Advice That Gets to the Point, More So Than Usual

(All this week I’m making a concentrated effort to clear out the question queue, so I’ll be posting questions that only need shortish kind of answers, which is why I’ve unfairly ignored them in favor of ones I can really blather on about for awhile.)
I have a question for you. I have been looking all over the Internet for an answer to my question. I recently began to get adult acne and am now using Proactiv, which works great. This product contains BENZOYL PEROXIDE, which is known to stain and bleach certain fabrics. I am a collector of Authentic Louis Vuitton Monogram items, and I am wondering if the benzoyl peroxide will discolor my expensive handbags.
Toni
Proactiv will indeed stain some fabrics that it comes in direct contact with — the usual complaints are pillowcases and towels. Definitely wash your hands really, REALLY well after using it and before handling your bags. Or wear rubber or latex gloves, just to be safe. And refrain from nuzzling your bags against your face.
(Bill for advice: some luggage. Thank you.)

Okay Amy. It’s time to swallow my pride and ask for some advice. I trust you oh wise one.
It’s about shoes. Well…really it’s about what to wear under the shoes. Or not to wear. That is the question.
I heard somewhere that stockings under open toed shoes or sandals is a huge faux pas. But here’s the deal. I have to wear some sort of stockings with most skirts. Partly because work requires stockings. Partly because I have pasty white legs. Mostly because I need the support for the parts of me that jiggle that I don’t want to jiggle.
So what’s the official word? Are stockings a no-no? If not, what do you suggest? Please help oh sage of suggestions.
Penny
NO STOCKINGS WITH OPEN-TOED SHOES. No. Never. I don’t care.
“But…”
No.
White legs are no big deal (I’ve got them! I’ve embraced them!), and there’s always the self-tanner route. If I am going to self-tan, I usually do the sunless spray tanning at salons, but for at-home tanning I like any of the Clarins self-tanners. They contain enough moisturizer for most people to avoid streaking, but if you still have problems just squirt the self-tanner into a blob of your regular moisturizer before applying.
As for the jiggling? Spanx, baby. The footless body shaping ones. Way more comfortable than your average girdle. Not that I would…uh…know anything about girdles.
Next question!
Dear Amalah,
I know that you used to work in a pretty strict dress code-y office, which means you probably also had to have professional looking makeup, right? Because you are perfect in every way, and a lover of all things cosmetic, I know that I am right. So my question is- how often did you have to do makeup touch ups during the day? I work at a university where most people don’t even condition properly or wear makeup, let alone touch it up, but I’d really like to know how often I should shoot for reviewing/reapplying my makeup if I want to look like the most sophisticated, gorgeous woman on campus.
Thanks,
Heather
My pretty strict dress-code-y office job always kept me extreeeemely busy, so any free time I had generally went towards building my blogging empire and NOT touching up mah makeup. Which means my touch-up routine looked something like this:
1) Reapply lip gloss as needed. After lunch, or before big talky meetings.
2) Blot with oil-absorbing sheets as needed. Usually about twice a day, but this was before the Great Philosophy Skincare Ephinany, and even before the Great Smashbox Foundation Primer Ephinany, and come to think of it, I probably looked like ass most of the time. God.
3) Touch-up with powder no more than once a day. I know powder is the go-to touch-up for a lot of women, since it both adds color and absorbs the oil, but over-applying powder means you’re all pancake-y by the end of the day. And suffocating your skin. So once a day, no more. And while it’s not the most practical, if there’s any way you can use a loose powder and brush instead of a compact, that’s great. If not, just replace the sponge or puff once it starts looking dirty, and chuck the entire compact before you get down to the dregs.
Translucent powder is also great for fixing That Thing Your Eyeshadow does — brush a little powder on your lids (using your finger is fine) to smooth out the lines and get rid of the oily weirdness. (And the translucent powder won’t undo your color.)