I had my first serious reaction to eye makeup about a week ago. The thing is, it was ultimately my fault.
I have in my possession some mineral shadows that contain dyes. While these aren’t strictly “mineral” shadows, the range of color offered from these dyes gives me some of the variety I crave. I am aware that many D&C dyes and other synthetic colors can be a problem, particularly in the eye area, but I decided to use the product anyway.
This isn’t a new concept for me. Writing here and researching certain common ingredients has led to an increased awareness on my part about the possible hazards of cosmetics. Knowing this I make my choices accordingly. I know the hubbub about parabens, and I understand it, but I will still purchase products with parabens. However, I have issues with ingredients like bismuth and dimethicone, and try to avoid them as much as possible. I have a responsibility to myself and the other women in my life to weigh risks and benefits and decide what is most important. These are personal decisions, and I won’t ever fault anyone for purchasing strictly organic products OR for not giving a damn and purchasing whatever they feel like. If you have the information you need then, well, you’re a grown up and you are entitled to do whatever you please.
So, I applied this vividly pigmented  shadow one day and headed off to work. I used nice clean brushes, my usual primer, and a touch of sealant mixed with the shadow. The only new product was the shadow. About an hour into the day my eyelids started to itch a bit. Then they started to itch a LOT. By the end of the shift my lid from lash to crease had developed a stinging, itching feeling that made me want to claw my eyes out. I thoroughly washed my makeup off the minute I got home and went through the rest of my day cosmetics free. Those who know me know that the reaction had to be pretty bad to prompt that kind of response! The next day I returned to using my tried and true mineral shadows with no ill side effects. My lids remained tender for about a day after removing the offending shadow.
I was aware that certain dyes CAN irritate skin, but I have fairly tough skin and have never before experienced a reaction of this sort to an eye color. I started to search out more information on some of the ingredients in question and was very surprised at what I found. The warning on the website where I purchased is fairly mild, suggesting a patch test if you have sensitive skin and noting nothing else. What they failed to mention is that some of the ingredients in particular aren’t FDA approved for use in the eye area, even though they are  marketed as EYE PRODUCTS. In my opinion, there is a huge risk to be had in using these products for their intended purpose, and consumers aren’t being made aware of these risks before they purchase. I have removed from my collection similar shadow formulations, and don’t intend to use them again. Looking back now I can see that it would have been advisable to check this stuff out BEFORE I purchased these items, but I had purchased from this company before and have had a decent experience up to now.

My main point here is pretty much what MBB is about. You have to know what you’re dealing with. It’s not enough to read a PR blurb or product description and  believe that it contains everything you need to know. Even the informed among us don’t know everything, so we have to take accountability for our own well being and be our own advocates. Companies exist to sell products and make money, and will always present information in a way that is favorable to them, even if it isn’t an intentional fallacy. Information is more than power in this scenario, it’s a way to keep your body safe and your eyesight intact.
Ingredients matter, results matter…and most importantly, truth matters. We only get one face, one body, one life, be careful what you do with it.

In embracing my natural curl, I have dramatically changed my methods of taking care and styling my hair.

If you are not familiar with the No-Poo, water-soluble silicone, air drying, no brushing, deep conditioning, cool final rinse, finger scrunching, hair plopping, and hair clipping terms associated with the “Curly Girl” Method, I have some good reading for you.

“Curly Girl,” by Lorraine Massey: A great introduction to the entire concept and theory behind the correct way to manage your fabulous curls. Massey is the Queen when it comes to the curly girl method.

“Curl Talk,” by Ouidad: Another marvelous book about curly hair from the famous NY hairstylist Ouidad. Her methods are similar but have some slight variations from Massey’s techniques.

Naturallycurly.com: Articles, Reviews, Shopping, and Forum all on one amazing site. All the women that manage NaturallyCurly are extremely knowledgable and friendly.  You can determine your hair type according to Andre Walker’s hair classification system, and join a forum to address your specific hair type and hair concerns. They discuss everything from your favorite drug store brand conditioners, to ways to select a great hair stylist.

I was recently honored to receive the title of, “Curl Ambassador,” from Michelle at NaturallyCurly.com.

Here is my acceptance speech:

People of planet Earth,

• Do you suffer from dry, damaged, frizzy, uncontrollable hair?
• Do you spend an inordinate amount of time blow drying and styling your hair, only having to do it again day after day?
• Does the weather tend to dictate your hair style and your mood?
• Are you just tired of fighting against your hair?

Maybe you have been going about your hair all wrong. Maybe, you have CURLY HAIR!

Read the above mentioned curly hair books, and check out the Naturallycurly.com website. You may not think you have curl, and after using the curly hair methods for 3 weeks, might discover something very different about yourself. Many of us are in denial about our curls.

Embrace them!

“Unwanted Facial Hair:  What’s a gal to do?”

HisWifey understands our plight:

Wow- although it is upsetting that we as women have to go through this, it feels kind of good to know that I am not alone in this. I am 36, and until 2 months ago, was pretty happy in my skin. I have always been a little hairy (controlled with waxing) but I have noticed this dark line above my upper lip that won’t go away with waxing. Went to the Dermatologist and in her wisdom, she diagnosed me with Melasma and prescribed me with a bleaching cream containing Hydroquinone. I was hesitant to use it as I have read not so good things about it. Well, I caved and finally used it. What a mistake! All it did was lighten the upper lip area, making the dark hair below my skin more visible than before! I am devastated and not to mention extremely depressed. Makeup helps it but I just want my skin back. It is embarrassing to say the least.

Thank God that I have a Husband who loves me unconditionally. What a Blessing! My next step is to see my Dr. and have my hormones checked because the hair seems to come back rather quickly in comparison to before. It also seems coarser than before. I think I will ask for a prescription for Vaniqa to see if that will help reduce the amount of re-growth. I am an african american female with a light complexion so I am afraid of laser treatments as well as electrolysis. I don’t want scarring or further discoloration.

Well, that’s my story. I am glad that this forum exists as a means to exchange information. I will share any information that I come across that may be of help to any of us. Let’s try to keep our heads up ladies! We are ALL BEAUTIFUL!

Morning Glory shares her frustrations:

My sister has PCOS (Poly Cystic Ovarian Disorder) and since we are still living in our parents’ house sharing a room, her hormones are affecting me.  i have irregular periods and facial hair.
i hate it.  i have this tiny moustache, and i feel like i can’t look nice no matter what i do.  people try to tell me ‘it’s not that noticeable’ but that’s just a polite way of saying it could be worse. yeah, i know it could be worse but it could be a lot better too.
i don’t know what to do. i definitely don’t want to wax and i don’t have the budget for expensive stuff… so bleach seems to be the way to go… but i’ve read stuff about the chemicals darkening your skin! ugh. this is just plain shitty. i am so lost here.

Jen (me) bares all on her new attempts of removing facial hair:

Bleaching is something I did for years, then waxing. A few years ago I tried a method called dermaplaning (that’s a controlled scraping of the skin’s top layers) just think manual exfoliation, and you’ve got the idea. A Dermatologist or Aesthetician will use either a razor or scalpel to scrape off surface skin and hairs and it works pretty nicely. I recently signed up for a series of laser hair removal for my chin and upper lip, dang it is expensive! My first session went okay, but I did end up breaking out in little bumps all over my upper lip and chin areas, ugh!

I did read AFTER my treatment that it is best to keep the areas that have been lasered clean (no makeup), and not to use any harsh products with Alpha Hydroxy Acids (Glycolic, Mandelic, Lactic…) or BHA (salicylic) or Retinols for the first couple of days, which of course I DID everything and that might have been the trigger of the breakouts. So… if you opt for the laser hair removal method, keep it clean and use only basic cleanser and moisturizer, and keep your fingers crossed!  5 more treatments to go…

Please feel free to share your thoughts, experiences, successes and horror stories about hair removal!

A few weeks ago, I was very fortunate to receive a most precious and beautiful glass vial filled with a product from Drops of Nature labeled the Renew Elixir. 

Developed by Drops of Nature, Renew is the modern elixir formed from a unique synergistic blend of 100% pure plant and essential oils. Sourced from the four corners of the earth and chosen for their notable ability to help brighten the spirit, lift the mood, relieve symptoms associated with PMS, menopause and hormonal imbalance.

This powerful blend of Sweet Orange, Lavender, Peppermint, Clary Sage, Bergamot and Pomegranate Seed Oil counteracts the effects of sunshine deprivation providing a grounding effect that acts to synchronize and balance the body, mind & soul. The prefect stress reliever for today’s world.

Some of my favorite ways to use the Renew Elixir include:

• While in a stressful moment, pull out the Renew Elixir and take a few minutes to inhale its aroma.  Gives you a quick moment to refocus and re-energize.
• Run a warm bath and tap in a few drops of Renew and soak and relax.  Applying a few drops to the palms of your hands and massage it over your body after a bath or shower.  Tingly and invigorating!
• Neck tension anyone?  Rub a drop or two to the back of your neck and massage in (or ask someone else to do this for you).  Very soothing.
• Before going to yoga or skiing lately I have applied a drop to each ear lobe and on my wrist pulse points.  Energizing and inspiring to get me moving!

Such a simple but lovely product and so many ways to use this in our busy, hectic lives!! 

The Renew Elixir is sold at the Drops of Nature website store for $25.00 and it will last and last.  A single drop goes a long way, and if you love the smell of peppermint, lavender and citrus, you will adore the Renew Elixir like I do!   Breathing is so much nicer when there is something pleasant to smell while doing it!

The only thing that is better than finding an amazing skincare line, is getting to interview the phenomenal people that are behind these companies.

Name: Suki Kramer
Position: Founder, President and Product formulator of Suki, Inc.
URLs/links: www.sukipure.com and www.sukicolor.com
Business started: incorporated in 2002

Jen: Please introduce yourself, Suki. What lead you into starting your own skincare and cosmetic company?

Suki: Hi there!

Well, I had throughout my life struggled with skin sensitivities, allergies and chronic eczema and was driven by the frustration of trying everything – endless commercial and pharmaceutical skin treatments and cosmetics. what I was looking for just didn’t exist. I wanted a product that was 100% clean and pure but that actually worked but since I am a product person, the product had to be high end, sensual, beautiful¦make me feel great. They had to smell amazing but not overwhelmingly perfumey.

So I started sukipure my skincare line. Of course I have also looked for the same kind of uniqueness in makeup. I wanted all creams because for me, powders are less than ideal for many reasons they tend to sit on top the skin looking like make up not like my skin but enhanced, powder tends to settle into fine lines and pores and powder is messy. creams allow me as a formulator incorporate active skin care ingredients to actually create makeup that functions like skincare. and the palette is so adaptable to all skin types. I wanted the full range – shimmers that hit the light beautifully but didn’t overwhelm like glitter to mattes that also felt full and lush. And of course, all in bases that never irritated my skin or my system. So I launched sukicolor both lines born out of my own desires and needs.

Jen: What is your typical day like?

Suki:  Pretty crazy from the time I wake up!

I go from project to project very hurriedly with no breaks. I am redesigning the skincare brand, refining it, tweaking it a bit for an early 8 re-launch which is a huge and nerve racking undertaking especially after this color line launch but exciting. We are constantly growing and transitioning so we never sit in one comfortable place for any length of time, not even a day it seems. It’s a constant adjustment of personnel, energy, time and vision.

I’m now trying to set a plan so that we have a clear vision for the coming year and my staff can really take over and make decisions without me. They are truly an amazing group and so incredibly dedicated and hardworking. I think we all believe in what we are doing more than just as a job especially because we all get to see so many amazing letters of thanks and such touching notes from clients going through hard times who have been helped by the line. That really makes it all so rewarding. I never expected that when I started this.

Jen: What were the turning points in your life?

Suki: Changing high schools from a mainstream one to an alternative, performing arts high school, finally during that time meeting a group of people I really felt I belonged with, moving here to Massachusetts from Chicago at 18, putting myself through college and completing that, starting my business and just never giving up.

I’ve been in various stages of insecurity each step of the way but much stronger at every age. I started to feel differently about myself around my 40th birthday and I was so happy to be turning 40,less caring of what other people thought of me, more confident, happier with myself. This business and all the good and so so difficult that goes with it has been a great gift for me. Has made me a much stronger person than I even was but it is tough and there have been many turning points along the way just in the past few years. I think I am basically the same scared self critical girl inside always but less so now. Maybe at 80 I’ll completely shake it off. lol

Jen: Who were your childhood heroes? Who are your heroes now?

Dancers/ performers: Judy Garland, Shirley Maclaine, Gene Kelly, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Rudolf Nureyev, Fred Astaire – now people with courage and people who think critically about themselves and the world.

Jen: Ah-ha! Now I have deduced that you are a singer, a dancer, and an actress! Performing Arts High School? Pretty impressive Suki!

So, back on track here… What is the biggest mistake women make with their beauty regimen? How could they go about changing that?

Suki: Believing magazine reporting on how to care for skin or what is healthy-because they don’t realize its all about the advertisers, the trends, what’s trendy this month or season and not really about truth or education, slathering themselves with sunscreen if the only sun they are ever getting is driving to work, being impatient for results.

Be critical and cynical. Those aren’t negative terms. Those are characteristics of intelligence. Especially in this day and age.

Jen: What would be your 3 could not survive without desert island beauty items?

Suki: Well, basic survival mode: I gotta say castile soap, ethyl alcohol and some kind of oil, probably coconut or cocoa butter.

Spa island? Lemongrass cleanser, white willow toner, and lip repair butter.

Many Thanks Suki, for your courage and determination to create the best of the best skin products out there! How wonderful to learn more about your personal and business story. I am certainly inspired to become a bit more fearless, and to be more actively critical and cynical (in a smart, good way) in my own life!

Beautiful, smart, and 40? Yeah Suki, you rock!

Let me introduce to you Christy Kane, her amazing website and some of wonderful things she has to offer!

Inspired by Christy’s dolls and stories the Chiodo Bros created a short animated film “Callalilly” which is a cautionary tale of the Kane sisters!  Callalilly’s Tale is taken from Christy’s book, “Tales of the Sisters Kane“  which is a collection of 4 tales about the dolls  & on a fun side note, all the dolls from the book have cameo’s in Callalilly!  In a similar way to  one of our favorite Roald Dahl classics Matilda, Christy Kane incorporates a powerful moral in this story of a young girl who wishes to master the piano:

A temper if not tamed,

can leave a little rag doll mamed.

Please dear viewer whatever you do, don’t let your temper get the best of you!!!

You can watch the complete film of Callalilly on YouTube at this link.  This film immediately became near and dear to me and my five daughters, and if you love Tim Burton or Roald Dahl, you will be sure to love Christy Kane’s Callalilly (and her many friends and sisters, especially Clarabelle and Annabelle)!

Christy handcrafts her dolls and sells several products (including very cool tees  and stickers) at the Christy Kane Etsy Shoppe!   She reports that her dolls usually take five days to make individually (depending on how much caffeine or sugar she consumes)!

Loving you Christy Kane, and so happy to have bumped into you.   I’ll try to keep my temper, promise!

A few weeks ago, a good friend of mine called me up in tears.  An acquaintance had commented on a photo my friend had uploaded on Facebook:  “You must have turned heads in your heyday.”

 ”Sweetie,” I said.  “You’re gorgeous!  Forget about it.” 

Right. How can we forget dings to our beauty -intentional or not-when we’ve been taught to care how people view us?  “Does my butt look big in this?”-a demand for reassurance disguised as a question.  “Do I look old?”-we ask the mirror, studying every cavernous pore and buying creams to combat wrinkles and age spots.  We count calories, we cut fat grams.  We wear our fat jeans on bloated days only to curse our fat genes because every day is a bloated day. 

I remember the first time I was called ugly.  I was eight and arguing with my father who sneered that I was acting like a stepmother-you know, the ugly, mean ones who populate fairy tales.  The second time I was called ugly, I was spat upon by the racist in my high school.  And the third time?  I had just moved to Australia and was in a bush pub when a drunkard eyed me over his cavalry line of empty beer steins and slurred, “God, you’re really ugly.” 

Luckily, three times isn’t the charm.  I’m not dragging myself through life, the poster child for All Things Ugly.  What saved me from seeing myself as ugly wasn’t being shortlisted as the cover model for a magazine or being named princess at many a high school ball.  It was Maya Angelou’s poem, PHENOMENAL WOMAN.  Her words opened my eyes to transcendent and incandescent Beauty: 

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies. 
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size… 
I say, 
It’s in the reach of my arms 
The span of my hips, 
The stride of my step, 
The curl of my lips. 
I’m a woman 
Phenomenally. 
Phenomenal woman, 
That’s me. 

I held the poem in my hands-the words a map to Me.  To my inner and outer Beauty.  And as I whispered those words-phenomenal woman, that’s me-I realized I’ve been glorifying an unattainable fashion-model beauty as mythic as Aphrodite.  That fashion-model beauty is transient-here today, gone in ten, maybe twenty years.  That fashion-model beauty isn’t even real in today’s plasticized, photoshopped world. 

Once I stopped buying into fashion-model beauty, I realized that our society’s worst insult leveled at a girl-God, you’re really ugly-is actually…laughable. 

I’d rather be The Most Phenomenal Me I can be than The Most Beautiful Girl in the room.  One will sustain me forever, the other will fade and leave me yearning for my glory days.  I don’t want to live in memories of my past prime when I have the beauty of now. 

One of the reasons why I wrote NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL was (in my humble way!) to attempt to put Maya’s glorious words into prose for today’s girls, especially since I think the media’s insistence that we be forever thin and young and beautiful is even more prevalent than ever.  I wanted to challenge women and girls not just to define beauty for themselves, but to find beauty in themselves. 

What is truly beautiful?  For me, I find beauty in a person’s spirit, generosity, confidence.  It’s being honest and brave and doing the right thing.  It’s being at our own personal best physical and spiritual shape.  It’s about making a difference, leaving the world itself more beautiful. 

What can be more truly beautiful than living so fully and generously that every day is our heyday?  So let’s write our own Beauty Vow:  make every day our heyday.  Find your own beauty.  Be phenomenal.  Start now. 

To true beauty,

Justina 

Justina Chen Headley is an award-winning novelist for teens.  Her most recent novel, NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL, has earned starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus. Drop Justina a comment on her blog: 

www.justinachenheadley.blogspot.com. 

The Find Beauty Challenge

So phenomenal girls around the world, here’s my challenge to you:  Define beauty.  True beauty.   

Load a 90-second video telling me and the world what is beautiful to you on www.youtube.com/northofbeautiful.  You could win an iTouch for yourself.  Plus, I’ll donate $10 for every uploaded video (up to $1,000) to Global Medical Surgeries, which helps kids with cleft lips and palates in third world countries.   

For all the rules, check out www.justinachenheadley.com.

How about a little show and tell story? This is a story about my hair, and it is a bit of a sob story. Here is my picture at the age of 2 in 1971 with my older sister, Monique, and younger brother, Eddie. Can you guess which one I am?

My sister has always had stunningly gorgeous, very dark brunette hair. She could wear it short, or easily grow it very long. She had just the perfect balance of waves and thickness.

In the early 80’s when the style was preppy, she could wear perfect wispy bangs and draw the rest back with a stylish pink and green ribbon headband. On lazy mornings, she could sweep it all up in a ponytail, simple and elegant.

When hair styles went bigger and wavier in the mid 80’s, she got a body wave perm. Monique could then style it any way she pleased: full and wavy, or blow dryer straight with curled ends. Yes, I thought my sister had the perfect hair, and I was always green with envy.

I was born with very little hair, and the little hair I had the nurses immediately shaved off. After my delivery, I had some breathing issues and severe jaundice that led to having an IV being placed in my scalp. After a few months, my true hair started coming in. My hair had the appearance of yellowish downy feathers like what you see on a baby duck.

As I got older, and my hair grew, my mother tried several things and consulted with many women at the local beauty shops. At the age of 2, she gave me my first home perm in hopes of giving it some curl and control. I can remember at times standing next to my Mom in the checkout line at the grocery store, or at church, and someone would ask her, What happened to your daughter’s hair? Bad perm or something? It always amazed me how people would make these comments and think I didn’t understood what was being said, or that I wouldn’t feel badly about their statements.

I have many memories of my Mom trying to brush my hair out in the morning before school. My scalp just grew accustomed to the pain. It was no use complaining. I just had to accept it. I usually would avoid looking at myself in the mirror as well. In the morning, my Mom would slick it down with Vaseline and water and pull it tightly into a pigtail. By the end of the day, it would be bursting out of the pigtail all over the place. One big frizz ball.

When hearing the story of the Ugly Duckling, I truly believed that I was that duckling.

While growing up, I learned little by little how to try different techniques and products to make my hair look better. Luckily, by high school, I could actually make my hair presentable. It would take a lot of time and work. I usually would wake up at 5:30 am to have enough time to wash, blow dry, set curlers, and style my hair. And usually, if I went out again after school, I would need to re-wash and re-style my hair. .Seriously, the amount of time and energy I have spent on my hair is staggering to think about! And the end product still left me self-conscious and embarrassed.

That is until March of this year, when something inside me couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t torture, blow dry and fight against the hair God gave me one more day.
I believe it was nothing short of divine intervention that sent me to NaturallyCurly.com and Lorraine Massey’s book, Curly Girl. Without a doubt, these two sources of information have changed my life and given me a new found love and appreciation for my hair.

I only wish I had learned to be comfortable and confident with my hair before now. All those years of despair, feeling like an outcast and believing I had a flaw that made me different from other children. All that time thinking I was an ugly duckling waiting to become a swan when in fact I was an adorable little chick!

That is also what inspired me to create my blog and share these experiences. Writing out those memories still gets to me. I sincerely hope that we can empower each other by sharing our knowledge and building each other up. I want to get the word out so that the little Jenny’s out there can benefit from my experience and learn to accept themselves for the beautiful people they are! Embrace yourself and your hair, no matter what!

Wishing you all a safe and prosperous 2009, Happy New Year from the Team at Mythbuster Beauty!