The Different Kinds of Beauty Products for Men
Who says men have no time for beauty products? Compare before, men are now curious about their physical beauties. Different beauty products for men are very visible wherever you go. Just like women, men’s beauty products come with different kinds from head to foot.
Men’s scalp is a lot more oily compare to those of women. That is why if possible they need to use shampoos and conditioners are good for their scalp. Though most of men have short hair, they still need to take good care of their hair to avoid their scalp from drying that could cause dandruff. Choosing the right products for their hair just like anti-dandruff shampoos and conditioners give them a hair that is so soft, clean and dandruff free.
Facial products are useful to men. Facial products eliminate the oiliness of the face, giving soothing and smooth skin. These products include facial foams, shaving creams, after shaves, toners, facial scrubs and creams. But what are these products do to the skin? Facial foams and facial scrubs are usually used two to three times a day to eliminate dirt and facial oils. Shaving creams on the other hand are being applied before shaving beard or mustache to make it easy to shave. After shave are best used after shaving, along with shaving creams. Toners are sometimes used after using of facial foams so that facial skin will look clearer and dirt free. Creams on the other hand are best used after applying toners.
For their body, beauty products for men include, deodorants, cologne sprays, perfumes and lotions. Men should not forget to pamper their bodies. A man with a fresh scent is good to smell compare to those who are not. It is best for men to apply their underarms a deodorant everyday especially after taking a bath. A study says that men sweat twice compare to women. It’s just right for them to take extra care to their body. To add an extra fresh feeling, cologne sprays and perfumes are being used. Women find men who smell like a man fresh from shower than a man fresh from work or sleeping.
As men sweat so fast, it affects not just their upper body but also on the lowest part, their feet. Imagine taking off your shoes from work and smell that dull odor from your feet. Feet need extra care, don’t they? Athlete’s foot is now one of the problems that men are facing. They need to give it an extra care to their feet. It’s as easy as drying your feet and put an anti-fungal cream or powder to your feet to avoid having feet diseases.
Though men are not that vain compare to women, they must still give an extra effort to their physical aspects. There’s nothing wrong in trying as long as what you try could give yourself a better result.
How the media is altering our perception of beauty – Part 2
Even the media can sometimes be surprisingly self aware of its role in the changing ideal of female beauty. In the Book of Beauty, published by Vogue Magazine in 1933, there is this telling little poem:
Beauty, in the old days,
Used to float into the world like
Botticelli’s Venus on a shell,
Natural, breathtaking, divine.
Beauty, today, is made from
Baser metals by an astonishing
Alchemy really of our time.
The media, of course, has always been about advertising – about selling those alchemical potions and lotions supposed to create beauty. True natural beauty stands little chance against the combined forces of celebrity and advertising.
In a strange way, women have the chameleon ability to project themselves in the latest ideal of beauty. Back in the 30s and 40s, the wide publicity accorded the bust of Nefertiti created an ideal of beauty that cosmeticians and stylists worked feverishly to help their clients emulate. Movie stars were photographed in strong contrasting light and shadow, their profiles sharp and clear cut, their eyebrows arched, their foreheads wide and noble.
If Nefertiti and her clean cut profile were the ideal then, what is the ideal now? They stare at us from every magazine page and advertisement, always in the business of selling us a product – movie stars have joined a concerted rush to peddle their own perfumes, as if a spray from a bottle can magically endow us with their perfections.
Our only perception of beauty today is that it can be bought – that cosmetic companies, surgeons and innovations have found alchemical formulas that can make any of us beautiful. The current ideal of the very thin woman with very big breasts is largely an invention of cosmetic surgeons, who don’t give a fig for symmetry and natural beauty as long as they can afford big houses, cars and an annual makeover for their (increasingly younger) wives.
The people paraded before us as `beautiful’ wouldn’t pass muster in the time alluded to by Vogue – when beauty floated into the world like Botticelli’s Venus on a shell. Strip away their make up, makeovers, surgery and clothes and they are quite ordinary. In fact, the media regularly reminds us of the fact by showing photos of these women sans their expensive styling.
The idea is not actually to create an impossible ideal of beauty. It’s a very possible ideal for anyone, if they have enough money to indulge in the kind of self pampering and self absorption required. You too can be a
Ortho Evra – The Facts Women Should Know
Ortho Evra, commonly known as “the patch,” is a form of contraception for women. The biggest difference in Ortho Evra and other types of birth control is that it is used as a patch, similar to a sticker that is placed on strategic areas of the woman’s body. Three patches are used for a period of three weeks, one patch per week, and the fourth week is patch free and when the women receives her period. Lots of women began using the Ortho Evra patch as soon as it was approved in 2001 as a form of contraception because it was easier to remember to change the patch once per week than to take the pill every single day. However, there are more facts about Ortho Evra than simply how it is used and its convenience factor.
How Does Ortho Evra Work?
Ortho Evra is a small and thin flesh colored patch. Basically, it is like a square sticker that is easily applied to the skin. Once applied to the skin the Ortho Evra patch emits the hormones progestin and estrogen. These hormones are released gradually over the week period the patch is applied. The hormones enter the woman’s bloodstream and provide significant protection against contraception.
For the Ortho Evra patch to be as effective as possible then the woman needs to use it exactly as prescribed. This includes changing the patch every week on the same day. As long as the Ortho Evra patch is used as prescribed it provides women a 99% rate of effectiveness at preventing pregnancy. That is to say that one woman out of every 100 women using the Ortho Evra patch perfectly will become pregnant. This is very similar to the contraception rate of the birth control pill.
Warnings
Ortho Evra is a great option for birth control. However, it is not a great option for every woman especially those who smoke. Smoking while using hormonal contraceptives like Ortho Evra increases the risk of cardiovascular side effects significantly. Additionally, the risk of cardiovascular side effects increases even more with more than 15 cigarettes per day and with age. Women over 35 who smoke heavily are in the highest risk category.
Women who are pregnant or think they may be pregnant should not use the patch. Likewise, women who have a history of cardiac disease, heart attack, or stroke should not use Ortho Evra. Some other health problems that make using the patch dangerous include cancer of the cervix, uterus, breast, or vagina. Also, extremely high blood pressure, Hepatitis, blood clots in the legs, eyes, or lungs, as well as liver problems or headaches with neurological problems are health problems that should prevent women from using the Ortho Evra patch.
Another important issue regarding Ortho Evra is that it is strictly a contraceptive. It in no way protects against HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases. As a result, users of Ortho Evra must protect themselves against sexually transmitted diseases in other ways.
Recalls
Ortho Evra became available in 2001 and millions of women found the new transdermal form of birth control a godsend. However, by 2005 concerns were raised about Ortho Evra and how it might raise the risk of women dying from a blood clot. There are 17 deaths associated with the Ortho Evra patch where young and healthy women died from a blood clot. Another five deaths from heart attack and stroke have been associated with Ortho Evra. Reportedly, the women who died were all healthy and had no history of blood clots or cardiac problems prior to using the birth control patch.
Researchers and doctors are not completely sure of the death claims from the Ortho Evra patch. As a result, more investigations are planned to determine if Ortho Evra indeed carries an increased risk of death associated with blood clots and heart attacks. There have been some findings that find the risk for blood clots is three in 200,000 for Ortho Evra users and one in 200,000 for pill users.
Final Thoughts
Reading this information you might wonder whether Ortho Evra is the best form of birth control for you. The best way to determine the best contraceptive for your lifestyle is to have an open and honest discussion with your gynecologist. Your current state of health as well as health risks will be reviewed before determining if Ortho Evra is the right birth control for you.
Clothes As A Sex Identity For Men And Women
It is a well known fact that has proved to be true for ages that people are being judged not only by natural qualities, personal character or educational level but also by the clothes we wear and the looks we have. Clothes are the reflection of our inner nature and condition. In an ancient time there was no distinction between male and female clothes or style, however now we see that there is specific clothes nd fashion for both men and women. Each new fashion reflects the attitudes and believes of the generation it is designed for.
It has been suggested by many critics that clothes can change society’s ideas of sex, gender and the roles of men and women. Rouse suggests that fashion and clothing do not reflect already established ideals of gender identity. However some critics propose that fashion and clothing follows strict basic ideas of masculinity and femininity. This essay plans to investigate the different ideas that critics have produced on fashion and identity, and see if Rouse’s idea of clothing being ‘part of the process’ can be applied to examples of conventional and inverted fashion. It also plans to look at the argument that by not conforming to gendered clothes of a person’s sex, that person has really escaped their gender identity.
It has been suggested that fashion is composed of 3 elements; the principle of conspicuous waste, the principle of conspicuous leisure and the principle of up to datedness where waste does not serve human life. This idea supports the Marxist idea that fashion only appears when society is so well organised that it produces more than the minimum needed to survive thus this surplus is suggested to show itself in the form of fashion where clothing is concerned.
Braudel can be seen to support Rouse’s theory by his own idea that fashion began by noblemen, squires and the bourgeoisie wearing tunics ’so tight that they revealed what modesty bids us to hide.’ The reason for doing this can be seen as a show of male masculinity thus creating an unconscious link between this way of dressing and their power in society as men and as the Elite ruling class. Wilson suggests that it began in the 14th Century with the changing of a series of styles that was determined by the Royal court right up until the 18th Century.
The idea that women’s fashion in the 19th Century demonstrates the wearer’s ‘abstinence from productive employment’ supports the idea that fashion helps and is part of the process of creating an identify. This can be seen by the fact women wore bonnets, long skirts long hair that prevented and restricted their movement to a minimum, thus the idea that they were dependant on men was strengthened and their position in society.
It suggests that fashion underlines sexuality so when clothes are worn to produced gender bending ideals it makes the majority feel threatened. He also thinks that exaggerated standards of beauty ‘can be disempowering and even offensive’. My first example is Christina Aguilera at the Music awards in Edinburgh 2003. The clothes she chose to wear to this event do not reflect conventional ideas of femininity, and for this she has been criticised by the magazine. Her first outfit is a torn tie-dyed dress and seems to be ‘Tasteful’ due to the fact it is a dress and reflects the gender identity allocated conventionally to it. In total contrast the next outfit is very domineering. It consists of leather trousers a bra and a little lace top. In contrast to the last outfit she wears her hair up as apposed to wearing it naturally. In wearing this she is creating an aggressive masculine image however, the magazine writer has mocked her by saying she has ‘forgotten her top’ suggesting that what she wears is not acceptable in society as it does not reflect her sexuality. The next outfit creates a strange image for her. We suppose it is a female one as she is in a skirt; however this outfit goes completely against convention and makes the viewer slightly uneasy as we try to guess what identity she is trying to convey. This could be seen as Wilson’s idea of exaggerated standards of beauty. In her next outfit her image again has undergone a complete change. She is in trousers which do add an n image of dominance it is toned down by the neutral colour of it. However the top with it reflects femininity by the fact it has a bow, which is quite a feminine idea or has been allocated female identity. In contrast the next outfit uses the same colour as the previous shirt, in a way that exaggerates femininity. However it is paired with a pair of trouser s that create a very masculine image. The fact that she does not reflect a set gender in her clothes again or the viewer is slightly uncomfortable. In her next outfit seems to create a gothic image that the magazine takes the piss out of perhaps because it does not reflect female gender identity. This is in contrast to the last outfits she wears which do create and conform to the identity of a conventional woman, however the last one in particular is again a very extreme version of this thus the magazine calls it ‘ridiculous’.
It can be said then that the clothes Christina Aguilera wears on this night does create a certain gender identity, however whether we as viewers accept her decisions to wear the clothes depends on whether the reflect already existing gender identity in a way which is not excessively extreme. It can also be said that she is trying to escape the false and constricting ideology of feminism. She is in a way reversing gender roles by wearing trousers
As we feel almost uncomfortable with women in trousers and taking on masculinity, when men do it we see it an acceptable way of dressing. Women can be seen as attempting to refuse or escape the ideology of femininity by the wearing.
By the fact that clothes create an idea or identity means that there must be the basic idea of gendered clothing to start with. In this view Rouses argument could be seen as contradicting itself. Larrain suggested that reproduction was the continued existence of institutions, practices and products and relative social positions of people. If we see reproduction in this way the idea that fashion must reflect existing gender and sexuality can be seen as equally true. Tilkner 1977 suggests that there is some kind of distinction in dress, however the particular attributes emphasised as masculine or feminine vary widely according to time and place. For example Crawley drew attention to the fact masculinity in Europe is signified by the wearing of trousers, while in parts of Africa masculinity is signalled by the wearing of an apron. There has also been the same idea of different emphasis at a diff period of time for colour too. Steele brought to light the fact that in the 18th Century Pink was worn by boy babies and Blue for girl babies as pink was seen to be a more dominating and strong colour. It was not associated with femininity until the 1920’s.
Should US companies be required to provide equal pay to women and men? – Part 46
A definite and resounding yes. If a woman has the same skills and experience as a man, then why not? There are many women in today’s society that are the “head of household” either by choice or not, but the fact remains that many women need the same amount of pay that their male counterparts make.
What makes companies think that they can pay a man $15.00 an hour and for the same job a woman only $9.00 an hour. Woman contribute just as much if not more than some men, but all of us hear stories of woman having to put up with sexual harassment to get to the top of the ladder, which by the way is illegal, but rarely do we hear of such topics from men.
Women should not be expected to perform any less than a man and most times will go above and beyond expectations to prove they can be counted on in their various positions. We no longer live in a society, nor should we, where a “woman’s place is in the home”. Times have changed and the corporate world needs to change along with the times.
Many women work dead end jobs because the opportunities are not there as they are for men. Most women work full time jobs, and then go home and work another 5-6 hours in their home life. If you are the only income earner in your home, then you work doubly hard at everything you do.
For many women,college graduates, that have taken the time to learn a course of study, they should be given the same amount of pay, as the male gender. Just because you are a man, should not mean that you are given all the perks and pay, and women have to prove themselves. It should be equal, men should also have to prove they have the ability to do the job or task set before them.
I believe if there were more equality on this issue, there would be more productivity in our workforce. Until such time, as the corporate world figures this out, will they really be getting the best employees for the job?
Gaudy Over Graceful: Tips for Business Women Fashion Sense
Business women may still be fashionable and professional looking as well without having to risk the whole outfit and become inappropriate in attending a business event. The negative thing today and with the generation is there is confusion amongst classy and trashy when talking about how a woman reflects her image and what she wants to project to represent her style. You can take a look at these guidelines to be able to eliminate the negative images and be able to project a good sense of fashion for women in the business industry.
Wearing heels in the business environment is not a bad choice for it creates a good effect for the slacks or pants and may add up some height. But remember to pay attention with the selection of inches for the heels. Stilettos have too high and thin heels which are great for parties and not for business functions because it doesn’t reflect the formality of the whole outfit. Select comfortable shoes that have medium sized heel and thickness.
Another excellent method of enhancing the physical appearance is to choose customized or tailored clothes. Selecting clothes that will suit your body figure will reflect how comfortable they are when you wear it and it will show the confidence of wearing business attire. Tight clothes are not proper for business meetings.
Sheer blouses are great pieces of fabrics that can add style to the business attire. See through ones may appear to be unprofessional. The top used to hide the blouse should match the blouse underneath.
The facts about domestic violence affecting women – Part 10
Domestic violence is a plague that is effecting millions of American women every year. It is women of all colors, social status, and religion. It is women if all ages and educational levels. I can speak from experience, domestic violence cripples the victims emotionally, spiritually, and sometime physically for the rest of their lives. I will never be the same again.
It is a traumatic experience beyond understanding to have someone that you love with all of your heart and soul try to destroy your very being. Soldiers in battle suffer Post Traumatic Stress disorder. They have trouble dealing with all of the pain and violence that they have witnessed. It is an awful affliction to overcome. For the abused woman, they have suffered violence and pain at the hands of the person that should be taking care of them.
The abused woman begins to feel unworthy of success in life. They no longer want an education, a job or a nice home. They don’t care about their looks and paying the bills. They are just in survival mode; do whatever it takes to get through to the next day. Their kids do not have the support of a mother because you are so busy trying to keep your husband happy and thus non-violent, that the little things like reading bed time stories just don’t happen.
Domestic violence is usually an accepted practice in our society. People say that it isn’t but in reality it very well is. People think that a couple fighting is their own business; they should just stay out of it. Unless the abuser is a drunk or drug user the woman tends to be doubted. Her believability is questioned and she feels even less human than before. Even when the women is willing to press charges, then man is slapped on the wrist and told to get counseling for his anger problems which rarely is effective. A restraining order is a joke and the man usually breaks it and just gets more angry than before. Plus, if a woman tries to get away from the husband, that is difficult at best. Most abusers keep a tight rein on the money and the whereabouts of his wife. The woman has no money and no way of leaving. They are too ashamed to ask for help and when they do many times the don’t find too many willing helping hands. Battered woman shelters only offer a safe house for a temporary time. They don’t find jobs, get vehicles or nice cloths for the woman. They don’t even provide babysitters for the woman when she is trying to get help or a job.
If you know an abused woman then please understand her situation. The solutions are not as cut and dried as they may seem to you. She must fear her husband getting visits to her children and she isn’t around to protect them anymore. She now must take care of herself if she leaves and she has heard for years that she is incapable of doing that. Her husband tells her that he will always find her and hurt her no matter what and most of the time that is indeed the case. The laws have to get stricter on the abuser so that so many of the problems inflected on our society by this plague will cease.
Are Beauty Products Killing Us?
The makers of personal-care products do their best to assure us that their products will make us look young-make our skin glow, our hair shine, our wrinkles fade, our lips full and luscious, our teeth brilliant … and the list goes on. What they can’t assure us is that their products are safe for us to use. Why? Because, as with household cleaners, they haven’t tested the vast majority of the products they sell, and the U.S. government doesn’t require them to.
So we take their promises on faith. And we primp. We moisturize. We disguise. We deodorize. We colorize – day after day. And we use a lot of products. Have you ever counted the number of cosmetics or skin-care products you use in a single day? Probably not. But someone else has: A recent survey of 2,300 people around the country conducted by the Environmental Working Group found that if you’re like most Americans, you use an average of nine products, containing about 126 unique ingredients, every day. Every day! More than a quarter of women use at least fifteen. This includes shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, deodorant, lip balm and lipstick, sunscreen, body lotion, hair coloring, hair spray, shaving cream, perfume, makeup, and soap. And each of these products, in turn, contains a dizzying (sometimes literally) array of chemicals and fragrances, most of them synthetic petrochemicals and many of them potentially toxic.
Don’t smirk, men. You’re using them too. Men’s products are just as troubling. Kid’s products too.
Recently, the Environmental Working Group conducted a sweeping analysis of more than 23,000 cosmetic and personal-care products. One of their most amazing findings was that 1 of every 30 products sold in the United States fails to meet one or more of the standards set by the industry itself or by the government.
Here are some of their other conclusions:
Nearly 400 products sold in the United States contain chemicals that are prohibited for use in cosmetics in other countries.
More than 400 products contain ingredients that the cosmetic industry’s own safety panels have found unsafe when used as directed on product labels.
An astonishing 98 percent of all products contain one or more ingredients never publicly assessed for safety. And then there are the dozens of chemical ingredients in personal-care products that the government and the industry say are safe but for which there are troubling, though not definitive, study results. Parabens are a good example. Parabens are synthetic preservatives and they’re in all sorts of lotions and potions. Industry and the government say they’re safe. However, researchers examining the effects of these chemicals in lab animals and in marine life say they suspect parabens are hormone disrupters.
How can you find out what’s really in the products you use?
The Environmental Working Group, an organization with solid scientific credentials, maintains a massive database on the ingredients and hazards associated with the vast majority of personal-care products sold in this country. Just go to http://cosmeticdatabase.com.
Self acceptance: The beauty in ugliness – Part 1
Beauty is in everyone! Ugly can be changed! Everybody has flaws big or small. The secret is to highlight your assets and the flaws will be the last thing noticed. There are many things women can do to turn ugly into stunning. Either seek professional help or do some research and experiment on your own. Beauty tips and tricks are used for a reason! I know a few that does work. I should know, I was the ugly duckling in junior high and high school who turned into a beautiful swan! I was light-complected, short, and my nose was my biggest flaw! I couldn’t do anything with my hair. It was slightly wavy, thin and lifeless. So, I decided to put my foot down and turn from ugly to fabulous!
Women who tend to have large noses should use a bronzer to shade the sides of the nose to make the nose appear smaller. Make sure the bronzer is applied from the tip of the nose to the brow to give it some dept. The use of ’shadowing’ is common. For example, when bronzer is applied around the top and inside or the breast, the breast appear larger. This did wonders for me. Now in pictures my face looks great and my breast look larger just for using this tip!
Having fabulous eyes can make someone look beautiful. Properly applying eyeliner, mascara, and eye shadow can make the eyes pop! When the eyes are intense, the lips need to be toned down. Using a light or neutral shade on the lips will give the face an even balance when the eyes are the focal point of the face. Not only did my eyes look fabulous! I looked so much prettier! I had the common dark circles under my eyes and it made me look sick. I found that concealer and certain under eye creams work great. You can’t even tell that I have them.
The tone on the face should look as natural as possible. Do not pack on the foundation. When putting color in the cheeks, pick a color that makes the face look natural and healthy. Apply the blush to the full part of the cheek not the hull. When applying bring the color all the way to the temple. If a high forehead is an issue, shade around the hair line lightly. The blush must look natural, not a 1980’s flash back. I don’t even wear liquid foundation, I use mineral make up powder. It looks completely natural.
The hair needs to be a positive focal point. Seek a hair stylists’ help to create a hair style that will work best with your features. Each person is unique. Some people want an updated look like requires less maintenance. Hair is one of the things that people first notices about someone. Great hair creates beauty. I styled my own hair. I layered it and used products that gave it volume and created a healthy looking hair-style that gave me everything I’ve always wanted. I don’t recommend styling your own, I was gifted in the talent in hair design. If only I knew that I was back in high school.
Using tanner can make women look muscular and thiner. Being tan gives people the illusion of being healthy and beautiful. If someone don’t tan, then a spray on tan is a great option. Some self-tanning solutions work great others don’t. I can’t tan. I get freckles and burn. I might get a little darker but not by much. I tried so many products. There are some that do work and aren’t that expensive. It gave me a healthy looking glow and the extra confidence.
No matter what, beauty can be brought out in anybody. Do not accept ugliness, beautify it. I went from plain and unnoticed to glamorous and completely noticed. All it takes is effort.
Possibility of modern women losing their feminine grace – Part 11
As a biologist, I worked for five years as the only woman on a number of fishing boats in the Bering Sea. I was a tough tomboy when I started, convinced I had nothing of the feminine graces. It took being submurged in a completely male world to realize how truly feminine I am. This is not because I wear pink, (I still despise it; and I don’t own a pair of pantyhose or wear makeup either) but it is because of the subtle things. Women intuit where men assume and accuse. Women understand the feeling of something, and not just the shape and size. And men need women to be able to show their soft underbellies at times; I was constantly the person who was sought out to talk about home, about being lonely and missing their loved ones, about the big dreams they chased while being out there. And it is the feminine grace that allowed me to listen, to look at them and expose their soft, tender sides, without needing to laugh or to display any toughness. Not a man out there would say I didn’t work as hard, that I needed things to be easier or special; but not one would call me manly either. And after learning the true, instinctual differences between us, I can no longer call myself boyish either. Femimine grace is deeper than lace and silk petticoats. I think that the more that women enter the man’s world on his terms, the more striking the power of feminine grace will become. Oprah is not the most powerful talk show host on television for her manly business acumen; it is that very grace that gave her an edge over all of the men. It is this I believe will continue to shine in all of us.
