Anti Aging Beauty Product Reviews: What Works?

Do you want to find product reviews when you were looking for a makeover or rejuvenation? Read this article for help.

When considering having a makeover or just some pampering to rejuvenate your skin, don’t you think that having product reviews available would be beneficial? They certainly would and they are actually quite easy to find than one might think. Of course, it definitely helps to know what kind of reviews you are looking for.

Wrinkle Cream

When purchasing a beauty product such as a wrinkle cream, it’s very helpful to do some research beforehand because of the wide variety of available products. Once you find some that hold your attention, you can start looking for reviews of that specific product. Luckily the internet can help you on this quest to seek the knowledge of other people that have tried or use the product you’re interested in. You can benefit from their review because it will help you make your own decision.

When looking for wrinkle creams try to choose those that have a money back guarantee. The average guarantee is thirty days; plenty of time to decide if it’s right for you. If it’s not, you don’t lose any money you spent on it and you can keep trying other products to get the desired results. Remember this when browsing reviews. You also should keep in mind that because a few people say the product didn’t work for them, that doesn’t mean it won’t work for you. We are all different but if you see similar reasons as to why the product didn’t work for them, you might consider a different cream.

Weird Fitness Trend: A Blind “Date” at the Gym?

Blind dates are kind of frightening as it is (though they seem to work for some people–like Single-ish’s Ryan recently!), but imagine the concept of a blind date–for fitness!? That’s right, if you’re envious of Madonna and Gwynnie’s fitness-centered friendship and want a workout buddy of your own, a new service lets you find a jogging partner or a yoga pal via your cell phone–whenever you’re in the mood to move. More after the jump …

Here’s how it works: A new service provided by the company BluePont lets you use your cell phone to find last-minute workout buddies. First you sign up on their Web site and fill out background info on yourself, then download the software to your phone. Once your all set up, your phone will buzz when it finds a fitness match in your vicinity. Just send the person a text message if you want to meet up for a jog, a trip to yoga class or a few minutes of side-by-side stints on the elliptical.

OK, so if this gives people any more motivation to exercise, great! But I have to say, I think this sounds a little creepy.

What about you? Would you really want to work out with a stranger? Me? I’d rather slip on my iPod and zone out rather than make small talk with someone I don’t know.

This Is Just Gross: You Won’t Believe What May Be Lurking in Some Perfumes

Sorry gals, I don’t mean to spoil your breakfast, but you will gasp when you hear what some experts say might be going on in your perfume bottle. It’s not a pretty picture …

Get ready to say eeewwwww!

According to a report featured in the January issue of Harper’s Bazaar, if you think you’re getting a deal on perfume from a less-reputable vendor (think of perfume sold at fairs, flea markets, etc.), it may come with a health risk. Experts say that active ingredients found in counterfeit fragrance include things like urine, bacteria, even antifreeze!

Gross! And other than that, it’s a health risk. Your skin absorbs what you put on it. Bad fragrance can give you a simple case of irritation (dermatitis) or even an infection.

Police are “stepping up their raids,” according to ABC to get phony fragrances off the streets and off the market. But it’s a nationwide problem, says Elaine Marshall, North Carolina’s secretary of state. “We see it happening every day,” she said to ABC. “I mean, whether it’s vendors [selling] out of their trunk at athletic events, whether it’s kiosk-type people at flea markets, sometimes, they actually get into the shopping centers.”

Have you ever bought fake, knock-off perfume?

Today’s Health Challenge: Stand Up! Why Getting Up From Your Desk–Often–Is So Good for You

My dears, do you do a lot of sitting during the day? A friend of mine just installed a treadmill desk in her office (how cool is that–I’m bugging her to give me photos and details for the blog, so stay tuned!), but me? I do a lot of sitting. Here’s why we all should be bold and stand up right now, and–brace yourself–go for a walk during the workday, as often as you can!

You pride yourself on being a hard worker (I do too!), but don’t work yourself into the ground! That’s the grave health warning the writers over at the Diet Blog featured recently, citing recent research noting the connection between people who spend more time seated and a higher chance of premature death.

“…As the world continues to evolve into a more technological driven society, people are spending a lot more time sitting in front of that technology instead of being up and moving on the job. According to ongoing research at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the more hours a day a person sits, the more likely they are to die an early death regardless of the amount of exercise they do. This means that if a person has a job where they’re on their feet all day, they are better off than a person who sits at a desk for 7 hours a day but jogs several miles before or after work.”

So surprising, right? You’d think that a cushy desk job would protect against death more than, say, a hectic one at a restaurant where you’re on your feet all the time–but not so.

Let this be a lesson to all of us to get up every 30-60 minutes to stretch those muscles and get our blood pumping. Beware of days when you’re seated for hours and hours at a time. That’s not good for you!

This Is Just Gross: Men Arrested for Selling Illegal Sperm

After banking almost $400,000, two men have been charged with operating an illegal sperm bank, peddling their wares to unknowing women and couples who they may have put at risk …

A black market for sperm? Yup, one exists. Can you say ewww! Two men in England have been charged with a heinous crime: operating a shady sperm bank. According to the BBC, Ricky Gage and Nigel Woodforth operated Fertility 1st, where they connected women with “anonymous sperm donors,” for about $600–only problem was their little operation was legal and it wasn’t safe.

It’s not clear on whether these men took the time to screen the sperm, or the donors (themselves?), for STIs or HIV (yikes), either. It’s a good reminder for all women (and men) using a sperm bank to check to make sure the place is legit and licensed.

Oh, and in other news, if you want/need sperm, um, don’t buy it on Craig’s List. Did you hear about this crazy story?

Crazy story, right?!

Folk Remedies: Had Your Gin-Soaked Raisins Today?

QUESTION: What do gin-soaked raisins and copper have in common?

ANSWER: Both are touted as natural or folk remedies for arthritis.

Forty-six million Americans have arthritis in some form or another, and those who do know arthritis can be painful, slow you down, and in some cases, be debilitating. The Centers for Disease Control reports that in this country, arthritis limits the activities of more than 17 million adults.

No wonder so many “home cures” exist alongside more modern pharmaceutical medications and pain relievers. In addition to copper bracelets and golden raisins soaked in gin, there are such commonly heard suggestions as magnets, drinking apple cider vinegar, eating fresh pineapple, and taking gelatin and shark cartilage, to name a few.

Such folk cures — nonconventional or alternative medicine as some call it — persist through generations, despite the lack of supporting medical studies to prove whether they actually work. You likely heard about them from your grandparent, or a work colleague, a neighbor or a tennis buddy. Some purported cures, like the gin-soaked raisins, are cyclical in their popularity.

“They persist because on some level, they do help because they have anti-inflammatory properties and people will notice some modification of inflammation and pain,” said Jim Borden, a certified nutritionist associated with Five Seasons, a health food market in Ocean Springs, Miss.

“But what I tell people is that with such things as raisins, they’re only getting a little bit of a piece of their puzzle, and they need to look further into how to prevent their health problems and how to maintain better heath by controlling diet. Proper nutrition for your body type is important. You need to know about yourself.”

The Device That Protects Your Personal Space Bubble

Have you ever been weirded out by people who get too close to you (either on the subway, the street or maybe at work)? I know I have. But–OMG–would you wear this crazy (and totally funny) device to keep people out of your personal space?

It’s a product called “Personal Space,” created by a Brazilian artist and inventor named Vivian Puxian. “It ensures your personal space is always kept safe,” she says, “and protects you against infectious and contagious diseases, such as the swine flu.”

While I highly doubt that this thing will protect anyone from swine flu (or any other flu or virus for that matter), I think this is pretty darn funny! (Imagine having one of these in a crowded place!)

P.S. If you really want to protect yourself from germs, maybe don’t touch this, and be aware of the crazy germs hanging out in this summery spot!

The New Eating Trend: Part-Time Vegans

We’ve talked about veganism and raw food here, and I’ve admitted to dabbling my toe in the water a bit. I could never be a full-fledged vegan, for many reasons, but a part-timer? I think, yes. Turns out, there’s a new eating trend that more people are embracing. It’s called before-dinner veganism…

The Times Online recently reported on a new trend, which was hatched, in part, New York Times columnist and bestselling author Mark Bittman (who I happen to think is pretty much genius) in Food Matters.

Here’s what he says about his vegan-before-dinner plan: “You don’t eat any, or much, in the way of animal products or processed food during the day. At night you eat what you want,” he explains. “In some ways it’s stricter than veganism in that there’s no junk allowed. In others it’s easier–in coffee is acceptable, and breaking the rules occasionally is okay. The basic line is this: no matter how you do it, you [and the planet] will benefit if you eat a higher proportion of plants and a lower proportion of everything else.”

It’s an interesting concept, isn’t it?

According to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a low-fat vegan diet can lead to weight loss of about 1 pound per week, and that’s without exercise. But let’s face it, very few people can manage to go full-fledged vegan (and, many health experts have concerns about purely vegan diets–see what Body by Glamour nutritionist Rachel Beller had to say on this topic), so that’s why I like Bitman’s plan. It’s a doable and non-rigid way to eat more whole foods during the day.

Heart Break and Voxforts

I wrote this 2 years ago in the 5th grade. I was reading twilight and I got inspired! It’s pretty bad but it was long and I couldn’t just throw away my work.

It has been a long night. I’ve been up for hours, between only minutes of sleep, waiting for my mom to come home, already expecting the worse.

When she finally came home I was, of course, relived to see she was safe. Once I figured she was still in one piece I was belligerent. She stumbled through the door with a huge crooked smile across her face, her breath reeking of alcohol. She had been gone since the time I woke up in the morning to 2:00 the next. This was normal about once or twice a month, but lately it has been getting worse up to a few times a week. Mom coming home drunk once again had me wondering what had changed to make her trips to the bar more frequent.

What had me worried though was, she never once called to tell me that she was on her way home, she never called to tell me where she was, or ask if I picked up my brother, Tyler, from daycare. Instead she didn’t answer my calls or respond to my worried messages.

To tell the truth I didn’t sleep the rest of the night or morning, besides the 2 hours of solid sleep I got between 4:00 am and 6:00 am before my alarm clock rang in time for school.

“I’m not going.” I mumbled to myself as I called one of my best friends Rachel to tell her I wasn’t going to be there. I did this so her and my other friends wouldn’t worry.

I have been absent at least once every week since August when school started and since my mom got fired from work and had to find a new job. So for my friends my absence doesn’t bother them as much anymore, they’re used to it. They stopped asking questions as to why I missed third period, or last Wednesday and Friday, or anytime because I just gave them my normal excuses. Once in a while I tell them, I had to finish my project for science, I was sick, I guess I didn’t get over my cold like I thought I did, I thought it was Saturday and so on. At least I tried to mix it up a little.

The Morning After: How to Avoid Post-Election Depression When Your Candidate Doesn’t Win

After months and months of election news, it’s hard to believe that it’s all going to be over tomorrow night, isn’t it? (That is, unless we don’t have another hanging-chad debacle.) I’ve had people, on both sides of the political spectrum, tell me they’re worried about feeling down–even depressed–if their candidate loses. Quite frankly, I’m worried too, so I sleuthed out some tips for all of us …

If you’re like me, you’ve been a fiend for election news, obsessed with polls and probably have a political bumper sticker on your car or maybe a sign in your front yard. If you’re a better person than me, you’ve probably even signed up to campaign for your candidate. I think, in some way, we’ve all been touched by the election season. And if our candidate wins, it’s like a really long wait for Christmas and then a big celebration. If he loses, it’s like Santa skipped your house.

The post-election blues are totally normal and quite expected, says Rebecca Roy, a Southern-California-based psychotherapist. And when your guy loses, here’s how to deal (without having to move to Canada):

It’s OK to be angry, but not for long. “Take the time to acknowledge your anger or resentment,” she says. “Then let go of it. It will not help you in the long run and can actually damage you emotionally and physically. If you simply cannot stomach the idea that your candidate didn’t win, ask yourself how you have dealt successfully with other losses in your life. Whether it’s physical exercise, venting to friends or just finding a way to get to a place of acceptance, do it as soon as you feel you can.”