Billboard B | Dance Mix 31.05.10

.

Your Monday Morning Mix : Dance Mix 31.05.10

Shake a leg and get into the groove.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Billboard B.  Where the hits reside.

.

POSSIBLY RELATED GC POSTS

Billboard B | Dance Mix (23.05.10) 
Billboard B | Dance Mix (09.05.10)
Throwback Thursday | The Power 
TT Vid | 100% Pure Love 

Grrrrrrr. Bring it.

.

I’ve never been much of a gym person, but I do believe in the Sexy. I’ve realized that it’s a lot more difficult to exhibit the Sexy by just waking up and existing, like I did back in the day. Way more difficult. I played sports in highschool, so even if back then I didn’t consider it a work out, my body was well conditioned.

After life stepped in and I wasn’t engaged in sports full time anymore, I decided to take my first step in the gym, i.e. paid gym membership with a personal trainer and what not. I was maybe about 27, but who’s counting, especially as I’m now 25.

That lasted a few months, but then after switching countries and careers, gym membership definitely presented itself as a luxury that I could have no longer afforded. Making the best use of the resources around me seemed like a more productive plan, and so I placed a call to my self-discipline life line, as I knew then I’d really have to dig deep to make this rickety rack work. It wasn’t exactly starting from scratch; I figured that after 9 or so months of having a personal trainer, surely I could have done something on my own.

After shelling out all of that moolah, I must have learned SOMETHING. I only now had to figure out what that something was.

Lets see, I had a good idea of a variety of different workouts that target specific muscle groups, I had been trained on pushing myself until exhaustion, and understood that intervals work and that muscle confusion is the most efficient route to see results. I had learned that the same muscle group shouldn’t be targeted everyday, and that there is a different heart beat per minute range, depending on whether your goal is cardio or fat loss. I had learned about keeping the proper form, and that your ego will injure you if you take on more weight than you are capable of working, at the expense of this said form. I learned a lot and knew then to myself that I could have made it work.

The plan was to run along the beach in San Juan, Puerto Rico (surely there are worse things in life) on mornings before class at least thrice a week, and engage in some strength training activity utilizing:

1. my body weight

2. a stability ball

3. various dumbells and

4. a resistance band

My diet/ nutrition was always pretty solid, so that wasn’t too much of a stretch for me to not undo all the work that I put in daily. I worked and I saw results; I was a happy camper.

But as always, life happens… more. I moved again, had some other lemons tossed in the mix, so the workouts suffered a bit (read a lot), but my diet/ nutrition always remained solid enough for me to not have to completely change my wardrobe, until I eventually got back into my groove.

So now that I got back into the groove, I felt like I wanted more. More of what I wasn’t not sure, but there was that looming plateau feeling. Gym membership is still not a viable option, not so much the money this time, but more the time. Where am I really going to find 1 hour every day, possibly more considering transit time, to dedicate to the gym as a gainfully employed, full time single parent, living in a foreign country i.e. no tanty and nenen to help care for mini-me free of charge. More like $10.50/ hour, thank you very much.

Even if that was possible, I probably couldn’t manage the terms and conditions anyways.

So, as if my life wasn’t challenging enough, I decided this week to take my fass self and start the p90x programme. Yes, there’s been much ado about it over the past year or so , and so far I have at least a half trailer load of friends who sing it’s praises, about a handful of whom I’ve seen some serious results that have made me really wonder what it is about the program that is so effective.

Obviously I’ve had my reservations about it – exercise DVDs are out there a dime a dozen. As far as I’m concerned, as long as you get moving and swallow less energy than you expend, you are going to see some sort of result or the other over time, so I was never really moved by crazy exercise and fad diets. Still, I decided why not? You want results then you gotta try something different. That’s my loose adaptation of something some enlightened person said regarding success, or achievement, or… something similar.

Anywhos, 3 days into the programme, if it was not for the positive difference  that I already feel in my body and my energy levels, I would have surely tossed the DVDs one side as it has thoroughly wiped the floor with my tail. Twice.

I’d like to think that I have at least a decent level of fitness, but this thing right here is no joke. It’s not impossible, but to say that it’s difficult would be a gross understatement. Sure it looks easy when Tony does it, but trying to figure out how to get your body to control itself like that takes you a moment or two. Talk about getting schooled. p90x is definitely not for the beginner. It is recommended that you have achieved some level of fitness before starting the programme, and for good reason. It is ballistic. It requires core strength, endurance, flexibility and most of all, bad mind.

This is no Sunday stroll, it ain’t no walk in the park, feed the dolphins deal; there is an ‘x’ in the brand name for a reason. Xtreme, i.e. forget whatever you thought you knew before, it’s not going to help you in this round. I haven’t reached the legs workout yet and already moving from standing to sitting is a fantastically painful transition.

Still, I’m excited.

I feel blood pumping through my body in places I never knew had a function. My energy is at an all time high, and I’ve been less prone to those mini-depression slumps that I tend to fall into every now and then, and I’m looking forward to finishing Phase 1 with some sort of result to put on display, as I celebrate myself come June.

I had no intention of announcing this to the world, but a good friend or mine, and fellow p90x-er (the individual who facilitated me trying it) reminded me that this was one of the reasons why I started GlamityCalamity in the first place – the ins and outs, highs and lows of finding and maintaining the Sexy that works for you.

Plus, he had to slip in there that if I put myself on blast that I’d be less inclined to fall off the band wagon, cause I do neither shame nor failure gracefully. So fine, it’s out. I hope you’re at least slightly amused SP!… NO PRESSURE! None at all.  Thanks for the support and here’s to me stunting at home come Christmas time when I see you guys again.

To all my p90x ‘veterans’, this is a subtle reminder that it’s p90x, not p900x. The programme only takes ninety days y’all, what’s the deal? It’s been more than that since I’ve last seen you guys and from all your FB pics you don’t look any different. STEP IT UP and get back on the truck before I put you to shame. Consider that your warning. To all my peeps who will be soon joining me on this trek, I salute you. Can’t wait to swap the b!tchslap agony stories that are sure to soon follow.

b FreakinFabulous

POSSIBLY RELATED GC POSTS
Maintaining the flab
12 Minute Abs
Health Tip: Walk off worry
2010 Resolution Temperature Check
What in the E.F. is going on here (Emotional Fitness)
.

Natural Sexy vs. Science Sexy

Spy vs. Spy

The ‘Natural’ bandwagon is hugantic. It may not be the most sophisticated or fun at times, but damn, the hype that surrounds it is hella huge. Marketers have caught on to this trend, and are milking it for all it’s worth *squirt *squirt Yummy.

On the other hand, although science has helped us greatly, the term ‘synthetic’ has taken quite a hit at the expense of all things ‘natural’. People love to give the natural vs. synthetic ultimatum, but is it at all necessary? Can’t we all just get along?

Is‘Natural’ necessarily always good, and is ‘Science’ necessarily always bad?

Yes? No? Maybe so?

Science & skin care

With respect to skin care, rather than just assessing the situation stereotypically, perhaps taking a deeper look at the ingredients in the skin care products may be a more productive argument.

Natural Skin Care Ingredients

Natural is great. There is this feeling of wild abandon that accompanies the thought of ‘au naturel’. “Clean”. “Simple”.  ”Fresh”. “Good for you”.

However, as with everything else in life, ‘good’ things usually do not last forever. Under the right conditions, natural things are known to rot, decay, or otherwise disintegrate in quality. For example, with respect to plants, fruits, veges – typical sources for most natural skin care ingredients – there is only a small window that’s considered ‘prime for picking’, so one must take this into consideration, especially when a cleanser or moisturizer will typically sit on your shelf for at least 6 months, or longer depending on the product in question.

Things to consider for natural products:

~ Using natural ingredients directly

Of course there is the argument that you can just pick something off the tree and slap it on your face.

If you live in such a place where you can do this I truly envy you, for that used to be me. Womp. For the rest of us, we can hardly eat fruits and vegetables these days without being shot up with pesticides, so want to put that on your face too?

Remember, ‘natural’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘organic’. ‘Organic’ is the one where certain pesticides (not all) are required to be absent. No such is the case with ‘natural’, don’t believe the hype.

~ Nature differs from batch to batch.

This means that you can buy one batch of product that not only has a different colour from your previous batch, but the strength of the particular active ingredient can be different also.

This is not a leather bag we are talking about, where the value and character of the product is heightened by the fact that there is a huge ‘imperfection’ (their term not mine), for which you are expected to pay the not-so-little extra for. It’s not that kind of party with skin care; we don’t go out of our way to look for imperfections in products, but rather we try to minimize them.

In some products this lack of apparent quality control is not a deal breaker. If a product doesn’t contain any ingredients that are considered ‘active’ (read ‘results’) by the FDA, then it really doesn’t matter if you use a product or water.

However, in that expensive serum that derives it’s antioxidant function from those ‘berries’, it might be a problem if the super star ingredient, the Vitamin C say from the berries, is as effective as the ones in the serum that doesn’t contain Vitamin C. Yeah… might wanna check that.

~ Stability of natural substances outside of their environment

Talking about Vitamin C, it’s known to be a powerful antioxidant – it protects the skin from sun damage and helps slow down the physical signs of aging…  yadda yadda yadda, but it’s not very stable once exposed to air, a couple minutes max.

All that freshly squeezed orange juice you just made? Most of the good stuff (Dr. C) just poofed* vanished before you’ve finished mixing the ingredients together. I used to be called “Juice Mixer” in university (Chem. Eng.) by all the other engineers so, trust me, not that I’d like to recall the name calling but, I’d know

With this understanding, Vitamin C in it’s natural form is not going to do much for your skin sitting in a jar for a couple months. It’s usually also quite acidic in nature wherever it’s found (oranges, lemons etc.) so putting that right there on your face is its going to do an excellent job of stripping your skin’s protective barrier, dehydrating your skin and leaving it more susceptible to  harmful bacteria.

Fantastic? No.

So then, on to the next one. 

Synthetic skin care ingredients

The word chemical is not a synonym for dangerous.

According to the Oxford dictionary, a chemical (noun) is a substance that has been prepared, or purified, (usually) artificially.

You can concoct something that is dangerous or, you can prepare something that is effective, yet harmless.

Of course, there are dangerous chemical substances, but there are also dangerous natural ones. Cyanide anyone? One sugar or two?

So, for example, Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate, is a very stable form of Vitamin C – one that is stable enough to be used in skin care products. The skin’s enzymes then work to break down this ingredient into ascorbic acid, naturally found in most fruits like citrus and berries, which has been found to inhibit the formation of melanin (pigment) as well as assist collagen formation. 

Doesn’t make sense to pay the extra for active ingredients that aren’t… active, does it?

However this form of stable Vitamin C doesn’t just morph into a stable by it’s lonesome, it is the end product of research and development i.e. it is born out of a laboratory, and such is considered to be ‘synthetic’.

Why use synthetic ingredients?

So sure, it’s not for everybody, but if the proverbial horse has already bolted out the gate, the skin situation has long surpassed ‘preventative’ and you are actually looking to treat clear and present skin damage, i.e. if you are looking for results, you are going to need to look a little further than mother nature to help you in your mission to ‘age gracefully’. 

So perhaps the best bet is to take the best of what nature has to offer, and combine it with the best of what science brings. It’s a win-win situation.

The products last longer, there is less wastage, the ingredients remain active and are therefore more effective, and you get the value for your money. Everyone’s happy.

Food for thought:

It’s like that chick who is so blatantly hot, so much is on display even Stevie Wonder can see it, vs. the librarian chick. Everyone knows the immediate benefits of the blatant hottie. You can milk it almost immediately and get a great high albeit one that is, more likely than not, short lived.

Now enter the librarian. Sure, there’s a good chance that you may not live on the same planet, but there is an even greater chance that you may get longer lasting, stable, surprisingly flexible benefits, that comes with intelligence.

Moral of the story? Never underestimate the librarian.

b FreakinFabulous

.

POSSIBLY RELATED GC POSTS

Natural vs. Organic
Skin Care | “Skin Vitamins” aka Antioxidants
Ingredient Spotlight: Hyaluronic Acid
Skin Therapy | Saving Face
The ‘it’ kids on the block – Powerful Peptides
HELP! My skin is schizo

Throwback Thursday | The Power

.

.

Awww Snap!

You’d be hardpressed to get more classic 90s than this y’alls!

No wonder we were all just a bit slimmer back then. Just makes me wanna get up and bust a move:

—>>> **VOGUE**|**VOGUE**|**VOGUE** <<<—

.

The hightop fade. The lace up “Clark”s. The oversized, ill-fitted, double-breasted, shoulder-padded blazers. The unisex braids… with beads. The red, green ‘n gold errythang. The “tights-as-pants”. The costume jewelry. The no-photoshop to remove pimples and shine. The low budget video…

Living proof that it takes a lot more than the wrong kit to make you a hot mess, once you walkin’ with the right ATTITUDE.

“Sooooo… PEACE! Stay off my back, or I will attack, and you don’t want that!”

.

Spotlight: Snap | The Power

Happy Thursday. The official start of my weekend.

b FreakinFabulous

.

POSSIBLY RELATED GC POSTS

TT Vid : Crystal Waters | 100% Pure Love
Billboard B | Dance Mix 23.05.10 
Billboard B | Dance Mix (09.05.10)
  .

Puff Baggy

.

The occurrence of dark under eye circles is a genetic trait, which is made worse by stress and/ or lack of sleep. If you find yourself developing this, then your best bet would be to either lighten up a bit, or doze off some more.

As this is a genetic condition, there is no topical skin care that can diminish the appearance of these under eye circles. Nadas.

Any topical skin care that is promising you this is feeding you pure lies, save your moolah.

Puffy eyes

Puffy eyes however, may be topically treated, depending on the cause. Typically it is just a temporary inflammatory state, around the eye area. Your best bet? Get off of Facebook, and get some sleep.

Getting in enough rest will solve more than half of your problems.

Anti-inflammatory ingredients such as:

-       Chamomile
-       Cucumber
-       Echinacea
-       Rose water
-       Liquorice
-       Green Tea or
-       Vitamin C

for example, in a cooling gel based masque, or similar fluid-like moisturizer, nothing too thick in consistency, can help bring down the puffiness in the eye area.

In addition to eyes being tired, puffy eyes may also be as a result of a bigger body malfunction issue, like thyroid problems or fluid retention, or it may be as a result of lifestyle choices, like smoking or improper nutrition. If you have persistent puffy eyes and are bothered by it, be sure to consult your doctor to find the root cause, in the event it may be as a result of something more than needing sleep.

In any case, topical skin care ingredients are only a temporary fix for puffy eyes.

Darkened areas around the eye

However, if you have just a darkened portion around a certain area of your eye, for example one that is evident on one eye and not the other, it is possible that this may be treated as there could be another reason for it’s presence other than plain old genetics.

For example, I have a darkening (hyper-pigmentation) on the left outer corner of my eye. I know that it’s there, but I just figured that’s my lot in life.

I have allergic reactions to certain conditions (like the cold, poor me. I was definitely not cut out to live in arctic conditions…) as well as certain substances (like certain eyeshadows and eyeliners) that cause my left eye in particular to tear up, but who doesn’t have allergies these days.

In the past I’ve been known to constantly wipe the tears away from my left eye – with tissue, the wool blazer on my arm, my winter gloves, my shoulder… which I never paid any mind, until a fellow skin therapist brought to my attention that this constant wiping action with any and everything, irritates the skin surrounding my outer eye.

It would only follow, worse that my skin complexion is darker in tone, that this irritation causes increased sensitivity/ inflammation, which leads to the hyper-pigmentation that I now see. Duh. Silly me.

So what’s my cure? Well, as I can’t really help the cold climate or the fact that I’m genetically disposed to certain allergies, I can:

1. Firstly, quit rubbing my eye with harsh stuff.

2. Use an eye-cream daily, which contains:

a. Sunscreen, (min SPF 15) to prevent any further darkening in this eye area as well as

b. Brightening ingredients, like  Vitamin C to help alleviate the skin discolouration that I presently experience in this particular area.

3. Carefully remove eye makeup at night with a specially formulated eye-makeup remover, or a cleanser that has been specifically formulated for use in the eye area as well.

Thanks for the question AK!

.

b FiercelyFabulous

Photo Credits: m_bartosch / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

POSSIBLY RELATED GC POSTS

Time Lines
Sensitive vs. Sensitized
She got it from her mama
Anti-Aging Tip #2 | Use Antioxidants
Q/A: Skin type vs. Skin condition
Steppin’ on up!

Steppin’ on up!

.

The term “anti-aging” is quite possibly one of the best marketing ideas this century, because , of course, it is virtually impossible to get physically get younger with time, whether or not it refers to the skin.

What we can do however is prevent the acceleration of the skin’s aging.

One of the best ways to prevent this acceleration is to do something. Even if you have the most basic of skin care routines – cleansing and moisturizing with pH balanced products i.e. a routine that doesn’t involve using soap-and-water followed by nothing, or worse, body lotion… on your face.

So if you are using a drug store skin care line religiously, twice a day – in the morning and before bedtime, you are already ahead of the pack.

However, if you’ve had this routine for some time and want to up the results of your skin care routine, here are a few options that you can look at.

1. Add an exfoliant and a mask.
Incorporate an exfoliant to assist in ridding dead skin cells, (enzyme or lactic acid based preferably, rather than a scrub type exfoliant) paired with an hydrating mask, to nourish skin/ replenish any water content that has been lost in the process. 

If you must go with a scrub, avoid the ones with apricot and walnut shells, and look for ones with microbeads – tiny spherical substances, are much gentler on your face as the perfectly round and smooth surfaces prevent any micro tearing/ ripping action on the skin, which can lead to skin damage, sensitivity and of course, ugh, pigmentation.

2. Try a professional skin care line.

Another way to boost the results of your skin care is to try a professional skin care line. Your skin therapist, if you have one, can recommend the right one, along with the right type of cleanser/ toner/ moisturizer combo.

Professional skin care lines typically have more active ingredients in their ingredient list, either that or they use a higher percentage of these active ingredients, so, though they are typically a bit more expensive depending on the brand, you get more bang for your buck. Of course there is a point where you are just paying for the brand – we no likey those.

3. Get a professional skin treatment at least once a month.

Your skin therapist may recommend a customized program to start, in order that you both work to get your skin where you want to be, after which a treatment every 4 to 8 weeks ought to suffice.

~|~

Regardless of which route you choose to go, you ought to look at the product’s ingredient list to make sure it doesn’t contain skin sensitizing ingredients, for example:

- Mineral oil/ petrolatum or lanolin.

These ingredients have been shown to form an impervious layer that prevents oxygen, water, or anything else really from moving across it’s layer. Great concept for freezing food, but not so good when it comes to skin that needs to breathe, in order to prevent the development of “Dr. Zit”.

Choose other ingredients like shea butter, or jojoba oil for example that can provide the same benefits, while allowing your skin to breathe.

The following ingredients are well known to increase skin’s sensitivity, especially with regard to the sun:

- Fragrance / parfum
First or last ingredient, just avoid it.

- Denatured alcohol
E.g. rubbing alcohol, typical found in over the counter toners/ astringents, that are targeted to oily or acneic skin. Witch Hazel, as an ingredient, is a much better alternative.

- D&C colour (artificial colour).
Typically indicated by a primary colour name. Must your skin care really be electric blue?

So yeah pass on that Coconut Sorbet facial sunscreen lotion that’s on clearance rack; It’s there for a reason.

Thanks for the question AK!

b FiercelyFabulous.

Photo Credits: Tina Phillips / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

.

POSSIBLY RELATED GC POSTS

Sensitive vs. Sensitized
The ‘it’ kids on the block
Skin Care | “Skin Vitamins”
Are you wearing protection?
Skin Therapy | Saving Face 

Billboard B | Dance Mix 23.05.10

.

Mondays are known to suck y’alls. Mine don’t.

Shake a leg, and enjoy.

.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

..

Billboard B.  Where the hits reside.

..

**Disclaimer: minimally NSFW, depending on where you work **
.

POSSIBLY RELATED GC POSTS

TT Vid | 100% Pure Love
Billboard B | Dance Mix

Time Lines

.

Ain’t nothing like crepey hands to really jack up an otherwise youthful situation.

Your hands are one of the first places to age, and by age I mean get wrinkly, sallow looking, dehydrated, spotty/ hyper-pigmented (mixture of darker or lighter areas). All kinds of fun. All kinds of uber unfabulousness in the mix.

Right after the hands, a few other places that age pretty quickly are around the eyes (otherwise known as crows feet), the neck and the decollete/ chest area.

These parts age more quickly  because the skin in these areas are typically thinner than the skin on the face or the body perhaps, where the skin, and fat content primarily, are thicker.

As skin in general gets thinner and thinner as we age, these aforementioned areas are then already at a disadvantage. Noone said life is fair, but geeze. Cut a body part some slack.

Hands are even more particularly at risk with all the harsh hand/ dishwashing detergents we use daily, not to mention the incredibly stripping alcohol-based hand sanitizers we use so that we don’t make social with other people’s bacteria/ germs.

The following are some tips to help slow down the appearance of aging on the skin in the areas (around eyes, neck, decollete and hands) that are naturally prone to age faster than the rest of the body:

1. Moisturize hands after cleansing

Seems obvious, but judging from the number of people who don’t normally moisturize their body after having a shower, I’ll say it anyway.

2. Include your neck and decollete in every step of your usual skin care routine.

How many ever steps you already have – cleanse/ exfoliate/ mask/ tone/ moisturize.

3. Exfoliate hands.

In addition to the usual cleanse and moisturize steups that we follow with our hands, exfoliating hands helps refresh the skin, and helps impart a healthy glow. You can use a normal spherical/ micro-bead scrub or you can get fancy and use a gentle enzyme or hydroxy-acid exfoliating scrub.

The use of a super hydrating hand moisturizer, after cleansing (and exfoliating, if applicable) the hands helps replace the moisture that is often lost by (often harsh) cleansers that we normally use for keeping our hands dirt/ germ-free.

4. Adopt a night time hand routine

If your hands are chronically dry and crepey, spritzing the back of your hands with toner after cleansing at night just before bed, then following with a thicker moisturizer with both hydrating (e.g. hyaluronic acid, sodium PCA, lactic acid, cucumber) and emollient ingredients (e.g. shea butter, aloe and squalene) will assist in combatting dehydration.

Silicones such as cyclomethicone and cyclopetasiloxan, as product ingredients, help seal in the moisture while allowing the skin to breathe, which is a ‘hell yes’ step-up from mineral oil.

5. Use a specialized cleanser and moisturizer for eyes.

That is, one that is specifically formulated for this delicate area.

If you are concerned with any fine lines and wrinkles that have already started appearing around the eye area, an eye cream that contains Vitamin C and a  minimum SPF 15 (for day) should be standard ingredients in your eye cream.

6. Include neck, decollete, and hands in your sunscreen application.

This is especially for those of us who drive and/ or are stuck in traffic in the beating hot sun. The sun’s UV rays filter right though the average windscreen, and take a toll on  hands that are tightly wrapped around the steering wheel.

FreakinFabulous

Photo Credits: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

.

POSSIBLY RELATED GC POSTS

Tip | Neck, Ears & Décolleté
The ‘it’ kids on the block
Are you wearing protection?
Skin Therapy | Saving Face
Anti-Aging Tip #5
Skin Type| Dry Skin

TT Vid | 100% Pure Love

.

Throwback Thursdays y’all!

Why?

Just because it sounds cool.

Progress is great and all, but – plain talk bad manners – some things were just better in the 90s.

Life was less complicated, and rather than just revel in the fact that we were young and life was a whole lot simpler, most of us complained about everything under the sun. Womp. womp. Blah, blah, blah.

Time is a biatch on a rocket stick ain’t it?

For most of us, life in the 90s don’t look so bad after all I’m sure. We weren’t as half as ‘fat’ as we thought we were, and a whole lot better looking than we gave ourselves credit for, for sure. Not to mention the people who never paid you no mind and drove you to a near inferiority complex have since fallen off the proverbial truck and NOW want to talk to you. Or maybe it’s just me.

Either way, here’s to ole skool memories!

In this week’s spotlight:  Crystal Waters | 100% Pure Love

Cheers!

Which ‘chune’ serves as your nostalgia shot, straight up? Be sure to weigh in, who knows it just may be featured on Throwback Thursdays.

FreakinFabulous

.

POSSIBLY RELATED GC POST

Billboard B | 20 min Dance Mix

Get high on highlites!

.

.

Summer is fast approaching and whether you are thawing out over there, or baking and sweating over here, I know that this is a time for stretching those adventure muscles and trying new things.

You’ve been good girls – taken care of that hair, made sure it was covered from the biting cold and deep conditioned enough to prevent it snapping in two from being dry and brittle, and now you want to shake those tresses and strut your stuff at the beach right?

You worked out following the sinful gluttony that was the Christmas season, and now have got those abs in tow and purchased that killer bikini, but either way, what about the hair?

A change is needed… but what? Sooo many options, so little time. The best choices are the ones that won’t bust your pockets but will beckon lustily to the nearest hottie in surfshorts to your left.

What about some sexy hi-lights? Surely these will jazz up any winter hat hair.

But before you get too giddy, first the hair strands must be healthy enough to handle it being properly stripped, so be sure to follow a deep conditioning routine at least a couple times before you sit in the colourist’s chair. At the very least, get one a week before the scheduled change.

Then during that one week grab some magazines. Check out what’s hot and what’s oh-so-not. Then narrow it down to what looks good, and more importantly what look good on you. If you aren’t sure (honestly even if you think you are) enlist the help of your stylist in order to best stay true to what flatters your complexion. Nothing is worse than seeing bleached blonde hair on skin that wasn’t born to be that way.

Brassy Hair. Wow. I am telling you I am tired, tired, tired, of beautiful ladies shocking me with a head of frizzed out metallic orange hair that does nothing to uphold their status. *Diva who?* Just makes me want to rip off that rug and attack it with a bottle of dark brown dye, kite paper, koolaid, shoe polish… something. Argh!

But, as usual, I digress…

So we have chosen the look. But since I hit my crystal ball with a sledge hammer after that last incident involving a lotto ticket and a can of peanut butter, I don’t have the use of it anymore and so I am going to bombard you with a wide variety of choices.

The highs and lows of hi-lights

Committment, Baby.

Hi-lights lighten the hair and makes it appear brighter, while a lowlight darkens and deepens it. Incorporating both in various hues of the same family gives tremendous depth, and dimension to an otherwise okay hair style. Blonde, gold and chamomile tones can be  used for highlighting and reds, plums and aubergine shades for lowlighting.

Usually, two or three colours are used for a multifaceted, shimmering effect – any more than that and the hues can lose their contrast and look a bit muddled.

Whatever your natural colour, you shouldn’t go more than three or four shades lighter or darker, as the results can be too harsh for your natural skin tone.

No committment, Baby.

You can incorporate multifaceted colour in this way by clipping in extensions, or of course by weaving or gluing them in depending on how ‘permanent’ you want them.  Yip. So if the urge takes you, why not add a bit of colour with out the commitment?