A Taking Care of Myself Moment

As much as I started this blog to address my hopes, dreams, fears, etc. as a homosexual drunkard, a weighty and often morose topic, I feel it's important to have some moments of lightness. My current sponsor (a great guy I'm sure we'll discuss at some point soon... like probably tomorrow, idea for tomorrow's post already germinating. Let's call him Mike.) was one of the first people to teach me the value of taking care of yourself in sobriety. Not just healthy eating and living, but in treating yourself well. A lot of alcoholics have some serious self-esteem issues, both organic to the disease (in that it was one of those character defects that started one drinking) and often from guilt as an alcoholic starts working on their fourth step and realizing the SHIT we've done to people. So it's important to be nice to yourself, to treat yourself occasionally.

So in a soon to be recurring feature, I'm introducing a Taking Care of Myself moment, the ways in which I tell myself I'm pretty fucking awesome and deserve this. This may evolve, like becoming a once a week thing, the same day every week, (hopefully) a wittier name, in keeping with the kickass post titles I've managed to yank out of my ass, or (even more hopefully) submissions from readers, should I ever get any.

This week's Taking Care of Myself moment comes courtesy of my friend CBGB (not his real name, obviously. Although I'd be curious to meet the parents who would name their child such a thing.) I had been planning to have anonymous sex with an asian guy I'd met on Manhunt when CBGB texted me to say he was going to Sephora, to which I replied with the gayest phrase I have ever written, "Oh man! I wish I wasn't about to get fucked. I wanna go to Sephora." So I took a raincheck on the Asian dude.

CBGB's finally gotten that bug that so many gay men get, when they realize they will be 30 someday, and Father Time is racing toward it right across your face. I'm actually jealous of him for realizing it at 24, when he can do a lot of preventative maintenance. I didn't get that bug until I was 34, so my process involves a little more reclamation and clever concealment.

At any rate, we met at the new Sephora in the Meatpacking District. I buy stuff at Sephora sometimes, and have their "Beauty Insider" card, but their selection of skin product for men is pretty pitiful. CBGB suggested we try the new Meatpacking location, as it's their closest location to the gay areas of Chelsea and the Village. Well, their selection of men's products were no better than other locations, but the people working there were really nice and shockingly knowledgeable. I asked one employee for a tinted moisturizer with SPF protection that wouldn't make my face look too shiny. I'd been using Clinique for Men's M protect, and I liked it overall, but it didn't do much on my big problems, my splotchy Irish face and raccoon eyes. Also, it gave me that "gay guy over 30 shiny face" thing. She immediately showed me this...

Dr. Jart's BB Beauty Balm-Multi-Action Skincare + Makeup

w/SPF 25/PA++

$32

It's a moisturizer with a light foundation. Tried it on and it gave my skin this even, velvety look. My Clinique is now being used to masturbate. (KIDDING! There's glycolic acid in it.)

CBGB was also looking for a signature fragrance, an important decision for any gay man of distinction, style, and just enough pretense. I myself love things to be pretentious about. The sexy tall black guy working in fragrances almost had CBGB sold on Givenchy for Men, but then we decided to see if the most exclusive and pretentious cologne we could think of would be good.

So we went to Bond No. 9.

Bond No. 9 is a luxury perfumer with half a dozen boutiques in the city, and counters in Saks Fifth Avenue and Harrods in London. They make amazing perfumes and colognes designed to reflect the character and experience of New York City. They have a bunch of different fragrances with names of neighborhoods, like "Wall Street" or "Flatiron." CBGB and I went, and both fell in love with one of their new fragrances that is ONLY sold in the NYC boutiques and Harrods, not online or in Saks. 

Harrods for Him-Bond No. 9 New York

$155

Now, $155 ($168 after tax) is a LOT to spend on cologne, I realize. But I've always wanted to buy one of their fragrances. Besides, it's not cologne, it's eau de parfum. There's a distinction. I swallowed hard and handed over my debit card. Thankfully I can say there's very little buyer's remorse here. It smells AMAZING. It's subtle but very lingering. It has a light mix of citrusy and floral, with a little muskiness and spiciness going on in the background. 

So that's how I took care of myself this week. In the comments section, I'd love to read how you take care of yourself this week.