Monday night’s health alert focused on how to get a perfect pouty mouth without having to get injections. It seems like stars who get those injections look odd, don’t they? Not a very natural looking mouth. That’s why we decided to explore the world of lip plumping lip glosses. What better place to do that than Sephora. We had fun with this one and since I have thin lips myself, I was interested in what was out there. The makeup experts we talked with had some favorites I want to pass along – ‘Too Faced Lip Injection’ and ‘Duwop Lip Venom.’ They also like ‘Cargo’s Blu-Ray High-Def Gloss’, ‘Bare Escentuals Buxom Lips’ (my favorite), and of course ‘Sephora-brand lip plumper.’ All have a bit of a tingly feel when you put them on – I feel like it lets me know it’s working! That’s because they contain ingredients such as menthol, peppermint, ginger, and cinnamon. And the ladies say don’t be afraid if a label says ‘acid.’ Some of the plumpers use acid to pull moisture into your lips. Keep in mind, lip plumpers basically irrittate your lips – that’s what plumps them up – so if you have a funny reaction, talk to a doctor. Given the cost of lip injections, up to almost 600 dollars, not to mention the pain, and the sometimes strange look you get if too much is added, the affordable gloss ($14 -$30) is a way to plump it up without paying up.
Slowing Down Aging May 12, 2009
Tonight’s health alert got a little personal! I was one of eight women who volunteered to put our faces in this fancy new machine that shows you how old your skin really is. It looks at sun damage beneath the surface, wrinkles, spots, pore size, acne, and smoothness of your skin. We all showed up fresh faced and ready to hear the results. Oh, did I mention we ranged in age from 20-something to 50-something? That way we could get a good cross section of women at different times in their lives. Surprisingly one of the 20-something women had the worst sun damage. And this really was the point of the entire exercise – learning that sun damage is the number one thing that ages you. Yes, your diet, exercise regime, smoking habits, and genetics play a role – but the one thing that ages you quicker than all of that is too much time in the sun unprotected. The depressing part is that we can’t go back to when we were kids and slather the sunscreen on ourselves (who worse sunscreen in the 70’s?!) so we have to concentrate on not doing anymore damage to our faces. Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen is the order of the day. Also, drink plenty of water, treat yourself to facials every once in a while and if you’re older, talk with your dermatologist about specific treatments that may work for your skin.
It was an interesting exercise to see what’s going on with my skin. I learned my pore size, smoothness, and spots were excellent, the the wrinkles around my eyes were typical, and there wasn’t any acne. Thank goodness, it’s not fair to have wrinkles and acne! The machine we used was also able to gaze into the future and what our skin might look like if we did nothing to it. I had a few more wrinkles but I wasn’t too terribly shocked. I was given a simple prescription – less sun, more sunscreen, and lots of moisturizer. That I can handle.
Snap-on Teeth May 5, 2009
This week’s health alert comes to us from the land of the ‘beautiful people’ – California! Dentists have developed temporary veneers you can pop over your teeth for a new smile. Think vampire teeth for Halloween, but much prettier. Your dentist takes a mold of your mouth and then designs new tooth shapes to go over your own. The result is an easier, cheaper type of veneer that you can take off. Now cheap is a relative term when talking about dental work. The snap-on smile still costs over a thousand dollars but is less expensive than permanent veneers and again, gives you a chance to try out the new look first. You can eat and drink in the teeth but you do need to take them out at night. Honestly, some of the ones featured looked a little cartoonish but if your teeth are in bad shape, it’s a nice alternative. And they last three to five years depending on how well you take care of them. You dno’t have to go to California, either. Atlanta Dental Arts and Suwanee Dental Care offer the snap-on smile here.
