My Beauty Space

An interesting, definitive study has come out recently that shows that in the new high pressure world our teens live in has cultivated an atmosphere where the “pretty” girls tend to be bullied more, to the tune of about 35% more than their less-pretty or average female counterparts.  I have to admit, this conclusion was a bit startling to me, since it seems like it’s the opposite way around when you think of it logically. 

It seemed that when I was in high school and junior high, the prettier girls were usually the ones that were held in higher regard.  They got all the attention from the boys, and all the girls admired them and wanted to be like them.  However, the study’s author stated that this was a thing of the past, and in our newer, more narcisstic society where looks and attention are regarded as the ultimate end all be all by kids, it is turning out that jealousy and envy play a part in the ones with the looks getting picked on more.

Apparently, when kids are in their teens, or tweens as it’s called now referring to the kids that are just approaching that awkward teen phase during the even more awkward phase right before it, it’s the boys that hold the most power (I didn’t make this up, this is all in the study, unfortunately). 

The boys show attention to the girls that are more attractive, and this creates a sort of pecking order in the female world, where the young girls who feel that they deserve that kind of positive attention as well aren’t getting it, and begin to pick on the object of the boy’s attention.  Now I did see a little of this in high school and junior high, except it also seemed these same girls enjoyed some sort of odd, unspoken popularity as well. 

So, what’s the message learned from this study?  Well, they say you should be very tuned into what your children are going through at school, especially since kids won’t always let on if they’re being bullied or teased because they are embarrassed or might feel ashamed.  You also want to make sure that they are not becoming a bully themselves by nurturing a sense of compassion and equality in your kids, making sure that they observe the “Golden Rule” and treat others as they’d like to be treated. 

After all, it’s bad enough having a child that may be getting picked on at school, but also imagine if your child became the source of another’s pain and suffering.  I feel lucky to have parents that taught me above all to be kind to others, as I feel that is a sense that is lacking in some of today’s children, and I’m not saying that to be preachy, but I think this “I’m special, and I deserve everything” attitude of entitlement is also dangerous and fosters almost a sense of sociopathy that is not healthy and in fact distorts a child’s view of how to treat people and how to get the things you want out of life, without being a bully or a mean or hurtful person. 

This is not really a beauty product, per se, but it is a whitening toothpaste that is all natural and organic which also happens to be really good for sensitive gums and gums that may have a disease or have issues, such as mine (I have receding gums and have had them operated on several times).  I bought it at a local grocery store to where I work, which carries a lot of the more of the less known brands and also a lot of the organic and natural lines, for a premium, of course.

It is a natural toothpaste, as I said, and it’s so natural in fact, that it comes out a light brown color.  Admittedly not the most appetizing or appealing color, but if something has no artificial colorings, then that is how it’s bound to look.  There is no sodium laureth or lauryl sulfate, which has gotten tons of negative press for being corosive to the skin, hair, and mouth, so it doesn’t froth up like other toothpastes do, which may throw some people off.

As far as whitening, I can’t say that I’ve seen a huge difference.  I’m still an advocate of whitening treatments for the purposed of whitening, as I don’t believe that a toothpaste itself can whiten to most people’s liking.  I love the toothpaste though because my mouth does not seem to dry out as easily since I’ve been using it, and my gums indeed are not as sensitive.  The taste of the paste could be better, but I’m not complaining too bad as I think some regular toothpastes are a little too flavored for my taste. 

Summer is upon us, leaving many of us wanting to do something a little different with our hair.  For some of us, this means getting our hair cut a little shorter, or perhaps getting some buttery warm highlights added if we have darker hair.  For me, it’s actually going to be growing my bangs out, which I couldn’t be any more tired of right now.  I’m just over them, and I like to wear my hair completely back in the summer, so they are really getting in the way of me pinning my hair back into clips or a headband, since they tend to stick up if I do so.

I’m also thinking about going and getting some warm, caramel toned buttery highlights or reddish hues in my hair to spice it up for the summer, but am holding off since I’m not sure what I want to do yet about that one.  There are so many fun hair stylers in the hair accessory aisle of almost any store now.  I was just in Target the other day, and saw a ton of hair stylers that I had never seen before.  They were easy, stylish new ways to put your hair in a twist or a bun.

And the headbands have gotten really sophisticated.  There are some great options for putting all your hair back in a headband, and they’re pretty economical, usually ranging from four to seven dollars in the average store.  Many have a trailing length to them that sticks out below the hair that gives a fun, almost hippie chic-ish look to your more care free summer styles, and then there are more sleek options for headbands if you want to look more sophisticated for work or an evening out, with leather headbands, cloth headbands that hold the hair tight to the head, and even metal headbands that give an air of class to the style.

Personally, my favorite way to wear a headband is the scrunchy kind that stretch well, but also are tight enough to hold the hair for a long period without slipping off the head- one of my pet peeves with most headbands.  They look really great if you wear your hair loosely, in loose curls or a carefree wave, and leave just a few pieces of the hair out of the front of the headband to soften the look.

Of course, you can also go straight, as I’ve suggested in my recent Sedu hair straightener review, since the more sophisticated hair tools that straighten using ionic energy and ceramic plates that keep the smoothness in by smoothing the cuticle of the hair and sealing it against humidity.  If you have hair like mine though, you may be better off to let it go a little wavy in the hot summer months. 

Well, I finally did it. I broke down and bought an expensive flat iron. And it’s about time, as I realize now, after using my new Sedu Ionic Ceramic Pro flat iron a couple of times, since it far outperforms any of the lower end models of flat irons that I’ve had by Revlon, Conair and other lower priced brands of flat irons. I spent around $100 on my flat iron, and purchased it with another product that was designed to protect my hair and help keep it straighter longer, and get it straighter with the help of the flat iron.

I have to admit, I’m a sucker for beauty products that sound too good to be true, and I did order one that was actually overpriced I felt, and that I thought would probably help me to shape my thighs, which I always feel are a little too curvaceous for my frame, but I’m not really willing to diet them away since they are very hard to get rid of and other parts of my body have to shrink considerably before they go away. 

Smart lipo was looking like a great option for me to get rid of my saddle bags for a while, but I have to admit the idea isn’t all that appealing to me at the moment, and the cost isn’t either, so I was surfing for something to at least help me sculpt my thighs into submission so that I could fit into some of my cute summer clothes that I used to be able to again. 

That’s when, somehow in my surfing, I came across a site that sold body wraps that would supposedly help you lose inches or some sort of girth off of your stomach, thighs, or wherever it was that you would apply them.  I saw that they sold them for the chin area, since lots of men and women have problems with excess fat under their chins, and then they also sold wraps specially made for the belly area as well as the thighs. 

One thing I didn’t like was that after I had paid a high price for them, and I bought two units already, they took me to a screen which offered me additional products, the exact same things, only marked down considerably.  I thought, well hey I would have ordered more if I’d been given the chance to at this price, but that’s reallly neither here nor there since this is a product effectiveness review of the body wraps. 

The wraps come carefully wrapped in separate plastic bags, and you must peel them apart to reveal their full size once opened.  They smell very strongly of menthol, which makes sense, because the herbal ingredients they say they contained must have menthol usually in order to penetrate the skin fully and go to  work.  Menthol is a known agent to absorption transdermally (under the skin), so it is used widely in patches and wraps to get ingredients, whether they be pharmaceutical in nature or herbal, to penetrate as deeply as possible.

I used ace bandages to keep my wraps on my thighs, and although they didn’t cover my entire problem area, I thought they covered enough.  I wrapped them tightly since the directions say to make sure they are tightly adhered for at least an hour, if not overnight.  I chose to wear them overnight, which was a little rough, considering they kept sliding around and the menthol smell was very strong, so my boyfriend wasn’t too pleased that the whole bed smelled. 

However, I must say that it “feels” like it’s doing something while it’s on there, and in the morning when I woke up, I swore that my thighs did shrink a bit.  I’ve used 3 wraps so far, 3 nights apart as indicated, and I have 3 more to use.  I am not going to use them all consecutively though, since circumstances prevented me from doing this already, and I want to test it better next time and take measurements to see if they indeed do take inches, heck even centimeters off of my thighs. 

It is unclear the mechanism by which this works, and I’m always a little suspicious of products that claim to work yet don’t make clear how they actually work, but these do seem to be somewhat effective, if not a little expensive.  I’ll keep you posted on my next round with these, measurements and all!  Oh as far as cellulite treatment goes, I’m not sure they help with that at all, but I’ll let you know if I notice a difference with these next three wraps. 

This new Ped Egg looks pretty interesting, I have to admit, and if I didn’t know myself well enough to know that I might buy one and then have it sit in my closet because I either A) forget I have it or B) Do not have the time or the inclination to use it, I probably would have tried it by now.  I’ve seen informercials for the Ped Egg pedicure product, which is supposed to soften and smoothe our feet so they look as pretty as a princess’ for the summer time, and then I just recently started to see the product in Target for a good price as well.

The funny thing is, I just spent a lot of money, or at least what I feel is a lot of money, on a pedicure that I wasn’t really that happy with.  The nail polish looked ok, and I liked the color and the fact that my toe polish did last a lot longer than it does when I paint my toes, but the thing is, these salons just don’t take the time they need to with your feet to really get them totally smooth - not $55 worth of smooth at least in my opinion. 

I feel like sometimes getting pedicures is really more for the experience than how your feet will feel even a couple days after the service is performed, especially if you get someone who doesn’t buff them for long enough, which is exactly what happened to me last time.  They did soak them in a tub for a while, but when they were out she literally only went back and forth with the buffer a few times on each foot, and believe me, I had thick and tough enough skin on my feet by then that it needed to be more like twenty solid minutes of buffing, buffing and more buffing. 

My feet returned to their normal, dry scaly looking selves about two days after my last pedicure, and I figured that next time I go I’ll have to make sure I let them know how rough my feet feel and that they need a little TLC.  In the defense of where I got them done and the person who did them, I was about fifteen minutes late to the appointment but that doesnt’ make me any less of a paying customer who wants smooth feet.

Anyways, back to the Ped Egg, if anyone who’s reading has tried this bad boy, let us know and give us a review if you wouldn’t mind.  I have all the foot products and the buffers and files, but if I could buy something that was all in one and worked, and worked quickly, I might consider buying it! 

Women tend to be very conscientious these days about applying SPF lotion to their face, the most important place in my opinion, to apply it, since the face received the brunt of the harmful and prematurely aging UV rays of the sun on a daily basis, even on the days when we think our exposure to the sun may be minimal.  Make no mistake, even when you’re sitting in your car, you are being exposed to UV light that is breaking down your cellular structure faster and causing you to age faster.

Many people are so focused on applying their SPF lotions to the more obvious parts of the body that they many times forget a very important part of UV protection, and that is the hands.  Take a look at any older persons hands, and the age spots and mottle skin tone will tell you that their hands have had a lifetime of sun exposure. 

Now compare their hands to other parts of their body which are covered the majority of the time, and received minimal sun exposure, and you will see a much smoother, less spotted surface, showing much less telltale signs of sun produced photo damage and premature aging. 

This is why it is so important to keep our hands well protected from the sun’s harmful and damaging rays.  There are a few lotions out there that are specifically made for the hands in a more emollient formula (the hands needs a thicker, more lasting formula since they are exposed to washings and other things that strip them), and also have an SPF in them.

I really wish that many of my favorite hand lotions, like the Aveda hand cream for example, would learn and add SPF to their formula.  It would make it all that much more appealing, especially since the hands are one of the main places that dermatologists remove precancerous sunspots from. 

However, I did find a particular hand cream in of all places, one of my least favorite to buy any type of lotion since they are usually drying and heavily perfumed - at Bath and Body Works.  It was in a pump and it was scented, however it contained a 15 SPF, and I loved feelign that I was not only moisturizing my hands but also protecting them from cancer and premature aging when I latherered it on.  It’s hard to find hand lotions with SPF, but it’s well worth it if you can find one. 

I just purchased Revlon Colorstay eyeshadow in a quad that has 3 very nice shades of brown, taupe and nudes in it, and I really like the specific colors they chose for this palette I bought.  One thing I really like about both the Revlon and the L’Oreal store brands is that they pick the colors I love, tending toward the more earthy colors, and both of them seeming to have richer, deeper pigments than their major competitors, brands like Maybelline and Cover Girl, both of which I’m not a huge fan of.

The Revlon Colorstay eyeshadow quad palettes were very reasonably priced, at about six bucks for four small strips of color, and they came in quite a few choices of colors, including greens, purples and my favorite of course, brown. In fact, brown was the most popular color they had, and they had two other palettes that were warm browns and taupes and nudes besides mine, so I liked that they offered several different shades of brown.

The Revlon shadow came with two small flimsy sponge applicators, of which I always throw away whenever I get these with any eyeshadow set, since I never use them and instead use my eyeshadow brush.  I like the color and the depth of it, but I do have to say, it takes quite a few swipes of the brush to get the right amount of color saturation, and you do have to keep swiping your brush on the eyeshadow and then on the eyes to get the right amount of color, but this is how I actually prefer to apply my eyeshadow, since I tend to overdue it if I’m using a heavily pigmented color.

I like the control of being able to apply it in layers, so then I don’t end up with a dark smudgy streak right away, especially if I’m going for a more casual daytime eyeshadow look instead of a dark and dramatic smokey look which I usually reserve for night. 

The color lasted pretty well, but it was nothing spectacular.  I work close to eleven hour days at my job, and I must say, you’d probably have to reapply this stuff if you had a date or something after ten hours, but I find that is true with most eyeshadows.  In contrast, it was not like some of the other shadows I’ve warn where they wear off in mere hours and look like you’re wearing nothing.  For the price, I’d say they’re a good buy, and they come in really fantastic colors, especially if you happen to love browns, like me. 

A reader sent the following question on Canadian Preparation H for wrinkles, and I responded.  I reported that I was trying this product for wrinkles a few weeks back after reading it’s benefits for fine lines and wrinkles.  I have since suspended (not indefinitely) it’s use due to the fact that I can’t stand the texture and the odor.  I will most likely be experimenting with it again in the winter though,  so I’ll keep you all posted!

Question :

So you are quitting the Prep H? How did you end up liking strivectin? What would you reccomend for puffy tired eyes, not really any wrinkles yet, but I always look tired!
Stumbled on your blog today, and Im a big fan! I am a bit product obessed myself!

Hey there!  Well, I haven’t entirely given up, I just took a break from the Preparation H product for a while in favor of less offensive smelling products.  I’m also trying to use products that have a huge antioxidant factor in them.  Like right now I’m using one I really like by Skin Eternal called Skin Eternal serum with DMAE, Alpha Lipoic Acid and Vitamin C Ester in it, all of which are Dr. Perricone recommended ingredients for both inside and outside for the skin. 

I like it a lot, and while I can’t be sure if it’s actually helping with the fine lines yet, I love the way it gives my skin a nice natural little glow.  I will come back to the Canadian Preparation H for wrinkle care, but I almost feel like it’s a better suited product for older skink, or at the very least, to be used in the dry winter since it’s a highly emollient and thick cream, and I could see it causing problems for my oily skin in warmer weather when I tend to get a lot greasier to begin with. 

I just read something interesting and actually scary too, and it has to do with one of my favorite beauty products, shiny lip gloss.  However, I am glad that when I apply any type of shiny lip gloss I already put a balm underneath it, usually one with SPF after reading this startling information. 

Dermatologists and cancer specialists are saying the shiny lip glosses and balms, when worn alone and without SPF in them or with SPF underneath, can increase the risk of skin cancer where applied because the shininess attracts the sun’s damaging ray’s and increases the likelihood of the skin on the lips burning. 

This does make sense though, because if I think to days when I’ve done this, it almost always had resulted in my lips getting burned, which is no fun.  While I didn’t think of the skin cancer aspect, I did hate getting my lips burned because this always resulted in dry, flaky lips and a parched feeling that was hard to get to go away, as well as days of peeling. 

So the moral of the story is to ALWAYS have a lip balm that has a protective SPF factor in it.  I think the waxier  ones that tend to stay on longer are probably the best choice for protecting against sun exposure, so you can buy Chapstick brand with SPF or one of the special brands that actually is made specifically for protecting the lips from sun exposure.