Happy Australia Day!

Most paths lead back to the Brits...

A bit more about today.

Underwear that's fun to wear -- Underwear of Sweden

It's a hot day and you want to hit the beach or the pool after a hard day at work, but shoot, you forgot your bathing suit! Well, that's when Underwear of Sweden's Swimmable Underwear comes to the rescue -- Helene Pilhage, owner and designer, started her company to help women in this sort of predicament. For a lot of Australians (including myself) who live and work near the six major cities of this beautiful continent are within driving, walking and cycling distance to some of the loveliest beaches in the world. With Australia's scorching heat during the summer, sweet relief can be sought by jumping in the water. And why not take the plunge in something really cute too?

Underwear of Sweden

Recently I selected a set (non-swimmable) to try on myself, but I ran into a slight problem. The sizes I chose run on the smaller side -- I could get the garments on, however, it wasn't cute :( For review purposes I'll go into detail about the quality, look and feel.

Sweet details

Chantilly lace

lightly padded cups

Adjustable straps

Sturdy bra clasp with felt backing to help reduce friction

Extreme close up of lace

The Eve bra and brief are both made of nylon and elastane for a silky smooth feel and fit. The white lace detailing plays well with the red floral pattern, further enhancing the girlish sentiment of the garments. The stitching is of the highest quality, which leads me to believe this underwear is built to wear, wash and last.

I have a feeling the likes of Bettie Page, Rita Hayworth and Eva Gardner would give this brand their stamp of approval. Romantic, playful and (fun)ctional.

Underwear of Sweden isn't a brick and mortar store, so do take care in selecting your sizes accurately. Their price points are comparable to Victoria's Secret, Cotton On and most department store brands.

Like what you've seen here? Underwear of Sweden is an Australian brand -- international shipping is available and they even accept Paypal!

*PR sample provided –  Thoughts and ramblings written here are completely my own.

On a completely random note... do you ever wonder?

Pearls of .. ... ..?

I rose from bed to write these thoughts down, so please forgive me while I stand on my much needed soapbox and wax philosophically for a few moments.

Ahem.

Sometimes I think I'll never have the hands of my mother -- stay with me here. She's a genius in the arts and is also known, lovingly, as Crafty Patty (P-Cakes to you and me). On my Mom's side of the family is a mishmash of a crazy Italian lineage I'll never begin to fully understand the depth and breadth of and the rest is a bit mut like; Scottish, English, yada yada yada. But with that Italian side came traditional cooking, gossiping around the dinner table which would often lead to hurt feelings, silent treatments and,"I told you not to repeat that!" I don't know which category I fit into, Millenial or is it Gen Y; despite not knowing which category I should be slotted into, I am afraid I will never be able to do the things my Mom was meant to teach me. Don't get me wrong, she's taught me a lot; however, I've taken advantage of time and the fact that we'll always have tomorrow. But, what if there is no tomorrow? Did I, perhaps, squander that time?

During my visit back to the States or as some people mentioned, "Geesh, it only took you two years to come back!" -- I made fudge with my Mom and to be honest it was the best damn fudge I ever made. Part of it was her presence in the kitchen and I think the rest came down to luck and a gas stove top.

Crafty Patty can also make awesome red sauce; she made that the day after I flew back from Boston. I remember the smells and now I can't help but think why I never took the time to get off my duff and watch her make the same sauce which simmered and spattered in the background while all the crazy women of my family gossiped.

What you also don't know was my grandfather, Grumpy, was the calm within that storm of women. Luckily, for him, his hearing wasn't all that great :)

Why did I get stuck on the bubbles during dinner?

Diana and I met for one night in Boston in early December to catch up and hang; she asked me what I wanted to do, but I had no idea. The jet lag had taken ahold of me, which meant I made for horrible company, conversation and general decision making.

Diana: "What do you wanna do?"

Me: "I don't know -- you pick."

What a great help I am; I do this to Scott all the time, because I trust whatever he picks we'll both like. Fortunately he hasn't made a bad choice yet.

On this particular night Diana and I proved to be a horrible pair of decision makers.

The rain was starting to fall, so we decided to wander back to the hotel I was staying in and dine at one of their restaurants. Before flying to Boston I got this notion stuck inside my head about ordering a bottle of champagne... "Ooh, look at me, I'm a big girl now." In reality, I felt like a pusher and in the end I was glad they wouldn't let us order bubbles by the glass. Instead we both ordered these really strong cocktails, ate dinner and I think my head hit the pillow a little before 9 PM.

Diana said something to me during dinner that really stuck -- "I feel like no time's passed since we last saw each other." However, I did. Not in a bad way. We're just not those two girls tucking ourselves into bed for a session of "Friends" with a healthy serving of Diana's taco dip. I wish we went to 7-11, bought a bunch of junk food and watched a couple of bad romantic comedies. It's what we do best.

Why do some friends ostracize you when you decide to make a life changing leap of faith?

My childhood friend and another friend dropped me like a hot bag of potatoes -- it was tough. After moving to Australia I experienced a whole host of emotions from their separate decisions to cut me off: anger, disgust, betrayal, confusion and pain. With Colleen I made a general appeal and attempted to plead my case; but I don't think she ever deserved my side of the story since she was never truly by my side since we were teenagers. College, difference in age and moving a town away will forge that growing wedge in any friendship, you just need decide how hard you want to work on staying in touch. With Erika I really can't say why she stopped writing. Too busy, life, getting married? I wanted to know about it all, yet I never got that chance.

The shortest version for backstory purposes: I broke up with a guy three months before I was to get married to him and then married the man who is the true love of my life a few months after that.

And the above mentioned "friends" were my bridesmaids.

Just please tell me how it hurt them so much to want to shut me out. Petty topic to be stuck on, but sometimes they both haunt me in my dreams.

When will I ever make it? This might never happen, but it's always a thought that creeps up on me sometimes.

Will I ever leave a lasting impression? And no, not the sort my butt leaves on the couch cushion after standing up.

Do you ever just stare at your computer, not take a single thing in and think, "what did I just read?"

You have a secret cheerleader somewhere in this world, aside from your closest family members? I'd like to think my biggest "secret" cheerleader is my Mom's best friend, Karen.

I have no resolutions for 2013. I do, however, want to keep up this whole blogging thing, continue to be a pretty good wife and maybe learn how to surf.

Random and oh so non sequitur. Me, to a T.

The barber of Melbourne

Handle with care.

As a child I remember being fascinated by watching my father shave.  He used a "safety razor" -- looked a bit like this:

Not terribly common these days, but, they still make them.

As he would shave, I'd lather up my face with the shaving cream, and he'd hand me a spare razor -- without the actual blade -- and as he'd scrape away his beard, I'd essentially scoop the shaving cream off my own face.  I suppose in many ways that is how I learned to shave.  A decade too early, but, the gestures, motions, facial contortions, all observed, mimicked, and repeated.

Eventually the time arrived for my own facial hair to be dealt with.  I don't remember exactly how old I was, I don't actually recall the first time I shaved "in earnest" -- but it was the beginning of a process that will likely go on for the rest of my life.

I've tried just about every sort of razor and shaving system out there (curiously, I've never actually used a safety razor such as the one pictured above)...wet, electric, rotary, even straight edge by a barber.  I held very, very still during that one.  Talk about trust...

Anyway, for Christmas 2012, Nicole has gifted me a spectacular shaving set which comes complete with some key ingredients to make this daily ritual of mine a bit more pleasant.  Yes, I said daily.  I know a lot of men don't shave every day, but my beard grows pretty quickly, and a day without looks pretty bad.  Indeed, there has only been one time in my life when I did not shave daily:  Chicken pox at the age of 18.  Yeah, that kinda sucked.  The doctor suggested I not shave for a week or two (ya think?!) until the skin issues cleared up.  So other than that one week, decades ago, every single day some sort of metal scrapes my skin.

My current razor of choice is the Pansonic LV-81:

The Panasonic LV-81 Razor

This was actually a Christmas gift from Nicole last year.  Hmm.  I'm starting to wonder if she's conveying some sort of message about my facial hair....anyway, moving on.

The Panasonic LV-81 is the best electric razor I've ever owned. It can be used wet, or dry, and delivers a phenomenal shave.  It does need to be cleaned pretty regularly, but the cleaning system it comes with takes care of that nicely.  Of course, how often you need to clean it probably depends upon your beard growth rate, and the type of hair you have.

Most mornings are dry shaves for me.  3-4 minutes, I'm done.  Actually, one of the (curious) features of the LV-81 is that it tells you exactly how long your shave lasts each day.  I'm not sure why someone would want that information, but, I will admit to a certain amusement when my shave lasted for four minutes and four seconds the other day.  404 Beard Not Found.  Nerd joke.  Don't worry about it...

Where was I?

Ah, right, the daily ritual and the gift.  Every week or two I would take the time on a Saturday morning to do a proper wet shave with the Panasonic.  I've tried various creams and gels, and they all work moderately well.  It's a much slower and messier process, so it's not something for every day.

I should mention that I've had a goatee for the last 15 or so years.  Ever since a colleague said to me that the only thing that would make me more sinister would be my having one.  Thanks Pete!

The goatee matters as it does add to shaving time, as well as some of the nuances of the process. There's a no-go area for razors, and being very careful with your "edging" is essential.  There have been a few times where I trimmed a bit too far and things became uneven, but mostly this isn't a problem when using an electric razor.

Right, so, this year's "Scott, you have too much facial hair and I'm too nice to say anything about it" gift from Nicole is:

A manly box for manly men.

Ta-da!  The "Art of Shaving" Sandalwood shaving elements set!  The box itself is large, square, robust, and is clearly meant to convey a sense of manliness.  You won't see a set like this distributed in a pink chiffon bag.  And if you do, you're in the wrong shop.  Nicole picked this gift up on her travels to the United States a few weeks back, so I don't actually know much about the shop it came from.  Nor do I know the price, but I shouldn't do, as it was a gift.  You can visit their online store, though, for more information.

The inside of the box opens up to reveal a nice showcase for the products:

The complete set.

In order from left to right, we have:

1. Pre-Shave Oil.  Sandalwood essential oil.
2. Shaving Cream.  Sandalwood essential oil, to be used with a brush, or brushless.
3. The pure badger hair shaving brush.
4. After-shave balm, also sandalwood, but, crucially, alcohol free.

Sitting atop the box is a small plastic bracket for holding the brush.  The bracket even comes with a bit of double-sided sticky tape so that you can mount this on your bathroom wall somewhere.  The brush in the bracket looks like so:

Convenient holder for the badger brush.

The back of the box (well, actually, the strip of thick cardboard which keeps it all together) comes with some useful instructions on how to use the elements in the kit:

Helpful hints.

Now, if you read carefully, you'll see that under the first section they suggest that for best results you should shave after or during a hot shower.

I can honestly say, I don't think that I've ever done that in my life.  I've heard this is the right way to do things, read it on boxes such as this (and, let's face it, if someone has printed it on a box, it must be true), but not once that I can recall have I ever showered first and then shaved.  I may have to try this approach with this kit, but, given how messy the process of wet-shaving is, I really like having the shower after to get rid of any lingering shaving cream, from wherever it may have travelled.

The badger hair brush is absolutely fantastic when paired with the shaving cream.  You really don't need much of the cream, it goes a long way.  I moisten up the bristles in hot water, then just barely dip into the shaving cream.

Dynamic duo.

Here's a closeup on that brush:

Badger, badger, badger, eek, a snake!

It really is a remarkable lathering experience it creates, and with much more precision than you may think a big bristly brush would provide.  If you haven't shaved this way, you should give it a go.  I'd done so once before, many years ago, but after a series of moves around the planet, I lost the kit and ended up sticking with just the wet/dry electric razor.

I mentioned that the after-shave balm crucially contained no alcohol.  If you've never experienced a really close shave, you may not know why this matters, but, with this kit, you may well find out. Sometimes this process can exfoliate your skin in such a way that it's a bit raw, exposed, and the application of a cologne or after-shave which has alcohol will make your toes curl.  Put bluntly:  It hurts.  Every now and again after a wet-shave when things were particularly sensitive, I've regretted spraying on my Allure or Code, as, inevitably, some of the drops make it to a bit of neck/skin which immediately made me wince in mild pain.

The after-shave balm does have one gotcha though: The dispenser seems to be a supersonic velocity pumping mechanism.  The tiniest of presses results in a high speed spurt.  If you're not paying attention, it will splatter...just keep that in mind when you're trying it out.

Anyway, that's the set.  It's fantastic.  I used it several days in a row over Christmas, and look forward to using it again soon.

Without a doubt, it's resulted in the closest shave I've had in years, and I'm extremely happy with this thoughtful gift!