Ŧinding ŋemo Part 2/9

Emotional hydration

Big day today: Vasiliki's birthday and after the entry for Sissy, the other day, I am in hot water if I do not at least match up the context. Easy stuff! Happy birthday my dearest friend, the first among equals! By now the readers of this blog know you are my Marlin and I am Dory (with the goldfish memory), you running after me reminding me of my heart's trail and purpose! "Who are you [V.] and why are you following me?" I do not need to be reminded of the same old stuff over and over again. Anyway, it has been rather easy for you lately...I want to remind you that you've been on a sabbatical for 25 months now. Given the current world financial situation, I've decided to offer you the job back (Attache of Emotional Affairs)! Next step is the Ministry of Emotional Affairs...and who knows, one day you may be the Prime Minister.



Now, Vasiliki, like most of us faces a skin hydration problem. I have the solution in the form of a tube, which I will describe to you at another time because I do not want to spoil the surprise, but I could remind us all of a very easy and effective way towards skin hydration: Water, veggies and fruit. Our diet reflects on our skin and the consumption of toxins and especially alcohol (my case for last night and this night-birthday party) becomes evident the following morning. Again, a fast and effective cure, which cannot be revealed right now for the reasons mentioned above, will be exposed tomorrow morning. Promise!



Skin dehydration has its cure, but what about emotional dehydration? How do we plump up our feelings and our heart? What kind of diet changes the texture of our emotions? Is it limited to the acceptance of a kiss or does it also extend to the release of tears, and the development of such a childish behavior as to laugh while watching Nemo? Swimming the waters of life through love and perseverance just like our favorite clown fish.

Epidermis and exploration-The butterfly effect

Vasiliki has promised to email me the Fall ’10 preview. That was almost 15 hours ago, still no such email has arrived in my inbox. Not that I really worry as to where fashion goes. If I judge from the visual arts, no big upset there either. I think we are still searching for a new target. I cannot help but recall a graffiti I had seen many-many years ago which read: “Time of vain achievements”. Whoever wrote it had a deep and complete understanding of the void our civilization has in terms of a Dream. Until 1969, the world had a definite dream which magically connected us all: that of reaching the moon. Since then, the lack of a specific and inspiring target has the creative as well as the extended community experimenting, achieving, but in vain! All achievements that are realized are non-directional and extend along the epidermis of our society.


Epidermis is the only organ that encapsulates all other. It is like the cocoon that protects the silkworm and feeds it with energy so that it is transformed into a butterfly. When the cocoon cracks it releases the hidden beauty and refinement. So, although the cracking procedure is painful it is the only road to liberating the butterfly. With this in mind, I can now look at my reflection with a smile and an inquiring eye, peeking through the cracks in search of those butterflies. Something that took me quite a few years to realize and accept, how long is it going to take for our society to look through its cracks in search of its Dream?


A bit different tonight (or rather early morning hours)…it was the natural next step of yesterday’s entry and the result of a very tiring and long day, which thankfully included good theatre and drinks with dearest friends and one of the actors (very talented) after the show. It is now 04h40 and all I wanted was to be with you!

Mind exfoliation

Back again...
I am in pain! Just had professional microdermabration. You remember my Sunday routine? Well, this is the ultimate in facial exfoliation and done only by people who -hopefully- know what they are doing. It is a three step process: first, a tiny hose, which I named "Hoover", lifts up the skin and dead cells; second, another tiny hose, this one I named "Edward Scissorhands", scrubs the face hurting like a billion glass particles scratching your epidermis; then the good staff begin with serums, creams and gels applied and massaged; that felt so good! Now my face is brighter, softer (only I cannot touch it because it hurts!) and not one cell, dead-dying-or even alive for that matter, has survived the ordeal!

But is radiance skin deep? Is skin exfoliation the only one we can perform? And what about dead brain cells? How about our heart's dead cells? What process, what tools can eliminate them? And who is going to carry out the procedure? I can only tell you what I do, but please let me know if there is a shortcut. I am usually in the company of younger. I am blessed with a job that I love like nothing else: I teach. I can definitely tell you this is the smartest device to remove any decaying cells from your brain. You need to not only be in touch with the latest developments in your field, but to adjust your posture, attitude and thought to that of younger people. The fact that I mainly teach art helps adjust my vision to contemporary aesthetics and remove all optical clutter I encounter. Clear vision usually leads to clear thought. Now off to the hard stuff: the heart. How does one keep it alive and renewed? Just one tough answer here: "by revealing it." I wish this were easy, it is not, but as you go through life experiencing the inevitable disappointments and heartbreaks you realize that if your relationship with it is honest then you do not build a hard-tough heart, you built a sensitive and soft heart that can embrace the one who is good for you. Not only that, but it will be ready to accept his touch with "the certainty that comes once in a lifetime" (to borrow the best line of a rather bad book and a mediocre movie). Microdermabration hurts but leads to a healthier and brighter you!

Eye shadow and human geography 1

Hello my readers,
I know that by now you have multiplied, thanks to the campaign my unpredictable, excellent mental tennis-player...Dean Moriarty is running!

It is Sissy's birthday today (you remember Sissy, the one to make us laugh). Happy birthday my dearest friend! I love you so much, you are my connection to my 'lost paradise', my return to innocence, you are very important to me. Sissy will probably never read this because she will be unable to log in! She is completely lost in the era of technological humanism. She cannot even operate her cell phone; I've been trying to reach her all day, still no success. Sissy lives in another city and we rarely speak on the phone but we magically stay connected. She is a woman of passion lost in the pages of 19th c. romantic literature. She amalgamates Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary with french fries she prepares for her husband and tennis classes her children take. When I went to see her at the hospital after delivering her third child, I found a woman in tears (her husband next to her) saying that her "life is over now; who is ever going to look at a woman with three children." I love you for that too, Sissy, because you are a woman not afraid to admit to your fears and insecurities. You are a real woman, honest to the people you love.
Last time Sissy came to see me, we spent a Saturday of talking about my non-existent men (she always expects stories of passion from her single friend, so I feel very bad I cannot satisfy this thirst) and cosmetics. She and I, along with her two gorgeous girls, went shopping. First we bought matching Kurt Cobain T-Shirts and then make-up. My destination for that is always the Bobby Brown counter and for a good reason: it never shows you have any make-up on your face. The mascara "Everything Mascara" is the only one I recommend. You look like you still have your original eyelashes, those you had when you were well under fifteen. Their lip liner, especially the one named "Blush" is exactly that: like you have just been kissed! Their "Natural brow shaper" makes my rather thick brows part of my personality. As for a blusher, you should try "Slopes 17"; well, you look like you just came down a slope (hopefully by skiing it!). That is all my cosmetics bag carries. And it is more than any woman would ever need.

All this makes me think about the way most women in the country where I live now, as well as in countries north-east of here, paint their faces. I do not remember who said to me that most women here wear more color on their faces in the morning, on their way to work, than all hollywood movie stars in their lifetime! Whoever said that to me is absolutely right. Why is that so? And, is the amount of paint on our faces culturally determined? Why do women in some parts of the world feel the need to overemphasize our feminine side? Is it some kind of 'drug queen' syndrome? Is it a sign of lost femininity? Is it an attempt to cover up and camouflage insecurities? Is it a mask, or even a portrait painted on the canvas of our faces? Is it another Dorian Gray portrait, taking the aging process away from our skin? And, is it culturally determined? What on earth drives women to apply sky-blue or purple eye shadow? Do we believe this makes us look the part? Is it part of the role we believe men expect from us? Because I can tell you right now, ask any men, they hate all this color on our faces, and most of the time it discourages them from desiring to take it off along with other items of covering up! Not to mention the scare they get the following morning! Have you ever wondered why cosmetics companies make big numbers (in regards to paint) in countries where a woman's face is literally covered? Why is honesty so hard for all of us? Perhaps we wait for the right man (a man to trust) to release our Truth, to free us from role-playing. This is part 1. Part 2 will follow at another time.

Still no luck with Sissy. I am celebrating her birthday with a glass of pretty good Saint-Emilion. Sweet dreams and 'see' you tomorrow!

Hairspray and mental activity

I know I am late, but just walked in from work. It is 23h30, the end of a very difficult day with board meetings and teaching classes, and all I could think of was to switch on my computer, bring a bowl of cold strawberries and a glass of scotch next to me, and write to you.


Let's discuss hair and why I do not use any styling products such as hairsprays, gels, etc. Parenthesis here...if you decide to use hairspray, go with the classic Elnett. It is the only one that keeps it soft. But as I said, I do not use any product. I wash my hair every morning -something that makes my hairdresser very upset; he insists that by doing so I destroy it. Well, my hair is fine, soft and -most importantly- it smells good! As I was drying it this morning and thinking about the topic of today's piece, I realized that the reason I avoid using any styling products is that they inhibit hair movement. I am a rather active woman, love to walk, exercise and play with my hair when on the phone (esp. when I talk boring business) or when I have to write something and cannot control my daydreaming. I also want my hair to move along with me and not stay behind! I do not care if by the end of the day it resembles a Pollock painting! I want to feel the air mess my hair, which by the way happened today, being quite windy.


This brings me to the next thought: is the fact that some people do not feel comfortable in predictable situations and routine lifestyles (here let's exclude those routines like exercise and caring for yourself) a sign of amplified mental activity? As mind and eyes connect, if mind is active then the eyes are active too (and this has nothing to do with male ophthalmic activity!) not looking for routine images to use as safety blanket; security is in the risk and the unpredictability of things rather than in the safety of the mainstream, the familiar and comfortable. This explains why some prefer a Pollock, a Picasso, a Duchamp.



Bye now, and sleep well!

Sunday routine

Our morning routine is especially important to us single girls. After all, it is the one excuse we have ready to give when pressured to change our lifestyle. Our morning routine is sacred, well thought-out and it is probably the main daily practice that differentiates us from our married friends. Their routine is basically planned out by husbands and kids, their breakfasts, ironed shirts and lost socks, school busses and carpooling. Our routine is planned out by our vanity, work obligations and prospective dates. Sunday is a day when we tend, all of us married-unmarried, to change the routine, either by increasing the hours spent in the bathroom or the opposite.


Sunday for me is the day I scrub, and scrub, and scrub, using all kinds of exfoliating products (different for the feet, the legs, the back, the bust, the rest of the body, the face and lately the hair! Yes, you can exfoliate hair, and I will guide you through this process in the near future). I promise to take you through the mysterious route of exfoliation at another time; today I want to talk to you about the step that follows exfoliation: Oil or Cream? This question reminds me the "paper or plastic" we used to hear, ages ago, at the supermarket checkouts in the States, when eco-friendly paper bags started to sneak in the consumerist habits of americans. On Sundays, I am an oil girl. I recently discovered Monoi, the coconut oil recorded in Captain Cook's logbook when he went to Tahiti in 1769: 'They are very clean people both in their person and diet, always washing before and after meals and bathing in fresh water three times a day; and they anoint themselves with monoi, as they call it, made of coconut oil in which some sweet herbs or flowers are infused". It promises to protect against environmental aggressions (unfortunately not other kinds of aggression!) and firm up the skin (we all pray for the tight skin of the Gauguin women). The process of applying it is rather messy. First of all, you need to put it under warm running water as you shower, because this thing solidifies and becomes like butter when in normal temperatures. This means that you place it somewhere between your feet, so it does not move around, and you balance yourself on the slippery surface, with closed eyes (because of your hair shampoo) and pray not to fall and dislocate a hip. When this is over and while you are still wet, apply it to your body and massage-massage-massage, until you are done! Then carefully step out the bathtub (it is, by now, extra slippery) and dry, only to discover that you cannot dress for a couple of hours...This is great on Sundays because then my other routine follows, dancing (in my undies) and singing rock songs, going from room to room...my poor neighbors and poor rock music, sorry I make you both suffer!
One very nice thing...it smells so good!

Meet you again tomorrow in a more philosophical mood.

For those women over a certain age...39+
(what I learned the hard way)



Do not feel guilty if you only read 30 pages in a book...in most cases this is more than the author really wished for (if the author has any sense of self-realization).



Do not feel reluctant to admit you hate mascara and you only put it on when on date one. Same goes for waxing...tight undies...and high heels. I still cannot understand why men prefer us with extra-terrestrial eyes, red and achy skin, breathless (and not because we are in love!) and with deformed spine.



Do not feel bad going to a business meeting in your All-Stars and blue jeans (if this is what makes you productive and happy).



Do not feel guilty if you end up in bed with the guy on date one. To be honest with you, I prefer to get to know the guy and develop some degree of intimacy. But, whatever makes us happy!



Do not feel bad if you are the only woman talking to the men in the group...you are probably single and have developed a love for soccer and F1. Their wives will be kind of upset, but please Do Not Care!!! Of course, you should know that this will most probably be the last time you see any of them.



Do not feel bad if you buy shoes that do not fit...identify a friend with the smaller size and give them to her. Just try and restrict 'smaller size' to female friends and to feet.



Do not feel bad if you date a younger man, and do not make him feel bad he is younger.



Do not feel bad if you want to change you life and start another circle. You are probably romantic (hopefully not self-destructive) and love to push your limits. Hybris is ok, we are not in classical Athens! Viva Homo Ludens! (By now you know I am one of them, already looking for the next destination).



Do not feel bad to openly admit any emotion.



bye for now...

Hi there!

I am exposed now! The blog cosmetics et sequentes is a blog for cosmetics...!

'What is the use of the lips' red charm,
The heaven of hair, the pride of the brow,
And the blood that blues the inside arm?'

Women want to have in our company the following contributors:
1) The one who makes us laugh.
This job is well trusted in the hands of Sissy. Two examples: years ago, three balletophiles met at the koilon of an ancient theatre to watch a vigorous Prince Igor dance in Dieghilev's cosmopolitan modernist style. The dance, of mediocre quality, was interrupted for Sissy by the only tree that for some reason had escaped the mania of our City's Freddy-Krueger-murdering- elms. Halfway through the ballet, Sissy says the memorable "all good things happen behind the tree!" This phrase is now coined to describe the unattainable. Example no 2: My reluctance to begin a relationship with a much younger man had to be dealt with by Sissy, who -in her effort to persuade me- told me that years ago, when she was young and lived in the suburbs, had met a gentleman married to a lady 20+ years his senior. She heard stories of their happiness but never really met the lady because "well, she was dead". Thank you Sissy...yes, this made for a great argument!
2) The one to pick us up the floor after a break up.
This one is a job for Vasiliki. She is the one to drop everything the moment she hears my cries over the phone, well over any means of transmission...and make me feel I am the most desirable woman on earth! Thank you V.! You are my memory re: men and relationships.

3)The one to talk cosmetics etc.

The job is definately mine! a bathroom full of jars and bottles...face creams and foot creams, oils and, all alternative (no way would I be mainsteam) products in minimalistic packaging and smelling so nice can testify to this.

There are more friends in the group; you will be introduced to them shortly.

Dear readers, (I know there is at least one out there who promised me he would read my Cosmetics blog! please do!!!) I will try and drop a line every day.