by
Sajehar » Wed Apr 26, 2017 10:42 am
Hi David C
I’m with BB, you were very brave (possibly insane) to be a motor bike currier in London. I lived in London from 1982 – 92 (part of the mass exodus that took place from Liverpool; its population declined from approx 1 million to about 400,000 between late 70’s and mid 80’s) and London’s traffic was dreadful even then.
However, I visited friends in London about 7- 8 years ago. The traffic had now gone from dreadful to indescribably awful; like something from a dystopian novel. It took me longer to drive from the end of the M1 in north London to Brixton than it did from Liverpool to north London. For the first time ever since moving back ‘up north’ I no longer regretted leaving London, which I had thoroughly enjoyed living in whilst I was there.
I’m not at all sure whether to be flattered or insulted by your description of me looking 10 years old!!!! About 30 maybe, but not 10 surely?
But I now have the perfect excuse to skit SM for chasing after jail bait coz David C sez so.
Mind you, photos hide a thousand sins.But regardless, and even if I do say so myself, I do have exceptionally good skin for my age with barely the faintest of lines/wrinkles visible.This is odd considering I led a very dissipated life-style before I became mum’s carer just over 6 years ago (initially part-time then full time.)
I partied & drank way too much, ate a crap diet and was a virtual chain smoker for nearly 30 years (I started late on the smoking front.) If there was any justice in this world, I should look about 90!
Despite the above, I can only put my youthful looks down to 3 things. 1) Genetics. My dad, despite being 83 with a whole host of health problems, barely looks 60. Likewise with my mum, until the ravages of dementia, etc took their toll on her. She died looking about 104 rather than her actual 84 years. Perhaps a similar fate awaits me?
2) During the 70’s getting as deep a tan as possible was all the rage. Being a contrary little sod (according to my late mum) I decided at the tender age of 14 to do the complete opposite, and opted for the ‘pale & interesting’ look instead.
When all around me were slapping on the Ambre Solaire sun tan lotion, roasting themselves like sausages in the sun while wearing the skimpiest of clothing that was legal, I was slapping on sun deflectant cream, sticking to the shadows wearing a wide brimmed hat and covered from neck to toe in cotton clothing, usually black. The only make up I wore was heavy black khol eyeliner and beetroot juice on my lips to emphasise how pale I was. By the time I was 20, my skin was so pale I practically glowed in the dark. I was a Goth about a decade before that term was first coined.
Apart from once – when traveling in India in the late 80’s – I’ve never had a tan since 14 to the present day.
The good result is very young looking skin indeed; the bad result is that I ended up with a serious Vitamin D deficiency. However, I’ve been taking Vit D3 supplements for years, so problem sorted.
3) I have NEVER subjected myself to that so-called beauty routine of cleansing, toning & moisturising which many women subject themselves to, thanks to decades of the propaganda pumped out by women’s magazines, etc (no doubt paid for by the ‘Beauty Industry’.)
This routine, for the uninitiated, is comprised of using a chemical laden cleanser, followed by a chemical laden toner to remove traces of chemicals left from said cleanser (most toners contain acetone; that’s paint stripper!) After using chemicals to remove chemicals, all natural skin oils are now all but removed so you have to replace them with more chemicals called moisturiser. And you’re supposed to do this twice a day, morning and night.
Now the face is ready for its final chemical onslaught: foundation cream, sometimes powder (which has ground up silica, basically glass, in it amongst other things), blusher, high lighter, etc, etc.
My ‘beauty regime’ consists of a quick scrub with a hot flannel in the morning (I only use PH neutral soap at night or when my face gets dirty during the day) and a few slashes of cold water as my toner. I hardly ever bother with moisturiser, except for when it’s very cold or windy. And then I only use a few dabs of coconut oil on my face and hands.
I’d like to make out that I’ve avoided women’s mag beauty bullshit through some kind of superior awareness. Not so.
Basically, it’s because I’m too damn lazy to be arsed with all the palaver involved. Plus I was/am too stingy and/or skint to afford such products. Even cheap stuff costs a small fortune over a period of time. My soap is about £4 a bar, but lasts for ages, cold water is free and my raw, organic coconut oil costs a fiver a jar and, if kept in the fridge, lasts about two years.
I’ve even read articles which state that foundation is actually good for your skin, protecting it from wind, rain and sunshine. And I daresay it does for those who insist on stripping their skin of its natural protective barriers in the first place from an early age. Better not to start in the first place. I praise the gods that be that I was way too lazy, etc to bother. I had better things to spend my money/time on…. Like ciggies (but no longer) and partying the night away dancing like a whirling dervish on speed (also no longer.)
Nor have I anything against make-up; it can transform a plain Jane like me into a stunner, and I’m all for that. Plus, for people with naturally bad skin or disfigurements it can be a life changer. What’s not to like about that?
I use it myself, but only on special occasions, and only eye and lip stuff, NEVER foundation. I love it when people I know do a double take, pretending not to recognise me (perhaps they really don’t) when I tart myself up to the nines. I really get off on that. But that only works if you do it very occasionally.
Otherwise, make-up ceases to be fun and a pleasure, and becomes a daily chore and grind instead. I’d much rather be an ordinary plain Jane most of the time, then startle the living daylights out of friends/relatives by how attractive I can be when I can be bothered making the effort.
Far better that in my book than looking attractive most of time, and then shocking friends &relatives by how ordinary/plain looking you actually are when not covered in slap.
I’ve just had a thought which has rather counter intuitively shocked me. I’ve always thought of women who can’t pop out the house for say, buying a pint of milk, without doing their hair up and putting on a ton of make-up as being very vain (I’ve known such women in the past.)
But it’s just dawned on me that it’s me who is the vain one and not them. I’ve just realised that such woman must think they are not good enough to face the world without effectively putting a mask on. Whereas I couldn’t give a toss what other people think as I happen to believe, rightly or wrongly, that I’m just fine as I am au natural.
Oh, bugger! Now I have vanity to add to my list of vices. Oh well.... Nobody’s perfect, even me!
That’s my rant against the beauty industry over with. I only indulged in it because I’ve been up since 5am, full of dread because of my dental check-up today, and it’s taken my mind of it.
God knows why I’m dreading it so much as there’s been nothing wrong with my teeth since the last check-up: No tooth ache, swellings or bleeding gums. With any luck I’ll get away with a prod around my gob, and a scrape & polish on my not so pearly whites.
Now that I’ve stopped smoking (5 weeks since last Sunday, not 6 as I previously mentioned) I a couple of days ago that I want them whitened. I researched it on the net and have decided on professional bleaching rather than professional laser treatment. It may be slower – approx 3 weeks as opposed to an hour – but it’s a lot cheaper and safer for teeth IF done professionally.
So, I’ll get a quote today, and start setting aside daily the money I would have spent on tobacco, filter tips & papers, etc, until I’ve saved up enough to pay for it.
Here’s the real reason I want my teeth whitened apart from my previously mentioned vanity vice.
Shortly after I stopped, I had so much excess energy it was driving me crazy. So, after two years of promises, I finally got around to redecorating our rather enormous hall way… with gusto!
That wasn’t enough to absorb my somewhat manic new found energy, plus my sense of smell then came back full force. I now couldn’t stand the stale smell of tobacco my room stank of (never noticed it before.) So I either washed, scrubbed, wiped down or steam cleaned every inch of my room. This included the ceiling and walls which, being matt emulsion paint, I wrecked in the process, and had to repaint.
I cleaned the blinds on my patio doors by soaking them in bleach and hot water. I’d forgotten they were supposed to be white not deep cream (courtesy of 4 years of nicotine staining.)
I took a photo of the blinds half cleaned compared to those yet to be bleached…. What a difference! I now want that same difference for my teeth.
The cleaned ones are a bit creased, but the creases should fall out in a few days. If not, tough! At least they don’t smell any more.
I’m going to take before & after photos of my teeth. Here’s hoping for a similar dramatic improvement in colour, but not too white. I think whitened teeth that look as though they’ve painted with brilliant white gloss paint look silly.
I dread to think what my lungs look like. Shame I can’t get my lungs injected with a flesh friendly bleach, without drowning, and give them a similar clean.
My appointment with Ms Marathon Man approaches (she’s actually a very good dentist and specialises in nervous patients) so better start making tracks soon.
Wish me luck on the tooth front.
P.S. How on earth do I place pictures in line? I wanted just the one pic where the X is. Instead I've ended up with two pics right at the bottom of my typing.... No idea how I managed that.
P.P.S. SM has two bright green Kawasaki Ninja's. One about 12 years old at his home, and a more recent one at his parents for when he's in Wales. His fave is the old one.
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I have brought it up with the IT guys but nothing's been done about it yet (they've got other, more pressing problems to sort out apparently 