Caterpillar Days

Yesterday, when my husband came home, I had several handfuls of pink mud in my hair (Espa’s pink hair and scalp mud).  I had done not one, not two, but THREE successive face masks.  He arrived home just in time to witness the third.  Lisa Eldridge (hallowed be her name) always encourages us to use any down time at home to do skin maintenance, so after a particularly traumatising post-New-Year’s breakout, I pulled out the big guns and did three masks in a row (supervised by my fascinated toddler).  I hadn’t even showered yesterday, as I took my son to swim classes in the morning, and never found time for a shower once I got home. So, there I was, hair full of pink mud, a sticky honey masque coating my face, unshowered, and wearing yoga trousers, a Snoopy sweatshirt, and some Christmas themed socks.  What a picture. The only slightly redeeming feature was that the Snoopy sweatshirt had a sequin Joe Cool on it (my only Style point for the day, although overall I was in seriously negative territory).  When he walked in, searching for the right words to greet me in this state, I said, “I know, right? Can you believe I write a Style blog? Looking like THIS?”

But you know what? Today, my skin looks unusually good (despite a few post-breakout red patches, easily covered by my holy grail foundation).  My hair is so soft that I want to order that pink mud by the bucketload, and I feel satisfied that in spite of a very busy day, I managed to squeeze in a few nice things for myself (and am adhering to my half-assed New Year’s Resolution).

I describe these days where I look positively dreadful as my caterpillar day (or what sounds even worse but maybe more accurate, my larval stage).  The caterpillar day isn’t pretty, but it is necessary if I want to feel anything like a glossy butterfly on other days.  As I get older, I NEED these caterpillar days to keep my skin exfoliated so the cells are encouraged to turn over,  to add some much needed moisture to my face in the wintertime, and to be extra nice to my hair, since I am mean to it with hairdryers and curling irons most days.

Do you ever have caterpillar days?  If you do, what are your favourite products?  This butterfly is always looking to expand her repertoire!