Frumps to Pumps, Week 2: Learning to Find Balance

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 Can I just say I've shocked myself?  Usually by now, when I try to change a habit, I've given up.  I'm still going.  Here's why.

I fell asleep the other night on the couch.  I was waiting to check on a scheduled post, because I have been having problems with the Blogger scheduler. I figured I'd stay up until just past midnight to check on it.  It shouldn't have been a problem - I generally struggle to fall asleep before 2 am.  Except that night, of course.  At 10:30, I was working on another blog post, shut my eyes for a moment to clear the allergy fog, and zonked out. Next thing I knew, it was nearly 1 am.  I checked the post and, unfortunately, it hadn't posted.  (I guess "being right" justifies the crick in my neck.)   I manually sent it live, and stumbled up to bed -- fully dressed, with earrings in and still wearing makeup.

In the past, I would just say "Forget it!" and crawl into bed the way I was.  This time I insisted, "I MUST wash my face."  I've been trying to get into a routine of washing  and moisturizing twice a day - which I really do need.  My skin appears oily, but I've learned that it is because it's overcompensating for dry. With the concerted effort I've been giving for the last two weeks, it's starting to balance out.  Plus, while it's not totally gone, I think I'm slowly winning the acne war.  But truly, I didn't want to wake myself up in the process of doing a full routine, and then not be able to fall back asleep.  As I turned the lights off, I passed this.

Apparently, whoever changed Damien last didn't put the wipes away, and left the box on the floor.  But as I nudged it out of my path with my toe, I thought "Aha!" and bent down to grab three wipes.  (Yes, I just left the box there. It got put away in the morning.) 

As I climbed up the stairs, I wiped my face down with them. No, not the usual cleanse-and-exfoliate-and-moisturize routine, but it was the best my sleepy brain could do.  No makeup left to clog the pores, a tiny bit of exfoliating from the friction, and some emollients from the wipes.  Good enough. I pulled on my pajamas, plunked my earrings on my dresser, and fell over into bed. I thought about getting back up to put my earrings away so they didn't get knocked over, but sleep won that battle. At least they weren't on the edge of my nightstand, or tucked under my pillow to be lost in the sheet.

When I woke for the day, the universe hadn't imploded.  I got up, put my earrings where they belonged, and washed my face properly.  Then, I realized something:

 (Tweet it with me!)

In the past, I've worried more about getting everything "right." I've thought "Well, I'm too tired to do the whole routine, so I'll skip it," and we all know THAT isn't a good idea.  "I'm too rushed to do more than toss on whatever's close at hand rather than pick out what I really feel like wearing."  Or, even worse, I'd slip up and then give up, saying "Oh, forget it, I can't do this."  This go around, I'm giving myself permission to do "good enough" on occasion.  

If I have time, I get fully made up and accessorized with earrings, necklace, and bracelet/watch.  If I don't, I swipe some lip balm on, grab a pretty watch or clip my hair up with a beaded Flexi Clip for a bit of glitz  and go.  I purposely bought clothes that were as "neutral to each other" as possible, so that I could grab any top, any bottom, and they'd "go."  (See "The 7 Things I Learned from Stacy and Clinton.") Yesterday afternoon, I got distracted and went to an appointment without my earrings.  I had them on when I left the house, but I took them out to make a phone call and forgot to put them back in.   C'est la vie.  I think I should get points though for having the forethought to to remove BOTH earrings - at least I didn't go in lopsided!

In order to be successful at this lifestyle change, I can't beat myself up for not doing everything exactly right all the time.  I have to do the best I can, yes, but sometimes, "my best" isn't going to be "the whole routine," it's going to be "what gets me through to tomorrow."




Oh -- and this semi-miracle stuff that is really helping:

Photo Credit: Sephora.com

The cleanser and exfoliator are really good - they work without overdrying or clogging my pores.  I usually have a hard time with gritty exfoliators, because the grains of things tend to lodge in my pores and make breakouts worse, but this washes away cleanly.  However, if I could only choose one thing, I'd eat Ramen for a month to get both the EradiKate Spot Treatment and the oil-free moisturizer.  The EradiKate is nothing short of amazing  - I have big, hormonal cystic blemishes that usually take two or three weeks for the swelling to fade, and this gets them invisible under makeup in only two to three days.  The moisturizer is just that - it moisturizes but there's never anything greasy left.  I barely even have to let it "dry" before I put makeup on - it just soaks right in. Though as a kit with smaller bottles and jars, it is less pricey than individual full-sized products, I do realize that in general, it's NOT cheap.  On the other hand, since it was a last-ditch effort to avoid a dermatologist (with an even more painful copay PLUS what the doc recommended), I gave it a try and have been really, really impressed.








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