Reader Questions: Cleaning and Grooming Products

• Dear Muffy,  I recently found your blog and I am enjoying it immensely.  I do have one request, though. Could you please write an entry on grooming products? What brands of shampoo, toothpaste, etc. do true preps use?  Thanks!

• Hey M., I always feel clueless when buying household cleaning products.  What do you get?  Keep writing!!

• Hello, I am going to throw some questions your way: you say smells are anathema, does that mean no scented candles or perfume for you? Also, I love your minimalist preppy style. What is your take on make-up, lotions and potions? I hope I don’t sound too terribly nosey, but I really appreciate your input on these types of matters. Thank you for your time.

• Dear Muffy, Do you have a favorite lip balm, gloss or stick that you prefer for the cold winter months?  Wishing you a healthy, Happy Holiday season!  xoxo

• Greetings Muffy. I noticed you have the perfect shade of soft pink lipstick on. I am always in search for the right color. May I ask what color it is? Thanks!

I have put forth what could easily be described as far too much effort over the years on the selection of cleaning and grooming products.  I have belonged to numerous health food/natural care co-ops; frequented health food stores; bought in bulk directly from the manufacturers; and lobbied my local supermarket to carry certain products.

So the answers to the above questions fall into three basic categories - the purest product I can find; a more conventional product (but minus the fragrance); and vanity.

I am quite pleased with products like Tom's of Maine aluminum-free deodorant as well as their toothpaste, and would classify these in the "pure" category.  I have compromised with products like Lubriderm and Dove soap, opting for their hypo-allergenic and fragrance free products. ( I share Tickled Pink and Green's strong need to always have a lip balm available, buy them in great numbers, and have one stashed in every room, car, pocket, pocketbook, bedside table, etc.)

I dislike artificial fragrances, so I don't used scented candles or perfumes, and opt for fragrance free as often as possible (fragrances are the result of some of the most harmful categories of chemicals, so I have been told), including my husband's shaving cream.

I also go for natural cleaning products, taking Deidre Imus' advice to look for products which have the ingredients highlighted.
 

While it is arguably a bad time for things like Women's classic clothes, it is an excellent time for the ease of purchasing natural products, and I get virtually all of them now from one simple source, my local supermarket.

This is the vanity category and where I fail.  The (only) make-up I wear is this Elizabeth Arden lipstick (Pink Vibrations #49). 

And because I chemically treat my hair (off the scalp, anyway), most natural shampoos don't work for me.  So I pick up my shampoo and conditioner at the local salon and I refill my lipstick supply whenever I am in the city.  I don't use nail polish , mostly because it never stays on, but also because of the particularly nasty nature of the remover.

Ultimately, I try to make all of these decisions for myself and family using the same criteria as food and clothes.

Winter Hens

The hens' stomping grounds become impassible.

Our normally low maintenance free-range hens become high maintenance in snowy weather, and especially so in the blizzard like conditions we recently experienced.

Periodically throughout the day we must knock out the ice from their water bowls and replace it with room temperature water.

 They tend only to emerge from their house if tempted with food, and often then quickly retreat. And as they are loathe to walk on too much snow, we have to shovel a series of paths to some of their favorite safety spots.

When weather conditions are this brutal, I reach for my father's Filson Mackinaw Cruiser.  Even wind chills of 5 degrees don't penetrate the dense wool. 

Counting my chickens (recalling Debo) before locking the door for the night.

During these days of low light, combined with various degrees of molting, the egg production is ridiculously low.  Ten hens and one egg.

It's nice to come back inside to a roaring fire.

Given they are completely free-range, this is one of our attempts to warn the UPS Truck.

For me, these activities reinforce a core credo: lifestyle should impact clothes, because clothes certainly impact lifestyle.  Without such resistance, one risks the "mall prep" or "resort prep" slippery slope. (See also The Dinghy Test.)

Christmas Eve in the City

An ideal Christmas for me would be to spend Christmas Eve in the city and wake up Christmas Day in the country.  So every year, we attend my husband's college roommate's holiday gathering that gives us our city fix. 

We drove down to the New Haven station and caught a train to Grand Central.  

Other plans precluded attending Evensong at Saint Thomas Church, but we were at least able to hear the organist rehearsing.

We then headed over to the corporate offices of Tiffany, where we talked to some of the executives there.

And yes, I had to change my shoes on the street on the way over before heading in.

Besides the obvious topics, we discussed Tiffany's corporate stewardship, including sourcing policies, which went much deeper than I imagined.

We then headed back to the apartment for the party. 

My son and I watched the three pianists come in (one for each grand piano).

The fabulous talent of twin piano playing

Edward the publicist and I - guests with festive pants.

 Always an eclectic mix

With Ivy Style's charming Christian Chensvold

 The Gang from Rainbow Room's Rainbow and Stars

The incomparable Lee Roy Reams, showing us throughout the evening why he got his Tony nod (see our "home movies" below) with Dennis Buck on the piano.

And Marty Vidnovic, with his booming voice, showing us with impromptu singing why he got his Tony nod. (Again, our "home movies" below.)

Saying goodnight to Cabaret Legend Julie Wilson

And now, we are back in the country for a very quiet Christmas.

Happy Holidays from The Daily Prep! 

Lee Roy Reams singing from last year


 
Marty Vidnovic singing this year, Part I



 
Marty Vidnovic singing this year, Part II

Stockings by Christmas Cove Designs

Christmas decorations present a unique challenge in attempting to avoid the Victorian aesthetic: heavy, dark and tending to have significant quantities of draping fabric.

The one stand-out is stockings from Christmas Cove Designs of Richmond, Maine. Handmade of Virgin Wool (straight from the sheep), these stockings feature images of sailboats, loons, pine trees, lighthouses and chickadees. Substantial and beautifully made, they even come in miniatures to hang on the tree.

Christmas by the Sea

I love the Christmas aesthetic through the lens of a sailing town.  Even though the 23 degree weather required a few extra layers, the intimate scale of the historic architecture and boatyard activity mandated a walk.

With my Hanna long johns for extra warmth

 Rebuilding the docks

 I broke in my newest iteration of L.L. Bean Camp Mocs

 The famous inn, which opened for business in 1776

The white post/boxwood/gravel combination is hard to beat

 Stark decorations

 I love the first ice on the water

Beats the mall

The Search for the Perfect Hooded Rain Slicker

A reader asked: "I am in search of the perfect hooded rain slicker... would you be kind enough suggest something appropriate."

For me, Patagonia has been my default company.  I have several Men's Patagonia Storm Jackets and, even though I am not fond of the black shoulders and arms in my current jacket and not many of their current colors, they do a great job at keeping me dry.   My husband always travels with a putty-colored storm jacket as well.

I put the question to our hard-core sailing friend, who competes in (and wins) so many of the big races, about his choice for a recent event.  His reply was:

I wore my Grundens, but I was probably the only person of about a thousand sailors in the race who did. Most wore Henri Lloyd, Gill, and Musto. Those three are the best brands, and they are all comparable. They all are made of Gore-Tex and "breathe" which is their claim to fame. But, when the frigid water had been pounding for five days and nearly everyone was soaked to the bone, I asked the boys, "how's that breathing working out for you?" Needless to say, I was the only person on our boat (or any other boat that I heard of) who slept on deck in the icy spray - warm and dry.

So I will be checking out his references.  The search goes on. 

Locally Made Wreaths

 The driveway at the farm.

I am a minimalist when it comes to Christmas decorations.  I am a fan of neither the Victorian aesthetic nor the mall aesthetic. 

 Some of their barns, wreaths, hens and sheep.

So my favorite decorations are the wreaths.  I get them from the same place I have been getting them for the last 15 years - a nearby farm where we also go for our CSA.

This year the farm owners invited me to come inside, and see their wreath-making in practice.   I jumped at the chance.

 The same lovely people who work at the CSA and the farm stand also come over and help him.  They first do the gathering of the different kinds of branches around the farm, including boxwood, cedar and holly.  They then assemble the wreaths around the wood stove. 

It wasn't long before I was sitting down and joining them.  They may offer wreath making classes next year, so I was a perfect test subject.

 While making one wreath is satisfying, I gained a new respect for the hundreds that they made.

I proudly took my artifact home (and as silly as it sounds, I really was proud).  Although I meant the fence to be a temporary home, it looks so right that I might just have to get another.