Tired Girl best eye-makeup remover

I don't wear much eye make-up, but I still have the joy of removing eye make-up.  As you know I often have puffy eyes in the morning as well - so there are times when I am greeted in the mirror with smudged and puffy eyes - which is cruel really - because I am such a nice person and everything.  

Supposedly smudged "smokey" eyes are hot on the catwalk and red carpet, but I can't pull off using my leftover eye makeup as an intentional good look - so I have to remove my eye make-up. 

I wear mascara about once a week or for a special occasion (mascara and pajama-wearing-work-from home-days just don't mix), I wear light eyeliner almost every day and I don't wear eye shadow at all, but I do put base/concealer/whatever around my eyes so that kind of counts. 

Washing my face every night does take a little of my eye make-up off, but obviously I am not going to soap up the nooks and crannies of my eyelids to get my eyeliner off, so this is where eye make-up remover comes in.

I have tried several eye make-up removers through the years only to be met with blind and oily eyes. Oily eyes IS a thing and if you have tried enough eye make removers you know what I mean. But I found an eye makeup remover that I LOVE - no blindness, no pain, no oily eyes and the make-up comes off easily.  I  use the Clarins Instant Eye Make-Up Remover. It is pricier than drugstore removers (it's about $26), but in my opinion it is totally worth it.  I feel relaxed about spending more money for good skin -- especially eyes! For me, this remover will last a long time - over a year - because it doesn't take much to remove the amount of eye makeup I wear. 

Do NOT get the Clarins Gentle Eye Make-Up Remover - it' so gentle that it doesn't work - that stiff stinks - be sure you get this: Clarins INSTANT Eye Make-Up Remover.

After I have washed my face in the evening I squeeze some on a q-tip and very gently run it around my lids wear my eyeliner is. If I use a lot I dab it off with a kleenex and then put on my night time eye cream, but sometimes it doesn't need to be dabbed.

On mornings where I have worn my more makeup the day before the leftover eye make-up has worked its way around and creates the tiniest shadow around my eyes. So I turn on the shower, squeeze more onto a q-tip, wipe it all around my eyes, and then get in the shower - which will take it all off along with the remover so my face will be ready for makeup. 

Is this like way too many words about a good eye makeup remover? Yes!  The bottom line: 
The Clarins Instant Eye Make-Up Remover- is a Tired Girl recommended product, because it works and makes me look (and feel) less tired. 


Here are a few words on buying Clarins products if you are interested:
I do not order from Amazon because my amazon prime doesn't apply. I will buy at Macy's, Dillard's, Nordstroms or Bloomingdale's if I am in a pinch, although I usually really plan my Clarins purchases so I am not scrambling.  Over the holidays the Clarins site - http://www.clarinsusa.com/ - will give gifts of full sized stuff when you buy online.  I also have been known to buy on ebay, but my Clarins ebay lady has retired (what about ME ebay lady! Don't make me pay full price!) I like to go into Neiman Marcus and purchase - it's the same price, but is fun to make purchases at Neimans and they usually throw in samples.  Finally, if you live in the Orlando area there is a new Clarins outlet store at the Premium Outlets on Vineland (the one where Tory Burch's place is). The outlet has actual significant savings there, but they don't carry every product - so be aware of that. 

Thanks Gaga for making me feel better and thanks Olivia Wilde for being so super cute that it sort of makes me feel like crap.

Clarins Instant Eye Make-Up Remover $26

DIY Gel Nails at home

I have a love hate relationship with my nails. 
I love to ignore them and hate to spend time making them look nice, but then I hate when they look ugly and feel cuter when they look nice.  I rarely do anything to them except keep them way short.  I do keep polish on my toenails most of the time though. 

A few months ago I bought the Sally Hansen at-home gel nails kit - 

Sally Hansen Salon Gel Polish Starter Kit

This is not the nail "strips" kit - it is the nail polish kit.

  
I paid $50 for it on Ulta.com (got $10 off with a coupon and free shipping - I think the price has gone up a little now). They had it at my local Target, but there are three color choices that come in the kit and they only had the color I didn't want so I did my research and found the best deal at Ulta.


Here is the Tired Girl review:

PROS:

 - For $50 this kit would pay for itself if I only used it twice (on my fingers ad toes each) and so far I have used it 4 times in 4 months.

 - There is no dry time (!!!) which was my biggest hang up in painting my nails at home - I love to lay around, but only on my terms, and there never seemed to be a good time to paint my nails and let them dry -- I almost always smudged them.

 - It is easy and fast.

 - My painted finger nails last over a week - sometimes more than two full weeks - so the energy I put in is made up for because they look nice for so long - a good bang for my buck in my opinion.

 - My toe nails last even longer of course (because I don't wash dishes with my feet) and I even put a touch up coat on them after a month and they still looked great.

 - The polish is easy to take off - no remover necessary -- you work up a corner of each nail and the whole thing comes off in one sheet of color. I don't use any remover - so less drying and chemicals.

 - I think they look nice - especially now that I am getting better at the polishing.

CONS:

 - The UV light is not good for you and is rather controversial -- UV= cancer (I am soooo not into cancer).  

 - The "gel" polish in any brand is a little pricier than regular drugstore polish - these are $11-$12 for a small bottle.

 - Because the color will come off in a sheet, once it does start to get bumped and chipped there is a chance your whole nail color will come off of one finger, which can be a bummer if you are not at home. 

 - They don't look as great as when someone professional does them for me -- because I am not great at polishing my nails. But since I am not going to have them done anyway, it's this or nothing. 

---

 So, in the end I am way happy with my purchase and the idea that my nails look nice sometimes. Why is this a Tired Girl recommended product?  I save energy and money  while having nice looking and long lasting painted nails.  

 Here are a couple of extra thoughts - if you are still interested in this:

 - I like that Sensationail has more colors than Sally Hansen at this time, but I DO NOT recommend this brand for fingernails.  It lasted great on my toes, but only lasted a couple of days on my hands - started pulling up on finger nails the very next day.  Major boooooo. 

 - If you are NOT an expert nail-painter (as I am not) I recommend painting your nails the day before any event - it gives them a day for the little extra over paint areas to come off. They look best on day 2 or 3 I think. 

 - And finally, I have never had a gel nail polish manicure done professionally and probably won't (it's just not my thing to go to a salon and have them done - I spend all my time thinking about what else I could be doing for fun or money - http://www.thetiredgirl.com/2012/11/know-yourself.html ), so I cannot accurately speak about how this kit compares to a professional manicure.  I hope that doesn't make you angry. 

- I am going to try using the gel base and top coat and  UV light with a "regular" polish and will let you know how that goes. 

If any one has something to add I would love hear other Tired Girl's thoughts - 

Wine fight -

Me and wine don't get a long.  I know that it's proper grammar to say something like: I don't get a long with wine or something, but I like the way the other sounded better.  Like we have super a tumultuous relationship.

The deal is I like the way wine tastes. I do not like the way wine makes me feel.  So even though it's fun and yummy to cruise around my house with a big old glass of wine, order wine and sound like a know-it all at dinner, and accept a glass of wine at a friends house - I don't do any of these things anymore.

When I drink wine - even one small glass - I feel like crap, will probably cry about something later in the evening, and then will not be able to sleep that night. Quick sign me up for never doing any of that.  

I have a friend that got a face lift.  When our mutual friend saw her - not knowing she had done this - she said to me - "Have you seen Jane*???" She looks sooo rested." 

I want to not get a face lift (anytime soon anyway) and just look jealous-inducing rested - so even though it is un-cool - I have happily given up wine to be less of a Tired Girl.  

Gin and tonics and I get along great though, so I'm not a total flat tire.

I guess I am not this kind of classy anymore - using the word classy immediately feels like the opposite though -  so I am okay with it.

just fun - 

*my friend's name is not really Jane - her face (lift) looked awesome though - not at all like she had work done - just truly rested, and she's a kind and wonderful person so there's that too to know about her. 

Life events - choose a partner

I cannot make more than one big life change at a time. 
I cannot:
lose weight
get a new job
get good at a new job
go gluten free
get pregnant
sell my house
do a liver cleanse
save lots of money
plan a wedding
heal a very sick dog
do an art show
be great at any job
not get sick
help my dog lose weight
fix my sinus problems
get in good shape
maintain a constantly perfect-ish house and weed-free yard 
all at once*. 

 I can do like two of these things at a time - depending on the actual combination. Luckily no one has asked me to do all of them at the same time though.  

I am constantly striving for an even better life in one way or another, but as a Tired Girl I need to pick my life changes or at least partner them up in a a reasonable way. More than one or two at a time and I am out.

This quote makes me feel like working hard at the big things in life - and  it's even more fun when it's around Dwight's all-business face.  

* I am not currently looking to do many of these things right now - I am already married for example, so I am not planning a wedding , but all of these things have been done at some point in my life - and all of them were a lot of work.  

Tired Boys

Some of you Tired Girls are not girls - you are boys. 
You are Tired Boys. You work your tails off at work and at home as well.  You may or may not make dinner every night, but you have your fair share of responsibilities -- AND you have to confront your FACE with a RAZOR each morning.  Yowser. 

Here is a short article that explains why more men are pooped these days (like women are): 

http://health.ninemsn.com/menshealth/healthandfitness/8275061/men-why-are-you-so-tired 

 I just wanted to acknowledge the Tired Boys out there that are working hard for their Tired Girls.

This guy may be a Tired Boy in this photo. 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/25/worlds-best-father-dave-engledow_n_1913118.html

De-puffing puffy eyes

With the luck of the draw I get to have really puffy eyes in the morning.  I could give you the reasons my eyes are puffy, but the bottom line is that they are - pretty much every morning.

When I get to lead a life of pure leisure - wake at my chosen time, be worked out by a personal trainer, and have breakfast served to me on the veranda, I bet my eyes will de-puff naturally, but until that happens I figured out a way that helps me de-puff when I need to be presentable.

I love sleeping on my stomach and consequently my face, which is the first step in not looking like an alien, but sometimes I can't fight the need for face/mattress time. So that could be step number one in preventing – but I often skip that step.  

So that misstep aside - here is what I do:

I have taken the little beads out of an eye mask and put them in a small ziploc bag and I can keep the bag in the freezer.  Any morning I feel extra puffy I pull them out and lay completely flat on my back on the sofa or wherever for just a few minutes. I lay the bag over my eyes and right underneath my eyes (the areas I am most swollen).  The beads warm up quickly and once they are warm – I am done.  I usually will lay there an extra second and, using my ring finger, tap the area all around my eye – to get that fluid moving out of there. The whole process takes a minimum of 2 or 3 minutes – longer if I have time to just lay there.

I have tried a lot of other things in the past – tea bags, cold spoons, different products, and this is what works for me. I cut open the mask these beads come in, because the mask fits around the eyes not right on, it is too stiff to maneuver, and the frozen cold on my forehead was unpleasant and unhelpful.  I also tried to use rice once and that didn’t work for me – didn’t get cold enough even when frozen. I like these little beads because they easily fit into all the little areas of my eyes (inside the bag) and are frozen, but not painful.

If any of you Tired Girls have a plan or product that really helps you de-puff I would love to know what it is.  These puffy eyes are REAL and not me just being hard on myself, and I suspect they won’t get better as I get older. 

I wanted to take a before and after pic of my eyes, but the idea of using a camera at that point in the morning is also unsettling and unhelpful.

Here is a pic of the eye mask I am talking about – this one is at Big Lots for $2.  Buying two would be a good idea – more beads for surface area or pressure.

cut the mask open, put the beads in a ziploc, freeze, put on your eyes in the am and even if you feel like a Tired Girl, you will look like a young, rested girl. 

Sometimes I totally short circuit -

Sometimes I totally short circuit.  Just flat-line. I may have written about this subject before, but as I am in a flat-line type mood I don't remember and can't fathom the idea of doing the research.

At times like this I could have a list of many things to do of varying importance and find myself completely ignoring ALL (all!!) of them and instead perusing ebay for the perfect navy and white striped cardigan for a while (or 6 hours maybe).  Sometimes I look at my list (on paper or in my head), blow it all off and just get in bed instead.  This is when I am more than a Tired Girl. I am a Done Girl. 

I have a friend with many children,  several important roles and a very demanding career. I would come into her office and she would be playing internet pinball. Pinball!!  But now I get it. Sometimes we are just done. 

I have less guilt about this if I fess up to it. My husband will ask how my day was and I will blurt out "I short circuited and wasted most of the day."  It feels better to admit it sometimes.

I barely proofread these words today - so please go easy on me. 

Here is the Tired Girl (me!) just chucking it all.

This is how I envision myself when I do this.  

Friends for dinner -

Having friends over for dinner usually sounds like fun, a week in advance, and then the day or two before it sounds hard to get everything done and look and feel sparkling* as well.

My husband and I are famous (only to ourselves) for deciding the day of, or the day before, to invite people over for the evening.  We are terribly wonderfuly spontaneous people!! (No we aren't). 

We do not consciously wait till the last minute, so we have an excuse if our yard is weedy, but rather it is at the last minute that we see a possibly clean house, an easy trip to the store and an evening open itself up in front of us to entertain. 

Fellow Tired Girl Christina sent me her words on entertaining.  All very brilliant and Tired Girly.  If you are having guests over anytime here are her words to consider:

-I always serve wine/drinks right away, the more people drink, the better whatever I serve tastes in their mouths. What I lack as a chef, I make up for as bartender.

-If I really have zero time to cook I cut out side items and make up for it with easy appetizer and bread.  My blueprint for a hassle-free dinner is: easy appetizer, bread, salad, protein, easy dessert with coffee.

- Super simple appetizer is a good cheese (maybe a brie or an aged sharp cheese), some crackers and some jam. The more i provide in appetizer, the less I have to worry about with sides dishes.

- Bread can be pretty filling, and easier to prepare than cooking a starch.  I get a baguette from Publix or wherever, slice it up in a basket and pour some olive oil on a plate with Italian seasoning added to the middle of the olive oil pool.  Could not be simpler.  Much faster than baked potatos.

-Dessert  - when I have no time it is a mixture of berries with some whipped cream on top.  Healthy and EASY and FAST.  Or I get a dessert from Publix, no shame in that.

The real message, in my opinion, is that when we have people over to our homes they want to be with US, not watching me mash potatoes while they talk to each other. Less time working and more time with friends, and lots and lots of bread -booze and bread.

*I have borrowed the term sparkling from my friend Ellen - who often asked if I felt "sparkling" at work in the mornings.  Sparkling is a fun way to look and feel especially if it's real. 

Our dinners are usually so casual - I set out dishes and stuff and we do buffet style.