One of the neat things about the site is that they have a customized beauty plan for each person. You go on the site and before you can look at the products (which could be a pro or a con, depending on how quickly you’d like to view the products), you take a personalized skin test to determine which products would best fit you. I am a 3*6*3, which means that 2 different systems would work for me.

I tried the products over the course of a week and my verdict is that these are not for me. These may be for me over the summer, when my skin tends to be more oily, however, right now, with the weather cooling down, they dried my skin out even in my oily t-zone. My skin had extra redness after these products and a week after using them, I’m still dealing with the fallout.

Here is where I give you my disclaimer: I have super sensitive skin and I think that these products would work best for a person with normal to oily skin and no dryness or itching issues. I’m not a dermatologist, rather, I’m just someone that tried them and had a reaction. I also did NOT use the entire 4-part system that was recommended for my skin, so this may have contributed to the reaction I had to the products.

As such, I can’t say that I will be using these products for myself, but I can see that for those struggling with balancing an oily face, these might be a holy grail product. They are fairly inexpensive in that you can get the entire 4-piece set for $39.99 (so roughly $10 a piece) and they are only a little smaller than most department store sets. I did like the scent and the texture was nice. I didn’t have to use much, but I did feel like I would run out fairly quickly. Overall, if you are still searching for your perfect cleanser set, it’s worth a try, but if you’ve found something you like, you may not want to move in on this set.

Note: I received free products to keep in order to review them. I received no other compensation for my review and all opinions are my own.

However, it flickers. Oh, how it flickers. Like a flame just looking for a little encouragement to grow, it flickers and sparks and waits for the opportunity to shine. Unlike many adults, children don’t necessarily need to shine in front of others or with the purpose of recognition, or even allow their flame to grow at all. Sometimes, they just flame away without even thinking about it and move on. Such simple love and kindness.

I’ve seen this happen repeatedly in my life. Often during my time with my son and his friends and during my time in the school system. A few weeks ago, I saw it during a warm evening at the ballpark.

I was standing in line for one of the forty or so gatorades I buy every year at the concession stand when I saw him: the blonde little boy in front of me who was patiently waiting his turn. He couldn’t have been more than 8, at most, and was clutching three dollars. It was a school night and his eyes looked tired and sad. It was approaching 9 and he must have been at one of the early games and stayed for a sibling game.

I saw his eyes scan the menu. Hamburgers, Chicken (our stand serves Chik-fil-a!), hot dogs, french fries, sodas, energy drinks and many various candies. His little blonde head nodded slightly downward as he looked at the canisters in the front of the stand. Air heads, $0.25. Ring pops, $0.75. Tips for good service, please. Condiments. Napkins. Forks.

He looked carefully back to the menu and then to the canisters again and softly said, “French Fries, please.” The boy at the counter said, “Sure, kid. Anything else?” The little boy looked down at the canisters again, looking hard at the ring pops, and I saw him swallow. “No, no thank you.” He handed the concession stand worker his two dollars and waited for his french fries. They came promptly. He smiled, said thank you and deposited his $1 in the tip canister.

Generosity of spirit can be found in the most unexpected places. I am a lucky woman to find it in so many.

So, when my rep at SkincareRx.com, Mike, said “Hey, I’m sending you stuff, let me know if you like it,” I was over the moon. In the interest of full disclosure, my sponsor sent me the bag. In the interest of full disclosure, I’m giving you my completely honest review of the products contained within knowing my sponsor is probably going to read this, because I know, and they know, that not every product is right for every person or every skin type. You are going to hear me say that alot.

So, without further review, you wanna know about the stuff I got and what it was like. The beauty cache is a box filled with beauty stuff, some sample sized and some full sized. It is $29.95 and has a beautiful little case to put your new products in. Mine was blue. My products were not all the same as the pictured products, as some caches are different, and mine didn’t have the awesome little gift card because I’m a blogger and not a buyer. I used the products over the course of a month or so and used the skincare products on different weeks so I could tell if I had reactions to them.

Here is what mine contained based upon star review value:

Juara rice facial cleanser- 1.1 fl. oz. Holy wow. The best of the best. This stuff smelled amazing and cleansed my super sensitive skin without stripping it. I found myself looking online to see if they made a lotion in the scent. It only took a little and it was easy to use. It also made my hands soft after use. When I run out of the sample, which I haven’t yet, after a month, I’m going to be purchasing this. It is wonderful.

Jane Iredle Pure Lash Extender and Conditioner I have teeny tiny short, sparse lashes. Really? I have bald eyes. It’s true. The Telly Savalas of eyeballs. When I applied the extender/conditioner duo, I had lashes! It was amazing. A couple of things to note: It will feel like you have false lashes on. For some people, they can’t handle this and will fiddle with their lids. Don’t do it. You will just pull out your eyelashes or upset your eyelids. I was fine with it and I’m neurotic. Second, my eyelashes didn’t feel conditioned, but they didn’t feel brittle. For me, it was totally worth it. With this and my TooFaced Lash Injection, I had some serious peepers.

The Name is Product Pomade I’m a freak about my hair. When I was younger, I was ok with not caring about my hair, but now? Totally different story. My stylist always comments upon how healthy my hair is. I like that positive feedback. I crave it. My stylist is hot. It makes me feel special. My low self-esteem demands that attention. So….I was leery about trying something with a name like this. And I was wrong. WRONG. It looks non-descript. It’s in a jar and it looks like it might need to be heated in a microwave. Nope. I put the amount of a pencil eraser in my hand, rubbed it together and magically it made my wavy hair into “naturally curly hotness.” My hair goes all the way down my back. This little jar will last me ages. And it held for 2 days without feeling the slightest bit crunchy or greasy. I hid my jar. Nobody touches my jar.

Bond No. 9 So New York Eau de Parfum Where perfume is concerned, I don’t like hard scents. My everyday scent is a lemon scent. Yep. I’m a clean, light scented girl. But holy jeepers, this is hot. Just, HOT. I wore it and felt like every man in the room was looking at me. I know, that was slightly creepy, but it smelled good. And it lasted all day. And it’s expensive, but a little bit would last a long, long time. And I want more.

Pharmacopia Lavender body lotion 1.8 fl oz For most of my life, I despised the smell of lavender, but lately, I’ve been craving it. I’m not sure why other than it soothes me. Most aromatherapists agree that the scent of lavender is meant to be soothing and calming and relaxing. Life has been hectic lately and all I want is some peace, so lavender it is! Now, I have to be honest in that I have a quirk. I HATE the way lotion feels on the palm of my hand. I’ll wait while you process that and give me a look like this: o.O However, I soldiered on and found that I liked the way this felt on my body. It was luscious, for lack of a better term. Silky and thick and I found myself enjoying the scent of it all day. The only reason it was down a star is because it took a while to sink into my skin and I did not like the way my jammie pants felt when up against it.

Kinerase Advanced Radiance Face Peel-3 day supply Peels scare me. Seriously. When I said I have sensitive skin, that was no joke. When I saw a face peel I seriously considered not trying it and just throwing it into the “neutral not gonna do it” category. But, I’m a strong, amazing woman who takes one for the team. Well, that and I was curious. It kills cats, but in this case, it made my skin look great! After 3 days, I was glowing. I’m pretty certain there is nothing radioactive in my diet, so it had to be the peels. And, best of all, my skin wasn’t itchy or irritated. The price is a downfall here, and I might be reluctant to commit to a peel. One of my peel sticks was dried up, as well, but I have no doubt that the company would send me a new one if I’d asked. Not a bad peel if you are looking to peel.

Marina Cosmetics Sea Perfected Lipstick in Beach Breeze The major problem I found with this lipstick is that it was a frost. I’m too young to do a frost well and pull it off and the coloring was a little off for me as a person. This is going to be where personal preference comes in. I still gave it 3 stars because it was a GREAT moisturizing lipstick and hours later, when the frost wore off, my lips looked good.

MD Skincare All-In-One Tinted Moisturizer Sunscreen SPF 15 – Light Houston, we have a problem. While this tinted moisturizer moisturized my skin, it had the same fatal flaw that I’ve found all other tinted moisturizers have: Light doesn’t really mean light. My pretty porcelain princess sisters will agree that light doesn’t mean tan. I’m very light skinned with yellowish undertones and often have to go with products made for Asian skin because light means light, not medium. For some people, this would be a great tinted moisturizer, but for me, it was only a three.

Colorescience Sunforgettable SPF 30 – All Clear Well, I’m fair skinned and I burned baby burned. I was red like a lobster after this on the half of my body facing the sun. It did not last a 3 hour little league game. But it did keep me from sweating, strangely enough?

Heliocare Dietary Supplement For The Skin- 10 day supply I didn’t notice any skin changes for the better, but my skin didn’t get worse, either. I couldn’t say that this helped or hurt. Maybe I needed a longer go with or it’s possible it didn’t work for me.

MD Skincare Hydra-Pure Vitamin C Serum full size product Out of all the products I received, this is the one I most wanted to try. I’ve had excellent luck in the past with products that contain Vitamin C making my skin just glow. The minute I applied this one, my skin burned so badly that my eyes teared up and I immediately started looking for a washrag to remove it. This is not for a sensitive skin person.

SkinCeuticals Phloretin CF I had a similar experience with the Phloretin CF that I had to the C-serum. When I put it on, it was fine, however, the next morning, my forehead broke out and I itched like crazy. For a week. Sometimes products just are not chemically perfect for your skin. This wasn’t for me.

VitaMedica Arnica Montana 30X 5-Day Blister Pack – 40 Tablets This is a really specialized product for people who are undergoing plastic surgery procedures and therefore I couldn’t review it. It helps decrease swelling and the discomfort from surgery. It gets a neutral star because I don’t have anything, good or bad, to say about it, but it was in my pack and I wanted to acknowledge it was there.

So, overall, the beauty cache was well worth it’s price to try the products alone. There were several full sized/close to full sized products in there and if you did the cost analysis, it was silly not to try them if there were several you might use. I was happy to find several things I didn’t know about and I’m pretty well versed in skincare and make-up. Thanks again, to Mike and SkincareRx.com for the opportunity to try this stuff and let you guys know about it.

Besides being awesome and supporting unknown bloggers, they also do fun things such as giveaways to the faithful readers of said unknown blogs. It is another way of supporting this blog and rewarding the people who spend time here and I am incredibly grateful for their support. As such, I’d like to direct you back to their amazing home page and ask you to give them a whirl.

They are offering a great line of Skinceutical Advanced Brightening products, as well as all of the amazing skincare stuff you love. The Advanced Brightening products are particularly good for damaged skin, as they decrease the effects of that damage as well as protect your skin. If you aren’t using skincare, now is a good time to get started. I can tell the difference in my skin on the days that I use skincare versus the days I don’t. Soap and water isn’t enough, especially with the pollution we encounter daily in the air around us. I’m a fan of even toned skin, as mine tends to be blotchy, and this particular set helps even out the skin tone, as well.

My favorite product in the set is the sunscreen. I hate sunscreen. I hate the way it feels. I hate applying it. I hate having it on my face and stinging my eyes. I actually tried this brand a couple of years ago and it’s the only sunscreen I’ll use on my face because I can apply it with a makeup sponge and it feels like there is nothing there. Ok, enough gushing about the skincare. You want to know about the prize, right?

You don’t have the money to invest in skincare? This is where I come in and SkincareRx.com helps you out. We’re offering a giveaway for my readers! It is the largest prize I have ever offered and I’m thankful to them for sponsoring it. A gift card to SkincareRx.com is up for grabs in the amount of $150! This is NOT just for women. Men have skin, too, that needs protection. Even if you aren’t into your skin, I’m sure you know someone who is. Mother’s Day is coming up. What better gift than a $150 gift card to a great site? It’s pretty easy to enter, too. Here’s what you do:

As the sponsoring blog I will track and validate all entries. So when you post here that you posted or retweeted. I will check to see if you did. The winner MUST provide me with their full name, email address and a mailing address. Those are the rules. If you can’t do it, you can’t win.

How can you enter?

SkinCareRx Giveaway Entries

1) One entry for becoming a fan of SkincareRx on FaceBook
2) One entry for following SkincareRx on Twitter
3) 2 entries for retweeting any one of my tweets about this giveaway
4) 7 Entries for a blog post with a link directed to Skinceuticals Advanced Brightening System. This blog post must have a minimum of 100 words and use the words “SkinCeuticals Advanced Brightening System.”

That’s up to 11 entries! Post here when you have completed all of the entries you’d like to complete and I will keep track of them. The contest will run for 2 weeks and the winner will be posted March 22, 2010. Good luck everyone!

My YMCA card had dust on it, so I blew that sucker off and decided to get back to business. Over the weekend, I’d managed to get ‘er done (yes, I just said it-go on and disown me), but after the car fiasco, I knew there wouldn’t be time to workout. My fitness guru and very good friend, Mike, has been yoda-ing me in this go-round and he’d cautioned that I needed a recovery day for my body. So, I decided that a nice, leisurely walk with Reagan would do the trick.

I don’t play favorites with walking the dogs, it’s just that Sophie tuckers out after a block and Molly is so busy sniffing and marking territory that I’d never get anywhere if I took them. Reagan is built Ford-tough. She has tiny legs and some serious muscle in that little weiner dog body of hers. She went with me today for 35 minutes without complaint. We did have some adventures, though.

-We attacked every crunchy leaf in the vicinity of our walk. As the trees are letting them drop like crazy, this amounted to some serious attacks.

-A school bus full of children waved at us.

-Reagan whined at the school bus full of children because she knows that the school bus might mean AJ is there.

-When the bus went past with no AJ, she pouted, moped, and refused to jump on crunchy leaves until I was ahead of her crunchy leaf ratio 10:1.

-We went around a park and found a small stream that I didn’t know existed.

-A car drove past us with a little dog in it that so desperately wanted to make Reagan it’s “friend” that it almost jumped out the window. I watched as it slowly drove past with the dog hanging out the window and the owner laughing so hard he almost let go of the little dog.

-We saw some beautiful fall foliage.

-A LOOSE doberman came running after Reagan. Apparently my horns came out because I yelled at it “NO!” and “YOU GO HOME YOU VERY BAD DOG!” and it literally turned and ran with its tail between it’s legs. Wussy. I must have a fierce angry face. Don’t mess with anything I believe belongs to me. I will ruin you. I don’t care if you have teeth that can tear me apart. I look really mean when I’m mad. And if I see it again I will have no problem calling animal control and letting those people pay to get that dog back. Leash laws are there for a reason.

-Reagan gave me the biggest, happiest face when she saw the front yard. Dogs can grin, you know? We both got our fitness on.

Overall, my walk today was simply breathtaking. It helped remind me why fall is my favorite season. I hope that all of you are spending some time outside just enjoying the scents and beauty of this time of year. I want to take a second and thank Mike, one more time, for the time and effort he has been putting into me. My friendships mean a lot to me and he’s holding me accountable this time and it is what I needed. I’m one of those needy, hard to be friends with people because sarcasm is my defense mechanism, so it really is hard to put up with me on a regular basis. I’m also sensitive, so I take things the wrong way a lot. To be “in charge” of anything I’m doing, especially when I’m such a type-A, has got to be a pain in the butt, so thank you, again.

It’s hard to say exactly when the “slut ‘stume” craze started or when it will end. Perhaps it started when the whole horror movie thing began, and it makes sense. The most prominent scenes in horror films usually consist of a scantily-clad women being chased by a killer who miraculously catches up by walking at a slow even pace. And why do they include these scenes in horror movies? Because Dudes like it. Women likely picked up on it and ran with it by becoming short skirted nurses, cleavage showing police officers and strangely attractive witches.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m a dude and I like the “entertainment” just as much as anybody else – but seriously, the whole idea make no sense. Women are women, they are going to look good in anything. Plus, ladies shouldn’t do anything at 20 that they’ll be afraid to show their kids pictures of when they’re 30. Just sayin’.

Listening to the radio the other night I heard that Taylor Swift, the ideal woman (yes, I’m being slightly facetious here) and her friend decided in Junior High that instead of doing what all the other girls in her school did on Halloween they would take the alternative Halloween route. Instead of using Halloween as an excuse to act like a porn actress, they would dress completely opposite – as Chewbacca. Because the first thing every guy wants to see Taylor Swift in is a hairy alien Star Wars suit. Oh yeah.

But maybe it’s just another turn society is taking that is the result of peer pressure and lackluster parenting. Either way, if (when!) I have kids with Taylor Swift, they’re going to dress as Chewbacca and LIKE it.

________________________

Brandon Kiser is a teenage web and politics junkie lining in KY. He blogs at The American Kiser (americankiser.blogspot.com) and, at launch, will write for the conservative news site 73wire.com. Like every other cool cat nowadays he tweets using the shocking pseudonym @BrandonKiser .

However, Tuesday rolled around and it was time for some change. I’d scheduled a cut, color and highlights with my friend Chris, who is an awesome stylist. He’s been taking care of me for almost 2 1/2 years and, beyond being good at what he does, we have a good time when we are together. He’s one of those people that I feel like I can be myself with in that he’s going to get my jokes and he might even laugh at them. We’ll sit and talk for 3 hours with no awkwardness and I’ll leave feeling like I’m caught up on his life and, hopefully, he’s caught up on mine. It’s a good relationship and there are precious few of those around lately.

I got to hear about old women and dirty Subway jokes, political jokes that we have to whisper, just in case the other patrons might hear and I can tell him that my theme for this haircut is “Hot. Just make me look hot. I don’t care what you do to it” and know that it’s going to happen. And it did. And he’s awesome. At one point, his co-worker, who’d kept himself in the majority of our conversation, had commented that he liked to laugh, too, because we were both laughing so hard that Chris had to stop working.

Rare friendships. I love those.

Well, what do you think? It’s got some red in it, as well as some blonde. Oh, and there is a Chris in the picture, too. I’m not getting rid of anyone that says “You already are” when I tell him to make me pretty. Nope. He’s a keeper. I’m not telling you anything else that was said. We share an odd sense of humor.

Besides spending time with one of my favorite people, as well as the best stylist in the area, I got to see one of my besties, Kristin. I rarely go to her neck of the woods, as it’s almost an hour away and there is more to do in my area. However, it’s where Chris is and my hair isn’t going to take care of itself, though wouldn’t that be awesome? “Hair, color yourself!”

Anyway, I happened to choose the day that Kristin only works until 3, which was awesome because I was done around 3:30. I hugged Chris goodbye and set off to the mall. Leon and AJ, who’d both taken a couple of days off for fall break, decided to meet us there after Leon hurt himself playing golf. I’m not going to say a word about golf. Nope. Not a word. It was a somewhat last minute decision that Leon and AJ would come to do some mall-wandering and ended with all of us going to Olive Garden.

I love Olive Garden.

I want to marry Olive Garden and have little olive-ettes.

Then, on the drive home, which was blissfully quiet except for some *whispering* country */whispering* music, I was treated to a sunset that literally brought me to tears. One of the reasons I love Nashville so much is the scenery. There is something so beautiful about the rolling hills and the trees and the natural rocks. When I turn a corner, I’m treated to something new and amazing with every breath. Sorry for the junky windshield pictures. I’m too lazy to clean it and too mystified by the beauty of it to not share it with you.

As I pulled into Franklin, I swore I heard bells. The closer I got to Five Points (an area of historic downtown), the louder they pealed. As I checked for signs of neurological disorder, I realized that I was driving closer to one of the beautiful historic churches in the area. Someone was ringing the bells and it was glorious. The bells and the sunset and the sky and day I’d had…it was all too much.

What a wonderful day. Can I please have more of these?

Women, we do stupid things for beauty. You’ve probably gathered that women and beauty and womanhood are something of a theme for the last couple of days, but this is the end of the road for it, at least for a while. I know that I do something stupid for my looks at least weekly.

One example? My eyebrows.

I was born of a yeti. Mom, I’m not calling you a yeti, I swear. Please don’t take back my Christmas presents. I’m just saying you adopted me from a yeti because I have a unibrow that makes grown men cry. It’s true. If I neglect this baby, I make muppets look like they wax. So, I have 2 options: waxing or plucking. Neither of them are appealing. I’m not going the electrolysis route. I’m just not. Yes, I’ve heard of threading. I don’t want to scream at the person who is doing my brows, so I’m going to pass.

Let’s talk about some of my eyebrow experiences.

How about the one time the woman almost pulled my face off.

Yes, it actually happened. My friend Kristin was there. This took place around 2002 and it was around the 2nd or 3rd time I’d had my brows waxed. The wax was bubbling. This is not a good sign. This is not how wax is supposed to be when you are going to put it on your face. The woman who was to do my brows was busy cutting hair, so another stylist said she would do it.

This is never a good sign.

Do not pass go. Do not collect $200 and never, ever let someone pinch hit on your brows.

When the wax went on I could feel my skin bubble and tears welled in my eyes. It was then that I knew I was in trouble. She tugged and I could feel the blood. I was young and didn’t realize that I SHOULD HAVE SAID SOMETHING. ALWAYS SAY SOMETHING. She then WENT OVER THE SAME SPOT AGAIN. I left with burns.

For beauty. Oh, I left looking like something, that’s for sure.

Let’s go to this earlier this year.

I was getting my brows done again. Look, I told you, if they aren’t done I’m a yeti. The woman was clearly not concentrating and the wax was thin and runny. It ran down my brow and into my eyeball.

Women are stupid for beauty. All I can say is that I hope men and other women appreciate it.

Susan, the woman I spoke of yesterday, and I, did a presentation last semester on the stereotypes on obesity. During our preparation, we had a great discussion about how men view women. I shared my ideas on it based upon my personal experiences. She found them humorous, and true. As I’ve grown more comfortable in my blog and sharing my ideas with you, I’m going to put them forth here. I’m not attempting to ignore the aspects of being a smaller woman, however, it was interesting to me how the women that I speak to in regards of this subject all seem to agree with the principles that I put forth.

I’m not ignoring races, simply addressing the three I know best: Caucasian, African American and Hispanic. This is based on my own experiences and will not encompass every man there is out there. There will be outliers.

Caucasian men prefer women of smaller stature. They are less comfortable with a larger woman and if their woman starts small and gets larger, they are less inclined to feel attraction towards her. Large women are not seen as beautiful or comely, rather, they are seen as slovenly or unattractive. They follow the idea of “if I can’t carry her, I don’t want her” mentality. Curves are appreciated, but even the once revered hourglass figure may be looked upon with disdain.

African American like their curves. They prefer their women to be large in the chest and in the bottom and if the woman is a little thick in the thighs and stomach, all the better. One of my friends, also in the program, made the comment that it is “all the more to hold onto.” They don’t mind small women, but seem to gravitate towards medium to larger women. A pretty face means more to them then the typical “slammin body.”

Hispanics go with the idea of “the bigger the better.” I will never forget the time I was in New Orleans for a convention. My friend Steven and I were standing near a corner and he was on the phone with a drunk dial. I was trying to get his attention to get him back to the hotel. As I stood there, a black Escalade pulled up. The darkened window rolled down and an extremely attractive, dark eyed, dark haired man looked at me and smiled. He motioned for me to come closer. I smiled and shook my head in what I thought was a polite manner. His smile turned lewd and he motioned again, this time, more persistently. I held up my left hand and motioned to my ring finger. He winked and motioned me to come closer anyway. And this point, I grabbed Steven tightly and the man laughed, shook his head in what appeared to be disappointment, and rolled away.

Clearly, some very different ways of perceiving something. So, why is it that all 3 can have different points of view? I think it boils down to cultural differences as well as social norming practices. We value what surrounds us. If you are surrounded by the idea that women should be tall, thin and skinny to be beautiful, it will pervade what you consider beauty. If your idea of beauty is someone that looks like your mama and can cook like your mama, the idea of someone with a little meat on their bones is going to be appealing. Curves and all that go with them may almost seem goddess-like to you. The more involved you are in social norms, the more pulled in to the media based beauty ideals you will be and I think this is reflected in the differences in men.

I’m open for disagreement, however. I’ll take appreciation where I can get it. I like that when I go to school, a historically black university, that men open doors for me and make kind comments. I’m not a feminist and maybe I should be more wary of it. I’m not. I appreciate it. I like being called “mamacita” when I go by a construction site and the rare whistle from a man when I wear a skirt (even more rare).

Appreciation in all forms is nice. Men in all forms are nice. Thanks to those that are enjoy the body in all of its shapes.

Women wear makeup for other women. It’s true and it’s not a secret. I’ve said it before, here in this blog. Men, it may come as a surprise for you and a small blow to your ego, but we aren’t competing with you, are we? We’re competing for you and your attention. For those married folks, we’re competing to keep what we’ve got or gain something new. For those who are single, they are shopping their options and the goal is to be the prettiest peacock on the block.

Over the summer, a friend of mine in my program at school, Susan (Not her name), mentioned to me that she thinks I’m beautiful. I mentioned to her that I’d pay her to say it all day long. She laughed and said that because I’m a white woman, and a large woman, that she gets it. And I think she does. I’ll talk more about this tomorrow. She stated that she noticed that I have more confidence on the days that I wear makeup and the days that I do my hair (instead of my favored ponytails) and pop some earrings in or wear jewelry. Adorning my face gives me confidence.

“She has such a pretty face, if only she’d do something about that body.”

Fair enough. Last week, I tested it. True to form, I get a different reaction from people when I “do my face.” Either, I’m projecting more confidence or I’m looking good and it gets a different reaction. I’m assuming it’s a little of both, but more the latter. Research has shown that attractive people tend to get more favorable reviews when asked how they are viewed by observers. We like pretty people. There is a reason the cosmetics corporations make billions of dollars.

Women want to look good and they like the way people respond.

I liked the way people responded to me last week. They were quick to meet my needs. They were complimentary. They were interested. It conditioned my response. I spent a good 20 extra minutes a day on hair and make-up. What? I’m still low-maintenance. You can’t pay me to spend more time than that on looking good.

You should see the responses I get when I don’t wear my wedding rings. That’s another post for another day.

Have any of you had similar experiences?