Beauty Stuff - 3

Well I finally decided it was waxing time for my legs. The hair on my legs reached new lengths, I was quite impressed with my Sasquatch style.
I haven't been working and therefore not been occupied with shaving my legs. I usually (when I work) shave up to the knee and then wax my upper legs when the hair gets long enough. Usually every five or six weeks or so.....sometimes longer depending on how motivated I am. My upper leg/thigh hair is kind of fine. When I don't work for a while I let my lower leg hair grow out so I can wax it. That hair is darker and coarser, probably from all the shaving. I like the Sally Hansen wax, it works and it's not that expensive, about $11. I rarely go to a salon for a wax because I have had bad waxes where you basically pay a minimum of $40 for somebody to do a shitty job when I can spend $11 and get it done right. So now all of you know that I waxed my legs and everything that there is to know about that. Very important news, I know! If you need a good waxer, I can assist you. But I won't do any Brazilian waxes. So don't even ask.



I'm a hairy beast! I was impressed myself.....it took 1 1/2 jars of the Sally Hansen wax to rid myself of my leg hair. When I wax the thighs only about half a jar is suffucient. Yeay....I'm smooth and hair free now (on my legs that is....he he).

I am a massage lover and a spa lover. In my dream existence I would have one long luxurious and nourishing facial/week, two massages/week and one foot reflexology session/week.
I believe you can keep your skin beautiful by getting regular and quality (of course) facials and your body healthy by getting massages. A while back I wrote about pedicures, that there are places that actually deliver an expert pedicure.....a meticulous one. Not the sloppy "cutting a bit of cuticle, rubbing some lotion on your calves and feet for a couple of minutes and slapping on two layers of polish" places and then you are done and out the door. I have, after some searching found one lady that's OK here in this village....I said OK, not great.
Another thing I am very particular about are my facials. I've had some BAD ones and then I found Anastassia in Anchorage (after somebody recommended her to me). Anastassia is a Russian lady, from my personal experiences Russians and Hungarians are the best schooled in the art of aesthetics.....because it is an ART. And not everybody has the talent, even after they finish whatever school they paid for to get some diploma. That's why I've had so many bad facials, because whoever carried them out sucked at it, despite all the hours spent in school. Anastassia gives an AMAZING facial massage (although she is lazy sometimes and skips it), I mean it's amazing. She has the touch and talent, I would visit her more often if I could (it's too far). I recently came across some articles about facial massages in a magazine. They list some places world wide that are known for their facial massages, of course they mention a spa in Budapest, Los Angeles (I might have to go there next time I visit), New York and Tokyo. I mean, how often when you get a facial does the esthetician give you a long and thorough facial massage? Not often. I've had that done two places, at Anastassia's and Aida Thibiant in Los Angeles and I've had facials all over the US.
Speaking of skin care, I have been using L'Occitane cremes for years, their Immortelle day cream and night cream and I love them. But a while ago I discovered Eminence. An all organic line, originally from Hungary. So far I have only tried a body lotion, Honeydew and it's fantastic and this bamboo face masque. It smells so good and I like it. I might have to invest in some other products like a day and night cream to mix it up with the L'Occitane. And when I had the masque on my face I just had to take a selfie only to show everybody what I look like with a masque on my face!

Had to go out and get some necessities. Needed more lotion. Sometimes I use unscented Lubriderm but I love L'Occitane so I decided to try their vanilla cream. Some vanilla body butter from Body Shop too. And vanilla scented shower creme from Bath & Body Works. I like vanilla and I also like honey scented lotions and cremes. Mandy has this creme from Weleda, it's called Skin Food and it smells like essential oils/aromatherapy, I decided I needed some of that too. And a hand creme from Weleda, my other one I've been using it's almost empty.
I think I'm going to get some for my Mom (the Skin Food), it's really nice.
There is a mall here, I haven't been to a mall in about six months or so. I went to Victoria's Secret but they did not have any bras that I thought were cute enough for me. But I might have found some tennis shoes. I need a new pair, or two. I will go back to the mall in a few days and try them on, I'm excited! Right now I'm just laying in bed and relaxing......tired.

Today I had a pedicure. After searching desperately for at least a decent pedicure in this village I finally settled for Tina at Nail Boutique in Kenai. I've had some nightmare pedicures in Alaska, the standard of service that I am accustomed to and expect is sometimes lackluster here, in many areas. The worst pedi ever in the history of BAD pedicures for me happened at Allure Spa in Anchorage. Anyhow, Tina is OK. If I am going to spend money on a pedicure around here it will be with her only.
I dream of the pedicures I have read about, with a true pedicure master like Bastien Gonzalez, frequently hailed as the world's best pedicurist. An appointment with him lasts as long as it takes and the wealthy send their private jets to pick him up. Or maybe one day I will be able to visit Samuel So at the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong, the resident foot master. After a long soak he goes to work on your feet. "The result: feet so smooth that it feels sacrilegious to walk on them" according to an article I read. Another place not as far away is Jin Soon Chi's salon in New York, where your feet get an essential oil foot bath and the option to be coated in a thick layer of volcanic clay. THAT is the kind of pedicure I want. Not just somebody that haplessly cuts a few cuticles and slaps on some nail polish and then wants $40 for it. There is an art to the craft after all.
I hope you will enjoy my artsy sparkly heels and ESSIE nail polish pictures. I got creative just for you!





At Nail Boutique in Kenai......not Bastien Gonzalez but better than some other places around here.......I have decided.

It's past 2 am and I am up and wide awake. I heard on Coast To Coast the other night that people that like to stay up late at night are more intelligent than the ones that go to bed early. Not only that, people that stay up late are also prone to be anti establishment, they want to expand their mind and they are also more open minded. I don't know, read for yourself, there are plenty of articles to be found on the subject. If I had to get up at 6 am to go to work it wouldn't make any sense for me to stay up until 3 or 4 am (which is my usual bedtime when I'm not working) because I can't function unless I get adequate sleep. I have always been a night person though. Something happens to me at night, I want to do stuff.
Tonight (after getting some stuff crossed off my to do list) I took a bath and scrubbed myself and washed my hair. Put a honey mask on my face. Right now I use Manuka honey, I massage a rather thick layer of honey onto my face and leave it for at least 20 minutes. These are the products I used, in case you are curious and into hair and skin care.



Now let's talk about brushes. I have a Clarisonic Mia face brush - I love it. While in Sweden I got a face brush from a store called Iris Hantverk, they make brushes for your body and your home, made mostly from natural products. So I got a face brush (the one that is made to be used wet, they have one to be used dry also) and a nail brush. I clean my body with scrubbing gloves almost every time I take a bath. Sometimes I make a body scrub at home from brown sugar and olive oil......or coffee grinds and olive oil. I also have a body brush but I never use it, although I sometimes make a mental note and a promise to myself that I should start and then I forget . Brushing your body is supposedly really good not only for the skin but also for blood circulation and the lymphatic system, plus so many other benefits. I really should start dry skin brushing. After all, the skin is the largest organ.
I think everybody should have a quality face brush. If you don't want the Mia, then I do recommend Iris Hantverk, you can order a brush at www.irishantverk.se and the prices are in Swedish krona. That store is great.

Last year I thought I was going to do something great for my hair and coated it from the scalp to the tips in coconut oil and let the oil sit for 24 hours before washing it out. I did this a few times (maybe three). I started noticing a significant hair loss by Christmas and that went on for several months, I think it has stopped now......I really hope so! Yes, I am aware of the normal rate of losing hair, 50-100 strands a day is normal but mine would come out way more than that. It was either the coconut oil that clogged my hair follicles and made the hair fall out or my hair was going through the natural cycle of growth, rest and shedding.....I'm not sure. My hair that once was thick and cascaded down my back does not look like it used to anymore. I still have a lot of hair (compared to many) but it's not the same. It is so much thinner than it used to be. My braids used to look thick and they were heavy. Not anymore. Maybe in ten years I will have my hair back......and then it will start thinning again at some point due to aging. Yeay, FUN times lie ahead! When I was in Sweden I got some hair vitamins, I am going to start taking them now. Like tonight.



A pic from a past photo shoot that was deemed unusable....therefore you can see a red line that was drawn through the pic. My hair used to be so nice.......



I'm sitting here debating if I should drive and get some ice cream (feeling lazy) or if I should just stay at home, make myself some tea and be content with that.