Beauty Products for the Cancer Patient

While I am going through treatment for cancer, beauty seems to be irrelevant.  Oh, I still care about looking presentable, but I have no hair.  I have no eyebrows.  I have three eyelashes, stubbornly clinging to my eyelid, and my eyes are watering constantly due to the chemo.  My fingernails and toenails are falling off, and the skin is peeling from my hands and feet.  Those are just little things, I know.  The bigger picture is always at the back of my mind.  All those things will pass, eventually. 

But in the meantime?  I can't wear makeup.  I can't paint my nails or go get a pedicure. My beauty routine right now is a three minute shower, followed by...not much else.  Since my fingernails started loosening up, I haven't even been able to put on jewelry without assistance.  I've gone down a couple of sizes since all this started, but I'm waiting to buy new pants until after chemo.  Just to celebrate. 
Still, not much of a beauty routine...except that I do have some beauty products that are helping.

The good folks at Influenster.com sent me something free to try out, and it's really cool.  Neutrogena Naturals.  These are towlettes that one can use to remove makeup, if you happen to be wearing any, and they can be used to clean the face. The hope is that you'll use these instead of washing your face, and conserve water.  

The great thing about these towelettes is that they make my skin feel very soft.  Plus, I can use these to clean around my eyes, which are a bit chapped right now from my constant chemo water works.  I even run this towelette over my bald head, and it feels wonderfully cool, especially after wearing a hat all day.  Since I've been using these, I've actually had people compliment me on my skin, and those compliments are gold to my poor ego.  Neutrogena always seems to have terrific skin care at good prices. 

Another beauty product that I've found helpful has been Bag Balm.  This is something that farmers use on the udders of cows, but it works for hands too.  At night I slather my hands with the stuff, then put on cotton gloves.  It has helped with some of the more severe cracking and peeling, especially between my fingers.  I think that it's the lanolin in the bag balm that does the miracle magic, and I love it.  I ordered my Vermont Bag Balm on Amazon. 

I can't use lanolin on my face, but I have been using this Clinique product, Turnaround Overnight Radiance.  It's a moisturizer, and it's helped keep the dry, leathery skin that sometimes accompanies chemo far, far away.   When I was younger, I used to use Clinique's Turnaround cream,
and this version of it has seemed to help keep my skin hydrated enough to get me through the day.  Sephora sells this stuff for $12.50, which is pretty reasonable. 

Using sunscreen during the day also helps, as does wearing a wide brimmed hat, particularly when I go to my son's soccer games or am outside longer than five minutes. But I did that before I had cancer, because my skin is white enough to be seen from space. My favorite sunscreen is, of course, Neutrogena, particularly their stick versions.  I find the sticks seem to go on my skin better and blend in easier. 

My lips are extra chapped right now because my mouth has all those sores in it and that makes me drink extra water and lick my lips.  Don't judge.  To combat that lovely cracked lip look, I use Sally Hansen's Overnight Lip Recovery, which is truly a godsend.  It doesn't evaporate likes some lip balms. It actually is still on my lips when I wake up!  My lips never had it so good.  Plus, a tube typically lasts a long time. Which is great, because this stuff is also the hardest to find, and it is a bit pricey.   I searched every Walgreens and CVS locally, in addition to Walmart and other stores near me, with no luck.  So I finally ordered it from Amazon.

These are the products that are keeping me sane right now, at least as much as a cancer patient can be considered sane.  I may look a hot mess, but this too, shall pass.  My hair will start to grow back, new fingernails and toenails will show up, and the cracks in my skin will heal.  I'll be back to my old neurotic "Do my shoes have to match my eye shadow?" self in no time, I promise. 

Review: Reese's Spreads

I like to try out new things, and that hasn't changed as a result of my cancer.  Trying new things is good for the brain and the spirit, I believe.  And who knows?  I might find a new favorite while I'm exploring! 

So when the folks at Influenster.com sent me a VoxBox of Reese's Spreads to try out for free and review, I was pretty excited.  I love chocolate, I love peanut butter...and I love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  I'm old enough to remember when they first showed up at candy stores.  Back in the day I ate quite a few of them, reveling in that perfect chocolately-peanut butter taste. Now that I'm older, they're still a treat. 

But would a spread be equal to the flavor I've grown to love so much?   I had to know, so I grabbed a spoon, opened the jar and dove in.  And...YUMMMM!!!   Perfect chocolate-peanut butter taste!  It was as if I were eating one of those delicious treats.  I was in chocolate-peanut butter heaven. 

That wasn't all.  Because it's a spread, I was able to try Reese's Spreads on several other food items.  Apples, pears, crackers, and pretzels--all were slathered with chocolate-peanut butter and devoured.  Reese's seemed to complement everything perfectly. 

I had so much fun trying out Reese's Spreads, in fact, that the jar of delicious was gone before  I knew it.  I was sad until I spied Reese's Spreads sitting on a shelf in the peanut butter section of my local grocer.  Naturally I had to purchase another jar.

For experimental purposes, of course. 

 

Randomly Throwing It Out

Is that not the very cutest?  I was so lucky to get this guy in my Christmas stocking! If I had opened ONE more cowgirl Lego mini-figure, somebody was going to get a punch in the arm.  But I'm happy with a Shakespeare mini-figure.  I guess that the skull Lego is Yorrick.  Makes me want to go dig out my Shakespeare for some reading.  Did you know that there's a series of books called "No Fear" Shakespeare?   They have the original text on one side, with a simpler translation on the other page.  I think that having those particular books around would have made Shakespeare much more enjoyable in high school.   

Source: amazon.com via Tina on Pinterest

We will probably be scheduling a time to meet with Zane's teacher this month.  It seemed as though they were conducting some sort of review of his skills during December, based on what he brought home.  I would certainly like to hear how he is doing, if only to compare it to my own observations.  For instance, I know that Zane knows all of his letters, and that he is working on the sounds.  He has one-to-one correspondence, understands words such as "more" or "less".  But we will see what the teacher says.  I may blog about that later.  (Occupational hazard--every experience is a potential blog post!)


After all of that holiday food, it's time to diet. I used some of my Christmas money to purchase something that I hope will be useful/helpful. 

Source: amazon.com via Tina on Pinterest

I have read a number of books by this author, including Eat This/Not That!  I found that series to be informative and helpful.  Most diet books are not very helpful, I have found, but I am hopeful that this one will meet my expectations.  I will let you know. 

I was very lucky to get the blu ray television series Justified in my stocking.  It's a series on FX, based on an Elmore Leonard short story, about a guy who works as a U.S. Marshal.  As soon as I heard that Elmore Leonard was involved, I was intrigued.  Once I heard that Timothy Olyphant was involved, I was sold.  He is awesome.  I watched the first episode, and was eager for more.  But as a parent, you have to watch what your child is exposed to, and Larry and I did not feel that show was appropriate for our son.  And the time slot for Justified is in that nebulous hour where the house is shutting down for the night, and we often missed the show, and after awhile, we just stopped trying. So I was happy to find the blu ray under the tree.  Larry and I watched all the episodes and went out and got the second season.  I can't wait to watch it!

One of the items I received in my VoxBox from Influenster was the Montagne Jeuness Face Mask, sent to me for review.  I immediately had to try it.  I wasn't really sure why I had to wash my face before I put it on, but I followed the directions:

So, if I dye my hair purple and throw on some lipstick, would I look like the Joker?

I waited the 15 minutes recommended, and then I went to work trying to get the mask off.   I wet the stuff with a washcloth, then began to rub.  And rub.  And rub.  By the time I got all of it off, my face was very red from all the rubbing, even though I kept hitting it with water.  In retrospect, I probably would rinse off this mask in the shower, where I could have just held my face under the water.  It's been awhile since I tried using a clay-type mask.  It could be that my skin is more crochety than it used to be.  Would I buy this again?  Perhaps.  I don't think that I will buy this face mask again, but I would consider purchasing one of the other products.  I also think that I should learn more about writing product reviews--they are hard!

I will end my random with my scary mug.  I'll be visiting Stacy over at Stacy's Uncorked.  Go check her out!

I Am An Influenster!

I am considered to be outspoken about what I like and don't like, and I don't mind telling people my opinions.  While surfing about one day, I found this website, Influenster.  I was intrigued.  I took a few surveys on my lifestyle, what I read, my television viewing habits, etc.  Nothing too invasive or weird.  I've done the survey websites before, the ones that are supposed to pay you to answer questions about various topics, and I have found most of them to be scams of some sort.  They ask you the questions and then say that you don't fit the profile so they don't have to pay you, or something similar. I really don't have the time for that stuff.  Influenster seemed different.  I joined up. 

And then I got busy and forgot about it, because lately I have the attention span of a gnat.  Until I got an email from Influenster, telling me that they were sending me a VoxBox.  Ooooh!!!!  Ever since I was a kid, I have loved getting packages in the mail.  It's like Christmas, at least for a couple of minutes.  We usually only check the mail once a week, but I was up there every day until my VoxBox arrived.  Influenster sent me a box of free items so that I might review them.  I could hardly wait until I got in the house to open the VoxBox.

What was in my VoxBox?  These are a few of the items I got!

The Goody QuikStyle Brush is a brush which has "super absorbent microfiber bristles" which removes water from your hair while you use it.    This brush is a time saver!  I had seen this product in a store earlier in the month, and had planned to buy one on my next visit, so I was very happy to have this brush in my VoxBox.   I am happy to say that the brush was a success.  I first tried styling my hair with the brush; my blow drying time was shorter than usual. How do I know that? I timed it.  I imagine that people who have long hair would prefer to use this brush, as long hair takes awhile to dry. I did notice a little bit of static in my hair afterwards, but I think that might have been for reasons other than my use of this brush(winter cold and heat seem to dry everything out!).  I also let my hair air dry, and used the brush to see if the drying time was shorter as well--and it was.  I am not sure whether the brush absorbs hair products, such as leave-in conditioners, and so I would not apply those items initially.   I will buy this brush again. Goody is a great company; I've bought a number of Goody hair products over the years, and I love this brush!

NYC New York Color Liquid Lipshine is a lip gloss that contains Vitamin E to help with moisture.  The pigments are reported to "create a 3-D gloss effect";  I really am not sure what that is supposed to look like, or how one would measure such an effect.  However, I am sure that it is lovely.  This particular NYC New York Color Liquid Lipshine smelled pretty marvelous, like brown sugar, or maybe caramel.  The color was a neutral shade, and did not make me look washed out or odd.   This lipshine was supposed to be "non-sticky", but it seemed sticky to me upon application.  It also did not seem to last very long, so I had to apply it several times during the day.  I liked this product.  I am not sure that I would purchase it again, but I would probably recommend it to my friends who wear lipshine. 

When I was a girl, press-on nails were all the rage.  These were colored fake nails that could be placed on top of your own nails.  How the times have changed, and in a good way, at least when it comes to press on nails.  Kiss Nail Dress offers the "ultimate nail fashion".   All I had to do was peel these stickers and apply them to my own nails.  This took a very short time and was very simple, two of the main things I look for in my beauty routine.  I was not sure about the style I was sent, which featured "three-dimensional" jeweled designs.  I prefer a less ostentatious look to my hands.  However, the design has sort of grown on me.  I did not like the unpleasant smell of the nails as I applied them, but that seemed to fade after the second day.  The nails survived showering, washing dishes, and other household tasks, except that the 3-D jewels at the tips of my nails did not all remain attached.  Removal of the nails was simple:  just peel them off.   I did not see any damage to my nails as a result of wearing the Kiss Nail Dress, as would be the case with acrylic or gel nails.  The Kiss Nail Dress is supposed to last for up to a week; so far it's been five days and they still look pretty darn nice!  I would buy this product again, because occasionally I like to pretty up my hands.  With the Nail Dress, I can look fancy without the commitment!

As a working mom, I often find myself rushing out of the house without having time for breakfast.  Then I arrive at work hungry, which leads to general grumpiness and bad decision-making.  This package of Quaker Real Medleys Oatmeal+  can be carried in my purse or briefcase. All I have to do is add a little water and heat it, and breakfast is served. I think that this was my favorite item in my VoxBox.  In fact, I went right out and bought some more, which I plan on taking to work with me.  This oatmeal was delicious and filling, and that is exactly what I want in a breakfast. I wish that there was a brown sugar-cinnamon version of this cereal, because that was my all-time favorite when I was a kid.

I loved my VoxBox, and I am glad that I was chosen to receive one.  Overall, it was a positive experience for a geek like me!