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Beauty Buzz: Is Nothing Real?

By |August 12th, 2010|Beauty Buzz|

MADONNA-PHOTOSHOP

The other day a Clean and Clear commercial came on and the girls on there looked so fresh and pretty. I remember looking at their bouncy, beautiful locks and thinking, “Dang, I wish my hair was that thick!” Then I caught and reminded myself that there was no need to be jeal. Their hair was not even real!! Hair extensions can make all the difference in the world and ANYONE’s hair could look like that with the right stylist.

When I see these beautiful girls on TV with perfect hair, skin, faces, bodies, I worry about girls in this country. That’s a lot of pressure to try and live up to. I don’t think that most girls realize that half (okay more than half) of what they are seeing on TV isn’t real! There are so many things going on behind the scenes that you would never even know (and these go far beyond the old Vaseline on your teeth trick).

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  • Hair extensions- Basically every single girl on television or in the movies has some form of hair enhancement. Whether it be Great Lengths or good ol’ clip ins, there are secrets in her hair.
  • Makeup- You would not BELIEVE what can be done with the use of clever makeup tricks. Blemishes are banished, cheekbones created, eyes widened. You may sit down in the makeup chair as one person and leave as another.
  • Photoshop- Just in case they didn’t quite catch something in makeup, the fine folks over in editing will fix you right up. I once saw a photoshpped picture of myself and wanted to cry. I was now aware of all my flaws and wanted to fix them ASAP so I could look like the girl in that photo.
  • Surgery- Some may go under the knife while others just opt for injectables, but you can be pretty sure that most of Hollywood has had some type of work done. They deny, deny, deny and that bums me out because it’s giving girls a false sense of reality.
  • Crazy diets and workouts- Celebs don’t just look that great by eating cheeseburgers. They have the BEST trainers and nutritionists on the planet, and this is for loosing weight and for weight gain, but you can try the best legal steroids for bulking and get the body you want! If that doesn’t work, don’t forget about body sculpting makeup tricks and photoshop!

Britney_Spears_Candies_1So next time you turn on the TV or pass the rack of glossy magazine covers on your way to the checkout line, don’t feel bad about yourself. You too could look like these lovely ladies with the right beauty and fitness arsenal. I have been lucky enough to live in places where I can see the behind the scenes shenanigans and it breaks my heart to think that girls across the country (and world) hold themselves to such high (unrealistic) standards. None of it’s real! Next thing you know they’re gonna tell me The Hills is fake. Wait… what?

xx,

WhyDid

Beauty Buzz: Cover Your Tracks.

By |April 7th, 2010|Beauty Buzz|

good-hair

So, we all sat down and watched the movie, “Good Hair” not so long ago and it was startling to learn that black hair industry is a $9 billion (yes, BILLION) business. I could not believe that such beautiful women were so stressed out about their hair… until I had my own type of hair inadequacy crisis.

Thanks to the great Smith family genes, I’ve been blessed with a full head of hair. Unfortunately, for me, too much is never enough. As you remember, I was fortunate enough to try out the Platinum Seamless extensions back in November. I loved them SO much that I felt like I was practically bald when they were removed (and not because they damaged my hair. It was left unscathed). So what’s a girl to do? Get some clip ins, of course!

At first, I only wore the clip ins for special occasions, like my birthday or an event.  Then they became addictive. I didn’t really want to leave the house without them. They made my hair so much fuller and turned even bad hair days into great ones.  I didn’t really like my normal hair without them and no amount of hair, skin, and nails vitamins were going to make my hair that thick. So, I continued wearing them all the time. I even figured out crafty ways to put them in (upside down) when I was wearing my hair up. Talent, not a skill, folks. No one could tell when they were in my hair because they match my hair EXACTLY plus I already have really long hair, so there was no weird “layer” where my real hair stopped and my clip ins began.

Sometimes, dating got a little weird. I had to perfect the art of clipping those suckers out one by one and stashing them in my bag while my gentleman caller turned his head. (I know, I’m sick). Never the wiser, I thought I’d duped my boo. He was probably baffled by my resistance to him touching my hair.

This was all fun and games until I was out one night and a friend of mine touched my head and said, “Girl! You got tracks in?” I was mortified. Now everyone was under the impression that my long luscious locks were not mine at all. 75% of it was all my own God given hair, but the cat was out of the bag and I wanted to shove that feline right back in.

So, I had to hold an intervention… with myself. When I spoke to the “boo”, he informed me he obviously knew all along that I’d been popping my clip ins in and out and actually laughed at the fact that I loved my “Texas hair” to be “obnoxiously large.” Hmph… guess I’m not as tricky as I thought. At this rate… I was one step away from a Bump-It.

I hadn’t actually worn my extensions since that night (until our photoshoot).  I quit giant hair cold turkey. I can’t say I won’t be putting them back in anytime soon. You’re all on crack if you don’t think that every Hollywood starlet from Kim K to Rachel Zoe aren’t wearing some type of hair enhancement (they’re more common than a boob job in LA). Clip ins are a great way to add a little extra glamour to your everyday  hair… just don’t get addicted.

To drive home the point that I’m not actually bald, here are some before and after photos of my white girl weave:

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P dot S… please excuse my “photo booth” self portraits. Smitty sure is cute, but his furry paws can’t snap a photo.

xx,

WhyDid

Beauty Buzz: Layers without Losing the Length

By |November 6th, 2009|Beauty Buzz|

When I burst through the doors of Ryan Darius salon last week, I informed Ryan and TJ that I was in need of some seriously sexy “breakup hair.”  To this statement they exclaimed, “We LOVE breakup hair!!” As you already know, I don’t believe in chopping off or dying your locks after a traumatic experience. We get it, you need change, but that’s no reason to make yourself look average!

Originally, I was thinking about adding some sassy layers or perhaps a sexy swooping bang, but as I talked to Ryan, he realized I was actually not willing to lose one centimeter of my painstakingly long grown hair.  So, a lightbulb went off in that beautiful head of his.  He suggested we add more hair to my mane, then he would layer the hair that he added, leaving my natural hair unscathed.  He informed me this is a rapidly growing trend and then he went to work.

In less than thirty minutes he had applied several Platinum Seamless extensions to my hair.  The color matched my hair EXACTLY and you couldn’t even see where they were attached, nor could you feel them.  After they were added in, Ryan worked his magic with the flat iron teaching me a new trick to create large curls (which I still have yet to master).

BEFORE:

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AFTER:

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Take that, Olivia Palermo. To top off the royal treatment? The adorable TJ completed a perfect manicure using Butter London lacquer.  His picks for the fall? Scoundrel (below) and British Racing Green.

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So, if you are in the market for some “breakup hair” or you just simply want to look hot, you need to hightail it in your heels over to Ryan Darius Salon and pay a visit to the uber talented and unbelievably fun Ryan and TJ.

Ryan Darius Salon

82 W 12th Street (near 6th Ave), #A

New York, NY 10011

212-255-3579

xx,

WhyDid

WhyDid Wisdom: When NOT to Fake the Funk

By |December 17th, 2008|WhyDid Wisdom|

A psychic from one of the best Online Fortune Teller Sites once told me that I was “okay with the little white lie.” While this might be true, there are a few things in life that you just shouldn’t fib about.

Herve Leger Bandage Dresses- Bebe, Express, and Alice and Olivia have all tried to replicate this trendy dress. None of them have been able to really recreate the drama of the real thing. A real Herve Leger dress hugs you in all of the right places and sucks you in in the others (think of Spanx gone sexy). There are no stray threads, the fabric is heavy and thick, and it only comes in certain styles each season. A black Herve bandage dress is worth the investment. It can be worn for a multitude of occasions. Skip the imitations though. You’ll only end up looking cheap, not chic.

Lips-Ugh! Have you ever seen women walking around with “duck lips”? So gross. There is nothing sexy about looking like Donald Duck’s sister. I understand that voluptuous lips like Angelina Jolie’s and Scarlett Johannsen’s are sexy, but we weren’t all created equal.  Learn to love your lips and invest in a good lip plumper (Lip Infusion is my favorite). Do you really want to walk around looking like Heidi from The Hills? Didn’t think so.

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