Urban Comfort

In Pursuit of Beauty (Part IV)

It's my birthday today, which is pretty much the only day I address beauty issues here (you can see previous years here, here, and here), but this year is a bit different for me -

Last month I took my son out to dinner. As the waitress brought our check, she said that my skin looked amazing and asked what I used. I gave her a brief rundown (Retin-A and a new CC cream) and encouraged her to try it out for herself. As she left, my son looked at me from across the table and said, "Your skin may look amazing because of that stuff you're putting on it, but you're still going to die one day."  (He can't help himself - He lives in New Orleans, surrounded by cemeteries.) After making a mental note to work on his conversational skills before he's old enough to date, I made a decision to finally see my doctor for a much overdue checkup.

I hate going to the doctor. I don't know why I hate it so much, but I do. Because I don't get sick that often, I find it's easy to let checkups slip by. But I knew that I needed help, had known it for at least a year. There was the sudden onset of anxiety, the lack of mental acuity and the inability to focus, the general exhaustion and fatigue, the irritability, the constant feeling of being overwhelmed, a creeping sense of depression, the needle on the scale that didn't move backwards no matter how little I ate, the pain I was starting to feel in my bones and joints...I thought that I was experiencing perimenopausal symptoms, something a girlfriend's doctor had said could start as early as your mid-thirties. That thought was depressing, too. My skin might be in good shape, but it didn't feel like anything else was. 

I finally went, and after a battery of tests I got an early birthday present - a prescription of Synthroid and Vitamin D. A low thyroid and a Vitamin D deficiency (clearly I've been too good about using sunscreen) could be responsible for my entire litany of complaints. The rest of me was just fine, with menopause out in the distant future. 

It will take a little while for me to start feeling better, but I feel hopeful, something I haven't felt in awhile. I've also started taking my health more seriously, partnering with a friend for regular exercise and taking advantage of the umpteen green smoothie recipes on the web to get more fruits and vegetables into my diet. Because really, what good is younger looking skin if you feel like crap?

 

PRODUCT NOTES FOR THE YEAR:

SKIN:  Overall, I find I'm using less makeup than ever before and I've stopped using foundation altogether, a big money saver.  

I've been an ardent fan of Smashbox BB Cream (in the new shade, Light/Neutral, which is perfect for me).  But it was sold out when I needed it and the saleswoman suggested It Cosmetics' CC+ Cream, a full coverage CC Cream that I can wear without moisturizer underneath (impossible for me with the BB Cream). I apply it with a damp BeautyBlender sponge for sheer coverage, but it's buildable to almost a full coverage foundation. With a light hand, I think it's absolutely gorgeous on skin.  To set it, I use a dusting of Smashbox Halo Powder. 

BROWS:  Thinning brows are definitely an issue, but I'd rather have thinning brows than see any sort of pencil line. I think the Smartbrow set is absolutely worth the money if the color match is good. I found the Brunette to be slightly too light for my natural brow color and Brown/Black to be slightly too dark. But the effect of it is really nice and natural looking. A better color fit for me (and less expensive) is Gimme Brow from Benefit Cosmetics.

 

 

Off the Boards: Shibori 101 Roundup

Just crickets around here, but I've been going over old territory lately, cooking things I've already shared and making a ridiculous number of paper flowers, which you've also heard enough about even if I'm hopelessly, hopelessly obsessed. I've even had to pack up my supplies until I've met my work deadlines. They're just too much of a temptation.

But I can never fully abandon new projects, especially when I'm supposed to be working, so I finally broke out my indigo tie dye kit, rounded up all the tutorials I'd pinned on Pinterest, and gave Shibori 101 a go. I'm so glad I did! It was easy and a whole lot of fun (and a great way to procrastinate when you're struggling to get into the Christmas spirit in June). 

For my first effort, I tried hard to just let go, keep it loose, and see what happened - which was exactly what I needed creatively. I'm sure on my second round that I'll get more particular with my folding and placement, but that's one of the things I like about Shibori so much - the option to be either precise or imperfect, yet still achieve something interesting either way. 

If you haven't tried it yet, it's a great summer activity and certainly a trendy one at that. It's also economical and a good excuse to get your girlfriends together for an afternoon. Here are some of the tutorials from my Pinterest boards as well as a few of my observations along the way:

 

1.  You can follow any of the tutorials for folding and get an approximation of that design. If precision is really important to you, you'll do better by ironing your folds flat and making sure that each layer is exactly the same size, meaning that an equal amount of fabric will be exposed to the dye in each layer. if you're less precise in your folding, you'll find greater concentrations of dye in some areas and less in others, making for more of an organic design. 

2.  If you buy a tie dye kit, it comes with small pieces of wood and rubber bands. But you can buy additional pieces of balsa wood from craft or hardware stores and cut your own pieces. This will increase the range of patterns you can make and allow you to fold multiple pieces at once. Also, use what you have on hand. Binder clips, clamps, rubber balls, marbles, etc. All will lend themselves to interesting patterns.

3.  When you're dyeing your pieces of fabric, do one piece at a time and don't let it settle to the bottom of the dye vat. Instead, hold the fabric just under the surface of the dye (you don't want to create splashing, which will introduce oxygen to the dye vat and shorten its lifespan) and gently manipulate it with your hands so that the dye gets to all exposed areas of the fabric.  

4.  I dyed my pieces anywhere from 3-7 minutes, with 5 minutes being my most used time.

5.  Heat set your dry, dyed fabric pieces with a warm iron, then wash them in cool water with a mild detergent such as Woolite. Conversely, if a piece turns out darker than you wanted, wash it with a mild detergent before you heat set it. This will cause a bit of fading. Another note about color - the wet shade of the dye will be much darker than it is when dry.

6. Make sure you use gloves (and I suggest long ones) and that there are no holes in them. I can tell you from personal experience that it takes about 3-4 days to remove indigo dye from skin and seems to be permanent on nails (judging from my single nail that was dyed a week ago). 

7. Lastly, you need to use natural fiber fabrics for this, cotton being the most popular option. But I loved the technique on linen. Buy some to experiment with after you feel comfortable with the process. Gray Line Linen has economical, nice quality linen in a variety of weights and is available by mail order if you're not in the NYC area. 

 

Tutorials:

DIY Shibori from Honestly WTF

DIY Shibori Designs 4 Ways from Design Sponge

Hand Dye Coordination from Kinfolk

Make It Happen: A Shibori DIY from Anthropologie

Indigo Tea Towels from Francois et moi

Itajime Shibori Process from Kaizen Journey