Louisa Simmonds

after (Photo credit: malloreigh)

The problem with an unhealthily long marriage, the ageing process that leads to a certain invisibility in middle age and working from home, is that there is no real reason to maintain personal standards anymore.

For most of my week, my only work colleague is the dog and it seems that the smellier I am, the more she seems to like me.

I have definitely let my standards slip with middle age.

In truth, I’ve never been one for a high-maintenance level of personal grooming. I still cry if I have to pluck my eyebrows and I have never had anything waxed apart from my upper lip which stops Kurt calling me Magnum, but if the doorbell goes before lunchtime these days I’m really in trouble.

Yoga pants are a HUGE effort for me these days.

You see I rarely get out of my dressing gown before lunchtime now and then it’s a quick change into sports leggings for that run I never quite find the time for.

By early evening, once I’ve found a million excuses to justify not going on that run, I can’t really be bothered to shower either.

In my defense, it is cold at the moment by Sydney standards and as opposed to the summer when I swim a lot in public places and am forced to shower to adhere to public health standards, in the comfort of my own home there is no-one there to judge me.

I get the odd ‘EWWWWWW!’ thrown in my direction from Kurt if he catches a wisp of stray armpit hair or grazes himself on my legs, but I can cope with that.

I do have some pride. If it wasn’t for winter I wouldn’t ordinarily be combing the hairs on my legs now, but a girl needs a layer of insulation for these chillier mornings.

But seriously, I am becoming more than a little concerned about how little I actually care about my personal hygiene these days.

The old man has accused me of being a slob.

Of course, I shower if I exercise and I shower before I go out somewhere nice but for those hours in between, the no-one’s home part of my day, I’ve nailed this nifty little emergency self-cleaning system which involves baby wipes, fresh breath mints and lippy.

When did my standards slip so far?

#Women #hair #standards #middleage #Humor #personalgrooming #hygiene