I call it personal growth.

I cannot rid my travel mug of dishwasher soap.  A few weeks ago, we got new (and improved!) Kirkland brand dishwasher soap from Costco, the same brand we have always used, and after two loads, I could taste dishwasher soap on EVERYTHING.  I took it back, they gave me my money back, and I bought Cascade or something from Fred Meyer.  But!  The damage was done.  I have one of those spill-proof Contigo travel mugs and it Will. Not. Rinse. Clean.  Every day, I try again, but alas.  Soap.  I’m going to give it one more shot with a vinegar soak tonight, but if that doesn’t work, it’s going in the garbage.

 

And isn’t this soapy mug just a metaphor for my life right now?  I can’t seem to shake the stress, exhaustion, illness, and infection.  The dryer broke last night – well, sort of.  A roller or a belt got stuck, so Tony spent an hour after he got home from work at 10:30 PM trying to fix it.  Until that point, it made high-pitched, LOUD screeching noises that lovingly added to my stress headache.  Charles didn’t go to sleep until I threatened him with bodily harm at 10 PM, and Jamie woke up at 10:30 PM for a bit (he goes back down pretty easily).  Dryer repair mostly done by 11:30 PM.  And then the kids were up at 5 AM!  Hooray!  All I want for Christmas is to sleep and be healthy.

 

Tony left early this morning for a business trip (only for the day) and I decided not to shower.  I know, I know, showering is good, but I just didn’t wanna.  Also, I am trying this new (to me) thing where I don’t wash my hair everyday.  How did everyone but me know that this is how you are supposed to treat your hair?  I have been taking daily showers for years.  But, apparently, that’s not correct.  So I bought myself some dry shampoo (also didn’t know that was a thing until a month ago) and have been skipping the morning shower a few days a week.  It gives me a lot more time in the morning, that’s for sure.  It also eliminates the boys getting in the shower with me and then both of them needing to be dried off and clothed while I am also dripping wet.

 

My mom isn’t much of one for beauty routines.  Oh, she’s beautiful, but she’s never worn much more than sunscreen on her face, so I didn’t get a chance to learn at her feet, so to speak.  She, bless her, allowed me to experiment with makeup at a young age, and I can only imagine what she thought as I routinely left the house in 6th grade with blue eye shadow up to my eyebrows.  Thankfully, I’ve settled down, but not before going all the way in the opposite direction in college.  I didn’t really know any differently, despite being in a sorority.  It wasn’t so much of a makeup-and-clothes sorority to begin with (we had the highest GPA out of the whole Greek system the entire four years I was there) and it was also the early 2000s, era of glitter eye shadow and pale pink lipstick.  Not exactly my ideal look, you know?  Still, it was in college that I learned to pluck my eyebrows, so at least I made some progress, right?

 

Now here I am, 31 years old, and I have essentially just found out that I should be doing so much more for my beauty routine.  Dry shampoo instead of daily hair washing, yes, but also eye cream, bb cream, eyebrow pencil.  In one day of shopping, three people told me that they never left house without doing their eyebrows.  Sheesh!  I used to only do mascara.

 

Now I have a whole “thing” in the morning to keep myself from looking old and haggard.  Here is how I go from this:

 

 

to this:

 

 

Okay, okay, there’s not much difference… but I like the minimalist look.  And I also like to look less mom-of-two-boys.  Here we go!

 

Start with a clean face!  I use a salicylic acid scrub in the shower, but since I didn’t shower today, I just used antibacterial soap.  Then I used toner (a month ago, I had never even heard of toner) and eye cream (Clinique), which I was told by an esthetician that I need because I was starting to “age” around my eyes:

 

So blotchy!

 

I have really oily skin – the kind that shines all day long, no matter how many times I blot it, no matter how much powder I cake on.  That is, my skin shined until I discovered this:

 

Works like a charm.

 

After the oil-control moisturizer on my forehead and nose, I use a bb cream all over.

 

 

If I’m going out, I might use some foundation after this for an even smoother look, but usually I just use the bb cream.  Which is also a product I had never heard of until this fall.  Then, mascara and a bit of eye shadow:

 

Less blotchy, more even.

 

Finally, I use this amazing lip stuff – it’s like a chap stick, but has a hint of color and doesn’t smell weird.  I take it everywhere!  I’m pretty sure the tint I have is “sunny berry.”

 

You should get some.

 

And here I am, ready for a day of work and crises and cooking and shopping and breaking up fights, complete with unwashed hair (will I ever get used to that?):

 

 

Let’s be honest: I could look a whole lot worse, considering the circumstances.