What beauty sins do you commit? When it comes to taking care of ourselves and our appearance, it’s hard to do everything we “should” do, and there are all sorts of somewhat dangerous or taboo treatments available to help us attain beauty perfection.
My beauty sins:
Rogaine on my eyebrows
I just started using Rogaine on my eyebrows! What the heck, you are probably thinking! Remember when I wrote about my thinning eyebrows? They still haven’t grown back in where they were waxed, and the outer sides of them are totally gone. They actually look fine right now, but if they thin out even more as I get older, I will not be happy. Rogaine 2% is approved only to be used on women’s heads to regrow hair. I’m definitely not endorsing using it on your eyebrows, but I want to see if it can work to regrow my eyebrows! There’s not really even any evidence that it will work, since my eyebrow hair loss is not probably not genetic. And there could possibly be side effects, like facial hair growth in other areas, and I’m sure it’s dangerous, since I’m applying it close to my eyes. If I go blind, you can definitely tell me “I told you so.” So even though I write about skin care, I’m still tempted to do things I shouldn’t be doing, all in the name of beauty.
This is also my warning about eyebrow waxing and tweezing! Make sure you don’t wax or pluck hairs you might want to see again one day, since the hair may be gone for good! If I had to do it all over again, I would have been a bit more conservative with the waxing, and wouldn’t have as much hair taken away each time. I followed the trends, and had really small eyebrows for a while, and now I want them a bit more natural looking. By the time I noticed the hairs weren’t coming back in anymore, it was too late!
I cut my own hair
Here’s another secret that is sort of embarrassing…I cut my own hair! Because of my hair loss issues, and bad experiences at hair salons, I hate going to them, and just cut my own hair. It’s really easy to do, and even if my hair doesn’t look perfect, I don’t care, because I’m just happy I still have hair to cut! When I used to get my hair cut professionally, it really didn’t look any better than it looks when I do it myself. Also, I hate the way hair stylists yank at my hair and pull out huge balls of hair, when I have no trouble gently combing my hair without making a huge frizzy mess. If I had more money, I’d probably brave going to a hair salon again, and I’d get recommendations first to find someone that is gentle!
I dye my own hair
I also dye my own hair, which is sort of bad because I don’t actually like the way my hair color looks. I dye it about two shades lighter because my hair blends in better with my scalp when it’s lighter. Again, if I wasn’t afraid of the hair salon, and had more money, I’d want to get it colored professionally. I’d also like highlights, and when I do them myself, they look sort of uneven since I don’t really know what I’m doing! I gave up dying my hair for a year when I first had my hair loss issues, but I’ve come to realize my hair looks better dyed, and lightening it has not had a negative impact on my hair loss at all.
What are you beauty sins?
So, what are the beauty sins you commit? Common ones include not washing off your makeup before bed, tanning, smoking, not wearing sunscreen every day, and picking at zits. I’ve done all of those a million times in the past (except smoking). Dangerous beauty no-nos include using Accutane without a doctor’s supervision, buying high-strength unregulated skin care products and doing at-home peels, and doing hair straightening treatments that use high levels of formaldehyde. And then Botox, Restylane, and LipoDissolve injections can possibly be dangerous if you get an unskilled doctor, or an unscrupulous injector that doesn’t use the authentic solutions purchased straight from the manufacturer. Finally, I guess cosmetic surgery is the most dangerous of all treatments, since the side effects can be so severe.
I completely understand people’s desire to look beautiful, and understand why people are willing to take on risk in the name of beauty. Just be careful, and research everything to minimize your risk!
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January 14th, 2008 at 5:11 am
I’ve been a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead, but I’ve never had my hair colored professionally. Maybe I’m just lucky, or not picky enough about my hair color. I’m going natural for a while to save even more money, but I loved being a red head. I met Rue MacClanahan a few years back and she complimented me on the color.
I also cut my bangs, though I usually leave the rest alone.
January 14th, 2008 at 7:22 am
I color my own hair. Highlighting it myself doesn’t turn out very well, but allover color in a shade or two lighter than my natural color looks pretty decent. I can’t afford to go to the salon for color b/c my hair grows soooo fast, it gets way too pricey. And with my very quickly greying hair amidst a head full of dark hair, I have to keep my roots under control!
I also pick at zits – a lot! I’ve been doing it less and less as I try to keep the habit under control, but I still do it.
And another bad habit I’m working on breaking – not washing my makeup off every night. I haven’t skipped a night for over a month now!
January 14th, 2008 at 8:23 am
My beauty sins are not always washing my makeup off at night, not wearing sunscreen unless i’m going to the beach, using old makeup that should be thrown out, not sleeping enough and not drinking enough water. I also scrub too hard around my eyes when washing off eye makeup…probably not good for the delicate skin around your eyes. I’ve also had a ton of work done to my teeth so I could have a nice smile and I forget to floss very often! Wow, when I list them all like that, it sounds awful!
January 14th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Meg,
That’s cool that you met Rue, and that she liked your hair! I love the Golden Girls! I used to dye my hair red all the time too, but I didn’t like how fast it faded, so I finally gave up on it.
January 14th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
It was a really great experience because I’m also a huge fan : ) I still love that show.
Unfortunately, I don’t know what to do about the fading.
January 14th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Merry,
Picking at my zits when I had acne was my worst beauty offense. I couldn’t help myself, and now I have a few scars from it. The scars are the only thing that made me stop! Luckily I don’t breakout anymore, so I am not tempted.
January 15th, 2008 at 8:38 am
I can’t keep my hands off my face! Even when I’m just sitting at my computer I always find a free hand creeping up under my chin or tugging on my lips.
January 15th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
If it helps in the polling, *I* really need more “how do I iron the wrinkles out of my face without burning myself” posts. LOL!
January 15th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Les,
In this post: http://www.savvyskin.com/anti-aging-skin-care-checklist I write about the different ways you can make wrinkles less apparent.
January 15th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
Merry and Jeni,
You guys are not alone.
I sooooooooo know better and know I shouldn’t, but I still. It’s not that I cannot control myself, but it’s like I want that pimple to GO AWAY FAST.
I’ve actually interviewed the creator of Zeno and he admits to also pocking at his pimples and he surely knows better than to do that.
When it comes to beauty sins…we’re all guilty as charged :-))
Gisele
January 18th, 2008 at 7:26 am
My beauty sin is picking at my lips during winter since they chap so bad. It’s just gross, really, but I can’t help it. I’d rather discreetly pick at them, than people see my chapped lips! Another one used to be plucking my own brows, back in the day, and in looking at old photos, they were a little severe. They’re very natural now, and I try not to touch them, bit it’s a temptation to go, “Oh, just a little more right here.”
January 18th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
You might want to give Nioxon shampoo & scalp tratment a try for hair loss.
January 18th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Claudia,
Yeah I’ve tried Nioxin, but it didn’t work at all. I have tried Nizoral (as recommended by my Dermatologist) and a hundred other things. As far as shampoos go, I like Neutrogena T/Gel because it doesn’t make my hair fall out like crazy (like Nizoral) and it has zinc, which is an anti-inflammatory, so it soothes my scalp.
January 18th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
Charlotte,
I used to do the same thing – pick at my lips until they would bleed. http://www.savvyskin.com/how-i-cured-my-super-dry-chapped-lips is how I “cured” myself. I see you reviewed a bunch of chapsticks on your site, but I’m not sure if you tried this one – the blue stick Chapstick. Between this chapstick, and then coating it with lipgloss, I am totally cured! If I do get dry lips, I just rub them for a second with a wet washcloth, and then put on the “special” chapstick.
January 19th, 2008 at 1:37 am
Jeni, Thanks for the comment on my site ^_^ Always appreciated; please visit anytime! And, yes, I did read your post about the “blue chapstick” and you actually inspired me to purchase it in the first place. Funny, huh? I agree, it’s a great chapstick; it’s currently tied in my opinion with Aveeno’s chapstick, which I also really loved. Keep up the great reviews.
January 19th, 2008 at 4:01 am
[...] you may not need to get that liposuction done – now there is lipomassage. Savvy Skin shares some Beauty No-Nos. Henna at Canadian Beauty tells you about her new favourite primer. The Mineral Makeup Blog shares [...]
January 19th, 2008 at 6:09 am
[...] you may not need to get that liposuction done – now there is lipomassage. Savvy Skin shares some Beauty No-Nos. Henna at Canadian Beauty tells you about her new favourite primer. The Mineral Makeup Blog shares [...]
January 19th, 2008 at 8:54 am
[...] you may not need to get that liposuction done – now there is lipomassage. Savvy Skin shares some Beauty No-Nos. Henna at Canadian Beauty tells you about her new favourite primer. The Mineral Makeup Blog shares [...]
January 19th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
[...] you may not need to get that liposuction done – now there is lipomassage.Savvy Skin shares some Beauty No-Nos.Henna at Canadian Beauty tells you about her new favourite primer.The Mineral Makeup Blog shares [...]
January 19th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
[...] Savvy Skin shares some Beauty No-Nos. [...]
January 20th, 2008 at 6:26 am
[...] you may not need to get that liposuction done – now there is lipomassage. Savvy Skin shares some Beauty No-Nos. Henna at Canadian Beauty tells you about her new favourite primer. The Mineral Makeup Blog shares [...]
January 20th, 2008 at 9:26 am
[...] you may not need to get that liposuction done – now there is lipomassage. Savvy Skin shares some Beauty No-Nos. Henna at Canadian Beauty tells you about her new favourite primer. The Mineral Makeup Blog shares [...]
January 20th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
The eyepatch is cute.
January 20th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
[...] you may not need to get that liposuction done – now there is lipomassage. Savvy Skin shares some Beauty No-Nos. Henna at Canadian Beauty tells you about her new favourite primer. The Mineral Makeup Blog shares [...]
January 22nd, 2008 at 5:05 pm
I cut and dye my own hair too, and my boyfriend is a hairdresser! Yes, that’s how bad my hairdresser phobia is–I have curly hair and have had enough poodle cuts to last me a lifetime.
It’s such a waste too, when I have my own personal hairdresser on hand…
January 22nd, 2008 at 7:07 pm
I shave the hair above my lip with my razor. But I have standards. I do get my eyebrows waxed.
February 3rd, 2008 at 8:06 am
You can try chili pepper for your eyebrows. It worked for my mom. She overplucked in the ’70s, and brushing mashed chili pepper with a toothbrush then leaving it in for 5m every night made enough eyebrow hairs grow in that she didn’t look ridiculous anymore.
Disclaimer: she didn’t use any acid creams or anything like that on her face. I’m pretty sure pepper + wrinkle cream = chemical burn. Her facial skin care routine was just moisturizer + cetaphil to clean.
February 4th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
jan74,
Hmm I’ve never heard about chili pepper! I wonder if the concept is that it will increase blood-flow to the eyebrow area, and somehow stimulate the follicles? Interesting.
July 8th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I know you’re not recommending it, but, did the rogaine on your brows work? I need to find some alternative to permanent makeup.