Recession Maintenance
I've been trying not to spend as much money, and so I've cut out a few things from my regular upkeep...and have been doing them on my own. At first, I was like, "Good GOD...upkeep...on my own?" But I've been surprised to find that they're kinda rewarding. Like...mini-do-it-yourself projects. Except they are to make myself presentable to the rest of the world, so though the economy is down...I don't have to have the LOOK to match it!
Some of these things aren't so bad...like waxing. I've been doing this on myself for a long time, and actually, doing it on my own has forced me to make sure I keep up with what I like to refer to as "The '70s Porno Bush" (although, it has never gotten to that point). When I say '70s Porno Bush, think of someone like Pam Grier in her old movies. Ha.
Anyway, so because I don't like to spend a whole lot of time on staring at my own stuff and because I don't have the time...and lastly, because if you let it turn into a jungle, it will take far longer to mow down (oh, I know I disgust myself and make myself laugh at the same time)...I do a wax on myself every two weeks or so, to maintain the status quo. Ever since I started growing body hair like at age 11 or 12, I've been hating every minute of it, and while I do not promote the pre-pubescent look on everyone, I just really hate body hair on myself, and so I will sport it (and also because I personally find it makes my pants "fit" better).
I also wax my lip and occasionally my underarms...and my fingers (they aren't THAT hairy, but I can see a knuckle fuzz on some of them and I get it off while I'm at the whole waxing thing), but compared to the self-Brazilian waxing and the contortionist moves one must pull in order to do a decent job...those things are cake and completely -- for me, anyway -- painless.
Going on, another thing I do for myself these days are pedicures and manicures. I really and truly suck at this, but my saving grace is that I don't have to make my toenails perfect because I don't know anyone that would examine my feet so closely so that they would notice, right off, that my toenails are very badly painted. I hate doing my hands in general because there's not much to work with (I keep my nails short).
When I paint my toenails, I get so much polish all over my toes -- like on the skin around my toes, and on the cuticles. That's fine by me, though, because then I just scrape or scrub off the polish that's gotten on my toes and such with my special Japanese body loofah cloth...and surprise! It's off my skin.
Oh, and before I forget...I haven't gotten my eyebrows done lately. It's been at least a few months that I've been tweezing them on my own. They don't look too thin anymore, and they've not changed that much, but it's saved me at least $15-$30 per month because I've stopped having them threaded. While I do miss my non-English speaking threading lady (she was also my waxist), and while I do miss the whole experience of having someone clean up your brows so well it's like brow hairs never even GREW there...I do like having the money and I think I've been able to better control the amount taken off because as much as I liked my threading lady, I do think she gave me exceedingly thin brows to the point where I looked almost like those wicked girls with the pencil-thin brows that created a permanently-surprised expression on their faces.
With all things considered...I think I'm probably saving an average of at least $100 per month. Of course, I'm still a little spendy in the Hair Department, but that's because I have so much of it...and that's an every-six-weeks thing, so maybe I'm saving less -- like $50 or so per month. Still, that's $50 I wouldn't have had if I didn't start doing stuff on my own. Heh.
Some of these things aren't so bad...like waxing. I've been doing this on myself for a long time, and actually, doing it on my own has forced me to make sure I keep up with what I like to refer to as "The '70s Porno Bush" (although, it has never gotten to that point). When I say '70s Porno Bush, think of someone like Pam Grier in her old movies. Ha.
Anyway, so because I don't like to spend a whole lot of time on staring at my own stuff and because I don't have the time...and lastly, because if you let it turn into a jungle, it will take far longer to mow down (oh, I know I disgust myself and make myself laugh at the same time)...I do a wax on myself every two weeks or so, to maintain the status quo. Ever since I started growing body hair like at age 11 or 12, I've been hating every minute of it, and while I do not promote the pre-pubescent look on everyone, I just really hate body hair on myself, and so I will sport it (and also because I personally find it makes my pants "fit" better).
I also wax my lip and occasionally my underarms...and my fingers (they aren't THAT hairy, but I can see a knuckle fuzz on some of them and I get it off while I'm at the whole waxing thing), but compared to the self-Brazilian waxing and the contortionist moves one must pull in order to do a decent job...those things are cake and completely -- for me, anyway -- painless.
Going on, another thing I do for myself these days are pedicures and manicures. I really and truly suck at this, but my saving grace is that I don't have to make my toenails perfect because I don't know anyone that would examine my feet so closely so that they would notice, right off, that my toenails are very badly painted. I hate doing my hands in general because there's not much to work with (I keep my nails short).
When I paint my toenails, I get so much polish all over my toes -- like on the skin around my toes, and on the cuticles. That's fine by me, though, because then I just scrape or scrub off the polish that's gotten on my toes and such with my special Japanese body loofah cloth...and surprise! It's off my skin.
Oh, and before I forget...I haven't gotten my eyebrows done lately. It's been at least a few months that I've been tweezing them on my own. They don't look too thin anymore, and they've not changed that much, but it's saved me at least $15-$30 per month because I've stopped having them threaded. While I do miss my non-English speaking threading lady (she was also my waxist), and while I do miss the whole experience of having someone clean up your brows so well it's like brow hairs never even GREW there...I do like having the money and I think I've been able to better control the amount taken off because as much as I liked my threading lady, I do think she gave me exceedingly thin brows to the point where I looked almost like those wicked girls with the pencil-thin brows that created a permanently-surprised expression on their faces.
With all things considered...I think I'm probably saving an average of at least $100 per month. Of course, I'm still a little spendy in the Hair Department, but that's because I have so much of it...and that's an every-six-weeks thing, so maybe I'm saving less -- like $50 or so per month. Still, that's $50 I wouldn't have had if I didn't start doing stuff on my own. Heh.