As Promised, update on my reconstruction process.

Well my amazing people.  Tomorrow at 2pm I go in for the appointment that got canceled due to the recent snow storms.  What I think this appointment will accomplish is this.  I'll have an exam, discuss the type of surgery options and make some choices, set a date, and get the process rolling.  I am feeling anticipation since this whole process from beginning till now has taken so long.  My cancer began in 2001 and I had my reconstruction in 2007.  Yea, that is a long long time to wait.  Fear, makes you do crazy things right?  Also I feel a little anxiety.  Really though, what I feel is that light at the end of the tunnel moment. 

After the appointment there will be more details for me to share with you.  Such as what the surgical process with be, when it will happen, and how crazy stressed out I am waiting for it to be over.  If you are going through this, know someone who is, I hope seeing me going through this takes the scare factor out of it for you.

My experience has been one of those rare percentages they tell you about that will have complications.  The usual surgery is smooth and uncomplicated.  So fear not my people, if you are going through this, this will be fine. Get a well respected Doctor that has a great hospital to support him/her.  Never go through a surgical center.  You lose some of your patient rights.  Check your Dr out through the State board of medical examiners to make sure there have been no complaints against them.  It helps if you have had a friend that has gone through this that has recommended this Doctor to you as well.  If  you have done all this homework, and your Doc has checked out, then you should proceed with confidence.  Focus on your health.

Since I am going through this and opening up to you, if you find that you want to open up to me, you can post a comment or direct email me. 

Thank you for stopping by missditz-thebeautifullife.  Leave comments, or subscribe if you have a spare moment. 

Leslie

Have you ever thought about being a makeup artist?

It has always been something I have enjoyed dabbling with.  Messing with cosmetics on my face, that of friends, and family members.  Over the years, I have had poor impulse control when it comes to the purchase of products in new cosmetic lines.  My beginnings were in Cosmetology right out of high school.  That really doesn't go into too much depth when it comes to makeup and color theory.  It took me till well into my adulthood to take a class or two.  There are not too many schools that are anchor schools here in Texas.  Most of the solid well know school of makeup artistry are in London, Toronto Canada, California,  and New York.  The school I chose is quite nontraditional.  It is a traveling school called Last Looks Makeup Academy.


The classes I took were "just eyes, and bridal makeup".  Though I would love to take 5 days with a madman.  Working with latex and doing special effects sounds very challenging to me.  If you've considered going into makeup and don't want to pursue a career as an estetician to get there here is the link to find future classes in your city.  http://www.lastlooksmakeup.com

The classes are incredibly informative and fun.  Well worth the price.  It is also very helpful to get your hands on every single book you can read on all types of makeup applications.  Right  now I'm hunting for the Ford Modeling agency book.  It is basically the cosmetic and model bible.  

I hope you enjoyed your stop at missditz-thebeautifullife.

Leslie

Speaking of Oscar, I'd like you to meet my grandpup Oscar.

You have often heard Oscar Barking in the background saying "hello, hello, notice me!" Yet I've never taken the time to introduce you. Since it is a special weekend named specially after him, I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce you to Oscar Myer Wiener Dog. Or As his momma calls him, Ozzie Mandias. I just call him Oz or buddie.

I'm too sexy for my scarf, arf arf

He is small, Just about 8 inches tall, and 9 pounds, but he has a mighty bark.  Right now he is barking that you must watch the Oscars because they named it after him!  I hope you enjoyed finally meeting the face behind the bark.  Please enjoy yourselves as you watch the Oscars the evening.  If you are drinking, have a designated driver.  Safety first!

Thanks for stopping by missditz-thebeautifullife,

Leslie

James Franco and Ann Hathaway host the Oscars.

The Oscars are here!

Will you be watching tomorrow?  I will definitely be watching.  I have my spot on the couch all picked out, and the snacks are stock, a nice bottle of wine in the fridge.  It's the red carpet that gets me going.  Who are you wearing.  I get this image of some dude strapped to the ladies back when they say who are you wearing.  Get it?  Like they literally are wearing someone!  Okay, so maybe that is only funny to me.  But I do love the red carpet.  It is so fun to watch the glamor and the flops.  Oh the flops can be so awful can't they?

Then the anticipation of who will get best actor and who will win best picture.  I also love to see the remote ones that they don't show on air like best makeup artist.  These are my simple pleasures for me.  I get such a laugh when they play the music over people who make super long thank you speeches.  " And I'd like to thank the man who bagged my skin cream at sephora, without him my wrinklees would be so bad I couldn't stand on stage tonight and give this 10 minute long speech.  Oh oops, they are playing me off and they've brought the hook out, toodles." LOL.  Who doesn't enjoy the sly way actors sneak their political agendas into their speeches?  That's great stuff.

The drunk speech.  Wow, those are really worth looking forward to.  "Ramble ramble ramble, blah blah blah, thank you everybody, and I love you man!"  The speeches that actors and actress have to thank everyone, and I mean everyone.  "I'd like to thank my first grade teacher, my pediatrician, the professor I had an affair with in college, oh and mom and dad, and my husband, oh crap, and the director, and the producer, and the other actors who sucked so bad they made me look good enough to win actress of the year.' 

There are some great moments though.  A lot of comedic relief.  Some great performances, funny speeches, and interesting hosting.  Let me break it down.  You have the pregame show ( red carpet) the main event (the Oscars) the after parties (the next mornings gossip).  Isn't life beautiful on Oscar night?  All glitter, and shiny, dressed up and fabulous.  But by the next morning it is all crumpled, hungover, slightly barfy smelling, and full of embarrassing news.  I just love the Oscars. 

See you there.  Or at least join you from my couch. 

Happy Oscar Parties,

Leslie

Mod cloth cabin fever sale

Has all this Winter cold got you down?  Have the storms kept you house bound?  I bet you are itching to do something fun!  If you are still snowed in and want to do some online shopping to pass the time, Mod cloth is having a cabin fever sale.  There are so many items on sale.  Shirts, and bottoms, and tops, and skirts, and dresses, shoes as well as makeup.  If you are not snowed in you can hit up the real mall, but I guarantee you there isn't anything near as cool as what you will find at modcloth.  This web store is vintage, hip, fun, stylin, cool, and ever so girly.  Happy shopping. 

Last week before heading out to Colorado I ordered a trench coat, but it was the wrong size so I sent it back.  Returns and exchanges are super easy at Modcloth.  I froze just a little in my heavy sweater coat.  It wasn't heavy enough.  With this sale going on I decided that "As God is my witness, I will never go frozen again!"  So, I decided to stock up.  Here is a few pictures of what I ordered. 

Gumdrop Detective coat

Sophisticated sleuth coat

It is always inevitable that while you are on a trip you will leave something behind.  I discovered that I misplaced my Lime crime retrofuturist lipstick.  My favorite!  It could still turn up in a purse pocket or suit case pocket.  Although I have searched everywhere.  So, I order a new tube of that also.

Retrofuterist

Don't those coats look fun?  I can't wait to get them and wear them for these last few weeks of winter.  If you decide to order something send a photo to share.  I'd love to see!

Thanks for stopping by missditz-thebeautifullife. 

Leslie

Dallas to Colorado round trip

 Hello People,
I just landed back in Dallas from Colorado.  It is nice to be home.  The weather there sure can dry a girls hair out.  I used phyto leave in conditioner to manage the frizz.  It was seriously much colder there than I had anticipated before we left.  Lesson learned.  I definitely need to buy  a heavier winter coat. 

There was zero time to do anything cosmetic or hair related.  I'm looking forward to do some tutorials and more articles in the near future.  I'll be seeing you soon.  After I'm all rested from my whirlwind tour of Colorado.

Thanks for stopping by.

Leslie

Making yourself crazy beautiful while living with fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is in the same family as arthritic disorders. It is a skeletal muscular disease. It is a disorder characterized by pain throughout the body. Imagine a person with arthritis, They have horrible pain in their joints.  Well people with who live with fibro have horrible pain in the fibrous tissues of their muscles.   This will leave them often tired, feeling stressed over the amount of pain they feel, may feel more pain and more often throughout the body, and their skin can be sensitive to touch.  They may also have a difficult time trying to get to sleep and staying asleep.  They may also find physical activities to be unbearable.  Other symptoms can include problems with temperature changes and pain when it comes to periods and problems voiding wastes.

This disease wrecks havoc on your skin and hair.  You can have thinning hair and hair loss, and your skin can be very dry and blotchy.  So, what is a person with any of these issues to do.  Well, they need the advice of a pro who is familiar with the issues.  I happen to have fibromyalgia.  I have it as a result of trauma from too many surgeries and repeated infections.  For my pain I'm treated with pain management and low impact excersize like Pilates and yoga.

As for makeup an skin issue and hair.  For makeup it is vital that you start with an even foundation.  Start with clean moisturized skin.  Then move on to doing color correction and evening your skin tone, covering dark circles and blemishes.  After that apply your foundation, and then set it with a light dusting of powder.  This leaves a flawless look to your face.  Perfect foundation for the rest of your makeup.  Move on to your other makeup as you would normally.

As for hair that is thinning and falling out here is what the doctors suggest.  Of course there are prescription medicines for that. Then you can use over the counter shampoos to help, but once you start you can't stop using them.  Since hair loss and thinning is cyclical with fibro, it is best to try to shampoo every other day and just rinse on the in between days or if you must use a deep conditioner.  If your problem becomes worse then you move forth to the big guns of prescription medicine, and prescription shampoos.  

For the dry skin situation, it isn't limited to your face.  It tends to be an all over problem.  moisturize in the morning and after shower.  Make sure to lotion your hands after washing them, use lip balm, using a tinted moisturizer with spf is wise in controlling dry facial skin.  Coconut oil is a terrific deep moisturizer for your body, hands and feet.  Use a deep conditioner on your hair several times a week.  

In addition, stay hydrated.  Drink lots of water.  Get plenty of rest.  Take naps if you can.  Wear hats to protect your skin from the damage of sun.  Plus you just look way cute.  Protect your eyes from squinty wrinkles by wearing sun glasses when you are outside every time.  Another bold fashion statement.  Staying hydrated will help a bit with the fatigue.  

Well that about wraps things up.  If you have any questions about fibromyalgia please feel free to ask.

Leslie

New treasures from the past-ancient eyeliner

Here I am in Colorful Colorado visiting with my inlaws.  My mother in law Alice showed me an amazing treasure yesterday.  It is a brass container that is very old.  It contains powered eyeliner.  I'm assuming it is a type of kohl.  The top of the container lifts and has a long metal pen used for tracing the eyeliner around your eyes.  This old and very beautiful piece of history was an amazing and miraculous for her to share with me.  But my mom in law is just like that.  She loves to share parts of her life that she has saved through out the years.  Here are a few photos of the the vessel.

I tip my hat to the bearded lady.

We have all heard of the bearded lady.  Some think the bearded lady is a legend of a woman with a beard who did appearances in freak shows and circuses.  That is true.  Way back in the late part of the 1800's and early 1900's these women did these type of shows.  Mainly because there was no other way for them to earn a living.  Life was difficult for a woman so different from the normal population.  They really weren't so different.  All women have hair on their face, except it is usually fine and doesn't grow rapidly.  These unique Ladies had a special condition called Hersutism.  A condition that caused rapid hair growth.  Not only on the face but on other areas of the body as well such as the chest.  In those hard times they didn't have nair or epiladies, not even bic leg razors.  Life was hard for the bearded lady. 

What you gonna do in those shoes?

Here's the scenario: You've got a big night planned later in the week. The perfect outfit is in play. You've bought the dress, the bag, and some killer high heels. Then the dread sets in. Those heels are gonna kill your feet. Right? Your toes will rub, the back of your heel will get all raw and uncomfortable, and your arch will be achy. All the while you will smile and pretend you feel sexy, while internally you are dreaming of the moment you can hurl those shoes on the floor of your closet. You know I'm right.

A very important message to my people

With all the war and protests, and demonstrations and threats of war, and hate in the world right now, it is very important that you all know these two thing. 






And though we don't know each other well, and we have our differences,


I Love you!

With crazy respect for you,

Leslie

New Lime Crime lip colors coming out in March

Lime Crime cosmetics has been truly innovative with color.  Doe Deere is about to become Bi-Coastal living in CA and at times in NY.  This will place her closer to her main lab, as she said in a recent Blogzine post.  That means more goodies for us more frequently.  Yea!  Which brings me to my point.  Lime Crime has three new lip colors coming out in March and Doe Deere has given us a sneek peek.  Here it is:

Looking at this gorgeous colors, I can see that I'm going to have to order a little coquette.  It is way to lovely not to.  Only 3 more weeks and counting.  Tick tock. 

Leslie

Honey-it's a thing of beauty.

Honey is natures miracle.  You can sweeten with it, cook with it, use it as flavoring.  But wait there's more! It is a humectant too!  That means that if you were to use it as a facial or a conditioner it would draw moisture from the air and apply it to either your face or hair.  Not only does it do that but it is also an herbal remedy.  Use a Tablespoon mixed with tea to sooth a sore throat.  Apply a small amount to a cut and it acts as an antiseptic.  It's been said that a bit of honey on toast will cure a hangover.  I toured a local apple farm a while back.  They also had bees and made honey.  While there, they told us, that if you eat honey from a local honey farmer whereever you are in the world, it will cure you of the allergies you suffer in that area.  It's because the bees pollinate the things that are local  you may be allergic to.

Who doesn't love those cute honey bear bottles?  They are crazy cute, right?  If you squirt some honey from one and mix it with  some oatmeal you have created a nice facial scrub.  You can also use honey and a medium granulated sugar to create a great hand and foot scrub.  A terrific acne fighting mask that also works to fight dry skin is to break up an uncoated aspirin and mix it with a TBSP of Honey.  Apply this to your face and allow it to rest for about 15 minutes.  Then rinse it with a warm wash cloth until all traces are gone.  Deep conditioner with a liberal squirt of honey put on your hair and then wrapped in a towel fresh from your dryer for about an hour, then rinse.  This will extend the benefits for your deep conditioner, and make your hair smell sweet. 

There are so many more ways that honey can be used to enrich your beauty regimen.  These are just some hightlights.  The most interesting one to me, at least one that I never knew, was that it was a hangover cure.  If  you enjoyed this post leave a comment or take a moment to subscribe.  Thank  you!


Leslie

The amazing things you can do while your sleeping that help you wake up drop dead gorgeous.

Who knew that you could get drop dead gorgeous with so little effort. In fact you could get to be stunning while you are sound asleep. That is zero effort. Sounds great to me. How does it sound to you?

How can this be you ask? Well, there are a few thing you have to do. Call it prep work. But the magic all happens while you are sleeping.

First things first make sure you have a comfy pillow that really helps you to get your best nights sleep. If you aren't getting great rest, it will show on your face. Then you're not looking your best.

So, armed with your comfy pillow, consider getting a silk pillow case. They help prevent those awful sleep wrinkles. These can affect future wrinkles. None of us want those. So, for a small investment you can "save face'.

While you are sleeping you can improve your smile. Just put in one of those crest night strips and in the morning your teeth will be pearly white. Just don't do this too frequently as it can cause tooth sensitivity.

As you are dreaming the night away you can be ridding yourself of old wrinkles and preventing new ones. The product to use is called Frownies.

 Just apply them to your face in the spots that you are concerned about as shown in the following image:

Your hair can be given a deep conditioning treatment while you are catching those zzzz's.  Just put your favorite deep conditioner throughout your hair and sleep with a shower cap on.  When you wake up take a shower and get ready for your day. 

Another great trick for hair is to pile it all up in a pony tail and twist it into itself and hold it with a scrunchy.  This will give your hair a great deal of body when you pull it down and it will also have a little curl to it. 

You can also give your hair crazy curls at night by either sleep with sponge curlers or rag curls.  Depending on how many curlers you put in you could wake up looking like Goldie Locks or like actress Reiko Aylesworth

Moisturize your feet.  Put a really rich moisturizing cream on such as first aid ultra repair cream.  You can find this at Sephora.

You can certainly do a combination of any of these things at one time during a nights sleep.  Such as whiten your teeth, moisturize your feet and deep condition your hair, while sleeping on a silk pillow case.  I'm sure you see where I am going with this.  Multitask.  In the morning you will feel as though you are a step ahead of the game.  And you will have saved yourself a few minutes too.

Thanks for stopping by missditz-thebeautifullife!  Have a great week.

Leslie

Makeup Forever Making of Rock Forever

It is probably no secret to you that one of my favorite makeup lines is Makeup Forever.  Two of my go to products from MUF are the HD primer and HD finishing powder.  They make you look so perfect in photographs and videos.  These products are designed primarily as professional products and the public is so lucky to be able to buy them.  That isn't the product I want to talk to you about.  It's the MUF Rock Forever.  I might be a bit behind the curve on this.  It has been out for a while.  I just wanted to share the making of Rock Forever Video with you.  This is really inspiring.  It shows how much more than makeup goes into making a model look awesome for a photo shoot.  The makeup in this video is phenomenal.  You are going to love this.

Keep you hands off of my makeup bag MR.

Russell Brand made makeup part of his trademark.

I Wrote this post early on in my blogging career under a different title.  "Amazing advances in cosmetics for both sexes.  It was one that I had a lot of fun working on and researching.  I've gone through and updated it a little bit and decided to re post it and share it with you.

In today's fast pace, stress driven world, it is important to stay looking young and attractive. This is ever more important for men as it is for women. In days of old, only women wore cosmetics. More and more these days, men are less shy about covering acne or blending uneven skin tone. Just as it is common place to see television personalities wearing makeup, you will now see men walking around unabashedly wearing it in their day to day lives. Unafraid of repercussion for their football watching, beer belching he man male buddies. You see.....they are probably wearing make up too. Wink wink.

Michael Jackson

There are so many amazing products to chose from. I will mention a few of my favorites. Let's start with erase paste and lemon-aide. These two products can beat down even the toughest of dark circles or redness for the dreaded zit or skin discoloration. Women have been using these secret potions for years. Now men have caught wind of it and want to get rid of their dark circles and blemishes also. Our recently departed Micheal Jackson had been a great friend to eyeliner long before goth became the flavor of the moment. Long before he came along the great male stars of Theatrical theater where wearing their stage makeup out in public. It was not a shocking event.

Now let us all think back. Way way way back. I'll say a word and lets see if you can guess what makeup they wore. Kiss......Yes, that is right. They wore full on face makeup. More like clown garb than "makeup".

Next. Egypt.....kohl eyeliner, and body oils. These dudes where the kings of the winged eye look. Romans......These rugged men used chalk to whiten there faces, rouge to make themselves look as though they had a tan, and they used pumice stone to whiten their teeth. PUMICE the original tooth whitener. Yikes!

The Pharaoh

Cosmetics have been worn between both sexes throughout time.  All through history even children have adorned themselves with makeup.  It isn't specific to any one culture or sex. Makeup is Everywhere, and it's a beautiful thing to all people.


So, Ladies, if you have a fellow in your life, You may be wanting to hide your makeup bag.

Take a moment to let me know what you think of missditz-the beautifullife by leaving a comment below.  Thanks.

Leslie

Be your own Valentine

Hello People,

I hope this post finds you well and not snowed under.  The world waits with Baited breath on the cusp of Valentines day.  A holiday that is supposed to be for Romance and for Lovers.  Let's get real though.  How many women have been just a tiny bit disappointed by the tacky lingerie, and cream filled chocolates? We all know the lingerie isn't really about us, it's for the guy with the expectation of a little sum-thin sum-thin.  Am I right?  The cream filled chocolate, well that is just the industry trying to sell chocolate under false pretenses.  We all know that you give well to all those that you love in your life.  Especially that man of yours.  Am I right?  I think I am.  How bout throwing a little love your way too.  After all if you don't love yourself how can you love others.  (said dripping with sarcasm).

I have a few suggestions to help you spread the love your way.

The psychology of the purse

Ahh, the purse.  It is such a simple piece of fabric, but it holds so many valuables. In the 13th century women had small purses sewn into their undergarments.   In the 15th century both men and woman carried the equivalent of purses.  They were bags that carried medicines, seeds, religious materials, and other things of value.  They were similar to drawstring bags that we know today.   At that point in History it was a common tradition for a Husband to give his Wife a large ornate purse as a wedding gift. Up to this point in history only the wealthy had purses. By the 17th century purses had become more common.   Anyone of basic means could afford a purse.  They wore them across their chest much as we would a messenger bag today.  Young ladies of this period began to cover their bags in cross stitch and samplers.  When the 1800's came around men began to carry wallets and women began to use their bags more for carrying their toiletries.  This is also the point in history where woman began to own more than one purse to match different outfits.  The 1900's really changed the purse.  This is the time where the words purse and handbag became interchangeable.  Handbag used to be a traveling bag.  Now it is a woman's bag, purse or handbag.    The most change occurred around world war ll.  Different colors, textiles, and all sorts of materials and medium began to be used for purse making.  Now our choices are limitless, as well as our price selections. 

Below is a little video of me swapping out purses:

Enjoy,

Leslie

Max Factor and how he Changed the Face of the world

Max Factor is the inventor of modern makeup.  He has completely altered w omen's faces around the world.He built a cosmetics Dynasty that became the cornerstone of the multibillion-dollar cosmetics industry.

What can you do to chase away those mid-Winter blues?

Uhggg, it has been ugly all over this past week.  Snow all over the county.  Here in Texas it has been a solid week of ice storms.  Today has been the first day of melt off.  I am sure all the Super Bowl fans here are ecstatic for the game tomorrow.  Being trapped inside because of bad weather can leave one buggy with cabin fever.  Even worse, is having all the nasty stuff that Winter throws your way.  Chapped lips, dry itchy skin and break outs, dry brittle  hair, and a mid-Winter makeup and fashion rut. 

Every major magazine has their front page advice to offer.  You can check those out while you stand in the check out line.  Meanwhile, I have a few tasty gems to throw your way that you won't have spend a fortune on.  Just shop your own closet, jewelry box, and host of beauty products and cosmetics. About the only thing that might cost you a buck or two would be the first suggestion, and you can do this out of an over the counter store bought box of color highlights.

My first suggestion to fight the Seasonal blues is to go down the isle of color in your super store and check out the highlights.  They are super easy to do on yourself and there are ever some that are as quick to do as 10 minutes once you have the product applied.  That will give your overall look a brightness and will immediately get rid of your blahs.  Also for you hair try pulling it back in a half pony tail and leave the bottom half down.  This is really pretty.  Instead of shampooing daily and drying your hair out, why now only shampoo three times a week and use a dry shampoo in between?  That will help restore your hair it's natural oil and help prevent dryness and split ends. Don't forget to deep condition.

For makeup try only lining your top lid.  Switch from using solid liner to liquid.  Use some of the colors in your palettes that you stay away from just for the fun of it.  Try some of your brighter shades of lip color.  Use your lipstick as a cheek stain.  Apply a little bit of Vaseline to lips at night to keep them from being chapped. 

For the rest of your body, stay hydrated.  Drinking lots of water will not only keep your cells and body hydrated but will keep your skin moist and your hair.  So, drink a lot of water.  Keep your face moisturized as well as your body, hands and feet.  Use cuticle oil several times a week to prevent hang nails.  You know what else.  If you like hot tea at all, try green tea. 

Here are the 5 top things that make me feel a whole lot better on a snowy day.

Getting dressed in a pretty outfit
Putting on light makeup and doing my hair in a simple style
Wearing perfume
My favorite Jewelry
Pretty shoes

Those things take away my blues in any season. 

I hope these tips in some way help you out if you have the winter blues.

Leslie

Amazing website discovery!!!!

My people have I got a website to share with you!  This place is so cool, you could get lost on it for hours.  The site is called Violet LeBeaux-Tales of an Ingenue.  The things you will find on this site are Cuties.  Which are photos of things she is interested in or is doing with captions about the photo.  You will find tutorials.  She has so many tutorials on such a range of topics it will just blow your mind.  You are sure to find something that will interest you.  There is nail art, hair styles, beauty, crafts, decorating, life, reviews of everything imaginable, and artwork.  Those are just the basic categories listed at the top of the page.  There are many more listed in subcategories.  This place is simply so much fun.  She updates it all the time.  Her personality is genuinely fun, and she is beautiful in every way.  I can tell that she loves what she is doing.  I enjoy this site incredibly.  What Violet has created is simple astonishing!  You should go check her out Today!  You'll love it   This is the link to get there  http://violetlebeaux.com/

Chapstick, otherwise known as survival ointment.

Chapstick.  Here is a product that has versatility and staying power.  This product was first made in 1880 in Lynchburg, Virginia by Dr. Charles Browne Fleet.  He later sold the rights for just $5.00.  Yea, this stuff has been around for a while.  There have been a few things added, such as spf, or flavoring.  Essentially the formulation has remained the same though.