Monday, April 18, 2011

Makeup Haul for my Residents! and A bit about where I work

SEE! I am not all about makeup for myself LOL!!

I recently started volunteering at the CT Hospice Hospital, the first Hospice Hospital in America ( you can learn more about here if you are interested) and the patent's there absolutely LOVE it when I pamper them. I painted one women's nails there and went back the next week to visit her, she told me how good it felt to have her nails done and how wonderful it was to have everyone come and compliment her on the color. She is 94 and said she never did that kind of stuff for herself and when I go back there next week she asked me to do her eyebrows and makeup! :D

I also work full time as a care giver at a Alzheimer nursing home where we take care of Alzheimer/Dementia patients. I absolutely LOVE my job. My residents and their family members are almost like family to me. I really enjoy spoiling my resident's and recently noticed that when I do their nails or apply makeup on them there is odd sense relaxation that comes over them.

One of my favorite residents was very upset and anxious one night. I offered to do her nails, let her pick out the color and proceeded to paint her nails. As I was painting her nails, she started to calm down and become silent. Also, other resident's enjoyed watching me paint her nails. It was "girl time" for us! I must say that being a make up and nail enthusiast, I enjoyed it too :D

Also, a day that I worked morning shift (7a-3:30p) I did one of my residents makeup and she love it. She sat still when I did it and I could see the joy in her face. After I was done, everyone around her was complimenting her and telling her how gorgeous she looked. It really made her happy for that moment and it made me very proud to have contributed to that moment.

So I decided to pick up some Wet n Wild makeup for my residents that I could carry on me and bring with me. Since I am a makeup enthusiast and I LOVE my residents, I did not want to buy them crap and I know Wet n Wild is a great brand that is affordable for me, plus Rite Aid had Wet n Wild 40% off last week, which made it an even better deal!

Here is what I got them:

 A bunch of nail polishes, lipsticks, 2 blushes, 2 foundations (these are the one that "adjust" to the color of your skin tone), 2 concealer, and the older Wet n Wild eyeshadow palette ( I was soooo happy to find these because they have more matte colors than the new ones). I know you want to stay away from shimmer on more mature skin.
 This is what I carry everything in, I got it at Walmart for $20
And I cheap brush set, got this at Walmart for $8, I believe

and I got them some lotions from VS. I really like this lotion for them because it is so thick and it really moisturizes their dry skin



Hope you enjoyed this haul!!

I just painted my resident's nails last night with these nail polishes and they LOVED the shimmer top coat. I did it on one resident and she kept staring at it and showing everyone how they looked, so the resident next to her asked me if I could do the same thing to her nails!! :D

 LMK if you EVER have any questions about Alzheimer and/or hospice care. I will more than happy to help anyone, I know how difficult it is to go through and I can be someone you can bounce things off of.

18 comments:

KayKay said...

omg jess that is so sweet of you. as i was reading this post all i did was ssile. its not often u find people who love their job and will go out their way to buy things for people other then themselves. your residents are lucky to have you working there.

Adele said...

loved this post and they have loads of hospices in the uk! i had a work placement in a residential home and painted some of the residents nails! they were so lovely xx

Danielle said...

That is so great that you are able to brighten their day and yours too! What a wonderful caregiver you are and how special it is that your patients have you!!

BeautyTidbits said...

That's so sweet and thoughtful of you! Enjoyed reading your post.

Amalia J said...

Wow, this is such a heartwarming post, they are surely blessed to have such a wonderful caregiver! thanks so much for sharing!

The Peach said...

So awesome! I have so much respect for people who are caregivers and work for hospice. Thank you for sharing this with us! I bet the residence and people you care for enjoyed this more than you will ever know!

Starryskies214 said...

What a great person you are! I love that you do their nails. I think people always feel special when someone takes time out and does something so nice like that. I love that you do that for them!

Liz (Beauty Reductionista) said...

I loved reading this! Makes me want to volunteer to paint their nails, too. :)

Ashii said...

aww wow you are such a sweetheart, seriously its amazing what you do to make them feel really good about themselves :) thank you for sharing!

Vanessa said...

Hi Jess! Wow that's so sweet of you to do that for them, I am sure they appreciate it and who doesn't want to feel beautiful? You have such a good soul and you are pretty to boot! :)

Thanks for the tip on the hair curlers! I definitely have to try the ones you recommended, yeah I think I might return the Conair ones :(

makeup by danisaddiction said...

Aww....that is so so sweet of you!! I love that you do this! I would totally love to do something like that. My boyfriend's grandfather has alzheimer's...and his grandmother takes care of him. She says that she always wanted to be a nurse and now she gets to. I know, how sweet! You are such a good hearted person! What a great post.

Cydonian said...

This is SO sweet of you! I would love to work in that type of environment -- definitely post some pics if you're able to! I'll bet it's great seeing smiles :)

Jess said...

omg ladies! it brings tears to my eyes that you all enjoyed this so much and that it is something you would love to do too! this community is amazing and love my readers! I can't post pics of their faces due to HIPPA but I can post the manicures, so I will try to take pics and do a post for you all :D

Alli Winston said...

Thus us just so beautiful...made me cry. I can only imagine the joy it nust bring them! ou are truly doing a wonderful thing!! Thanks for sharing this!

makeupattitude said...

This is so sweet of you really! :)

Story of a Girl said...

you are so nice and helpful with those who you care for... great job.

Pollyanna said...

That's awesome, I love it when I have enough time to do nails with my residents too! I don't do their makeup though because they never have makeup remover and boy do they get mad if I have to scrub their faces at bedtime to get it off. If I were super nice I guess I'd go buy some makeup remover, huh? That's a thought ...

FunnyFaceBeauty said...

What a positive way to use your skills Jess. I can only imagine how happy your residents are. I have been thinking of volunteering for an organization that helps provide hair, makeup and dresses for prom for girls who can't afford them. Loved reading this post.
xx
Alicia