It’s been about six months since I last posted, and they have been a glorious six months fill with fun, stress, life experiences and drunken bad decisions. Needless to say, I did keep reading the fashion “bible,” Vogue, so I trust I can be forgiven.
In the last six months, I’ve steadily continued to find my style, found the perfect skin routine for myself, helped launch one of the top two most popular celebrity fragrances of the season, and stumbled through Relationship Canyon as unscathed as possible. Fashion, beauty, career and relationships— those are some of the most important categories in every woman’s life, right?
Please, Ms. Rivers, don’t call me a Fash-Ho
Speaking of Fash-Hos, did anyone else know some people use the word “fasho” instead of “for sure” when texting? I literally thought the person was calling me a Fash-Hoe, but that isn’t the point of this sub-topic at all. Let’s talk about fashion, dahhhhling!
My wardrobe is about 70% dresses, 15% skirts, 10% shirts and 5% pants— look at that snazzy wardrobe pie chart for you visual learners. I’d include my shoes, but then the numbers would be completely skewed. Let’s just say all the little angels that go on my feet are outliers, and we can simply forget about them like the shit I learned, way-back-when, in AP Statistics.
I’ve also learned that I could care less what were the trends of the season from fashion week. I don’t do trends, just well-cut clothes. I’ve begun to develop a wardrobe that makes me feel pretty and confident, and yes, sometimes it makes me feel skinny, a vain yet necessary notion. The knowledge that I can go in an un-named, fast-fashion store and walk out with nothing, or the most demure shift dress that looks as if it costs five times the price, puts a mark in my “Win” column.
Mirror, mirror…
Beauty, it’s all around me— I work across from Condé Nast for God’s sake! When I was in high school, I looked fairly similar to the way I do now, but I felt ugly. When I was in college, I looked exactly as I do now, and felt pretty most days. Now that I’m out of college and in the throes of a real career, I’m comfortable in my own skin. I know I may not be the most gorgeous woman in the world, but I’m beautiful in my own right, and I have really great, soft skin!
That last part can be confirmed by many guys, just hunt them down and ask. So, what’s my secret? I finally found a good beauty routine. Here I go:
Face cleanser: Boots Botanics Skin Brightening Deep Clean Gel*; twice daily
Face scrub: Boots Botanics Purifying Face Scrub*; once per week
Eye makeup remover: Neutrogena Oil-free Eye Makeup Remover; nightly
Body Soap: Yardley London English Lavender; every other day
Body Scrub: Aveeno Positively Nourishing Smoothing Body Wash; every other day
*NOTE: Boots is one of the clients represented by my firm, but I swear on my fresh face that I’ve been using their products since No 7 came to the US.
No guarantees that these products will work in combination for you as well as they do for me, but my skin is clear, glowy and soft. I no longer feel like I absolutely must wear makeup, but I usually put on blush, mascara, eyeliner and tinted lip gloss to give myself an extra boost.
Self-acceptance is what I’ve learned; adding another ‘W’ to my record. Score: 2-0-0
Still at the office, I’ll call you later
The number of times I’ve said that is beyond me, but the number of times I’ve said, “I really love what I do,” is far greater! Partial disclosure, I do PR for four successful celebrity and designer fragrance brands of which you have all heard of unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last 10 years. What girl doesn’t want to work with perfume all day?
When I started my job in June, I found myself in the midst of the launch of a major celebrity fragrance. My first month included finalizing event plans for the scent’s long-lead debut, riding around in a town car with a hot male model for a day, and running into you, Winnie, in an elevator. I almost had a panic attack in the corner while you joked around with said hot model!
Since then, I’ve helped plan three major in-store launches for the aforementioned perfume, sent numerous pitches, chatted with some of my favorite beauty editors, and slowly realized that I have a real job and am not just an intern. Oh, did I mention that I now have my own interns; mind-blowing!
I can’t wait for all of the exciting things I’ll get to work on at my job this year, and I hope they won’t keep my from you again. Balance is something I haven’t yet learned, but I’m working on it and getting better. I’m going to count this as “Win” too because I love my job, which not many people can say. Score: 3-0-0
Someone like you
A million-and-one people have probably said it; Adele created the most quintessential break-up song ever, but it doesn’t exactly apply to my last six months. Since July, I’ve just been happily single, not to say there haven’t been dates and guys and complication. This is what I’ve learned:
- Getting drunk and making out with a guy at a bar is fun…
- Having Drunken-Makeout Guy call you the next day, and the next day, and the next day is annoying…
- Doing that twice in one weekend is intolerable.
- If you sit next to the cutest guy on the train and ignore him, he will talk to you and ask for your number…
- Train Boy will then be as flighty as that other guy you stopped hooking up with because he was flighty, and the guy before him.
- The guy who is perfect on paper is never perfect in actuality…
- But, said guy will always be someone you desperately care about, no matter the distance, time or situation.
- You can, and should pick-up a guy at a bar…
- If you pick-up the hot, charming bartender, you get extra points.
All in all, I’ve had experiences, good, bad and tear-jerking, but I’m still figuring it out. I’m not sure anyone has the relationship-thing figured out. My year started smashingly, and I hope it continues. I know I can be happy without a relationship, but I’m not discounting having one. Obviously, this isn’t a game I’ve won. Let’s just call it a draw! Score: 3-0-1
That’s been my life in a nut’s shell. I’ll be around, Winnie. Maybe we can meet up one Wednesday morning when I j-walk across 42nd Street and buy the weeklies at the Hudson News at Condé? Next time I bring a hot male model into the building I’ll make sure to stop on your floor!
