Public Service For My "Lurkers"

I have no idea how many people read this blog....so, since I am a 'lurker' myself, I thought I'd share two articles that I recently emailed to all the women that I have email addresses for.

1 - Latisse
Please read this if you are using or have considered using the lash lengthener Latisse


2 - Estrogen Replacement Therapy

OK ladies....this is a very LONG article, but it is of utmost importance to the women (of a certain age/close to a certain age....like me) that I know.

Estrogen replacement has its pro's and con's (the latter being a concern that it contributes/causes breast/uterine/ovarian cancer)


2 main points:  the article cites that studies are showing that estrogen replacement may be most beneficial to us when were are pre-menopausal/in menopause, but not necessarily beneficial long-term.  Ie. take it for about 10 yrs and then stop.  The greatest benefit to taking it at this time is in maintaining critical tissue connectivity in our brains to stave-off Alzheimer's.

Secondly, lack of estrogen seems to exacerbate depression/cause depression (if you are not already diagnosed).  Even if you are taking anti-depressants, you may need some estrogen replacement as well.

It's worth a conversation with your ob/gyn at your next visit.

(KP:  ob/gyn - not your dentist, podiatrist or other doc that you like to discuss your lady-parts with...an OB/GYN)   ;)


Dear Lurkers:
Please spread the word amongst your girlfriends.

Sincerely,

The Eye

Show and Tell

One of the valuable services that gossip blogs provide is to shine a bright light on how Photoshop has affected girls'/women's body image. Real and retouched images side-by-side (so to speak) like this one and this one provide a chance to have an important discussion with The Girl about what is real and what is NOT.

It took me a while to train my brain to remember that the beautiful bodies I see in fashion magazines (not the prepubescent waifs - they border on kiddie-porn IMHO) are not real.  They are retouched way beyond covering up the pimple that even school picture companies can do for you (for a fee).

The September Issue, a docu-movie about producing Vogue's biggest issue in its history, reveals to us that the cover photo of Sienna Miller is constructed out of the head of one shot + the neck from another shot + the teeth from another shot + body from another shot.

Voila!  Woman through collage.

It's not that art =  life.

Life = art.

From First (Black) Lady to First Lady Anchor

No, I’m not caught up in the mishigas surrounding Mrs. O’s toned and displayed biceps, nor am I interested in which G-20 spouse looks the best. Although NYMag was spot-on...

You are well aware of my concern about Mrs. O’s ( now referred to by some fashionistas as Mobama) eyebrows, but we’ll get to that later.

However, this coat reminds me of something that either Carol Burnett or Tracy Ullman would wear for one of their characters. And Mrs. post-Jagger-Sarkozy isn't doing her runway model self any favors either.

And on both ladies, the floppy bow ties have got to go. I can handle the recycling of 80’s ‘strong shoulders at this past set of Fashion Weeks, but I say NO to the BOW.

Now, back to the brows….even though her make-up artist decided that too many people were telling her to bring the arch down, and she was supposedly working on that….we are still not seeing any progress. And, it contributes to Mrs. O’s wonky left eye in some pictures, which you can see here.

On a related "people taking shots at women" note, I enjoyed reading this article on Katie Couric, in this month's Elle magazine. She has put up with a lot of criticism since becoming the anchor of the CBS Evening News and I watched her debut out of 'you go girl' loyalty and decided that I liked Brian Williams' newscast better. I've always watched the NBC national news, the rare times that I'm home at 5:30pm.

I admire Katie for plugging away and knowing that by being one of the few women to sit in that particular chair, she was making a difference and she was going to to be true to herself in the process.

Mrs. O. is plugging away too - navigating the role of the First Lady conundrum, and she is also being true to herself. Whiplash brows and all.

The New Vacation Car Game: Spot The Botox

You know your days of car bingo are over when you are out to dinner, on vacation, and your 11 yr old daughter says "Mom, turn around, the lady in the red, behind you, has had massive botox."

The Boy said "What are you talking about?"

The Grrl proceeded to put her hands on either side of her face and pulled back her already taut and perfect skin to demonstrate. However, there is no before and after when an 11 yr old pulls her face skin back----it's more like a bad Miley Cyrus-I'm-pretending-to-be-asian moment.

So I took a look at the lady in red, out with her married sons/daughters and the Grrl was right. And there was something going on with her lips too. Not massive like Lisa Rinna (who I have the total scoop on through her make-up artist) and not slightly plumped-up like Nicole Kidman either. I think her mouth was pulled wide due to botox in the wrinkles at the sides of your mouth.

I told the Grrl not to stare and she said "Whaaat? I just glanced!!"

I decided the woman looked like a cross between Dina Merrill and Zsa Zsa Gabor.

Then I had a midwest matchy-matchy flashback moment.

Not only was her top red, but also her watch band and blazer (on the back of the chair). I had to check out the shoes. I pretended to drop something on the floor (lame I know, but the tables were really close together) and the ankle boots were in the red/burgundy family. I knew I'd be really going too far if I tried to confirm if the belt was red too.

When I was in middle school/high school, in the SW corner of WI, I matched my socks to my belt and my hair accessory. And my watchband.

It's more of the wackness.

The midwest kind.

Like A Dog With A (brow) Bone

Here is an artistic take on the First Lady.....and of course the brows that jumped over the moon.

Is That Really Your Neck Exploding Or Are You Just Happy To See Me?

New York Times editor flunks association test when calling the following images a 'Celebration of the Chin':

oh yeah, I'm celebrating....

What do you think?

I think there's a bit of a masochistic vibe going on here.

Or a sprinkle of misogyny?

Or something "m"?

Like hot mess?

Clothing The Cougars

Maybe I've been watching too many episodes of "The Real Housewives" lately and I'm seeing things through breast implanted glasses.....but as I cruised through Nordstrom's the other day, (on my way to Aveda) I looked over the women's spring clothing options and decided that it was all cougar clothing.

JennaVickyGretchenLauri-ish babydoll tops abound, paired with jeans, over-sized and over-priced ($400) bags, and bug-eyed sunglasses. The only things missing were the stripper platform sandals. Short jackets with youthful (sez the Nordstrom buyer to his/her boss) styling that your daughters would say are lame, but a cougar would call fun.

Browsing the sale shoe racks (for The Grrrl, not me) I see the Coach high-top sneakers that she wanted this past winter. The sale price: $87. Reduced from $150. Really? $100 (with our 10% sales tax) for brown, fluffy, fake fur-lined high-tops to wear in the spring and summer?

Recession my ass.

Don't even get me started on how food producers have maintained or raised prices and shrunk their products....

I can now hold 2 "large" containers of Moose Tracks ice cream in 1 hand.

I wonder how many containers of the new Moose Tracks ice cream would fit into a cougar top?

Not Fixed Yet

Oh Mrs. O...

Put down the tweezers!

Get those brows back down on your brow BONE, girl!


http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/usa/features/article_1457417.php/In_photos_President_Obama_and_First_Lady_Read_to_School_Children

In the beginning, there were the eyebrows

My friend said I should start a blog.

I marinated on it.

My mom, when learning about what blogs were, wondered how people can be so self-centered to blather on about their lives. I decided that someone needed to write about her eyebrows.

Mrs. O's eyebrows. The ones straight out of a caricature on the walls of Sardi's and made me think of Snidley Whiplash's moustache.

But I've read that Mrs. O's Chicago-based make-up artist liked the high, fly-ball to the left field brows, but people had been talking....so they needed to come down a bit and she was working on that. Based on I-Day pictures, they are starting a downward trend...maybe.

I found this site today:
http://www.mrs-o.org/
It follows what and who Mrs. O is wearing. It might be fun.