December favorites

I know I may have suggested in this one post to skip the December summary, but I do love the end of month summaries, and anyway, it’s inconsistent to skip a month. Can’t have that, can we?

New track from Casey!

Even more exciting; they’re releasing a new album in March. Hoping there’ll be at least one tour date that works for me. Hoping for Scotland? Well obviously.

You know when Spotify sort of gets stuck, and every morning you open it you have the same tracks in queue? Despite the fact you’ve already been through that very queue. I’ve been stuck on Storm the Sky for weeks. Not that I mind. This one is a favorite:

And my obsession with this (old) Deaf Havana track is bordering on embarrassing:

If I had sense I’d be embarrassed, unfortunately for me, I do not.

I’ve been a bit bored with makeup lately, bored and uninventive, but I recently got back to the halo and I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Very much inspired by this lady:

Speaking of makeup, best quote relating to makeup comes from Jamie Genivieve who argued that “Makeup should make you look unapproachable.” YES! That’s exactly it! I keep saying I want makeup to make me look angry, but unapproachable is much closer to what I really mean.

This time, I went for a dark brown + red combo; I’m planning ahead, preparing to phase out the red. Actually really liked the brown (as in “how is this not my natural color??”). Bonus points for way simpler application than the Manic Panic dye. You use it on dirty, dry hair, and shampoo it afterwards. Leaves no traces of dye, unlike the Manic Panic. Which is nice, for a change.

Beauty Sick by Renee Engeln. OK so this isn’t exactly a favorite, but I want to mention it because I think it has the potential to be somebody’s favorite. The reason it’s not my favorite is I like women who are angry and/or upset. If Engeln is either, she hides it very well. By which I mean, she’s objective, like the researcher she is.

I was also expecting to get a good shouting to in this book, as someone interested in beauty. That is not the case at all. Instead, what Engeln argues is our current obsession with beauty is just out of proportion and we need to dial it back because it is not doing us any good, quite the opposite in fact. But also, beauty is never going to be something the human being is capable of disregarding completely. It’s not within the possibilities of our body.

Despite it not being a favorite, I do recommend giving it a read, especially if you are interested in beauty.

Hatet [English: The hatred] by Maria Sveland. You should know by now that I ♥ Sveland. This book is about present day antifeminism in Sweden, disguised as “equality”, trying to use misdirection, to distract from issue at hand, talking about an imagined “hatred of men” as some sort of threat to society, when in fact the hatred of women is currently, literally, killing women. There are men who genuinely think men are subordinate to women.

….

Yes. We all know that all positions of power in society are held by women. Women make more money than men. Mm. Yes. We all. Know that. Is the reality. (??????)

Begs the question, are these men and women stupid or mentally ill? Their world does not seem to resemble our world. I’m hoping mentally ill. There’s a chance therapy would work, right? Because reasoning with them, it’s clearly like talking to a wall. Well actually, a wall would be better. A wall is quiet, it gets that saying nothing is sometimes the best thing to do.

So basically, very upsetting book on an important subject, and brilliantly written too.

This also a favorite because it reminded me of a few brilliant people I should be following on social media. (Gudrun Schyman z.B. The fact that she is not the president of Sweden is plenty evidence that we’re severely deficient in the gender equality department. Never mind that we don’t do presidents in Sweden.)

PMS-podden! Hours and hours and hours about PMS! I didn’t know about this one before because??? They talk all about the hormones and try out different methods of reducing PMS, it’s just all sorts of brilliant! Also introduced a new word into my vocabulary menshybris, literally menstruation hubris, although I’d probably translate it as pre-ovulation invincibility because it refers to the feeling of invincibility that you get between the end of your period and ovulation. Or maybe pre-ovulation energy peak? A.k.a. the only time I want to be alive.

I’m really not doing a good job sticking to the subject in this post.

Never mind, moving on!

I loved this run-through of different perspectives and ways of reasoning when it comes to cruelty free. What especially strikes a chord with me is as a vegan, you do still go to restaurants that are not vegan, and you ask for the vegan option, and let them know there is a demand for vegan options. This way of reasoning can be applied to companies that are cruelty-free but whose parent company does test on animal. It’s still a vote for the cruelty-free.

Let’s also have a friendly reminder:

Icebugs. What are icebugs? Icebugs is a type boot with warm lining, waterproof and with traction for grip on icy surfaces. 2017 is showing no mercy. This time last year I was still walking around in my Vagabond high top sneakers; it wasn’t that cold, it wasn’t that icy and it definitely wasn’t that wet. This year; all of that, ALL OF IT.

I’ve been noting for a while now that *whinar* (well-known Swedish beauty blogger) is the best at retweets. I love her retweets. They have nothing to do with beauty, unless I’m mistaken, they’re of a more political persuasion. For example:

De rika måste
ha mer pengar
för att vilja arbeta.
De fattiga mindre
för att vilja arbeta.
Det är liberalismen.
Det är avskyvärt.

— Göran Greider (@GreiderDD) December 11, 2017

It reads:

The wealthy need
more money
to want to work.
The poor less
to want to work.
This is liberalism.
This is reprehensible.

(And if anyone’s in the mood for a discussion about how to translate avskyvärt in this context, let me know! I’ve tried a number of different ways of translating, not entirely happy with any of them.)

TECKNA KOLLEKTIVAVTAL OM NI SKA ENVISAS MED ATT DYKA UPP I FLÖDET! https://t.co/CcfsHpaNb2

— Juristfan (@Juristfan) December 11, 2017

Apparently, Spotify don’t believe in collective agreements. This is terrible news. I want to know and not know at the same time.

I wouldn’t follow either of these accounts, but I do like being served the best bits.

Is a beautiful thing. I’ve been watching

Holly Exley.
Lily Melrose. Especially loving Lily this month.
Katie Snooks.
Rachel Aust. She’s very. Disciplined? And has PCOS. I’m captivated. Although she seems to have quit mid-way?

Finally got myself some earl grey cream. There isn’t much to brag about where I live, but our tea shop is top notch! This earl grey cream is every bit as good as the fancy earl grey cream I had in Brighton.

I’ve researched how the menstrual cycle affects exercise. This article is quite informative if you’re interested in knowing more. Not quite what I’m looking for though; I’m looking for specific instructions on how to deal with exercise and different hormonal levels for non-athletes in combination with PCO. So ja, v. v. specific.

At the very least, I’d like to know if I can use Provera to ease some of my issues, or would it help to be back on the pill? ALSO, do I need to up my supplements? Reintroduce magnesium and vitamin D?

There are sources suggesting carb cycling as a solution (my eating disordered brain is all YESYES! DO THAT!); more/regular amount of carbs pre-ovulation, lower intake post ovulation. Which would help with water retention, which, I’m suspecting, is a major reason why, for example, the Wednesday class is a breeze pre-ovulation, and so difficult I have to cheat to get through it post ovulation.

Or maybe I should just go to a different class? Or no class? (Please say no class.)

I.e. PMS was bad this month. I guess the trade-off is the period itself hasn’t been that bad for a while. Obviously not counting the first day of the period when I decided it was a good idea to go to a class at 9 in the morning with extra focus on cardio and I just wanted to die because I had literally no energy. In hindsight, shouldn’t I have been able to guess that would be the case?? Especially since I was also completely depleted of energy the days before the period. Order is not restored magically over night just because you get your period. I should know that.

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