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-Jane Austen
The day before yesterday, I had a visit with my GP, and since I was in no shape to go anywhere, you can only imagine what I looked like when I came home.
I took some ribbing at the office too.... You see, last time I was there, I caused a bit of a stir with the female staff with my great looking new high-heeled boots - bought last year but first time to be worn. And I think the makeup may have helped a bit too, one of my better efforts, thanks to a WHOLE bunch of new products. Quite a few of the female staff stopped by the exam room just to see the boots (and the face, too!)
Hmmm....I seem to be getting a reputation for boots, which I'm just loving, I must admit! Wearing another pair of boots to the plastic surgeon's office, I got quite a few compliments for my boots there too, this pair flat-heeled. The staff, as well as fellow elevator riders at the "major medical center" where I spent so much time last year, would also often comment on my boots. Going back in time, I was walking through Saks one day a couple of years ago and a very elegant-looking buyer (as in buyer FOR the store) stopped me as we were passing each other, held me by my shoulders, looked me up and down and said, approvingly, "yes...very nicely done. The proportions are just right. Love what you've done with the colors. Especially love the boots!" and went on her way. This, despite the fact that the boots I had on were bought back in 1998. I guess Ferragamo's are just THAT classic. (And I supposed I should have been taken aback and upset by the handling of my bod, but no, other than stunned, I was a bit thrilled...it WAS Saks Fifth Avenue for heaven's sake, and the buyers don't normally make a point of stopping their shoppers - certainly me - to make these sorts of comments. I prefer not to wonder if she wasn't a loon that day just pretending to be a real Saks employee!)
So imagine how much I felt as if I needed to eat CROW when just twelve days after appearing in my GP's office for a "normal visit," I needed to reappear in said office, because of those boots! Oh woman...thy name is vanity, to paraphrase a wise bard.
You see, because I was in a hurry for the last appointment - a THREE-hour ordeal because I was determined that despite how I felt, I was going to look good - and I skipped the putting on of any sort of socks, peds or hose. I just slipped those suckers on and I suppose my already compromised CFIDS/ME/Fibro immune system just couldn't fight the chemicals of whatever was on the inside of the boot leather, plus the pressure of those toes squished/rammed into said boot leather. Honestly, my feet were designed to be bare-footed at all times! We (I) put up a difficult, complicated and valiant 10-day battle with antibiotics (documented, in my panic, on my iphone as to the progress of the infection - very gross, sorry!) but it was all for naught. I needed to have it lanced/sliced.
And before you think how crazy I must been for going bare-footed in my boots, in my defense, I openly admit that my brain was NOT working on all cylinders that day (even for me) and it took every mind game I could muster to simply make it to the visit at all. I remember thinking my Uggs are not supposed to be worn with socks; they are also made for comfort and my boots were definitely NOT designed for either, they just looked fantastic and I'm all for suffering for beauty if I'm at all able - it's a generational thing, perhaps even a Southern generational thing?
To make things worse, turncoat hubby entertained ever-amused GP with the exploits of my shoe, sandals and boot adventures, starting with a recitation of that infamous first date - blind date! - when I got thirteen blisters and super-duper swollen feet from my brand new high-heeled sandals, from walking all over the Village in NYC on a very hot and long August day, evening and night, described in a bit more detail here on March 11. When scalpel-wielding GP made a few jokes at my expense, I do believe I did not say a word - how could I when he had the darn scalpel in his hand? Protective instincts kicked in when mouth started to say something smart...until scalpel was very far away.
So, what's this beauty tip, my great discovery that I alluded to in the title of this post?
It's all because of how cruddy I felt as a result of my doctor's visit. I've been meaning to write a review where I could incorporate Laura Geller's "lip strip" (a full 1-ounce jar, Lord have mercy!). I really don't want to go too negative in any reviews, perhaps to even ignore the unsuccessful products if at all possible with my conscience, but I've had this product for two or three years and on and off I've tried to find a way that this product would work for me. With dry mouth (yes - you understand, you fellow CFIDS/ME/Fibro people - you know exactly what I'm talking about, right??) I was determined that this product would work, come heck or high water.
Well, a few weeks ago, I finally declared (to I-really-don't-want-to-know hubby) that this product was the biggest waste of money ever, and I've had some real whoppers in the past. This "lip strip" just really got to me for some reason. I guess because there was no color that could be off, no face condition that could alter its properties, it just burned me up. It was a simple straight-forward product and it could not accomplish its designated task no matter what. Worse yet, too often it tore my lips to bleeding, in many places at once. If I had a hall of shame, I would declare this product the winner.
HOWEVER!!!! After I got home from the doctor's, I took off the pitiful makeup job I'd half-heartedly attempted, which I'd bothered with only because of a sense of responsibility to this blog (see how devoted and dedicated I am???? LOL!). I took off the awful makeup job with my miscellar water. Vichy had left patches of dry skin on the drier areas of my face (I have combination skin) on a few tests go's, so I was onto La Roche-Posay and it was splendid, though at this point my heart is divided between the La Roche-Posay and the Bioderma. I, in my brain-dead la-la world, found myself using the cotton pad on my lips too. This had disaster written all over it and I panicked as to how much dumber I could get. Sigh.
Shocker! I found that the La Roche-Posay miscellar water and cotton pad actually took the gross dead skin off my lips quite nicely, a feat which nothing had helped in the last couple of weeks, including the brushing-my-lips-gently-with-a-toothbrush trick I use quite frequently. I used the miscellar water-treated cotton pad quite gently and lightly wet the area (not too wet!) and soothed it on gingerly, prying off the dead skin not with my finger but with the cotton pad. My lips were a tiny bit sore 24 hours later, a bit on the reddish side, as if I had put some sort of lip venom on. I must admit this is/was a nice change from my usual bloodless, white or blue lips and not really uncomfortable. Best of all, no "cuts," or blood from the inadvertent "exfoliation."
Ah, I just thought to slather on some of my La Mer balm, little pots of which I have stashed all around, but not used regularly enough. And yes, La Mer's lip balm is the only thing that ever comes close to helping - it's really quite miraculous. I have no idea why I have other balms, etc., cluttering my cabinets. I know I'll never use them. They were awful when they came in, so do I honestly think their properties will change while sitting in my cupboards?
So, something to try for those of you who have (major) trouble with chapped lips, chapped lips which belong in a category of their own, who find no help with any lip balms, lip strippers, whatever. I am really excited and hope this trick with the miscellar water helps me in the future.
And I'm debating whether I was vain or just full of pride when I wore my new boots, hence the Jane Austen quote. But no, I have not given up on my boots. They were certainly not responsible for my idiotic ways!
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