Tag: aquanet

I’m researching how to get off the grid on my iPad

Simplicity is elusive, but oft sought by us humans, particularly the overworked, underpaid, overtired generations who rely on the technology of incredibly complex devices to do the simplifying for us. I go back and forth between a desire for and abjection of technology, craving life off the grid in the middle of nowhere, meanwhile blogging about it and managing it with online budgeting tools.

I’ve always had an affinity for old things. I love vintage appliances, Aqua Net, and Betty Crocker’s Cookbook. My tastes are at odds – I’m drawn to a time period that was intensely focused on convenience, but today feels like a simpler time in which kids went out to play, Mom cooked dinner, and astronauts did math by hand. Lately I’ve been wondering: if I was an adult in the 50’s, instead of the 10’s, would I be nostalgic for a “simpler time,” before cars, refrigeration, and lightbulbs? If I lived in the 1910s instead of the 2010s, would I tout indoor plumbing as an extravagant, unnecessary construct built by a generation seeking only to protect its own interests and indulge a desire for convenience? Continue reading I’m researching how to get off the grid on my iPad

Two Vintage Beauty Products I Can’t Live Without

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When the Twinkie left us for good, I wasn’t in any way saddened to see it go.  It did, however, give me pause to think of the things that have been around for awhile that I maybe take for granted.

So, I’m not a person who primps…

Not by a long shot.

But every lady has some semblance of a beauty regimen, and mine includes a couple of vintage products that are still kickin’ it on the shelves of my local big box store:

1. Barbasol shaving cream.  Ok, it’s a men’s shaving cream that says “beard buster” on the canister.  But it’s foamy, and smells good (i.e. you don’t step out of the tub with old man musk smell on your legs), and Barabasol is much more effective than those silly pink gels that are marketed specifically to woman.

2. Aquanet.  My secret weapon.  There has never been, nor will there ever be, an equal competitor.  I’d like to think that in most things I’m environmentally conscious.  I bring reusable bags to the grocery store.  I don’t use plastic silverware.  I bring a travel coffee mug with me, and even when I don’t I have a reusable sleeve for my cup of Starbucks.  I have composting worms in my kitchen, for crying out loud.

But one thing I simply refuse to bend on is aerosol hair spray.  It’s not an every day occurrence, just special occasions and anything dance-related.  Sometimes you just need that extra hold, and a little extra volume.  That’s something you can’t get from a spritzer that spits out globs of heavy, sticky goo on to your perfectly placed up do.  It’s got to be Aquanet… there is no comparison.

What are your non-negotiable beauty products?