Shopping Online

 Hi, all!  I was thinking about the last year and a half  and all the changes to our lives we have had to deal with.  I am thinking they aren’t all bad.  What do you think?  What changes have you made that you intend to keep now that life is getting back to normal — sort of?  I can think of one for myself.

That would be online shopping.

I had already done a good deal of online shopping prior to Covid but the stay at home orders made it even more necessary.  I find I like it a LOT.  I can take my time, browse my favorite sites, read reviews and honestly, in my case, make better purchasing decisions.

Over the course of this year I have sort of re-invented myself.  I have developed a sort of capsule wardrobe with a particular color scheme.  My hair is now all gray in a shade I like to call “Mouse”.  So, my colors are black, white, gray, and navy —and my accent colors are red and turquoise — all colors complimentary of a “Mouse”.  I have narrowed down my shopping venues to stores (Lands End being one) that have products that I know fit me and the quality is good so I don’t stray from those.  My feet are a pain -  literally — so I have really given up trying to buy trendy shoes and have narrowed my choices down to those I can get from a shoe company called SAS.  Some of their stuff is a little weird but they are made well, made in the USA and readily available for online shopping and, if necessary, local return.  

Another place that changes have been made is in hair care.  I really don’t like going to salons so not being able to really wasn’t a problem for me.  I can cut my own hair well enough to make do and most times I honestly prefer it even with it’s slight wonky-ness.  My hair still retains some chemo curl and I have been stressing over how thin it has become — thin curls, never a good look.  So I purchased some hair thickening shampoo from Living Proof and it is really nice.  It makes my hair feel completely different and when I use some Giovanni hair gel, it is actually acceptable.  I don’t dry it anymore, I just scrunch it so the curls will form and let it air dry.  Then I “comb” it with my fingers and voila — I am a puff ball.  It is good enough for me.

Nail care is something I have stressed over for years.   I have never had great nails and always wanted long, glossy, manicured nails.  Fugidaboutit.  Not gonna happen.  My latest foray into nail care was getting sucked into the Olive and June system which guarantees the polish will stay on for two weeks.  Uh, not on me.  It was peeling off in two days.  So, I have now settled on a nail care routine that doesn’t involve much of anything except general maintenance and it is a win for me because my nails, when long, tend to break in the quick and I am hoping for less of that. It hurts.

Make up is almost a thing of the past now.  I have never worn much but now I have it down to a system too.  Skin care is the thing I spend my time and money on.  I have cleaned out my make up drawer and honestly, literally, just thrown out money because I don’t buy cheap stuff. I try for clean these days — trying to do my body a favor — and some of it works and most of it doesn’t.  So the one thing that is gone forever is foundation.  I was never good with foundation because I have a rather strange skin tone and have never been able to match it very well.  Apparently after much research I have a Celtic complexion which make sense considering my dna and my coloring is that of a pink salt lamp so the process of finding a clean, non-toxic foundation is pretty daunting and the pay off is not worth the aggravation.  Plus, in the Texas heat it lasts for about a minute.  So, I have narrowed it down to a few items and after experimenting with several clean brands and one not so clean (Glossier) I have decided that my cosmetics of choice will come from Jane Iredale.  I love the Glossier products but they aren’t as clean as I like and maybe it isn’t a big deal since I don’t wear it every day but if I keep it to JI then I don’t have to constantly be researching product safety.

So, all these things are what has kept my mind busy through these months of isolation.  I have had the opportunity to sort through and suss out what really works for me.  There is more and I will touch on that later but for now I can say that the lesson I have learned during this whole difficult time we have all lived through is my new rule of life is to be true to myself.  Sounds like a 50’s song and it is a concept that I wish I had embraced in my younger years rather than being a sheep and following the crowd.  But, better late than never and I can honestly say, for the first time in my life, I am finally comfortable in my own skin.  

And comfortable with online shopping!