Stress Causes Acne

I've read before in various magazines and websites that stress causes acne. And sure, I believe them -afterall, it's a scientific finding that doctors tell us and not something off a new beauty product advertisement. But now I really care and believe this because it just happened to me! Last Tuesday, the day of my last exams, I woke up and felt some inflammation pain on my face but didn't have time to check it out properly. But at night, I checked out my face properly and was not happy -there were five new pimiples! So many breakouts within one day has not happened to me for a few years!

Not surprisingly, I freaked out and looked for a scientific explanation. I found that The Acne Resource Center Online has an understandable summary of why stress causes ance. Basically, stress causes stress hormones, which cause more sebum secretion and thus more acne. Plus, during time of stress, we tend to get lazy about our skincare regime.

It's always nice to know the explanation behind things, but at the end of the day, it's not like we can control our brains and not be stressed just so we don't get breakouts. So my solution is: damage control! I really recommend Origins Spot Remover. It's one of the only over-the-counter acne products that has actually helped calm and minimise my pimples. (When I say it works, I mean it helps. It does not work miralces!) No, I'm not getting paid to promote it! If you have other recommendations, leave it a comment.

Now the next problem is getting rid of the horrible red marks left behind on my skin. It takes ages, and I mean ages for the marks to fade. Unfortunately, I have yet to discover any product that actually helps fade the red spots. Does anyone know a good product for this? Help!

Image Credit: www.origins.co.uk

You may have noticed

...that our blog has been a bit lacking in updates recently. Barneys Girl is busy enjoying her last week as a college student (without needing to attend classes,) and I'm still recuperating from the six hours of exams I had yesterday. So yeah. We'll be back very soon!

Just wanted to leave you guys with a bit of advice. If you happen to live in the lucky part of the world where sales have already started, go shop! Otherwise, unless you need something urgently or it's from the pre-fall collections, wait for the sale! That's sadly what I'm doing now.

Graduation Caps

So the other day, I went to buy my graduation cap/gown. This is the first (and probably the only) time I will be wearing a graduation cap/gown, because my high school never had it and at the moment I don't plan to pursue any further studies. So I was super excited to try on my cap/gown and see how it looked.
I was a bit disappointed to find that apparently undergraduates in the US only get to wear plain black gowns, because the pretty color stripes I'd always imagined myself wearing are reserved for people with higher degrees than mine. But then, I remembered that even Rory in her Yale graduation had to wear the same black monstrosity (probably made of cheap plastic-ky unbreathable material as mine too) and felt a bit better. Though even the people over at Tufts have bits of blue in their tassels. Mine is just all black.
But the thing that bugs me the most is my graduation cap. I look like an idiot. It is an one size fits all cap, it is too big for me and the elastic-ky things on the side don't work. I wear it and there are irregular poofy bumps coming from all sides! A bit like how there is a bumpy bit on the back of Ashley's (right) cap, except multiplied by 10.
How come everyone else's (i.e. Rory and Marissa above) caps looks so nicely fitted on them? Is there something I am missing? Or is the cap from my school just badly designed?

Image Source: TV Addict

Sex and the City- the Movie

I finally saw Sex and the City the movie the other night (being the excellent student that I am, I waited until after finals to go see it, even though I've been super excited about watching it since they said they'd be making a movie)! You'd think that by now, a week later, on a Thursday night no less, there won't be that many people. But no. It was a full house! It is really hard to babble on excitedly about a movie without giving away the story line (not that it should be all that surprising - it is a chick flick after all), so *SPOILER ALERT* ahead. The thing I love most about Sex and the City is the strong unquestionable friendship between Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha, even though they are all so different. And that continues to be the essence in the movie. Along with the fashion of course. They each have such a distinct personal style, there is something for everyone. I am loving Carrie's super Ralph Lauren outfit and Charlotte's elegant white dress. I love these pictures of the girls enjoying themselves together. Note to self: must take more of these kind of pictures with my girl friends- including outfit! I'm not usually a fan of Miranda's style, but I thought her outfit here, with the dangly earrings is quite sophisticated and pretty.
I also quite admire Samantha's bold sense of style. Only she can carry wear green with orange and not look like a carrot. The girls all dressed up for NY Fashion Week- front row of course. I'm curious though, as to how Charlotte can wear that (what appears to be straight cut) dress even though she's pregnant. She still looks beautiful and elegant of course, but isn't it kind of tight? Aren't pregnant women supposed to wear empire waists? And Carrie looks adorable with her bubble dress and fur shawl.
Then there was them getting ready for Carrie's wedding of course. The bride wore couture Vivienne Westwood, especially given to her by Vivienne Westwood herself, after her bridal shoot for Vogue. Personally, I didn't think the dress was that gorgeous because the bodice part didn't seem to be fitting that well.... but I guess that's couture for you. Though the other dresses she tried on in the Vogue shoot was much better. And that blue thing on her head, it is not feathers. As she mentions in the movie, it is actually a BIRD.

And I LOVE the idea of having her bridesmaids wear different but coordinating color dresses. They look awesome. Not typically bridesmaid-esque at all, since these dresses actually compliment them. And I thought it was really funny how tight the bottom of Charlotte's black dress is that she had to teeter to walk/run. I thought the part where they retreat to Mexico to mend Carrie's broken heart was charming. Again your friends will always be there for you. It was also very funny too though. I loved how Charlotte refuses to eat anything but pudding, and even takes out pudding from her Prada bag when they go eat at a fancy restaurant, because "It's Mexico!" Of course, this just makes her reaction after accidentally swallowing bath water all the more hilarious.
Seriously though, some clothes, only the girls on the show can carry it off. Anyone else wearing such a big flower on her dress for a casual stroll in the city, I'd think she was crazy. But Carrie looks gorgeous. And I really liked the green outfit she wore when she found "heaven" with Big. Not so fond personally of the shoes though... too strappy and gladiator like. I think here, less is more. Speaking of Big, even after so many seasons of Sex and the City, he's still a bit of a mystery to me. I got a better glimpse of his character in this movie though. He seems like a very private person and a little bit immature to me. Getting cold feet after having been through so much.... just get out of the car and go get married for godsake! I just could not fathom what he was thinking at that moment- even after they'd explained it later. But I guess if he was so perfect, there wouldn't be any drama. I did feel sorry for him though, when he turned back but was not given a chance to explain himself. Not teary though, even though a few of my friends teared up during that scene. I knew in the end he'd eventually be able to explain himself and sort this out.
Onto the side stories. Steve cheated on Miranda after having a 6 month dry spell. And for most of the movie, Miranda was unforgiving while Steve begged for forgiveness, until towards the end, they finally went to couple's therapy and realized that they loved each other and decided to give it another go. It was touching.
Samantha, one of the most dynamic characters on the show was not so dynamic in the movie. 5 years later, she'd basically turned into Smith's "behind the scene" woman. Managing his career, COOKING for him and waiting for him to come home- in LA! It was a very un-Samantha-like and she was feeling the pressure of not being herself. She was so tempted to cheat on Smith that she bought a dog instead. As much as I LOVE Smith (I STILL remember his Absolut Vodka ad), even I was thinking that it was not right, when he came home totally unappreciative of Samantha's efforts for Valentine's Day! I was glad in the end that Samantha found herself again (though I shall miss Smith....).
One of my FAVOURITE characters was Charlotte. Not just because she'd always been my favourite character simply because I identify most with her, but because even I don't remember her being so funny! She played a key comical role in this movie (probably because she didn't really have a story besides finally getting pregnant since her life is so perfect). My favourite parts were her scenes in Mexico, and towards the end, when she bumped into Big at a cafe for lunch and she told him that she "curse the day you were born!"
And as you remember, in the show finale,Charlotte adopted a Chinese girl- Lily (Alexander Fong). And she is THE MOST DARLING little Chinese girl ever (even though she hid Carrie's phone in her sparkly cupcake shaped purse). Her outfits are SO adorable too! I want my future daughter to look (and dress) exactly like her! As for the side characters, is it just me, or did Anthony and Stanford finally get together? And then there was the new character in the show, Louise. Personally, I would've hired the banker with the pink pointy heels, but I guess Louise was the less flamboyant and more relatable choice. She played an important role in helping Carrie pick up her life after the break up and all, but I don't really feel much for her. She was not especially likeable or hateable. Though I DID like her "LOVE" keychain.

The movie left me all happy and fuzzy inside. Big proposed to her in the HUGE closet he built for her (when we first saw it, the whole cinema went "WHOA") with her diamond studded Manolo Blahniks- it was totally Carrie. And in the end, the bride got married at City Hall in a dress by a nobody and then had dinner with her best friends and their family. Sigh ........... :)

I want to watch it again!

Ps. Sorry this review is like all over the place. I just don't know where to start!

Image Source: Yahoo Movies

When Should One Abandon Teen Magazines?

Continuing from my ramblings on my teen magazine years (see yesterday's post), today I wonder whether it is time that I abandon them.

I'm not a teenager anymore -I'm in my last year of college now. For the past few years, I've been feeling that I was too old for Teen Vogue. The girls featured inside the magazines, whether they are the 'normal' girls or the celebrities, are starting to seem really young, some around 13 to 16 years old. I'm really starting to feel the generation gap! The articles about the 'issues of the month' are still relevant sometimes, but they're short and don't provide much info most of the time. Plus they tend to relate the 'issue' to celebrities and not talk much about the actual issue. Also, for reasons I have yet to figure out, I don't like the styling of the editorials as much as before. For example, there was an editorial this year in which all the outfits just looked like adaptations of the Balenciaga FW07 outfits. I mean, I know Balenciaga is leading the trends this year, but couldn't the editorial have more variety apart from skinny jeans with blazers and a scarf?

But even with all this, I still buy Teen Vogue. Why? Because while I'm not a teenager anymore, I'm still at school so it means that I still dress really casually. Plus unless the reader was seriously mature and city slick, most teenagers probably don't dress the way people are dressed inside Teen Vogue until the reader is in college, (where she'll be exposed to more people and style.)

Before anyone suggests Nylon, the style inside Nylon is starting to feel a bit too young and hip for me too. I know Nylon is meant to be for readers from mid-teens to their twenties but still. I mean, I can't imagine that after graduation, I'll have much chance to wear such cool casual outfits. Sigh, but I do love their melanchony, nerdy-chic looking fashion editorials.

So when do you think one should stop/ did you stop buying teen magazines?

My Teen Magazine Years

I first discovered teen magazines when I was around 14 years old. (Yes I've always been a bit slow.) Back then, my main choices available were TeenMag, Seventeen and Cosmogirl, plus Australian 'zines, Dolly and Girlfriend. A lot of them seemed to be about cute boy bands, boy problems, embarassing stories (remember those?) and simple quizes. Seventeen was slightly better as it seemed to acknowledge their girls had some brains. (On a kind-of-related note, my love for saving money meant that I would only buy one each month or even none.) Later on, ElleGirl came along. I liked ElleGirl much more than the others -it was fun, colourful and had a casual style. But the truth was, I've never loved any of them. Sure, I would take ElleGirl over the rest, but still, none of the magazines had the style (fashion and layout-wise) that I was looking for.

That is until Teen Vogue came along. Teen Vogue was the closest to my ideal teen magazine that I have ever seen. It had seriously stylish clothes and the editorials were styled well. The covers were pretty and the cover girls were usually girls whom I liked the style of. I mean, you know those editorials where there is the 'celebrity's way of wearing it' and 'our way of wearing it'? I've always thought Teen Vogue's copying of said celebrity's ways of dressing was classier than other magazines' ways and actually looked quite similar to the celebrity's outfits. And yes, its small size made it cute, and convenient to buy and carry around.

Even the topics that the editorials talked about were somewhat interesting and relevant, (although they were seriously short and kind of superficial). One of the few things I didn't like about Teen Vogue were the annual 'Hollywood issue' and 'Music issue', but I still liked the fashion in these issues more than what I see elsewhere. Oops, I think I've been blabbering too much about how much I loved Teen Vogue. While I think Teen Vogue is certainly not perfect, it really is my favourite teen magazine out there.

What was your teen magazine years like? Which magazines did you like and buy?

Image credits: http://www.kirstenimages.com/

Yves Saint Laurent Dies at 71

We'll remember him for modernising womenswear by revolutionising pants and the tuxedo.

RIP