TIME BACK: 26 min.
WEATHER: clear, 12C, 7km/hr wind there; clear, 26C, 13 km/hr wind back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, sweatshirt (sweatshirt in panniers on way home)
NOTES:
Zen and the Art of Wearing Makeup for Bike-Commuting
I have struggled with three very practical issues in regards to bike-commuting: what to wear, the makeup question (what to wear and when to put it on), and what the hell to do with my hair. Maybe these are things people with short hair who don't wear makeup don't have to worry about, but they have certainly been issues I've been working through the good ol' fashioned way - by trial and error. Whatever meager victories I've made in this area I'm happy to share with you.
First of all, what to wear: so far, dress pants are completely out of the question. I've tried, and failed, then tried again just to make sure, and failed some more. The pants are at constant risk of being torn and ruined by the bike chain, they get grease on the cuffs, and end up getting dirtied by road dust, among other things. Also, the material wasn't made for use during physical exertion, so the fabric doesn't breathe which inevitably causes clinging to hot legs, and the motion of my legs forces them to stretch out of shape. It's just not a good idea. There are probably ways around this - tucking said pants into socks (I refused to leave the house like that, but others may not care about that as much), or using tape/velcro to tie the cuff around the ankle, and other ingenious solutions. My solution - to wear yoga pants and a t-shirt and just bring a change of clothes to work - isn't ideal. It involves bringing a lot of stuff to work and remembering to pack my work outfit into the panniers the night before (I do this the night before because in the mornings I'm tired and liable to forget). But it's the best solution I could come up with, given my refusal to wear pants that taper to the ankle.
Secondly, there's the issue of makeup, and this one has been tricky. I do get sweaty during the commute, especially on warmer days, so I'm tempted to forego any makeup at all and just bring a cosmetics bag to work and apply my face there. There is a downside to this, though: I'd have to bring my makeup bag to work, which is just more added weight and bulk to my panniers, and I'd have to spend additional time in the morning locked up in my office getting ready. I feel like I already spend enough time in the morning getting changed into work clothes, stretching, and de-helmet-heading my hair, so I don't want to put on makeup too. I could put on all my makeup at home and then ride to work sans makeup bag, but the downside to this is that when I get to work I'm sweaty and a lot of the makeup has come off. So what to do? Compromise! What I've been doing is putting on foundation, eye shadow, and mascara (waterproof - MUST be waterproof, especially if your eyes - like mine - enjoy watering when the wind hits them) at home before leaving for work. I put on more eye shadow than I would typically do if I weren't biking, preferably enough to give the impression that I'm a prostitute bike-commuting home at the end of a long night in the morning. Then I bike to work, and I arrive looking flushed, sweaty, and with a large red pressure mark on my forehead from my helmet. Thankfully, the mark fades. I blot at my sweaty face with Kleenex (always on hand in a psychologist's office!), then I apply a bit of cover-up on problem areas and top it all off with some powder. Et voila! I only bring a compact powder and a small cover up stick with me, and I end up with all my makeup in order. Maybe you have a system that works better for you, but this one seems to be the best bet for me.
Finally, we come to the hair. That I haven't had much success with. My hair is long with a natural wave in it that gives it a bit of texture on a good day, and gives it a fluffy, messy, 1970's-style feathered look on a bad day. I wear my hair in a low ponytail while biking and take out the ponytail at work. Once I arrive, my hair is usually pretty flat on top from the helmet while the rest is frizzy from the wind. At the office I keep a travel-sized bottle of hair gel, two bobby pins, and an elastic (strangely, no brush), so I have some accoutrements with which to style my hair, at least in a very minimal way. I usually finger-comb my hair out a bit and apply a bit of gel to the frizzy parts, and sometimes I tie back a couple pieces with the elastic or the bobby pins. This works well enough, though I wish I had a haircut that was more helmet-friendly. Maybe something really short? I don't know, I think longer hair looks best on me so I'm reluctant to cut it too much. Also, I'm not sure if a fully helmet-proof haircut even exists. I'm open to suggestions, though!
I suspect that anyone just starting to commute will have the same challenges that they will have to sort out through their own trials and inevitable errors. Nevertheless, I do hope that my errors may have helped you make one or two less of your own along the way.
First of all, what to wear: so far, dress pants are completely out of the question. I've tried, and failed, then tried again just to make sure, and failed some more. The pants are at constant risk of being torn and ruined by the bike chain, they get grease on the cuffs, and end up getting dirtied by road dust, among other things. Also, the material wasn't made for use during physical exertion, so the fabric doesn't breathe which inevitably causes clinging to hot legs, and the motion of my legs forces them to stretch out of shape. It's just not a good idea. There are probably ways around this - tucking said pants into socks (I refused to leave the house like that, but others may not care about that as much), or using tape/velcro to tie the cuff around the ankle, and other ingenious solutions. My solution - to wear yoga pants and a t-shirt and just bring a change of clothes to work - isn't ideal. It involves bringing a lot of stuff to work and remembering to pack my work outfit into the panniers the night before (I do this the night before because in the mornings I'm tired and liable to forget). But it's the best solution I could come up with, given my refusal to wear pants that taper to the ankle.
Secondly, there's the issue of makeup, and this one has been tricky. I do get sweaty during the commute, especially on warmer days, so I'm tempted to forego any makeup at all and just bring a cosmetics bag to work and apply my face there. There is a downside to this, though: I'd have to bring my makeup bag to work, which is just more added weight and bulk to my panniers, and I'd have to spend additional time in the morning locked up in my office getting ready. I feel like I already spend enough time in the morning getting changed into work clothes, stretching, and de-helmet-heading my hair, so I don't want to put on makeup too. I could put on all my makeup at home and then ride to work sans makeup bag, but the downside to this is that when I get to work I'm sweaty and a lot of the makeup has come off. So what to do? Compromise! What I've been doing is putting on foundation, eye shadow, and mascara (waterproof - MUST be waterproof, especially if your eyes - like mine - enjoy watering when the wind hits them) at home before leaving for work. I put on more eye shadow than I would typically do if I weren't biking, preferably enough to give the impression that I'm a prostitute bike-commuting home at the end of a long night in the morning. Then I bike to work, and I arrive looking flushed, sweaty, and with a large red pressure mark on my forehead from my helmet. Thankfully, the mark fades. I blot at my sweaty face with Kleenex (always on hand in a psychologist's office!), then I apply a bit of cover-up on problem areas and top it all off with some powder. Et voila! I only bring a compact powder and a small cover up stick with me, and I end up with all my makeup in order. Maybe you have a system that works better for you, but this one seems to be the best bet for me.
Finally, we come to the hair. That I haven't had much success with. My hair is long with a natural wave in it that gives it a bit of texture on a good day, and gives it a fluffy, messy, 1970's-style feathered look on a bad day. I wear my hair in a low ponytail while biking and take out the ponytail at work. Once I arrive, my hair is usually pretty flat on top from the helmet while the rest is frizzy from the wind. At the office I keep a travel-sized bottle of hair gel, two bobby pins, and an elastic (strangely, no brush), so I have some accoutrements with which to style my hair, at least in a very minimal way. I usually finger-comb my hair out a bit and apply a bit of gel to the frizzy parts, and sometimes I tie back a couple pieces with the elastic or the bobby pins. This works well enough, though I wish I had a haircut that was more helmet-friendly. Maybe something really short? I don't know, I think longer hair looks best on me so I'm reluctant to cut it too much. Also, I'm not sure if a fully helmet-proof haircut even exists. I'm open to suggestions, though!
I suspect that anyone just starting to commute will have the same challenges that they will have to sort out through their own trials and inevitable errors. Nevertheless, I do hope that my errors may have helped you make one or two less of your own along the way.
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