Archive for March, 2007:
Well, we know this is ALWAYS the case, but new studies and surveys are being unveiled which strongly suggest that those that take care of themselves and dress professionally, and look “pretty” or “handsome” have a leg up against their coworkers that don’t follow a few fundamental beauty regimes.
Ladies, the very interesting part of this study is that it seems women are far more aware of this (arguably unfair) fact that looks equals corporate and business success than men.
Women are more likely to acknowledge that they feel their looks contributed to their success, while men tend to base what other people think of them on their accomplishments, age and other factors that have nothing to do with aesthetics.
In the article I read, an image consultant said that the basic fundamentals are really just about your basic grooming and care, such as keeping your nails neat and clean, your hair healthy and neat, and also making sure your skin, hair nails, and teeth sort of “shine”, meaning they look “polished” so to speak.
Just following that basic rule will help your personal perception by other people because they will view as someone who cares to take the time for basic grooming, and it also makes you look more competent, because if you can take care of yourself aesthetically, people tend to subconsciously think of you as a more capable leader and worker.
Psychologists do acknowledge that this phenomena may not even occur on a conscious level, but rather we may subconsciously feed this image. In fact, as hard as we may fight a negative image of someone who doesn’t fit the paradigm of “attractive” because we know they are competent, at times that negative image associated with an unkempt look seep in, and they can negatively impact the perception of that person on a professional level.
It’s interesting, because I tend to think that especially for women, being “too attractive” on the job can actually hurt one’s career aspirations, but apparently I was wrong!
Maybe it’s just me, and I have a sneaking suspicion this may not be the most common complaint, since most women feel their hair looks its best after getting it done at a salon, but I actually prefer the way my hair looks more when I do it than any other time I’ve gotten it done in a salon.
This goes for high end salons and low end, and I can count on one hand how many times I’ve actually emerged from a salon feeling like my hair really looked great and was styled to my liking.
I’ve gotten my hair colored, permed, chemically straightened, cut and trimmed at salons for years, and I’m quite a frequent visitor to Best Cuts to get my hair trimmed.
Some may scoff at getting their hair cut or even trimmed at a cut rate hair salon like this, but honestly they do just as good a job trimming as the higher end salons, and if I want a drastic change, I’ll book an appointment with a higher end salon, just to be safer.
Here are the problems I have with salons doing my hair :
They use the wrong hair care products, and I like my own products. Many times they’ll put a straightening creme or gel in that makes my hair feel like straw. Sure, it’s straight but it looks like it’s dead!
They NEVER blow my hair dry all the way – NEVER. I always feel damp spots, even if they seem to think they’ve thoroughly dried it, and the most frustrating part is, the amount of time they’ve spent it should be dry, but it isn’t! Guess that’s why I like drying my own with my Sedu drier at home too.
Some hair stylists will be too rough with your hair while they are combing it, brushing it or shampooing it, causing unnecessary damage to the shaft.
They style it in such a way that it almost looks overdone, or too bouffant many times, which is definitely not my style.
I bought this Aveeno Positively Radiant lip conditioner for a real bargain at a closeout store, figuring what the heck, I might as well try it for less than two bucks, plus it looked like a “fancier” version of my cherry chapstick that I use religiously, and perhaps even too much throughout the day, so I figured it would at least give me a slightly different look or feel.
The Aveeno product comes in a light tan tube, and the lip balm itself is a light tan color, actually translucent. It is very emollient, but also feels like it has a lot of oils in it, as it makes the lips feel a tad bit “greasy”, but it also feels like it’s really moisturizing.
The good thing is, I use this before bed as a lip conditioner, but I could never use it as a long-wearing lip gloss during the day, as the rate at which it wears off would drive me absolutely insane. It’s usually true that these more emollient “lip conditioners” tend to wear off too fast, especially if they contain a lot of light oils.
Verdict on Aveena Positively Radiant Lip Conditioner:
A good night time deep conditioner for the lips, but nix it for the daytime, unless you’re ready to apply it constantly throughout the day.
Oh, another pet peeve of mine with almost all these roll up lip balms is that the actual product is so short, it does not nearly take up the space it should in the roller, so you are always tricked into thinking it will last forever, and it only lasts a few weeks if you’re a crazy lip balm applier like me! Same thing goes for the Avon line of plumping lip balms and sticks, they are deceivingly small inside.
Apparently Hollywood has a lot of quick fixes right at their fingertips around Oscar time and other big events. Jeez, will the madness ever end with the obsession over looking young? Oh, who am I to talk, I’m just as obsessed with maintaining my skin for as long as I can, I guess I’m just envious I can’t afford to go to the cosmetic dermatologist at any whim like Hollywood can!
Anyways, some of the plastic surgeons and dermatologists are giving away celebrity secrets for fast face lifts and other skin tightening and toning processes that the stars ask for, under the strictest confidence of course, right before major events, film roles and even just for the heck of it, to keep looking young.
We all know how tough it is for actresses when they get older to get good parts, and most of them really feel like they are under a lot of pressure to look their best for as long as humany possible just to keep their careers afloat and keep their mugs in the limelight with these anti aging and wrinkle busters.
One of the most popular treatments is a minimally invasive “mini face lift” where the sides of the face and eyes are pulled back to pull and iron out wrinkles around the eyes and any skin gathering that’s going on around the sides of the face, and they put a single stitch in by the hair line, instead of a real, full-on face lift which is very invasive and very painful and takes months to fully recover from. The look of the mini facelift is much more subtle and the recovery time is a mere 4 days so you’re back in action asap. It also will cost you a lot less, at about $5,000 for the procedure.
Another one is where the doctor takes abdominal fat from the patient and injects it into the areas of the face that are showing signs of aging, to give a fuller, more youthful appearance, and to fill out wrinkles with one’s own body fat. This is a pretty popular choice because it gives a very natural plumping appearance, and people like the idea that their own fat has been used instead of a synthetic filler.
Then of course, there’s the good old Botox, which still draws it’s fair share of clients for it’s quick fix and low recovery time, but many actresses are leary of the “frozen face” syndrome, and since their job involves emotions and showing them facially, they opt to get a light filler to plump out wrinkles and crows feet instead.
Smart choice I’d say, I’d prefer not to have poison injected into my forehead if I can avoid it after all. Of course, for all us “normal folk” who don’t have a couple grand to drop any old time we want to, there are of course a myriad of advanced anti aging and wrinkle skin care products on the market for us to choose from, and I’d say some pretty darn good ones at that.
Restalyne is an exciting new wrinkle filler – well, not too new, but new enough to be called the latest and greatest in wrinkle filling and cosmetic lip injection enhancement, where the lips are plumped using injections of a substance that inflates or plumps the lips naturally for a period of usually 6 months and then needs to be re-injected (I know, ouch on your face and your wallet!) But, not only is it a filler, it also may be a great long term anti aging treatment.
I first read about restalyne about a year ago when I was researching the various wrinkle fillers used by plastic surgeons and cosmetic dermatologists for filling wrinkles like forehead lines and crows feet, and this was one of the top recommendations, but not because at the time it was linked to helping produce more collagen naturally, but because it was one of the longer lasting and more natural looking wrinkle fillers.
Now though, research is pointing to the fact that restalyne not only makes a great cosmetic wrinkle filler, but it also helps the body to regenerate additional collagen, or at least more than it was before the injections, which could quickly skyrocket restalyne to the favorites list of many of the A-list stars and other more well off women and men that can support this sort of expensive beauty habit.
Doctors testing the product on people are saying that not only is the product a space filler, but it also forces the skin to produce more collagen, and added and unexpected benefit. Not only does the restalyne purportedly help to produce more collagen, but it also may interfere with the breakdown of the collagen you have if you continue to get the injections over and over (the longer the better, collagen is supposed to have a life of about 15 years, and can break down faster due to abuses by the environment, diet and lifestyle if you’re not careful).
So, I think as far as the cosmetic fillers, we have a definite contender for the longshot winner in restalyne. Another very attractive thing about this whole study? Apparently the makers of restalyne didn’t even commission it, nor were they made aware of these additional benefits. It’s always better if it’s independent research, that way you know you’re getting an objective and fair view of what a product’s capabilities are. Especially in the grey area of cosmetic enhancement, which can often be shaded with overblown claims.
An alarming article recently came out based on the premise that our cosmetic and toiletry products, like shampoos, soaps, conditioners, toothpastes and cosmetics, can have significant amounts of pollutants and cancer causing agents that are more readily absorbed by our kids than they are by us, and can conceivably cause damage ranging from various cancers, to allergies and other autoimmune diseases possibly. Or at least probably.
The article focused on the hormones children are exposed to, the type that are synthetic or generate synthetic hormone production in their little bodies, as well as other chemicals which are absorbed into the blood stream and can cause various side effects, many of them not proven, but definitely needing more research to find out whether they are truly safe for children’s use.
Adults also need to be careful and may want to focus on buying more natural and herbal based cosmetics, but children are particularly at risk because they have a much faster metabolism and absorb things at a much faster rate, making chemicals and hormones that much more harmful when absorbed by the skin or even ingested orally.
Para-Dioxane was of particular concern, as it is estimated to be contained in as many as 25% of all cosmetic and toiletry products manufactured here in the United States, and is a known human carcinogen. These types of ingredients are only supposed to be sold in light concentrations in commercially available beauty products and shampoos and other toiletries, but many times when tested products show a higher than recommended concentration of this element.
If you’re less endowed than you need or would like to be for a certain dress, many women turn to the infamous “falsies”, those squishy, extremely lifelike false inserts that you put into your bra to give yourself some instant vavavoom and sex appeal. Heck, even women who do have a larger cup size use falsies so that they can push up what they’ve got and create even more cleavage, especially when used in conjunction with a push up bra.
Lots of companies make falsies, and a good pair of the crescent shaped bra inserts doesn’t run cheap, believe me. I purchased a pair back in 2001 when one of my best friends got married. I had to hold up a strapless dress, so I was panicking that it would fall down all night if I didn’t have adequate support. I went out and found a pair of falsie inserts at a high end department store by where I lived at the time for about $45.
They are flesh toned, and they actually are made of silicone, encapsulated by a thin membranous plastic that doesn’t feel very strong, but apparently is, since mine are still alive and kicking after having the same pair for more than six years. Here’s how to rock a pair of falsies for optimum natural breast enhancement : Get an underwire bra.
Take your boob and pull it up, with the bra on, and nestle the falsie in, crescent curve down, against the breast very firmly. Now, you can put your boob back in the bra (I know, this sounds classy, but bear with me!), and you should have instant cleavage and an instant increase that looks like about 2 cups worth. How do you think all these Hollywood actresses get that great cleavage in their strapless gowns? They’re not all naturally endowed, trust me! You won’t even be able to tell the difference……
This is certainly a novel way to educate people! Apparently some beauty salons, this one in the spotlight was in Cincinnati OH, my alma mater state, are taking their time when they are doing a client’s hair and other things like nails, which can often take hours depending on the complexities of the beauty service, to teach women about the warning signs of strokes.
These beauticians are taking part in a new unique program where they are educated about the warning signs of strokes as well as preventive health against strokes.
The key to treating a stroke successfully is by administering a certain clot busting medication which can do the most benefit in the few hours after a stroke occurs in breaking up the blood clots and minimizing damage done to the brain hemispheres when a person suffers a stroke. The problem is, most people do not realize they are having or have had a stroke soon enough, and they do not receive the treatment in time to minimize and mitigate the damage.
These people can have the lingering effects of stroke such as slurred speech, impaired body movement, and vision problems. With the treatment, it significantly reduces the effects of the stroke. This is a great thing that beauty salons may begin teaching this important information, since it can significantly improve chances of survival and minimal brain damage due to strokes.
I was just reading about how toiletries giant Procter and Gamble are planning to release a super fast teeth whitening system soon. I’ve tried a few teeth whitening systems, and the problem is that usually they do take a while, and more than a few uses, to even lighten your teeth a few shades. The new whitening product is just an enhanced version of the immensely popular tooth whitener by P&G Crest White Strips – advertised extensively by Britney Spears, when she was still famous for the right reasons.
The new Crest White Strips will be improved in that people who want whiter teeth but hate spending a half hour or more a night on getting them every so often, will be able to whiten their teeth with the new White Strips in just five minutes a day. The newer and improved version of the whitening strips will be advertised as a multifunctional strip, and will be able to take away stains like coffee and other dark drinks as well as other staining foods like blueberries and the like in just five minutes a night for busy folks like you and me.
P&G got the idea after a lot of feedback from customers said they like the effects of whitening strips, they just don’t have the 30 minutes in their day to devote to them or even think about it. Crest apparently lays claim to a huge percentage of the tooth whitening market, and they have their sights set even higher with this new product release of an older product with improved qualities for the busy people (how about the whole world nowadays?)
Look for the new improved White Strips on your shelves soon, and you’ll probably be seeing tons of commercials for them, would be my guess!
So, what’s the magical ingredient in all self tanners that makes your skin suddenly turn a few shades darker on its own? And what is the process by which this curious reaction happens to your skin? Well, you may already know this, but the chemical responsible for turning your skin (preferably) a nice golden brown color is actually a naturally derived form of sugar cane called dihydroxyacetone or DHA.
DHA, which happens to be much easier to say than the chemical’s longer name previously mentioned, actually reacts to oxygen hitting it, and begins to mix with your top layer of skin cells (yes, the dead ones), since the chemical starts to degrade upon hitting the air, what you get is a chemical reaction that results in both a darkening of those dead skin cells on the outermost layer, which is what you see, and yes, you also get that sometimes unpleasant scent of the DHA activating.
Some people compare the smell of the DHA reacting with the skin, the smell of “burnt skin” much like how a person would smell when they emerge from a tanning booth, or some people think it is comparable to the smell of pennies, or copper. I’m partial to both descriptions, as I’ve ended up smelling like both with any self tanner I’ve ever used.
Maybe some day they’ll come up with an alternative self tanner that truly does not make you smell a few hours after it’s applied, but as of now they have not. If any self tanner says it does not smell, it is simply not true. It may have a nice fruit scent or something when you first apply it, but in the end, when they activate, they all have that distinct DHA smell. But you’ll look really great!