How About...Being Really Superficial, For a Change?

I've been writing posts in my head about books, movies, economic injustice, E's tantrum-filled weekend, and my achievement of a new state of parental Zen patience, which hopefully will persist till the end of this trial, but I think I'm going with cosmetics.

I have also recently achieved a new state of cosmetic stability, and I am quite happy about it.

I have super-sensitive skin, and for years, like, uh, maybe 20 , I used only Clinique products. Then I got sick of them. So I went to Origins, talked at length with an earnest and supportive beautiful-skinned saleswoman, emerged with a slew of White Tea products, took them home, used them, and was not so happy. But they were expensive, so I finished them, not so happily.

Meanwhile, Lucy's friend K is a famous dermatologist (really, she was in a magazine), and she says Neutrogena is just as good as anything else. So when I started to run out of the unhappy White Tea products, I replaced them with Neutrogena. Now I have Neutrogena make-up remover, toner, face moisturizer, cleanser, and scrub. And they're all great. And cheap. And I can get them at the drugstore.

The best thing is that, all those years using Clinique, I thought I had dry skin. My face was so dry I felt it. I used this Clinique super-moisturizer in a pretty little blue glass tub at night, and it was like giving my face a drink of water. I was positively a Clinique advertisement. But, you know what? Now that I use Neutrogena, I don't even need moisturizer at night anymore. I'm now a Neutrogena advertisement!

Then there's the hair. The hair has never been stable, and while I would predict 20 years with Neutrogena barring unforeseen circumstances, I'm sure the hair situation will change within months. But for now, we're good.

The lice fiasco led to much discussion of my hair, with conclusions regarding dry hair, dry scalp, and dandruff, which led to experimentation, which led to current solution. But first I must explain that I have ridiculous hair. It is quite thick and was once curly, but now it is generally straightISH except when it is curlyISH and then there are the times when it is something in between. In other words, my hair is highly variable, depending on outside variables including weather (mainly), product, swimming, running, blowdrying, and probably things I don't even know about, but wish I did, because then I might be able to control my hair. My hair is also much more of a problem in winter. I also need a haircut because I am totally sick of my hair, but I don't know what to do with it, so I'm taking suggestions.

Currently, though, my hair looks and feels fairly reasonable when I wash it with Grandpa's Wonder Pine Tar Shampoo and use Paul Mitchell Instant Moisture Conditioner.

As for my body, I've used Lubriderm Seriously Sensitive since I can remember, and I don't see that changing.

And if this post doesn't make you question why you read blogs, then you may be too far gone for help.

[Note: there are no links in this post, because those cosmetic sites are complicated and confusing, and I didn't feel like running back and forth into the bathroom to check what I actually have, and I certainly wasn't going to bring all my cosmetics out to the computer, so I didn't have to run back and forth into the bathroom.]