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So, for women, not necessarily you, but your friends, is that a passion for you? Is going through shopping catalogs online the same as guys going through guitar catalogs or catalogs of guns? Or talking about guitars or hunting. Can you spend hours talking about shopping?
Do you get excited going to the salon or to get a mani/pedi on a Saturday if you're just going alone? Is it the same excitement when guys are anticipating watching a big game on TV coming up a Saturday?
So, I'm aware that women are different and some women get excited about sports too.
But I'm just curious about how women view beauty maintenance in general. Is it something you have to do and is a pain the @ss, something that's so-so, or something you get really excited about?
My beauty maintenance is not considered a burden or as you say it, "pain in the @ss", but part of daily good health, just like having a good diet. I love myself, so it is safe to say that I get excited to get mani/pedi, medical grade facials; my daily facials and using my beauty tools, going for walks and stretching. I don't get my eyebrows groomed as frequently anymore since the hair come back a lot less, I get waxing done on the whole body on regular basis.
I find Americans think it is a treat to be high maintenance, mani/pedi's, but in Europe, it is part of daily life and caring for yourself on daily basis.
As for clothes, I invest on beautiful lingerie, matching sets and wear them daily. I don't believe what Americans do, wear only on special occasions. Life is too short for that and to celebrate good life daily. As for clothes, I don't shop frequently. I cultivate timeless pieces and have a capsule wardrobe. I wear my finest on daily basis, even for working out.
With makeup, I enjoy that so much and not because I have to wear it, but bringing my best forward.
If you see two approachable women, one looking bland, no glowing skin, unkept hair and clothes, and another with glowing skin, neat hair, nails, who would you rather approach first?
Last edited by Torontobase; 07-28-2019 at 07:37 PM..
If you see two approachable women, one looking bland, no glowing skin, unkept hair and clothes, and another with glowing skin, neat hair, nails, who would you rather approach first?
Approach for what? I haven't noticed any positive correlation between appearance and helpfulness/responsiveness.
My beauty maintenance is not considered a burden or as you say it, "pain in the @ss", but part of daily good health, just like having a good diet. I love myself, so it is safe to say that I get excited to get mani/pedi, medical grade facials; my daily facials and using my beauty tools, going for walks and stretching. I don't get my eyebrows groomed as frequently anymore since the hair come back a lot less, I get waxing done on the whole body on regular basis.
I find Americans think it is a treat to be high maintenance, mani/pedi's, but in Europe, it is part of daily life and caring for yourself on daily basis.
As for clothes, I invest on beautiful lingerie, matching sets and wear them daily. I don't believe what Americans do, wear only on special occasions. Life is too short for that and to celebrate good life daily. As for clothes, I don't shop frequently. I cultivate timeless pieces and have a capsule wardrobe. I wear my finest on daily basis, even for working out.
With makeup, I enjoy that so much and not because I have to wear it, but bringing my best forward.
If you see two approachable women, one looking bland, no glowing skin, unkept hair and clothes, and another with glowing skin, neat hair, nails, who would you rather approach first?
It's great that you enjoy putting a lot of effort into your appearance and clothing, but the notion that all European women just naturally live this way and Americans don't is a pretty gross overgeneralization. There are many, many, MANY American women who are high-maintenance and enjoy regular mani/pedicures, makeup, facials, elegant clothing, etc. And there are plenty of women in Europe who do not.
Right, but rituals are different from passions or hobbies. I would consider clothes shopping a ritual for me as well, one of the little things in life I enjoy.
I do think there's a stereotype that women go shopping and to the salon and men watch sports.
And with the women I've known well, I can tell you that those things aren't a passion for them or really even a hobby to the point where they can talk about it a lot.
But I can tell you that it really is that way for sports and men. Men really do sit there and talk about sports for hours and hours, and some men are passionate about it, and it's more of a hobby for some other guys. But even those guys can spend hours watching it.
Almost everyone I know over 35 has a passion/hobby they can talk about for hours. Men or women.
My beauty maintenance is not considered a burden or as you say it, "pain in the @ss", but part of daily good health, just like having a good diet. I love myself, so it is safe to say that I get excited to get mani/pedi, medical grade facials; my daily facials and using my beauty tools,
That's fine.
But none of it advances your "good health" in any way.
I hate it and never do any of that stuff. I did a bit of it in my 20's and got over it fast. I rarely buy clothes and when I do it's often replacing stuff I have with the same thing and I can get it online without ever setting foot in a store...YAY!!!! I use drugstore beauty products and, when I can, order them online too. I really hate stores.
But I get how people can like doing routines and whatnot. I've had various interests during my life, things I enjoyed doing or buying even though it made no sense to others. My skin is in good shape, my hair is grayish, I'm just looking to be tidy at this point. Plus I'm just too lazy to do much before I crawl into bed at night.
Getting my hair cut is a thing to tick off the to do list (I imagine it is the same for a man). My hair is naturally blonde so I've never dyed it and if it wasn't I would just keep it the natural colour anyway. I do not ever get my nails done. I do wear make up but only a tiny bit (lipstick sometimes and mascara sometimes.) I wash my hair everyday mainly because it looks greasy and flat if I don't. It is a bit of a chore to do that. I don't enjoy any of it.
I spend time clothes shopping, getting clothes altered etc from time to time. But that's mainly because I like wearing nice clothes. I don't enjoy shopping either but I like the end result.
There IS something I really enjoy about my "beauty maintenance" routine actually.
Just occurred to me.
Most of it is so rote in terms of a habitual set of routine tasks, that I can do it while my mind is completely elsewhere, like I'm on auto-pilot. And for some reason during my routine, the gears are usually spinning up and I can get some really good ideas, excellent thinking done, during my showering and hair and skin care regimen. I come up with a lot of things I want to write about, and some excellent art ideas and subjects of conversation to share with friends and so forth.
Originally Posted by Torontobase View Post
My beauty maintenance is not considered a burden or as you say it, "pain in the @ss", but part of daily good health, just like having a good diet. I love myself, so it is safe to say that I get excited to get mani/pedi, medical grade facials; my daily facials and using my beauty tools, going for walks and stretching. I don't get my eyebrows groomed as frequently anymore since the hair come back a lot less, I get waxing done on the whole body on regular basis.
I find Americans think it is a treat to be high maintenance, mani/pedi's, but in Europe, it is part of daily life and caring for yourself on daily basis.
As for clothes, I invest on beautiful lingerie, matching sets and wear them daily. I don't believe what Americans do, wear only on special occasions. Life is too short for that and to celebrate good life daily. As for clothes, I don't shop frequently. I cultivate timeless pieces and have a capsule wardrobe. I wear my finest on daily basis, even for working out.
With makeup, I enjoy that so much and not because I have to wear it, but bringing my best forward.
If you see two approachable women, one looking bland, no glowing skin, unkept hair and clothes, and another with glowing skin, neat hair, nails, who would you rather approach first?
Quote:
Originally Posted by saibot
It's great that you enjoy putting a lot of effort into your appearance and clothing, but the notion that all European women just naturally live this way and Americans don't is a pretty gross overgeneralization. There are many, many, MANY American women who are high-maintenance and enjoy regular mani/pedicures, makeup, facials, elegant clothing, etc. And there are plenty of women in Europe who do not.
saibot, I'm asked if I am from Europe a lot. Last week a girl, just came from France asked me so I asked what made her think that. She said because of how I was dress, and my features. She then pointed to 2 women who were walking by and said American women wear t-shirts a lot and dress plain.
Torontobase, I agree. A girl I know is overweight, so so teeth, smokes, isn't the least interested but she is sure "judgemental" of other women who do. I get tired of her saying how frivolous it is to buy nice clothes, go for mani/pedi's etc, and dress nice.
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