Bad Hair Day

 

I think recently I’ve been going through a mid-almost-adult-life-crisis. I’m only a young 20-something, but I think its hit me bad. 

It all started off with my taking of a corporate job. To be honest and sincere a undergrad in political science has taught me to never trust corporations and the big and evil business industry. I think that is what drew me towards academics in the first place. As I graduated, I had big dream of putting my skills to use helping people. But then the student loan administrators started calling. And calling. I needed money and badly. In this economy, charities and non-profits are trying their best to stay afloat with the little helping hands that they already have. They wouldn’t hire another one. I had to the take the corporate job. So far, I can’t complain I suppose. It has given me something to do during the day and has given me an inside view of how corporations are actually run (by people, not that mythical creature known as “the man”). But that hasn’t lightened my view towards them. 

So what does this have to do with hair? Well, I think as I entered the working world, I became painfully aware of the pressure to look good. With a bad mix of self-consciousness and a business atmosphere, I began to notice how I just didn’t measure up. In my mind anyways. I never cared about hair and never bothered to learn how to take care of it (shampoo, conditioner for 2 min and bam!). So I began to notice that every single day I had a bad hair day. Frizzy, static-y, no style. It was, and is very unnerving. I’ve never been taught or taught myself how to properly blow-dry, or straighten, or curl my hair. So I thought that this was the time to spring into action. 

That is where folica.com comes in. I surfed the web religiously to find a good hair dryer, straightening iron and curling iron at a reasonable price. As something that I have wanted for more than a year, these were things that I was willing to spend the money on. So I ordered the Babyliss Pro Carerra, the GHD and a hot tools professional curling iron from folica. This was over a week ago. My order kept on saying “status: on hold”. I scratched my head...what on earth did this mean? I read their customer service page and it said “if your item says in progress we are just putting it together from the warehouse”. But my item didn’t say “in progress”, it said “on hold”. I waited a week ...and then a couple days before I got sick and tired and called the folica help line. The lady on the other end was incredibly nice, but her message was incredibly unnerving. She told me that international orders are kept on hold until the person  calls in to make sure that there is no credit card fraud. Umm, excuse me? I have been waiting for a week for you to ship my items to me, and you have been waiting for me to finally become impatient enough for me to call you? Why hadn’t this message been emailed to me? Why hadn’t I known? As a customer, I want to deal with as little customer service as possible and have a seamless transaction. I was pissed, but naturally didn’t take it out on the poor woman. After all, it’s not her fault that this company has decided to put policies in place that make no sense. It’s about communication folica; and in this respect, I did not like your service. 

However, I have yet to get my actual items. They were shipped yesterday, and I am eagerly awaiting their arrival. I hope I don’t have to pay at the door, or that will be another no-no in my experience with them. Prior to ordering, I had called customer service about this issue and was given a non-answer of “maybe”. So I suppose until I get my products, I am destined to have yet another bad hair day.

The Ubiqutous Skin Care Post

So for most people I know, winter wreaks havoc on their skin. Extreme dry patches, acne eruptions, and just overall dullness. I, however, find the exact opposite. As a sufferer of acne, winter relieves me a lot of my acne, so its always a blessing in disguise. I can't stand the cold weather, but I do love what it does to my skin.

However, like most people, I get dry skin and dullness. So I wanted to do a skincare post and discuss what I do for my skin. I am hoping that all you readers will give me your feedback and opinions on your own skincare regimes.

First off is the Clarisonic. I just recently got it as a birthday gift (thank you sister!!). I got the Clarisonic Plus, which is the one with the body brush attachment. Let me just say, as someone who has acne, it has really helped in keeping the dry and oily patches away. Mechanical exfoliators make me look like a pizza pie...white and red and doughy. The Clarisonic is gentle and incredibly effective. I have really noticed a drastic change in the texture of my skin.

What I wash with is the generic Neutrogena oil free acne wash in the night and spectro gel when I wake up. The Neutrogena is to get all the gunk (makeup, dirt, etc) from the day off. I use my Clarisonic only at night with the Neutrogena wash. I find that the Clarisonic is too harsh to use every day, so I usually skip two days a week at night.

Alas, the clarisonic is not a miracle worker. The tone of my skin has stayed exactly the same. I have red post-acne marks that just don't seem to fade! I use the neostrata toning solution level 2 (with 10% AHA) at night only to help with my acne scarring and to bring a glow back to my face. Winter really does make your skin dull! Afterward, its just general moisturizer. I use Neutrogena oil free fresh moisture, which is a moisturizer that doesn't clog up my pores at all. Most moisturizers do, and be it expensive or cheap, this is the only thing that seems to work well. But the joke is on me, I can't find this moisturizing anywhere in Toronto anymore! I wouldn't be surprised if Neutrogena discontinued this product - they always have a knack for discontinuing the good lines! So readers, I am in need of suggestions on what moisturizer I should try - I need it to be oil free and light but powerful. Suggestions?

So there you have the gist of what I put on my face. Compared to other people's lists, I think I'm a minimalist! So tell me; what is your skin care regime secret?