Beauty Tips for Ministers

Nivea For Men: Product Reviews

SweetieBang has normal skin that he’s been washing with Ivory soap forever, and never moisturizing. He’s in his late 30’s now, and after 15 years of sunning himself in Florida, it’s high time he started protecting himself with an SPF product (even though he now lives in far a colder climate, the sun still does shine with the same damaging rays in Massachusetts as it does in Florida).

We like Nivea For Men’s inexpensive (around five bucks) Extra Gentle Face Wash (I love that “For Men” part, as though I, with girly sensitive skin, shouldn’t even get near it or I might catch a fatal case of TESTOSTERONE)

…
but the bummer is that the Protective Moisturizer with SPF in it gave him a humongous zit,

and he’s not a guy who breaks out in general. So I’m still on the look-out for something protective and inexpensive that won’t clog his pores and cause him to look at me with patient but somewhat pitying eyes and say, “I’m just going to stick with the Ivory soap, ‘kay?” Me: “But the cleanser works great! We need to find an SPF product that won’t make you break out!” Him: “Okay, but I haven’t had a zit this big in my entire life.”

Also, gentlemen, what do you do with dry, flaky skin under sideburns? Can you exfoliate the skin under sideburns? As SweetieBang loses his deep, glowing, Florida tan (*sob*), his skin is peeling a little bit. He says leave it alone and let it peel. But we all know that PeaceBang is plotting better methods. A soft, dry brush? A masque? Aveeno exfoliating pads?

Spray and Wash Stain Stick: Products We LOVE

I know we’re not supposed to worship anyone but the One Lord, ya’ll but I have to say that I just adore and worship this product because it managed to get out TWO big greasy stains on favorite garments. One was months old (on a grey, cotton work-out jacket), the other weeks old (on a grey-blue poly camisole). I had washed both garments several times using Zout and regular detergent with no luck. I thought I was going to have to relegate both garments to the rag pile until I smeared a bunch of the Spray and Wash Stick on the stains, laundered as usual, and voila!! Good as new. This stuff is great because you can wack a stain with it the moment you get one and launder the garment up to a week later. This is to LOVE.

Blotting Papers For Shiny Boys N’ Girls!

In my last post I recommended the use of blotting papers for a reader who asked about make-up. I don’t know why I haven’t mentioned it before, but blotting papers are a very helpful beauty tool, even for those who don’t wear make-up!

Many of us preach under strong lights or in heavy vestments that make us sweat. On days we’re not preaching, we often leave the house in the a.m. hours, run around to a series of meetings or activities and then to a round of the same in the evening. We don’t have a lot of time to do elaborate touch-ups, and we can get very shiny and sweaty punims.*

Blotting paper is terrific. It essentially allows you to powder your nose without powdering your nose. Blotting papers are tissue-thin (be careful taking them out of the package; lightly wet your fingertip first or you may pull out a whole wad instead of just the one you need) and you simply press them against your forehead, sides of nose, and chin. You will be amazed at how much oil winds up on the paper, so please don’t do this in public — it’s not a genteel, lady-like act the way pulling out a compact and discreetly banging on your schnoz after lunch can be.

For gals, blotting papers have the virtue of not adding another layer of make-up to your face, which is a good thing if you’re at the beginning of your day and don’t want to get cakey. If your make-up has worn off entirely, by all means give your face a swipe with a powder compact and blush and use the blotting papers just to avoid unseemly shine.

These come in a lovely holder so you’re sure not to accidentally smoosh them in your purse.

These don’t come with a holder but they’re pretty and old-school, and PeaceBang has used them on and off them since her teen years with no complaints.

* Yiddish for face, but you must know that by now if you’re a regular reader of this blog!

Paula’s Choice

Does anyone have any experience with Paula’s Choice products? I just ordered one of their serums as an extremely affordable alternative to Skinceuticals and am interested to know if anyone else has used any of their line. Thanks, possums!

Lovely Skin Care Line

Dewdrops,
It is just dry, dry, dry out. Although it’s raining like the dickens right now, we’re in icky, coldy winter and my skin needs a very emollient moisturizer to combat it. The challenge is to find something very heavy-duty that actually penetrates the skin and doesn’t leave me looking oily, which is the problem with many products.

But hark! PeaceBang has been trying a sample of this rose cream from all-natural line Korres and really loves it. No, it doesn’t so much smell like a rose garden as old-school cold cream, but the scent doesn’t last and it’s an excellent product for guys and gals alike.

The price is high but it’s a far superior product to most of the drugstore brands I use, and for those of you who like the au natural thing, I thought you’d like to check out Korres in general. I’m impressed.

3-D Lash Is a 3-D Mess

Darlings, please don’t waste your hard-earned dollars on this product by Revlon, which promises to make your lashes especially long and “3-D” (which actually strikes PeaceBang as a little bit of a scary idea — “I was at a meeting with this woman and her lashes just CAME AT ME!”), but which, in all truth, just makes them gloppy and flaky.

While PeaceBang loved the space age silver packaging, she could often not get the bloody thing to twist open of a morning (before coffee), and by midday she found little black snowflakes peppering her cheeks, no doubt giving her the friends and congregants the impression that she was auditioning to be an extra in the latest bus-and-truck of “Les Miserable.”

3-D Lash is B-A-D. Stick with Max Factor Stretch & Separate Waterproof Mascara. Love, love, love it. It’s hard to find but you can order it online.