pretty

[reposted from DiaryLand]

My Christmas haul:

• three sweaters
• two turtleneck shirts
• a nice skirt for work
• a novel from my brother, which I promptly read
• a cookbook
• a book I've been wanting
• and a pearl pendant, which I returned for cash with a view toward buying furniture next month and with my parents' (the gift-givers) approval.

I think my attitude toward girly things like makeup and jewelry is changing very gradually. I got my ears pierced somewhere around sixth grade, I think. In junior high I started wearing shoes that were not sneakers to school. After tenth grade I started shaving my legs. I painted my toenails in my first year at college. That didn't last, but I now own three tinted lip glosses plus some foundation, and I'm thinking seriously about wearing that to work -- just to cover up the occasional pimple, of course. When I was little I never washed my face except in the shower. Now I have cleanser, toner, two different moisturizers, acne ointment, and eye cream. Before my family had our pictures taken last week, I had my eyebrows waxed, and I may try keeping them this way.

It's not that I haven't cared about my appearance. I've always liked looking pretty. But that often loses out to speed, convenience, and thrift. I wear my contacts when I'm feeling vain, my glasses when I'm in a hurry, and most mornings I'm in a hurry. Putting on earrings or a bracelet is an extra step that I don't always think of. And makeup is expensive, a fact which continues to keep me from buying much, along with the time required to apply it and remove it.

This may be my last DiaryLand entry. At the new year I will switch to using my LiveJournal. I don't know if anyone keeps up with this, but people who've been looking at the page with frames will not need to do anything differently. Why the switch? Well, even a free LiveJournal account has a nice comments system, which is the one feature I really love, while you have to get a "supergold" DiaryLand membership for that, which costs $52 a year. I also like the way LJ organizes entries: independently of the page they're on. With DL they're permanently on a particular page. Finally, a paid LJ account is just $25 a year. The only thing I'll miss about DL is the archive page; I don't think LJ has an equivalent.