Post Holiday Blues

I kept meaning to write something for a while but it just wasn’t happening.

I wanted to do a make up feature for Christmas, but I didn’t feel like there was much going on to inspire me… dark lips, matte skin, nothing new, etc. New eyelash lines popping all the time, call it the Essex effect or whatever you want, but nothing interesting.

And then my laptop decided to have a hissy fit again which resulted in me crying at Apple store at the rude and unsympathetic “genius” (they should really stop calling them that, genius means the IQ higher than 140 and I’m positive he wasn’t that smart). Anyway it all ended well due to my sheer determination and persistence, my laptop got fixed without too much expense.  But I was without it for a month.  So I couldn’t write. I mean, I could, but wasn’t feeling it.

So, what now? It’s January, PRs are busy again sending press releases about spring looks and that fake holiday planted in February to make February marginally interesting. And some people lonely. The Valentine’s.

Refuse to add to that, so count me out.

There is one thing I can recommend during this time of year. Pampering. The perfect time. Long baths, oils, skin nutrition, call it whatever you like, it makes sense. Think about it. You’ve probably had somewhat excessive Christmas holidays, even if you don’t celebrate it, short cold days and long nights mean a lot of food and alcohol being consumed. It’s the law. In January we regret it all and want to be “good” so we promise ourselves diet and exercise. And we fail miserably.

One way to go about feeling better about yourself is a little bit of rough loofa love. Exfoliate. Your skin is suffering from temperature changes, central heating, cold and wind. Be kind to it. Exfoliate the body after a good long soak. Massage rich creams and lotions that smell nice. My favourite scented body cream is Narciso Rodriguez, it automatically makes me feel better. Start preparing your body for spring and summer by regular body brushing, get that circulation going.

Apply nourishing face masks. Shed the last year’s skin and let the new year’s skin come shining through. Massage your face. Learn how to do a simple Shiatsu face massage technique, it really makes a lot of difference in skin tone. Generally adopt a "pamper" day as one day of the week. Not talking about a whole day here, but zone out for an hour or so.

That’s plenty to do in January for now. The future will be orange.