Thinking Aloud — How To Landscape The Female Goatee?

Brunettes across the planet can celebrate their hairy genes, by showing off their lush set of bushy eyebrows and ritzy manes, but when it comes to panegyrizing lady-beard & moustache they have never been on trend —EVER. Hairy face on a female has always been undesirable. “Grandma you have such a hairy face”, little Red Ridding Hood exclaimed with concern making fairytale history, and that concern has haunted every female young and old before and since.

To be or not to be (Hairy) —that’s the perplexing aesthetic question that bugs, every female standing in front of the mirror tackling her facial hair.

Why Hair Sneak Up On You At A Certain Age?

Facial hair is a secondary sexual character that starts to sprout on teenage faces as they go through puberty. While boys can’t wait for the process of growing a beard to be faster and thicker as they transition from boys to proud men, girls with excessive facial fuzz feel embarrassed and cheated out of their femininity at that tender age. Ladies genetics, and hormones ultimately dictate how hairy you are going to be—so if your mom has chin hair, you most likely will, too.

Some times facial hair catches up on women late in life, especially as they go through menopause and female hormone levels drop.

Epilation —There Are So Many Ways To Skin A Cat

They say when there is a will there is a way, actually in our case at hand there are many ways to furtively remove facial hair: tweezing, waxing, bleaching, laser, hair growth retarding creams —even shaving.

Threading rips out hair at the root, and mechanical epilators do the same job of plucking out hair a little more efficiently, while waxing entails using hot caramelized sugar to pull hair from the roots. Waxing medically speaking is highly irritating to sensitive skin as it also tugs at the surrounding skin ripping away part of the epidermis. Wrong temperature and you might end up with a skin burn with serious pain and side effects.

Depilatory creams may seem like a less irritating option to some, but they are packed with strong chemicals that dissolve hair bonds. Point to ponder, if these creams can chemically dissolve your tough hair in few minutes think about the damage they might be causing to the surrounding skin. 

Bleaching involves using hydrogen peroxide to strip dark pigment from the hair leaving behind blonde fuzz. Timing is of essence here, left on the skin for a little too long and you might end up with a chemical burn with all the ugly sequelae of a burn.

Vaniqa, is a medicated cream that if rubbed on skin daily, after hair removal by waxing or threading for ten days post epilation helps reduce and retard hair growth over time. It doesn't remove hairs, but it slows down how fast they grow and makes them come in finer and softer.

Shaving when performed correctly, leads to the least amount of trauma to the skin surrounding the hair. But the whole idea of shaving feels very unfeminine to some, especially when it comes to the face.

Though painful and expensive, laser treatment is the only long-lasting option for hair removal — and an investment of a few Furry Fendi Bugs proportion. Lasers work by concentrating on the color in the hair, which is why they tend to work better on people with thicker, darker hair. Laser light targets brown or black color, as hair shafts with maximum pigment absorb most of the heat and if the hair follicle is in growing (Anagen) phase the hair burns and the growing root burns with it. The catch 22 in laser hair reduction is understanding the hair growth cycle —hair go through three cycles in its life time, at one point in time 10-15% of our hair are in growing (Anagen) phase, 60-70% are in resting (Catagen) phase and 10-15% are in falling (Telogen) phase. Unfortunately laser can affect hair only during anagen phase, so when hair is not in the growing phase we have no permanent affect. That’s why it can take multiple (five to ten) sessions to see long lasting results especially on the face.

Now you have the down and low on most of the hair removal options available in the market currently, but before you engage in one of the ways to landscape excessive hair on your face, I’d advice you to consult a doctor if you have more than normal hair on your cheeks and chin, to rule out any hormonal causes like polycystic ovaries etc. In those cases, your doctor might suggest a medicine like birth control pills to lower the amount of hormones that are linked to excessive hair growth. Meanwhile choose wisely and thank your genetics for your Cara brows, being hairy is a mixed gift —both a curse and a blessing.

Give ‘Em Some Lip

Lips speak volumes characterizing the beauty of a face. Full-lipped “Beauty Goddesses” like Angelina Jolie, Sophia Loren, Lindsey Wixson and Scarlet Johansson are idolized world over and their famous kissers have had a big say in immortalizing them as heartthrob queens. To scientifically highlight the fact that lips play an important role in etching the attraction factor of a female face, researchers at the Manchester University employed eye-tracking software and reported that in the initial ten seconds after meeting a lady for the first time, an average chap spends more than half that time looking at her mouth.

The power that a beautiful set of lips possess is undeniable, but the fact that a well constructed pout can change a gal’s allure from prolix to a vixen poses a pertinent query in every female brain: Can we improve on what God gave us and what time takes away from us? The answer is of course yes, but to practically achieve this perfection we need to understand the framework of a beautiful lip.

Anatomy Of A Beautiful Lip

Artists being the seekers of perfection and beauty have discovered over time that beauty lies hidden in the proportions and golden ratios of facial features, a change of few millimeters can transform ordinary into ravishingly captivating pretty easily. Now lets talk lips and golden ratios one-on-one, to fit the mold of balanced and beautiful the ratio of the height of the upper lip to that of the lower one should be ideally 1.4:1.6, a slightly exaggerated lower lip highlights the beauty of lips. 

Mona Lisa Smile

Slightly up tilted corners of mouth have served as a symbol of youth and beauty be it Renaissance or modern day. With time and aging, the fat at the corner of the lips disappears and the depressor angularis oris (muscle that runs from the corner of the lips to the jawbone) tightens, resulting in the downward projection of lips. This process also results in the formation of Marionette lines.

Modern Medicine To The Rescue: Dermal fillers can replace the volume loss while Botox®, in the depressor angularis oris can relax the downward pull of the muscle, restoring the harmony of the face back from sad and aging to mysteriously youthful.

Tracing The Lip Lines

Vermilion border is the lip border that defines the shape of the lips. The vermilion border flattens with age leading to thin and sad lips.

Solution: To bring back youthfulness to an aging pucker dermal fillers can be injected to re-create this roll.

Cupid’s Bow

This area named after the God Of love adds certain come-hither magnetism to the face, but unfortunately in the middle age the upper lip starts to loose collagen and elastin and this perky arched bow straightens with age.

Solution: Carefully placed dermal filler can restore the allure of the Cupid's bow giving lips their sexy back.

Columns Of Beauty

Philtral columns are the two vertical lines that project upward from the Cupid's bow adding character and definition to the lips. As we age they tend to flatten or disappear.

Solution: Dermal filler placed very superficially in the columns to restore and lift upper lip definition accentuates the depressed area above the Cupid's bow adding puerile character to the lips.

Read My Smooth Lips

Soft, line-free lips telegraph youth. A dab of lip moisturizing balm or olive oil can treat moisture loss, and a hydrating lipstick can camouflage uneven textures.

Solution: A strategic infusion of lips with hyaluronic acid based fillers can plump up the lips naturally reestablishing their vernal smoothness.

Dumbbells Of Beauty:

An attractive bottom lip has a subtle symmetric fullness on both sides. This balance can be lost with age as well as when lips are plumped without respecting lower lip anatomy.

Solution: Plump up the sides with a slight pressure in the middle to create naturally bifurcated lower lip and avoid injecting in the center of the lower lip.

Lip Ptosis

The lip line in this condition creates a sad or unhappily appearance on first impressions.

Solution: Inject the lip corners with hyaluronic acid to give a lifting effect. Re-define the vermillion borders around the corners of mouth and feather into the supporting areas beyond the upper and lower lip lines.

Lip Cheek Junction

Due to mid-cheek fat loss and skin thinning as a result of aging, nasolabial folds fall downwards and forward leading to deepening of laugh lines and downturned angles of mouth.

Solution: Adding some volume to mid cheek fat pocket and Restow’s space and mild feathering of hyaluronic acid along the Naso-labial folds can restore the face to its youthful glory.

Makeup

Gals you can achieve a lot with a concealer, lip lining pencil and the right shade of moisturizing lipstick. Never underestimate the power of contouring; an artist can sprinkle youth with her/his brush strokes.

Medicine

There are multiple products available in the market that can plump up an ordinary lip to a pillowy delight. But, long lasting transformative magic can only happen through a syringe full of hyaluronic acid -the magical youth infuser. To get natural and tasteful result you need to find a doctor who is an artist at her/his job not just any needle jabber. In right hands lips can become masterpieces of natural beauty and in brute hands trout pouts (shocking all senses of beauty).

Key message when thinking lip enhancement is: less is more. Be it makeup or medical help you can bring in the real beauty to your lips by understanding and respecting the anatomy of naturally gifted lips.

Post Halloween Skin Detox

Trick or treating as ghoul or Dia de los Muertos, sugar rushing on corn syrup and candy makes up for a perfect adventure on all Hallows eve, but come next morning the cold blooded reality dawns on you —the spooky night inflicted carnage on your skin and body has turned you into real life puffy-the-vampire. Here’s a quick and simple weekend Detox that’d give you your day walker status back in a pinch and rejoice it doesn't involve fasting, purging, or a complete rearrangement of your life. Follow step-by-step routine and wake up Monday morning with a fresh, radiant complexion.

Channeling The Right Spirit: Clear all the clutter around you, simply straightening up the junk on your coffee table or doing a load of laundry will prepare you for the inner cleansing to come.

Eat Drink But Don’t Be Scary: Let the healing begin by eating right. Stock up the fridge for your weekend Detox, you want to fill your body with healthy foods such as lean protein (chicken, turkey, and tofu), fresh fruits (cranberries, apples, and grapes) and vegetables (look for broccoli, carrots, and sweet potatoes)—these antioxidant packed foods help repair, and prevent, damage to your skin. Avoid alcohol, tobacco, and all refined and processed foods (that means no more sugar or carbs).

Purge Your Daily Skincare Routine: When your skin acts up, the last thing you want to do is slather on a plethora of lotions, potions and serums. The same goes for a detox —To give your skin time to rebalance, put away everything except your cleanser, day lotion with SPF, and night cream.

Relax And Sip Warm Tea: Look for blends that include nettle, ginger, or burdock, dandelion, or sarsaparilla root—herbs and flowers known to calm inflammation and improve liver and kidney function. These teas help eliminate puffiness around the eyes and decongest your skin. If you need a caffeine-hit, try green tea; it is less of a stimulant and is packed with lots of antioxidants.

Give Or Take A Massage: Encourage the elimination of waste by manually moving lymph through the lymphatic system. Concentrate on massaging the neck, armpits, stomach, groin, and behind the knees—areas where there are a lot of lymph nodes.

Let Your Pores Breathe: Pour hot water into a small bowl and add a few drops of citrus or any other calming and relaxing essential oil. Soak a hand towel in the water, then wring out and drape over your face. Lie down for ten minutes and let the steam open your pores, prepping your skin for the detoxifying mask that follows. Look for masks made with clay, which absorbs excess oil and pulls toxins and impurities out, while adding in necessary minerals.

Exfoliate And Rejuvenate: Wake up your senses with a sloughing session in the shower. Exfoliate with a product that contains coffee to remove dead, dulling skin cells, boost circulation, and pump toxins from the body.

Sweat It Out: Light exercise—a brisk walk, jumping rope, yoga—helps eliminate toxins from your body. The deep breathing of yoga stimulates the lymphatic system. It also brings cleansing oxygen into the body with each inhale, and expels waste on each exhale. Try sun salutations, which nurture as well as detoxify, or twisting poses to activate the digestive system.

Wrap Yourself In A Natural Mask: At the end of your detox, you'll want to nourish and calm your complexion. Spread a few tablespoons of raw honey over your face. Next, apply cucumber slices on top of the honey then lie down. Cover your face with a warm, damp washcloth to allow the honey, a natural humectant, to seal in moisture. Honey's anti–inflammatory properties also help reduce irritation and redness. Cucumbers, which act as diuretics, will further flush out excess fluid and relieve any remaining puffiness.