Beauty Tips

I love to sleep in on the weekends (when Tabs lets me), and when I get a few extra hours of shuteye, I feel like a brand new girl!

But a recent study published in the journal Sleep suggests that getting a little extra rest on one of the weekend days, while helpful, may not fully make up for a week of inadequate sleep.

Behavioral, subjective and physiological measures of alertness improved significantly after a night of recovery sleep, with larger doses of sleep producing greater gains. Yet some neurobehavioral deficits continued to linger after the maximum recovery dose of 10 hours in bed, during which participants slept for an average of about nine hours. The study suggests that complete recovery from sustained sleep restriction may require even more sleep during one night or multiple nights of extended sleep. –source

The body’s circadian rhythm will probably prevent a lot of people from even getting much more than 8-10 hours in one fell swoop. A better recipe for catching up on sleep may be to shoot for an extra hour on both days of the weekend, as opposed to two extra hours just once.

Wha? More sleep is better than less? I know — it may not be particularly groundbreaking, but the research shows that recovery from a bout of bad sleep isn’t as simple as previously thought.

The effects of sleep depravation can be dramatic, so try to get some extra shuteye as often as you can. Not getting enough doesn’t just darken under-eye circles (GAH!), it also dramatically impairs alertness, attention span, and can even increase your risk of heart disease.

Zzzzz…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Today marks my last day as a 34-year-old woman. The next time the clock strikes 12, I will have officially entered my mid-30s, huzzah!

So what am I doing with these last few hours of year 34? Well, playing with makeup, of course, and taking stock of my life (overall, no big complaints).

I’m also setting goals for year 35, and since I seem to have misplaced my confidence at some point along the way from 34 to here, I’m making its restoration Priority No. 1.

Mind you, I’ve definitely made progress lately. I’m not as down on myself as I was a few months ago; your support and encouragement have helped (THANK YOU!), but there’s still a lot of work to be done.

Where a few months ago I was telling myself I couldn’t write, couldn’t take a decent picture to save my life, lost my sense of humor, wasn’t a good wife, sister, daughter, etc. — today I’m merely telling myself I’m not half bad, which is still not the same as saying, “Karen, you’re great!”

When it comes to writing, in particular, sometimes I feel like an athlete after a bad injury. Even though I’ve been through the physical therapy, in this case the extra reading and writing exercises, I just don’t trust my instincts anymore. I second guess myself now, where before the injury I would have just gone for the dunk!

As I move into my thirty-fifth year of life, I want to nurture the part of me that once believed I could do anything. Lately, I’ve been reading a lot about different ways to do that, and here are five of the tips that have helped:

1. If all else fails, hang on!

Author William Feather once said that “Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.” In my case, since I’m usually my own worst critic, I read that to mean outlasting my inner critic. Sooner or later she’ll get tired of picking on me and move on to someone else, LOL!

When something knocks you down, pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and keep…moving…forward — one small accomplishment at a time.

2. Feed your confidence muscles

Make notes of every compliment you receive, and post them somewhere visible (where you can see them all the time). Do the same thing with uplifting quotes, and read biographies about confident people you admire.

3. Seek support

Surround yourself with a posse of supportive people (and a mentor if you’re working toward a specific goal). That’s easier said than done, but ask yourself, “Who are the most supportive people I know?” and reach out to them.
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Like sailing, life has its ups and downs. One minute you’re cruising along at a good clip, the wind at your back; next minute it’s like you’re beating back a storm, flailing with your arms and legs just to tread water!

Because the seas aren’t always smooth sailing, it pays to be resilient.

I’ve been thinking a lot about that word lately — resilient — because it’s something I’d like to be. Why are some folks able to bounce back so easily from challenges while others (I’m talking about myself here) have a much tougher time?

Being resilient means being able to roll with the punches. When something throws off their juju — stress, tragedy, adversity, trauma — resilient people thrive, making the adjustments necessary to keep chugging right along.

Let me be the first to admit that I am NOT a naturally resilient person. Left to my own devices, I tend to short circuit, or feel like a victim of one of life’s cruel jokes. I’ll overindulge in junk food, or in some expensive habit [COUGH!] makeup [COUGH!], and curl up in a ball to cry.

It happened last week! I had a meltdown about writer’s block, and it was not a pretty sight (consumed WAY too much Nutella).

I want to handle adversity better. I want to adapt and thrive, not fall apart. I want to advocate the consumption of Nutella on MY terms, in moderation, and not as a knee-jerk reaction to stress. 🙂

Are you with me?
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Like a beauty Beowulf, today I vanquished a household Grendel with my trusty lip balm sword!

That is to say I used a spare tube of Burt’s Bees Beeswax Lip Balm to grease the threads of an old light socket. Thanks to Apartment Therapy for this one:

“To remedy old and sticking sockets simply use a small bit of lip balm on the inside of the threads and the light bulb won’t have any problem screwing in! You can also apply it to the bulb instead of the sockets — it’s a great preventative measure, especially with new lamps. Just be weary of the very bottom of the bulb or socket being coated. If you’re worried things will get messy, just use a cotton swab to apply.”

We have some bare light sockets around the outside of the condo that I’ve been meaning to fill with bulbs. A few of them are rather beaten up after living life exposed to the elements for 30 years, and the sockets are sticky. A while back I was trying to screw a lightbulb into one of them (I’m sure there’s a joke in there somewhere) when the bulb cracked in my hand!

This time, with a swipe of lip balm applied to the threads on a new bulb, it screwed right in. 🙂

Got any other beauty-based home care tricks to share? Let me know in the comments.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Oh, and TGIF! Do you have plans tonight? El Hub wants us to re-watch Avatar on DVD… I thought it was a great movie, but I’m kinda not in the mood, le sigh!