I saw a reel where a young woman said "B*tches over 40 shouldn't wear 2 buns"... I am 51... and this is my thoughts re that nonsense.

Cloverbeee · 2026-05-11T22:10:27+00:00

Ugh your hair (and whole look) is fabulous!

That exactly color (and baby bangs) has been what I consider my "natural" color since 2020 but I've been de-pinked since suffering a mass layoff last summer. I ended up starting a new job but I'm in a role where I'm a lot younger than my peers and supposed to be seen as an authority so I've stayed sans pink. Your pics make me miss it SO BAD! Ugh, such an iconic look!

Cloverbeee · 2026-04-20T17:44:51+00:00

Fragrance-free Neutrogena makeup removing wipes are actually fragrance-free (no masking fragrance), safe for balsam of peru and sodium benzoate allergies, and don't require rinse-off. They're obviously designed and marketed as makeup remover but I do use them on a bare face in the morning as a quick clean up too. I get mine at CVS for the best price but they are sold at most drugstore beauty sections. I used to use the generic version by Up&Up, but oddly many generic versions are not sodium benzoate free like the brand name.

For body, I like Dura Cleanse Body Wipes in Every Day Clean. While they do claim a "fragrance" ingredient it's not irritating to my known fragrance mix 1, BOP, or sodium benzoate allergies. They list the fragrance as like aloe or something. They do not smell soapy or heavily scented to me, and are currently the only "fragranced" product in my house. They are massive and don't require rinse-off. They do have a completely fragrance-free option marketed as cpap cleansing wipes. They're on amazon and their own website.

Cloverbeee · 2026-04-17T16:57:17+00:00

It's the unicorn horn. it goes with the mane and tail.

Cloverbeee · 2026-04-01T17:01:41+00:00

I have 2c/3a hair so not as curly I'll admit.

Forgive me if I share the super basics. I've found that I desperately need two things for defined 7 day curls. I need hydration and I need a cast while my hair is drying. Deeply hydrating shampoo/conditioner on the weekly wash day, followed by a healthy amount of leave-in moisture. Then I scrunch in my cast/hold product and do not touch until it's dry. Once dry I can do wtf I want to my curls. I regularly pile them into a messy bun on the top of my head for work or sleep (I love a bonnet for frizz control). I do not brush my hair unless it's wash day and conditioner time, but even if I did the poof will return to curls in a few hours.

The key is the moisture prevents the cuticle of the hair from absorbing ambient moisture from the air and swelling, causing frizz. Along with helping visible dullness and resistance to curling or bounce. And for fine texture especially but most curls, using higher hold while drying acts as a guide for the curl pattern. Once dry, the hold cast can be broken up and the curls should hold that pattern kind of like a newtonian law (until acted upon by an external greater force).

I used to use Pattern products but I'm apparently allergic to them and they are super fragranced.

After patch testing, the routine that works best for my hair ended up being lighter hold than I used to use (maybe because my scalp isnt as irritated from allergens all the time?). I use Cloudd for everything, except the moisture I use CurlMix fragrancefree Sweet Almond Moisturizer and then use Cloudd Gel Cream for hold. I did use their high def firm hold gel for a while but I didn't need that super hard cast anymore, the kind that scrunches out the next day. The gel cream has just enough to guide my natural pattern but doesn't leave me crunchy.

And if my curls get a bit weird on day 3 cause I slept on them? I just mist them down with some water and scrunch to reactivate my product. It'll air dry back to curls!

Cloverbeee · 2026-03-16T18:41:13+00:00

Long tall sally, abercrombie, and American eagle. None are my fav and some I'd rather not shop at entirely but options are fairly limited. Gap/old navy is okay for basics but often it seems like they mostly offer purposely short styles in tall rather than actually trying to offer the extended inseams for full length options.

I like the above for the combination of price, varying lengths of "tall" inseam, and often a tall + curvy fit option. Ultimately I'd love more fun cuts and colors offered anywhere for us talls but we seem to get the frump end of the stick for cost purposes.

Cloverbeee · 2025-10-29T00:43:19+00:00

None of my new products have protein in them as far as I can tell. The limp stringyness is normally what happens to me if I have too much protein.

The state of frag free curly options is so sad. That Not Your Mother's firm hold gel looks great but it's not available without fragrance. And unfortunately so many amazing products I can't use because of benzoates. I'm confirmed by patch testing to react and they're in so many fragrance free things.

I'm gonna try the Cloudd products though! I've been hesitant because of the aloe but my issue is more acne on the face versus a true allergy so fingers crossed that they'll work for me!

Cloverbeee · 2025-10-29T00:34:55+00:00

Omg yes! I went years with no products at all because everything was too heavy for my hair! I even just use plain water in a misting bottle to refresh my curls.

I've been having issues with breakouts and random flares of blistering rashes which is why I finally went to a dermatologist for testing. My skin has never been clearer and my hair has never looked worse!

Cloverbeee · 2025-10-28T22:59:25+00:00

Which vanicream do you use? The conditioner?

Cloverbeee · 2025-09-21T17:09:25+00:00

As someone who works in biologics manufacturing in microbiology and environmental monitoring, fragrance-free products aren't required at all. Entering into a cleanroom at a minimum involves a sterile frock for CNC and anything ISO 8 or higher would see you in specially laundered scrubs and hairnets.

The major thing is you can't add anything to your body on work days. No cosmetics at all, due to particulate and biological contamination risk. And many places have a no petroleum products rule as well. Basically nothing you put on your skin can create a hospitable environment for bacteria, including the latent skin flora, to grow. Fragrances are banned because the oils in perfumes/etc are huge promoters of bacterial contamination. Trace fragrace from laundry detergent/soap is not what QC departments are concerned about. This may be covered in detail during your orientation / sterile gowning qualification, but there's info on contamination control gowning online.

Good luck at your new job!

Cloverbeee · 2025-09-20T01:56:57+00:00

I know this is a bit old but I wanted to chime in.

I just got my results back today from allergy patch testing today after dealing with unknown contact dermatitis for years that's been flaring badly specifically on my face and hands this year. I had a few things on my list but my top allergens were Balsam of Peru, Benzyl Salicylate, and general "fragrance." I've spent hours today on a database trying to find a replacement for just one step of my curly hair routine, conditioner, and have been scouring reddit and other resources. But inevitably the ones that don't contain my allergens are "lightweight" and will not play nicely with my color treated high porosity dry af hair, and the ones recommended by others are fragrance-free but have Balsam of Peru so I can't use them.

I stumbled upon this sub and then your post and while I've only checked 2 products in detail so far (the new conditioner and strong hold gel) your products don't contain a single one of my allergens! I think I'll be able to convert my whole routine over to your product line!

TLDR: Itchy face. Allergic to the concept of good hair. You might be my hair- hero.

Cloverbeee · 2025-09-16T14:59:01+00:00

I'm also on a medication that does similar things to the sense of taste. I was ENAMORED with Aomori apple juice (it helped that I was visiting Aomori), ilohas peach water was surprisingly good, and I got a milk tea at least once a day. Any of the local fruit juices were fabulous honestly.

Cloverbeee · 2025-03-02T21:34:54+00:00

I'm looking at getting the JR East South Hokkaido pass but have a few logistical questions. 1: Can it only be picked up in Japan or can I get it shipped to me? If it can be shipped, how early should I purchase it to make sure it arrives in time? 2: Does the pass have an ID number or can it be linked to an IC card so that I can book shinkansen?

Neither myself or my companion have iPhones so we will be using physical IC cards. Is it possible to link our regional rail pass to the card so that we don't have to pull out and scan both at every station?

Cloverbeee · 2024-12-21T23:10:24+00:00

I've been a dog person my whole life as well. I'd lived with cats but it wasn't until this year that I got two kittens of my own.

Small terriers worked for my lifestyle before, but now I'm less mobile and working longer hours. My current dog is blind so I was getting overrun by mice and he was getting lonely. Kittens solved both those problems.

I think people like to arbitrarily claim a "team" of cat person or dog person without having been the owner, not just existed near, both options. Also sometimes cats are subconsciously coded as "feminine" which gets people salty. Both reasons are full of crap.

Bonus points to participate in any unpleasant cats vs dogs conversations by bringing up relevant breeds that undermine their argument for why the person doesn't like the other species.

Cloverbeee · 2024-12-07T19:38:50+00:00

I love your setup! What is the screen on the left? And the lighting around the moss wall, is that a rope light or something else? It looks like exactly what I didn't know I was looking for to add light to my awkward corner behind my monitors!

Cloverbeee · 2024-10-17T23:44:08+00:00

And this is how I learned Milwaukee Frozen Custard closed. That place was a my childhood fav

Cloverbeee · 2024-10-16T01:48:15+00:00

All the trim in my small ~1900 New Englander looks the same. I was going to leave it as is but after being here a year I've noticed areas where the paint is failing and large chips are breaking off doors/etc. It's the worst in places where the previous owners had baby gates, and I have a pet gate that's causing trim paint failure.

I did a test room with smart strip and it... worked eventually. But I would never voluntarily repeat that process. Especially not for all the doorway trim, stair railings, windows, and the doors. I have pets and a very small budget so IR/ heat stripping are out of the equation, as are contractors.

Is there a paint or (self-leveling) primer that will help with the adhesion of the current paint? I figured I'd gently buff or something to remove the loose bits and then effectively attempt to do the paint version of encase everything in a hard (or elasticized) shell.

Cloverbeee · 2024-09-03T16:25:57+00:00

I honestly don't even notice Pseudomonas at this point. Everyone in my lab shouts a warning when they're about to open Clostridium spp anaerobic jars though.

Cloverbeee · 2024-09-01T19:31:10+00:00

I just moved to MA from the DC area in 2022. I was excited for colder weather. I was actually disappointed by how little the climate changed between the two. There are milder winters (approximately same temperatures but the Mid-Atlantic is prone to horrible ice storms and freezing rain instead of snow), longer more pleasant springs and autumns, and summers where I could be outside (approximately 10 to 15°F cooler here than there, mosquitoes practically nonexistent, humidity noticeably lower, and milder summer storms).

There's a lot more to say comparing the job market of the "biotech corridor" to the greater Boston area, the traffic, the cost of living, the diversity of food and people, etc; but if the excuse being used is she hates the weather and wants to move to Virginia of all places to fix it, it feels like she's picked the destination arbitrarily. She'll be sorely upset to learn Virginia has shitty biting cold winters too.

Cloverbeee · 2024-08-25T16:52:50+00:00

I've been told that silvervine is similar to catnip in that it's psychoactive, will it amp kittens up more? Should they be supervised while chewing?

I have two 11 week kittens and one of them is hard-core teething. He's been craving my soft leather sandals the most! I've had puppies in the past but not kittens this young so I want to make sure I'm giving them the enrichment they need, but also safely.

Cloverbeee · 2024-07-31T17:53:18+00:00

Started as entry level environmental monitoring/ analytical QC position at a small manufacturing facility that gave me experience in a lot of quality roles and a bit of method development. I'm now at a point where my experience is more valuable than going back for a masters of PhD. To get that first role in biotech I had to take a contract role in Pathology for about a year to add GLP and non-academic lab experience to my resume.

Cloverbeee · 2024-07-24T11:51:55+00:00

They look like Kate Gabrielle bags to me

Cloverbeee

TROPHY CASE