How are your favourite celebrities aging?

Take a look for yourself, here's the slideshow:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34462651/ns/health-picture_stories/displaymode/1247/?beginSlide=1

Enjoy!

My Botox Alternatives, Part 1

'Frownies On... Frown Lines Gone!'
'Hollywood's Beauty Secret For Over 100 Years!'
'Made In USA Since 1889'
'Guaranteed results in 30 days or less.'

These are just a few of the exciting claims written on my little box of Frownies,
and since I somehow lost the original copy of this post, I am wearing a Frownie right now to get rid of the pained look on my face...

Speaking of that 'pained look' you wouldn't believe how many facial expressions you make in your sleep until you peel a Frownie off your smooth, relaxed brow the following morning. I have been using this product on and off for 6 years now and they work like magic. 'On and off' because every once in a while I get tired of my husband teasing me for coming to bed looking like I 'joined some bizarre cult', they are not sexy, that's for sure. I also like to take a break to see if my retrained facial muscles actually revert back to their old selves. Inevitably they do.

These very simple and easy to use little patches have been manufactured, formula unchanged, by the same family since 1889, and have reportedly been a favourite of glamorous beauties like Gloria Swanson, Dayle Haddon, and Renee Russo. Though the box claims guaranteed results after 30 days, I find I see results after about 14 days of consistent use, and the price can't be beat. $19.99 will give you 144 mornings of unfurrowed brow with no headaches or downtime vs. $425 (in my neck of the woods, anyway) for botox.

I also like that you can slip Frownies in your Christmas cards before you send them, after all, don't your loved ones also deserve to wake up with a line-free forehead at some point during this holiday season?

www.frownies.com

Lift Your Bosom With Botox...

I'm starting to wonder if there's anything Botox can't do:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/beauty/article-1225537/Botox-breasts-New-treatment-helps-women-tighten-sagging-cleavage.html

I haven't 'Botoxed' anything yet, but I'm sure I will sometime in the future. For now I have two products that I'm using to prevent the number eleven from planting itself firmly between my brows, with success so far. More to come on those products very soon.

Men and aging...

Here's an interesting example of two extremes:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1216592/Wham-star-Andrew-Ridgeley-succumbs-ageing-process.html

Though fairly unrecognizable, I have to give Andrew Ridgeley credit for aging gracefully and still looking like a man. George Michael, on the other hand (scroll down) has had some kind of crazy eye lift that even his sunglasses can't hide.

And if you read the entire article, you'll notice the mention of a Bananarama reunion, which of course I am very excited about!

Vbeam Laser, the scoop!

Due to what I believe is a combination of mild rosacea and overzealous use of a Buf Puf as a teenager, I had quite a few broken capillaries on my cheeks, chin, and nose. For a good part of my twenties, I accepted my facial redness as something I'd just have to live with. I tried all kinds of different skincare products, from anti-redness creams with supposed 'capillary-strengthening' ingredients such as horse chestnut, licorice root, vitamin K, etc. to a variety of prescription creams, gels, and lotions. The thing is, once the capillaries are visible, no cream is going to get rid of them. So then I set out to cover them with all kinds of green-tinted day creams, concealers, bases, and finishing powders. Yes, green does indeed cancel red, but then you have to cover the green with more makeup, which only added to my skin problems. I spent a lot of money and wasted a lot of time, so I was thrilled when Vbeam laser became an option for me.

'It's like little rubber bands, snapping on your face'

How many times have you heard this phrase used to describe laser procedures? Well, I'm here to tell you Vbeam is a hell of a lot more painful than that. It's really more like thick rubber bands (that are on fire) being pulled back really far, and then snapped hard on your face. At first you think, this isn't so bad, but after 5 minutes or so of being zapped all over at a rate of about one snap per second, you literally feel like you've stuck your face in a hornet's nest. The laser machine itself makes a lot of strange sounds, and you hear a 'splat-crunch' noise with every shot. I do get some comic relief when the technician, whose first language is French, tells me to 'watch out!' as she does more sensitive areas (such as the tip of the nose) as if I should jump off the table and run away or something. I usually end up laughing and I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm crazy. Anyway, afterwards, you feel the burn for at least a half hour and you may have bruising or swelling. I only have bruising sometimes, but I always have the swelling, which goes away after a few days. The difference is visible almost immediately, but it takes about a month to see the full result.

So why do I do this? It sounds terrible and unfortunately (as with most beauty treatments) it does hurt, but the results are still well worth it if you suffer from facial redness and rosacea. Along with vaporizing all those tiny broken blood vessels that make skin look uneven, it also diminishes fine lines and shrinks the pores. I love the way it gives me a clear, snow-white porcelain complexion. My skin is less oily and I rarely have breakouts. So far, this is my tenth Vbeam laser treatment. The first time, I did a series of 6 treatments, once a month. Now I just do touch-ups once or twice a year.

So if you're tired of wasting money on ineffective or temporary solutions like 'redness relieving' creams, 'calming' lotions, and green concealers, I highly recommend Vbeam laser. It is a proven, effective, and safe treatment. At $225 CAD per session, the results are worth every penny.