3 things: gendered deodorant; church fire alarms; and brownies

[edenfalling]

Random post is random!

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1. Today is my second day of using men's antiperspirant/deodorant instead of women's stuff. I mean, when you can get a stick/tube that contains half again as much product for only two thirds of the price, why NOT switch to dude-branded stuff? Plus it's easier to avoid those annoying ~spring/powder/fresh~ scents that have infested women's deodorants to the point where I can't find unscented lady-branded products anymore.

(I already get enough residual scent from my shampoo and conditioner. I do not need more scents that will almost certainly clash with them.)

This was a natural second step since I'd already switched to dude-branded razors, as of not quite a year ago. The price differential there is even more ridiculous, and you can still get them with aloe or Vitamin E goop if you want. The only appreciable difference is that dude-branded razors are forest green instead of pink/gold/aqua, and the handle shape is strictly functional instead of ~attractively curved~ or whatever. I think the marketing gimmick is that the fancy handles "fit better into a woman's hand" or something, which is bullshit if you ask me.

Anyway, the dude-branded deodorant is working just fine -- in fact, it's working better than women's Secret and Dove brand deodorants have ever worked for me -- so any marketing hooey about "pH balanced for a woman" and related nonsense can bite my ass.

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2. Today I had a small adventure at church! One of the RE workshops this month is candlemaking, and the beeswax melted faster than the DRE expected, thereby setting off the fire alarms when it started to scorch and smoke in the pot. So Joan and I evacuated the kids in the library and huddled in the neighboring building's parking lot for a while, until the owner of the William Henry Miller Inn (a bed and breakfast across the street from my church) offered to let us sit in her parlor while the fire department verified that the church was safe.

There was a lingering smell of burnt wax all through the RE classrooms once we were allowed back into the church -- a bit like honey, a bit like roasted marshmallows, and a bit like a campfire -- but we were able to safely return to the library. The service itself got moved from the sanctuary to the second floor of the annex, and understandably ran over its scheduled end time.

So that was my morning. :-)

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3. Note to self: when a brownie mix says it should be baked in an 8 x 8 pan -- or a 9 x 9 pan at the outside -- do not bake the brownies in a 9 x 13 pan. They will come out very flat and weird, even if you cut the baking time by twenty minutes.

I have a second box of this particular mix. I think I will try cooking it in my big glass 8 x 7 baking dish. That may produce equally weird results, but at least they'll be weird in a new and exciting direction! *wry*

Comments

[onyxlynx]

I've wondered on occasion whether deodorants/antiperspirants marketed at women are intentionally formatted to be less effective than men's versions of same.

Paranoia, I know.

[edenfalling]

*shrug* I suppose it's possible that manufacturers might assume men sweat/stink more than women -- whether inherently or because men are more expected to do heavy physical activity and/or wear suit jackets even in summer -- and therefore make men's antiperspirants stronger. Or it's possible than women's antiperspirants might lean more toward a different balance of active ingredients based on which ones accept perfumes most readily. But I think they're most likely the same thing, just in different packages and with different scents.

[domarzione]

When I was first old enough to wear deodorant, it was my father doing the buying, so I smelled all spruce-y until I was able to pick things out for myself. I lived. Dove Sensitive, which is what I use now, is unscented -- it's just an anti-antiperspirant -- but if you're happy with what you got, go for it.

I have never used girl razors. My parents didn't use disposables, so I never used disposables. Old-timey razors are cheaper in the long run, anyway. (I might have vicariously used this in a fic or two...)

If your 8x7 pan is at least 2" deep, you should be fine with the substitution with no significant change in baking time. There are also excellent charts online for substituting pan sizes. But you should be making brownies from scratch... ;)

[edenfalling]

*makes note to hunt down pan substitution charts*

I think my mom bought me my first deodorant -- or more likely just pointed me at the grocery store shelf and said, "Pick one," after I decided I disliked the liquid ball-applicator style she used herself. She also had an electric razor, but I cut myself badly every time I tried to use that so I switched to disposable plastic razors instead. *shrug* I've inherited a lot of habits from her, but apparently not those.

[heliopausa]

I think there's no difference in shape between the bones of a man's hand and the bones of a woman's hand, so yes, utter guff about something fitting better in one than the other. (difference in size, obviously, but so there is between individual men.)

Was it horribly cold weather you were all evacuated to? Cheers for the observant and hospitable William Henry Miller.

[edenfalling]

I have a vague recollection of watching some terrible sparkly-soft ad that went on about a razor handle contoured to a woman's grip to increase control or some-such. *shakes head* Any excuse for a price hike, I suppose.

Sunday noon was about 30F, or -1 Celsius, so it was cold but not intolerable for a few minutes. A bunch of the kids had their jackets anyway, I had my scarf, and we indulged in a bit of semi-ironic huddling for warmth. But the parlor and its fireplace were definitely welcome. :-)

[branchandroot]

*toasts you* Yeah, I've been using dude-brand for years. So, of /course/, Degree just had to discontinue my favorite. But seriously dude-deodorant is so much easier on my skin, likely because it doesn't have those "parch your skin to the bone!" anti-perspirant compounds. Dudes, after all, are /allowed/ to sweat as long as they don't stink. *grumpy face*

[edenfalling]

There is at least one semi-common ingredient in antiperspirants and deodorants that I am moderately allergic to -- it raises itchy red welts wherever it touches my skin. The problem is that I've tended to throw the offending products out as soon as I notice the problem -- it can take a few days to build up -- which means I have not managed to do a comprehensive ingredient comparison study and discover what the culprit is. *headdesk*

Bodies are weird and idiosyncratic and messy, and cultural expectations do not tend to help on that front.

[isis]

If you have a recipe for an 8x8 pan, you can double it into a 9x13 pan and it will be all right.

[edenfalling]

Aha! *makes note for future experiments*

[krait]

Ahhh, dude-branded deodorant! I bought some last shopping trip, as an experiment. It was somewhat difficult finding a smell I liked... but that's also true of women's products, and frankly, when given a straight-up choice between smelling like masculine aftershave and smelling like baby powder, I will choose the option that is NOT BABY POWDER without pausing for consideration. There are not enough expletives in the world to describe how I feel about baby powder smell. (And that's without adding "on me" to the phrase. That would require several new languages in order to adequately convey my disgust.) And you're right, it seems to have completely conquered the market - I wouldn't care if it were merely an option amongst many, but it seems to be half of the available products! NOPE.jpg

I do wish my favourite girl-marketed unscented product had a dudely version, but alas. It works so well! But they're too clever to provide a cheaper man-marketed option. I've still got some of it, though, so I haven't used the dude stuff I did buy, much, so I can make no comparison on how well it works just yet.

Hee, yes, I imagine that switching from 8x8 to 9x13 would indeed produce interesting results. :D Steamrollered brownies! Let us know how the 8x7 experiment goes?

[edenfalling]

I am okay with baby powder on babies, but it's not a scent I want to be wearing myself. In this one case, I am glad that the whole "unmanly!!!" issue has prevented it from consuming men's hygienic care items the way it's consumed their lady-branded equivalents.

The brownies are still tasty enough; they're just oddly textured and very flat. I probably won't bake another batch until next weekend, but when I do, I will report back on the results!

[cat-i-th-adage.livejournal.com]

I've been told that Old Spice cologne was based on the designer's mothers potpourri, if that helps.

(Sorry about the brownies.)

[edenfalling]

Yes, apparently Old Spice was originally aimed at women; they only started marketing to men (and changed their ad imagery from flowers to ships) much later. This amuses me because my dad was very fond of Old Spice soap-on-a-rope, and for many years my mom always bought him that for Christmas. *grin*

The brownies are still edible and tasty. They're just oddly textured and very flat -- more like thick, slightly chewy cookies than anything else.