Cardiogirl: 19% body fat 100% fun

I picked a new pair of glasses. They might be in on Friday, but they’ll probably be here on Monday. It was tough, I had to decide if I was a wall flower or the center of attention. However, this time I planned ahead. You may recall, last time my eyes were dilated and I forgot to bring my contacts so I could see the frames on my face.

But on Saturday my mother-in-law was visiting so hubby and I were able to go sans children. Which really helps one clear one’s mind. It also helps when no one else is in the store but a very helpful woman named Karen who is honest and diplomatic. I gotta tell you, Karen from Henry Ford Optimeyes deserves a raise.

She must have pulled 20 pairs of glasses off the shelf and gave me an honest opinion. We tried naked frames (rimless), full on dark frames, full on light frames, half frame-half rimless, frames that came with shades, frames that did not come with shades.

We tried copper, silver, gold and black.

Each time, she and Mr. C checked out the front view, the side view and my “I don’t approve” look of chin down, eyes over the top of the frame (I do have kids, you know).

I ended up with a mix of wall flower/center of attention. Mr. C calls it my “blogging chick” look. The frame I went with has a black metal rim on top and is rimless on the bottom — the best of both worlds. My absolute favorite part of the deal, besides the fact that they will actually be level on my face, is that they came with a pair of magnetic shades. Those bad boys just snap right onto the nose piece. I can’t wait!

I haven’t had a side note in a while so let’s go for it. One of my sisters is really into the Color Me Beautiful thing and believes that all of us can be categorized as a Spring, Summer, Winter or Fall. Depending on which season you are, there are certain colors you should avoid (since they make you look bad) and certain colors you should wear because they make you look good.

I think she said I was a Spring but I know for sure she told me I should never, ever, in a million years, wear the color black. The only exception is if I have black pants or a skirt and one of my “colors” as a shirt. Then the black is away from my precious face that needs to be bathed in certain, flattering colors.

I do not like this theory. I do not subscribe to this theory. It drives me up the wall that she constantly tells me “navy is your black.” So I do the only thing I can: I wear black around her just to irritate her.

So when I decided I was buying the BLACK frames I thought ‘I can’t WAIT to see her!’ What? I’ve embraced the fact that I have massive control issues.

In other news, I have entered Phase Two of the Tweeze experiment. About a week ago I told you I was shooting for a razor-free summer in 2008. I made it through the most difficult part of the experiment — the initial ripping out of the follicle.

Phase One is painful, I’m not going to lie. The success of the Tweeze is the fact that it consistently rips the hair follicle out at the root. You know you have taken the hair out by the root when you see a small bulb at the end of the hair with a clear sheath around that bulb.

Ladies, I know what you’re thinking. You’ve used a pair of traditional tweezers in the past and you continue to tweeze the hair. It keeps coming back. That’s because tweezers don’t always allow you to get the root out. Trust me, I have gone medieval on my follicles. I know what I’m talking about.

Anyway, back to Phase Two. Phase Two is so much easier than Phase One. Each follicle that has gone through one assault from the Tweeze comes back much lighter, less coarse and it comes out of the root so much easier. It does not hurt like it hurt the first time. I did not need to take Ibuprofen. My legs were not polka dotted red and my skin was not hot to the touch like it was the first time.

I did tell you that there are millions of follicles on each leg and that the hair grows at different rates. I can tell there are a few errant hairs that were dormant during Phase One just by how it feels when it is ripped out. Now, 90% of the time it does not hurt when I Tweeze my legs and then every so often I get one zinger. There’s the dormant hair. But I still got that little punk, didn’t I?

As I have mentioned, I am competitive and I like a good challenge. I’m also kind of bored. Since I feel I have pretty much conquered my legs I have moved onto my underarms.

I did think it was painful on my legs, but I had my eye on the prize. It was bearable, obviously, because I did it.

My underarms were an entirely different story.

I had to stop to apply ice every couple of minutes. And I should mention that I have only done one pit. The left one. I am right-handed so the left pit was relatively easy, considering I have superior motor control over my right hand.

I wish I were ambidextrous. I’m actually kind of scared to work on the right pit. I had to shave the right pit on Sunday. So now I have to wait for it to grow back. Ugh. I cannot live life having to shave but one underarm, so I am committed to finishing the job. But I’m afraid. Because it really, really hurt.

Although, maybe I will buy some Lanacane, like Anne suggested last time.

Okay here’s the low down on the Tweeze. It hurts the first time. More in certain places than others. If you can get past the first time, it’s smooth sailing.

Occasionally you will have an ingrown hair after you use the Tweeze. You’re going to have to use a straight pin to free the ingrown hair and then you can Tweeze it.

Apply alcohol after you Tweeze an area.

It is such freedom taking a shower now, because I don’t have to shave. Well, I did have to shave the right pit but that’s going to change.

Now if I got a buzz cut, I could be in and out of the shower in under three minutes.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 9th, 2007 at 5:03 am and is filed under Relationships, Self Image. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.