OT | jennah's garden

Wow – not a fun day at work. Like so many others in the publishing industry, there were layoffs at my job today. Thankfully, I am safe, but I feel horrible for those who were let go—some who’d been with the company for a very, very long time. I guess there’s a reason for everything, and these people will do fine (might even be a positive change for some) but still—just wow. There will be some restructuring so my job will probably change a little in the coming months. It’ll be interesting to see how that pans out. In the meantime, I think it’s time I updated my resumé and opened a LinkedIn account. I like my job, but I’ve long been worried about its long-term stability and even things like retirement. And since we’re going to be starting a family soon, I might have to make a change I really don’t want to.

Now is a time when I could really use some pretty flowers to fiddle around with. I’ll have to settle for working off some frustrations at the gym.

In a fit of totally unrelated blogging, let me sing the praises of some of my favorite products. I just love this stuff and have been annoyed by Bare Minerals and Proactiv commercials in the last few minutes back to back, so here are some much MUCH better alternatives.

Everyday Minerals! You might have heard of Bare Minerals, the super fancy expensive “original” mineral makeup. And you’ve probably seen all the Cover Girl and whatever commercials for mineral makeup on TV. But Everyday Minerals is/are awesome. A friend turned me on to it and I’ve got a few other people using it as well. They have a bazillion colors, the colors are explained remarkably well so you can find what fits, and you can even order a sample kit and pay for only shipping to be sure you get the perfect color. I have eczema, a gift from my mom, and I’ve figured out that Everyday Minerals eyeshadow is the only kind I can use without causing a breakout. It also doesn’t bother my rather sensitive skin in general. And probably the biggest surprise is that the powder concealer actually works—very well—at covering up the undereye circles I was blessed with! I love this stuff. Also, the brushes from there are amaaaaazing. I never understood people paying any money for makeup brushes (and the EM ones aren’t expensive; all like less than $10), but I had to toss my old brushes after using these because they hurt my face compared to the bunny-soft EM brushes. Love their angled blush brush btw.

I’ve also got to recommend the Daniel Kern line of skin products. I never had horrible acne, but it was fairly persistent. And the fact that I’m obsessed with popping and picking breakouts didn’t help (I want it out of my face! ew!). I went to the dermatologist as a teenager and was prescribed a 10% benzoyl peroxide treatment. It worked, but it dried my face out like crazy, especially since I have eczema. I’d slather on lotion, but a couple hours later I’d have crazy flakiness that looked almost as bad and was almost as annoying as the acne. Finally I decided maybe I could try Clean & Clear or a salycylic acid treatment—and of course I broke out again (I stupidly decided to do this experiment before my wedding bc I was so fed up with the dry skin, and was able to get mostly fixed up before wedding thank god). Then I happened upon acne.org which said that 2% BP worked just as well as 10% without the drying. It’s true! I now also use their cleanser and moisturizer, use the jojoba oil with moisturizer in the winter to battle the eczema, and use the AHA cream in the summer at night. (Note: Proactiv uses BP also, but DK is a better value and works so beautifully for me I’d never dream of changing.)

Just had to share that info in case anyone is looking for suggestions. I really really love both of these lines and I think they should get more exposure. Now if only Bare Minerals and Proactiv would shut up on TV! Seriously, I hate the celeb Proactiv commercials where they complain about awful acne and then show a pic where there are a few tiny bumps on their chin. wtf.