Holiday Party Kiss

With holiday parties upon us there will be a lot of kissing hello and goodbye this season, not to mention under the mistletoe!! Who wants to reapply lip gloss after every smooch? Now we don’t have to thanks to Covergirl’s Outlast Lipstain.  Winner of Shape Magazine’s ‘Shape of Beauty Award 2009’ this water based, long lasting and lightweight gloss allows for easy application with its pen-like precision.  Created in 9 gorgeous colors this is sure to be a holiday party hit.  Also makes for a great stocking stuffer!

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A few years ago non-surgical cosmetic rejuvenation made the headlines when the world found out why Priscilla Presley looked like her face was deformed. The unfortunate thing about this whole story is the fact that someone who is that wealthy fell victim to an unscrupulous sleek doctor from Argentina.

If you didn’t read the details of the story, allow me to give you a quick overview: in 2003, the smooth-talking doctor who had befriended many of Hollywood A-listers started injecting some of the wealthiest women with the “miracle injections” that he claimed to be better than Botox Cosmetic.

Dr. Daniel Serrano’s concoction was nothing more that low-grade silicone that is very similar to what’s used in his native Argentina to lubricate auto parts! He was charging between $300 to $500 for each injection and he was able to fool people like Shawn King (Larry King’s wife) and Diane Richie (Lionel Richie’s ex-wife).  Dr. Serrano’s smuggled mixture was NOT approved by the FDA (Food and Drugs Administration bureau in the U.S.) and he was NOT even licensed to practice in the US.

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These stories are always unsettling because they give way to a lot of false rumours and a lot of misconceptions. It’s also very detrimental to the image of qualified and reputable cosmetic doctors.

So you’ve most likely seen the video or heard about Susan Boyle on late night comedy shows or on CNN … they just won’t stop featuring her and many anchors have admitted to weeping during her performance in front of the three judges (Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden) of “Britain’s Got Talent.” Now, I don’t think that I was moved to tears when I saw Susan Boyle’s performance, but I was as amazed as everyone else.

The 47-year-old unemployed women from West Lothian (Scotland) has become an overnight sensation and her life is soon to be an open book to the world (I hope she’s ready for the bumpy ride).

I think the reason why some many people (100 million downloads on You Tube and counting) are so fascinated by Susan Boyle is because she doesn’t “look” like your typical songstress. She’s like the underdog that everyone dismissed and now she’s come on top in her late 40s!!!

That said, if she is to win the competition on “Britain’s Got Talent” 2009 she’s going to have to step up her fashion and beauty game or else she’ll be fed to the (media and blogging community) wolves.

There are a few episodes in a woman’s life where she really takes a look at herself in the mirror and questions her attractiveness and her beauty.

In my opinion, birthdays after the age of 35 and having to face dating again after a divorce or a break-up as you age are top on my list. I’d say that milestone birthday like 40, 50 or 60 might also be right up there.

Let me start with the birthdays after 35 – I think that you look at yourself and wonder if you are getting better or getting older and sometimes insecurities creep up and make you unsure of the image that is reflected in the mirror.

I’m sure that $26,426.80 per year (that number is based on the conversion rate on the day I wrote this piece, but it cannot be too far today) to upkeep your body is chump-change in Hollywood, but when you hear of ordinary women forking that kind of money on trying to look perfect … you kind of scratch your head and wonder “what are they thinking?”.

Unless you have that kind of discretionary income because you are extremely successful in your own right or if you are married to a man who has a boat load of money … there is no need to put out that kind of money and get yourself in financial trouble in an attempt to look perfect! There are much simpler ways.

When I read this story from my favourite U.K. online newspaper Daily Mail, I thought this was absolutely insane … the fact that this money could help feed a small village was even more shocking given the state of the economy at the time I read the article.

I will preface this post by saying that all that I’m about to write is based on rumour of course because we all know that in Hollywood no one has a cosmetic doctor on speed dial!

That said, there are some celebs who openly admit to having a bit of help in keeping their youthful look.

It’s a dog-eat-dog-world in Hollywood and I may be all philosophical about aging and I may spend a lot of time on my site pushing the virtues of aging well, but then again I do not make my living in front of the camera.

I will openly admit to my readers that I’ve never had any nip, tuck or injections done not because I’m opposed to the idea or feel that I want to age gracefully, but simply because I don’t feel I need it. As long as I keep looking much younger than my real age … then I’ll only be visiting my cosmetic doctor to help me deal with my acne scars.

***This is a long post***

I’ve waited for this day for so long and when I woke up on April 2nd I could barely contain my excitement because I was finally going to see a cosmetic doctor for my acne scars!

If you’ve been following my daily beauty banters than you know that I hate having to deal with acne as an adult, considering I had it as a teenager, and I hate the sight of my acne scars even more.

When you are a dark skin beauty, acne scars leave dark spots on your skin … in my case, I have them on my cheeks, jaw line, chest, shoulders and a bit on the top of   my back. It got so bad that last summer I refused to show my arms and covered them because I was convinced the world could only see that.

I was watching some trashy celebrity gossip TV the other day (I’ll secretly admit to enjoying TMZ) and they showed Ivana Trump after having lunch (with Star Jones) at a posh and expensive New York City restaurant and it was obvious from her Chinchilla fur coat that the recession had not hit on Ivana’s door.

After spotting the expensive coat that must have cost at least $90,000 USD since Chinchilla is one of the most expensive furs (if not THE most expensive furs), I noticed her face. Her lips were moving because she was answering the question the TMZ camera man had asked her, but her face was frozen. As the camera got closer to her face, I jumped back (I was standing) and I thought to myself: “Why is Ivana Trump looking like Joan Rivers”?

I was surfing old archive of Yahoo’s OMG when I found Lisa Rinna’s feature. What stopped me dead in my tracks was the title: “I Look Like a Freak” After Too Much Plastic Surgery”.

You won’t hear too many Hollywood celebrities admitting to too much Botox Cosmetics® or having had too many shots of injection fillers.

The former “Dancing with the Stars” contestant admits that she’s had her cheeks enhanced with injections of Juvederm® and she admits that she might have gone overboard (I totally agree)!

It’s interesting because Lisa (45, born July 11, 1963) admits that she was influenced by one of her girlfriends when she decided to explore this cosmetic enhancement avenue.

I haven’t got a clue as to why Elle Macpherson popped into my head a few days ago, but for some strange reason there she was occupying my thoughts. Could it be coincidence that I saw her on the red carpet event while watching one of those entertainment shows or was it simply a reminder that I need to write a post celebrating and glorious Elle looks at 44 (born 29 March 1964)!

If you were a teenager in the 80s, then you remember Elle Macpherson (born Eleanor Nancy Gow) as the leggy gal from down under who adorned the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues in the USA six times (the last time in 2006)! I also remember Elle very well from the many Vogue and Bazaar features because she has an unforgettable face and an unforgettable body.

I had reviewed kettle bells a while back because it was getting a lot of buzz in Hollywood and celebrity trainers were introducing their celebrity clients to kettlebells.

If you missed my original post from 2008, you can still read it: Kettlebells: A workout straight out of Mother Russia

One of the reasons why kettlebells are becoming so popular (especially among women) is because this power-training that originated in Russia improves your cardio while targeting trouble spots to help you get a leaner and toner body. If you remember, in the 1980s athletes from Russia and athletes from the old communist countries used to leave the competition in the dust when it came to winning gold medals … that’s because kettlebells were their secret training weapon of choice.

I think that 2000-2008 can be called the “vanity years”!!!

During the past eight years, we’ve seen non-cosmetic rejuvenation go from being Hollywood’s best kept secret to something soccer-moms in the suburbs do when kids are in school.

There has been a long list of makeover shows on TV where contestants were able to go from ugly ducklings to “beautifully reconstructed” sirens – shows like “Extreme Makeover” and “Dr. 90210″). We’ve all been invited to a Botox party and we’ve seen young women (as young as 18) not preoccupied so much about taking care of themselves because “well, there’s always Botox”. Heck, we’ve even seen straight men take up the vanity industry in the hopes that a “younger looking” version of themselves will help them hold on to that high paying corporate job or get that coveted promotion.

Last month Norah R., who is one of Beauty Match’s readers, gracefully shared her first session and first experience with fraxel laser to help her erase acne scars that have been bothering her for decades now.

I don’t have the type of scaring that Norah has because mine are all at the surface, but because my scars are dark, I have to say that they really bother me. It was so bad this past summer, that it affected the way I dressed because I wasn’t willing to expose my shoulders which were covered with dark hyperpigmentation spots.

I can surely sympathize with Norah and her quest for perfect skin and relief from acne scars.

If you didn’t have a chance to catch Norah’s first post, I’d recommend that you start reading that post first: Have you considered laser resurfacing to get rid of your severe acne scars?

Story submitted by reader Norah R.

New year, new me! Or, at least, that’s the idea.

After my first Fraxel treatment in November, 2008, I can’t honestly say I was looking forward to the next one. It’s painful! And for someone with a low pain threshold like me, the pain was almost unbearable the first time around … how would I react with a higher setting on the laser, as the technician mentioned the last time?

If laser resurfacing was an option for my skin tone, I most likely would have done it a long time ago, but alas given the bad experience I had with laser hair removal, I know that I need to stay as far away from laser … especially on my face.

I’m so grateful to reader Norah that she will gracefully recount her first of many laser resurfacing treatments to deal with scars left behind on her face from teenage acne.

Norah will be documenting her many treatments, but this is the first account of her road to having a face that is free of any scars!

Story submitted by reader Norah R.

I think we’ve all done it once: look admiringly at the face of our favourite female Hollywood celebs and hope that we either had “that” nose or “those” cheekbones or “that mouth”. I’ve spoken to so many cosmetic surgeons who have said that clients routinely show up at their office with a photo of a Hollywood celeb in the hopes of looking that perfect.

The same happens when we go running to our hair stylist with Katie Holmes’ new bob or Jennifer Aniston’s new shade of highlights or even Jennifer Lopez’s new updo!

The problem is that we often forget that the reason why Angelina’s lips look good on her is because they work with her face structure and Katie Holmes’ bob rocks because of the angle of her face. When you transpose features … it doesn’t always look good because features are meant to work as an overall … so if you “move” Angelina Jolie’s lips onto your face … it won’t look as good … something will be wrong.

Injectable fillers are an effective anti-aging treatment for those who are looking to regain lost collagen mass in their face and neck. Injected collagen and fat are primarily used to improve the appearance of the skin’s texture, but they will also help fill out deep facial wrinkles, creases and furrows, “sunken” cheeks, skin depressions and certain types of scars.

The results are very noticeable because injectable fillers will temporarily restore a smoother and more youthful-looking appearance. Cosmetic dermatologists and plastic surgeons often use injectable fillers on their own or in conjunction with a resurfacing procedure, such as a laser treatment.