Plastic Surgery - Plastic People

Hola Chicas & Chicos!! Today's post stems from a show I watched on VH1 about the top celebrity plastic surgeries. It really got me thinking...why is plastic surgery such a trend in Hollywood? And as I look around, I see that it's become more prominent in middle class communities too! It all comes down to people's own "body dysmorphic disorders". Well all have this to some degree. We all look at ourselves and see something that we wouldn't mind improving (or changing altogether). Those that obsessed with changing that physical feature are the ones that end up opting for plastic surgery.  

We live in a world that not only sends subliminal messages about beauty, but one that blatantly emphasizes what "the perfect woman" should look like...she should have long flowing hair, a cute little nose, long eyelashes, full and pouty lips, high cheekbones, boobs that defy gravity, and the perfectly curved boo-tay! Men should have a nice chest and 6-pack abs to die for! Sadly, some people have gone to such extremes in plastic surgery that they no longer "fit" the image of a "real" person!! And they actually expect the "Average Joe" to try and live up to the standard that they've created (literally). Let's go through some examples of some perfectly fine people, turned PLASTIC:

This is Joan Rivers BEFORE plastic surg. She was gorgeous!

And the AFTER...

We all know what Lil Kim looked like when she FIRST came into the game...

And here is the AFTER, plastic barbie look.

MJ's change was probably the most drastic I've seen.

Nicki was beautiful before...but she's had a wide range of surgeries to create an image of herself that she sees in her mind.

Check out her new nose.

She's also had several silicone implants including boobs, butt, and hips. None of her actually belongs to her!! It urks me sooo bad when I hear guys say how "fine" she is...ummm, NO. She manufactured herself, literally!! 

Clay Aiken, Mr. American Idol himself, his face is now tighter than a virgin's...do I really have to say it??

As you can see, plastic surgery has become "the norm" in the lifestyle of many celebs. Unfortunately, that trend is starting to filter down to "everyday" people. When I see a woman in the gym working out, and her boobs are standing at attention IN A SPORTS BRA, that's an obvious sign that she's been under the knife. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with wanting to look and feel better about yourself. What I have a problem with is the extreme that people go to in order to achieve perfection, which is a false perception within itself. That's why most people that have plastic surgery to "fix" one thing will end up doing it again, and again, and again. In their eyes, they will never be perfect because it's a psychological problem, NOT a physical problem.  

And just a thought, if you're going to have a relationship with someone that's had plastic surgery done, be sure to ask for a picture that shows what they USED to look like! You don't want any surprises when the kids come! Okay, I'm done! Hope you enjoyed this blog as much I enjoyed writing it. By the way, please comment & let me know your thoughts on the subject. Do you agree with plastic surgery? Have you had plastic surgery yourself? If so, why? Are satisfied NOW? I'd love to hear from you!  Ciao bellas! ♥

"Skressed Out??"

I love the title of this blog! I think it's a nice play on words (skin and stress)! LOL! Just wanted to get that out of the way. Now, down to biznazz. A couple of weeks ago, I asked some of my followers for some suggestions on what they'd like to read about. Not to my surprise, the biggest area of interest was skin. I posted a blog earlier this year about basic skin care, the 3-step process and so on, but today I'm going to dive a little bit deeper.

What do you do when you're doing the 3-step process (you may even be doing a 4 or 5-step process), and you're still getting breakouts?? You may want to ask yourself one question...are you stressed out?? I think most of us know & believe that the mind and body are directly and closely correlated to one another. There is actually a name for it now, called psychodermatology (the impact of your emotions as it relates to skin). A chemical reaction happens in your body when your mind tells it that you're stressed. A hormone called cortisol is released and causes the skin to increase oil production...which causes pimples of course! That can lead to more stress because now you're worrying about your physical appearance. It's a vicious cycle, I know! So, how do you stop it? Or at least slow it down?

The obvious answer is to stop stressing, right? But that's not always easy. However, there are ways to tackle this skin-villain at its root! Here are a few tips you can do to de-stress throughout and at the end of the day (in no particular order):

• Exercise! This is the BEST way to destress! Exercise actually decreases the release of the stress hormone (cortisol) and promotes the release of endorphins (the body's "feel good" hormones...the same ones released when you have sex, just to give you something to identify with).
• Meditate! Take some time at the beginning & end of your day to think about about absolutely NOTHING! Especially at the end of the day. Why lay in bed thinking about all the things on your to-do list for the next day? Ya can't do anything about it until the next day anyway! It cuts in on your sleep time and affects how well you sleep.
• Listen to your fav song REALLY loud & sing along! This always makes me feel better & extra energized!
• Breathing exercises! Its always helpful to take a few minutes out of a stressful day to just breathe! Sit in your car and take some deep breaths in and out, and clear your mind at the same time.
• Positive self-feedback! It may sound crazy, but I dare you to look at yourself and the mirror and give yourself every compliment you can think of!

Those are a few tips for you to relieve some of the "skress" in your life. I did an earlier blog post about "Aging Gracefully". I recommend reading it because it has other info on how stress is also related to aging. Here's the link: http://beautybyvirtue.blogspot.com/2010/02/aging-gracefully.html.

And here's the link on the basics of skin care blog post. I called it "Gimme Some Skin". :-)

http://beautybyvirtue.blogspot.com/2010/01/gimme-some-skin.html

We all have things that stress us out a little, but its soooo important not to let that stress overtake your emotionally to the point that it starts to have a negative effect on your physical body. Control the controllables ladies & gents! :-) Manage your stress, don't let it manage YOU! Until next time chicas & fellas, take care & take charge (of stress that is)! LOL! Muah ♥

To be, or not to be Nicki MaNOT

Hey hey! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend...mine was fantabulous! Anyway, I wanted to blog about hair today. I was thinking about 2010 fall hair styles and thought about a particular hairstyle that has been BUGGING me since a particular artist emerged on the music scene. Not sure who I'm talking about??? Hmmmm, let me give you hint.... how about, Nicki Ma-NOT!! It really bugs me to see so many ladies taking on her "identity". Not only that, but the hair style she wears isn't for everyone; if you don't have the right face shape, it doesn't really fit you (although a lot of ladies force it). If you don't know who Nicki Manaj is, here's a pic for reference:

The long weave with blunt cut bangs are a trademark of her image, but a lot of ladies started wearing their hair like this after she came out as an artist. Sadly, many still are rocking this style. My advice is to find a style that fits YOU, that fits your personality and fits your FACE! If you're unsure which way to go with it, here's a helpful list of tips:

• First, think about your wardrobe. What style clothes do you normally wear & how do you normally put your outfits together?
• Is cutting your hair an option? Cutting your hair is a major decision. Believe it or not, some of us are emotionally tied to our hair, and the thought of cutting it is gut-wrenching.
• Experiment with wearing your hair different ways to help you see what looks best on you. If your hair is long, pin it up to see how it would look short. If it's short, add a few tracks to see how it would look a little longer. Wear buns, ponytails, bangs, etc.
• Talk to a professional hairstylist. Most of them offer free consults and they're experts at determining face shape, hair texture, etc. Sometimes, a certain hairstyle won't work with a particular hair texture. Make sure your hair texture and face shape can support your new look, and a professional stylist will be the best person to help you figure that out!
• Don't chose a style so "trendy" that it will be hard to change once that style goes OUT OF style! (I think this is what led to the evolution of the quick weave and sew-in, lol)

So, bottom line is whatever style you choose to rock, make sure its a style all your own and that it fits YOU. Soooo, with that being said, if you're reading this blog you have NO excuse to wear a Nicki MaNOT hair style. Would you go and buy an outfit that you saw the girl next door wearing??? Of course not! So why do that with hairstyles? I'm just saying! I hope my tips can help you find the right style for you. Until then, chao bellas! Muah!! ♥

HoneyGirl Boutique Photoshoot

Hey ladies!! OMG, what must I say?! I know, I know. I have left you hanging for so long. BUT, I've been working on a few things and had to put the blog on the back burner for a minute. I have a LOT to share with you (not all right in THIS blog entry though!) :-) I'll start with what I'm most excited about first! I recently partnered with my friend Candice to bring you HoneyGirl Boutique!! We have everything you need to become "divafied" (yeah, I just made that up, lol). Serioulsy we have clothing, shoes, rings, bracelets, handbags, shoes...everything! What's unique about us though, is that we make our service very personal. We offer private wardrobe/image consulting, style parties for you & your friends, and makeup! We can dress you for any occasion head to toe, because we have partnerships with other professionals.

A little over a month ago, we had our first photoshoot. Our photographer was Antonio Cleveland. I must commend him on his work for this shoot. He was a great coach for our models, and the RAW pics were flawless! Here are some of the pics from the shoot...wish I could post them all! Everything you see the models wearing (EVERYTHING) is available from HoneyGirl.

This is Kasey. I recruited her to model for me at the gym! When I saw her, she was wearing no makeup and dressed in gym clothes, but I saw a natural beauty! We styled Kasey in our navy and white asymetrical shoulder dress. We're big on transitional pieces, so we wanted to create TWO looks with the same dress. Changing your shoes and accessories is the best way to give an outfit a totally different look and appeal. I must say, the look with the red shoes is my FAV in this dress. On the other hand, the white gladiator sandals, belt, and color-striped cluth gives a more casual, day-out type look. Both looks are totally ROCKABLE! Of course I must mention the makeup, done by me. Here's a closeup (unretouched):







LOVE IT!!









Kasey's next look was a swimsuit. We paired it with a light-weight, kelley green cardigan (tie-front) and styled it with a beautiful pearl & gold-chained necklace. Sexy!

Our next model is Amber. We also gave her 2 looks for the same outfit, easily transitioned from day to night. Its a yellow, tunic-style dress. For the day look, we paired it with orange accessories and nude pumps, For the night look, electric blue sets it off! And in case you're wondering, the blue umbrella is a parasol, an Asian-inspired accessory. It'll definitely turn some heads, for sure! I put in a closeup of her makeup too (unretouched)! Please forgive me for the layout of the pics & format of this blog! For some reason, everytime I edit it, it goes back to being all jacked up! By the way, for you taller ladies, the yellow tunic-dress can be worn as an acual tunic, just throw on a pair of tights or jeans and you're ready to go!

Proper Lash Care!

Hey ladies! I'm back with another post today, inspired by a conversation I was having with a fellow "beauty buddy". We were discussing lashes! I don't know about you, but I've had a bad experience with individual eyelashes, meaning when I decided to take them off, a lot of my own lashes decided to come off with them!! It was one of the scariest moments for me! Well, after talking to my beauty buddy about it, I found out she had a very similar experience, as well as several other women I've talked to since that conversation. The major question was, "do eyelashes grow back?" Hence, my blog post on lashes today. So I'll answer that question, and I'll talk about how to care for your lashes. As a matter of fact, I'll start with that.

Proper Lash Care:

• Always remove your mascara at the end of the day. Use a oil-free makeup remover to remove ALL TRACES of mascara. Your lashes need time to "breath" and regenerate.
• Always use the proper remover when taking off individual lashes, and never try to snatch them off! (That would be unbelievably painfull anyway!)
• Never pluck or pull your eyelashes. Just like some of us have bad habits of biting our nails or chewing on our lip (like me, lol), some women have a bad habit of pulling/plucking at their eyelashes. You wouldn't sit there and pluck strands of hair from your head, so why do it to your eyelashes. This disrupts the growth cycle of the lash.
• Use an eyelash conditioner at night. There are some companies that manufacture lash conditioning serums and creams, but they can be fairly expensive. An alternative is to use olive or almond oil. Use a q-tip and swab on some of the oil at night, right at the base of the lash line. Gently wipe off the excess with a tissue and off to bed you go!
• Be careful when using eyelash curlers! Press gently!

So, to answer the question, "do eyelashes grow back?" The answer is YES! The growth cycle of an eyelash is about 30-45 days. You can help facilitate this process by taking proper care of lashes, as I dicussed above. Oh, another tip...when have your lashes done, ask what kind of adhesive is being used, and about the removal process (a lesson learned for me!)...especially the removal process. That seems to be where most women have the most trouble. You might also want to ask the opinion of some other clients of the artist you're considering.

Lashes are a part of the focal point of your face--your eyes. So, to sum things up, proper lash care is easy to do and your lashes will possibly grow in fuller and longer if your take care of them the right way! Until next time chicas, take care & take charge! :-)