Beauty and Fashion
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Beauty: Sunscreen Again
After the sunscreen controversy, I was left wanting specific products recommended, and apparently other people did too, so Odile Monod produced this video. I’m going to be trying the outdoor ones. I think trying to keep only indoor for winter is just too complicated for me.
And Lab Muffin beauty produced this list of her favorites, I’m not sure how many are K-beauty, but my favorite Biore (actually Japanese I think) is still on there (yes!).
My budget has been tight and so I’ve not made a huge Yesstyle purchase in awhile, but I’m hoping to do so soon.
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Should I Care About My Beauty or Lack Thereof?
“You shouldn’t care what guys think.” It is the proportion of caring that matters. I hate being told falsehoods to comfort. It’s dismissive of my feelings and reality and can actually reinforce the perception or opinion since it makes me feel that since they dismiss my opinion they can’t actually answer my opinion, that what I feel is fact, true. Oh, and that is not just for the subject of beauty.
“Beauty is unimportant.” It certainly isn’t the most important thing, but to say it is unimportant, to imply that it doesn’t matter is deliberate falsehood. It does matter, in a perfect world, we would all be good and beautiful. All senses are important, to dismiss it thus dishonestly is to try to aim for some sort of haphazard, inconsistent ascetism.
“Beauty is subjective.” Yes and no. There are different tastes yes, but there is also some consensus on it as well. I think certain societies (ours, Panem in reality, thanks to Hollywood, and, I’m afraid porn and plastic surgery and botox all the innumerable things you can do to alter your face and figure) cement certain narrow and unrealistic standards and expectations more than others. But they can’t make everyone love the same things always, I’m realizing it is more subjective than I had formerly believed (feared?).
I mentioned earlier about discounting what older relatives and friends said in positive praise of beauty. I would generally measure my place in an scale of beauty by two means. The first would be the obvious one of attention from the opposite sex. Particularly of the sort where a guy would go out of his way to give it.
I feel that I’ve only received such attention that someone below average would receive. I do have a hostile air and expression, but I would think combined with real prettiness not even beauty men would not be put off by this manner and expression, and perhaps really prettiness (or perhaps only real beauty could achieve this) couldn’t truly look as hostile as I can? But then, perhaps the Barbie style is more expected here.
My second standard is my own, if I see it, if I match what I think is beautiful. I think a lot of people might also mention society and societal standards generally. I think I use this as a source of measurement, but I don’t think it is the whole of this. I think I see many things and need to be satisfied within myself whether this or that meets my standard. I think when I have a high standard it is hard to fail to notice when I don’t even meet an average standard. And I don’t think this is insecurity, certainly I have that, but I’m talking about assessing.
I think I’ve lived with this assessment and comprehension of what guys think for long enough that it doesn’t hurt as much as it did (combined with learning maybe beauty isn’t as objective as I’d thought), I’ve not achieved confidence exactly, more resignation, but yet, I’m less insecure. I’ve always HATED the thought of undergoing surgery and such like to achieve a false beauty. And learning all the little things many women do change, I find it enraging, it DOES hurt those of us who don’t, it does raise the standard of beauty falsely.
I want to be both myself and beautiful, and if that is not to be, then I want to be myself.
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Potatoes, Parents, and Past Styles of Beauty
I mentioned in my last post about parents and grandparents and some of their friends opinion’s on mine and my sisters’ beauty. One sister said we must have been very beautiful back in their day (rather than now) seeing as the compliments people are grandparents’ ages gave us.
I wrote such comments on our intelligence* off as parental and grandparental bias. Although I would say at least the parents are rather less biased than usual on other things. And I certainly have had unflattering comparisons made between me and some of my sisters (only have one or no kids if you can’t at least blind yourself on the subject of equality, it only makes what they know to be true harder) by my mother. I and at least one other sister have had unflattering comments from my grandmother on our figures as well. I think the bias is more because we are theirs we must be beautiful, rather than seeing any beauty? Rather a complicated situation.
I think my sister found this pin or I sent it to her. Less flattering from other people, but I certainly feel the potato comment!**
*And then I went to college, grew up, and saw more of the world and more of the bias of other parents, um yes, we are at least what my dad, damning with faint praise described in response to my preteen question for more exactitude,” slightly above average intelligence.”
**Should that matter? Yes and no, coming shortly.
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More Beauty Stuff and the Pseudoscience of “Green” or “Clean” Beauty
I feel like a few years ago I mentioned this channel, but I’m not sure. I highly recommend Lab Muffin beauty for most sunscreen stuff (and for all the fallacies regarding “natural beauty” hint, its a marketing thing, its not science, please watch this!!!!! This was one of the main things to knock some sense into my head about “clean” beauty), except I needed more information and like the Odile video for the previous sunscreen hoopla . . . guess what there is another (here is Lab Muffin’s video), this time US or just anything approved by FDA, although I think she said this mostly affected spray sunscreens which I don’t like anyway as I seem to inhale quite a bit of them.
She does a lot of mythbusting, like one on the whole aluminum (I just spelled this the British/Australia way, lol) in deo which is one of the big “green” beauty bogey-man. I think I deleted all my “clean” beauty posts (if I haven’t let me know, and I will delete, but I had tried “natural” deo, and the ones available when I was trying them didn’t work, sincerely sorry to everyone who came close to me. However, I do think aluminum + sweat is what causes clothes staining which is my main issue now, I ruin shirts and dresses under the arm (why do I sweat like an active guy when I’m a sluggish woman?), and since there are better “natural” deodorants than there used to be, I might try to switch except for extremely hot situations, its just SO much more expensive (like 4 to 5x the amount of Dove).
She does informative videos about myths and specific ingredients and such, and she has also done some product reviews, including this hyped Asian skincare which I noticed had one of my (now my only one left) Asian sunscreen (Biore), so I definitely had to watch! I feel happier that she approved this one. I think this has a level of alcohol some don’t like, but it doesn’t bother me (unlike some spray sunscreens I’ve tried available in US). I also want to try Shiseido – Anessa sunscreen she was talking about. I also want to try the vitamin C serum she mentions (once my freeze on serum buying is over, I’ve got to use up way more products than I have before I buy anything more, I’m trying to only buy replacements for the “main” things like if I need new cleaners and sunscreens and such).
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Straight Hair, Wavy Hair, Curly Hair
Three beauty category posts in a week? Wow, I’m actually using this category more! I’d not really been inspired much until this week. I was watching this video. I’ve heard for years about the curly girl method, about how lots of girls who thought they had straight hair might be wavy, and I’ve wondered, but it seems so much work to bring out the wave (and I hate hair products like mousse and gel). And then I also felt like I was wishfully thinking and that I really had straight hair. And I also didn’t want to stop flat-ironing (?!) my hair or curling it or whatever.
Here is an example of the the curly hair categories (I wish they’d show straight as well for comparison). I think there may be different typing systems, but this is what I read/hear about the most.
Like she said, I have sisters with curly hair, who don’t even have to do the curly girl method (but it would help), if they did the curly girl treatment, I think they both have 2C. I think my brother’s is probably the same category. I have another sister who has less curl, but I think more than me (we both have shiny but not fine hair). And then another who seems to have more straight hair than mine. All of us flat iron our hair. So, I suppose, duh, it’s not actually straight?! But I do it to “compress” it more than straighten I think. And all of our hair holds curl from curling irons really well. Like days for me (without product or without much) and probably most of my sisters. I think all this points to not truly straight hair.
There are just times when I look in the mirror and marvel disgustedly at my frizz/baby/broken hair “halo” and I felt like my hair has looked rather dull recently, so I’m planning to get a silk pillowcase and a shine treatment of some sort. Now after learning about the condition/shampoo/condition method, I think I will try that as well.
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Sunscreen Hoopla
So I’ve been using Korean sunscreens for a couple years, they made wearing sunscreen everyday not disgusting. However, I heard briefly at the beginning of the year that Purito failed miserably to meet the SPF claims it made. I’d tried that brand once and didn’t love it (not sure it was the exact same formulation or not). Purito handled it well with apologies and such. What I didn’t understand (this was only briefly mentioned) is that Klairs, which I did love and used regularly was formulated by the same manufacturer. So, I unfortunately merrily continued on my way for months. Klairs hasn’t handled it well or honestly from what I can understand.
Dr. Dre’s video is very helpful in talking about how, well, you do have to just assume some risk and do the best you can. You can’t just pull up Consumer Reports and trust them implicitly. There are different standards and expectations to sunscreen. Be careful of outrage.
Helpful, but I don’t think that is quite enough. Odile Monod who works either in or with or near the Korean beauty industry gave an insider view. There was wrong-doing, unfortunately significantly by my favorite Klairs it seems.*
She explains more of the background and then goes into the controversy and then at the end she goes through how to be a more careful consumer of Korean sunscreens, rather than pitching them all out because of a few companies. I took a screenshot of 25:47 which features companies that produce their products in house in Korea since its easier for me to have more specifics. I’m familiar with some of the brands on the bottom, so I’ll be trying those.
I found those two videos very nuanced and balanced and reasonable, and I thought I’d share since I know some of y’all like K-beauty as well.
*And Klairs was “my” brand insofar as a very un-loyal brand person can have a brand, its one of the joys of my life to just try so many different things. Also I’m not really a boycott person, they are rather useless, petty, and restricting to the consumer more than the brand, so I might still keep using the products I have that I don’t see from other brands or not done as well, maybe, they ARE super expensive, I’d like alternatives. Just not any of their sunscreens!
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Jane Austen Festival 2018: Part 4 Regency Accessories and Festival Wrap-Up
I’m on Instagram now, so I’ve been searching #JaneAustenFestival and finding lots of new costumers/historical fashion sewists to follow as well as some of the vendors. I will probably be featuring lots of articles here. I’ve been pinning tons of historical fashions lately too if you want to see my Pinterest board.
Also, this blog post features a lovely selection of excellent photos of the stunning fashions at the festival.
Here is the last of my shopping. A cotton print scarf and silk stockings from Burnley and Trowbridge. Two silk scarfs/shawls from 96 District Fabrics. A perfume vial from LBCC Historical (they carried several elegant styles), and a coral set (I’ve wanted one since I saw some in Williamsburg, again, harkening back to Felicity) from Design’s by Lady Anne.
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Jane Austen Festival 2018: Part 3, Regency Patterns and Planning for Next Year
I’ve always loved historical fashion mainly pioneer (or prairie) girl with some Victorian and Colonial as a child; my knowledge stemmed from Little House and the American Girls, so the Regency period was an unknown time until I was introduced to Jane Austen. I sewed quite a bit for a child, but struggled to progress because of work-ethic and perfectionism problems.
I’ve wanted to make a dress ever since the first time I attended the festival. I bought a beautiful silk antique sari, blue cotton velveteen, and various silk ribbons at the festivals. I still have these along with the silk ribbon flower kit my grandmother bought me the first year. But time, maturity, finances, knowledge, discipline, and will-power never came together. And now I’m not sure I really want to use the sari for a regency dress, but rather for something more timeless; however, I would like to incorporate the other items into my ensemble.
I thought that I maybe could this year, and so I started researching and planning; I had to relinquish this idea out of practicality, but the planning has stood me in good stead. I had more purpose shopping and now planning for next year. I found three patterns that I had been looking at for quite a while plus a dress pattern that was featured in the style show. The rest of my patterns and materials as well as the actual construction, I can space out over the year.
The stay pattern is Past Patterns #038 Transition Stay Pattern and is based on an American garment. The shift/chemise is Kannik’s Korner although I’m sure I technically could have drafted this myself, but the wonderful thing about all this patterns is all the historical background and techniques included in the instructions.
The dress from Fig Leaf Patterns was new to me and is based on an American garment. While it is nice to try to find American garments, I’m not sure many people in my family would have worn them or worn them when they were at the height of fashion. I would like to do more research on what my ancestors would conceivably have worn, but I still want a fashionable regency dress as well.
At the first Jane Austen festival, I first heard mentioned that very young unmarried ladies often wore white, so I’d been planning on a white dress as most accurate. I realized to my chagrin, that I wouldn’t really fall into the category of young (I’m Charlotte Lucas’s age, and she wore colors while the younger Lizzy and Jane wore whites, creams, and pastels), but I had trouble finding prints I wanted. A lot of the block prints are more Georgian and Colonial (I have my eye on one I want for a Poldark inspired gown; I love the gowns I see on Pinterest from that show, the slimmer silhouette). Anyhow, I don’t think I’m terribly too old although white is a bit boring. I definitely want plenty of trimming and color in my accessories. The fabric I bought from Regency Revisited.
While I think I’d heard of Timely Tresses ages before, I first fixed on The Lucia pattern via this post because I’ve long loved Marianne and Lizzy’s hats of these styles the best of all the hats and bonnets in the movies.
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Link Love: Historical Fashion
I think that a post on historical fashion goes well with the month of Halloween. This is often the route for those of us not interested in ghoulish costumes. Last year my sisters and I dressed in the fashion of a decade of the last century for Halloween.
My love of historical fashion began with an obsession with pioneers as a child. All thanks to The Little House Books and the computer game Oregon Trail, of course. I had sunbonnets, aprons, “calico” dresses, etc.. My sister and I had a few American Girl dolls, and we loved pouring over the American Girl catalog every time it came.
Then came the Jane Austen period. I’d never known about the historical fashion period between the huge dresses of the Colonial and the Civil War eras. I was fascinated by all the costumes in the JA movies, and later, all the reproductions from bloggers and Jane Austen festival attendees.*
While I don’t make historical clothing myself, I do still appreciate the work of others.
Someone pinned Angela Clayton’s work on Pinterest, and I’ve been following her blog ever since. Her historical fashion work is stunning.Lily at Mode de Lis posts quite a bit of retro inspired clothing as well as a few Colonial and Regency dresses.
I found this interesting video via another blogger’s link post. The re-enactors show all the layers and pieces an upper-class 18th-century woman wore. So many layers and tools for the correct form. And people pinned their clothes on!
If you love pouring over and analyzing the historical costumes of period films, check out this archived blog.*Speaking of Jane Austen, I think I’d seen someone mention this game, but thought it was the board game I played years ago. After another blogger posted the link to this hilarious video of the LBD cast members playing the game, I realized it was a different and far more clever game.
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Beauty and Style Books, Part Three: Hair and Nails
I don’t own any books on nail care, but I still have Braids and Bows and Hair: A Book of Braiding and Styles from my childhood. I only have a few more on my library list.
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Easter Outfit Take 2
I was working on my dress and remembered an idea from Pinterest. I would have loved to have a polka dot, but I found a lace top too late for Easter which ended up being fine as I finished the dress too late as well.
I used Simplicity 1607. I had to alter the princess seams a bit to fit my small bust. The neckline gaped; I wonder if I adjust the shoulders (to fit my sloping shoulders) the neckline would gape less? I bought the lace top via Ebay. I love that I can make several different outfits out of this dress if I wanted.
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Easter Outfit Take 1
This was plan B. I had a polka dot strapless dress. I thought I needed to buy fabric, but, when moving projects, I found I could use pieces from a linen skirt I bought for a dollar years ago. I had to do quite a bit of rethinking, and I had to hand sew the final straps onto the dress to avoid taking the dress too far apart. Then I finally finished my lovely moonrise shawl which matched closely enough.
