Rainy bad hair and make-up days

The weather has been nasty for the past few days in the East Coast. I wish it would rain hard or just stop. Right now it feels like the humidifier is on full blast and so you kind of need an umbrella but you kind of don't. What does this all mean? Bad hair and make up day. Not good. Here's a solution.

Keep make up to a minimum. Switch to dark eyeshadow and line your eyes with dark brown or black instead of using liquid eye liner which can smear because of the rain. To keep the color balance, use lighter brown eye brow color and wear a hue darker lipstick. I really like the Clinique lipstick which doesn't feel like the traditional thick lipstick but it also isn't gooey like lipgloss.

For a bad hair day, simply pull it back into a ponytail. Your face can look bigger so to offset that, pull out some bangs and wear elongated pair of earrings. This will make your face appear longer.

Shannen Doherty is a bad example. Her hair is too tightly pulled back and she is not wearing long earrings thereby accentuating her larger veneers. Oh, I hope Dancing with the Stars works out for her. I used to love Brenda days on 90210.

Remember, bad weather is never an excuse for bad taste.

Freckles and Brown Spots

This entry is for my Brazilian Korean American friend...

Koreans and Brazilians share a passion for red meat. The similarity ends there because while Brazilians love going to sun bathe, Koreans absolutely abhor it. Koreans have all sorts of "whitening" creams (which is racist I know), that exist in almost every brand. What does it mean to be white anyway? I think what poor-grammar Koreans mean (at least I hope) is that the cream lightens darkened spots due to sun exposure.

My Brazilian Korean American friend has two added layers to her dilemma. 1. She now lives in the US which scares its people about the consequences of over sun exposure, and 2. she lives in Southern California where beauty is the key to XXX (you name it). I didn't realize that Southern Californians were more likely to be image conscious than the rest of the country until I arrived to the east coast. This fact might be common sense to most, but it was news to me after the fourth time I exclaimed silently, "what the heck is she wearing?" And I still implode when I observe deep-yellow set of teeth. How do they face people that way? I know, the Southern Californian gift is awful.

Ok, so to get to this issue of freckles and brown spots. A huge percentage of sun damage already happens once you hit your teens. Therefore, the practice of wearing sun screen and avoiding of the sun between sun peak time (12-2 pm) is important. However, once you have freckles and brown spots, you should begin to use a "lightening" cream that contains hydroquinone or HQ cream. HQ creams come in 0.5% to 4% (prescription strength). You can ask your dermatologist to prescribe a higher percentage one for you but one with 2% can also be found over-the-counter.

My dermatologist used to make her own with 2% HQ and retin-A. This helps slough off dead skin cells, rejuvenate, and lighten your dark spots. Pigments are interesting in that using these products (higher HQ under supervision of your dermatologist) does not make your entire face lighter but evens out the skin tone and color.

Also recommended are micro dermabrasions. There are many places that offer micro dermabrasions but going to a licensed aesthetician is the best way to ensure that you won't be leaving with half your face on the masseuse table at a shady spa.

Finally, for darker spots, you may need laser treatments. These are costly and can actually do the reverse in making the spots darker. It's a risk but the consequence might be a spotless face. Choose your battles wisely. If the spot isn't too dark, it's best to opt for the HQ cream and invest in preventive care (SPF 30). Also remember that your hands are prone to brown spots so apply sunscreen on them too!

Bad Breath

I am compelled to write this entry after an unfortunate run-in with bad breath.

Here are some pointers from a conversation with my dentist brother. I actually called him after my run-in because I had good faith that he would explain the bad breath phenomenon with clarity. First to point out is that sometimes you might have bad breath and not know it. I was convinced that I would know when I have bad breath but he said that sometimes, I wouldn't know unless someone told me. So this applies to us all, not just the dangerous few with bad hygiene.

If you're a protein eater (beef, chicken, fish, etc) then you are more prone to bad breath because protein smells, not carbohydrates. Protein particles can get stuck between your teeth and remain on your tongue which causes bad breath. Another reason your breath might smell is because you haven't eaten breakfast or because you haven't eaten in a while. This is because acid sits in your stomach and the only way to neutralize the smell of acid is food. For example, anorexics would normally have terrbile breath. If you're an anorexic, you have been warned: you're not only harming your own bodies but others as well.

Stomach issues is another factor but that's for the medical doctors to deal with. If someone says something like, "Hey, are you drunk?" But then you haven't taken a drink since Billy Blanks stopped making TaeBo videos, then it means you have stomach issues. Bro says that stomach related bad breath would smell more like alcohol than the common bad breath. Seek medical help.

Simple steps can be taken to counter bad breath.

1. eat breakfast and food every 5-8 hours.

2. brush your tongue with your toothbrush. Not enough people do this.

3. use mouthwash to kill bacteria

4. chew gum. This only masks the smell temporarily.

5. floss! Protein gets stuck between teeth and they're hard to reach with your toothbrush alone.

Final note: my brother suggests that mechanical is always better than chemical, meaning that mouthwash (chemical) is not as effective as brushing and flossing (mechanical). Chemical options only kills easy-to-remove surface level bacteria.

Happy Brushing!

p.s. if you're the person I was sitting next to today in class and you're now reading this, we don't ever have to discuss this entry. Just please follow the steps above.

Plastic Surgery

Wow, I'm so behind on this topic! Heidi probably has gotten ten other surgeries by now. I've been neglecting this post only because there is so much to say about plastic surgery. I recently had lunch with two Christian girls from an elite university and they were so against plastic surgery. They're good girls, but also single. haha. jk. ok, they are single, but. anyway.

So I used to work at an up-and-coming plastic surgeon's office in Beverly Hills. Check out his website. I learned a lot from working there, for eg, if you take Vicodin with alcohol you get a really nice high. Or that you should never assume the rather young man who picks up the "overflowing" patient with a new set of double Ds is her husband who paid for the surgery. Interesting thing I observed (of course my inner academic researcher comes out) is that contrary to my hypothesis that young white girls get breast augmentation, it is usually the recent Vietnamese divorces with white younger boyfriends who get them. ok, that was a heavy loaded sentence there. Yes. Asian women dating white men getting gargantuan ta-tas. Did you get an image?

Anyway, so since I clearly have a lot to say about plastic surgery, I will focus on breast augmentation for this entry. I can't comment on Heidi anymore, too much said and written on her already. I think the girl needs a break. She looked fine before but this new look works too. I guess the problem is her obsession with plastic surgery. She's gonna end up looking like Donatella Versace in a few years unless she slows down with the distorted image. But, there are really great cases too like when Ashley Simpson got her nose job. The discourse around her surgery wasn't, "I can't believe Ashley Simpson succumbed to surgery!" but rather more like: "oh, much better." I was happy for her. I was never a fan of either of the Simpson girls, but Ashley's nose allowed me to get past her Simpson family tree.

So here's the breakdown on breast augmentation. You can either choose silicone (Dr. 90210 charges 8k for this pair) or salines for a smaller fee. Silicones are FDA approved since 2008 but salines have been around for much longer. If you want to have an umbilical breast augmentation which leaves no scars, then salines are your only choice. However, they don't feel as "real" and sometimes when you're tossing around in bed, you can hear the swishing noise from the salines. It's like the water bed resurrected!

Silicones feel more natural but they can only be done through the areola or the underarms.

The caution for breast augmentation in general is that you must be diligent about massaging them so that they don't develop scar tissues or harden. About 5 minutes a day for the life of them is the way to go. There's also the risk of your body rejecting the implants which isn't super common but it happens. I usually see how excited ppl. are to get their "pointers" that they hardly pay attention to these warnings. Then the few ppl. who need surgery to fix the problem or in worse case, have them removed cry and get all upset over the mishap. If you find a good doctor who is plastic surgery certified, the problem is usually the patient, not the doctor. In any case, it's important to take this caution seriously before proceeding with surgery.

The more common problem is that the size ends up looking much smaller than expected. This may be a huge disappointment if you were expecting to appear on Stuff magazine. At the same time, going too big can make it really obvious and ppl. in your office may assume that since they're fake it's ok to look and touch.

Ok, one more cautionary note. Getting breast augmentation will NOT make you more beautiful. It might make you feel sexy but sexy also doesn't mean attractive (at least not all the time. I'm thinking of the mom in American Pie and Peggy Bundy). If it boosts your self-esteem then go for it, but it will not magically make you more pretty. And why would you want men who want you for your bosoms? Ok, no need to answer that. But just letting my readers know. big boobs does not mean more game. If you want to be more beautiful, then we gotta look at a different example, i.e. Ashley Simpson's nose.

Plastic Sx. Definitely next up.

Nioxin or Rogaine?

This man is beautiful.

This woman is not.
So the question remains, Nioxin or Rogaine? I admit, I tried both. My case is not as bad as the two examples above, but I have been dealing with hair loss or thinning hair since my Accutane days. I didn't discuss on my Acne post but my acne was so bad that I did two rounds of Accutane with great facial skin results. I say facial because it actually destroyed my liver and kidneys. Accutane is extremely harmful and now women need to take a pregnancy test monthly and do blood tests just to make sure that you're not slowly dying (with great skin). It's super high dose of Vitamin A which is not a water soluble vitamin. Too much of anything is bad, lesson learned. Anyway, part of the side affect was hair loss for me. It's not very noticeable, but I also don't have the sex appeal of having a full bodied hair. Seriously, if you take close look at some women who you perceive as HOT, they really might not be, it might just be their nice head of hair. You will rarely find female celebrities with too little or thinning hair. It just doesn't complete the package without the big flowy hair.

So, Nioxin. First, read what I found as a review below:

5.0 out of 5 stars It works, March 30, 2009
By D. Childs (Northeastern USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
I am 49 and have been using this Nioxin products for as long as the
company has been around. I have a full head of hair. My brother
sneered at my use of this product 20 years ago but he has since gone
completely bald.

Another lesson learned. Listen to your siblings. They will tell you when you are balding.

Nioxin comes in 8 different "systems." I will only mention the ones that are not for chemically enhanced hair because you really shouldn't be doing that if you're balding anyway.

System 1: For Fine, Natural, Normal to Thin-Looking Hair

System 2: For Fine, Natural, Noticeably Thinning Hair

System 5: For Medium/Coarse, Natural, Normal to Thin-Looking Hair

system 6: For Medium/Coarse, Natural, Noticeably Thinning Hair

For systems 5 and 6 the website has a picture of black people. That's a side note. I've met plenty of Asians with coarse hair so since this blog aims to be racially sensitive, I thought I should add that.

Rogaine comes in two strengths: for men and women. FDA believed that women should not be using the strength as for men, but my dermatologist assured that it's ok now. Still, just to be safe, I would stick with the women Rx if you're a woman so that you can sue the company if something happens to you.

That being said, Rogaine really made my scalp itch. I used to faithfully for about 2 months and then all of a sudden I woke up 3 nights in a row because my scalp was so itchy! Once I discontinued using it the itchiness stopped. Maybe it's a sign that it's working but if you're scratching your head in the middle of the night, then first, your partner will no longer be attracted to you, and second, you might scratch all your hair off.

Rogaine is also a little difficult to use. The application tip kind of hurts.

So my pick is Nioxin. It has a nice pepperminty scent and I saw a noticeable difference in the amount of hair that no longer falls off. Even if you're not noticeably thinning, I think this shampoo and conditioner system is very good quality. I would recommend purchasing the large bottles on Amazon. They're pricier than like Pantene or Pert Plus or whatever you use, but if you think about the money you'll save on hair transplants, then it's worth it. Chump change.

Next up: Hairloss

Nioxin versus Rogaine. That is a good question.

Tired

Ok, I'm going to do a little research on this and post more later. I think everyone should figure out how their body and mind responds when they are tired (tiredness caused by lack of sleep, poor diet, and/or stress). Some people already shared that they either get dark circles around their eyes, lines underneath their eyes, and/or sappy yellowish skin. Please let me know but till then I'll share how my body responds and then hopefully others who experience the same thing can benefit from it.

When I get tired, my eyes and cheeks swell up. Sorta like this lady here, maybe not as bad.

By the way, the Asian girl in the previous post was not me. Someone asked me that and no offense to her because with 30 days with me I think I can revolutionize her. haha. jk. But not me. And this lady, def not me either.

I had to keep a track of when my eyes and cheeks tended to get swollen. Here's what I found:

1. Sleeping way past my regular sleeping time (our body doesn't like change)

2. Sleeping way earlier than my regular time (or sleeping too much)

3. Drinking too much water before bed

4. Eating salty or carb-y food within 2 hours of sleeping

5. Sleeping without a pillow

6. Crying the day before

7. Super low humidity

Ok. So some of these might be a little more obvious than others. For e.g., eating before sleep. But not all food makes you bloat. If you're starving, eat an apple or a kiwi, not the leftover Papa John's Pizza. Less obvious from the list is sleeping without a pillow. A slight elevation is important because this prevents water retention on your face. Don't believe me?

Get a nose job and sleep without a pillow. All the swelling around your nose will stay there for days unless you tilt your head up, thus causing the fluids to flow down. (small picture on right because the bigger version is really gross).

Super low humidity also makes me swell. To fix this problem, get a humidifier. I bought a cheap one at Walgreens and it sucks. Pay the extra ten bucks and get a better one. You can also get a medium size container, fill it with water and leave it close by your bed. Not as effective as a humidifier but at least there will be some moisture in the air. You'll be surprised how quickly the water evaporates especially in homes with radiators.

I think the best advice is to work out in the morning. I don't mean a light work out but even something for about 10 minutes that get you sweating. For e.g., jump rope for 10 minutes really does the trick. Sweating, I think, is the best way to reduce the swelling in your face quickly. You can also go to the sauna but why waste a sweat and shower session without losing a few calories? So work out hard to the point of sweat excretion. Your face will thank you.

Also, try facial yoga. It's ironic because I think moving your face like this would cause more wrinkles but it's training the muscles so seems like it could work. You try it and tell me if you get wrinkles or if it helps. If it helps, then I'll try it. hehe.

Jillian Michaels or P90X?

Here's another favorite topic of mine. Working out.

Please don't spread the word. I was a really really fat kid. shhh. Looked something like this, no offense kid.

I was voted the second fattest girl in elementary school. The fattest girl weighed five pounds more than me but she was also five inches taller than me. Every inch adds another five pounds? Never mind that.

So in eighth grade I began doing what all LA girls do: develop an eating disorder. Not to be funny, really, because it was actually extremely unhealthy. I survived on 2 apples a day and usually faked stomach aches to get out of eating. Sad consequence is a bad digestive system and disproportionately large hands and feet for my short height.

Fast forward to high school and I became addicted to working out. I should be the face of 24 Hour Fitness because I was there rain or shine seven days a week no matter what time of day or night. I guess all the stupid dieting as a child has sort of left me immune to slow paced work outs. I've tried all the great innovative and trying work outs and I have to say that cycling classes take home the cake. But, if you are not a part of a local gym that has classes or has sucky classes, then choosing an at-home video is the way to go.

Thanks to my bff who let me work up a sweat in her living room with Jillian Michaels, I was able to give this Biggest Loser hunkette a try.

Her series is actually quite a work out. She does more of the circuit training where you move from one move to the next and tries to incorporate multiple muscle groups all at once. Besides this creepy grin throughout the video, it's very time efficient and heart-pumpin'. The women on the videos who demonstrate with her also eerily have these fake smiles plastered on their face throughout the difficult work outs, but it gets the job well done. Try it! I highly recommend it. It also has the option of muting her voice so that there is no sound and no deep Jillian voice telling you to do one more rep. I personally like her deep voice; it's commanding.

I also tried P90X. Now this comes in a set of various videos that target different body groups in each work out video. Chest and arms, back and legs, etc. Let me just say here, I am not a fan of Tony Horton. He comes off as having ADD and if I met him at a local hip cafe in Hollywood, I would steer clear away from him. Here's why: google him. I'm having technical difficulties trying to attach his freaky photo.

Anyway, I never did the full 90 days and following the eating plan, like all work outs, is crucial. I don't have the luxury of going grocery shopping frequently so it's difficult to purchase all the necessary fresh food that they recommend. It also just gets pricey. The work outs are not easy but it is a good work out for someone who has the drive to complete the 50 minute videos. After a few sessions with Tony plus commitment, it does get easier to finish the work outs semi successfully. For this series, you'll need dumbells and ideally a pull-up bar. I altered some moves because I don't have the pull-up bar but it's still overall a good work out. Downfall to this video is that Tony just talks way too much. At first it's motivating but after a couple of sessions with him you just want to punch him in the mouth and hope that he doesn't say, "P90X!" If you cut out his non-sense chatter, then you can save 10 minutes. Unlike Jillian's ladies, Tony's people don't have a fake smile on, but they're also not as polished looking. Adds to the rawness of the video (whatever).

My conclusion: try both but I find Jillian Michaels much more sweat wrenching at a shorter period of time.

ACNE SKIN REGIMEN

Believe it or not, I had acne since I was in the 4th grade. Childhood friends, brother, mother and father will attest to this. My dad will probably say that he misses those days when I was chubby and pimply but that's because he can't handle his store customers from Inglewood asking me if I am ready to get down with chocolate. Then we would often get into a discussion of Kimora Lee and whether or not I abide by her philosophy in men. But I digress.

I've tried almost every product out there (e.g. Proactiv, Murad, Accutane, Retin-A). The list could go on and on but I think these are some of the more popular products or ingredients. Retin-A or retinoic acid is also commonly used to treat the appearance of wrinkles so that's probably the best product for more mature skin. Otherwise, follow these steps for at least 30 days and I will guarantee that your problem skin will improve. But first, here is a cheat sheet on various common ingredients.

Benzoyl peroxide: this comes in 2%-10% strength. This product is meant to dry up pustular pimples. It's very strong and very drying so ONLY use this as a spot treatment. When I wash my face, I feel for any pimple-in-the-making and dab on that area before bed. If you're home all day, I would dab on the area 3 times a day. It'll suck dry the pimple and the red bump-to-be will most likely not come to fruition.

I like Clean and Clear's Persa Gel. There are other products with Benzoyl peroxide but I prefer the one from Clean and Clear. Although the ingredient is the same, this one seemed to work the best. I'm using Clearasil B.P. 10% now to spot treat but I will probably switch back.

Salicylic Acid: this is less harsh so can be used all over the skin. Be careful though because some people are allergic to this. Try on a small amount on your neck and see if you react.

Triclosan: this is an anti-bacterial agent in soaps, mouthwashes, toothpaste, and more. My bro who is a dentist was surprised to see this ingredient in my roommate's Noxema facial cleanser. The typical things regarding anything anti-bacterial abide to this ingredient: if over used, you will develop bacterial resistance. I actually am not a huge fan and I haven't really seen it be highly effective.

Ok, so what you should be looking out for is products that are labeled as NON-COMEDOGENIC. Basically, this means non clogging. Be aware that if you are acne prone, then you should make sure that all products you put on your skin should say this. For this reason, I am very hesitant to try products from other countries because they often do not have this extra testing to see whether or not it is non-comedogenic. You might find that some products not labeled as such do not clog your pores but to be safe, stick to this label. Neutrogena, Aveeno, Clean and Clear are non-comedogenic. So make up such as MAC, Origins, Lancome, etc, should be used with caution. Also, do not blindly trust the make-up counter folks. They may say it's non clogging but unless it's labeled that way, they really don't know. They might say something like it's "hypoallergenic" or "for sensitive skin" but that doesn't mean it won't clog your pores.

A simple regimen is listed below. It's best to go to a dermatologist but sometimes they prescribe their own labels (their own line of products) because that's also how they make their money. The dermatologist I worked for was also guilty of this. She had a line where she simply approved of the ingredients and stamped her name on it. If it's safe and easy for you to purchase their products (or if it makes you feel better psychologically) then use it. But it won't be the simplest or cheapest method. Proactiv is a good example. The ingredients are proven to work but it gets expensive after their monthly shipments. You'll have boxes of unopened bottles sitting at the corner of your bathroom by the time you finish your first box and soon you'll be selling this on ebay.

Keep it simple

Morning wash: Cetaphil, Aveeno's Skin Brightening Scrub or just rinse with water

Evening wash: if you don't wear make up, Cetaphil. If you wear make up, try Neutrogena's Fresh Foaming Cleanser or I really like Shiseido's Pureness cleanser.

Treatment: Retin-a all over and benzoyl peroxide to spot treat. A strong retin-a content can only be prescribed but Neutrogena and other brands also have products with retin-a in it.

About once every 2-3 days, you should also use a scrub. This will help slough off any dead skin cells that may be sitting on your skin. Try Deep Clean Gentle Scrub.

I didn't mean to let this post get so long, but I guess I had a lot more to say regarding acne than I thought! I blame years of battling with this plague.... Future posts will assess other products for acne prone and sensitive skin.

Introduction: me

Due to popular demand (Mika and my frumpy alter ego) I am starting this blog on beauty and skincare tips. Let me first make a disclaimer, I am not a professional aesthetician or beauty consultant but I have worked at a very popular dermatology clinic in Beverly Hills (the 90210 zip code, not the wannabe 90211 or 90212). Then about 4 years ago, the clinic was sold to an up-and-coming plastic surgeon whom I will discuss on a future entry (patients including Kendra of the Playboy girls and 90% of the Hooters Restaurant waitresses in S. California). I like trying new products that are priced sensibly but I also am highly opinionated on people's appearances. Hopefully in a helpful way, not in a mean way (but if it's mean I am also quick to apologize so please read on).

Second disclaimer: I do not have great skin. But I guess that's also what makes me sympathetic to people who are not blessed with great skin. Additionally, if you know how bad my skin used to be, I think you'll appreciate my tips.

Please post any questions or comments! First up, the bane of my existence: acne.