Sometimes I feel like my beauty life is an episode of The X Files, because weird sh*t happens, and it happens over and over again.
Like this morning. I got up, washed my face and grabbed a pair of tweezers to tweeze my brows, and when I looked in the mirror, I noticed that my brow situation had gone full-on Yeti.
How this happened, I have no idea, but it was a rainforest up there! They seemingly went from normal to jungly and overgrown overnight.
I see myself in the mirror every day, so you’d think I’d pick up on these things sooner and be like, “Oh! Gosh, Karen, you’re turning into a Sasquatch…” but no. I’m apparently totally oblivious until the one day when I look up and see a thick carpet of hair growing on my brows…and my upper lip…and my chin. And it all just comes outta nowhere.
Now if I could only get those hairs to migrate over to my lashes…
Anyway, this is all to say that I finally tweezed today, and I feel like a whole new girl! It’s glorious! 🙂
I don’t know if you tweeze, but if you do, how picky are you about your tweezing implements? I’m super picky, but I swear by Tweezermans. I use the ones with the wedge-shaped tips to do my brows and upper lip hairs because I can grab a lot at once, and for those stiff, hard-to-remove witchy hairs on my chin (I mean, let’s get real — we all get the witchy hairs!), I use the ones with the sharp, pointy tips.
Did you know that you can get your Tweezermans sharpened? Yeah, if you send them in, they’ll sharpen them and send them back (thing is, it takes a while), and I think it might even be free!
I’ve never done it before, but I want to one of these days. If you’ve done it before, let me know. I’m curious…
So, while I was tweezing the living daylights out of my brows this morning in the magnifying mirror (my best friend and worst enemy), I spotted a minor breakout on my nose, so I grabbed these new POREfessional Instant Wipeout Masks by Benefit, which I’ve been meaning to try.
They’re $32 for eight masks, and they haven’t been around long. They’re designed to exfoliate and remove gunk from clogged pores on your forehead, nose and/or chin, and the star ingredient is a kind of mushroom extract that’s supposed to clean and shrink enlarged pores. And they also have a minty scent and menthol in them, so you get a bit of a crisp, cooling sensation, too.
Interesting packaging… When you press that big blue button on one of the packs, a serum saturates the mask. Then you open the pack, remove the mask, and pop it on your forehead, nose or chin for 10 minutes or so before removing it. And the leftover product on your skin? You just leave it there. No need to rinse.
They’re tingly! — but not, like, painfully so (like some of those lip plumpers). But I definitely notice the tingle.
The masks themselves feel soft, cottony and comfortable. I’ve only used them once so far, but hmm… I dunno. Maybe some of my pores look a little smaller? My skin definitely does feel good though.
In other news, yay! — it’s Friday, which I’m very excited about because tomorrow I’m going to my parents’ house in Union City for my baby shower.
Baby shower… That term always makes me laugh, like the sky just opened up, and there’s a downpour of babies, LOL!
Do you ever do that? — have fun with the literal meaning of certain words and terms, like “self storage.” I mean, what would happen if you walked up to one of those self-storage places and said, “Hi! Yeah, I’d like to store myself for two days in one of your units please.”
The person at the front desk would be like, “What are you talking about?” and you’d be all, “This is a self-storage place, right? Well, I want to store myself!” LOL! I really hope I’m not the only person in the world who’s ever thought of this…
The shower is tomorrow, and I have absolutely nothing to wear. I’ve been wearing the same crop of maternity clothes for the past few months and, um, to be honest, I’m getting sick of wearing the same damned outfits over and over… Much as I love those Jessica Simpson maternity jeans, I’m so tired of wearing them. But I only have a little more than a month left to go, so I just gotta hang on… Then I’ll have to get a bunch of new clothes anyway because I won’t be able to fit into any of my pre-baby girl things.
Gotta look on the sunny side of things, right? 🙂
I hope you’re having a fantastic Friday, my friend. TGIF, for sure!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Syah says
January 29th, 2016 at 4:15 pmYay! Have a great time at your baby shower 🙂 Just wear whatever you’re most comfortable in – I’m sure you’ll great either way!
JUVY says
January 29th, 2016 at 4:30 pmYou’ll look fab! It’s your day…well, really your babies day! Enjoy!!
JUVY recently posted … BeautyBlender has gone NUDE
Renee says
January 29th, 2016 at 4:34 pmHave a great time! I love playing all of the baby games and seeing all of the cute baby clothes. I hope you guys get lots of goodies. 🙂
Christine says
January 29th, 2016 at 5:14 pmHave fun, bring the car for all the stuff you’ll be getting!
I attended a baby shower with my mom when I was 3 years old. I remember wondering how everyone will fit into the bathroom while we watch the pregnant lady take a shower???
Jane says
January 29th, 2016 at 5:19 pmThe hair thing could be hormonal.
Enjoy the baby shower and don’t worry about what you are wearing. You’ll be wearing maternity things for a few more weeks after baby girl arrives. Once you’re breastfeeding, the weight will come off a bit. I didn’t have a baby shower. In my Eastern European Jewish culture it is considerd “bad luck”.
Have fun!
Lauren says
January 29th, 2016 at 5:22 pmYou sound so rested, happy and excited! This made my day! Don’t worry about what to wear tomorrow…just accessorize and enjoy your very first baby shower!!! AQA believe how far you’ve come it seems like yesterday that we are found out! Have an amazing time, Karen and keep us posted!!! <3 I wish I could be there to celebrate but I will be in spirit!
India says
January 29th, 2016 at 6:01 pmI’ve heard that the nose masks are similar to the Biore ones. I still remain very skeptical of them however. Have fun at your shower!!!
India recently posted … Mini Sephora haul?
Kalli says
January 29th, 2016 at 6:14 pmYay Baby Girl! She’s going to get so much cute stuff tomorrow <3
I know what you mean about the getting all hairy overnight, I don't know how that happens! I think it's the same thing as those dang pimples that pop up in the middle of the night, too. And I love my Tweezermans, I was just thinking that I might get a new one because the one I have is about 8 or 9 years old. I remember reading somewhere that they can be resharpened, but I may just retire my old one to the travel bag. I always seem to notice those witchy hairs when I'm in my car or at work! I hate when I can feel them but can't see them!
Kalli recently posted … Urban Decay’s XX Vice LTD Reloaded – Going Deep into the Archives!
Jan Kelley says
January 29th, 2016 at 9:09 pmHave a great time at your shows.
If you like Tweezerman you would really love Rubis/Mehaz.
They are really sharp. I have the stainless steel Swiss cheese slanted and the slant with the point and the pointed. I guard them.
.
Kiss & Make-up says
January 30th, 2016 at 3:34 amRight?? If only we could choose where all that hair grows, lol. I’m a hairy girl, too, so I feel your pain. That said, I did buy a pair of Tweezerman tweezers once and I returned them since I just could not properly do my eyebrows with them. I prefer more precise tweezers.
Have fun at your baby shower, Karen! Take plenty of pics for us, okay! 🙂
LindaLibraLoca says
January 30th, 2016 at 3:53 amHave fun at your baby shower. They aren’t really a thing here in Germany, so I never had one, but I love reading about them.
LindaLibraLoca recently posted … Rituals Samurai Collection – The husband tests
Jessica says
January 30th, 2016 at 4:45 amohhh congrats on the baby shower!!!
Jessica recently posted … Reloaded XX
Christy says
January 30th, 2016 at 6:15 amHave fun at your shower!! I want to hear all the goodies you get and your recommendations! Where do you register by the way? I’m registry stalking for ideas for my own 🙂
Do you have a pair of maternity leggings? I have a pair from gap I live in! Pair with a nice, long top and cute boots and I’d say you’re good to go for your shower 🙂
Icequeen81 says
January 30th, 2016 at 6:15 amThose overgrown hairs from overnight have to do with the pregnancy and hormone change. I am experiencing it with my nails it is kind of the grow overnight, and also, my hair grow has increased is like I shave today and tomorrow is a jungle. And I think I will experience the same you are doing now I have currently so few clothes to wear and I am only in my second trimester.
Fran says
January 30th, 2016 at 7:44 amI love my Tweezermans! I use the slant-tip ones. Those hairs probably *did* pop up overnight, hair can grow like crazy during pregnancy.
Have fun at your shower! For a size-free wardrobe refresh, I love scarves. They’re a great way to try new colors, too, when you find one in a print that has a lot of neutrals with a pop of color, or a print that’s mostly in colors you love and know you can wear, but incorporates a bit of a color that’s usually hard for you to wear.
Good scarves can be ridiculously expensive, though. For scarves in rayon or acrylic I love Target. Every spring and fall I pick up at least a couple of new ones there for $15-$17, frequently when they’re BOGO 50% off. And I just got some fantastic silk scarves from amazon.com, ranging in price from under $10 (thin fabric, minuscule flaws) to $45 (luxurious silk charmeuse; gorgeous saturated print). Search for ‘silk scarves’ and make sure they say ‘100% silk’, not ‘silk-like’. I’m going to check out some of the gorgeous, reasonably-priced ones that I see on etsy next.
Fieran says
January 30th, 2016 at 11:03 amThat Benefit mask sounds interesting. I’m just glad less and less brands are recommending using strong creams or treatment gels to dry out spots. Instead they are making oils and serums to heal spots instead.
I use a face hair trimmer for my upper lip as I have little tolerance for the pain when tweezing. I do tweeze my eyebrows but most of the shaping is done with the facial hair trimmer.
So happy to hear about your baby shower. Hoping you have lots of fun surrounded by your near and dear ones.
Michaela says
January 30th, 2016 at 11:17 amHey Karen have fun at your baby shower and hope you get a lot of cute baby girl stuff! As for Tweezermans I have to agree with you, it’s the best for plucking eyebrows. Their pinchers are thin enough and flexible enough that it can take out the most stubborn hair. Better groom as much as you can because when baby girl comes, you won’t have the time or the energy to do them!
Allysa says
January 30th, 2016 at 11:42 amI feel you with the whole Sasquatch brows situation. Like, I’ll pluck my brows before I go to bed, and the next morning there’s like a whole bunch of hair that just came out of nowhere. “I plucked you all last night. Where did you come from? What is happening?”
I can’t imagine how much excited you are to welcome baby girl into the MBB family!
Erin says
January 30th, 2016 at 12:06 pmWoohoo, shower! I like the idea of those masks!
Erin recently posted … Sephora Sale Alert!
Melissa Hays says
January 30th, 2016 at 12:40 pmHaving two teenagers, I miss those baby shower days. Hope it’s awesome:)
mkdallas says
January 30th, 2016 at 1:19 pmHave a fabulous time at your shower! So thrilled for you that you have a baby girl on the way…I had mine at the age of 40 (she’s my only) and she’s the best thing that ever happened to me, even though she’s 17 now and has caused all kinds of grey hair! Tabs will be okay with her usurping your lap and you are in for a slightly sleep-deprived but divine ride! If you get any postpartum depression (I did and was astounded, as I had never had any issues with it before), don’t be afraid to holler at the doctor…I was able to take meds that fixed it and I could still breastfeed. I ended up staying out with her for 9 months and it was the best! Best wishes to you for an easy delivery and a joyful entry into motherhood!
ADONNA says
January 30th, 2016 at 1:37 pmWear what makes you feel good. Just have a wonderful time at your baby shower.
Linda says
January 30th, 2016 at 2:21 pmI hate tweeting Karen, I wax about once a month.
Linda says
January 30th, 2016 at 2:22 pmOh geez, I forgot to tell you , have a lovely time at your shower!!!
Chelsea says
January 30th, 2016 at 3:25 pmMy tweezers are cheapie Revlons, but I feel you on the sudden brow mess! I go ages without doing it, and then all of a sudden notice that it’s needed!
Enjoy the baby shower!
Chris25 says
January 30th, 2016 at 6:35 pmA literal self storage unit doesn’t sound like a bad idea, some days… lol I hope you have a great time at your baby shower!
Chris25 recently posted … Korres Nourishing Hand Cream with Almond Oil and Shea Butter
Katherine Wilson says
January 31st, 2016 at 12:29 amIt is true that Tweezerman will sharpen your items, it is free and return mail is free also.. I will be mailing in a couple next week and I will let you know how it goes. They have a tracker on their site so hopefully I will get an estimate for time. Here is the link if anyone is interested. http://www.tweezerman.com/free-sharpening/
Jennifer says
January 31st, 2016 at 5:18 pmI hope you had a great time at the shower! The invitations are perfect!
I want to try those masks, I’m having a large pore situation right now even though I’ve been scrupulous about my skin regime.
I hear you on the brow situation. The only tweezers I will use are Tweezerman. Nothing else works, in my opinion. However, on my upper lip I use a depilatory that I get at Sally Beauty. I can’t remember the name.
Kim says
February 1st, 2016 at 6:31 amYay on the Baby Shower – I hope it was wonderful! 🙂 You know I have a strong tweezer bias and only use our Italian Aero Tweeze. I would also strongly caution against the sharpening. Tweezers don’t actually get dull, their inner grooves just tend to clog with oil and skin particles (I know, gross). Wiping the insides with an alcohol swab should keep them working great for, pretty much, ever. I actually use my thumb nail to clean the grooves after every hair but I don’t think that’s necessary. The problem with “sharp” tweezers is that they are more apt to cut your hair at the skin line than to grasp the hair. So, you’re left with those little black hairs that are impossible to tweeze. Fine hair is the most likely to break/be cut. You want tweezers with very thin, perfectly aligned tips. Not tweezers with sharp edges. Anyway, that’s my advice for what it’s worth. 🙂