Again with the Products

As you probably know, I spent the entire summer at war with my skin.  It would not stop breaking out.  I expect the issue was a combination of stress, the mold in my house (that also accounted for the stress) and my SPF problem.

It is no longer up for debate that I require serious SPF in whatever moisturizer that I use everyday.  This is because I am both lazy (I can't be bothered to look in a mirror more than once a day, let alone re-apply product) and careless (I don't think much before opening the windows or the sunroof in the car).  My skin is officially sun damaged and it is not cool.

I have spent years looking for a decent moisturizer with SPF of 15 to 30.  Mary Kay's made me break out.  Others were greasy and/or messed up my make up.  For the last couple of years, I have gotten away with using a light moisturizing serum under a standard sunscreen.  I am getting too old for that.  Finally, I found something that I like:

I found Coola's "organic moisturizing suncare" at The Soap Box Shop in Highland Park.  It is one of those hand-made/organic/way too expensive boutiques that happened to have its door open as I returned to my car after seeing my allergist and it smelled good in there. 

The label says, "paba/paraben/petroleum free, water/sweat resistant, vitamin rich and specifically designed to protect and hydrate sensitive facial skin."  It was $32, which I consider too much for sunscreen, but not terrible for a good moisturizer if it lasts long enough.  And it was 25% off.

It didn't clear up my skin right away, but I was reminded that if you keep changing up your skincare routine, your skin will get ticked at you.  But once everything returned to normal, I dedided that I love this product. 

I don't care much about organics but I dig the cucumber scent in this one.  I have been using it on top of The Body Shop's Vitamin C serum (which no self-respecting spa junkie would do, but the Vitamin C is helping with the sun damage and I just refuse to pay $135 dollars for the Skinceuticals product that everyone is raving about), and I don't need very much of it to get coverage.  It doesn't make my face any shinier than normal and it does not gunk up my make up brushes.

The final test of this will be how deep into the Chicago winter will it take me before my skin feels dried out.  I'll keep you posted.

What You Get for Blogging

I have several e-mail accounts.  One at work.  One personal.  One "personal business", that I use for online ordering and mail-listy stuff.  I just received an e-mail in my personal account from Meatheads, the new burger place in Northbrook.  It looked like this, and included a coupon:

First, I think, "Oh, cool".  Then I think, "I don't remember giving them my e-mail address".  Then I think, "Wait, even if I did give them my e-mail address, I wouldn't have given them this e-mail address."

Then I figured it out:

I blogged about them.  And my blog is attached to my personal e-mail account. 

Huh.  I don't know whether this makes me happy or not.

Retraction:

It seems I didn't figure it out.  My mother sent me an e-mail saying that she is on their mailing list and she "redirected" the above to my personal e-mail account.

Best Friends Notice

Best Friends Animal Sanctuary has a been setting up local networks to spread the word about pets in need and rescue groups that need a hand.  Today I received an e-mail about Roxie, a dog in foster care that needs a home and I thought I might spread the word.  Here are the details:

Breed: English Coonhound
Location: Aurora, Ill
Sex: Female
Age: 3-4

Description:

Roxie is a multi colored 3-4 year old English Coonhound. She is a very friendly but very active
girl who can be quite an escape artist. Roxie is very smart so she would love someone who would have alot of time to spend with her playing games and keeping active so she would not get bored. Roxie loves everyone including other dogs, children and cats.

Contact: Jody Porretta
Phone: 708 268-6965
Email: granygon2thedogs@aol.com

Maxi

Friday afternoon, my nerves were shot from the worst week at work ever.  Although I am absolutely one of those "we who are employed should count our damn blessings" types.

So I went over to the Refuge and brought home another foster bird.  This is Maxi:

She also has aspergillosis, and is on medication.  But supposedly, she takes it in a sandwich.  Except I have had to hand feed it to her which is so not the case at the rescue.  But she sits on that swing that I bought for Kiwi - who won't use it.

Kiwi is very happy for the company, but Maxi isn't interested in making friends right now.  We'll see.

What is This?

I like McDonald's and I am a sucker for good marketing.  So I play the Monopoly.  I ordered a medium fry because I know they don't give you game pieces on the small.  But then.  Are you seeing this? 

No game pieces on the fries. They have seriously diminished the menu items that have game pieces. I only got them on my drink, And you know what's worse?

Look at this freakin' game card!  This is not a Monopoly board! 

 

 

I guess I should thank them for turning me off of this racket.

Playing Kissy Face

I had a most craptacular day.  Then PJ and Fred started making out.    So I took a picture.  And now I am going to do my homework.

21 Dog Years: Doing Time at Amazon.com, by Mike Daisey

Book 38

Another book that I picked up while researching Amazon.com.  This was much less useful for a scholarly study.  And sometimes, it made me cringe.  Most memorable for my poor psyche was the last straw before Daisey quit his job:

Someone left a spreadsheet in the bathroom that had all of the salary information in his department.  He made copies and distributed it.

He talks about his work from customer service to business development as a big snow job that he pulled on the suits.  Which is kinda funny and kinda makes me insane.

I just figured it out: this book is like Office Space.  Where every member of my generation is going to find it funny except for me because I work in HR. 

There were some moments that even I found funny.  Like when his fiancee asked why he is always ripping on France; he told her that he had been doing it for so long that he doesn't even remember. 

Apparently, Daisey is now doing one-man shows and writing books.  I bet that if I were listening to him telling his stories, rather than reading them while I am working my butt off to finish a graduate degree in management, I would beter appreciate it.  But even so, he makes a great point in this book: there is no way you will be able to do really good work at a job you can't stand.  So follow your passion.  Or something.

Animal Rescue Site Contest

The Animal Rescue Site is running its Vote for Your Favorite Shelter thing again.  Best Friends Animal Sanctuary always wins, but the top prizes aren't awarded to the same shelter more than once a year, so we might have a shot at a state prize. 

Please visit, click on the Shelter Challenge and look for A Refuge for Saving the Wildlife in Illinois.  Vote early - vote often (once a day is the rule)!

Stupid Eco Friendly Stuff

Dear Aquafina:

While I admire your corporate commitment to minimizing the carbon footprint of my bottled water habit, I must say that your new bottles suck.

I bought a case of 16 ounce bottles in the new packaging and am now about halfway through it.  In opening all but one of the bottles, I have spilled water all over the place.  One needs a firm grasp on the body of the bottle in order to break the seal in the cap of the plastic.  That grasp collapses the "eco-friendly packaging" and the water squeezes out.

That's just poor engineering.  Respectfully, I'm going back to Ice Mountain.

Applications

Not that you’ve asked for my job hunting advice, but Joy and I were talking about some résumés this afternoon and I feel the need to get up on a soap box. My standard disclaimer applies – HR people are all different and we do not make hiring decisions, anyway. We are just the gatekeepers. Feel free to try and go around us. I don’t care.

First. Cover letters are not optional. Some job post web sites have a box to check if the hiring employer is requiring them and I do not check the box. Because I am judging applicants based on whether they bother to do so without being told.

Second, there are all of these new-fangled ways that the experts are giving people to “brand” themselves. Things like listing all of your accomplishments together – the actual titles and employers and lengths of service are secondary – or less. Employers only care about what you can do, not where you did it. Some are even saying not to add dates at all.

I think that is garbage.

Particularly when we have to sort through piles of applications, if the thing that differentiates you is that I have to hunt for the information I want like “is this person a job hopper” and “is there a pattern of progressively responsible positions” – that is not in your favor. If you get too creative, it makes me think you are trying to hide something. Oh, and trying to hide your age is silly. First, because I don’t care how old you are and second, it also tends to hide your experience.

The other new résumé thing is sections on “objectives” and “summaries”. I have never read one single “objective” section that made me want to hire a candidate, but I have read many that made me dismiss them. On the “summary” I can go either way. If you think it adds something, by all means include it. But if you use it to broadcast “excellent communications skills” or to declare yourself a ”top notch professional”, I think it is a waste of space on the page.

Bottom line: don’t get cute on the résumé. Differentiate yourself in the cover letter. I have said before that the best cover letter I have ever seen included a list of the job requirements and then pointed to how the candidate had that experience. She got an interview.

(stepping down now)