lundi 15 avril 2013
My beauty confessions
I was inspired by Zhu's post over at http://correresmidestino.com/ about being "girly". There are some things about me that might surprise you.
1. I have only been to the hair salon once in the past 12 years - for my wedding day. I didn't even want to go at first, but my mother-in-law made the appointment and pushed me to go. Normally my husband cuts my hair or I just don't cut it.
2. I have no make-up, absolutely none. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law nagged me to wear make-up for my wedding and I reluctantly let my sister-in-law put some mascara on me. I have no idea how to put on make-up. I use no styling products in my hair either. I've never dyed my hair or had a manicure done.
3. I hate, hate, hate blow-dryers. Did I already say that I hate blow-dryers? I can't stand how my hair puffs up and frizzes after blow-drying my hair. I'd rather go outside with wet hair than blow-dry it and have even fallen asleep with wet hair. This shocks the French and even more the Italians. When I tell them that I don't use a blow-dryer they start gasping for air, telling me that I'll get sick and die if I continue not to use one.
4. I still wear some clothes from high school. Finding pants that fit me is rare and when I do, I buy the same ones twice (or more!). My sister and friends give me clothes or I find them. It's not really that I hate shopping, I just hate having clothes sitting around that I don't wear (or that others are not wearing). My cousins in Italy are shocked at my ways because they noticed that I still wear the same clothes as I did during my visit in 2006. A lot of the Italian women I talk to wouldn't be caught dead wearing the same clothes for more than 2 years.
5. I am totally lost when women talk about stores and shopping. "Forever 21, what's that?" I asked tonight during the girls' banter. Silence.
6. I've worn the same earrings for the past 5 years. The only other jewellery I wear is my wedding ring.
7. I have no matching underwear. I'll wear a black bra with white underwear. As long as it's clean, I'll wear it. No one's looking anyway.
8. I do have a purse!
9. I do sometimes use body lotion but only because I have itchy calves.
10. Even though I don't care about beauty, I always make sure I am presentable and clean.
I hope you're not too shocked!
In other news, for anybody who cares to know, I weighed in at just under 63 kg tonight. I kept weighing myself just to see that number again because it has been so long since I weighed this little. So I made my goal for today!
So onto my next goal. I'm going to Milan on the 11th of May to see an Italian friend that lives in Bordeaux. I'd love to surprise her with my new weight (nobody in France knows about my project). My goal? 60 kg, yikes! I have to be realistic, though, because I'm having a visitor at the beginning of May. So I'll realistically aim for 61.
I feel so much better now that I have finally gotten rid of this weight (and have stopped last year's downward spiral of weight gain). No, I don't need new clothes because before I started to lose weight I had convinced myself that my clothes still fit fine (I was bursting out of them). Now they fit like they should. Part of being overweight/obese is convincing yourself that your clothes fit just fine when in reality they are too small. Sometimes I really need a reality check.
I'm just happy to be at (almost, just one more kilo to go!) my wedding weight, a healthy weight. I have to reflect on what I am going to do when I go back to France and how I am going to maintain this. I can't let myself believe that this will all be over as soon as I reach my goal. I have to remind myself of how I got in this position in the first place. I have to learn better self-control so I can handle eating in France.
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I just read your comment and ta-da, your article is always here!
RépondreSupprimerI laughed. Yep, we have many things in common!
Okay, I have to break the news to you: Forever 21 opened a huge three-level store at the Rideau Centre. I have yet to check it out even though it's been months since they opened... the fact that One Direction always plays at full volume doesn't exactly helps.
Pants NEVER fit me in France. In fact, when I came to Canada, I went a bit crazy shopping because suddenly, everything fitted me. Sure, sizes are bigger here, but I think pants are designed differently.
I ave always found that N. Americans are more high-maintenance with their hair than French...? I don't know anyone who blow-dry in France.
As for your weight goal, it's great but don't be too hard on yourself ;-) You have a good head on your shoulders and don't exactly sound like a delusional person (yeah, I'm 500 lbs, I'm "curvy"). So be kind to your body, we all come in different shapes and sizes... ;-)
The Rideau Centre is so boring to me. Well, not quite, because Tim Hortons is there!
SupprimerI take it that One Direction is Forever 21's competitor? Can I admit that I go to Walmart?
I don't even try on pants here, I just know they won't fit. I think that clothes here are not made for comfort but for style. Like I said in my response to Canedolia, my mom goes to Walmart with old tags and buys the same pants/bras for me and sends them over with visitors. I agree, it is a lot easier to shop in Canada!
Can I say something else? I don't find French women very curvy. Canadian women come in all shapes and sizes. The variety of clothing sizes in the stores in Canada reflects this fact.
I find that French women blow-dry their hair because they are afraid of "catching cold", not because they want to style their hair like in North America. I think a lot of North American women have the latest hair dryers, with all the gizmos and gadgets. And all the styling products as well.
Thanks for the compliments. I think that in a few weeks I should actually go out shopping and buy something I feel good in for the summer. And no, that doesn't mean shoes!
Sorry, I had to laugh... not AT you, though! "One Direction" is that new annoying boys band, not a store. ;-) They probably aren't s big in Europe though. The only reason why I know them is because their single keeps on playing on radio here!
SupprimerFrench women aren't very curvy, I agree. And I also gave up on trying pants in France because I *know* they won't fit. In fact, I spent my entire teenage years wearing "hippie clothes", forget about shopping Pimkie... haven't worn pants from that place since I was 10!
There is nothing wrong with clothes from Walmart. Seriously. I bought pants and stuff from there and they are just fine. Lots of clothes for Mark as well.
Nope, I've never heard of them! I do kind of live in a bubble here, though. A bubble wherein I don't have a TV, don't read magazines other than Ça m'intéresse, and I don't know anything about the latest stars.
SupprimerI also have multiple pairs of the same pants for the same reason as you. The only difference is that I call them trousers ;-)
RépondreSupprimerEven after 4 years spent in the UK, I'm still trying to learn British words and spellings.
SupprimerI have no idea which vocabulary and spelling to use for my blog, however, since I have both UK and North American readers (and probably readers from Australia, etc.).
I just can't be bothered to try on trousers/pants. 98% of pants/trousers don't fit me, so why waste my time? So either I buy pants/trousers with an elastic band or drawstring or I buy the same pair of jeans. And that goes for bras as well. My mom/mum keeps the tags (so she can just match up the tags at the store/shop) and buys me the same stuff and sends it over to Europe with visitors.
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RépondreSupprimerI think that whatever makes you most comfortable is how you should be -- if that means no makeup, or hair dye, or blow-drying, then so be it!
RépondreSupprimerI'll admit that I'm not very similar to you with respects to your list, but as I get older, I'm definitely realizing that less (less make up, less caring about what others think, etc.) is more!
When I was a teenager, I was actually really into make-up and fashion. I must have been around 15 when I realized that no amount of make-up and clothing would make people accept me more and like me. That's when I started to care less and less. And when I turned 19 and started living abroad and travelling I realized that I couldn't afford to shop if I wanted to stay abroad and I didn't have the luggage space nor the time for beauty. And that's when I really gave everything up. I figured that one day when I was older and had more money I would care more. Well, that day has never come for two reasons.
SupprimerOne, I don't have more money, haha.
And two, I care even less now that I am older. I agree, getting older does have its advantages. If people don't like the way I look, than that's their problem, not mine.
I feel like I could have written this post myself. I am clueless when it comes to taking care of my look. I rarely buy clothes in France because they are so tight-fitting are really expensive. I stock up on clothes everytime I go to Canada. I'm all about Joe Fresh and Jacob, and Reitmans. As for the weight goal, a friend of my told me if you want to lose a little weight in a short period, you can eat soup during a week. I think I would faint if I follow this kind of drastic diet.
RépondreSupprimerI thought about the soup diet, the salad diet, the cereal diet, etc., etc. as well. The thing that would concern me about doing that kind of diet would be gaining the weight back immediately after stopping the diet. And I don't think I could put up with it either. I need dessert after my meals, even if it's only fruit and yoghurt.
SupprimerI have a friend in Bordeaux that literally drives me crazy. She's underweight and complains that she would love to have curves and breasts like me. Then I see her coming out of the market with bags full of leeks and I know, I just know, that she's going to spend a few days eating leek soup to lose a few pounds. Unbelievable!
Such an amazingly honest post! So refreshing. Wish I could care a bit less and be a bit more like you!
RépondreSupprimerI think that my laziness has something to do with it! Sometimes I am just too lazy to care, haha.
SupprimerAnother reason is that I'd rather spend time reading, on the computer, etc. than doing my nails and blow-drying my hair.
A third reason is that I don't like the feel of make-up on my face and beauty products in my hair.
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RépondreSupprimerI'm not especially into make up but I do try to wear it. Otherwise my pale face looks like I've just fainted. I do have girly aspects to me. But it's refreshing to hear another girl who's not totally obsessed with these things. Good luck on your weight loss.
RépondreSupprimerI have to admit, though, that sometimes I do feel alone. There are not too many women in France that don't care about girly things like me! I can't just sit around and gab about make-up and fashion with them. So not only am I foreign, but I can't connect with them on that level either.
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