Is It All Over My Face?

And I've known this for a while now. When I was about 9 or 10, I went into the bathroom and clipped my lashes off with my mother's tiny cuticle scissors. When my mother saw me, she let me HAVE IT. She taught me that day not to let anyone influence me into hurting myself - and that my lashes were beautiful.

I remember buying Noxema and St. Ives Apricot Scrub when I was attending college. I thought, "I'd better take care of this skin, now that I'm getting older." As tragic as that sounds, it helped me to begin a regimen for taking care of my skin. Noxema has eucalyptus, clove and menthol in it, so it's quite refreshing. It's also a great moisturizer that doesn't block your pores. I gradually add some apricot scrub to it with some warm water and scrub scrub scrub! Out damned spot, OUT! *grin!* These days, I still use St. Ives Apricot Scrub, but I'll use a drugstore/generic brand of Noxema - they are usually stronger.

However, I don't use this regimen every day. I have very oily skin, but exfoliating like that every day dries my skin up a lot, so sometimes I'll just use Noxema. The best daily cleanser by far is Cetaphil. This stuff makes washing and moisturizing your face a quick and easy no-brainer. You don't need water to use it, but I always like to start out by moistening my face with warm water. You squirt some in your washcloth and wash your face really well and voila! Skin that's so fresh and so clean clean clean, and soft, too! Now, Cetaphil is pricey, so I've tried the drugstore brands that are out there. They are identical, so that's what I use. If it makes you feel any better (a boy does have to think about his reputation!), you can keep the real Cetaphil bottle and fill it with the generic stuff. Noone fortunate enough to snoop around in your bathroom will ever know the difference! While you're at it, fill a small bottle to carry around with you - so that fresh clean look is always just a *squirt!* away! *grin!*

That's the everyday cleansing regimen, but sometimes I need something more thorough. Noxema and apricot scrub usually do the trick, but I like variety. Kiehl's makes two of my favorite exfoliants - their Pineapple Papaya Facial Scrub and their Milk, Honey and Almond Scrub. I also love their Rare-Earth Oatmeal Milk Facial Cleanser #2, but it contains alpha-hydroxy and is too harsh to use with any regularity.

Now to ensure that everyone can see the fabulous clean skin, I shave. If my beard is too thick, I'll use an electric shaver first. (I don't have a favorite one yet.) Before I begin, I'll place my razor (I prefer Gilette's SensorExcel) into a cup of ice water. My beard is usually warm and moist after I cleanse my face, so I'll add the shaving cream to my face (or whatever I'm going to shave *grin!*) while my hands is still warm. My absolute favorite is Kiehl's "Close Shavers" Squadron Ultimate Brushless Shave Cream - White Eagle. This stuff is so amazingly creamy and emollient, and the strong menthol and camphor combination (similar to Noxema's) guarantees the closest, most comfortable, most refreshing shave you've ever had! When I can't get that, I'll use either Aveeno's Therapeutic Shave Gel or Edge's "Active Care" Ultra Sensitive and add some Fruit of the Earth's 100% Pure Aloe Vera Gel. (Alba Botanica's Bengal Spice Cream Shave sounds good, too, but I've never tried it.) I keep my razor ice cold and clean while shaving by occassionally rinsing the blade from the faucet then plopping it back into the cup of ice water. Sometimes I'll put some aloe gel in the cup to keep the razor well-lubricated. I don't shave everyday because I shave 'incorrectly' - most of the info I've read on black shaving advises to shave with the grain of the hair. I shave against the grain because I want the closest possible shave. I only shave once or twice a week - if I shave more often, I would definitely experience Pseudofolliculitis Barbae (PFB), the fancy term for ingrown hairs. Ingrown hairs are never cute and can sometimes be painful. So if all that abuse leaves my skin feeling too raw, I'll slather on some Noxema or some Cetaphil and leave it on for a while. When I finally rinse my face and look up from my towel, noone can tell me a THING! I'm quite proud of how I look.

Remember what I said on Sunday about moisture? It applies to the face as well. Moisturize Moisturize Moisturize! It REALLY applies here because moisture gives your face a softer, more youthful appearance and a fresh, healthy glow. I have oily skin, so I don't have too much of a problem with moisture. I love the more emollient moisturizers made for dry skin, so I use those sparingly, sometimes with a little aloe gel. My favorite moisturizers are both from Kiehl's - their Ultra Facial Moisturizer and their Sodium PCA Oil-Free Moisturizer - these moisturizers lasts almost all day and they're not greasy. If I can't have either, I'll make do with either a little Cetaphil. Now, I'm ready for my close up!

BONUS ROUND - Lips 2 Find U: Women are lucky - they get to (hell, are EXPECTED to) put on lipstick by default. Men don't have it quite as good, but we still can have luscious lips for our fresh faces! Lips that add the icing to the cake. Do the following after washing and before moisturizing your face: mix some sugar (white sugar is fine, but I like Sugar In The Raw - the browner, the better ... *grin!*) with sweet almond oil in the palm of your hand, enough to make a slight paste. Use the mixture on your fingertips to gently scrub your lips until all the chapped, dry skin is gone. Once you're done, rinse and pat your mouth dry. Then apply some lip balm. Stay away from waxy stuff like ChapStik and moisturize your lips with something like my favorite, Blistex' Lip-Medex. Apparently Kiehl's Lip Balm #1 is very popular, but I've never tried it.

Okay, we've done body. We just finished doing face. What does that leave?

Hair: The Final Frontier!