Grooming Annoyances

[livius drusus]

An old roommate of mine used to gripe about how tediously Sisyphean grooming was. You can never get a jump on it. You just have to keep doing it day after day, year after year, lather, rinse, repeat.

I'm not talking about hours of makeup application or blowdrying or girly grap like that, mind you. I mean just the basic degrossing we all have to do in order not to repulse our fellow humans.

She resented having to shower every day. I hate having to cut my toenails. Sometimes I put it off so long my feet hurt in formal shoes. I don't know why they have to grow so fast and I'm pretty resentful that they'll keep on growing even after I'm dead. Damn you, toenails! :shakefist:

Am I just a slug or do y'all know what I mean?

[LadyShea]

I hate toenail cutting as well, and I hate having to decallous my heels. It's stupid I know, but if I don't pumice them daily they get like leather and it's gross.

[dave_a]

I hate toenail cutting as well, and I hate having to decallous my heels. It's stupid I know, but if I don't pumice them daily they get like leather and it's gross.

While I would care if someone smelled of BO or had last nite's food on their face, I just can't imagine caring about toenails or calloused heels.

Well, if one is in bed with someone who has long toenails I suppose that could be annoying while cuddling, but...

anyway, why don't you ladies just chill out a bit and give yourselves a break.

Take a shower in the morning, do your hair and apply some makeup if you feel like doing so and leave it at that.

[livius drusus]

I kind of like pumicing my feet (not just my heels but the balls of my feet as well). It feels good in a warm, fragrant bath. Then again, if I had to do it every day, I'd fucking hate it like poison.

[lady cop]

:yup: ...by the third 12-hour shift in a row i am too damn tired to drag myself into the shower and give up an extra 15 minutes of sleep, not to mention wash uniforms and put brass back on...but i do it. because the night before i know god-awful microbes and bodily fluids were deposited on my person and clothing. i have made it manageable however, strip before i enter the house (it's dark out), get the combat boots off, who knows what bloody horror i have stepped in, and wash the night off ....go to bed clean. but i do not mess with blowdrying and all that, just let hair air dry and put it off my collar into ponytail. do spray some perfume and get a manicure every couple weeks so people can tell i'm a female.(Livius, why not treat yourself to a pedicure?) that's it. oh..and brush teeth.

[livius drusus]

anyway, why don't you ladies just chill out a bit and give yourselves a break.

Um... It's not a ladies thing. I specifically said in my OP that I wasn't talking about primping, but rather basic oil change every 3000 miles maintenance. Don't you have to cut your toenails, shave, floss, clean your ears, scrub your taint? Doesn't it just kind of bug you to have to do them? My dad hates shaving, for instance, and I assure you he's no twittering girlyman.

Take a shower in the morning, do your hair and apply some makeup if you feel like doing so and leave it at that.

I don't wear makeup during the day and I usually put my hair, wet or dry, in a quick french twist. I can quite literally get ready in 10 minutes in the morning. That's not really the kind of thing I'm talking about.

[livius drusus]

:yup: ...by the third 12-hour shift in a row i am too damn tired to drag myself into the shower and give up an extra 15 minutes of sleep, not to mention wash uniforms and put brass back on...but i do it. because the night before i know god-awful microbes and bodily fluids were deposited on my person and clothing. i have made it manageable however, strip before i enter the house (it's dark out), get the combat boots off, who knows what bloody horror i have stepped in, and wash the night off ....go to bed clean.

Oh man... Night showers suck! Particularly the fast ones because you so want to sleep but if there are any moist bits left (get your mind out of the gutter right now, dave) sliding into bed feels gross. The fact that you have to wash off the worst spooge humanity has to offer makes it even worse, because you really can't just say fuck it and collapse face-forward into your pillow.

(Livius, why not treat yourself to a pedicure?)

You know, that's a really good suggestion. I haven't had a pedicure in ages. I don't see why I couldn't make it a regular event, then I could pay someone else to do all the cutting and pumicing and get a nice little massage to boot. Thanks for the idea, lady cop. :thankee:

[lady cop]

Livius.. take some mindless magazine, sit there and let someone else tend to your toes, and walk out in (Roman) sandals feeling very well-groomed and sexy! hey, you deserve it, right? some things we have to do! i keep my nails long and RED, i may wear a man's clothes, but i smell like shalimar and when i hook them up (handcuff) or pepper spray them i do it with style and panache! :giggle:

[dave_a]

anyway, why don't you ladies just chill out a bit and give yourselves a break.

Um... It's not a ladies thing. I specifically said in my OP that I wasn't talking about primping, but rather basic oil change every 3000 miles maintenance. Don't you have to cut your toenails, shave, floss, clean your ears, scrub your taint? Doesn't it just kind of bug you to have to do them? My dad hates shaving, for instance, and I assure you he's no twittering girlyman.


Well, I generally get an oil change every 10-20k miles, the new engines do just fine with that contrary to owner's manuals and auto dealer claims :D

I actually don't get bothered by the routine. It is pretty basic and fast. Yes, I shower and shave, brush my teeth, clean my ears and all that, but that is about all I do.

I generally chew my finger nails during the day as a nervous habit so that takes no time or effort. My hair is short so I don't do anything with it, it just kind of lays the way I want it to. I absolutely don't use a pumice stone on my feet, I see no point in that personally.

I use an electric shaver so it's pretty fast and easy and I often will shave while on the throne so it doesn't add any time.

All told I would say my morning routine takes me about 20 minutes from get out of bed to dressed and ready to leave.

[wildernesse]

I totally agree. The only thing I really begrudge is the tweezer-work, which really needs to be done each day to keep me from looking like a Neanderthal. I'm lazy, so I just look like a transitional link most days. Egads.

[LadyShea]

I absolutely don't use a pumice stone on my feet, I see no point in that personally.

Well, I didn't want to get too gross, but if I don't do it my heels will literally crack, and the rough part isn't pink...it looks dirty, like I don't wash my feet. I also usually wear shoes with no backs, so you can see my heels. It's gross.

[The Lone Ranger]

I hate having to cut my toenails. Sometimes I put it off so long my feet hurt in formal shoes. I don't know why they have to grow so fast and I'm pretty resentful that they'll keep on growing even after I'm dead. Damn you, toenails! :shakefist:


That's a myth, by the way. After death, as the skin dries, it shrinks. This creates the illusion that the hair and nails continue to grow for awhile after death, as the skin withdraws and leaves more of the hair and nails exposed than you normally see, but they don't continue to grow after death. How could they?

Cheers,

Michael

[livius drusus]

/me smiles.
That's great news, Michael; thank you. You have reduced my general bitterness by at least a factor of three.

[dave_a]

I absolutely don't use a pumice stone on my feet, I see no point in that personally.

Well, I didn't want to get too gross, but if I don't do it my heels will literally crack, and the rough part isn't pink...it looks dirty, like I don't wash my feet. I also usually wear shoes with no backs, so you can see my heels. It's gross.

Interesting. I hadn't considered it before, but my wife's feet do the same thing. She has one heel that is horribly cracked. Ok, I guess I can see doing the pumice stone thing in that case. Sucks to be you in this sense I guess.

I wonder why one person's feet will crack and another's won't? During the warm months I rarely wear shoes unless I leave my property so I would imagine I am ripe for all manner of gross foot issues, but other than the very occasional planter's wart I never have any issues.

[Talulah]

My heels recently did that and that cracked heel antiseptic lotion they sell at Walmart cured it (the crack came together although it isn't fused yet) in 4 days. I almost didn't buy the stuff because I have this theory that all lotions and soaps are the same general formula but they just put in different looking bottles and price it what they think you will pay for that particular problem.

I don't know what causes it. I have never had this problem before but all the sudden I developed cracks all over both heels so bad it hurt to walk. I thought I had something wrong with my feet until I looked at my heels and saw they were cracked deeply, to my horror.

[wildernesse]

I've never had cracked heels, that sounds painful. I can barely keep my toenails painted, which is rather slovenly (not natural toenails, just the half painted, half grown out painted ones like mine). But, I hate having pedicures done. My fingernails keep themselves for the most part, thank goodness.

Besides tweezer-work, I also dislike having to wash my face at night. But when I don't, my face breaks out worse. Imagine that.

[Roland98]

Pumicing feet? I must be a Neanderthal, because I've never even heard of that, much less done it.

I have gotten much more low-maintenance since having the kids. Straightening my hair has literally saved me hours a week. I wash it maybe every other day if that, and have to blow-dry it and flat-iron the roots a bit (since it's now been 7 months since I had it done, and the new roots are kinda fuzzy), but beyond that I hardly do anything with it. When it was curly, I'd have to wash it every day or I looked like the Bride of Frankenstein, and after washing it I'd have to put gel in it, blowdry it a bit (it took about 6 hours to air-dry) and then mess with it to get it to look okay. What a pain.

The only thing I really hate to do is shave my legs. In the summer I usually wax so I have to mess with them less frequently, but in the winter I'm much more likely to just let them go and shave only once/week or so. One perk about living in a cold climate. :) And I'm with you on the toenail thing. Only now I have to cut toenails/fingernails for myself and the rugrats, so I triply hate it!

[Ex-zombie]

I hate flossing my teeth. My teeth are very close together and every time I eat so much as a morsel of food I guarantee some of it is stuck in my teeth. So I get the rather odious task of flossing. I spend at least five minutes after every meal getting the crap out of my teeth. Toothpicks don't work at all. Rinsing out my mouth doesn't work. I have to use the waxed floss just to get it in between my teeth. :fuming:

[freemonkey]

I hate the the daily maintence routine. It gets harder and more time consuming as you age, too. Plus, I'm always either forgetting to do stuff, or running out of time to do it.

but my wife's feet do the same thing. She has one heel that is horribly cracked.
Is it the right foot? And does she wear open-back shoes, or drive barefoot? If so, its from driving, that heel rests on the floorboard.

[xorbie]

What I hate is that now that I'm growing my hair out, it takes like an hour to try and I need to comb and what not. Grr...

But it's worth it, I suppose.

[ceptimus]

Livius, why not treat yourself to a pedicure?Do you just turn up at the pedicurist with stinky feet, dirt behind your toenails, etc., or do you have to give yourself a pre-pedicure before presenting your feet to the professionals?

[Beth]

I love to tweeze my brows, I enjoy the pain (I know, I must be ill :P), I enjoy the neat way that plucking this brow or that can totally change the look of my face. I do find shaving my legs annoying however, so I do not do it every day, usually every two or three days, unless there is a romantic spurt in my life causing hubby to have more frequent contact with my legs;). I have lighter hair and when I was a kid, the hair was very white and thin, so even when I forget to shave, I do not turn into a hairy ape. Anyway, it just really really bugs me to go through that and I resort to wearing jeans or slacks.

I am a very cold person by nature, meaning I get chilled very easily. It is 72 degrees right now and I'll probably have to throw on sweats in order to take my son to the busstop in a few, otherwise I would start shaking and my teeth would shatter, so I hate getting showers. I solved this problem by getting a space heater for my bathroom and heating up to about a hundred degrees before getting in so that my body would not convulse upon leaving the shower.

I enjoy most of the rest of grooming. I like painting my face, I normally do not paint my fingernails, but do my toes when bored and waiting for my kids to get off the bus (I wait in my car).

I suppose the thing I hate more than anything in the whole grooming thing is getting my hair cut. People sometimes really screw up my hair and my hair reacts to each cut differently. I loathe the suprise I face when I greet my new style. It can either make me look like a babe or some old geek.

[Godless Dave]

I don't really like shaving. Keeping my sideburns and goatee symmetrical is a pain in the ass, particularly because my chin isn't symmetrical so my goatee often looks crooked.

I hardly ever floss, and have infected gums as a result.

[livius drusus]

I hate flossing my teeth. My teeth are very close together and every time I eat so much as a morsel of food I guarantee some of it is stuck in my teeth. So I get the rather odious task of flossing. I spend at least five minutes after every meal getting the crap out of my teeth. Toothpicks don't work at all. Rinsing out my mouth doesn't work. I have to use the waxed floss just to get it in between my teeth. :fuming:

Ex-zombie, I'm going to show you something now that will change your life (and possibly Godless Dave's too if he listens to me).

Meet Plackers (http://www.plackers.com/fine.html) and never look back again. Floss easily nomatter how close together your teeth are with one hand. No need to use a mirror. Hell, I've flossed sitting here reading the forum. I keep a bag at work and about 20 backup bags at home.

I never used to floss and my gums bled every time I brushed. Not anymore. Plackers singlehandedly saved me from a periodontal fate worse than death.

[Godless Dave]

Yeah, I have a pack of those. I've used them about five times in the last year. So, they've helped me increase how often I floss by 400%.

[livius drusus]

You can't argue with success. ;)

[lady cop]

Livius, why not treat yourself to a pedicure?Do you just turn up at the pedicurist with stinky feet, dirt behind your toenails, etc., or do you have to give yourself a pre-pedicure before presenting your feet to the professionals?
when you go in they immediately immerse your feet into a soothing and cleansing warm whirlpool footbath. very relaxing. and when your feet are squeaky clean they minister to your toes, fluff, buff, polish! :cool:

[livius drusus]

I'd definitely hose them down first if they were stinky or something, but as lady cop describes, a quick rinse does not a pedicure make, so you can't really call it a pre-pedicure pedicure. :nail:

[Scotty]

I am not annoyed by the grooming thing, since I have little hair on my head, little time required to take care of it.

Shaving is annoying, but I do that every other day now and it is not as annoying because of that.

I do have a lot longer hair on my back now...

I have three baby teeth still, so flossing can be annoying especailly since the teeth are so small the teeth next to them have their root exposed and that can be slightly painful (and the rest of the teeth are crammed together tight too).

Yes, three baby teeth left, a genetic defect left three adult teeth missing, but my baby teeth are still alive and kicking with filled cavities and one is cracked, but what the heck, no root canals yet.

I still have my wisdom teeth too. I don't know why, but they don't bother me (except for chewing holes in my cheeks because they are at a funny angle).

-Scott

[wei yau]

I hate shaving.

I don't even have to do it that often, but that's precisely why I hate it. My facial hair grows very sparsely and sporadically. Sometimes there is just enough to see, but not enough to get a real good shave. So, I let it go and then I start looking like I have dirt on my face.

Maybe I need a new razor or something.

[wei yau]

i keep my nails long and RED, i may wear a man's clothes, but i smell like shalimar and when i hook them up (handcuff) or pepper spray them i do it with style and panache! :giggle:

Not wanting to sound like some kind of internet stalker or anything...but is it wrong that I found this to be arousing? Am I alone in this?

I'm a perv, aren't I?

:lecher:

[lady cop]

i keep my nails long and RED, i may wear a man's clothes, but i smell like shalimar and when i hook them up (handcuff) or pepper spray them i do it with style and panache! :giggle:

Not wanting to sound like some kind of internet stalker or anything...but is it wrong that I found this to be arousing? Am I alone in this?

I'm a perv, aren't I?

:lecher:
LOL no, you're not a perv! that cop fetish some females have also happens in reverse, males always want me to search them, so i just hand them over to a brother officer if i think they like it too much! :whup:

[wei yau]

LOL no, you're not a perv! that cop fetish some females have also happens in reverse, males always want me to search them, so i just hand them over to a brother officer if i think they like it too much! :whup:

Thanks for the reassurance, officer. I'll just be on my way now.

(BTW: You know that you spend too much time posting, when lady cop's sig makes you wonder: "What's so dangerous about private messages?")

[Ex-zombie]

You know when the subject of searches came up I was going to ask a question but I figured it would make me sound like a pervert. But since Eldar has opened up the subject I'll go ahead and ask.

Liv, if I hid a bunch of smilie codes on my body would you search me to find them? :D

[livius drusus]

You'd be assuming the position so fast your knees would buckle, my friend. :whup:

[lady cop]

You'd be assuming the position so fast your knees would buckle, my friend. :whup:
you go girl! :cop: :D

[livius drusus]

Can I borrow your vamp nailpolish? Oh, and your nightstick? :heybabeh:

[lady cop]

Can I borrow your vamp nailpolish? Oh, and your nightstick? :heybabeh:
anything you like, if you find a handcuff smiley! the nailpolish is OPI 'thrill of brazil' ...oh, we don't have nightsticks (batons) anymore, it's tasers now!

[Ex-zombie]

You'd be assuming the position so fast your knees would buckle, my friend. :whup:

Butterfly or missionary?

[livius drusus]

In my experience, reverse cowgirl is best for taser use purposes.

[wei yau]

In my experience, reverse cowgirl is best for taser use purposes.

:jawdrop:

[livius drusus]

Don't act so surprised, eldar. At least I didn't mention cavity searches.

[godfry n. glad]

Don't act so surprised, eldar. At least I didn't mention cavity searches.

Does that take us back to dental hygiene?

godfry

[livius drusus]

Yup. The wheel has come full circle.

[Godless Dave]

I don't mind showering. I love the feel of hot water, and I like the scrubbing sensation of my poofy thing with oatmeal body wash. I don't mind night showers either; my hair dries almost instantly and after toweling off I usually lie in front of a fan for a few minutes to get dry.

The think that sucks about showering at night is that, even though my hair is very short, sleeping on it will guarantee that part of it sticks up in some odd direction. I have to wash my hair in the morning just to get it looking more-or-less normal.

[Shake]

I don't particularly care for shaving either. In the service, I had to do it every day, but I'd let it go during the weekends and when I was on leave. During Basic Training, I'd sometimes have to shave twice a day to avoid getting in trouble! Now, I do it maybe 3 times a week, 4 if I'm feeling scruffy.

Keeping my hair military style means it only requires a quick towel dry. No styling required. The attachment shows me at Mardi Gras in 2000. I look pretty much the same today, sans goatee.

Evening showers are great in the summer, when you just feel a general stickiness from the day. It helps me relax before going to sleep.

[godfry n. glad]

hrumph....

Shaving? Yeah, I guess you could say I shave. I've had a full beard since I was 17, but I still have to shave my cheeks and neck. I can get away with letting it all go indefinitely, but when I do trim, I get compliments on how neat my beard looks.

The real deal is my forehead....well, everything back to the imaginary line over the top of the head, connecting both ears. I shave that. You can blame my wife. I was sitting innocently reading the paper in front room and she walks behind me and stops...it's quiet for a minute...then she pipes up and states, uncategorically, "You have a combover."

I disagreed. Sure, it was very thinned, but I still had a forelock topknot. She vehemently disagreed and forcefully stated that I had a combover. So, I immediately scampered to the bathroom and shaved it off. I've kept it that way now for more'n three years. I'm a strawberry blonde, so it's quite some time before the forehead stubble is noticeable. I shave it about twice a week, right after I climb out of the shower. No lather. Three swipes with the razor.

The grooming annoyance for me is trimming the moustache. Mine is so wild that wax training is out of the question...believe me, I tried it. So, I trim it to the lip line. The problem is, no matter how careful I am, there are always...and I mean always...leftover stray moustache hairs that were missed. These things usually become noticeable the next day, after I'm far from the proper tools to do anything about it. Thus, it often takes two to three days to trim down all the wild hairs.

As for showers, I happen to think they are one of the blessings of modern civilization. Cascading hot water on demand....ahhhhh...

Flossing sucks. I've taken up with a Braun electric toothbrush that has obviated much (not all, my dentist assures me) of the need to floss. It has proven to be a boon to the health of my gums.

godfry

[livius drusus]

Wow. I always think of a beard as a grooming reducer, but clearly there's a shitload of work in keeping them not looking like ass.

[lisarea]

Meh. I hate the grooming, too. I don't so much mind being in the shower itself, but I hate coming out and having my hair be wet forever and stuff. I have way too much hair, so it takes hours to get dry, literally. And blow-drying doesn't even make much of a dent, either, so I don't bother. I just have wet hair a lot.

I don't mind putting on makeup when I feel like it, and I usually keep my toenails painted and everything. (I bite off my fingernails, but unlike some of you, apparently, I leave it at that.)

Wow. I always think of a beard as a grooming reducer, but clearly there's a shitload of work in keeping them not looking like ass.

The Little Muffin has had a beard since he was about 14, and when he lets it go, he starts looking all Talibanny within a few days.

Currently, he shaves the sides a little just so it doesn't completely grow up his face. That also highlights the fact that his beard is black in the middle with a big red streak on each side. It just grows in like that, and for some reason, I am really really proud of my son's demonic looking beard. Which is howcome I saw fit to mention it and all.

[Ymir's blood]

... but they don't continue to grow after death. How could they?

Voodoo curse?

[godfry n. glad]

Wow. I always think of a beard as a grooming reducer, but clearly there's a shitload of work in keeping them not looking like ass.


Well...I think an ass is a rather endearing looking animal, myself.

Grooming is still required. It's of a very different nature, generally, and it's not required as frequently as being clean shaven (or mostly clean shaven). When a guy is clean shaven, he has to shave pretty regularly, most at least daily. My doing this tended to result in bloodletting and that wondrous "burning face" feel. Depending upon how obsessive the guy is, he can spend more time grooming his face with a beard, or less. I'm not obsessive. One distinct disadvantage of beard and moustache trimming over shaving is that it is a cleanup issue; it tends to leave lots of little trimmed hairs all over the place....my wife hated that, but she threatened to divorce me if I ever shaved clean.

godfry

[ceptimus]

Ear and nose hairs. Also over-long eyebrow hairs. I pull the bastards out using a small pair of pliers. Stings a bit. :scared:

[godfry n. glad]

Ear and nose hairs.

Amen.

I never had ear hair until I hit my forties. Is there any evolutionary rationale for the persistance of that trait? I can't see that it has anything to do with mating or breeding, since the onset is so late. Now I have to prune them regularly...along with those nose hairs, which are not a big deal to me, since they tend to disappear in the moustache.

Also over-long eyebrow hairs. I pull the bastards out using a small pair of pliers. Stings a bit. :scared:

My wild hairs? Pull 'em out? Man...I finally get some decent eyebrow hairs and people want me to cut 'em or pluck 'em or whatever. Just because they happen to grow out perpendicular to the surface of my skin.....and refuse to lie down with the other puny blonde eyebrow hairs. And, of course, there is grand total of five of them at any given time. (Wait...I just counted and I've got eight! :woohoo: They proliferate!)

My best friend has what he calls "Brezhnev catepiller specials" :groucho: for eyebrows. He has to prune them regularly. I envy him.

Those are my old man eyebrow hairs, man. I take perverted pride in my old man eyebrow hairs. I earned them. :glare: Plus, they're something to mindlessly play with when I'm absorbed.

I can't wait for the whole crop to grow in.

godfry

[Adora]

She resented having to shower every day. I hate having to cut my toenails. Sometimes I put it off so long my feet hurt in formal shoes. I don't know why they have to grow so fast and I'm pretty resentful that they'll keep on growing even after I'm dead. Damn you, toenails! :shakefist:

Am I just a slug or do y'all know what I mean?

Eh, well, on one hand yes, on the other hand no. My toenails aren't mutant, but I still have the terribly habit of using my teeth to trim them instead of scissors XD. Still freaks my mother out like hell.

But I am really picky about hair. Cos y'know, it doesn't take much to look after your hair. I have shitty hair (v.thin, yet I have lots of it, and it tends to get greasy really fast), yet I manage to keep it clean everyday and tied back out of my face and neat with just a bottle of shampoo and a brush, and whenever I get it cut I always get complimented on how healthy it is. A girl who I count as a kinda-friend from school is pretty atrocious in this regard, along with other things (REALLY bad BO). Yeah, smell gets my goat up as well, because I have a sensitive nose. I like smelling nice, and one of the things that will attract me to other people is if they smell nice too. If a lady or a gentleman walks past and is wearing really nice perfume/cologne, I sit up and take notice. But that's just me.

Otherwise, I'm pretty okay. Oh- teeth. Must look after your teeth. Brush at least 2 times a day, if only to prevent bad breath.

Because I have thick bodyhair, I hate shaving/plucking. It's also embarrassing when I very occasionally go to get my eyebrows waxed, because the lady always looks at them and goes "You've never had them done before, have you" and I'm like "NO! They just grow back really really fast". And then when I'm getting them done there's always a question along the lines of "So, do you have Italian/Middle Eastern/Lebanese background?" and I calmly point out that not only is that racist, but it's also fucking stupid because yes, Anglo-Saxon women have thick bodyhair too, peon, and watch the skin please!

Yea, Shaving, heh. Not only is it pointless, but it's annoying, a waste of time, and make my legs look uglier than usual, and I really hate the sensation of having no hair on my legs. It's like you loose this massive layer of sensitivity, and it weirds me out. I have trouble sleeing whenever I shave my legs, and yeah, obviously, they do get pretty hairy. But if I have to go out/be presentable/want to try and impress someone, I do it. But if I don't have to do it, you can't make me. I'll shave other areas though, like armpits and er, other bits *wink* because I do like the sensation on those parts of my body when the hair isn't there. It's just on my legs that I don't like that stripped-away feeling.

But that whole not-showering thing is just yuck. Like total yuck. The shower is a happy-place for me, nice happy Adora-Time where nobody else can annoy her or interrupt her and it's also a place where I do a lot of intense thinking and brainstorming. Not showering is really strange to me, and I will never understand regular baths instead of showers, unless we're talking water-conservation or something. There's just something about that whole 'Washing in your own filth' thing that makes me go "Erk".

Old man eyebrows are cute, even on John Howard (they're his only redeeeming feature). But that could just be because I still have good memories about playing with my dad's eyebrows when I was a kid. :D Heh.

In the end, probably the only time I spend extended times in front of the mirror is when I'm pushing pimples. Yes yes, I know they say you shouldn't touch them, but because of this little thing I have that gives me shitty hormones at certain times of the month, I get those really bad deep-under-the-skin clusters of 3 or so that don't really manifest except as a slightly pink bump but hurt like a BITCH. Sometimes they're so bad I can't sleep on that side because my cheek hurts against the pillow. When that happens, they have to go. No arguments.

[Johnny Pneumatic]

I only shave every few weeks or so. I think I've even gone about a month and a half without in the past. But I'm in college and don't have to look good for a job.
I hate the feel of shaving short hairs, it hurts. So I let it get about half a centimeter long at least before it comes off. This weekend I have to blade it off again. Asian people are so lucky, well except for having smaller members.

Brushing teeth, it feels good afterwards after the taste leaves my mouth. It would be nice to have that stuff in my mouth like dogs do where they can eat rotten meat without it making them sick. Plus a chemical that makes my breath smell better. GE scientists get to work now! :yup:

My nails grow slow so I don't have to clip my toe nails. I just tear them off every four or more months.

I like my leather bottom feet. It's nice to be able to walk around on rocks without having to put on shoes for a short trip in the yard; and our yard is seven acres. Thorns still poke through so extended trips into the woods sometimes warrant the shoes.

[godfry n. glad]

My wife and I liked showers so much that when we had the new upstairs bathroom built from scratch we designed it with a shower large enough for two people (three, actually) and with two shower heads. This is because the biggest drawback with cavorting the the shower was that somebody always had to be out in the cold. We took care of that. All tile with a glass door and a glass panel.

Adora... Don't minimize that look. I love decent healthy eyebrows on women (a la Rachel Weisz). "That mediterranean look" is the look of Delailah, Cleopatra, Dido and Helen. My wife, too...Jewish peasant stock. (You don't have the monobrow, do you?) What really repels me is seeing those women, of no matter what age, who have painted on their eyebrows. It never looks "normal" (to me).

I actually know women who have tattooed their eyelids so that they never again had to put on mascara. The whole idea of having that done just squiiges me out.

And ladies, if you want to make points with a bearded guy, just compliment his beard. He's vain, he'll eat...it...up.

godfry

[wildernesse]

Because I have thick bodyhair, I hate shaving/plucking. It's also embarrassing when I very occasionally go to get my eyebrows waxed, because the lady always looks at them and goes "You've never had them done before, have you" and I'm like "NO! They just grow back really really fast".


OOOOHhhh. The "You've never had them done before comment", or "It's been a while" crap burns me up. Makes me want to shove the $15 down her throat. Especially because I don't shell out money easily for stuff I can do at home for free--it's because it would take an hour or two of tweezering to return to a shape that I showed up in the first place, ya know.

[godfry n. glad]

Oooo...ooo...ooo

Before I forget....

The whole thing with women shaving their legs? I have to admit, I've never seen porn with hairy legged women. Why is that? No caveman porn?

Anyhoo... My wife didn't like her hairy legs, mostly because they were just hairy below the knees. She hated shaving them. Once fall set in and temperatures dropped, she started wearing trousers and long skirts and didn't shave until summer dress wearing weather rolled around. She griped all summer long about having shaving them (I judiciously never said a thing about it one way or another). She used to have a friend come over and wax them for her. I watched....man, is that inhumane torture. To even think about the idea of a "bikini wax"....well, that squiiges me out, too.

Then she got them :welder: lazered. It took her six to eight months of treatments about every three weeks, and then another follow-up six months after that. No more leg hair. She loved it.

godfry

[Dingfod]

Since I started using brushpicks (http://www.mileskimball.com/jump.jsp?itemType=PRODUCT&iProductID=4872) I haven't flossed at all. I keep a couple of them in my wallet and a box of them at work and at home. Between those and the Braun Oral-B electric toothbrush, twice annual cleanings have become unnecessary, the last one was over in less than 10 minutes with barely any scraping. My gums are healthier than ever, and I don't have to wait to clear the gunk out from between my teeth.

I hate shaving, but I hate a beard worse. I didn't even have to shave at all until I was almost 25, then only once or twice a week until I was about 30. And I have yet to be like my dad, who had to shave twice a day if he was going out in the evening. I've contemplated laser hair removal, but the expense is part of what I hate about shaving. Why are razor blades so freaking expensive? I was always about to get 10 or 12 shaves out of a blade, so I was only buying new blades about once every five months or so, but still, I can buy electronic audio devices like CD players that last for years for the price of a pack of 9 replacement blades. However, the expense goes way up if someone shaves their legs with my razor. One shave of the legs, the blade is no longer good for my face, unless I were to like wearing bits of tissue paper to work. Note: I now use a Braun electric razor, one of those self-cleaning jobbies. I don't hate shaving nearly as much as when I shaved with a razor blade.

My calloused feet need maintenance regularly with pumice stone and a tool that is like a rasp. I've even been known to trim callouses with a sharp knife. A few years back I broke my lower leg and ankle and had to wear a cast for about three months on my left foot and leg. The dead skin that came off with the cast included all of the callouses too, it was a real grossout to see. But, the bottom of my left foot was just like a baby's foot, pink and soft, it was a beautiful thing to behold. So, if you want to rid yourself of callouses, just immobilize your feet in something that makes them itch and sweat, don't put any weight on them for a quarter of a year, and voilá, no callouses.

Note: Warren has no connection to Braun GmbH, other than being sold on their fine high quality products.--Thank you, Max Braun.

[Ymir's blood]

I shave in the shower, relying on touch. It never makes my skin irritated, though the shave is never as close as doing it at the sink. Cuts are rare as well, though that is probably due more to practice than anything else. Shaving in a mirror results in cuts a third of the time.

My least favorite part of grooming is the pre-bed ritual of washing my face, flossing and brushing my teeth. Not so much due to the work, but the fact that I generally have already been up too long.

Showering is something enjoyable to me, especially in the wintertime. It also tends to delineate 'being up' as opposed to simply having gotten out of bed. After the shower, I feel refreshed, at least for a little while.

[Adora]

Adora... Don't minimize that look. I love decent healthy eyebrows on women (a la Rachel Weisz). "That mediterranean look" is the look of Delailah, Cleopatra, Dido and Helen. My wife, too...Jewish peasant stock. (You don't have the monobrow, do you?) What really repels me is seeing those women, of no matter what age, who have painted on their eyebrows. It never looks "normal" (to me).

Oh, yeah, when I do pluck/prune them, I always keep a decent amount of eyebrow there, because the whole "Plucked into non-existence" look is so fucking weird. I mean, when it gets to the stage where you're actually drawing your eyebrow on, that's a bit much. But I have seen women like that X_x

But yeah, it's just the bits sort of around it, between the eyebrow and my temple hairline n shit.. I have more facial hair than the average chick too, cos of pcos and stuff. =_= bleh. I don't give as much of a damn about the visual aspect as I should, I know. It's just annoying when you're trying to read something and you get an eyebrow hair in your eye. x_o Ow.

I actually know women who have tattooed their eyelids so that they never again had to put on mascara. The whole idea of having that done just squiiges me out.
Most of the ladies I know who have had this done have had very orange/pale blonde bodyhair, so it kinda is understandable that way. But I hate (and I mean hate) having anything near my eye, so I'd probably freak out like hell if someone tried to do it to me (I can't even wear mascara or eyeliner).

I love guys with nice beards. And by "nice" I'm not referring to a certain length or bushiness. It can be over a foot long (like the whole bikey look) and still be a nice beard, as long as you keep it clean and well-trimmed, and there's no leftovers in it for 'ron.

[godfry n. glad]

Damn....

These universal translaters go out just when you need them the most.

I need an emergency translation of two words from Adoran:

pcos

'ron

I'm guessing the latter one translates out as "later on"...but I'm not sure.

You're a sweetheart, Adora...but I'm talking to you from another generation. :oldman: You have to slow down and explain a few things to old farts like me....'kay?

godfry

(I especially like your unique little "frownies".)

[Adora]

Oh, sorry.

pcos= Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome. Don't let the name fool you though. It's just a general term they use to describe a massively diverse range of hormonal issues many women suffer. There's not much research into it, because obviously a) it's a women's issue, and b) there's not much money to be made in it like diabetes and such other booming medical problems, but it means I have trippy hormones that really really hate me at certain times of the month. Basically the treatment my doc gave me for it was a really mild version of Teh Pill, which calmed my hormones down a bit, and prevented me turning suicidal for a week per month because of my really bad depression that I suffered as a PMS symptom. Also cleared up my skin a bit on my face, but I still get those really nasty pimples I mentioned (but not as often as I used to).

I don't actually have the cysts, though some women do. And some women have cystic ovaries but don't have PCOS. And some women just have a form of insulin resistance that somehow affects only their hormones, so they get diagnosed with PCOS as well. Basically, I was diagnosed with it because I had bad PMS, low estrogen levels, some hirsutness (is that even a word?) and very heavy and irregular periods.

Anyway...

'ron= Slang for "Later On". Whenever my uncles/father/grandfather would have something stuck in their beard, they say "It's for 'ron". XD Used to crack me up, and still does.


(I especially like your unique little "frownies".)

You mean these -> Ò_Ó? Hehehe, I learned em all back when I used to be more active in anime and manga fandoms, because they're the kinds of smileys people use around those communities. I've never really stopped using them, because I kind of developed a habit, even though some people turn their nose up at them. I just think they're more fun than regular smileys, because you can mix and match.

Ó_x Someone just got punched in the eye and is raising an eyebrow.

^.^ General happy squeeness smiley (sometimes shortened to this ^^ or can be this ^^; <- with a sweatdrop when you're embarrassed but smiling).

=^x^=/=^o^= Kitty smiley.

=_= Unhappy/weirded out smiley.

@_@ On drugs smiley.

;_; Crying smiley.

T_T Really crying smiley.

<('.'<) (>'.')> <(_|_)> <(^.^)> Dancing Kirby™ smiley o Doom! (people hate these ones, for obvious reasons, heh)

[livius drusus]

That punched eye one rules.

[Shaguar]

I must be so lucky, I just step out of the showr looking like a glistening Greek god and it's a cheeky smile to myself in the mirror and on with the crushed velvet jump suit and Heyyyyy Baaaaaaby into the Shaguar and away.

in reality every morning reminds me that evolution still has some way to go :D

[livius drusus]

:austin: <-- how Shaguar likes to think of himself in the morning

:drevil: <-- how Shaguar actually is in the morning

[LadyShea]

Adora, many women who frequent the infertility boards suffer from PCOS, and I have a very mild form of it (basically I have polycystic ovaries but not enough of the other symptoms to be diagnosed with the syndrome). The newest research indicates that one frequent type of PCOS is strongly correlated with a diabetes related insulin resistance (they aren't sure if the IR causes the PCOS or if the PCOS causes the IR yet but they're working on it). Althought the old standby, birth control pills is still used, many reproductive endicrinologists have started precribing Metaformin with excellent results....reduction in body hair, skin oil production, and acne, and if you have the weight problems sometimes associated with PCOS, it also addresses that.

Thought I'd mention it in case you wanted to look into it.

[godfry n. glad]

^,^

thinkin' 'bout Euphoria chocolates?

godfry

[godfry n. glad]

Althought the old standby, birth control pills is still used, many reproductive endicrinologists have started precribing Metaformin with excellent results....reduction in body hair, skin oil production, and acne, and if you have the weight problems sometimes associated with PCOS, it also addresses that.


Metaformin? Or Metformin, the glucophage? I'm on Metformin and it's been great for me.

But then, I don't have ovaries.

I will say that my wife, when we were dating and at the beginning of our marriage, had very difficult menses, with a lot of emesis and cramping; so much so that so often missed work because of it. She, too, complained of the deep skin irritations and acne, particularly around her chin. She was never diagnosed as pcos, and the symptoms went away after her tubal.

Thanks for the clarifications, Adora.....hey, I guessed right on the slang. I try not to save things for 'ron.

godfry

[LadyShea]

Althought the old standby, birth control pills is still used, many reproductive endicrinologists have started precribing Metaformin with excellent results....reduction in body hair, skin oil production, and acne, and if you have the weight problems sometimes associated with PCOS, it also addresses that.


Metaformin? Or Metformin, the glucophage? I'm on Metformin and it's been great for me.

It's a glucophage, sorry if I misspelled it. May I ask what other issues it is used to treat? I only heard of it in relation to PCOS, which, as Adora said is under-researched it is also underdiagnosed and undertreated considering up to a 1/3 of women have some form or severity of it.

[godfry n. glad]

Althought the old standby, birth control pills is still used, many reproductive endicrinologists have started precribing Metaformin with excellent results....reduction in body hair, skin oil production, and acne, and if you have the weight problems sometimes associated with PCOS, it also addresses that.


Metaformin? Or Metformin, the glucophage? I'm on Metformin and it's been great for me.

It's a glucophage, sorry if I misspelled it. May I ask what other issues it is used to treat? I only heard of it in relation to PCOS, which, as Adora said is under-researched it is also underdiagnosed and undertreated considering up to a 1/3 of women have some form or severity of it.

Not a problem...what with the pharmaceuticals industry these days, one has to double check. One letter can be a big possibility and be two very different things.

You certainly may ask and in my case, it's my diabetes medication. I'm type II diabetic, diagnosed three years ago at age 48. My pancreas still creates insulin, but in increasingly insufficient amounts. My blood carries too much sugar (glucose)....My blood sugar level has been reduced from 8.0 to under 5.8...which is very good. I'm on 2 g/day, split evenly with morning and evening meals...hypothetically 12 hours apart. My docs are all real happy at the result. I understand it works by removing the sugar from the system somehow; the type-name, glucophage, means "sugar eater". Metformin is the best known brand name.

It would work better if I exercised more.

As to side effects, I can't really help you because I take a bitche's brew of pharmaceuticals twice a day. It could be anything.

godfry

[godfry n. glad]

:austin: <-- how Shaguar likes to think of himself in the morning

:drevil: <-- how Shaguar actually is in the morning

:einstein: <-- how godfry likes to think of himself in the morning

:oscar: <-- how godfry actually is in the morning

:dragon: <-- by midafternoon, godfry is this

[Adora]

Thought I'd mention it in case you wanted to look into it.
Yeah, I heard/read about that when I was diagnosed with it a few years ago, but since I managed to improve things a bit naturally (losing weight, reducing stress, improving diet, excercising like mad etc) I wasn't put on it. Also, I have 0 interest in ever reproducing, my symptoms were relatively mild, and I was so young, the endo didn't want to put me onto anything too serious. The reason I actually asked my quack (not the endo) for the pill was because the serious depression was hitting regularly each month with the return of my regular cycle as my health improved, though it was still heavy n stuff. Back when I only had my rag every few months and hardly ever ovulated, it wasn't an issue. But as I managed to reduce the side effects in one way, another cropped up, and it needed to be addressed because it was the most serious. Otherwise, I was pretty okay with everything without medication. Okay, I have oily skin and a bit of acne (which was a little worse off the pill), but I can live with that. It was the insane levels of depression that hit that week a month that were driving me nuts and had to be fixed, before I did something stupid.

[livius drusus]

:einstein: <-- how godfry likes to think of himself in the morning

:oscar: <-- how godfry actually is in the morning

:dragon: <-- by midafternoon, godfry is this

That's just adorable. Although I'd say the :oscar: is always there in the background, godfry.

[Bella]

As an Asian female, I do not have to shave my legs, my armpits, or my down-there bits. It's rather nice - however, some people have outright accused me of shaving my arms (?). Why you would do this, I have no idea ... but for the record, the reason my arms are naked is because I was born that way. My eyebrows suffer from this unfortunate sparity of hair as well. I have to shape the barely-there hair and then fill in the shape with black eyeshadow, otherwise it looks like I have a really low hairline :qeek:. OK, that's an exaggeration, but you get the point.

The thing I hate the most is having to go to the nail salon for a fill. I have gel on top of my natural nails to keep them from splitting and cracking during school (before I adapted this trick, I was bleeding all over the food) and I HATE the sound of that little drill sander thing they run over your nails before the fill. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

[godfry n. glad]

:einstein: <-- how godfry likes to think of himself in the morning

:oscar: <-- how godfry actually is in the morning

:dragon: <-- by midafternoon, godfry is this

That's just adorable. Although I'd say the :oscar: is always there in the background, godfry.

That's just because so many in my community are in denial about their grouchiness....it's gotta come out somewhere, right? :wink: