I'm not usually a futzy kind of woman. I don't go to a salon to get my hair done. I've been cutting my own hair for most of my adult life, and I've had my hair dyed a total of once ... in my life (which spans more than a half a century). My daughter did it.
I also don't buy a lot of fancy and expensive bath products. In fact, as you may recall, if you've been reading here for any amount of time, I learned to make my own soap, including a soap paste for diluting to make liquid soap (thanks, Hattie!), and that is what I and Deus Ex Machina have been using for our full-body washing for the past year. I love how versatile and easy it is, and I love even more that I can add my own essential oils to make whatever scent that suits me. My current favorite is basil-bergamot. Can't get that at the grocery store. Just sayin'.
In addition, I don't wear a lot of make-up. Eyeliner and mascara, both in basic black, and maybe a little concealer. I haven't worn eye shadow or blush since college, and I've never liked lipstick on myself.
And nail polish has never been something on which I've spent much time or money. I don't paint my fingernails ... not really ever. I spent too much time working in the food service industry and the military - where painted nails weren't prohibited, but were strongly discouraged. In my current life, I spend too much time with my hands in dirt and other activities (like cooking) that aren't conducive to keeping nails pretty. Nail polish wouldn't last long on my fingernails. And frankly, my preferred aesthetic, when it comes to hands, is short, neat, clean and bare fingernails.
I do, however, LOVE to paint my toenails. I have one bottle of nail polish that I've had for as long as I can remember, because nail polish isn't something I spend a lot of time or money on. I would paint my nails, and when the polish wore off, or my toenails out grew the polished areas, I would just paint over the old polish.
So, when my daughter and daughter-in-law started inviting me to their Color Street parties on Facebook, I was completely skeptical. Cosmetics aren't my thing, especially nail polish. I just wasn't sure what I was going to do. I had to watch a YouTube video to even understand what they were, and after the video, I was even more skeptical. Like, what ... in ... the ... heck ... are those things??!!
But I put aside all of my critical throughts and anti-consumerist ideologies, and decided to trust those two very smart and very wonderful women, who know me, and know what I am like and what I like. They wouldn't ask me to violate my principles for a 'beauty' product, if they didn't really think it had some value.
I ordered a few of the kits, and they arrived in these flat packages of little nail-shaped stickers (they aren't stickers). They seemed a little futzy and bothersome. I wasn't sure how to use them, and I was worried I'd make a mess of it. I shared my concerns with my daughter, who was kind and generous enough to not only NOT laugh at my incompetence, but also came to my house and did my nails for me. What a great kid! I'm a lucky mom ;).
Applying the polish was easy, and YES, the Color Street product is actual nail polish - not stickers! It goes on quickly and easily, and with a heck of a lot less mess than nail polish.
Have you ever had to clean up nail polish that your nine year old daughter spilled all over the bathroom floor and toilet (and, no, I don't know how she managed that!), and replace a towel that she used to wipe up the polish in an attempt to clean it up herself?
The Color Street appliques are clean and neat and the only "mess" is the packaging. They're super easy to use, even for someone as uncoordinated as I can be. There are special "pedicure" kits, which I had been purchasing. I must have said something about wishing the there were more color/style options for pedicures, and my stylist informed me that the manicure kits can be used on one's toes, as well.
Wha-a-a-a-t??
I must have mentioned something about Color Street nails to my co-worker, because the other day, she brought a gift for me. It was a box FULL of Color Street nail kits! She said that she wasn't going to use them, and she thought I might like them. I was and am completely overwhelmed by her generosity and thoughtfulness!
The Prepper me looked at all of those nail kits and thought, "Huzzah! I'm ready for the end of the world as we know it!"
I recently read Susan Beth Pfeffer's novel The Dead and the Gone. The novel follows teenager, Alex Morales, who lives in New York City. When an asteroid crashes into the moon, the whole world goes wonky, and Alex has to figure out how to survive with his two younger sisters.
One thing I always hate about TEOTWAWKI novels is the propensity of writers to follow the same trope of the world descending immediately into complete chaos, anarchy, and violence. The problem I have is that the trope is not true to the real way most people behave following disasters. Yes, there is occasionally looting, rioting, and violence, but most of the time, what I've seen is people being generous and helpful to other people. And I like to think that if we do suffer an End of the World As We Know It event, what we will find is more in keeping with how people actually react following extreme weather events or during war time.
In Pfeffer's novel, there are shortages, because supply lines have been completely severed. NYC has always been considered a food desert, but now it might as well be an island in the middle of the ocean ... and they don't have any boats. Alex is fortunate to find a store where he can barter for food, and Alex discovers that the proprieator is willing to accept personal care items in exchange for canned goods. Alex can get some green beans and Campbell's chicken noodle soup for bars of soap.
That story element is actually steeped in fact. Sometimes that little bit of soap or lipstick is as valuable as food to a starving population. It's true.
During World War II, when there were shortages and rationing, cosmetic companies propagandized wearing make-up. According to this article, "maintaining a sense of glamour in day-to-day life was a way to retain dignity, bravery, and ... a little bit of fun." Likewise, stories from the Siege of Sarajevo reveal that there were people who are willing to sell loaves of bread or cans of soup for a bit of soap or some lipstick. Wearing a bit of lipstick (or nail polish) is an opportunity to feel a little less like one is "just surviving", and a little more like one is living. It gives us back our humanity.
I have always used this list as my guideline for what I should be considering important in my stocking up. At the end of the list of 100 items to stock is a list of eight recommendations from a survivor of the Sarajevo War/siege. Number 7 made me rethink the notion that beauty care items are unnecessary and frivilous. And it's the reason I was overwhelmed and incredibly appreciative for the gift of pretty nails from my friend.
When I saw that huge bag of nail strips, my thought was what an amazing gift my friend had given me. To her, it might just be nail polish. To me, it was a chance to feel a little prettier, and in a worstcase world, a little more human.
In the larger scheme of things, there's not much point in survival, if we lose our humanity, and it may seem a little silly, maybe even narcissistic, to place value on something as frivilous as painted nails, but in the end, for good or for bad, there will be someone who will be willing to trade a thing of value for some glamour.
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