RSSA Magazine, A Mascara, and Good Hair Goop
May 1, 2010
Love getting stuff on sale that I end up liking.
Love smart people talking real.
Don’t like a message that sounds like it’s just telling me what it thinks I want to hear.
Macleans May 10/2010
Every parent should read this brilliant and uncomfortable article about “The Empty Lives Of Teenage Girls”. I know these girls, the binge drinking, the kids who cut themselves. Thankfully, they don’t live at my house, but I could name them. It kills me. I’ve known them since they were 3. My high school kids have had health concerns too because of homework demands. Too easily did I recognize the plasticity of the lives they create for themselves, where 7, 13, and 17 are barely different any more.
Dr. Leonard Sax proposes much to reflect on in this interview. The girls and the boys are using these behaviors for very different reasons. Generally, the high-achieving girls are the most at risk, because of the anxiety they live with. Can you remember the crushing levels of stress in high school that our children live with? I can’t. High school wasn’t easy, socially or academically, but it wasn’t what it is now.
My answer was not to cut out Facebook, the cell phone, and the Junior Prom. It was to tell my kids to get lower grades. If homework isn’t done by 10, it doesn’t get done, that’s bedtime. The school can call me.
I allow planned days off from school gladly. Friends are amazed that I am teaching them to hide from their problems and be lazy. I don’t want them to live in a world of time clocks, me vs. The Boss, of their achievement schedule being decided by someone other than them. If their work is done at the end of the week, let them be innovative and self-determined about where and how. If they can achieve in their sleep, or on an island, they’ve won.
I don’t like to rein in a self-motivated kid and ask them to lower their performance standard, but I equally dislike watching the schools compete on the kids’ backs. They may want to prepare them for university by loading them with course work and forcing them to teach themselves, but Grade 10 isn’t university.
My family doctor made the interesting point that meditation and relaxation may work with adults. Kids do better with a physical outlet that has no competition or goal at the end. They need activity that is pure enjoyment and fun, “sizzlingly hilarious” she called it. Turns out to be hard to find. Even Irish Dance has a recital at the end.
Dr. Sax has a no-nonsense delivery that I appreciate. He isn’t wowed by statistics. He’s been quoted in Macleans previously, discussing boys, in Playtime’s Over and How To Fix Boys. You can disagree with him, but you’ll be challenged, and you’ll interact with your own kids better. As he says, our job as parents is foremost to keep them safe. Not to be their friend. Not to avoid their anger. Not to negotiate incessantly. They cannot make decisions about their safety or well-being. We’re the grownups, but our decisions are not easy ones. I found a lot to help guide me in these 3 articles, and feel more confidence in my instincts and choices.
So, grab this magazine. Worth reading too, so you can be informed at the cocktail party, is the ongoing quest for your attention by the marketers on the sites like Facebook and Google. Google knows what we’re afraid of and has learned, through algorithm, to post ads that we think are relevant (maybe more helpful than the Search results?). Facebook knows a lot more about us. If the advertisers get in, we’ll lose our relaxed time with friends. We’ll have to deflect ads, just like the real world. With 1 in 3 Canadians having an account, the pressure is strong. They’re already squirming their way in.
L’Oreal Telescopic Explosion Mascara
I want to believe that there is a perfect mascara at the drugstore. They’re up against my all-time fave, Estee Lauder Double Wear Zero Smudge, but I just cannot drop $25 for mascara.
I bought Rimmel The Max Volume Flash and found it did next to nothing, about like good ol’ Maybelline Great Wear. I returned it.
There isn’t anything I don’t like about the L’Oreal.
The little sea urchin – spiky ball applicator works really well, extremely so, to apply and separate. It’s not goopy. Others found clumping problems but I really didn’t. I could apply second coats easily. It does not move all day. It comes off easy, very easy, without needing a separate eye makeup remover. It’s $10 or less. It’s not animal-tested. It does not create ridiculously fake looking lashes at all, don’t worry about not being able to control it. Very much worth trying. Sadly, only comes in 2 colors.
Garnier Fructis Style Switch
Love Manipulator but it’s too heavy at times, for fine or very layered hair. I wanted something lighter that smoothes, shines, and separates. I no more believe in high end hair products as being so much better than high end makeup. I look for drugstore stuff and it has to be on sale.
This one is just perfect. A dry finished look. Pleasant mild aloe-ish scent. Requires only a tiny amount of product. No hold to speak of, but certainly smooths hair well, cleans up the ends, and adds good shine. It falls right between John Frieda’s Secret Weapon, a superb hair product in its own right, and Manipulator.
Comments
5 Responses to “A Magazine, A Mascara, and Good Hair Goop”
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A Greener Tea
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Hi Christine,
The only thing I would say to you, is yes, while these brands may be cheapish and good in use, they are big, big, multi nationals who have big advertising budgets and do a lot of damage in terms of the chemicals they use, the not very responsible attitudes to testing on animals or undercutting the markets from smaller, more local brands. I would say buy a Canadian make if possible or whatever is produced in your country, and check how responsible their attitudes are. There are some excellant brands about these days that do all this and are often just as economical. I don’t think these hugh brands, with questionable ethics need any more free advertising. Sorry to sound preachy at all, but being spiritual or caring about the world needs to encompass our everyday choices as well as meditation or however else we are spiritual people, we can’t divorce off areas of our life such as this.
Hi Christine,
Is it possible that Garnier Fructis Style Switch is sold under a different name in the US? On their website and in stores, I can only find Fiber Gum Putty and something new called “Surf Hair.” They’re sold in a jar, just like Style Switch, but it’s not clear whether the products are similar or not.
Thanks,
Mary-Ellin
I’ll have to look, Mary-Ellin. It’s not uncommon that they change the name in the US. The tub looks exactly the same as Surf Hair here, and there is a third type of gunk with a much stronger hold in the same tub. The Switch is labeled as medium hold. Hope to be there on the weekend, I’ll check.
I tried the mascara, and I like it! It’s cheap, it doesn’t flake, and the “little sear urchin”-like brush is perfect. Thank you! With you and Beautypedia, I haven’t wasted money on makeup or skincare in awhile.
I’ll look for the hair goo. I’ve been a dedicated user of “Redkin Smooth Down” for several years now. It’s a great silicone gel and the bottle lasts for about two years.
Amy,
Isn’t the Paula’s Lipliner the greatest stuff? I could not go back to colored lipliner.
The L’Oreal mascara is good stuff. With time, it’s becoming blobbier, but with a lash comb, it’s just great. And fast! I’m all about fast makeup. Sometimes, I scrape the sea urchin off on the side of the tube – they should just make the neck narrower.
Mary-Ellin asked about the hair stuff in the US. I couldn’t find it Target oddly. Maybe they were out, because they had the other versions.