Archive for March, 2009:
I was going to talk a little more about two of the more interesting, and increasingly popular, cellulite treatments that are out there for women like you and me to have done so that we can have that object of desire : smooth thighs, buttocks, and belly, without the divots, holes, and “cottage cheese” look that cellulite has given us thanks to our different body chemistry and hormones, in addition to the fact that women tend to have more body fat since we are the sex that nurtures human life within us. Yes, another one of nature’s cruel jokes, but we are women and we shall overcome 
I talked a little about Smartlipo in the last post, and I really want to taper that off her because Smartlipo is really more of a spot fat reduction treatment that also claims it may help to smooth and tighten skin, which means that cellulite may also take a hike eventually, in addition to those ounces of fat removed. It is not however a primary treatment specifically for cellulite reduction, so we’ll focus more on Endermologie and Velasmooth.
To start with, both treatments are pricey, although it’s looking like in most areas Endermologie has the edge over Velasmooth when it comes to cost. Energmologie usually runs around a hundred bucks a pop, while Velasmooth runs anywhere from two hundred to three hundred dollars, but also claims to give results a little faster due to it’s three pronged approach, which is suction/vacuum action combined with infrared light and heat, which is supposed to effectively break up the collagen bands that cause cellulite (that puckered look).
I do happen to know someone who had Velasmooth, just one treatment so far though. She said that she was very impressed, and that she felt she noticed an immediate difference in the appearance of her cellulite and a small size reduction in circumference as well. She had her upper arms done and also her thighs and buttocks, and said that her pants seemed to even slip on a little more easily right afterwards, and her arms already had appeared to be a bit smaller.
Now, this may not be for everyone, and I have read a lot of good and bad reviews on this treament, but it’s always encouraging to hear something directly from the horses mouth, so to speak. Endermologie gets mixed reviews, but there are lots of women who swear by it for the ultimate in cellulite reduction and treatment, and have been getting it done for years.
If I had a nickel for every time I heard that there was some new, fabulous cellulite treatment that really worked that you have to pay thousands of dollars for, plus usually upkeep of several hundred per year at least, I may actually have a decent amount saved up for a child’s college education.
Of course I’m exaggerating a tad, but you get the point. Cellulite has been the proverbial albatross around women’s necks (well really their thighs) for years now, and we can’t seem to get any good, firm data on a cellulite treatment that you can pay for in good faith knowing that it’s actually going to give you a thousands of dollar result like they all seem to claim.
Enter some of the more popular spa and dermatologist administered cellulite treatments that you can get professionally done today. Let me first stress to you that all cellulite treatment, even ones done professionally in a Dr. or professional’s office, must be kept up with some sort of maintenance schedule. Cellulite is not something that you can just zap away forever, because the collagen bands that make that puckered look will eventually come back together and form “holes” in the skin that make the unattractive appearance of a sponge or grapefruit that we all know and love (not).
That means that whether you choose endermologie, which runs about one hundred dollars a session, but varies per demographics of where you get treated, or you choose something like smart lipo or Velashape, you will have to make sure you keep the treatments up, although usually at a lesser pace and frequency, in order to maintain whatever results you enjoyed during your initial regimen.
Since this is fairly lengthy (cellulite discussions always are) I’ve divided this into two posts. The next one we’ll talk more about the three cellulite smoothers that we mentioned, Endermologie, Velashape and Smart Lipo, and which one may be best for you. In the end, it all comes down to digging in and finding the right place and person to do your treatments, and what you feel most comfortable with.
I told you a few days ago that I received my box of “Avon bootie” in the mail, and I’ve finally had an opportunity to try one of the products, in fact I’ve actually tried two. The first one is a product that I was intrigued by because it is supposed to act as a powder and foundation replacement for summer time or when you just want a more refined look, to wear under your foundation any time of year. I like this because I do wear a foundation every day, and sometimes I’d like a little extra coverage when my face is going through a “bad skin day”.
I thought this would also be ideal for summer usage because it has an SPF of 20, so if you wanted to just wear it with nothing else, you could, and you’d get the added benefit of a smoother complexion along with a beach ready face for the sun. The product Magix Face Perfector comes in a one ounce tube, so it’s not too big, not too small, and only runs for the bargain price of about eight bucks – not bad! But neither are the other Avon products, but you have to be careful because sometimes you really do get what you pay for.
The Magix Face Perfector is a very unique texture. It comes out a chalky white, and it almost look hard, but it smooths on the skin very easily. It gives a somewhat luminescent, but also matted look, if that even makes any sense, but it really does make a difference in your skin tone when you wear it under your foundation. As far as wearing it on it’s own, I haven’t done that yet because I do like to wear my foundation also for the finished look, but I think it might be a good one to wear alone as well when you don’t feel like doing the whole makeup thing to a T.
I’ve also tried their blush. I got it in a pinkish-purplish color, I think it was called Dusty Rose, and I love it. A little goes a long way, and for once, I actually use the brush that comes with it because it provide just the right amount, you don’t end up looking like a clow, but you also don’t accidentally understate it either. It’s a nice texture, and the color is long lasting, and lasted until I came home after my eleven hour day and washed it off of my face.
There is another scary story about fraudulent cosmetic sugery being performed, this time out of Florida, where a woman injected two “patients” with a hydrogel that was intended to enahnce the buttocks area. The problem is, the woman who is charged with making the injections got her injectable solution bootlegged, and the two patients suffered severe trauma, one of them total kidney failure, which was directly linked to the injections performed by an unlicensed practitioner.
This isn’t the first case, so everyone please remember when you are looking to get any sort of cosmetic procedure done, even it it’s noninvasive, make sure that you aren’t going bargain basement and also that you aren’t going to people who are not licensed. If your practitioner is licensed, they will have this information prominently displayed in their office, and you can also look them up online to make sure they are certified as they say they are, through the Board of cosmetic surgery.
Well, this is just a quick one really, I got a bunch of Avon makeup today to try, and although I know their products are heavily mixed as far as being effective or not (I’ve tried some that are horrendous and others that are bound to gain loyal followings in an instant), I’m looking forward to trying about 8 new products for under thirty bucks. I have to admit, I’m like a kid in a candy store when I get packages of makeup, especially makeup that comes in a variety and a volume, like my Avon order.
I also was filled with glee when I realized that they accidentally included not one like I ordered, but two ergonomic professional eyeshadow brushes. I anxiously reviewed my order to see if maybe they accidentally also charged me for an extra brush, and they did not, so I got an extra one for free basically. In the box of Avon booty, some of the items I’m going to try are the Lip Glaze, Moisture Wear Lip balm, Skin Perfector, which is a lotion and powder in one that also contains a high SPF so it’s perfect for bare summer coverage with sunscreen.
Also, I have a few mini lipliners, I love this about Avon because they always have things in trial sizes for way cheap that you can try before you dive into buying the full size product. It’s super fun and a great marketing move on their part. I also got a powder blush, which I was nervous about because ordering something with color like that is hard online because you don’t know how it’s going to look on your skin, however I tried it already, and it’s a perfect match to my complexion. Can you hear the giddiness in my voice?
Reviews on these Avon products are coming very soon….
Katie Holmes, the adorable actress who once played Joey on a down home teen show called Dawson’s Creek, what seems like ions ago considering the radical transformation this actresse’s life has gone through since meeting and marrying Tom Cruise, himself a target of a lot of eyebrow raising. She started off, after meeting Tom Cruise, keeping her trademark long brunette locks for a while, then after hanging with the likes of David and Victoria Beckham, decided to lob off most of her hair’s length, doing a sort of modified “posh” haircut, which tons of other women have emulated as well.
She then went to a hairstyle that was very modern and chic, which I actually kind of liked, coloring her hair a darker chocolate color and she must have also gotten some sort of super shine infusion treatment, because her hair, with thick bangs in the front and a length that fell just around her ears. It was a great compliment to her face, which I think is pretty, but not always in the most conventional way.
The blogs have been abuzz about her latest transformation though, mainly because it seems she grew long, luxurious hair overnight – ala extensions in other words, which are incredibly popular in Hollywood when women get tired of their short hair and don’t have the patience to grow it out. How else would Paris Hilton have gone from long to short, to short to long, in such small amounts of time?
Katie Holme’s extensions, I think, look very natural. Whoever did her extensions did a great, seamless job, because you can’t even tell they are extensions, the only dead giveaway is the short time it took her to “grow” this new luxurious length. I for one am glad Ms. Holmes ditched the look she had prior, which I felt was much to old an dowdy for her young, fresh face and naturally pleasant good looks.
Nexxus is a brand that I used to buy in highschool here and there, and many of their products have been around for years, ever since I was in high school, which is now going on 20 years in the next few years from now. I may have already written about this hair care product a little while back, but I wanted ot write again about it since I’ve used it a few times now, which always gives a different idea of how well a product works on your hair (I can never tell after one or two tries, you never know if weather or something else is a factor in how your hair behaves so it’s always best to try it a few times to decipher whether it’s the product or the weather more so that is working to your benefit).
I used to buy the Nexxus Humectress conditioner, and also one of their shampoos, and it did well for my hair because I used it as a leave in conditioner which is one of the options you can use it for. I never thought it worked very well as a rinse out conditioner. Nexxus Therappe is an ultra emollient shampoo. It is something that probably shouldn’t be used by those with very oil hair, as it really adds a lot of moisture to the hair. It also may not be idea for really fine or limp hair, but it works great if you have dry hair or wiry textured hair, sort of like I tend to have at times.
It smells great when you lather it in your hair, sort of like coconuts is what I would compare it to. It’s very lathering, which doesn’t really mean much, except that it lathers well and does a good job cleansing the hair. When you’re done using it, it almost feels as if you don’t need a conditioner, but you still always need the conditioner if you want your hair to lay right, just a warning.
I wouldn’t say it makes a huge noticeable difference in the way my hair looks, or it’s resistance to frizz, but it definitely makes it feel more moisturized, and reduces the feeling of brittleness. It’s also very nourishing to the scalp, I notice that my scalp is not as itchy or dry, and between the dandruff shampoo I use periodically and this, I think my scalp will be in much better shape.
We focus so much on the products and external ways we can make ourselves look better and feel better about ourselves here, that I wanted to touch on a huge part of beauty that is often overlooked, and that is beauty starting from the inside. As the saying goes, “you are what you eat”, and this goes doubly so when it comes to what your skin looks like. If you don’t believe me, eat nothing from refined carbohydrates and sugary, fatty foods for a month and see how your skin looks. It will look like what you are eating, which is garbage.
Your skin is truly a “garbage in, garbage out” organ, meaning that what you put in your body will show itself physically manifested on the skin, and even things like stress, which changes your physiology as well, can make the skin look bad. So, because we can control our diet, and our diets effect every aspect of our life, not just our weight or the size clothes we wear, but it controls our mental health, our life span, the way we perceive ourselvs and unfortunately how we are perceived by others many times, and a whole lot more. Diet is too important to ignore, and I wanted to talk about good rules of thumb to follow for getting beautiful skin through the things you eat.
The first rule is to try to eat as many deeply colored fruits and berries as you can. Berries are, in my opinion, one of the best “super foods” you can eat today. My favorite thing to do to get my daily dose of berries in is to put a generous helping of mixed berries, which you can buy any time of year in the frozen foods section, in my morning low fat vanilla yogurt. I top it off with another skin glow infusing foods, which is raw, slivered almonds.
Almonds are a great food for your skin, as are other nuts with omega 3 fats in them, because they help to make the skin more resillient, and foods with omega 3′s tend to help the skin retain moisture and “bounce” that helps it look younger longer in your older age since the skin tends to lose that resilience as it ages. Another one of my favorite ways to get omega 3′s is to eat tuna or some other type of oily fish two to three times a week. Right now our favorite to make is a fish called Pangasias, which is delicious when sauteed in a bit of butter and dill, with lemon juice, pepper and salt.
Vegetables are another must of course, which is no surprise to you I’m sure since veggied are always praised as an excellent, fiber filled way to get low calories and maximum filling power. Broccoli is particularly good for the skin because it is rich in iron, antioxidants, and a variety of other nutrients, include sulfurs, which may aid in the health and structure resilience of the skin cells. Spinach, sauteed in a a little bit of olive oil and garlic is one of the ultimate skin-friendly side dishes, as it is super rich in vitamin and minerals, and you get the added benefit of omega 3 rich olive oil, which is great for the skin.
If you eat following a diet that includes a lot of these foods, not only will you most likely enjoy being your idea weight your whole life, but you will forever get compliments on your skin, and you’ll feel energetic and a lot more mentally sound at the same time, it’s such a win/win situation that it’s a no brainer.
The mother of the now infamous octuplets, Nadya Suleman has become an overnight subject of debate, scrutiny and of course, ridicule by the American media and public after she went to a fertility doctor and was artificially inseminated with enough fertilized eggs to create 8 tiny little bundles of joy. That’d be all fine and dandy, except Ms. Suleman, just in her early thirties, already has 6 previous children that she can barely afford to support, and she’s on welfare.
So, yeah, no one, including me, is happy that the tax payers are picking up the tab for her children, and an irresponsible fertility doctor who should be seriously reviewed for his practices, is responsible for allowing this to happen. I mean, I think we’re all wondering, isn’t there some sort of screening process for women who want to be artificially inseminated, for their abilities and financial wherewithall to take care of children, especially when they already have six mouths to feed? It doesn’t seem right, so you can imagine why there is public outcry right now abou this.
I’m not challenging anyone’s right to having babies, and as many as they want, but there comes a point when it is just plain old irresponsible and self indulgent when one cannot even afford the ones they already have. Add to the mix that she has admitted past psychological problems, and you seem to have a ticking time bomb on your hands. Nadya Suleman is now also being scrutinized for something a lot of people, including me, have picked up, which is the fact that she appears to have altered her appearance to look like the famous quintessential mother of all mothers in the spotlight, Angelina Jolie.
It’s undeniable if you see pictures of her that she resembles the famous actress and mother of six, although she’s definitely not as genetically gifted from the start. Her lips appear to have blown WAY up surgically, either by lip enhancement implants, or by some sort of injectable filler, because she has that “duck lip” effect where the edges of her lips don’t form naturally, and when she speaks it seems as if she has not even been used to having these lips either, there’s something unnatural about it. No one’s uncovered the dirt on this, but I’d be willing to bet she’s visited a surgeon, perhaps for more than just lips too.
She also looks like she has copied Ms. Jolie’s hairstyle and color as well, adding an even more eerie feeling that we have a sort of deranged, obsessed copy cat on our hands. Wonder if Ms. Jolie should be worried? I kid of course, but to me this is obviously a case of someone who does not have a true identity of their own. Suleman has been asked about whether she is trying to emulate Jolie and she has flat out denied it, saying that she barely even knows who she is, only having seen her a few times on the cover of gossip magazines.
Hmm, I smell some serious BS here. Seriously, there needs to be regulations that prevent this sort of thing from happening. We have families who live socially responsible lives who are struggling, like we really need to be paying for deranged baby addicts too at a time like this. See natural ways to plump the lips if you want naturally full lips or want to read more about products that can be applied topically to achieve a puffier pout.
Olive oil is an excellent source of nourishment for your hair and your skin. And not only can you garner benefits from eating your foods cooked in olive oil or sprinkling a bit of the omega 3 rich oil on your salads or your veggies, but you can also get a benefit from applying products to your skin and hair topically that contain this great, healthful oil, especially if it’s organic and extra virgin.
I use a product on my hair that is by Frederic Fekkai that has olive oil in it, it’s called glossing creme for the hair, and it’s a creme that you put in your hair after you’ve washed and dried it that makes it look shinier and healthier and also which helps to fight frizz. The topical application of olive oil on the skin and hair can help reduce inflammation, and it’s actually also a great external moisturizer and emollient in any skin care product or hair care product.
I’ve purchased products made with olive oil and have usually really liked them, and I’m starting to see in more and more beauty products which means the beauty secret’s out, but if I had to say the best way to get your olive oil in, it’s in your diet. You won’t believe how luminous your skin and hair will look when your diet is rich in olive oil and other foods that are high in omega 3 fatty acids, which help the building blocks of the hair and the skin to maintain their integrity.
