony-looking fingertips this morning.  I cannot stop looking at them in the light. 

This colorful coat will probably not last very long, with the things I do with my hands; but, when you finally get to try something for the first time in 56 years, I guess I have to say "go for it!"  Our daughter uses gloves and keeps her nails beautifully, even though she's in hogs, hay and horses all day long, so it can be done. 

I am contemplating a few other cosmetic changes.  Winter changing to spring always makes me think about this, I suppose.  We pull on hoods and gloves to survive the cold, and what is underneath is sort of hidden.  Warm weather pushes the point of personal grooming more to the fore.

So, this morning's silly question is:  What have you been letting slide in your beauty routine this frigid winter? 

Second question: What is the first thing about your appearance you plan to improve when it gets warm enough for it to show? 

[suey1973]

I need a hair cut and perm ASAP!   Hard to make plans and appointments when the help may or may not show up.    55 litters left to farrow.

[wt510151]

My hair needs to be cut, too. Have used it as a bit of "insulation" from the cold.

The first few weeks without hogs will be the hardest as routines are hard to break. Enjoy the final few litters. Maybe even film yourself at work with them. Something to educate the grandkids how it was done. Even to remind your husband how much work it was when he has the itch to go back to farrow to finish hogs.

[wt510151]

Been dealing with the crud too for the last 6 weeks too. Feeling better so that is a good sign. Gives me the energy to try a new workout video for my abs. Too much hearty eating during the winter.

[lawinkle]

Got my hair and mani and pedi done on January 19, the night before we left on our trip. 

I was so tired of short weak nails and needed to have pretty toes for flip flops and sandals in the warm weather.  In the moist warm tropical weather my nails grew nicely over three weeks so I went and had another French manicure this morning. 

While I love colored fingernails, for some reason mine last longer if I get a French manicure.  Plus I always thought that a French manicure looks so clean and classy. I am more "adventurous" with my pedicure color. Right now I have a great tropical pink that I just love.  Anyway, I went ahead and booked a manicure every other Friday for the next six weeks. 

I keep my hair very short becasue I just don't want to take time to fuss every morning before work.  I have so much to do from 5:45 until I leave at 7 that I need every minute.  My hairstyle is simple...shampoo, towel dry, moouse, finger style.  After I dress I finish dry and spray.  Probably 6-8 minutes total! 

Before our trip I bought an eye shadow quartet with *instructions* 1, 2, 3, 4 right on the container and I love the look.....plus I found some great Burts Bees lip gloss moisturizer in a wonderful color.  So my spring pampering is to take time to put on makeup every day.  I will let you know how that works out for me....lololol

We are up in the mid thirties (YEAH!!!) and might see the 50s by this weekend.  It is easy to get spring fever with the sun shining and the temps on the rise.

[Kay/NC]

Because of TKD, I cannot let either fingernails or toenails get long enough to pull off a French manicure.pedicure.  I agree with you that they look nice that way, but I think I will stick to sort of muted colors and see how this first manicure holds up.  

Can always get a polish change if I get chips or decide the color is too bold.  I have a China Glaze color in the cabinet called "Rainbow" that i am thinking about using for the next trip.  It is pinker than this blue peally one.  Then again, I told my daughter last night that I saw a great light, sparkly green that I think would be so cute for spring.

It seems that anything goes now, if you do not have to meet a particular dress code or standard.  I never really wanted nail color until I was told I couldn't have it in nursing school.  Maybe this was my way of cutting that cord.  I think having the nail enamel up where I can see it closely will help me remember to get nail care done more frequently, too.  I really waited longer than I should have this time. 

I do not like to start a new care regimen unless I can keep it up.  I hate to see people with roots that need coloring or a cut that is obviously way past due...probably one reason I keep my hair long and straight, pulled back, braided, topsy-tailed, etc. 

Where did you find that shadow, and what brand is it?  I get things like that, then have no clue how to use them.  Directions would be great!  I have bare minerals foundation and like it a lot, but need some new shadow.

[lawinkle]

It is L'Oreal Studio Secrets.  If you want you can choose a pallette that should best complement your eye color and I liked that idea.  Four steps looks great!

[Kay/NC]

Thanks...hope they have one that works with hazel eyes...mine are no definite color, changing a lot depending upoin what I am wearing.  They can range from blue-gray to greenish to sort of muddy colored. 

I do not think of that very often, but I took Mike's and my high school portraits in to the local photography studio to re-frame earlier this week.  His had some damage from a leak that we didn't notice in time, so that will be a kind of expensive restoration by hand oil painting, to return to the original condition.   The original order was written on the back, with his eye color listed as blue.  That was when they actually painted a black and white photo by hand. 

This is the one photo his mother would not buy, becuas ehis hair was SO long...it touched his collar, barely.  I hav often joked that if you reject your kid's decision to have a little long hair at 17, he will show you something when he's 57...thus, the long ponytail now!  This pair of portraits is what best represents the way we both looked when we fell in love.  My eyes were muddy hazel then, too!

[Kay/NC]

Amazon had two of these collections for each eye color...one "natural" and the other "playful."  I was torn between the two for hazel eyes, so ordered them both...one has purples and a green in it, the other is mostly what I'd call purple/lavendars.  I adore purple, so either one ought to suit me fine.  Thank you for the recommendation. 

Also found a green nail enamel I liked a lot.  Learned at the end of a long search that my favorite blue is from 2002, so will be found only at a specialty online shop, if at all.  It surprises me that I am so intrigued with adding some color to my appearance after so many years with almost no makeup and never any nails.  I've also got a pair of what I call Harry Potter eyeglasses on order, so that will be a real change after a decade of tiny titanium wire frames. 

I guess it is time for a change every 20 years or so!   Myabe it's because I've lost some weight again, and finally figured out how to lose a bit more.  I am taking it one pound at a time, and they are starting to add up at last.  

  Baby steps....

[Kay/NC]

Last August, I cut eleven inches of my ponytail off and donated it to Locks of Love.  It was really too long, and the ends looked straggly, were hard to comb out.   That left me plenty to pull back, since I cannot stand hair touching my face, but limited the things I could do with the remainder. 

About four months ago, I was finally able to topsy-tail it.  Got a braid into it maybe around Christmas.  Last night, getting ready to go out, I turned the ponytail inside-out, then braided it below the band. 

Finally, back to where I feel I have enough hair to do something with it again!  I do not think I will cut it shorter than this the next time I get it trimmed.

On another note, I am wondering what you guys decided to do with the MIA employee.  Mike and I have made decisions in the past to do without someone we couldn't count on...but I know it is hard to pick up all the slack yourselves.