I went to get a facial and a massage which my dear hubby bought for my 30th birthday. The massage always turns out to be great; even the facial is always relaxing, but I tell you, the beginnings are rough – at least for me. As soon as I assume your position on the ‘facial table’ (don’t know the exact name for it) I get bombarded with quite the personal questions about what products am I using on my skin; what soap, what cleansing water, what night cream, what day cream, what eye cream, what wrinkle cream……I guess I would not be so annoyed by it if I did not feel so self-conscious. I just use one face cream (at least I think it’s a face cream and not a foot cream) and that’s it. And half of the time I don’t even know what brand it is! I find it in the grocery store in the cosmetics isle and it is on sale. What else can one want? When I was bombarded by those unpleasant questions this time, of course I had a brain fart and I forgot the name of the frickin’ cream again! So I said “huh….Neutrogena” – for some reason that name sticks to my brain. And I have also had a few products of that brand in the past…I think.
The estethician gives me a half-approving look by which I assumed I was in the safe zone but I was mistaken. Instead of politely smiling at my stupid, self-conscious jokes, she gives me this dead serious look and says: “Well, but you are not twenty anymore, you are 30 years old, you know,” Oh, really?, REALLY?, well thanks for the reminder, lady!!!
After she gave me the guilt trip she probably realized that I was one of those hopeless ‘natural’ people who don’t use much stuff on their face, gave up and kept doing her business in silence. She did unwillingly uttered something about me having a nice skin and how it must be my genes (hint hint).
She did a good job though, I did feel 29 years old for about 2 days after.
Seriously, though, is the lack of face cream knowledge (and usage) just me or is it a Czech thing???
CZ: Muj zlaty manzilek mi k mym 30-tym narozeninam zakoupil lahodnou masaz a take ‘facial’ (oblicejovou masaz?). Obe procedury jsem jiz v minulosti zakusila, ale reknu vam, ze ty zacatky jsou vzdycky krusne – tedy alespon co se tyce mne. Jakmile mne pani kosmeticka prijme do sve ‘ordinace’, zacne me totiz bombardovat dosti osobnimi otazkami na tema, jake vyrobky pouzivam na svuj oblicej. Jake pletove mleko? Jaky odlicovaci krem? Jaky nocni krem? Jaky denni krem? Jaky krem na vrasky? Asi by mi to tolik nevadilo, kdybych se necitila rozpacite. Ja totiz pouzivam jeden jediny krem na plet (ted si ho musim jit zkotrolovat, jestli nahodou neni na nohy…) a tim to konci. Nasla jsem ho v obchode – v kosmetickem oddeleni a byl zlevneny. Co vic si muze clovek prat? Takze i tentokrat se mi v mozku nejak zatemnilo a nemohla jsem si vzpomenout na tu znacku (stejne by to asi byl trapas). Tak jsem ze sebe vysoukala: “hmmm…..Neutrogena,”. Tato znacka mi z jakehosi duvodu uvizla v hlave a tak ji obcas ve ‘vyssich kruzich’ drze pouziji;0)
Pani kosmeticka mi dala dosti tvrdy pohled, coz me (mylive) utvrdilo, ze uz mi da pokoj. Ale ona ne: “No, ale ono uz Vam neni 20, ale je vam tricet, mila pani!”. Opravu? Fakt?? No nepovidejte, dekuji za pripominku, slecno!!!
Po te, co me absolutne ztrapnila, uz opravdu sklapla a pustila se do prace. Asi si pomyslela, ze jsem jedna z tech ‘beznadejnych’ naturalu, kteri nepouzivaji na oblicej nic, nez mydlo a vodu. Neuniklo mi ale, jak si pod vousy zamumlala, ze mam hezkou plet, a ze pry to musi byt me geny.
Jinak se ji ale facial moc povedla, citila jsem se jako 29-ti leta holcina jeste dva dny po masazi.
Ted ale opravdu, jsem v tom jedina nebo je neznalost (nezajem) kosmetickych produktu proste soucasti ceske natury???
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I personally do not think that you have to have the most expensive skin cream…but that is just me. I think that genes are extremely important and also the way you take care of your body (because it reflects on the skin-smoking, drinking,etc) but you should have left feeling great because you look great! She was probably mad because she spends so much money on those expensive creams and nothing! 😉
I still make some of the masks that my mother taught me; one mask uses egg white and some lemon juice in it, I let it dry and then wash off. I can’t agree with everything that she has told me in the past because grated potatoes did not help my infected toe when I was a teen…it got a lot worse!(Yes that was gross, sorry!) She said that she got that from her family. Have you heard of that?
You should have told her egg whites and lemon; she would have really given you a look and then tried it when she got home because you look good! ha ha, that would have happened! After that she would have used it from then on!
What’s a Czech thing? I can’t speak to Czech genetics but I can speak to how refreshing is to to hang around Czechs who haven’t had three or more generations of marketing stuffed into their brains that they need this product and that product just to go about daily life. Find a facialist who lets you relax and enjoy! BTW, well done on hubby’s part!
That is so funny. Love this article. Hey I will end up even worst. I dont use anythink on my face, maybe olive oil once per month. And yes I 30 no 20 anymore.:)
Slovakmama
Don’t worry, you look beautiful. Especially with the cucumber!
Pamatujes jak se lidi za komunismu mazali Indulonou nebo Niveou? Ja jsem se mazavala kremy od Lancome nebo Estee Lauder kdyz jsem u nich delavala za dobu mych studentskych let, ale ted uz jsem si taky koupila jenom Niveu (ve Wallgreens) a fakt nevidim rozdil (jenom v penezence).
Verunka, I have never heard about that egg-white mask! That’s pretty crazy! That’s probably because I came from a doctor family and no one believed in anything alternative (unfortunately).
Jano, asi se taky vratim k Nivee, i kdyz ta vune,no nevim…trosku mi to pripomina starobu – nase babicka se s ni hodne mazala 😉
Svobo – that’s not me on that picture!!!!! If it was me I would have already eaten those cucumbers.
Oh, almost forgot to respond to Karen….that is a great way to look at things!
By saying Czech thing I am asking if a majority of Czech ladies have the same ‘problem’ 😉
I have never been to a spa for the facial or massage, only haircut. She did a great job on me, it was not that expensive, so I kept coming back, but last time my hair stylist pissed me off because she was working on me for a few minutes and made me buy a crappy gel I didn’t really need and I bought it only because I wanted her to leave me alone. Stupid marketer! Because of a few bucks she lost a customer… I’m 28 and I’m using light anti wrinkle creams – day cream, night cream and eye cream. I think it’s all about prevention because later on it will be only botox that will help…
well, ladies
I think this is defenitevely a Czech thing and genes( it is called common sense and being smart with your money when it comes to all these creams and lotions). I had a very simular experience like Tana. I never went back for facial after that because the questions were endless and I did not have any answers, felt really stupid. All I can remember was me thinking, would you just shut-up lady extract my blackheads and leave me in peace I came here to relax, and not being a nervous wrack. I practically ran away from that place.
I did the egg whites and vinegar as a teenager.
This facial is ment to be mostly for oily type of skin. The egg whites will close the pores as they dry on your face and the vinegar prevents to some extend the grow of bacteria due to having acne. I had a lots pimples as a teenager and was quiet desperate growing-up in communist CSSR.
I still have an oily skin twenty years later, the only thing I use is a Czech product Panthenol, pletove mleko and aloe vera from Trader Joe’s in summer. The only proven thing besides botox and cosmetic surgery is a prescription strenght retin A.
For the girls that do use the expensive products, try the men’s department. It is usually exactly the same thing for half of the price.
Of course, you can always age gracefully(:
How funny that you had the same experience! The funniest thing is that after the abuse they give you they tell you to come back in 2 months! Because you have to keep up with those facials….haha!