Soap Box: Get Ready While WFH

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Chatter Get Ready While WFH

With less visibility than going into the office, it can be tempting to roll out of bed and login. I love to sleep in as much as the next person. I get it. If nothing else, it is critical to get ready while WFH because it helps you maintain boundaries which supports prevention of burnout and preservation of our mental health.

On Imgur last week, I saw a meme whose sentiment was along the lines of, “It’s time to stop calling it, ‘Working From Home,’ and instead call it, ‘Living at Work.'” For those of you also fortunate enough to work from home during this cluster of a year, you can appreciate how real that thought is.

And a quick pause on the, “fortunate enough,” bit:

You may not like working from home. In fact, you may hate it. The fact remains that if you are able to work from the safety of your home right now when so many people have either been displaced from employment or have their (and their family’s) health at risk – well, you’re lucky.

That said, just because you frame your situation in the context of being fortunate, doesn’t mean it is invalid to feel stressed or like boundaries are being violated. They are. Everyone’s are.

–and that’s why I still think you should get ready for work.

Three Key Reasons to Get Ready while WFH:

Boundaries

Those of us accustomed to going to an office every day, even if you weren’t routine-driven, had some sort of routine. Here’s roughly what mine looked like on an average day:

  • 5:00-5:20 – alarm/snooze/alarm/admit defeat. Get out of bed, do morning hygiene, slap on vit C serum.
  • 5:20-5:30 – if I failed myself the night before, pick clothing and get dressed
  • 5:30-5:40 – tidy hair, style if needed (I wash every other day, at night)
  • 5:40-5:55 – moisturize, sunscreen, facepaint. I can do this in as few as five minutes – and often do. But sometimes I want to channel Bob Ross, damn it, for a little morning zen. Some people do morning yoga; I do this
  • 5:55 – put together lunch, acquire caffeine
  • 6:00-6:05 – depart for ye olde commute
  • 6:35ish – arrive

The commute is actually the key element that orients my brain to transition to, “work mode,” from, “home mode.” It is a consistent boundary that marks the physical transition. With WFH, that is gone.

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Favorite Hand Lotion: Curel Ultra Healing

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Curel Ultra Healing Lotion, $8

Today, I’m sharing my favorite hand lotion – or what helps the skin maintenance of my DIY manicures last – Curel Ultra Healing. With us doing more handwashing than ever (I hope, anyway), we can use all the help we can get.

Hand Lotion Requirements

Fragrance

First, my preference is that lotion – any lotion – be free of fragrance. Fragrance in lotion tends to linger and can become annoying to me after some time. If I choose to wear fragrance, I don’t want my lotion to compete with or compound it. I particularly dislike strong fragrances on my hands – so it is doubly important to not be a thing in my hand products (though some hand soaps get a pass).

Moisturization

Second, the lotion needs to, you know, actually moisturize. If I need to reapply in an hour, that’s a problem. Not only do I not want to spend the time, I do not want to spend the money on a product that I need to use that frequently. The ingredient list reveals to me three different ceramides (which are important for maintaining your skin’s moisture barrier) and a handful of occlusives (which also help moisture leaching)..

Absorbency

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IGK Mixed Feelings Leave-In Blonde Toning Drops

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IGK Mixed Feelings Leave-In Blonde Toning Drops
IGK Mixed Feelings Leave-In Blonde Toning Drops, $29

If you’re blonde or have highlights, you’re probably no stranger to the concept of toning your hair. Whether you dabble in DIY toning like I do or leave it strictly to a professional, the battle of the brass is never far away. Last year, I came across IGK Mixed Feelings Leave-In Blonde Toning Drops ($29 at Sephora). In spite of previously talking smack about other products of IGK’s, I immediately bought them.

What Is It?

The of concentrated purple toning product that you can add to your hair during styling. You can apply the drops to your hair directly or cocktail them with a product. I usually use once a week and add mine to a leave-in conditioner or to my L’Oreal Thermal Balm or to Super Skinny when I’m heat styling.

This diminutive bottle contains one ounce which seems like a tragically small amount. It isn’t, though; using a bottom-button dropper like my Clarins facial tanner, a single drop does a lot more than you’d think. For my long hair, I usually go with 3-4 drops each time I use it. On a given day, it takes the edge off the brass/warmth – and it smells great.

Wow Your Colorist

I brought them along with me to the first balayage appointment I had after I bought them. When chatting with my colorist about them, she was blown away.. She had never seen them before! We ended up talking about them for a solid ten minutes, and she wouldn’t let me leave without writing down the product name.

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Undertaking a DIY Haircut

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Undertaking a DIY Haircut

In 2015, when faced with the, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” question, my response would not have included, “pondering or executing a DIY haircut on myself.”

In a normal year* I get my hair cut maybe 4-6 times. Because my hair is long and otherwise well cared-for, it hides my negligence prioritization choices. That said, thanks to the scumbag pandemic making this not a normal year, I have gotten just one haircut this year before shit got real in the US. Normally, by this point in the year I’d have gotten at least two, perhaps three.

For me, this isn’t a catastrophe. As opposed to short styles, long hair can be lower maintenance than you think. Since I’ve been working from home, I’ve been heat styling less. As a result, my hair is in moderately better condition than it would usually be. This isn’t just an act of laziness, but of strategy: I’m on camera for a least half of a given workday. As long as what frames my face looks decent, its fine.

A DIY Haircut

But, regardless, next month will mark six months from my last (professional) haircut. I was getting ready to tone my hair two weeks ago and decided I needed a trim – and I did it myself.

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L’Oreal Voluminous Deep Burgundy

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L'Oreal Voluminous Deep Burgundy
L’Oreal Voluminous Deep Burgundy, $7

Like many mascara-wearing people, black is my go-to. To be precise, my perennial favorite is L’Oreal Telescopic Carbon Black ($9), is always in stock in my vanity. Last time I stocked up on mascara, though, I decided to try something a little different for me: non-black mascara. L’Oreal Voluminous Deep Burgundy ($7) comes in a washable formula and is a little different, but not shocking.

So Edgy Of You (Not)

We’re not talking Euphoria-level adventurousness, here, though; L’Oreal Voluminous Deep Burgundy does not excude drama the way bright yellow, pink, or blue do. Indeed: I would wear navy but not bright blue.

Burgundy is not generally considered a soft shade, but when applied to lashes it comes across as a neutral. It is just slightly more fun than brown and note even remotely loud.

To most onlookers, it looks like any mascara; for me, a little softer than my usual, but still definitely providing richness and definition to my lashes. To you, the wearer, and to those with an eye for detail, though, it is ever so slightly burgundy.

For those of you living in a video-conference-centric world, most webcams in use by us mere mortals aren’t going to betray your departure from the norm. If anything, L’Oreal Voluminous Deep Burgundy comes across a little softer – so I tend to reach for a black so I look more awake on camera.

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Nudestix Hand Sanitizer Gel

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It’s been a while since I’ve seen some exceptionally stupid beauty marketing, mostly because I haven’t been looking. During some idle browsing on a lazy Sunday morning, I came across Nudestix Hand Sanitizer Gel. It is a bit odd to see beauty retailers offering so many hand sanitizer products, but that’s the world we live in now. Tons of companies set forth to add hand sanitizers to their complement of products: chemical companies, spirits distilleries, beauty brands. Lo and behold, you can buy all manner of hand sanitizers at Sephora and Ulta now.

TL;DR Your Marketing is Bad

Sephora partnered with Nudestix to add this ethanol-based hand sanitizer, priced $10 for 16.9 fl oz, to their shelves. The listing says:

In partnership with proud Canadian company, Nudestix, Sephora Canada launched this good-for-skin antibacterial gel specifically for the global COVID-19 crisis. Unlike alcohol-based gels, the Nudestix ethanol-based gel hydrates and protects hands while banishing harmful bacteria.

You’ve Got to Be Kidding Me

K, few things. We’ll key in on the biggest chunk of stupidity right off the bat. I cannot believe I have to point this out, but ethanol is an alcohol. In fact, assuming you are not a chemist, it is the form of alcohol you are most familiar with. It is the type of alcohol that beverages contain. It is an alternative fuel. It has antiseptic properties, hence why it is used in hand sanitizers.

CoVid-19 Isn’t a F***ing Bacteria

Secondly, while properly formulated and used hand sanitizers are antibacterial in nature, their marketing focuses too much on this right now. CoVid-19 is not bacterial, it is viral. A high enough concentration of alcohol can kill it. That should be how Nudestix Hand Sanitizer Gel is positioned right now. Instead, the listing mentions that the product was prompted by CoVid and goes on to spout about it being antibacterial.

The Bottom Line

You won’t find a link to Nudestix Hand Sanitizer Gel in this post because I don’t want to encourage/support bad behavior. I frankly find it off-putting – if we have cosmetic companies producing product without the basic understanding that ethanol is an alcohol, how can we trust that their cosmetic formulations have safety and efficacy in mind? It makes me think of Sensationail’s claims about their gel nail cleanser (psst, you don’t need it).

I don’t know if this listing is the fault of some product marketing genius with Sephora or with Nudestix. I don’t know if they genuinely don’t know any better, or if they’re a little too at-ease with assuming their consumers are idiots. I’d sincerely hope at least somewhere in either org there is someone with enough basic chemistry know-how to discourage this sort of thing. Instead, if you want to buy hand sanitizer from a beauty brand, might I suggest Cinema Secrets with a 70% concentration?