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Chic,chic,chic. The woman is the embodiment of chic
Image courtesy of levangelista.net

Product Review: OCM cleansing method

OCM is yet another skin thing the ladies at MUA turned me on to. Basically it's a kitchen mix. You take Castor oil and EVOO or any other emollient oil. You mix them according to skin type (more dry, less castor oil, etc etc) massage all over face, for 5min at least. Then you take a hot wet washcloth and rub 'er off. The others reported an amazing purging of pores (music to my ears) and amazing glow and tone afterward. So you can imagine my curiosity.

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Now I gave it a fighting chance, I promise I did. I tried it several times, with different carrier oils and different concentrations. I guess my pores are JUST that stubborn.

Oh I wanted this to work soooo well. What can I say I am just unfortunate I guess. I did 50/50 sweet almond and castor and really massaged like a maniac. No pore gunk coming out (boy was I looking forward to that) no amazing improvement. In fact what happened was 4 enormous cystic monsters the next morning (I knew they were on their way, but I only get them that big and horrific when I underexfoliate, which has not been the case lately). It's definitely the OCM.

Frankly it is a cheapie, and if it works for you you're a lucky gal. As for me, I'll go back to paying 40 dollars for cleanser.


Image courtesy of oldenwisdom.com

Product Review: Baking Soda as an exfoliant

The great ladies at Makeupalley are always creative with their cosmetic quests and manymanymany of them love baking soda as a cheap exfoliant. Those that dislike it, find it too harsh and drying.

Off course I have to be the voice of dissent on this one too. Unlike other reviewers I am of the unfortunate lizard skin variety. Yeah, this stuff is too GENTLE (however when I had a small cut on the side of my nose, it stung really bad). Does not exfoliate nearly as well as I had hoped. As for mattifying it's great for that, but in the end I don't want too many items stripping my skin and driving it even more nuts than before. Yes it does a halfway job of exfoliation on me which for most people would be plenty. So another one for me to turn down.


Image courtesy of thefinalsprint.com

Things you could do to worsen acne that you never thought of

I call a lot of things the bane of my existence. Living in Calgary, my hair, living in Calgary, my cellulite, living in Calgary, my poverty, living in Calgary, everything about my body.

What is truly the bane of all banes is my acne. It was that first fateful zit that sent me into the cosmetic coma that I am still suffering from (and clearly now blogging about). I still have a scar on the middle of my nose that I can attribute to a thousand incidences picking that zit.

I get zits everywhere, face, neck, chest, back. I am even fortunate enough to be extremely prone to their cousin, the ingrown, wherever body hair may grow (so prone that I paid for laser hair removal on my bikini line, and am at least free forever in that zone).

I have had times when they get horrible, times when I get almost clear. But for 9 years I have not been without a single one. So you can imagine the amount of bogus treatments I have tried (all astringents, let me say this, I despise you) and the amount of myths I have heard. Here is my definitive list of all the things you and I need to stop in order to get clear:


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1. The classic: STOP PICKING! Oh I know, it is my #1 beauty sin that for some reason is to this day a compulsive sickness of mine. The only thing that stops me is having a full face of makeup on, because I fear ruining it. Other than that, there is truly nothing on earth that will control my wily fingers. Tell me, if there is a home hypnosis product that can make me stop.
2. Overusing drying stuff. Alchohols, benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid, AHA's, toners, highly foaming cleansers, lack of moisturizer, prescription acne treatments, bogus acne "systems", clay masks, sulfur. All things that I and any other acne sufferer have employed in great amounts. For so long I refused to give up on this method of acne treatment that to this day, 3 years later, my skin is still suffering the after effects. What these types of products do is temporarily relieve acne which makes you think that the effects will be cumulative. But what they actually do is strip skin's natural protective acid mantle (sebum, what we most definitely suffer in excess) which actually CAUSES more zits in the future because it "tells" the skin it needs to produce more oil to protect itself. STOPPP!
3. Not considering skin's sensitivity when exfoliating. Overexfoliating or underexfoliating is one of the toughest balances to pinpoint, but believe you me, it's necessary. The only thing I can recomend is to watch you There was a time when my skin was normal except for all the zits. But after years and years of all of the previously mentioned treatments on top of all the over exfoliation I would employ manually has led me to crocodile territory. At this point my skin's natural cell-turnover and oil regulation is so wonky that I am completely dependent on harsh scrubs and drying washes to get it looking somewhere close to normal. If I skip even a day of vigorous manual scrubbing, I wake up to a horribly rough texture, full with hard comedones, especially across my forehead and a reflector shield instead of a complexion. I have tried for the past few months to go the more gentle route, which I still recomend for almost anyone else, but it has for me returned the face of being 14 -translation-COVERED in zits. Cysts, whiteheads, blackheads, hard comedones, pustules and scars galore. But if you like me, have permanently destroyed your own face, break out the at home microdermabrasion scrubs.
4. Not moisturizing enough. It sounds counter-intuitive but I am telling you right now, Creme De La Mer was the second most effective acne treatment I have ever tried. How, because after the first month of crazy mad inflamed cysts, my skin started to get this...calm down.... No joke, applying such a heavy heavy cream, day after day, taught my crazy skin to regulate some of it's own production. Skin is a living organ, it is responsive to any treatment you give it. I swear to you hand on heart, to this day, more than a year after my bank account discontinued my use (no not me, my bank account did) my skin is still 25% less oily than it was. That's 25% less reflector shield. That needs to be celebrated, because I promise you my hormonal production and teenage insanity is no less than it was two or three years ago, it's just chanelled into obsessions that aren't boys and parties now.
5. The sun. There it is again, aging's #1 culprit is also not good for those suffering from acne. Yes, dipping in salty sea waters and baking in the sun can feel incredibly relaxing (and we all know that stress causes EVERYTHING, but especially acne) and provides temporary relief. But guess what, the sun also dries skin. And as we saw above, drying the skin temporarily will only tell it to produce more in the end.
6. Germs, bacteria. The icky grossies. Yes you get them from touching and picking the face (I know I KNOW) but there are also a 10001 other sources in life. Pillowcases that go more than a week withut laundering. Makeup brushes that are not regularly cleaned. Bacteria in cosmetics themselves (pot creams are the worst for this, ALWAYS wash hands before using one). Dirty phones and cell phones. Greasy hair products. And I don't think I should have to tell you to wash your hands (and get underneath the nails) each and every time you go to the bathroom or use your hands for any other icky tasks (washing frying pans...remember your gloves). Eliminate these and any other unhygenic practices you can think of and I can promise you a difference.
7. Comedogenic cosmetics. Here is when I get contentious. There are certain ingredients that CONSISTENTLY make me break out. And there are some that never do. You will be amazed that my list is opposite of everyone else's. Mineral makeup always makes me break out. Everytime (but boy am I addicted to the glow). What doesn't, is what everybody else blames, heavy petroleum and oil based balms and creams (my skin LOVES these). Silicones, yes in primers and almost everything else. They have such an anti-inflammatory action. Anti-aging products (actually I have found most anti-aging creams and serums to HELP with my acne, go figure). The moral of the story, everyone's skin is different. In the lifelong battle with teenage and adult acne, one cannot simply buy a kit and hope for salvation. Each and every step of the way must be carefully monitored and controlled, with each change in season, climate, age, prescription medicine, etc etc, the skincare routine must be tweaked.

I hope to have enlightened you with at least one of these points.

Image courtesy of nataliedee.com

Things you could do to worsen cellulite that you never thought of

Ah, cellulite. You bane of mine and 95% of women's existence. WHAT in the world have I done to God in order to have more cellulite than my own mother?

Apparently some of this stuff:

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1. Using temporary tightening products: What, cellulite products can actually worsen it? Yes, if they contain caffeine or any other diuretic. While these certainly do temporarily create the look of tighter skin by absorbing the water surrounding the fat cells that let's the come up close to the surface of the skin, over time they exacerbate the problem in just the same way. They absorb water. Instead of figuring out a way to have skin cells absorb the water and learn to strengthen themselves against fat cells, we take teh water away, over time weakening skin's own processes and structures? Sigh. Biotherm's cellulichoc is by far my favorite but ever since reading Dr. Murad's cellulite solution book (seriously check it out) I have relegated it to only the most special occasions. This same rule applies to drinking too much coffee, yet another reason to put away the cup and embrace tea. And B12.
2. Those old old culprits, too much sun and smoking. Yes, they weaken collagen in the face, but also in the body. Leading to skin's weakened ability to protect against sag (let me tell you about that one) stretch marks, wrinkles and yes, cellulite. A few more reasons to stop.
3. Sitting too long/crossing legs/any action that cuts circulation at the legs....How? Blood vessels are the wonderful little workhorses that bring any nutrient you may eat or supplement with to the skin and nourish and save it. Better blood flow really does encourage collagen production, fat metabolization and overall cell health. This is half the reason we exfoliate. If only every time I sat at the office for 15 minutes I could go take a quick dry brush break to reawaken the blood flow. WHEN will employers be forced to consider women's cosmetic needs :P
4. Forgetting your eggs and shrimp. Egg yolks contain a lot of Lecithin, the human body's favorite nutrient for cell strength. What it does is literally help repair cell walls, thereby leading to less water retention around the cells themselves and more inside the cells, thereby helping increase cell strength. I've noticed since I've started taking a Lecithin supplement my eyes are much less puffy and I bloat a lot less around the time of the month. And off course my cellulite has gotten a bit better. Shrimp contains a lot of Glucosamine, which is largely used by Arthritis patients because of it's ability to lubricated joints. But it also lubricates every other non-tissue zone within the body. Which includes the fluids surrounding and supporting skin's own collagen and elastin proteins. And we all know what a lack of those leads to.
   
5. This one will surprise you: Oral contraceptives/any female hormone therapy. What, how? Well why do men rarely get cellulite, I'll tell you why, a lack of estrogen. Estrogen is the hormone that causes thinned skin around the danger zone for most women and this is the component of cellulite that is genetic. Your mother's hormone balance, is probably a lot like yours. Mine, well my mother lucked out. I'm not about to go check out the backsides of my other female relatives but I bet I got these elevated levels from my grandma (who is also the one from whom I got my chesticles). Switch to Progestin only if your doctor permits. I promise you from personal experience, as soon as I went off the Pill my cellulite actually improved (not to supermodels levels, but visibly better).

I hope to make you think of what your daily actions may be doing to exacerbate any current body issues (the most stubborn of which is off course celly).

Image courtesy of: monstersandcritics.com

Woot, kudos to the folks at Living Proof!

Check it out I'm famous!

Big clap for everyone at Living Proof that they're so open and honest about their product. They actually posted my ingredient analysis on their own blog. You've gotta hand it to them for not hiding anything.

BTW thanks for the plug.

Check out my beautiful miraculous GHD

Now if there is a single person on this planet that can plug GHD without the slightest hesitation or exageration that person would be me.

The GHD styler has changed my life.
Now I am high maintenance, I make no buts about it. I shut up, get up an hour early and make my best effort to look fabulous. One thing that has always left me frustrated is my hair. I have a lot of it, like you think YOU do, no, you have no idea whatsoever. Each shaft itself is ridiculously thick and on top of that there's a lot of it. It also grows like crazy so it always gets long (which I like, I've got it down to my bra strap. In August it was at my shoulders, if that's a good illustration).

So styling my hair has always been a long and arduous routine. It never used to take under 3 hours. EVER! I mean blowdrying itself, after about an hour of airdrying would be at least 45 minutes. Than PAINSTAKINGLY ironing each section would be another 1:15.


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Until my sister bought herself the original GHD styler (I took her pink babyliss with me to Europe and she was FURIOUS, but you cannot imagine the humidity in Belgrade in midsummer. I NEEDED it!). When I got home, hair ravaged, but so very well rested, I spotted it almost instantly. Now I was the one who turned her on to GHD (she is a hairstylist, but nevertheless, she's very much behind on new product launches). After all I had been trolling drooling and lemming it at Sephora since it first came out. My permanently broke state however made it hard to afford one. So I was very happy to snatch from my sister. Now I need to put in a testament here:

-GHD is a miracle.
-GHD has cut my ironing time 40% from 1.25-1.5 hours to 45 min flat.
-When I use it, no matter what other products I smear on, my hair winds up twice as soft, smooth, tangle free, shiny, bouncy and voluminous than if I would use anything else.
-And I swear, I promise you, it smoothes the look of about half my split ends (not the extra extra bad and old ones because nothing on earth can, but the newer ones oh yeah).

I cannot put into words how warm and fuzzy I feel towards it. So for about a year my sister and I fought like maniacs over her straightener. She has this horrible possessiveness where if you borrow something of hers, you're gonna PAY for it. It really is like we're both 12 and 11 again and fighting over the remote. Except no remote can ever cause as much joy as the GHD. So this year, she finally broke down. She bought me a 2" GHD as an early Christmas present (let's put it this way, with teh 2" half an hour, half an hour on MY hair, is beyond miraculous).

It just arrived the other day and I am so over the moon in love with it that I felt I just HAD to post about my love. If you have unruly just plain bad hair and you watch Pantene commercials with jealous tears in your eyes, you need to try a GHD. It will change your life.