Disclosure: Guys, I love you, but this one is for my ladies!

PMS is a miserable time.  If you’re one of the more unlucky ones, like me, with PMDD, it’s even more of a nightmare! I’m already dealing with serious fatigue, body aches, irritability –  and don’t forget the moments I think God hates me and the world is against me. The last thing we need to add to the camel’s back is being self conscious about water weight gain and bad skin. Throw us a bone, mother nature!

Water retention not only makes us feel bloated and fat, but it actually emphasizes cellulite. Not havin’ that. To smooth out that dimply skin and alleviate the heavy  Read more…

After all these years, I still remember Jessica, the high school cheerleading captain, telling me that a woman’s hair is her crown and glory. It’s why I’ve spent the past 24 hours bawling my eyes out after having the worst haircut of my entire life.  My hair had reached what my friend Andre called “mermaid hair length.” It was time to cut off some of that weight.

Last week, while attending Capitol File’s exclusive “Power List” Party, I had received a gift bag loaded with goodies from Salon A (located in Bethesda). Normally I wait until I can make a trip to my home town, where I have the best stylist, Kim. With no trips planned in the near future, I thought I had lucked out by receiving this Salon A gift certificate. I write this now weighed down with complete regret.  Ann, one of the owners, was my stylist. I gave Ann specific instructions on what I wanted, including the shortest length I was willing to go. Additionally, I provided a photo of the exact haircut I wanted. Ann said she would cut 2 inches off the length, and would work with me if I wanted more taken off. When I saw 6 inch strands of my hair falling into my lap, I stopped Ann to ask her what she was doing while reeling back the full on panic attack that was mounting. She assured me it was just her technique and that I needn’t worry. Well, when it was all over, I realized she took off more than half a foot of my hair. Even more inexcusable than butchering off all my hair, was that it was simply a bad haircut. I would have received a better cut from the Hair Cuttery.  Read more…

There’s something about the idea of exclusivity and its psychological effect on people.  It’s an empowering feeling to have access to something others don’t. You feel…special. And for some strange reason, we sometimes feel like we have to safeguard our secrets and tricks. So when I receive emails about sales and discounts at SkinStore.com, I like to pretend I’m one of the few preferred customers receiving this great deal. No one must know that I’m saving $15 off the regular price of my Caudalie serum! The reality is, these sales aren’t exclusive; they’re advertised right on the online store’s homepage.  But no one seems to know about it!

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I recently had a somewhat rude awakening when my colleagues began the trend of calling me “old lady.”  Nice colleagues, huh?  I had to wonder how I got to this point; where was I exactly when this aging process snuck up on me and these fine lines around my eyes and neck began to form?  I am reminded of this horrible flash advertisement for some anti-aging cream scam, where this grimace-inducing corpse of a face magically transformed into a beautiful, “rejuvenated” woman.  Yeah, you know the one.   It was when my young twenty-something colleague (the one that calls me “ma’am”) lamented to me that she was already seeing wrinkles around her eyes that I recalled the wisdom I discovered a few years later than I should have:  start young.  That is to say, you can never be too young to start your anti-aging regimen.  While I wouldn’t rush to put Prevage on your toddler anytime soon, preventive care should start in your late teens to early 20’s.

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In Eat ‘em Alive, we touched on why antioxidants are good for anti-aging skin care. I discussed the importance of eating foods rich with antioxidants, and how feeding your appetite also feeds your skin.  Whether in your stomach or on your skin, these free radical fighters will work to keep your skin looking young and radiant.  Read more…

As discussed in other posts, what you eat undoubtedly makes an impact on your overall skin health.  Today I want to continue to address how food actually feeds your skin.  If you want a healthy body and beautiful skin, you need to focus on having a well balanced, nutritious diet.  And with the way our eating habits have evolved due to cheap and convenient foods, it makes it ever more a challenge to nourish our bodies the right way.  However, if you’re going to be serious about feeling and looking your best, you need to minimize your intake of processed foods and maximize your intake of unprocessed foods.  Period.  Read more…