Fabulously Cheeky

When menopause hits, everything changes, not just the figure, but skin color, hair color and even hair texture. The makeup colors you used to be able to get away with, no longer work. The colors of your wardrobe no longer work and even the hair, that may have been your pride and joy, is looking drab and dull. Sigh!
The combination of skin and hair both looking dull, can easily add years to your face in almost no time. When it comes to skin tone, you have only two options – cover it up with a thick layer of makeup, or better, use a tinted moisturizer to even out the skin color and then add some light color to the cheeks to brighten up the face. If your skin tone is warm, use a peachy or light brownish blush on the cheeks. If you skin tone is cool or ruddy, you can get away with a more pinkish blush.

So, what to do about the hair? I always used to have blonde hair, and it looked fine until I got to menopause, but all of a sudden the hair started becoming darker and duller, almost as if it was getting ready to go gray. This definitely didn’t do anything for my skin tone. I looked pale, I felt pale and I knew something had to change. But, the question was, should I go lighter or darker?

I pulled my hair back and got my son to take a picture that I uploaded to ivillage.com. Then I picked a haircut I liked, and just went through all the hair colors. And, the shocking bit was that the blonder the hair, the more washed out I looked. So much for the myth that blonder looks better on older women, and the idea that if you are born blonde, blonde is your best color. I actually have an odd coloring that always gives me a hassle when trying to pick makeup as well. My eyes are blue, my hair naturally blonde, but my skintone is pale, warm (yellow undertone) with freckles.
When I was younger and had less freckles, blonde looked fine, but now, it just washes me out. Medium brown looked better than blonde against my pale skin, and chestnut reddish brown was probably my best option. So, I took the jump. I bought some natural henna (Logona Chestnut), and for the first time in my life, everyone I met started commenting on my hair color. Hm… I must be on to something.

So, if your hair looks bla, don’t just assume that blonde will be a fix-all solution. I know a brunette who recently went golden blonde, and it looks awful. Not only does the color look fake, it really washes her out, too.

Here is a link to a hair coloring expert showing you some solutions based on skin tone. CLICK HERE to see.

Tags: hair color

I just found out today that the EWG (environmental working group – cosmeticsdatabase) is flexing their political power by trying to get through a bill that will regulate the sale of cosmetics products in Colorado. If it goes through, you can no longer call your product natural or organic, or even sell your product in Colorado, if it contains any products that can be hazardous to your health.
I think this is a great thing! But everyone else who are selling products that can jeopardize your health are extremely upset. They are trying to justify the use of hazardous ingredients simply because they refuse to change. From what I have read in different blogs, they even try to justify the use of preservatives containing formaldehyde, saying that it is easy for the body to get rid of this type of toxin, and lead, which they claim occurs naturally in the water in many places, etc, etc.
Their arguments simply don’t make any sense, except if you look at it from a monetary perspective. Why would someone choose to use a preservative that contains formaldehyde if healthier alternatives exist? Only one reason – it is cheaper than the more natural preservatives.
So, does that mean that monitary profit should be more important than the health of the people who purchase the product? I hope not! That would be simply heartless!
One problem that consumers have is that they trust that whatever is on the shelves in a store is safe to use. NOT SO!!! Presently, there are no regulations as to what you can and can’t put into your products. Even so called “organic” products can contain up to 30% poison and still be called “organic.” But this new law, if it is passed, will not only regulate the kind of ingredients that will be allowed in skin care and makeup products, the companies that break the law can be fined anywhere from $5,000.00-$10,000.00!!! And, if this law is accepted in Colorado, there is every chance that other states will follow.
Needless to say, every company out there, who has fooled people into thinking that their products were totally natural and safe to use, are now screaming very loud because they will either have to change, or they’ll basically be out of business (or get fined).
I am very excited about this development – it is time that the truth about skin care products are exposed. People have the right to know what they are putting on their skins, and people should also be able to trust that the products that are sold in the stores are safe to use. So, the wind of change is blowing in the New Age…
To visit my Green Beauty Cosmetics site where all the products are rated green by the cosmeticsdatabase, CLICK HERE!

Tags: cosmeticsdatabase, safe cosmetics

Are you wondering how to bring out your best assets with makeup when what you used to do no longer works for you? I found this great video on youtube that I thought you might enjoy. CLICK HERE to see.

I love Carmindy’s concept that she introduces in her book “Get Positively Beautiful,” that everyone of us are beautiful in our own ways. We have this little negative voice inside our heads that start yapping every time we look in the mirror. “Look at those lines, look at those dark circles, oh, you just got a new spot, and I wish my nose was smaller and my chin was tighter, bla, bla, bladibla…”
She says, “When was the last time you looked in the mirror and said “Hi gorgeous!” or “You’re hot!”? For some strange reason, we always listen more to the negative voice in our heads, than to anyone’s compliments, and this attitude has to change.
Instead of focusing on everything we don’t like about ourselves, we must shift the focus to what we actually do like, and enhance this.
I say “enhance,” not “cover up.” Unfortunately, many makeup gurus believe that the older we get, the more we should just cover ourselves under a thick, mask like layer of makeup. Not so. We must make our natural beauty shine by enhancing our best assets with subtle, sheer makeup colors that makes it look like we are just naturally radiant. I much prefer this look, where people can see the effect of your makeup without being able to tell how much makeup you are really wearing, than the halloween like cover up of heavy makeup. It is definitely an art – to subtly enhance without piling it on with a spacle knife.
Anyway, if you want to know what your best assets are, stand in front of a mirror with your eyes closed. Open your eyes quickly and close them again. What was the first thing that caught your attention? Was it your eyes? Your cheeks? Your lips?
Whatever it was, that is the part that you must always be enhanced with some kind of subtle makeup. Do you have beautiful round cheeks, deep mysterious eyes or lushious lips? Bring it out more! This is your own unique beauty. Like they said in the Cover Girl Declaration, we must “Stand up for our beauty.” Just remember, there is a million ways to be beautiful – just being yourself is enough!

Tags: Beauty

Cover Girl just sent me an email. For some reason, I opened it, instead of just trashing it, and it had a declaration about beauty in there that was really cool. It was all about how we are all beautiful in our own ways, regardless of dress size, age and dark circles. They are even having a contest where you can make a 1 minute video clip to show how you stand up for your own beauty (and you can win $50,000.00…)
I thought I’d share the link with you, in case you want your voices heard. All you have to do is read the declaration and sign it, to protest the fake beauty ideals that we all suffer from.
CLICK HERE to learn more.

A few days ago, I found out that Physician’s Formula has made a new product line called Organic Wear. Two products caught my attention and I ended up buying them. One was the Organic Wear mascara, and the other was the tinted moisturizer.
The mascara claimed to be all organic and paraben free, and the first ecocert certified organic mascara in United States. So, I thought “I better give this a try.” I know how much it costs to ecocert certify a product – something like $500.00 pr product. They also spent a lot on product packaging. The container tube has a very earthy look with a fancy, schmanzy green shiny top etc. Obviously, nothing was spared in making this product. So I ended up buying it.
After I bought it, I researched it on the cosmeticsdatabase, but I couldn’t find a rating for it. Maybe it is just too new. But, on amazon.com, I found a review that said that it only lasted two hours before she looked like a racoon.
So, I put it on at 8am, and by 10am I looked in the mirror, and sure enough, two racoon eyes looked back at me! I wiped off the black stuff, and every time I went to the bathroom that day, I had to wipe a little more. In the evening, I had a shower. A few drops of water dripped on my eyelashes, and by the time I got out, the racoon eyes had slid all the way down to my cheeks. Now, I looked like I was ready for halloween!!!

It is amazing to me, that a company who put that much money and effort into creating an organic, certified formula, packaged in the latest high tec recyclable packaging, would’nt let a few women wear the stuff first, before they went to all the effort of certifying it! Two or three ladies, wearing the stuff for one day, could have instantly told them that this formula is useless and that it needs a lot more work before anyone will actually use the stuff! So, save your money. The only good thing about the product was the brush – I liked that very much. The rest is being returned to the shop the next time I’m in town.

The other product I tried was their tinted moisturizer from Organic Wear with SPF 15. This one rates at a 4 at the cosmeticsdatabase, which isn’t really impressive for a product that is supposed to be totally non-toxic and organic, but oh, well. Good foundations or tinted moisturizers are hard to come by, so I thought I’d try it anyway.

One of the reviews on amazon said that the cream wasn’t rich enough, and that it caked before the day was over. So, I decided to use my own Green Beauty Cosmetics products under it. First, I moisturized my skin with hydrating spritz and acai serum. Next I added the hand, face and night cream to create an emollient barrier that would keep the moisture from evaporating. And, then I topped it with the tinted moisturizer from Physicians Formula.

The color and texture was very nice. It was neither too yellow, nor too pink. It covered lightly and just helped smooth out the skin color. It made my cheeks look very satiny, and even though I spent most of the day outside in the freezing cold, it still didn’t cake by the end of the day.
I think the key was the emollient barrier that I applied under the tinted moisturizer. It just kept my skin soft and nurtured, and probably blended nicely with the moisturizer.
I can recommend this moisturizer – it wasn’t bad! Hopefully, I’ll make my own version some time soon, but for now, this is definitely worth trying! Just remember that if you have mature skin, you need to put a proper moisturizer and emollient barrier under it, since mature skin has less oils than younger skin.

Department store moisturizer, such as this one, isn’t made for mature skin. It just isn’t rich enough to be applied directly to the skin because we don’t produce enough natural oils to stop it from caking. That is why you’ll have more luck if you apply a moisturizing serum and a rich emollient barrier cream under it first… (I guess making products for menopausal women isn’t anyone’s priority – too bad. I’ll just have to do it myself…)

Let’s face it! Menopause can be rough on our skin, especially around the eyes. If you are one of those women who have lose eyelids that creates lots of little wrinkles, don’t despair! You can still make them “pop” by using makeup the right way.
First of all, the upper eyelid needs to be lined with a liner pencil. Hopefully, you can find one that is soft enough that it glides on without tugging and pulling. Make sure you fill in little dots between your eyelashes to make them look fuller. Next, take a cotton bud and smudge the line a bit, so it doesn’t look too harsh.
The best eye shadow for this kind of eyelid is a simple matte brown shadow. Put it over the liner and smudge it upwards. Super easy! Then, curl the lashes if you wish, and top it off with 2 coats of mascara, and a little bit of high lighter shadow in the inner corner.
Make sure you don’t forget your eyebrows. The softest way to darken them, is to use eyebrow powder. Finish off the eyebrows by rubbing them with a little bit of hairspray on your finger.
The eyes are the mirror to the soul, and nicely made up eyes flatters women of any age…

Ideally, your eyes are supposed to be one eye size apart. If you are one of the lucky ones who fit this ideal, you don’t need to read this post. But for the rest of us, who aren’t quite that perfect, we can still look good with makeup. We just have to know how!
The first thing to do, if you think your eyes are closed set, is to check your eye brows. Put a pencil next to your nose and see if your eye brows go past the pencil, towards the nose. If your eyebrows are also too close together, you can easily fix it by nipping out a few of the hairs that are creeping towards your nose. Once you get your eyebrows a little further apart, your eyes will also seem to move apart.

Next, make sure you put a highlight color in the inner corner of your eyes. This will make you look wide eyed (and bushy tailed) in no time.
If you are using any kind of dark contour color, it should only be used around the outer corner of the eye. The same applies if you use eye liner or pencil. Only line the eye from the middle and out on both upper and lower eyelids. If you try to line the whole eye, you’ll look like your eyes just moved an inch closer to each other, so forget lines all the way to the inner corner.
Think out and up, and light towards the nose and dark on the outer corner. Also, don’t put dark color in the crease more than half way in.
Finish it off with mascara on both upper and lower lashes. Wait for it to dry, and then put more on only the outer half top lashes. Now take a look in the mirror. Even with subtle day time colors, the difference is huge!

Tags: Makeup Tips

Glossy vinyl looking lips are in! And, I must admit, I do love that look! But, however, innocent your lipgloss tube may look, it should actually come with a warning on it!

What you don’t know is that the glossiness of the lip gloss acts as a magnifying glass on your lips when the sun hits it, so it actually increases the effect of the UV on your lips.

The skin on your lips and upper chest and eyelids is thinner than anywhere else on your body, and is therefore more susceptible to sun damage than the rest of your skin. And, if you then add a shiny liquid with no sun protection in it, you can easily end up with lip cancer (which is both dangerous and deforming).

Evidently, lip cancer is more aggressive and faster moving than many other cancers. So, this kind of lipgloss should be saved for evening looks only.

The first sign of trouble is if your lips are constantly chapped and dry, no matter what kind of lip balm you apply, so go and see a doctor if this is the case. And always look for natural lip balm or lip tint with SPF. You can even put some under your lipstick!