Shaving your face is actually a good thing (as long as you don’t cut yourself). It is an exfoliant that removes hair, debris, excess oil and dead skin cells, which brightens the look of your skin and helps makeup go on smoothly and last longer.
I use a Gillette Fusion razor with a shaving gel (all links go to Amazon.com). The multiple blades in the Fusion provide a very close shave. Also, I shave in the shower. The steam and heat in the shower open your pores and soften your hair, making it an ideal environment for a close shave.
I shave in the morning, remain clean shaven most of the day and only require a touch-up with a Philips Norelco electric razor if I will continue en femme through the evening. Using an electric razor avoids having to redo your makeup from scratch if you use a manual razor for touching up your beard and also avoids getting a razor burn. (Your mileage may vary depending on your beard’s behavior.) No matter how you shave, shaving dries out your skin, so it is a good idea to moisturize your face after a shave.
Like the old Maybelline advertisement stated, “Maybe she was born with it!”
To some extent, I was born with it. Whenever I received makeovers in the past, the makeup artist often remarked how I had an excellent complexion.
During one makeover, I asked Hollywood makeup artist Jim Bridges, which actresses he had worked with and he rattled off a few names. Then I mentioned that I thought Jaclyn Smith was one of the most beautiful women among the current crop of stars (circa 1985) and he responded that he had done Jaclyn’s makeup a few times and that she had lousy skin that required a lot of work! After bursting my balloon, he patched it up by adding that I had better skin than Jaclyn Smith!
Being an Avon lady, I occasionally receive free samples. About 20 years ago, I received a free sample of a product to deal with wrinkles around the eyes. Looking in the mirror at the wrinkles developing around my eyes, I decided to try the free sample.
After a week or so, the wrinkles were less noticeable. After a few weeks, I had to examine my eyes closely to find the wrinkles. So, I was sold on the eye cream and currently use Avon Anew Clinical Eye Lift Pro Dual Eye System every morning.
I also moisturize my face and neck in the morning using Olay Complete All Day Moisturizer. After many, many years of shunning skin care, I began using a moisturizer after my success with eye cream and it made a huge difference. My skin is smoother, more supple, healthier-looking and my makeup goes on easier, looks better and stays on longer.
Avon Solutions Dramatic Firming Cream is a miracle product, in my opinion.
I have sun damage on the sides of my neck. All of the foundations I have used only cover the damage temporarily and sooner or later (usually sooner), the red skin shows through.
Perusing the Avon catalog one day, their Dramatic Firming Cream caught my eye and I bought a tub to try on my neck. Using it daily for a few weeks, I noticed some improvement – the redness was less red. Using it daily for a few months, the redness is gone! Wow! Like I wrote above, it is a miracle product.
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| Wearing Ann Taylor |
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| Vittorio Gassman femulating in the 1963 French-Italian film The Monsters. |
Does Gassman have a little Anne Bancroft vibe here, or is it just me? Hair up, usually dark clothes...
ReplyDeleteI shave in the shower as well. It's easier because I shave my entire head as well. I use a basic Gillette Track 2 razor. I shave my head, face, arms and underarms everyday. Chest and legs usually every other day. I follow up with a moisturizer, Oil of Olay Complete, on my head, face and neck area. All other areas, I use whatever body lotion is available.
ReplyDeleteI, too, am a Gillette Fusion fan. Best blades I ever used. My VERY Italian beard growth is hard to manage, and I find if I skip a day or two prior to a Julie Outing I get a much closer shave and it lasts much longer. I have never been a fan of shaving in the shower, but I find that if I get a washcloth soaked in hot water -- as hot as I can stand without 1st degree burns -- and then hold it on my face/beard area for 30 - 60 seconds, this works about the same as a Shower Shave.
ReplyDeleteI've done electrolysis for over 25 years, not regularly, and now just have to have a few hairs removed when I go in. I have been going to a esthetician school semi-regularly for the past year or so. The young ladies always marvel at the quality of my skin. I share the same birth year as Stana.
ReplyDeleteThe best thing I have ever done for my skin is getting on a skin care program. I use Avon products exclusively because I find the quality to be excellent and the cost much better than a lot of similar products. It is never too late to begin. I started a few years ago after a lifetime of sun exposure. I will put my 71 year old skin up against anyone.
I too spent over $10K over about four years for electrolysis. Once or twice a year, I go in for a 30 minute clean-up. I never had a very heavy beard, but am really happy that I rarely need to shave.
DeleteI use a micro-dermabrasive cleanser once or twice a week, wear Zinc-containing sunscreen whenever I'm outside for any length of time. Otherwise, I just apply some Hyaluronic Acid w/Vitamin C serum at night followed by Neutrogena moisturizer. One needn't spend a fortune on skin-care product.
If you want to have any chance at having healthy skin, please stay out of the sun. By the time one may become conscious of sun damage to the skin it may be too late. As a kid I baked in the sun; not sunbathing, just playing baseball and sports all the time in the parks. The end result is damaged skin with precancerous spots frozen off every six months. On the bright side my genetic makeup has blessed me with no hair follicles on thighs, calves and underarms. No shaving necessary. Skin is as smooth as a baby's butt. My wife, who struggles with leg and underarm shaving, says "It's wasted on a guy." Comparing my wife's facial skin with that of her younger sister who smokes, stay away from cigarettes.
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