EfficiencyManic's High Heel Buying Guide Part 1 of 4. Get fit to wear heels.

When I was in my twenties and started to buy all my shoes on my own, I knew nothing about what to look for.  I bought cheap pretty shoes to wear to job interviews.  Those shoes hurt, but it was only for the interview.   Because I was a young software engineer, I could get away with wearing a tee, jeans, and sneakers for normal work days.  For that time of my life, those cheap pretty hurting shoes worked well because I did not wear them much, and I spent little money on them.

In my thirties, wearing a tee, jeans, and sneakers became less suitable.  I upgraded my tees to button up shirts and blouses, my jeans to wool trousers and skirts, and my sneakers to high heels.  I needed high heels that I could wear all day.  Shoes that hurt do not work well anymore.  Here's what I learned about wearing and buying high heels.

My process to walk well in high heels are:

1. Define requirements.  Know my personality, my body, and my preference.  That took the longest time with the most trial and error.  There are two requirements: a) high heel's requirements on me, and b) my requirements on high heels.  As I age and my body changes, my requirements will continue to evolve.
2. Research and evaluate solutions.  Know my options, brands, price, and where to buy what.
3. Select solutions.  Functional performance or aesthetics, or both?  At what price?
4. Improve on the selected solutions.  Accept the imperfection of the products and buy all kinds of shoe inserts and shoe stretchers.

Define requirements.  High heel's requirements on me are:

1. Maintain my weight, and the lighter I am the better.  I weigh 115 pounds, so in heels, each inclined foot carries 115 / 2 = 57.5 pounds.  When I weighed 120 lbs, the 2.5 additional pounds per foot made wearing my pumps very painful.  When I weighed 112 pounds, I could wear heels longer without discomfort.
2. Maintain strong abdominal muscles and strong hip flexors to maintain proper posture.  I need this for balance or I tip forward, backward, left, and right.   
3. When I stand or walk, I need to suck in my gut, tuck in my butt, straighten my back, and slightly bend my knees.  I learned this proper posture from ballroom dancing, where women are dancing beautifully in heels.  The proper posture moves the center of gravity of my body to above the arch of my foot.  When I slouch I put too much weight on the ball of my foot, and although I can walk, I look terrible.  If I lock my knees straight, I put too much weight on my heel and it is difficult to walk.  Yes, walking in heels is like dancing in a tiny scale.  Looking pretty certainly is not easy.
4. Walk lightly and quietly like a cat.  This keeps my abs engaged so I have better balance, and I'm easier on my joints.  Remember that high heels are not as padded as sneakers.  My heel pads last longer, too.
5. Never run in pumps because it goes against #4.  Instead I walk as fast as I can.
6. Keep my toenails trimmed short, and filed smooth so that I do not dig holes into my shoes.
7. Keep band-aids in my purse.  The clear colorless kinds are the best.  I usually only use the sticky part on the pre-blisters, and not the gauze part.
8. Maintain shoes by waxing, moisturizing, etc.  I had to buy all the shoe care stuff like brushes, different color waxes, water repellant sprays, etc.
9. Exercise that practice balancing:  ballroom dancing, yoga, pilates, BOSU balancing.

    Basically, to wear heels gracefully, I have to be somewhat physically fit.  Some things like blisters and shoe care are unavoidable.


Define requirements.  My requirements on high heels will come later.

Kitchen Gear: Kyocera Revolution Series 5.5" Santoku Knife, Black Blade Review

My mother-in-law gave this to me as a gift from her trip to Japan in 2006.  I was really happy because I was curious about these ceramic knives, but it was not readily available then.  This sits with my Wusthof Classic knives in my knife drawer.

Characteristics

1. Blade length is 5.5" from pointy blade tip to handle tip.  I am used to the blade length of my 8" chef's knife, but the shorter 5.5" blade length is no problem at all.   One down-and-away push cuts right through. 
2. Blade material is zirconium oxide, which is softer than diamonds but harder than high carbon steel that my Wusthof Classic knives are made from.
3. Blade color is metallic black not like pottery black.  Two blade colors are available for these knives: white and black.  I read online somewhere that the black blade is tougher than the white blade so the black blade will not shatter when dropped.  When I looked online, black bladed knives were more expensive than the white bladed ones, and not many other manufacturers made black ceramic blades.
4. Handle is black molded plastic that is rounded all over.

Analysis

     Weaknesses

1. The blade is ceramic, so it can chip or shatter.  When I got this knife, I was warned that dropping it will chip or shatter the blade.  Well, I dropped it twice, once from the countertop to the hardwood floor and once from shoulder height to the Caesarstone countertop, and the blade was fine.  Maybe I was lucky.  Maybe it did not chip because it's the black blade and not the white blade.  I do not know if it would have chipped when dropped from counter to a tile floor.
2. This knife is not meant to carve, pry, bone, cut cheese, or cut frozen foods.
3. Cutting harder thicker foods like carrots, onions, potatoes, and thick meat need some work. I slice-chop, or saw downward.   
4. Minor:  Only use a plastic or wood cutting board and only hand wash it because the edge will chip easily on hard surfaces and in the dishwasher.  However, this is not much different from the requirements of metal knives.
5. Minor:  I need a diamond whetstone to sharpen it.  A regular whetstone does not work because the ceramic blade is harder than it.   I can buy a sharpener that Kyocera makes or these knives, or send it to Kyocera to have the blade's chips ground away.  (I will try an electric knife sharpener with 15 degree Asian knife angle and diamond grinders.  I will review this later.)

     Strengths

1. The blade is light, not as heavy as my Wusthof Classic Santoku.
2. The handle is ergonomically shaped so it's more comfortable in my small hand.  I do not notice the handle like I notice the Wusthof handle.  Greasy hands making the handle slippery is not a problem for me because I do the chef's grip, and I keep the knife in my hand until I'm done cutting so my knife hand does not touch what I am cutting.
3. I love the spoon-like curve of the blade's tip to scoop out seeds from cantaloups and honeydew melons.  The tip is perfectly shaped for scooping.
4. Minor:  Ceramics are not affected by acids.  I rinse my Wusthof blades right after cutting acidic foods, but not the Kyocera.  Even if I did not rinse my Wusthof, I would not be too concerned about staining.  I do not think high carbon steel rusts.
5. Minor:  Foods do not react to ceramics.  It will not leave a metallic off taste in foods.   It  will not turn some vegetable's cut edge reddish brown, but that is a minor improvement for me.  Maybe my palate is less discerning, but my food does not seem to taste or smell more metallic when I use my Wusthof metal knives.
6. Major:  Even when "dull" the blade cuts well.  Ceramic is harder than metal, so it chips because it cannot bend.  According to the Kyocera website, chipping is the ceramic blade's way of "dulling."  After years of use and putting it in the sink with other stuff, my ceramic blade's edge had numerous small chips.  It looked bad, but it still cut just as well, so I kept on using it.  With metal blades, you have to steel frequestly to straighten the bent edge, and then you have to sharpen it about once a year depending on use.  I did not do this, so my Wusthof knives became uselessly dull.  With the Kyocera, I kept using it for 4 years without doing anything, and it still cut well.

Conclusion:

This is a really nice addition into my knife collection.  I really like that a "dull" ceramic blade still cuts well.  It is so low maintenance.  I love that.  I also like the curved spoon-like tip to scoop out stuff.  My Wusthof Santoku has the same curved tip, but that blade is longer so it is a bit unwieldy.

I'm not throwing out my Wusthof Classics.  I think that a ceramic blade is no sharper than a properly ground metal blade.  Sometimes I need a metal blade that can cut frozen meat or small fish bones.

Protective Gear: Household latex gloves review

My hands have developed hardened skin around the fingernails and dry skin from doing the dishes and the laundry without gloves.  A good slather of Cetaphil Moisturizing Lotion before going to sleep takes care of it, but I want to keep my hands away from detergent and hot water.


Criteria
I want latex gloves that:

1. last a long time without developing holes or gooey fingertips.
2. have a long enough cuff so that I can soak laundry in buckets without wetting my hands
3. fit properly on my small hands, so that when I wear the gloves, my fingertips touch the glove's fingertips.

Today I visited Big Lots, Lucky, and OSH for latex gloves.  Big Lots did not have any, although  I bought some before.  

When I opened the packages, all the gloves had the same cuff length.  

In the above photo, from left to right, from thinnest to the thickest material:

Analysis

#1.  Mr. Clean Hand Helpers (Big Lots, 2 pairs $??)  I still had these under my kitchen sink.  I don't remember how much I paid a year ago, but I didn't use them for long before they developed a leak.  The latex is the thinnest, and the edge is rolled.  Fits my hands well.

#2.  Mr. Clean Loving Hands (OSH, 2 pairs, $2.49)  A dud.  It's thinner than #3 and more expensive.  My package had 3 right hands 1 left hand, and one glove's edge was rolled improperly.  I'm refunding this.  Edge is rolled.  Same good fit as #1.

#3.  Caring Hands (OSH, 2 pairs, $1.79)  Thick material.  I remember using these types before, and they would last a year with just dish washing before the fingertips become gooey no matter how much I wash the gloves with Dawn, and all the dishes have goo marks on them.  They never developed leaks, and they smelled funky inside after a year.  Edge is not rolled, and it is not flocked to the edge.  Although it is a small size, these were big on my hands; all the glove's fingertips were 1/4" away from mine.

#4.  Playtex Handsaver (Lucky, 1 pair!!!, $2.59).  Most expensive with only 1 pair, but also the thickest.  The ends are not rolled and it is flocked all the way to the scalloped edge.  This was a Medium size, which fit my hand in the same manner as #3.  I think the small size would fit my hands properly.

Conclusion

#1.  Use and toss.  Do not buy again.
#2.  Return and refund.  Do not buy again.
#3.  Big for my hands, so my husband will use them.  Will buy for him again if they last.
#4.  I think I'll return to Lucky and buy in small.  Will buy again if they last.  Will they last twice as long as #3, since only one pair came in the package instead of two?  I hope so.


Remaining gripes
The plastic packages are not labeled for recycling.  I need to find a way to prevent the gloves from turning gooey and smelling funky.