The Lipstick and Its Effect

"If I walk outside without lipstick, I feel naked." (Sofia Vergara)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found that 400 popular lipsticks contained trace amounts of the toxin. The worst offenders on the list were Maybelline’s Color Sensation in Pink Petal, which had 7.19 parts per million of lead, and L’Oreal Colour Riche in Volcanic, which had 7 parts per million. Several other brands, including Cover Girl and Nars had products hovering in the 4-to-5-parts-per-million range. 

So what does exposure to lead means?

Time.com states that exposure to lead can cause learning, language and behavioral problems in children and has been linked to lower IQ; exposure in pregnant women can interfere with development of the fetus.

According from Forbes: 

"To put the latest lipstick lead levels in context, the EPA’s maximum allowable lead level in drinking water is 15 parts per billion. The EPA’ goal for lead in drinking water is zero, which is what consumer advocates would like to see happen in consumer products as well. In the case of lead in lipsticks, the jump from a maximum of 3.06 ppm to 7.19 ppm is disconcerting; most consumers would prefer to see those numbers decreasing as opposed to more than doubling in three years."

Speaking of lipstick, there are thousands out there that are available in the market, and women are into it, that there are even variety of colors and even flavors that are available. Lipstick like make up can add appeal to every women. It enhances the beauty as well as can boost confidence to the one that wears it.

Here are the types of lipsticks that you can buy:

Lip Stains

Lip stains can give pale lips a great wash of color without being too overly dramatic. It is a great product to use for people who want a more natural look. However, this can leave your lips a little dry.


Matte Lipstick

Matte constitute materials that do not contain much moisturizer and oil so, it does not shine and gives the impression of a natural lip. It can make the lips look more sensuous and perfectly embedded in the skin of your lips. Lipstick that’s matte implies that the colour is flat and never shiny. There’s no moisture put into matte lipstick, therefore if your lips are dry, flaky or too thin, then matte lipstick might not be flattering on you.


Lipstick Creme / Cream

This type of lipstick contains more wax than other types of lipstick, lip protection from sun, air and dust, but just as matte, it causes your lips to dry. Because there is a wax content, lipstick creme gives a little impression that your lips are wet. Thus, if you do not really like the lips that glisten and prefer a natural look, you can choose this type of lipstick. Creme lipstick is also suitable for use by those who have thin lips.- the lips will appear perfectly full.


Moisturizing Lipstick

This is one of the most popular kinds of lipsticks. They give you shine, hydration and great color pay off. However, some of these lipsticks have low staying power.


Lipstick Frost / Pearly

Great to use at night. It has a glitter effect that makes your lips look shiny. Fitted to be wore in the middle of a party or just when hanging out with friends at night. Same with the other types of lipsticks that have been mentioned previously, lipstick frost can also cause dry lips.


Lip Gloss

This is often worn with or without lipstick. Gloss is excellent on more dark skin color, but can make light skin color look great too. It adds plumpness and shine to the lips, therefore it is ideal for women with thin lips. Because it is rich with moisturizer, you can apply it with or without lipstick.  However, some formula can be a little sticky.


Long Lasting Lipstick

Lengthy lasting lipstick could be great when used properly, otherwise it can look untidy particularly if it is a dark color one. On the other hand, this type of lipstick can also makes your lips dry. Thus, a moisturizer is needed to keep your lips from drying and cracking.


Lipstick is good and very appealing, however there are times that lipsticks and make up can deceive us. Take a look at this:

There are also some trends on the web lately about Barbie and doll look alike. Of course, make up and lipsticks, if not the knife of the surgeon wearing scrubs uniforms and lab coats, can cause this change on a woman's face. Here are some of the  people with doll like features that I happened to stumble on Google:

Valeria Lukyanova

Dakota Rose

Venus Angelic

A Chinese Girl

Sources: Google Images | Google.Com | Imgur | PulseUniform (Scrubs Uniforms and Lab Coats) | Yahoo News | Time. Com

The Beauty Fever

Yesterday, I happened to encounter an illustration depicting the benefits of beauty to one's career, studies and life itself. Somehow, this illustration has truth in it, yet, I guess there is something missing with the facts given on the said illustration. Take a look:

via

I love the comment given by one of the readers (a woman wearing lab coat and in fact a nurse) with regards to the above infographics:

"Tsk tsk. This illustration somehow makes unattractive people a mess when it comes to career as well as having a bad life, yet the fact is, it's not really the issue of beauty but the issue of confidence and courage when it comes to facing challenges in life like school, working environment, family and even the society's prejudices. The issue is not about beauty per se, but about the confidence to go on living a good life and pursuing what we really want. Beauty, I believe is only a factor, but somehow, we still have choice to be confident and competent even if we are unattractive." 

Somehow, if this infographics is correct to tell us that competence, likability, attractiveness and trustworthiness are contributed mainly by beauty, there is no wonder why there is such a great fuss on looking for the right formula for the perfect beauty even how bizarre that formula is. 

Last year, there were actually a lot of beauty trends that may be considered as bizarre. These trends don't pass through the people wearing lab coats' knife though. They may be harmless, yet , still odd.Take a look at some of them ( source:babble.com) :

Dip-dye Hair

Changing hair color...just like summer to spring, eh.

The ombre hair trend evolved into this dip-dye look, seen all over Hollywood this year.

Pastel Hair

Pastel and pink. Whew!

This was seen on the runways this year (Thakoon, Narciso Rodriguez, and Peter Som), but for their Spring 2012 collection. 

Silver/Blue Lipstick

Hot or not?

It's been popping up a lot lately — from Lady Gaga to a number of holiday beauty collections (including MAC and Duwop). 

Pink Eye

From pink hair, now comes the pink eye...

This was seen all over the 2011 runways (Thakoon, Honor, Ruffian, Yoana Baraschi).

Color-tipped Nails

Reminds me of french manicure

One of the biggest trends this year was color-tipped nails, seen in various runway shows and editorial spreads. It's not exactly bizarre, but it's definitely significant. 

Graphic Eyeliner

Edgy and Bold

An edgier, bolder take on the cat eye.

Two-toned Lipstick

2 colors in one...

Certainly goes with the 2011 color-blocking trend. 

Stick-on Nail Polish

Looks like cheap digitizing designs of some of my wardrobe, eh.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects' adhesive nail polish strips made a huge splash this year, especially with the teens and young 20-somethings. Besides offering a variety of colors, it was the graphic prints (like fishnet, cheetah print, and lace) that had beauty lovers raving. 

Feather Hair Extensions

Like a feather...so subtle to come..too fast to go..

This trend seemed to go as fast as it came, but it was quite a huge beauty trend for 2011 — leaping from Miley Cyrus to Sally Herschberger seemingly overnight. 

Stick-on Eyeliner

Too bold, too edgy and too adhesive

Designed by Dior, these "adhesive eyeliner patches" work like a temporary tattoo for your eyes. One set ($59) comes with four different eyeliner styles — from basic black to crystal studded.

Lipstick Tattoos

Violent? Wild? Can't understand this trend...

Violent Lips has a wide range of stick-on lip tattoos — from animal prints to polka dots to glitter.

Stamped-on Hair Color

Stamp and color rolled into your hair...:)

Hairstylist Brig Van Osten (winner of Bravo's Shear Genius) introduced the technique of stamping hair in vivid colors.

So, back to the above illustration, what do you think about it? And how about those bizarre beauty trends? Still, I'm looking forward for more beauty fads (bizarre or not) this 2012.:)

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Source: Google Images | Babble.com | Visual.ly

Are You Nailed to Nail Polish?

"Nails have become a way to express feelings and creativity. It’s not only about the color, but it’s about being beautiful and finished."

The nails are part of the beauty regimen of women. Nowadays, you can seldom see women without nail polish and nail colors. Personally speaking, I'm one of these women who till now still grows nails that are colorless and lifeless, but in fact I love it! haha. However, this post will be about nail polish since one of my friends who will celebrate herbirthday this coming Monday has been requesting me to post about her favorite nail color art and more info about it. Thus, the idea of this post comes to life.

Manicures began 5000 years ago. Though nail polish has been a part of women, there are still industries that prohibit the use of it. One of these is the industry of women in nursing scrubs and nurse shoes. The medical world regulates nurses and other healthcare professionals to have nails that are short and prohibited fake nails. Though there are some medical institutions that allowed fake nails, but the restriction is they must not be long. The belief why nail polish is not allowed on some hospitals is when nail polish chipped it can trap bacteria. Another is about professional appearance. 

This nurse's nails look like my nails

Not only medical practitioners wearing nursing scrubs and nurse shoes are not allowed but also the military women. Raymond Chandler, the sergeant major of the Army, tells Army Times correspondent Lance Bacon that in preparing updated Army regulations on grooming and appearance, he's taken to Facebook to debate the finer points of French manicures, earrings, pony tails, and tattoos for U.S. troops. Chandler has taken to Facebook to get some initial feedback from the troops to possible proposed changes to the Army's regulations on personal grooming and appearance of uniforms. Among the measures he's pondering are more extensive regulations on tattoos and bans on French manicures.

French Manicures

Yet, even these big industries of the society don’t allow nail colors; there are still a lot of women who are fond of coloring their nails.

According to Women's Wear Daily, nail polish sales were up 59% for the first 10 months of the year and it fared better than any other beauty product in these tough financial times. In fact, both colored lacquer and top/base coat sales were up 50%, which implies ladies are giving themselves complete at-home manicures. "Women started doing their own nails and realized how fun it could be to create their own look. It can be therapeutic, a time for girlfriends to spend together, and bonding time for mothers and daughters. Originally, women may have been doing it as a necessity when they were impacted by the recession, but now women are doing their own nails because its fun and they’re into it. Recession or not, nails have become an affordable accessory,“ says Deborah Lippmann, celebrity manicurist and creator of luxury nail, hand and foot care products.

So here I'll feature some great nail polish that of course gathered from Google Images. The net has so many photos and articles about manicures and nail art that there are even lot of bloggers who feature nail polish and how to apply them creatively. Check this out:

Normal Manicures:

French manicures

They traditionally mimic the color of natural nails, using a clear, beige or soft pink polish on most of the nail with a white finish at the tips.

Traditional colors

Red Color Manicure

Pink Manicure

Brown Nails

Traditional colors for nail polish were red, pink and brown, and it can now be found in virtually any color. 

Black Nail Polish

Black has been a popular color of nail polish with goths, Emo and punks of all genders since the 1970s, and has recently gained acceptance as a color for both men and women.

Other Colors

White Nails

Purple Nails

Yellow Nails

Orange Nails

Blue Nails

Green Nails

Too many varieties of colors of nail polish to choose from.

Nail Art and  Fashion Nails

Either real nails or fake nails/ acrylic nails could be use in nail art or fashion nails. Take a look:

Lovely design on a green polish nails

Very feminine manicure, eh

Simple but elegant!

Cute, reminds me of blossom and flowers

Lovely violet dots and silver background

Clean yet stylish and wild

Super stunning!

Simply beautiful!

A glimpse of stylish French manicure

Green Christmas

Stars and Nails

So womanly!

Glitters and More Glitters

Detailed and Difficult

I am thinking if I could eat these nails, eh.

White flower nails..Lovely!

Very expensive nails..haha

Weird!!!!

Acrylic nails help conceal or fix broken, damaged, short, or bad nails. However long term use and poorly fitted nails can seriously damage the nail bed and hamper natural nail growth. The most common problem associated with artificial nails is a fungal infection that may develop between the false and natural nail. "..Some ingredients in acrylic nails are highly flammable, so they must be kept at a distance from hair straighteners, dryers or curling irons, as well as from heat and flames when cooking [source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration]..."

Happy Birthday Chubs!!! I'm sure gonna miss you. :)

Sources:  Nursing Dress Code | Google Images | Nail polish: A big beauty trend of 2011 | Wikipedia