Stuff I Like - August Edition
meet crusty.
The garage door is coming down on August, which means it’s coming down on summer and before it can fully close, here I am sliding in with my SIL list for the month. Things are progressing with the store, which is exciting, however it is very much a three steps forward, two steps back, wait three weeks + repeat sort of process. I finally hung up some coming soon signage, which was still a bit premature as we didn’t have our permits yet but we were thisclose to them and I figured I’d waited long enough so f*ck it, let’s let the neighbors know who’s moving in. We were also leaving for Hawaii the following week when construction was supposed to start so there was also that.
We’re back from Hawaii, spoiler alert construction did not start while we were away, however we do have all our permits in hand, I’m out an extra $25k because of it, and construction finally started (maybe) this past wednesday. Three steps forward, two steps back, wait three weeks + repeat. Since I don’t have a website yet for the store (but I do have an Instagram so let’s be friends!) I think a few people might have found their way to the ‘stack because if you search ‘running wylder’ in google this is the only thing that pops up. So if you’re one of those people, welcome! There will be a much cooler, much more professional website launching in the next 8-ish weeks (with ecomm!) and hopefully you weren’t too disappointed when a newsletter very loosely related to running turned up in your inbox this morning.
Overall I’m happy to report that as frustrating as it can be to be an entrepreneur, I’ve been finding it fun to create a vision for a brand that is entirely my own. And even though it’s been going at a pace much slower than preferred, it’s actually given me time to work on some projects I didn’t initially think I’d have the space for.
We have a photoshoot for the store coming up in a couple of weeks, and on brand I decided about 2 weeks too late it’d be fantastic to have some branded merch created for it and now I’m frantically trying to get some things printed up in time. Matt + I are also squeezing in a ‘this could be our last vacation for a very long time’ trip sans Dougie and leave for Florence in a little over a week. Silver linings despite not hitting my initial dream of a Labor Day grand opening. I’m still clinging to the goal of opening by Oct 1st even though it often feels like I’m pushing a boulder uphill and the people I’m paying a lot of money to help push the boulder with me are off somewhere else picking at pebbles.
Meet Crusty, the unofficial mascot of Running Wylder. Created in honor of Dougie’s love of croissants (who is also the namesake of the brand as ‘Wylder’ is his middle name) and named Crusty because, well, runners can be a little…crusty. I might be projecting a bit by making this broad generalization and what I think might be a group party might be more me drinking alone at the bar, however, I think in a general sense, runners collectively as a group tend to run a little on the crusty side. As in, if we need to get creative as to how we get our miles in for the day, we might forego a *real* shower in favor of a sink shower so we can run a little longer in the morning or run to work instead of whatever our ‘normal’ commute might be. My hygiene habits have definitely gotten a bit lax since entering into my work from home era and I will quite often postpone my post-run shower for longer than might be deemed socially acceptable, assuming I were socializing with anyone other than two cats who enjoy licking their own butts. I’ll quite often squeeze in some late morning miles before getting wrapped up in a project over lunch and then suddenly realize I only have 10 minutes to shower before it’s time to head out the door for pick up duties.
So if you, like me, tend to fake your freshness, this list is for you.
Kinfield Clean Slate Wipes
I’m the parent with the flexible schedule, which means I don’t shower or work out or do anything for myself in the morning because the implication is that I can do this after everyone is out the door at 8am. It’s a flexibility that has helped us function as a family and one that I’m a little stressed about losing when the store opens, because if I’m being honest we’ve never really quite figured out how to function when all parties need to be out of the house, fed, showered + presentable by 9am. My early morning workouts have been traded out for mid/late morning workouts and my morning showers have become afternoon showers that most days almost don’t happen.
That said, I’m not a monster and these wipes are a lifesaver. On days I do actually have someplace to be in the morning (doctor’s appointment, on screen zoom meeting, a normal saturday or sunday) I use one of these to wipe my face and my pits and I feel *almost* fresh as a daisy.
i also love their sunscreen - their daily dew SPF actually functions as an everyday SPF which i love. their cloud cover SPF was the only sunscreen i used in hawaii and i have no regrets (minus the large patch of skin under my boob that i missed). the sunscreen goes on more like a lotion and doesn’t leave that same sticky feeling i’d get from the spray on options i used to use. Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo
Since cutting my hair pretty short back in April, I haven’t used dry shampoo quite as much simply because I tend to wash my hair a little more often, preferring an every other day approach vs. a ‘how long can I go before the cat starts cleaning my hair for me’ mentality. However, as much as I love shorter hair, I’ve decided to grow my hair out *just* long enough to be able to slick it back into a tiny ponytail so I can live my best crusty life once the store opens, and when I do I’ll rekindle my love affair with dry shampoo. It took me a long time to stop washing my hair every day, simply because I really don’t like the feel of day old hair and I really, really don’t like the feel of day old hair with product in it. This is the first dry shampoo I tried that actually leaves my hair feeling like I didn’t just sweat for an hour and doesn’t leave any sort of residue of its own. It also doesn’t coat my entire bathroom in a powdery film when I spray it, which IYKYK how annoying that is.
just in case y’all thought i was joking about mama cat cleaning my hair. maybe she thinks she’s grooming me like she grooms nacho….? either way, it doesn’t make me feel less like a dirtbag about my intermittent shower habits. Kaia Naturals : The Underarm Bar
I don’t know why, but no matter what I do lately I stink. I blame hormones, which have definitely been wonkier than normal, as I maybe/maybe not enter into perimenopause, which conveniently no one really has a remedy for or any real way of proving whether or not is happening. All I know from my hour long conversation with my doctor a month ago is that hormone driven things like PMS (or PMDD) all suck a lot more when you hit your 40s. And because I blame hormones for everything else in my life (like my bad mood this morning), I’m going to use them as a scapegoat for my smelly pits too because it definitely isn’t due to the fact that I ran 3 hours ago and still haven’t showered.
Maybe I’m paranoid because nothing makes me feel grosser than when I can actually smell myself, but even after I finally shower I feel like the smell still lingers, no matter how much I scrub. So I was both intrigued and excited when I came across this underarm bar while searching for something completely different and unrelated the other day. It contains activated charcoal and apple cider vinegar to help neutralize odor causing bacteria and is meant to be used specifically on your pits. I ordered it a couple days ago and haven’t received it yet, so the jury’s still out on whether it works but the reviews look promising.
i also ordered some of their deodorant because while i do like the one i currently use, i’m not entirely convinced the stink of my armpits is of my own doing. A Truly Minimal No Makeup Makeup Routine
I severely dislike the no makeup makeup trend, simply because most ‘no makeup’ routines actually still involve an incredible amount of makeup. I’ve never been a big makeup person because much like I hate the feel of product in my hair, I also hate the feel of makeup on my face. I’ve tried cc-creams and tinted moisturizers in the past and hated them; it’s also why I’m terrible at wearing SPF everyday. I don’t have terrible skin (thank you Grandma) despite a bit of sun damage due to my absent minded approach to sun protection, and so the makeup I wear truly is as minimal as possible, with the goal of simply not looking like the sleep deprived mentally exhausted zombie I feel like 90% of the time. I used to curl my lashes and wear mascara but post-pandemic this is something I never added back into my routine. Now it’s just a swipe of blush on each cheek and a brush of my eyebrows with a clear gel and I’m good to go for the day. I’ve always worn blush and I feel like it’s the fastest and easiest way to look a little more human in the morning. Or, at the very least, to look like (maybe) I showered.
i love this brow gel because it actually holds my brows in place, despite them wanting to just do their own thing (i actually had them laminated about 2 months ago and for 24 hours they looked absolutely amazing). i jumped on the glossier trend and was a devoted cloud paint fan until i was forced to clean up my skincare products when i got pregnant and now this multipurpose stick is my go-to for all my blush needs Crown Affair - Finishing Gel
I mentioned slicking my hair back into the tiniest ponytail once it gets long enough and this hair gel is the trick to making that happen. It’s also my go to for when I need to wash my hair but don’t want to wash my hair either due to time or laziness and it’s great because I can just wet my dirty hair in the shower and slick it all back with some of this. It worked great when my bob was micro and a pony wasn’t an option. Wet look bobs might be trending (what isn’t nowadays thanks to TikTok) but I just love that my hair is out of sight which means it’s also out of mind. Even better, this gel brushes out to a natural finish so the day after I wear my hair slicked back I’m blessed with straight hair, allowing me to procrastinate one more day of hair washing, should I choose.
So crusty are my hygiene habits, I actually considered installing a shower in the store so that I might be able to run to work and take the fastest shower before opening each day. Maybe someday this will happen, but until then I’ll have a bathroom stocked with all the best products so you too can fake your freshness. Just run on in.
*k