#sometimes straight women who are a bit of tomboys are also targeted by it

[envolvenuances]

as the masculine woman who wasn't allowed to use the girl's bathroom in school and to this day have straight women prefer to stand than sit next to me at the bus or question if it's "appropriate" to have me in school staff teaching teenagers. the only "gaslighting" in this is the pretense that it is either a new phenomena or increasing because of The Trans Question being divisive in current gringo politics. when it's classic lesbophobia that always existed and honestly if you ask me things have been improving. but then I do feel like transphobia itself is a restriction of homo/lesbophobia against the mostly visibly gender non conforming of us.

[inexchangeforyoursoul]

Well... I did finish the second chapter, so I better revise this shit before it gets uploaded to a fitting site...

As for what this is, here, a link for clarification’s sake.

“Sorry again for the inconvenience.” she sighs while awkwardly standing around in the girl's room with Nami, who's been cleared up on the situation a minute ago. Usopp and Chopper, along with Carrot who was with the navigator at the time, are on their way to give a briefing to the rest of the Strawhat crew. She already feels like a burden, and is not even wearing her own face, which makes this already so much easier. Having another body is one thing; being the cause of even the smallest problem is... another animal altogether. A scary, ever-looming nightmare animal that silently bares its teeth all the time, but never gets to bite.

Shachi and Penguin offered her to get Ikkaku's help, but the only women she ever talked to past a 'hello' were Nami and eventually Robin. As such, it would have been especially awkward and uncomfortable to ask elsewhere. Ikkaku also was... a tomboy who partied alongside the guys all the time, and Kat likes her good night's sleep. The submarine manhole as a whole wasn't exactly inviting. The other ship was only one notch better, but she saw enough to know that the guys did not dare to anger the girls, so chances were that it's a quieter place to stay at.

“Never mind, it's not an issue. Nor your fault. Really, though... I can't believe Torao did something stupid like this.“ The other woman answers, pulling out covers from a cabinet for her to take, then proceeds digging into the back for the stray backup pillow they should have.

“Not that I know him that well, but I agree. Didn't think him to be the type to pull stunts like this. Like... if I suck, we could be stuck like this forever.“ She gives the material a quick stroke; a little rough from the sea air, but smells nice enough. She considered going down to the aquarium to sleep, the place was nice and the bench cushioned, after all. But damn if the chances aren't higher to be woken up in the middle of the night. Had enough of that during the brief year spent at college.

Floor of the girls' room it is.

Nami gives a chuckle. “He does have his own brand of dumb, but generally? This is not his style... oh, this should be it.” she murmurs, pulling out a fluffy pillow. And a bunch of other stuff along with it...

“Um... can I help?” If Kat didn't feel out of place till that, she sure as hell does now.

“Yes- you can take this.” Nami says, shoving the pillow into her face, then sticks the bulk of fabric as-is back to where it came from. Kat cracks a half-smile beyond the feathery boundary and feels a little better about the situation. She's also happy that there's no reason to hide it here- keeping a straight face when seeing something she finds amusing is always hard. And because of her sense of humor, sometimes just a wee bit inappropriate.

“I'll just... huddle up in a corner, then.” she states, considering ways to include an armchair into her hopefully short-lived resting place.

“Are you honestly expecting me to be okay with that?” comes the expected question with a side of crossed arms.

She knows what Nami has in mind- they caught up to her and Carrot when latter mentioned being on the lookout for the night. In conclusion, there'd be enough space on the beds, but...

“Not really, but, uh... it would be pretty awkward to sleep right next to you guys like this, right?” She alludes to her “state”, and can see that Nami leans towards agreeing a second later- after a long enough pause Kat assumes that she'll keep that to herself. “If it's any consolation, I haven't slept near another person since I was a baby girl, so I probably wouldn't be able to rest anyway. Actually, sometimes I fall asleep on a single pillow, so it's nothing out of the ordinary.” Apart from, you know, being quite a bit bigger, needing two metaphorical pillows.

A sigh of a small defeat is all the redhead can muster, followed by Kat's suppressed sigh of relief. She wasn't lying about being uncomfortable with the idea, after all. Well, she probably would care much less than Nami and Robin would, even with the high likeliness of her being woken up by their movements. Either way, she's really trying not hide her opinions- less lies just come with less and quicker pain and fewer misunderstandings.

“Let me get that chair out of the way, then,” Nami offers, pulling the object to the side and suspiciously checking the floor for wild dust bunnies. Seems clean enough. She steps aside and Kat plops down the one too many blankets and one pillow into a rather inviting pile. She does like making and sitting around in these, alright.

“This kinda feels like a sleepover.” she states, having nestled herself into her one-pillow-fort. The bag which she brought along today is now behind the closet as to not be in the way of anyone. “Haven't had anything remotely similar since... well, some school excursions.”

Nami sits into the other armchair, in case Kat would consider joining her in the one she just moved. “That sounds nice... our village did not have a school. Me and my sister were taught the basics at home... and most books we had were either ancient scraps, or, well... *cough* stolen.” Kat chuckles. “I was pretty bad at the time and got always caught, though, so they were paid for in the end.”

“All I ever stole was some chewing gum or straight-up change, because mom wouldn't buy us treats... eventually I got found out, too. The shitstorm, man... Anyway, what you had sounds way better to me.” She says, eyes pasting the unidentifiable distance. “I wasn't exactly a fan of school... being bully target extraordinaire and all. Then the one new girl I made friends with in second grade left another two years later.”

“I see... being alone like that is no fun indeed.” She also stares a hole into the wall for a moment. “Meanwhile I was the one to beat up every kid who pissed me or Nojiko off.”

Kat can imagine the scene very well. “Heh, I wish I had a cool friend like you. Wouldn't have helped with the actual problem at home, but it would have been really nice nonetheless.“

Nami raises an eyebrow, and Kat catches the look she's being given.

“Um... how to put it... home wasn't exactly... better, you know. The older I got, the more I realized how much worse it made everything that happened at school. Everybody always screaming... abusing... and being wrecks themselves. At one point... I just stood in the house while everyone was away, and it just hit me. I realized I had no love left for anyone in there. Haven't had an actual conversation with them for years, either... then, after I dropped out of college and got my last load of being a disappointment, I got a job in the cafe. That’s been maybe two years back already... haven't called since. Nor visited.“

Nami stays still for a bit longer than comfortable. Kat thinks back to what she just said, and... whoops, did it again, didn't she.

“Ah, sorry, I... keep getting way too deep into personal stuff when I can relate it to a topic.” she apologizes, red with embarrassment.

“It's fine, I like how honest you are.” Her eyes light up, which makes Kat feel that whatever Nami is saying is as honest as her outbursts. “I can see why your manager keeps you around- talking clear text when something's wrong... that's a healthy business principle, if you ask me. The place is fabulous and comfortable, and I bet you had your hand in quite a few changes since you've been there. The people of Fumei love it, too!”

“Ah... thanks...” She's got another reason for being embarrassed now, and her color shows. “Sometimes I'm really afraid I get obnoxious with that. It adds nothing to the point, after all. The long list of places I didn't get into were on the same page about that.”

“You really shouldn't care.” Nami nods. Then looking at the flustered Kat, she also cracks a big smile. “By the way, you make an extremely adorable Torao.”

“I do?” She asks, squishing her face. This is silly, but that's her middle name- or would be, if she had one. Nami starts laughing and Kat couldn't be happier- that's a success if she's ever heard one.

“I hope it takes a while for him to get his body back... weird fever dream Trafalgar Law won't get old any time soon.”

“Will do, ma'am~” she states proudly. After a minute of silent laughter she gets an idea; “Oh my god, you know what I should do? Law impressions. When people least expect it.”

“... you are an evil mastermind.” Kat almost expects Nami to start rubbing her hands together. “If you can pull it off, that is. Doesn't really make sense otherwise.”

Kat nods. She needs to be seriously serious when the time comes. Only... “Too bad I cannot keep a straight face to save my life.”

“See, that's indeed a problem.” comes her new confidant’s answer. “You almost laughed when dangling in front of the blind guy who had no qualms killing you when his subordinate made that unfortunate pun about eyes, too.”

She shrugs. “Couldn't help it. High quality situational comedy is always a godsens, even if I literally have to stuff my fist into my mouth. Not even the errand guy saw that right hook coming.”

Nami groan-cackles, and Kat starts laughing at her amusement, too, which in turn makes Nami laugh again because of the dissonance between what's the usual Law and this current mess of a not-Law. This self-fueling nonsense goes on for about five minutes, until both of them are out of breath. After another minute, Nami breathes “...you're horrible.” And so was the double pun at the expense of a very seriously injured man.

“I know... phew. And I'm also done for today.” She sighs, then yawns a bit after. “Surely you also wanted to do something else before we stormed you and Carrot?”

“Right...” she says, also with a hint of exhaustion in her voice. She looks at the clock then towards the ceiling. “Wanted to write a log entry before bath... then go to sleep.”

Kat groans, massaging her temples. “If Law keeps to his hissie fit for another day or two, I'll also have to ask you to let me bathe over here.”

“Hey, consider negotiations done.” Nami flaps a hand nonchalantly.

“Thanks. I'll wait the time limit out, though.” With that, she falls to the side and drags out one of the covers from under her. Be it freezing or cooking, can't sleep without a partial blanket at least, this one.

“Whatever you want, Kat. Willing or not, you are the guest here.” With that she stands up, and walks to the exit. “Want me to turn the lights off?”

She hums and the room gets dark. Maybe even half an hour passes as she's listening to the creaking wood, distant shouts, the faint thuds of occasional footsteps and the muffled sound of the sea outside before she drifts into sleep.

Another thirty minutes later Nami tiptoes back and turns on the nightlight. She takes a peek at her, and can't help but breathe a silent 'aww'.

As she's turning around, the door opens with Robin coming through. The navigator starts to point at the corner with great enthusiasm. Taking a look, the other smiles gently.

“Curled up like a kitten.” she states.

“I knew you would appreciate it.”

[skincare-us-blog]

Dr. Amy Wechsler, Dermatologist & Psychiatrist

New Post has been published on http://skincareee.com/dr-amy-wechsler-dermatologist-psychiatrist/

Dr. Amy Wechsler, Dermatologist & Psychiatrist

“I’ve been a dermatologist for 12 years now. I knew I wanted to be a doctor probably in seventh grade. I chose Cornell for medical school because I wanted to be in New York—I did my internship in emergency medicine, then adult psychiatry, and then child psychiatry for a couple of years. When I went back to do dermatology, I studied at SUNY Downstate—it’s in Brooklyn. Dermatology and psychiatry connect the most internal aspects with the most external. There are actual connections between the mind and skin—lots of them. I had horrible acne as a teenager. I remember how that felt—to wake up in the morning and not know how many pimples I was going to have. That would dictate how I would feel about myself that day. I’d often talk about having a bad skin day, which is like having a bad hair day, and how frustrating it was, how it affected my self-esteem. Then, as my skin cleared up, how much better I felt—more confident.

In my practice, I treat acne pretty aggressively because I think it’s important to clear someone’s skin up. I don’t think it’s cosmetic—I think it affects their their life in so many different ways, and it’s totally treatable. If someone has an ulcer, that individual has to deal with how it feels—no one else can see they have it. But if you have a bad breakout, psoriasis, or eczema from stress, you have to deal with how it feels to you, what it looks like to you, how other people will respond to you, how other people do respond to you… I love treating people with severe acne because it’s really rewarding to help them. When they [first] come in, they often avoid eye contact and their posture’s not great, their grooming isn’t awesome, and their life is often not going so well. As I start to help clear them up—and it’s not overnight, it takes months—I watch them stand up straight and smile and make eye contact. They start to try new things, maybe go for a job interview, or go on a date. It’s pretty awesome to watch.

After my first magazine article in 2006, my practice kind of went off from there—I did a little bit of consulting with Clinique, so I did TV around the country. I was on the Today Show and the Tyra Banks Show. I’ve been kind of a go-to person for editors, because they know I will not lie. I’m very honest and I care a lot about science and data, and I’m critical of claims that aren’t based in truth. I’m a person who won’t B.S.—I’ll always be a straight-shooter. When I first started out, if I said no to a procedure for someone, they would just go across the street. But I think at this point now, people really trust me and my recommendations. It’s all about looking natural, looking like yourself, turning the clock back on yourself—not trying to look like someone else. There are also a lot of options now, which is fun! There are injectibles, like Botox, that relax muscles and—when used properly—really rebalance the face and help treat and prevent fine lines and wrinkles. Thin fillers like Volbella are great for lines around the mouth, and then thicker ones like Voluma lift the cheek and restore volume. And there are lots of lasers that target sunspots, acne, hair removal, skin-tightening, and fat-freezing—that’s called CoolSculpting. It works really well. There are lots of ways to nuance all of that. You can be artistic in that way.

SKINCARE My skin is easily irritated. It can’t tolerate a lot of harsh products or a lot of manipulation. Often it gets rashy or itchy from things like fragrances, and it has to be treated super gently. I can’t just go to a random hotel and use the products—I will get a rash. I have to use fragrance-free laundry detergent. And I have to moisturize every day, twice a day. Dove Sensitive Skin Soap or Purpose Cleansing Bar are my soaps and cleansers. I’ve used them in high school—a long time ago—and I just now went back to them. If something works for you, no need to change it. My everyday moisturizer is Solution 10 from Chanel, which is a sensitive skin moisturizer. It’s only got 10 ingredients and is fragrance-free, with some Silver Needle Tea extract in it. I’m really into tea, and Silver Needle has got the highest concentration of active antioxidants. This is the first product I’ve worked on from scratch. Chanel has these awesome, state-of-the-art labs in France that I go to every year. For a science geek like me, I can do a lot of really good research there.

Every morning, even in the winter, I always wear sunscreen. It’s not necessary when it’s dark when I leave and it’s dark when I come back, but I’m a creature of habit and I don’t want to ever get caught off guard. I use the Chanel UV Essentiel SPF 50. It does have a little fragrance, but I don’t react to it. It has 17.1 percent zinc oxide and some octinoxate, so it’s a physical and chemical blocker—mostly physical. It’s so thin that’s cosmetically elegant. You don’t feel like you’re wearing it. It doesn’t feel greasy, it doesn’t clog pores. It’s actually sweat resistant and it’s compatible with all my other skincare. The skin is just a good barrier at keeping the good things in and the bad things out. If we absorbed any of those chemicals [in sunscreen], we’d be dead. You don’t want to eat any of those products, but it’s safe to put on your face. Some people just want an excuse to not put on sunscreen.

I don’t use masks regularly. I have nothing against masks, I just don’t have time. The only mask I can use is a hydrating mask, and occasionally I make one at home with whole milk yogurt and honey. It gently exfoliates, moisturizes, smells good, and doesn’t bother my skin. I’ll do a light chemical peel with salicylic every couple months or microdermabrasion, and that helps to exfoliate and get the dead cells off. If my skin’s particularly bad, I have a serum. I use the Chanel Hydra Beauty Micro Sérum—that one’s really great.

MAKEUP I didn’t know much about makeup growing up. I was such a tomboy for so long that I kind of missed the boat on that. I remember my friends making me up for fun, because I didn’t know how to do it. I started wearing eyeliner, but that was about it. Since then, I’ve gotten a few makeup lessons. My daughter is excellent at it—she’s teaching me a few things. I always do my eyes in the morning. I usually do eyeliner, a little upperlid eyeshadow, I curl my lashes and do mascara, and then I’ll do some undereye concealer. I’ll either use the Chanel Le Volume Mascara, or I like Covergirl LashBlast. My eyelashes are long but thin, so I need a mascara to make them thick without being clumpy. It literally takes me 10 seconds to put it on and it doesn’t irritate my eyes.

I’ve gotten some makeup advice from some great makeup artists over the years, and my eyes are my best feature, so I want to define them and bring them out more. To do that, I’ll do a liner on the lid margin. Then I usually use a neutral eyeshadow from the Les Beiges Healthy Glow Eyeshadow Palette in the brown/gray/taupe family, and I put on a little blush—Chanel Les Beiges Blush in No. 23. That one is rosy, not peachy—I don’t think I look good in peachy. I use a brush from Chanel…I’m so lucky! [Laughs] As long as you wash and take care of your brushes, you can keep them forever. I don’t know how to contour, but I wish I did. I’ll finish with Rouge Coco Stylo in 218. I have it in my desk at work and I have it here at home. I feel like it enhances my natural lip. It’s a little bit darker, and it’s appropriate for work. And I use Vaseline to moisturize my lips. People always say, ‘You can’t use that!’ And I’m like, ‘I’m putting it on my lips, I’m not eating it!’ And as a rule, I don’t use lip plumping products. If something is plumping your lips, it’s just because it’s irritating your skin.

HAIR I have very fine hair, which is annoying. I kind of splurge and get my hair done a couple times a week, but it lasts for a few days so that’s good. I go to Julien Farel. Julien’s French, and most of the women who work there are French, and for some reason whenever I go to France, French hair people always understand my hair—they’re really good with fine hair. They’re able to give it some movement and some curl and it lasts. They’re so nice in that salon and really low-key. It’s not a scene at all. I get [my hair] highlighted—I do that every three months. I think it just brightens my face to have a little bit of gold around it, but I also think it gives a little bit more texture to my hair.

To style, I use Phyto’s Volumizing Spray. You put it on your wet hair before it’s blown, and gives me a little bit more volume without being sticky. To wash my hair, I use the Julien Farel Shampoo and Conditioner because it’s good and it’s easy. They cut my hair there [at the salon], and I get my nails done there too. I don’t wear polish, I just have them buffed. I’m in and out of gloves all day, so I just want them to be neat and clean.

BODY & SELF CARE After I shower, I moisturize my entire body. I probably don’t do my ears, but I moisturize my face, my neck with the same products. Neck down, I use body products. Right now, I’m using Cetaphil’s Restoraderm. If I don’t moisturize after I shower, my skin actually feels tight and uncomfortable. Sometimes I’ll do a scrub or some microdermabrasion because afterwards your skin is like a sponge—it absorbs moisturizer really well. But I think Americans overly scrub and cleanse their skin and remove the natural oils you’re supposed to have. A lot of people come to me and their skin’s irritated and when I go through what they do, they’re just over-scrubbing.

My deodorant is by Dove. Aluminium deodorant is totally safe—it does not cause cancer. This one has a light fragrance of green tea and cucumber. I don’t wear it every day because I’m not a sweat-er.

Stress also affects the skin so many ways, and it affects all of your organs. It’s not helpful to just tell people to ‘relax.’ If somebody tells me to relax, I yell at them, or give them a glare. [Laughs] Stress makes everything worse, for sure, but I don’t think stress causes something de novo. Like, if you’ve never had acne in your life, and if you’re not prone to acne, you probably won’t break out just because you’re stressed. You could, but probably something else would happen to you. I think being mindful and taking a look at what’s going on in your life is always so helpful. If I see a patient whose acne has been cleared, and they didn’t change anything since they started breaking out, everything is the same, then I ask, ‘What’s going on in your life?’ and there’s always something.

Sweating is fine for your skin. Increasing circulation in the skin is a good thing for it. When you work out, you’re creating betaendorphins, which are healing and anti-inflammatory molecules for your brain, your body, and your skin. My most important self-care things are Pilates and working with my trainer and my physical therapist. Having had 16 orthopedic surgeries in my life, Pilates has never hurt me. I’ve found something that is whole body-focused, helps with posture, and is so healthy. And I have an awesome Pilates instructor, Kevyn Zeller. And I definitely focus on getting enough sleep—I try to get 7.5 or 8 hours of sleep for sure. I can’t skip on that. It’s helps your mood, it helps to heal, it’s helps to stay young… It helps everything.

SUPPLEMENTS I take Vitamin D3—I eat dairy products but I take D3 because I think it’s important and to offset the sunscreen I wear every day. I also take calcium. Women really need 1000 miligrams of calcium per day and it’s hard to ingest all of that. I want to have strong bones my whole life! I take calcium in a chewable form called Adora, the dark chocolate one. I’m lactose-intolerant and there’s no lactose in that.

ON INJECTIBLES I think less is more with Botox and fillers, but I definitely have Botox and filler in my face. I use low doses myself. I’ll do fillers every two to three years and it lasts. A lot of what I do keeps people out of the plastic surgeon’s operating room, or is a bridge, so they can hold it off for 20 or 30 years. I’m hoping that’s the way of the future. People don’t like aging! In our heads, we’re younger than we look and when the disconnect is so big, it doesn’t feel good. And people have abused their skin so they’re aging prematurely. So if there are ways to safely turn back the clock, why not?”

—as told to ITG