Finding 'Ish: 2013

M's Face Stuff

M's Skincare Routine

So I have a friend, M, who needs a new skincare routine. M needs something that addresses her needs, is cheap, readily available, and won't add much time to her morning and nighttime routine.

I think I've got it. M this is for you.

What M Needs

Noxzema, the Original Deep Cleansing Cream - 3-5 dollar for a big tub
Witch Hazel - Any kind will do, I've seen it go for 1-7 dollars
Giant Cotton Balls - They need to be the big ones and they need to be cotton. The synthetic ones don't seem to pick up any dirt and the small ones just mean you have to use 2 or 3 of them. lfmf
Soap - Now I'm going to be picky here, most soaps suck on the face, but there are a few that seem fine for the face. Pears, Dove beauty bar, ivory, dr bronners, kirks pure castile and MAYBE kiss my face.
Washcloth - any, I get the packs from the dollar store.

Now the tough bit, I'm not sure what kind of moisturizer to recommend. If M's foundation has an SPF then anything that isn't too rich should be fine. (no history of sensitivity or dryness.)

In the morning

Wash with soap and warm water. moisturize, allow to absorb before putting on foundation. Seriously, that's it, just switch up the normal soap with something that won't strip the face.

At night, before bed, evening-ish

If wearing makeup - massage noxzema over the face using a circular motion. This will remove the toughest makeup without drying out your skin. Wash off with warm water and a wash cloth. Some people just towel it off.

Put witch hazel on a cotton ball, rub it over face, this will tone the face and pick up any dirt or oils.

Moisturize.

That's it M. Your basic face washing routine.

Ish

Stuff and Junk from inside my head

So today was my day 1 of week 5 of ZR5k and as I was jogging I went to that weird headspace where the chaos and anxiety of every day just sort of falls away. This is the place where I ask myself the tough questions or plan my day or even give myself a bit of a ramble-y pep talk. (Logical flow is not my friend)

I asked myself the question I've been asking myself since I started this blog, hell it's the reason I started the blog.

"If you knew that the body you have today would never change, how would you live?"

No gaining weight, no losing weight, hair isn't going to grow out, no laser treatments. How would I live? What would I do that I had put off til I was thinner, or prettier or whatever?

Today was the first day I could say that I wouldn't change a thing. I've signed up for dance class, my jog is still a sad little shuffle, but it gets better every day and eventually I'm going to find the perfect red lipstick.

I know that week 5 is the week people start dropping out, but I'm going to tough this one out.

Stay Beautiful,
Ish

Lipstick Trial - Part One

Today I am looking for the perfect pinup red. I had my color iq done at sephora the other day so I know that I am probably going to look best in something warm. For today's lipstick trial I will be enlisting the help of Mr. Ish. Mr. Ish will act as photographer and second opinion.

Enjoy my bad handwriting.

I got some samples of besame lipsticks as my goody for completing week one of zombies, run! 5k, I'll also try MAC's Russian Red in another blog. Here we go!

1. Besame Red 2. American Beauty
3. Red Hot Red 4. Red Velvet
5. Merlot 6. Cherry Red

Besame Red

1. Mr Ish - too cool Me: Too Cool

American Beauty

2. Too warm - first one was better Me:Too Pink

3. I like that one (at this point his eyes are starting to glaze over. So he's taking a break) Ok after break he says it's the right level of warmth, but too bright for my face, this is his favorite so far. Me: Warm, but not too warm, a little bright, but very vintage-y

It's at this point that I realize that 4, 5, and 6 are too cool and that I hate the texture of besame lipstick. My lips are super dry and the texture is just a bit more waxy than I like. Next up I'll pick up some revlon and some MAC lippies to try. I expected this to be the most difficult thing :)

Stay Beautiful!
Ish

Invisible

This makeover is actually pretty scary. Every time I check something off the list I come closer and closer to no longer being invisible.

Being invisible is comfortable.
Being invisible is safe.

I do, and am going to do things that put me in public. I jog in public, people yell things and honk. It makes me want to hide. I'm terrified of how people react to what I'm becoming, what I will look like.

I'm working towards dressing in a way that will make it impossible for me to blend in. I'm tired of blending in, but the alternative is frightening. What if people are mean to me? (They've been mean before) What if they yell things? (They do that now) What if I get stared at? (Let them look, I'm fabulous!) I usually do ok, I dressed kinda odd in high school, so I've attracted negative attention before, it's just that lately I haven't been feeling very brave.

I'm not changing anything on the list and I'm not stopping what I've begun, I just needed to tell someone how scared I get sometimes.

Ish

Make the busy stop!

So now that I'm back up and running I can put together some stuff I worked on when I had no comp. I took some pics for the lipstick trials (6 colors of besame lipstick!) I still don't know what color I like, so I'm going to run them by mr. ish and maybe try some of MAC's Russian red, or Revlon which both seem to be a hit with burley-Q dancers.

I ended up repeating week 2 of the zombies run 5k b/c I had a touch of the gastro. I'm on week 3 now and am thinking about maybe adding some other activity. (seriously, I had a blocked cat, a dead laptop, and the gastro in a two week period. My ass is broke and tired.)

With all of that computer-less free time on my hands I redid the list and added more detail. I now present...

The Expanded List

Hair

Dye - I'm thinking Lush Caca Brun Mama since I'm way too lazy to mix indigo and henna.

Hairstyle - I still need to work on victory rolls and pincurls. I'll need some bobby pins, a pincurl sculpture, a hair rat for faux bangs and maybe some cute flower accessories.

Deep Conditioning routine - I'm starting to think that this may not be needed.

No-poo, I'm out of it and Wen kinda sucks. It leaves my hair feeling all greasy and heavy.

Gel - I'm running low on gel, I'm favorite is devacurl's light defining gel.

Face

Eyebrow shaping and makeup - I've already ranted about the awesomeness of crystal and Benefit cosmetics gimme brow.

Cake Liner, Mascara and Brush - I'm thinking of using besame's mascara for both the mascara and liner, and sigma makes a nice angled brush

BB Cream - I love naked's bb cream/ tinted moisturizer I just need to pick up a full size tube

Foundation and Powder - I'll only need this for special occasions so it's pretty far down on the list. I'm pretty happy with bb cream

Red Lippie - I'm in the middle of trials to find the right color for me. Red lipstick is a challenge, but man do I love it.

Making faces at the cat.

Lash comb - all picked out, I just need to pick it up.

Neutral or pink lip color - I might test out some pinks, but I love Urban Decays xxx gloss in naked and carney.

Cream blush - for special occasions

Facial Exfoliation - I do this twice a week, gently, with the baiden mitten

Rose water - the stuff in the grocery store with all of the middle eastern noms. This and Noxzema are my favorite things to use to keep my skin clean.

Complexion Spray - Urban Decay makes this awesome stuff that takes the redness out of my skin and feels soooo refreshing.

Teeth Whitening - I love crest 3d, but I may also pick up some go smile or try some of crest's other products.

Body

Pedegg, it's a cheese grater, for your feet.

Exfoliation - Baiden Mitten, nailed it!

IPL - I might try the elos me smooth for some hair reduction

Sunscreen (Unscented) - I really need this if I'm going to get rid of my permatan.

Soap - Lush's turkish delight or rose jam mmmm

Lotion - If I pick the right shower gel this might not be needed.

Perfume - none or my old standby Maybe Baby

Mani/pedi on a regular basis - Done, I need a new pedegg, but other than that, done and dusted.

acetone - Picked it up last fri

Stiff brush for french manicures and half moon manicures

Rubbing alcohol - I am completely out

Pedi sock - I dream of the ones from bliss world, but tend not to spend on myself like that

Moisture glove - see above

Shoes

Ballet Flats - I have a pair, but would like another 2 or 3 pairs :o

Maryjane heels - They go with ANYTHING

Pretty much anything vintage looking.

Clothes

I'm looking for pinup, rockabilly, vintage.

Things to do

Zombies, run! 5k - I'm on week 3. Maybe it's a cheat, but I buy myself a goodie every time I complete a week. Something foolish that I normally wouldn't buy for myself.

Dance Class - Either Fishnet Follies or Bombshell betty

Drink more water - it's tough but I'm working on it

Sing more - I don't even sing in the shower anymore :(

Work on eye contact - Well I don't feel intimidated as often, but I'm still way to easily distracted.

Jogging outside is scary and makes my butt muscles hurt. :(

Stay beautiful!

'ish

Nothin' to see here...move along.

My comp was down and it took two weeks to get another one. :o I'm also slacking off this weekend for my birthday, but the posts will start up again monday-ish. Until then I do have a pintrest board that is the companion to this blog.

Until next time, enjoy this preview of an upcoming review of red lipsticks.

Stay beautiful!
'ish

Eyebrows

I went to Castro Valley today to have crystal of waxcraft shape and design my eyebrows. My phone had died, so I didn't get to grab any pics of the place, let me say that it was very comfortable. I snagged some before and afters.

That's all for tonight friends, I am super tired. Goodnight luvs.

Ish

Mojo is home! I guess we're back on

No pics tonight. Mr Mojo is home and doped up, he's peeing (I'm so proud!)Mojo will need to be monitored for a few days and pilled for a week.

The vet bill wasn't as much as I thought it would be so the makeover is back on. Thu. I'm going to exfoliate from top to bottom and take extra care with my feet. I've gotten used to having girl feet. Both the mani and pedi are doing fine so I don't need to worry about that for another week or 2. Friday I'm getting my brows shaped, I've already taken "before" pictures, I may have to retake them as the lighting kind of sucked.

In other news , my friend "M" is having some difficulty with eyeshadow so I'm going to try to take some pics or video of how I load the brush to stop powder from flying everywhere. (Stay awesome M!)

I'm going to try to keep these posts coming, but my laptop ac adapter died, I'm having one overnighted, but it looks like I'm going to have tomorrow off. :)

I hope to have interesting stuff going on over the next few days.

Stay beautiful!
Ish

Isha Makeover Put on Hold

I'm going to keep my brow appointment for Friday, but after that my makeover list is going to be put on hold until I can pay off the kitty hospital bill. Makeup and clothes are cool, but kitty is family. Family always comes first.

Mr. Mojo, the black cat. Is suffering from urinary obstruction. The good news is that he'll live, but my little guy needs to spend a couple of days getting 24/7 care at the emergency vet. :(

Like this, with more boobs and less eye makeup.

I went a little nutty with the spending today. I picked up my hormone cream, ok so I needed that. Then I bid on some cute shoes of ebay...well that's not too bad, I bid low and I'm not increasing my bid. Then sephora, it's my birthday month so I get a neat gift with purchase, so I purchased brow gel. It got excellent reviews, but then I saw if I added one more item that I would also get a makeup bag full of samples, well, you know how it goes.

Now if I stopped there, it would have been ok, but I bought Frank a new epipe and tomorrow I need to place an order for more eliquid, Wed. I'll probably go for lunch after signing the final divorce papers, Thu. is the food truck rally and Fri. is my brow appointment and OH MY!

Now before you folks worry, Mr. ish and I are fine for money, I just can't believe how free I've been with money this week.

Stay beautiful friends!
ish

Zombies

Finished first day of zombie 5k. I survived. Today is the first day towards building my endurance so I can survive dance class.

It works! My skin hasn't been this soft since I was a kid! Ok so I stood under the shower for about 15 minutes, with the water as hot as I could stand it. If I had access to a tub I would rather have a long hot soak. No soap, no lotion, just water. Then I turned off the water, but stayed in the shower since it was warm and steamy. I made sure the mitten was wet and started scrubbing, up down and back forth with medium pressure. I kept all the movement slow and deliberate.

Holy crap the stuff that sloughed off of be was disgusting, rolls of grey gooey stuff started to come off of me. I was a bit rushed otherwise I would have scrubbed a lot longer, if I had time I would have gone until I was pink all over.

Let me tell you, my skin it soft and a lot of the bumps I have on my arms are now GONE. The skin on my face feels especially soft. If I can find the time this week when no one is home I'll probably have another go and take a lot more time really going over myself. I can't wait to see what it does long term. If I get the chance I would love to follow a session with the mitt with some turkish delight from lush.

Of course I'll continue to update on my progress.

You can get your baiden mitten HERE.

Stay beautiful all!

'ish

ugh before

Since I've now used the Baiden mitten on my feet I've decided to post a couple of after pictures.

Mind you, to get my heels that smooth it took an hour of soaking and scraping with the callus shaver and most of the day using my diamacel #20 in between phone calls.

If you're interested in doing your own gel manicure they sell the red carpet manicure set at target. Spring for the LED, I have both the LED and the UV lamp, the LED is waaaaay faster.

I have girly smooth heels now!

Serious fug

After! The baiden mitt evened out my skin tone a bit.

aaand a quick pic of my manicured hands

Polish is about 3 days old in this pic.

Until next time, stay beautiful.

'ish

Beauty Routine

I'm a bit of a lazy girl when it comes to grooming, but all the same I figured I would share my beauty routine. I expect this post to change as I work on being more girly.

Morning
Hormone cream
Brush teeth
Wash face with rose water - I'd love to be able to use something else, but I have stupidly sensitive skin.
pluck stray hairs

Shower
Scrub scalp with no-poo (I'm a conditioner washer)
Soap and scrub
detangle hair gently with detangler comb
rinse hair and scalp
turn off water
work gel through hair
plop
dry off
deodorant
dress

Evening
Floss - seriously, floss everyday
hormone cream
take pills
brush teeth
pluck stray hairs - I'm hirsute so I need to do this twice a day

Weekly
Check pedi and mani redo or touch up as needed
exfoliate with baiden mitten

Stuff I want to add
Makeup
IPL treatments
lotion
more consistent sunscreen use

Until next time, stay beautiful!
'ish

Tooth whitening, Exfoliation, Haircut and plans for next week

Tooth Whitening

Seriously, buy some now, I'll wait.

GET CREST 3D WHITE NOW. At about 4.50 a tube I have already noticed a difference. My teeth don't quite match the bridge, but the difference is *much* less noticeable. I may follow up eventually with either gosmile or professional whitening, but that is just me being obsessive about the whole thing.

Exfoliation

My Baiden mitten arrived today. I'm going to need about an hour to soak, exfoliate and then rinse off the gross, so I'll try for tomorrow, but most likely I won't have the time til Monday-ish. If it works I'll post some pics.

Haircut

I don't know if I like my haircut or not. When I look in the mirror, I think it's the cutest thing ever and I look forward to having a slightly longer version of it, but when I take a pic of it I think, "I look like a boy, a dorky boy." I'm still playing with styling and the part so hopefully it will grow on me.

My Haircut makes me feel like

but then I take seflies and I'm all like...

I'm laughing at the ridiculousness of the selfie.

In all fairness I have a raging case of bed head in this pic.

Next week I start running and I get my brows done by the *highly* reviewed Crystal of Waxcraft. I should also pick up some brow gel or something since I have a few sparse areas.

Till next time folks, stay beautiful!

--'ish

Hump Day - Haircut and nails

I don't work on Wednesdays, so I tend to relax, drink some tea, and deal with all of my weekly grooming stuff. I'll update the foot post after my baiden mitten shows up, I really want to exfoliate before posting pics of my body. I took the plunge and following c-dots tutorial, cut my hair into a middy.

This is probably the best pic of my before hair, styled and such. Mr. ish is generally uncomfortable, he had dialysis just a few hours earlier and is a bit out of it.

Mr. & Mrs. ish Jan 2013

I can't say much about the pic below, my "before" everything pic if you will. It's a selfie I took just for the blog, I had just gotten out of bed and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Selfie 10/29/13

I'm actually stupidly happy with the haircut and can't wait to see how it looks when it's been styled.

Just woke up from nap.

I'm still trying to figure out the best way to style it. Today I just worked in a leave in and gel, I still need to see how it looks with plopping and blow dried with a diffuser. Not much to say today, made an appointment to get my brows shaped.

Tools of foot grooming. Not pictured: Footbath, fuzzy slippers, paper towels.

My feet are taking all day, when it was supposed to be a one hour thing. I've soaked them, gone over them with a callus shaver and have been spending the day with a diamancel 20. The before pictures are pretty ewww, but I told myself that I would be painfully honest with his blog.

My feet, and yes, they're gross.

Horrible Heels

I was hoping to have time to do more today, but if I manage to finish sanding down my heels and getting my nails painted I'll be happy. I'll finish getting them as cute as I can, but I could definitely use some callus remover gel and a new pumice.

The List

I used to wake up in the morning *really* liking myself, but between the meh feeling, the lack of beautifying and giving up a lot of my hobbies I haven't really felt like myself. So here is the 'isha life makeover list. The list is in no particular order

~~Begin tarot readings again~~ Resumed reading full time 10/01/13

~~Get bridge fixed~~ Got this Fixed during the Summer

~~Eyebrows shaped~~

Hair removal routine

~~Exfoliation Routine~~

New makeup look - looking at red lipstick now, practicing cat eye later this week, got my color iq at sephora

Dance class - signed up and paid

~~Haircut~~
Hairstyle

~~Add weekly deep conditioning treatment to hair routine~~

Clothes

Confidence

Get in habit of sunscreen

mani routine

pedi routine

Find a soap I really like

Find a lotion I really like

~~whiten teeth to match new bridge~~

~~Drink more water~~

Learn the song "Strange Fruit"

Learn song "Bless the child"

The list will grow and shrink as I get a handle on who I was and who I will be. So far a lot of this is superficial stuff, but that was the stuff I let go of first to care for Mr. 'ish. I also wanted to add that I don't regret or resent a single second of last year, I would do it again in a heartbeat, but now it's time for me to get my girly on.

Tooth Truth

So I got my bridge fixed not too long ago. My bridge became loose and on of the anchor teeth started to decay, break and become infected. I put off having it fixed for years, and I'll admit it had a lot to do with losing my sexy, even before Mr. ish's kidney failure.

Of course there is a problem, isn't there always. The shade of my natural teeth is not quite A1 or B1, making a match damned near impossible. Did I mention that this bridge is in front?

Take a look. Stupid teeth not matching any of the shades.

So I ended up going a hair lighter than my natural tooth shade. Now I need to whiten. I doubt I'll ever get a perfect match, but I would be happy if I could get close. Now normally to whiten I would go with supersmile (which is super-awesome) or gosmile, which is extremely convenient. This time I went cheap.

Yup that's it, drugstore toothpaste.

I've only used it for one day, so far my teeth feel fabulously clean. I'll make sure to post an update in a week or two and let you guys know how my teeth look. Quick warning: It tastes terrible.

See y'all next time!

'ish

Finding Who?

Hi folks, I'm Aisha, but everyone just calls me 'ish.

In June of 2012 my SO's kidneys failed. He was hospitalized for 10 days and was in pretty bad shape when he came home. I spent the next year or so taking care of him, along the way I lost a lot of myself. I stopped dancing and singing in the living room, I stopped reading tarot and I stopped giving a damn about my appearance. Mr. 'ish is on home dialysis now and doing so much better, he doesn't need me to take care of him anymore, so what am I left with?

This blog is my attempt to record picking up the pieces. I've made a list and now it's time to start checking stuff off!

Finding 'Ish

M's Face Stuff

M's Skincare Routine

What M Needs

In the morning

At night, before bed, evening-ish

Stuff and Junk from inside my head

Lipstick Trial - Part One

Invisible

BusyBusyBusy - List redux

Make the busy stop!

Hair

Face

Body

Shoes

Clothes

Things to do

State of the Blog

Eyebrows

Mojo is home! I guess we're back on

Isha Makeover Put on Hold

Mr. Mojo is in the kitty hospital

Too Much Spending!!!

Zombies

Baiden Mitten - Holy Shit it works!

Quick Mani Pedi Update

Beauty Routine

Beauty Routine

Tooth whitening, Exfoliation, Haircut and plans for next week

Hump Day - Haircut and nails

Dem Feets

The List

Tooth Truth

Finding Who?

Pages

About Me

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