Well, I’m looking at the other deb’s beauty suggestions this week and I’m surprised that no one mentioned hemroid cream. Seriously. I have a close friend who was in the beauty industry (which spends its $ making women feel insecure so they’ll buy products to make themselves feel more secure, but that’s a different post) and a few years ago everyone in the industry had hemroid cream in their purses because apparently it decreases under-eye bags. I’d love to say I didn’t try it but I’m not a morning person and just as much of a sucker for a cure as anyone. Let’s just say you’re better off with the gel than the suppositories, if you want to attempt it.
I’m going to keep it short this week because I’m wildly stressed with Falling Under coming out in five weeks and doing my best to follow the beauty advice of my fellow debs:
–full body sweat every day since Monday when I read Gail’s post,
–smiling lots, relaxing and heading off to the MAC counter when absolutely necessary, according to Jenny
–plus due to Lisa, The Oppressor and I now have a 4x/week quota to meet, not that we’re counting and not that I’m telling
–less sugar and white stuff, less stree overall, more veggies, more fruit, less caffeine (working on it!) and more water and breathing and and and….
Well, the list is endless, isn’t it!?
So tell me: have you got a sneaky and/or bizarre beauty secret? How about an anti-stress secret that doesn’t involve huge quantities of sugar, fat and/or alcohol? If so, I want to hear it…and I might even try it…
Sorry that I don’t have a beauty secret, but as far as the stress? here’s what I’ve been doing lately: I haven’t written in weeks, but I can’t seem to get enough of playing my Wii. And you know what? It’s not really stressing me out that I still only have 6473 words done on my WIP. Maybe it was time for a break.
Sorry about your stress, Danielle. Take a Benadryl and come on over – we’ll bowl and play tennis until that stress just melts off you. I’ll even feed you, too.
Thanks, Joanne. That’s a great invitation!
Ok so this is going to sound wierd but I sometimes use Castor Oil (laxative) on my face. I read that it helps with pimples and so I tried it and it does work and right away I might add.
Cheryl, I love it! How did you hear about this? And is there any particular way to do it?
And I just remembered, you know what else is great as a face mask to calm redness, reduce oil and also clear pores? Milk of Magnesium. I read this in the Paula Begoun Beauty Bible a few years ago and it also really works.
Uh…anyone noticing a theme here?
You are probably all too young to have Doris Day in your memory bank … an actress and singer and great beauty in the ‘girl next door’ mode. She said she slathered her face in vaseline every night when she went to bed. I was a teenager then and of course I tried the same thing. My mother put a stop to this when she saw what it did to the sheets. Think what my face might have looked like now had I been allowed to pursue this regime!
C
This sounds counter-intuitive, but to de-stress about publishing I pack my day with non-publishing stuff (you know, once I get my writing jobs done.) The day before my novel went to auction I invited people over and cooked complicated meals and packed every minute with stuff so I couldn’t ruminate. It worked!
Cindy, that’s hilarious. I can just picture you with your face covered in Vaseline. However, you do look pretty damned good as it is, so I don’t think you suffered from having your Vaseline privileges taken away.
Kristina, this is a unique and wise way to cope with publishing stress. Hmm. Maybe I should start cooking after all…
Well, Danielle, you and your mom took my two strange beauty secrets that I’ve never tried, but there’s one left. Put toothpaste on a blemish, preferably toothpaste not greenish mint in color! 😉
And for less stress, just play with your little girl.
Larramie–toothpaste! Okay, I can see how that might work and be soothing at the very least. Now I wonder if it could be used as a masque…
now all off you are scaring me. You know the insdie of an avocado peel makes a fabulous moisturizing mask
No special way to apply the Castor Oil. Justapply before going to sleep and wash off in the morning.
Warning through as the stuff is sticky and thick. I read about it in a book titled Acne Free in 3 Days by Chris Gibson
Deep breaths, D.
All will be well with the book and the world. You’ve written a wonderful book and it will find a loyal audience.
XO,
Lisa
PS — Sex is a stress reliever and mood elevator as well — think of the Oppressor as human valium.
Gail–the avocado sounds lovely. Sorry to scare you with all these other options, lol.
Cheryl, thanks for the instructions–and everyone, consider yourselves forewared.
Lisa, you’re a doll. And The Oppressor will love the comparison. Hilarious.
I’ve found the best thing to do is to dive into another project, so that everything isn’t riding on the one you have coming out. That way you are looking forward to a horizon that is further than the pub date. Helps keep things in perspective.
Meg, I like that advice. I am working on the next book and really dying for more time to give it. I also think I might need to impose a better structure on my writing day. Somehow there is just WAY too much to do and I’m pretty sure drinking wine and eating massive bowls of ice cream to ease the stress is counterproductive.
Man, I don’t have any beauty secrets! That explains a lot. Pretty much “don’t walk the dog in my bathrobe after 7 am”. But that’s more for my neighbors’ emotional health than for mine.
Stress reduction? I’m down with wine, and also distraction. A few years ago, when we were waiting to know whether our offer on a house had been accepted, we watched a really stressful episode of “24” and pretended THAT was what was stressing us out. It was weird, but it dispersed a little nervous energy.