Warning: Eye Lash Curlers and Refills

I remember the first time I used an eyelash curler.  I was probably in junior high and attempting to be beautiful by wearing makeup.   I pinched my eyelid with the metal gadget.  Ouch!  Occasionally I do that even now but as a makeup essential (at least for someone with fairly straight eyelashes) it is an eye opener, literally.  Many women use these as I do in their regular makeup / beauty routine.  Using one early in the morning in getting ready for work, it's amazing there aren't more emergency room visits of women putting their eye out.

Anyway, a week or so ago, my eyelash curler needed a new refill--those little rubber pieces that fit in between the metal.   The metal tool lasts forever but the rubber refills wear out.  I was in a hurry and ran into the closest Walgreens to get some.  I had a Cover Girl eye lash curler.  The refills I purchased were Maybelline. They're all the same, right?  WRONG!!  I put them in the  CG curler and used it--twice--once on each eye, and succeeded in breaking off a few eyelashes on EACH eye.    Unbelievable!

A few days later I was in a different Walgreens and bought a Maybelline curler which must be slightly different from the Cover Girl curler.  Now it works perfectly.  A quick scan of the cosmetic walls and I noticed that the CG curler is going to be a discontinued item.   I wonder if others have done the same thing...  So, be warned.  Use the refills for the specific brand of curler that you have. That is, unless you're going for the uneven eyelash look...  :)

If there are any men reading this, you're probably scratching your head and wondering why in the world anyone would use something that looks like it's an instrument of torture in the first place.  One of those Mars/Venus mysteries.   :)

Going Gray : To Color or Not to Color ?

This is a repost from my blog a year or so ago with a few updates.

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MIRROR FOR OUR SOULS

Learn to check the appearance of your soul every day just as willingly as you check your physical apperance...The Bible is the mirror for checking up on your soul. (Henry Brandt)

[excerpted from Contentment: A Matter of the Heart by Karen Horsey / Karen's Kreations]

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GOING GRAY:  There is actually a book about this that I found and read from the library.  Interesting reading and I found that I agreed with the author on just about every point.    It has always struck me curious why so many women--both young and old--color their hair, especially the strange  neon colors that are popular these days.  I've asked several women this question and have gotten a variety of answers:

1.   To look younger
2.   To look older
3.   To have a color I like
4.   To look hip and fashionable
5.   To look like ____________

There are probably other reasons but these are the most common.  Don't get me wrong, I'm all for enhancing one's appearance by wearing complimentary clothing, wearing natural looking makeup, having a stylish haircut, gaining or losing weight, painting fingernails/toenails...Coloring my hair is something I have never wanted to do.  One of my concerns is the chemicals that are in the hair colorings / dyes.   So far, at age 55, I have not colored my hair.  For the record, I do have a fair amount of gray scattered throughout my hair but from a distance, it still looks fairly dark (see my profile photo to the left).   I even find a few gray hairs that are dark at the root!  I have no idea what causes that.  :)   

Once you start coloring your hair, you can't stop unless you want to shock the daylights out of people.   A couple of my friends did that --went from dark brown to totally gray in about a month.  At first it was a shock, but now it looks completely natural and normal for them.  It can get pretty expensive, too--from $10+ if you do it yourself, upwards from $50-$100+ for a professional coloring in a salon.  For my opinion on it, we're all going to age no matter what we do, so we may as well age gracefully and let others get used to how we  look as our aging  continues. 

I wouldn't want people to think that I'm 30-something any more than I would want them to think I'm 60-something.  With age comes a maturity and a blossoming that is so attractive both to men and women.  It sure makes it easier to pick out in a crowd who might be in your age bracket, for common interests, good conversation, life experiences, dating, marriage, children,  etc.   When I see women my age with obviously dyed hair (not just highlights), I want to just hug them and say You looked great just the way you were...there's no need to hide your age.   When I see younger women with the rock star colors, I would  love to ask, why do you need to call attention to yourself?   Or whom are you trying to imitate?  You are lovely just the way you are.  Someone actually told me once they colored their hair because their husband didn't want to look like he had an old wife.  I'd say that the husband has his ideas and priorities ALL wrong = about 1 on the respect meter.

If you color your hair for whatever reason, think about the motive for doing so. If it's one of the "hiding" reasons, try to evaluate what it is you are hiding from and come out into the open where we can really see you.  If it is to be like someone else, think about those role models and ponder if you really want to be like them.  If you are coloring your hair  just for fun and the love of color... then go for it.  :)


AS A SIDE NOTE:  A young friend told me recently that she had never colored her hair and that she would be selling it soon for $700-$1,000.  It had to be at least 24 inches long, in healthy condition and never colored.  Amazing! Another reason that you might not want to color your hair.  I had no idea there was even a market for human hair except for Locks of Love which is a charitable organization.    I checked myself online and there are several online companies that purchase human hair, two of which are Hairwork and The Hair Trader.  

Proverbs 16:31   

A gray head is a crown of glory; it is found in the way of righteousness. 

Modesty: Victoria's Real Secret

Here is #4 in the series on Women and Beauty from Family Life--Modesty:  Victoria's "Real" Secret.


THIS LINK

...So I'm going to ask our beloved panelists here, Nancy Stafford, Sharon Jaynes, and Nancy Leigh DeMoss to–well, first of all, welcome back to FamilyLife Today. Thanks for trusting us enough to come back here on a fourth day to talk about the hot subject of modesty. Who would like to take a pass at this? Why do women dress immodestly?

Sharon Jaynes: I think probably the obvious reason is they want to get a man's attention. And women know that when they show parts of their body that a man is going to look. Unfortunately, even Christian women are doing this, and we are really getting two words confused. One word is "beauty" and the other word is "sexy." They are very different. What we need to realize is when a woman does show parts of her body her real desire is to appear sexy and to make a man think certain thoughts, and he's probably not going to be thinking she's beautiful. He's probably going to be having other thoughts...

Loving the Body You Are Born With / Family Life Today

Here is Part #3 in the series this week from Family Life Today--Loving The Body You're Born With.  


THE LINK

Excerpt:

Bob: Do you remember the woman in the beginning of the fairy tale, "Sleeping Beauty?" The one who keeps looking in the mirror saying, "Mirror, mirror, on the wall; who's the fairest of them all?" If you're really the most beautiful, you don't have to worry about comparison, do you? Here is Nancy Stafford.

Nancy Stafford: That's maybe the biggest lie of all, because then when you feel beautiful, then the old thing kicks in of you're constantly looking over your shoulder – but how beautiful am I compared to her? So then the focus becomes being the thinnest, the prettiest, the fairest, at the party, because we‘re so desperate for that affirmation, and we love the attention that it garners us.

Actually, that quote is from the Disney film  Snow White, not Sleeping Beauty...

Longing for Beauty

Here is #2 in the radio series I mentioned yesterday.  Today's title is Longing for Beauty.

What I think women really need to remind themselves is that Madison Avenue, advertising on television and ads in magazines are for the purpose of making us discontent with ourselves so that we buy stuff.

And part of the lie, too, is that the world is defining for us what beautiful is. So you look at the magazines and the movie stars and whatever, and you say, "Beauty equals," you know, "being this height and weighing nothing and wearing a size zero. And having this kind of face and this kind of youthfulness. If you're 50 years old, you still have to look 20, and you can't and you don't."

How true!

The Beauty of a Woman Inward Beauty vs. Outward Beauty

Just wanted to let you all know that Family Life Today (division of Campus Crusade) is doing a series this week about women and their beauty.  This is an issue that pretty much all women are interested in, so listen (or read) and enjoy.

The Mirror Tells All--Or Does It? 

Go to THIS LINK to listen online or download the podcast.  

Go to THIS LINK to read the manuscript.

Guest speakers:

Sharon Jaynes, Nancy Stafford, Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Proverbs 31:30 

Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, 

But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.