Wednesday, May 30, 2012

pretty hairy situation



Under your arms, on your legs, the dreaded upper lip and where to begin with the bikini area...HAIR!  It all seems to grow so much faster that the top of your head (I mean really how much longer can it take to grow out a lousy hair cut and yet our legs are stubbly by the end of the day).

So, what can you do?

Well the options are almost endless, we've got shaving, waxing, sugaring, lasers, threading, and depilatories...just to name a few.

Shaving...we'll I'd say were all pretty familiar with that...so let's move on.

Waxing. Ouch. It's okay for the legs when we've got everything growing in one direction for the most part.  Doing it yourself can be a bit tricky (for me it's the back of legs and under my left arm that I can just never get right).  If I'm going to wax, I like to use Brazilian Blue Hard Wax (for professional use, but there is a list on the site of spas that use it).

Sugaring.  I thought I'd love this, it gets promoted by how natural it is.  Plus you move with the hairs not against it, so you're supposed to not get ingrowns....yeah, um tell that to my ingrowns (yuck).  There are plenty of how to's on youtube, but the hardest part is keeping the sugar at the right temperature.  It warms with your skin, and if it's too warm or too cool it just doesn't work right.  Still, visiting a pro seems the way to go.  I go to the Wild Earth Spa in La Verne.  They usually have some pretty good specials around swim suit season. I've gotten my bikini area done, as well as my underarms and lower legs.

Laser. Yes! I was super in love with the place I was going, but they've been out of commission for a couple of months now (which at this point means I'll pretty much be starting from scratch if I go back).  If you're looking for a place to try, see if you can find a place that charges by the time that your there (example: 15 minutes, 30 minutes) rather than by the area (example: legs, underarms).  If you go by the time, they can just move from one spot to the next. It just makes sense, and I don't know why more places haven't figured it out. I would love love love to go to school and learn how to do this, but I live in California, where you need to have a nursing degree to do laser.  **Which, if I may go off on a bit of a tangent, is absolutely crazy that you need more schooling to take off a tattoo than you do to put one on!** I've used the laser for my upper lip/chin (just a few strays that grow in a little darker), my underarms (anything that grows back has been super fine), bikini area, and lower leg/toes. 

Threading is fine, but I think it's better for smaller areas like your brows and maybe your lip (if you don't break out...which I do. My upper lip hates to be messed with, laser was really the only thing that didn't upset my lip).  When I've given up on tweezing my brows I take them to a lovely woman in Diamond Bar at Shear Artistry.

Depilatories: (you know the stinky stuff by like Nair and Veet) I think it's a little smelly, no matter what they do to improve it. Plus, I don't really know that it works...I try it every few years or so to see if it's improved. I'm never thrilled though.

What do you do to get rid of your hairy situations?  Do you have a preferred method? What places do you frequent?

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

pretty and polished (Coral/Orange edition)

Looking around the cosmetics department I'm seeing a lot of Orange/Corals.  While I enjoy trying out the new shades, it can get pretty expensive in a department store.  What I prefer to do to save some cash, is try a few different shades out at the counters then head over to a beauty supply or drug store to get colors as close as possible.  Sometimes you can get an almost exact match.

For example: Chanel's Orange Fizz and China Glaze's Peachy Keen and Lancome's Tangerine Tint (Lancome's is a bit darker in this, but you see what I mean...You really don't have to spend $20+ on polish)






Right now, I'm really enjoying the crackle coats too. I've been using a gold crackle coat by China Glaze.  I'm hearing some great things in other blogs about Wet n Wild too (but sometime the color selection is lacking from the stores, so I haven't a lot to add there).

What colors are you loving on your fingers and toes right now?  

Monday, May 28, 2012

pretty nice picnic with Sabrina


The Hollywood Forever Cemetery began it's summer season of hosting films on Saturday.  It's the first time I've ever attended but it won't be the last...

Arriving before sunset we set up our little picnic on  the grass.  Wine and little nibbles of puff pastry with mini cupcakes to finish, it was so much fun.  The crowd seems huge and everyone is caught up in their own little world.  Social, but not too social...just what I enjoy.  Add in my all time favorite Audrey Hepburn movie and I was one happy camper.  



Walking in to the cemetery was a really unique experience.  I've never in my life seen or imagined graves like these.  As it gets darker, it's very peaceful and not at all creepy (although I imagine that when they are showing a scary movie that it could be a different experience all together).  There was a little chill in the air that evening, but my blanket kept me cozy and there was something about seeing the film with all those people that made it so enjoyable.  I came to the realization on the way home that I really like the love stories that older movies tell.  Sabrina, and The Thrill of a Romance are two of my most loved love stories.  Oh the simpler times!

I would so highly recommend this as an outing should you find yourself in LA. For more info check out:  Cinespia