The call came yesterday from my dearest online friend. Although we’d been friends for over 6 years and live just 4 hours or so apart, our friendship had been restricted to emails, chats, text messages and phone calls. He told me he had a business day trip to make to a city near us and could we meet for lunch. With less than 24 hours’ notice, I had to arrange for child care, figure out where we could meet for lunch and get as glammed as possible (being just friends doesn’t make me less of a “girl”).
First step… Figure out the outfit. Although it’s late October, I’m still not ready to give up my sandals, so whatever I wore had to work with open-toe shoes. My first outfit was going to be a white t-shirt and my favorite brown and white zebra-print skirt with my oh-so-sexy (and surprisingly comfortable) espadrilles. However, I couldn’t find the skirt and didn’t want to take the time to tear our bedroom up looking for it, so I went for outfit #2 – hot pink long-sleeved t-shirt, black and hot pink skirt and black strappy heels.
Step two has to be the toes and feet – starting from the bottom here. I last gave myself a pedicure ten days ago using some of my favorite colors from Sally’s Beauty Supply. These enamels are a bit more expensive, but my polish jobs last forever! This pedicure started with China Glaze Base Coat, followed by two coats of Ultra Pro nail enamel in Hawaiian Flower, then a layer of OPI white shatter and all that topped off with China Glaze Top Coat. My tootsies still look freshly pedicured and nice.
But then I looked at the bottoms of my feet, and they looked anything BUT sandal-ready! Normally I’d soak my feet in a bubbling foot spa with some tea tree and lavender oil, then apply a moisturizer and wear white cotton socks to warm it and allow it to work in over the course of several hours. There simply wasn’t time for the foot soak, and I completely forgot about moisturizing with socks. Oh, dear! I happened to have a jar of body scrub in the bathroom that I’d made for my husband. Whew! Saved! A thorough scrub in my shower got all the dead skin off, and I gave them a quick rub with Rub Me Right… There (in Patchouli). I stood on a towel while I put my makeup on to help the massage oil’s delectable goodness soak into my feet (and to keep me from slipping, falling and busting my butt on the linoleum).
This third step I normally wouldn’t do, but my friend Ginger posted a recipe on her FB page this week about DIY homemade lip scrub, and for the past week or so, I’ve been wanting to whip some up. My lips get sooo dry and scaly during the harsh Winter months, so I thought this would be the perfect treatment for them. But, alas! Here I was, wanting to scrub my lips and not having any lip scrub made up (and, I mean, seriously, it’d have taken all of five minutes to make). Time for a quick exfoliation. After I finished brushing my teeth, I used my toothbrush to gently scrub my lips and the surrounding skin. Oh my gosh, that peppermint toothpaste made them tingle and flushed them a nice, natural pink! I gave them a swipe of Vaseline and put my makeup on.
The rest of getting ready was nothing out of the ordinary – hair, makeup and outfit. When it came time to moisturize my legs, I grabbed the tube of Moisture to Go I keep in my purse (currently in Verbena scent). I was scrubbed, scented and moisturized, and every bit of me was first-meet-with-a-friend ready.
Of course, my friend never really saw my legs, and I seriously doubt he paid any attention to my feet (though he did peek at my pedi). The scrubbed smooth lips felt good and made my lip gloss (decided to go with their natural pink from the scrub) last so much longer than usual. This lip gloss was one I’d made, just playing around, with ginger and cinnamon essential oils. It goes on hot and tingly, making my lips flushed and slightly swollen. None of this primping was for my friend; every bit of it was for me and enabled me to approach this meeting with style and confidence. This evening, though, I’m definitely going to throw together some lip scrub, and I think I’ll give it some tingle with some peppermint essential oil. This will be just right for Winter!
What quick beauty and primping tips do you have for those last minute glam needs? Share them here.
