Not lifting my skirt for nobody - don't touch my shoes either.

It was announced that there would be nylon and tights checks conducted from today forward for any lady wearing a skirt.  It does not matter the length of the skirt, your legs will be checked.  WHAT THE WHAT?  Ummmm.  No.  No. and no.  I am a 34 year old woman.  I ain't lifting my skirt for nobody!  Today, this really hit home as I wore a new dress that was the longest of any I have ever owned.  The ridiculousness of the situation washed over me and I came up with an idea.  If I'm ever ask to "raise my skirt" for an instructor, I will then ask that they conduct a random drug screening of my classmates.  Only fair... and I think it puts the issue into perspective.

Well, I was having a particular stressful saturday morning at school.  I wore a little layering jacket that happend to, wait for it, wait for it... have grey in the design on the back.  Instructors talked about "it" and one approached me that they had all consulted (I had no idea I had created such a stir) and it would be ok for me to wear it because they were going to call it "silver" - which made it ok.  The situation was really quite hilarious, but it did stress me out a little.  I had no guests on the books for that day and it was about 10:30 in the morning.  I sat in the break room with some of my classmates and another instructor (that irritates the heck out of me) comes in and asks me about my shoes.  I naively thought she was really interested in the cute pair I was sporting that day.  She  asks me who made my shoe and looks at it, then comes up to me and starts touching my shoes and told me she didn't know if i could officially be wearing them to school.  Ok, if we are not friends... don't invade my body space.  That said.... I freaked out.  Whatever other factors in my head were going on that morning, it all came to a head in that moment.  I stood up and screamed a word I won't repeat here. I continued to yell as I departed the building, slamming the back door and calling my husband once I was outside.

After calling Ryan, I decided that I was going home for the day - needed a day off and didn't know how I was going to go back and save face - so to speak.

I fully expected to be called by the director after my little situation, but that didn't happen.  I was gone the next week doing an externship, so I had a break before I had to be back at school and was grateful.

I think the skirt police died down a bit in the following weeks and I was never asked to lift my skirt.  I've been post school for about a month and am still having a hard time not being judgy of those around me not wearing nylons with their skirts and holy cow - showing bare legs!  I'll file that one under culture adjustment.

Maintenance: How do you fit it all in?

I just posted the Evolution of Beauty by Dove in the blog right before this one, if you didn't catch it, here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knEIM16NuPg

As I've plunged myself into a life of great personal maintenance, I honestly struggle with keeping up with it all.  Time vs. family vs. household vs. work vs. time with Jesus vs. all the pressures of a woman's life...  

So, if I were the "properly maintained modern woman" I should at minimum:

Wax (or sugar) my brows (at minimum) and other places at least twice a month.

Foil every 4-6 weeks (and/or some kind of color treatment)

Hair cuts 6-8 weeks

Conditioning treatment 1x per month

Nails at least 1x per week depending on what you have done (manicure vs. artificial nails 2x per mo) - don't forget fingers AND toes (I do mine at home)

Facials every 3-6 months

A facial mask 1x per week

Daily:

Shower - with a good shave if not waxed (I shampoo about twice a week)
Your skin care routine - morning and night (which consists with at least a cleanser, serum, eye cream and moisturizer)

Makeup application (don't get me started on how many steps this consists of for me)

Great blow dry and flat iron for your hair

Choosing the appropriate clothing for the right occasion (running kids to school, grocery shopping, work, church, play groups).

Touch up your nails if they've started to flake (mine are going at a rate of every three days) and the WAIT time to let them dry.

I think that's about it.  If I am missing something - let me know!  I did cover the shower part, right?

Of course there are many more things I could add to this list... but this is the minimum that is the generally expected of the average woman in our culture...

We are not even going to go into product... as you know I could go on for hours about serums for hair and face, lotions and sunscreens - body and face, primers for your foundation... ok, I'll stop, but you get my point.

How do you fit all of that into your time?  How well do you maintain a balance between what is relevant and needed for your basic beauty routine - and feel free to pick and choose what you do.  How do you keep up? Well, I'll be honest - as I've plunged headlong into the beauty industry, beyond just working a make up line, but hair, nails, waxing.  The pressure to maintain it all is ON!  How do I keep up?  How do I get it all done and balance putting myself in front of my my family and household duties - let alone time with Jesus and some reading to challenge my mind vs. what my industry now requires?  How do I not become consumed with the way I look and myself, yet maintain a standard for the line of work I've chosen?

In CAD (Condinued artist development - Mod 2), we did a million manicures in about 2 weeks on each other.  It was crazy, it was fun and educational.  As a result, I've noticed my nails are growing like crazy, longer and stronger than before.  So, I decided that I would start painting them on a regular basis.  Logan (and Damon) have been oddly curious with my new beauty routine for my fingers.  I painted my nails last night after the boys were asleep - because they've got to dry and I can't manage a two year old, open bottle of nail polish and wet finger nails, right?  This morning Logan DID notice that my nails were a different color and he took each finger and smelled them.  It was totally hilarious.  I know that painting fingernails might be a minor thing, but if you look at my "proposed" beauty routine - it adds another 2 hours to my week that is already jammed packed.

At what point do you stop, slow down or remove parts of your beauty routine to maintain your life?  I know this won't be popular among many in my circle, but it's a real question I've got to ask myself... how to maintain and keep all the balls in the air.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on your routine and how you fit it all in...