Pampering

[ailbhe]

What does the word mean to you? To me, it implies pleasure.

Not, say, ritual humiliation, which is my main experience of "beauty treatments."

A hot bath and a big chocolate cake and a really good Wodehouse or Heyer - that's pampering myself. Having to pick tickly bits of hair out of my jumper for days, or spending two books-worth of money on nailpolish applied by someone who can't believe I don't push my cuticles back? Not pampering.

Comments

[biascut.livejournal.com]

I do love getting my hair cut, but yes, all the other stuff that gets marketed as "pampering" and "treating yourself" tends to make me awkward. I do remember once having a facial, and there was a bit where the woman was doing "extractions", and I just thought, "I'm paying someone to squeeze my blackheads. Something's gone really, really wrong with global capitalism."

The one that really stuns me is the idea of getting a bikini wax as "pampering"!

[ailbhe]

I had a facial once - clanwilliam and I went to a spa near Paddington for a women's only day, before my wedding, and we had a wonderful time which I have often wanted to repeat - and it was lovely. But the spot-squeezing was gross and if I'd had more confidence I'd have asked her not to do it.

The facial massage part was lovely.

(Actually, now there's less of it, haircuts aren't so awful, but when it was long, hairdressers were so incredibly fucking clueless that I generally ended up in tears).

[(Anonymous)]

In my experience, (about 40 years of long hair) hairdressers are fucking clueless about long hair because they are trained to CUT hair, and therefore their impulse is, "Hair! Cut it off!" Then a long hair person comes in and says, "I just want a trim, please" and they go "Huh????? Hair! Cut it off!"

I agree it's much less stress getting a haircut when your hair is short! (Except when you're married to a long-hair-loving person, who, every time you get so much as a trim, goes, "Hmmph! Too short!" But that's a different issue ;-) )

Elaine xx