Unextreme Makeover

I've made two changes to my appearance in the last month. Someone stop me or I'll be unrecognizable soon! For quite a few years now, I've had my hair all one length and parted in the center. My hair is really starting to get thin on top and in the middle (it's hereditary, from both parents!), and I felt like the center part was just drawing more attention to the thinning. Even the change in thickness just from this photo taken in September 2010 is rather dramatic.



I know I mentioned in the post regarding someone else wash my hair that the stylist showed me where my natural part falls. I had actually been fiddling with an alternate part a few weeks prior, but I couldn't find one I was happy with. I think I was trying to move it too far from the center, so it looked odd. Funny that my natural part is pretty much exactly where I parted my hair in middle and high school! I'm trying hard not to think of it as the world's biggest comb over. As long as I don't look like Donald Trump or Mr. Lopart (from Handy Manny), I think I'll be okay. The only thing I don't like is that I feel it draws attention to my one and only gray streak. (Not my one and only gray/white hair; I have several. It is just the only true streak I have at the moment.) With my hair parted in the center, it pretty much blended in like a natural highlight and wasn't all that noticeable, but with the part right at it, I feel like it really shows. I know it's not quite as "fashionable" as Stacy London's from What Not To Wear or as cool as Rogue's from X-Men. Oh well. I earned those gray hairs; may as well flaunt them! LOL


(Sorry for not wearing makeup, but this is the "everyday" me.)

You may or may not also notice that I got new glasses. Shame on me! I went four *years* without visiting the eye doctor. I could see fine for most of that time, so I didn't really see the point, but I know it is one of those things that should be done annually. Unfortunately, this visit was prompted by me suddenly having a lot of trouble seeing. My vision really took a nose dive since Christmas, including recent issues needing lots more light to read fine print and such. Thinking my vision must have gotten worse or that I was going to get yet another of this year's themed "you're getting older" speeches, I made an appointment.



Turns out that I couldn't see because my vision improved! It happened last time, too, but this time it was by half a diopter in each eye. No wonder I couldn't see anything, particularly close up. My glasses were way over-corrected. When she put in my new prescription and did the "do you need bifocals" test, I passed with flying colors! I can tell you that just this evening, reading on the computer has been much less of a strain without the excess correction. It was one of those things I hadn't even realized was a problem until it was gone (though the recent uptick in headaches were probably a clue). Yay for being able to see!



I picked some new frames, since after four years, my others were really the worse for wear, with the gold finish starting to come off in several places. Given my funky family skin chemistry, I have to get either plastic frames (which I don't really like) or the expensive metals (usually titanium or stainless steel). Regular metal rims will just corrode and turn my skin green. Not a good look, generally speaking. We might be the only family who shops for glasses by what they're made of instead of what they look like!



I ended up trying to decide between 3 pair, but I finally went with these "gunmetal" half-rim stainless frames from Polo Ralph Lauren. I tried to pick a pair of completely rimless ones, I really did. The woman helping me really likes the rimless and says they work for nearly everyone, but even she said she liked these better on me. They even have some decoration on the arms. As an added bonus, these could be ready the same day, as opposed to having to order the rimless and waiting 3-4 weeks for them.



There was, of course, a small snag (isn't there always?). I prefer the higher end (read: clearer, thinner, lighter, more expensive) lenses as opposed to just the standard plastic, and because of the half-rim design, they had to be ordered. Now, lenses only take 10-ish days to come in, so not too bad, *and* she offered me "loaner lenses" made from the standard plastic. I could get my new glasses with my new prescription that day with the loaner lenses, then bring them back when the new lenses come in and they will swap them out, all free of charge! Sounds like a win-win to me.

So that's my "wild and crazy" makeover. Sad, I know, but baby steps! I think that's enough change for now.

Currently feeling: who is that in the mirror?