Thanks to Sesame Street, I learned that C is for Cookie. Years later, I learned that it’s also for Chanel, but that’s a different story. 🙂
This November 10 marks the 40th anniversary of the show, and I felt compelled to salute it today with 10 simple Sesame Street-inspired beauty tips.
1. Don’t forget the sun protection
Take it from the Count, “One, ha ha ha! Two, ha ha ha!” — by focussing on preventative measures, like the regular use of broad-spectrum sunscreens, we can all age a little more gracefully.
2. Be good to yourself
Grab your drink of choice (mine is coffee), sit beneath a shady tree and listen to the leaves move in the wind. Take a picture of yourself after a really fantastic workout. Limit your prepping — comb your hair and wipe away the perspiration from your face. Capture a shot that conveys how strong and proud you feel at that moment. Later, on days when you don’t feel like exercising, look at the photo you took of yourself and try to remember how good you felt at the time it was taken.
3. Try a creamy facial cleanser
Cleansers strip away moisture as part of the job of removing makeup, and dry winter air tends to magnify the problem. Gel cleansers can be very drying, but creamy ones like Dove deep moisture creamy facial cleanser and Neutrogena deep clean cream cleanser should help.
4. Moisturize meh!
Moisturize throughout the day, and don’t forget to drink extra water when it’s cold and windy. Your hands, feet, knees and elbows may need a little more help, too. I like rich products containing shea butter, petrolatum, mineral oil, tea tree oil, linoleic acid or glycerin. For intense relief, moisturize hands and feet at night, and then slip on gloves or socks to lock in moisture.
5. Find a workout buddy
A workout partner can be a great motivator, especially when you’re trying to get back into exercising on a regular basis after a long hiatus. If none of your friends or family are in the mood for fitness, try to make new friends at the gym, and keep your eyes peeled for any open team activities like intramural soccer leagues or basketball.
6. Reward yourself
Set goals (workout, career, etc.) you know you can reach, and treat yourself when you reach them. Audrey, for example, rewards herself with a little something from MAC when she logs in four workouts a week. SMarie may treat herself to a drink from Starbucks or a new lipgloss from Sephora. “Nothing too crazy,” she says, “just a little something to say ‘ya done good!'”
7. Stop and smell the roses
There’s a world of roses out there just waiting to be sniffed! Whenever I see (or hear, smell, taste or feel) something beautiful, I STOP — maybe not in the middle of traffic — to take them in. Try to make time in your life for beautiful things. 🙂
8. Cherish your dreams
Find a pretty notebook, and write out your hopes and dreams for the future. Think about where you’d like to be in a year, two years or 10 years. The crazier and more outrageous the dream, the better. Keep your pen moving across the page, and try to avoid self editing while you write — nobody ever has to see your list, so don’t worry about grammar or spelling. Let the words flow unbidden. Just try to get those dreams down on paper. The simple act of writing things down helps bring them to life.
9. Be open to inspiration
Study orchids, other flowers and even photographs of beautiful things to inspire your eye makeup color combinations. Hold onto an image of something beautiful in your mind as you try different looks. Remember, makeup washes off.
10. Invite others
Buy or make a card for someone special in your life (make it something you can send by snail mail). Inside the card, write a quote from a song or a show that reminds you of the person, along with an invitation to coffee or a movie.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Christina says
Hahahaha… LOVE the waxing you gave Burt!
And — random fact — after we broke up, an ex-boyfriend was nicknamed The Count in honor of his resemblance to the Sesame Street character. He never understood why my friends would start counting whenever he approached. 😉
.-= Christina’s last blog post… PhD In Procrastinating =-.
Karen says
Hi Christina,
LOL! So, I gotta ask — did he have FANGS?!?
Marina says
I really love when you write posts like this! Thank you.
So true about C for Chanel!
I love # 6!
And you won’t believe but right now I am doing # 8 and I am sure you know in what notebook 🙂
.-= Marina’s last blog post… Bobbi Brown Face Lift Collection for Spring 2010 =-.
Karen says
Hi Marina,
Ahh, Moleskin in the house!
Kajal Couture says
What great tips! I enjoy these posts and they are very inspirational!
.-= Kajal Couture’s last blog post… Benefit Lust Dusters – Amazing Deal for A Set of 3 Pigments!! =-.
Karen says
Hi Kajal Couture,
Glad you like ’em!
Happy Friday. 🙂
All Women Stalker says
Burt looks so much better without the monobrow! Haha
-meream
.-= All Women Stalker’s last blog post… 5 Interesting Posts to BlogStalk… =-.
Karen says
Hi Meream,
Didn’t you know he was into manscaping?
Tania says
Karen,
I love me some old school Seasame Street! Count, Snuffy and Barkley the dog were my favs. I also love me some Bert and Ernie so I dig his ‘brow makeover that you gave him. I wonder what Ernie would look like with some guyliner with that spikey hair?
Karen says
Hi Tania,
LOL, or maybe some sideswept bangs a la Zac Efron?!
Kizzy says
I LOVE this post! So original! It made me smile 🙂
.-= Kizzy’s last blog post… I found a dupe for my favorite lipgloss! =-.
Karen says
Hi Kizzy,
Hope you’re having a good Friday so far!
SephSil says
I’ve only just started reading your blog 3 weeks ago and I’m hooked! This post is really lovely and I think I will be printing it out and putting it on my desk to remind myself of the important things in life!
Thanks!! 🙂
Karen says
Hi SephSil,
Yay! I’m glad you like the site. 🙂
Got any exciting plans for the weekend?
Tiffany says
LOVE this post! You are so creative, Karen! Also love that you took care fo that uni-brow for him!
Karen says
Hi Tiffany,
LOL… did you used to watch Sesame Street? That show was my JAM when I was a kid.
Tiffany says
oops, fo = of 🙁
Yvette says
I love the crew from Sesame Street! Thinking of the original song always makes me smile. I learned about unibrow from Cookie Monster, from Elmo: Smile, it makes you 1000 times more beautiful!
Marina says
You got it 🙂 But it seems that I have notebooks just for everything 😀
.-= Marina’s last blog post… Bobbi Brown Face Lift Collection for Spring 2010 =-.
amy says
Oh how I loved Sesame Street! Did you see the Google Doodles? They are adorable.
.-= amy’s last blog post… EOTD Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Pencils Super Stash Product Pictures, Review and Swatches Part 1: Zero, Oil Slick and Corrupt =-.
Marisol says
C is for Chanel… hahahaha
Posts like these are what makes me enjoy your blog even more.
.-= Marisol’s last blog post… Catching up =-.
CB says
Love this post! Yay Sesame Street! Yay Karen!
Karen B says
I loved Sesame Street so much as a kid!
Very inspiring post. Thanks dear 🙂
Tanya says
Thanks so much for this wonderful post. I was feeling down and reading this made me feel so much better 🙂 Bless you!
Emily says
thanks for reminding me!
Megan **** says
What a great post! 🙂 As a kid I loved watching Sesame Street.. Of all ten ideas, number six takes the cake! & Oohh yeaa – I’ve definitely found myself needing to moisturize a lot more thanks to this windy California weather we’ve been having lately. It’s hard for me to find a moisturizer that doesn’t make my face kinda oily. Whenever I do, though, after awhile it will begin to have that same effect on me (producing excess oil)..
How was your Saturday? Did you get a chance to unwind from the week?:)
Tiffany says
Oh yeah, I def watched my fair share of sesame street when I was a kid! My mom says I was great at learning spanish from the show, lol.