advice worth taking

My name is Lauren, and I am an incorrigable advice-giver. Got a problem? I'm certain I can solve it, even if you didn't ask me to. Tell me offhandedly that you've had a spat with your husband or can't decide what to make for dinner, and you'll get back an unsolicited earful. Then you're stuck nodding in fake agreement—"Uh-huh, yeah, I hadn't thought of that"—while silently wishing I'd go away and mind my own business. 

You'd think I'd be as good at taking advice as I am at foisting it on the world. You would be wrong, especially when it comes to beauty and fashion advice. If some hairstylist tells me I'm using the wrong brush, or a magazine suggests such-and-such a product, I'm certain there's an agenda being pushed. (As a person who sometimes writes these stories, I can assure you there usually is.)

Lately, though—and I have no idea why—I've been testing out a few bits of unsolicited advice. 

Who knew? Some of them really work. Here are three of my recent favorites:

Use the loofah before you get in the shower.* A fashion stylist told me this on a photo shoot. She said exfoliation is more effective on dry skin. I didn't believe her but gave it a try. Sure enough, though the dry loofah-ing hurts like the devil, my skin is much softer since I started doing it this way.

Use the right hairbrush. On the same shoot, a hairdresser told me that if I want to get my wavy hair really straight, I should blow-dry it using not my trusty plastic-bristled vent brush but a brush with a mixture of natural boar bristles and slightly longer nylon bristles. The nylon bristles help grab hair, and the boar bristles hold it tight, for less frizz. Yep. Works. I'm a convert.

Get clothing altered properly. I'm one of those people who rarely visits the tailor. Generally things fit pretty well off the rack—or at least well enough. I hate taking the time to get things altered, and I don't relish spending the extra money. But recently I made a rookie mistake at a sample sale: I bought a black pencil skirt priced so low I couldn't resist the bargain. Naturally, when I got home I realized the skirt was completely the wrong size. Since I couldn't return it, I brought it to a tailor, who took it in at the waist, added a couple of darts and hemmed it up an inch or two. It wasn't cheap, but that skirt now fits me like couture.

What about you, dear readers? Any advice you'd like to share? I'll take it on any subject. Feel free to do so by clicking "Comments," below. And, seriously, try the loofah thing. You'll be surprised!*

____

*I'll bet you five bucks that the words "loofah" and "shower" bring a whole host of creepy porn-seekers to my blog. (Though if I'd mistakenly used "falafel" to mean "loofah" it might have been worse. Hello, Bill O'Reilly.) Sorry, horndogs, nothing to see here. Move along. 

**Look, I'm giving unsolicited advice again.

Comments

[Natalie]

"Loofah" will bring porn seekers? I don't even want to know why.

[Lauren Lipton]

Nat: I posted a link in the blog entry for your loofah edification. Enjoy.