Glow by Lady E

Posts

What I’m Keeping Close: My New Facial Cleanser

Sometimes trying a new skincare product starts with excitement. Or in my case, nerves. I have very sensitive skin and it’s not always fun to try a new product, especially on my face. This one started because an old favorite stopped working for me. I’d been using The Face Shop White Seed facial wash for years. Then recently, my skin started reacting to it. (You can read me wax poetic about that facial wash in the archives. Just type ‘white seed’ in the search bar.) That is one of the particularly annoying things about sensitive skin. Something can live happily in your routine for years and then, apparently, your face calls a meeting and votes it out. So I needed a replacement. I’d already tried another Deoproce product, a body lotion or serum in the green caviar line, and had good results with it. When I saw their Green Caviar Facial Cleanser, I thought: why not? I’m glad I did. My skin has been very happy with it so far. No drama, no argument, just a cleanser doing what I w...

What I’m Keeping Close: The Hand Soap that Doesn’t Punish My Hands

I’ve become surprisingly picky about hand soap. I’ve also been cooking more lately, which means I’m washing ingredients, washing dishes, washing utensils and washing my hands approximately three thousand times a day. My hands noticed. Dry, uncomfortable hands became one of those small irritations I kept tolerating until I finally thought: why am I making something I do several times a day unpleasant? I already knew Dove soaps tend to work well for me, so when I saw this Coconut & Almond Milk Foaming Hand Wash, trying it made sense. So far, my hands approve. I’m getting the clean hands I need without that stripped, painfully dry feeling I’ve become thoroughly tired of. My hands are still dry. But they’re not so dry that they develop cuts. It’s such an ordinary thing, hand soap. But that’s partly why I’m keeping this one close. Self-care isn’t always something we schedule. Sometimes it’s simply paying attention to the things we touch every day and asking whether they coul...

The Pleasure of Leaving It Behind

I really liked this dress. Enough that I stood there looking at it for far longer than necessary, having that familiar little debate with myself. It was black. Simple. Very me. I could already imagine how I would wear it. There was only one problem. The fabric was thick. And perhaps in another climate, or another version of my life, that wouldn’t matter very much. But I live in the Philippines. We’re going through El Niño. Heat and I are already not particularly good friends, and my histamine sensitivity has made me even less willing to wear something that might leave me uncomfortable simply because it looks good. Still, I stood there. Because sometimes walking away from something we like is strangely difficult, even when we already know it isn’t right for us. We start negotiating. Maybe I’ll only wear it indoors. Maybe the fabric isn’t that thick. Maybe I’ll regret leaving it behind. Then I realized I was trying awfully hard to convince myself to buy something my body had alrea...

Used to the Last Drop: I Finally Stopped Saving My Favorite Blush

Glow Girls already know this one. My beloved Minimalist cream blush. My ultra-favorite blush. And, naturally, no longer available. So I did what perfectly rational beauty lovers do when a favorite product disappears: I started rationing it. A little today. Not too much. Save some. Make it last. Except eventually I realized something. What exactly was I saving it for? The whole reason I loved this blush was because I loved wearing it. And there are so many beautiful blushes out there that I haven’t even met yet. So one day I decided: what the heck? Use it. I stopped treating every swipe like I was depleting the national blush reserve. I wore my favorite blush when I wanted my favorite blush. And last week, I finally finished it. I’m still sad that I can’t replace it. But I’m much happier that the last of it ended up on my cheeks instead of sitting indefinitely in a little compact because I was afraid to run out. Sometimes enjoying something completely is better than pr...

Used to the Last Drop: Yes, There Was Probably More in There

I already reviewed this INK Velvet shade, and I still think it’s beautiful. On me, it’s one of those wonderfully natural shades that doesn’t announce itself before I enter the room. It just works. Oh, and it’s one of those very few matte lip products that don’t dry out my lips. So naturally, I kept using it. And using it. Until I reached the ridiculous stage of beauty-product ownership where I knew there was probably still a little product somewhere inside the bottle. Technically. But between the tiny opening and the doe-foot applicator, retrieving it had become a minor engineering project. Could I have fought for those final molecules? Probably. Did I? No. There are limits to my devotion. You know this, Glow Girls. I don’t like wasting time. Eventually the amount of product potentially remaining became less valuable than the time I was wasting trying to get to it. So I’m calling it. Used to the last drop accessible to a reasonable human being. Good enough. I...