Many of us still don’t realize quite how much our ads and magazine spreads are being manipulated. This was taken from a very recent article in the Huffington Post.
A former editor at Cosmopolitan, Leah Hardy, recently wrote an exposé about the practice of Photoshopping models to hide the health and aesthetic costs of extreme thinness. Below is an example featuring Cameron Diaz:
The story about Diaz, in The Telegraph, includes the following description of the image’s manipulation:
Face: Cheeks appear filled out
Bust: Levelled
Thighs: Wider in the picture on the right
Hip: The bony definition has been smoothed away
Stomach: A fuller, more natural look
Arms: A bit more bulk in the arms and shoulders
Another example was posted at The Daily What. Notice that Karlie Kloss‘s (model in photograph) prominent rib cage has been photo-shopped out of the photograph on the right, which ran in the October 2012 issue of Numéro.
Hardy, the editor at Cosmo, explains that she frequently re-touched models who were “frighteningly thin.” Others have reported similar practices. Jane Druker, the editor of Healthy magazine — which is sold in health food stores — admitted retouching a cover girl who pitched up at a shoot looking “really thin and unwell.” The editor of the top-selling health and fitness magazine in the U.S., Self, has admitted: “We retouch to make the models look bigger and healthier.”
And the editor of British Vogue, Alexandra Shulman, has quietly confessed to being appalled by some of the models on shoots for her own magazine, saying: “I have found myself saying to the photographers, ‘Can you not make them look too thin?‘”
Robin Derrick, creative director of Vogue, has admitted: “I spent the first ten years of my career making girls look thinner — and the last ten making them look larger.” Hardy described her position as a “dilemma” between offering healthy images and reproducing the mythology that extreme thinness is healthy:
At the time, when we poured over the raw images, creating the appearance of smooth flesh over protruding ribs, softening the look of collarbones that stuck out like coat hangers, adding curves to flat bottoms and cleavage to pigeon chests, we felt we were doing the right thing… We knew our readers would be repelled by these grotesquely skinny women, and we also felt they were bad role models and it would be irresponsible to show them as they really were.
But now, I wonder. Because for all our retouching, it was still clear to the reader that these women were very, very thin. But, hey, they still looked great! They had 22-inch waists (those were never made bigger), but they also had breasts and great skin. They had teeny tiny ankles and thin thighs, but they still had luscious hair and full cheeks.
Thanks to retouching, our readers… never saw the horrible, hungry downside of skinny. That these underweight girls didn’t look glamorous in the flesh. Their skeletal bodies, dull, thinning hair, spots and dark circles under their eyes were magicked away by technology, leaving only the allure of coltish limbs and Bambi eyes.
Insightfully, Hardy describes this as a “vision of perfection that simply didn’t exist” and concludes, “no wonder women yearn to be super-thin when they never see how ugly super-thin can be.”
It’s bad to police people’s bodies, no matter whether they’re thin or fat. This is an important point (made well here) and while I agree that some of the language is harsh, that’s not what’s going on here. The vast majority of the models who need reverse Photoshopping aren’t women who just happen to have that body type. They are part of a social institution that demands extreme thinness and they’re working hard on their bodies to be able to deliver it. This isn’t, then, about shaming naturally thin women, it’s about (1) calling out an industry that requires women to be unhealthy and then hides the harmful consequences and (2) acknowledging that even people who are a part of that industry don’t necessarily have the power to change it.
I don’t like being labeled. I’m left-handed which means being a creative and thoughtful type instead of detailed oriented and logical like my right handed, left-brained counterparts.
That’s because a left-handed person is ruled by their right brain; and a right-handed person is ruled by their left brain or so we’ve been told. But according to a new book “Top Brain, Bottom Brain,”coauthored by leading psychologist Stephen Kosslyn PhD, we’re really top-brain/bottom-brain users. How so?
In the book he explains that in practically any brain-imaging study, you’re going to see activation in both hemispheres. The two are different in very precise ways, but the broad generalizations people have been encouraged to believe about them aren’t true.
His team analyzed a tremendous amount of research and found that the top is exclusively involved in creating and monitoring plans. The bottom, meanwhile, classifies and interprets information. The striking difference is that people who made high use of the top brain could use the bottom brain minimally, a lot, or at some level in between. And this could happen vice versa.
Each part of the brain influences and interacts with the other. Kosslyn came up with four modes of thinking – mover, stimulator, perceiver, and adaptor – that emerged from the interactions he saw between the top and the bottom brain that go beyond basic function. People who tend to operate in stimulator mode make extra use of the top brain; perceivers make extra use of the bottom brain; movers make strong use of both top and bottom; and adaptors don’t utilize either in any additional capacity – instead they let external circumstances guide their actions. Interesting, no?
The Four Modes:
MOVER – extra use of both top and bottom brain. You’re good at making plans and anticipating consequences. You likely play a leadership role in some capacity – company manager, school principal, head of your community board.
PERCEIVER – strong use of bottom brain, little extra use of top brain. You’re a natural at seeing the big picture. You may be quiet, but you’re always tracking what’s happening and can often offer a perspective others miss.
STIMULATOR – strong use of top brain, little extras use of bottom brain. You’re an out-of-the-box thinker who’s good at making plans, but not so good at coming up with new ones when things go wrong.
ADAPTOR – Little extra use of top or bottom brain. You may not be the one pitching new ideas, but that doesn’t make you any less hardworking or efficient. You’re often one of the strongest team players when it’s time to execute a plan.
I’m excited to share with you these new product offerings from “Get SpOILed” which are STARTING TO FLY:
The package
Introducing 1st CLASS NATURAL SKINCARE –a 100% natural and effective skincare set that will meet all your necessary skin requirements for travel or home.
1st CLASS NATURAL SKINCARE – an ‘all-inclusive’ Flight Package containing 4 product offerings that will work non-stop to keep your skin in-check & baggage to a minimum. Each hydrating skin product comes in a 50 ml (1.7 oz) bottle or jar (contained in plastic toiletrie bags) & packaged in a cute Chinese take-out lunch box. PERFECT for traveling (or just when your skin needs that extra boost of hydration). Easy for carrying on board (you can always separate them) in your purse or packed away in a suitcase.
You will receive:
“Ready for Take-Off” – a gentle eye + face makeup-remover. One swipe of this blend of Apricot Kernel, Coconut and Avocado oils will completely remove all traces of makeup while helping to condition your skin at the same time.
“Flying HIgh” – hydrating facial mist. This refreshing spray incorporates exoticfloral waters of rose and orange blossom with lavender, geranium, eucalyptus and frankincense essential oils. Use as part of your morning and/or evening skincare ritual, just before applying your moisturizer or oil. Can double as a toner. Use it after “Ready for Take-Off.”
“Luxe Lounge” – Facial Oil (same ingredients as in getspOILed – see below). If you haven’t jumped on the facial oil bandwagon yet, now’s the time — not only does it give your regular moisturizer a boost, but it helps your makeup to go on smoother—and the dewy effects of this infused potion of 19 key ingredients makes for the perfect winter beauty routine.
Delight in an exotic blend of essential lavender, geranium, rose, evening primrose, maracuja (from Brazil), jasmine, boabob (from the African tree), argan (Moroccan), chamomile, sweet basil, juniper, clary sage, olive, camellia (green tea seed), coconut, avocado, sweet almond, jojoba and vitamin E oils. A real treat!
“It’s a Balmy Day” – advanced care for eyes/lips/cuticles. This special 3 in 1 balm (which is full size) contains jojoba, rosehip seed, carrot seed, kukui nut & apricot kernel oils with rose water and beeswax – rich in moisture and vitamins to help soften the skin on your eyes, lips and cuticles. It really works!
Plus, we have a frequent buyer program – your 10th order is FREE!
Price for kit: $95.00
DEAL – For the remainder of January 2014, all shipping & handling will be included in the price.
If the MEN ON THE STREETS outside the European fashion shows are any indication, the double-breasted blazer is officially back, neon trainers are finding their place amongst the fashionable set, floral prints are popping
Man Jewelry & Bag
up all over, and the man bag is getting chic. Have a peek:
Have you ever cooked with coffee? I’m not talking about coffee cake which doesn’t even have coffee in it – it just tastes better when you have it while dunking it into drinking a cup. With all that coffee has going for it (which in moderation helps to improve cognitive performance, enhance alertness, boost your overall mood and is a rich source of antioxidants) why limit it to only a mug? Cooking with your favorite ground or brewed coffee can bring a whole new dimension to your recipe repertoire. Coffee can enhance the flavor of other ingredients (like in homemade barbeque sauce) while lending a subtle earthy undertone to a dish.
Here’s a healthy & hearty soup for a perfect cold weather lunch or light dinner paired with salad.
From Alive Magazine
Cowboy Black Bean Soup
1 lb. (450g) dried black beans (about 2 cups/500 mL)
1 Tbsp (15mL) Coconut Oil
1 cup (250mL) diced onion
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 large celery stalks, thinly sliced across the stalk
½ cup (125mL) carrot, diced
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp (10mL) ground cumin
1 tsp (5mL) smoked paprika
1 bay leaf
4 cups (1L) water
2 cups (500mL) brewed coffee
2 cups (500mL) butternut squash, cut into ½ in (1.25cm) cubes
½ tsp (2mL) salt
2 green onions, trimmed and thinly sliced
6 Tbsp (90mL) reduced-fat sour cream
¼ cup (60mL) fresh cilantro leaves
Pick over beans, making sure to discard any stones or broken beans. Rinse well, place in large bowl or container, and cover with 2 in (5cm) cold water. Let beans soak overnight.
Heat oil in large pot over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add onion, pepper, celery, carrot, jalapeño and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables begin to soften, about 8 minutes. Stir in cumin, smoked paprika, and bay leaf, cooking for another minute. Pour in water and coffee.
Drain beans, rinse well, and stir into soup base. Turn heat up to high and bring soup to a boil. Reduceheat to a simmer and skim off any foam that accumulates on surface. Cover pot and simmer, stirring occasionally, until beans are very tender, about 1 hour.
Meanwhile, steam squash until just cooked, about 5 minutes.
Once beans are cooked, remove pot from heat. Remove bay leaf from soup and stir in salt. Purée about half the soup in blender until smooth. Return purée to pot and stir until incorporated.
When ready to serve, warm soup gently over medium heat, stirring often, until warm. Ladle into bowls and garnish with cooked squash, a sprinkle of green onion, a dollop of sour cream, and a few torn cilantro leaves.
Serves 6. Each serving contains 329 calories.
Do you have a favorite coffee recipe you’d like to share?
I’ve only been to two auctions in my life so far. One was an art auction and the other a general auction where I purchased a carousel horse and a diamond tennis bracelet. The bracelet was by accident….wellsort of as I waved to someone I knew just at the time the bidding ended….with me getting the bracelet. So crazy because I don’t even play tennis. But at least it didn’t cost the person who ended up buying it for me a fortune.
Lately I’ve been watching Pawn Stars and it got me wondering about the many possessions of so-called memorabilia – some of it fascinating, some of it junky. Where does it originate, how do people end up with the stuff they end up with and what is it really worth? More importantly, how do you evaluate what something is worth?
Then I read an article by Shawne MacIntyre for Montecristo magazine on unusual memorabilia and the auction block. It is on the auction block that both Elvis Presley and Justin Bieber have something in common other than hordes of screaming girls and megahit singles. In 2011, clippings of the Bieb’s hair was offered on eBay and sold for just over $40,000 USD. But in case this makes you nauseous (as it did me) be placated by the fact that the proceeds went to an animal rehabilitation organization. This is not the first time a star’s strands have been offered up for sale; Elvis’s locks have been sold for up to $15,000 USD over the years. An enterprising personal stylist had been hoarding the hair. In the hair clipping department I’m surprised that Elvis’s didn’t fetch more money.
It’s well established that baseball card trading has made some people very wealthy although I can’t understand why – mostly because I don’t know the players or the game very well. Now I can see why Marilyn Monroe’s iconic “subway” dress sold for $5.6-million in a 2011 Beverly Hills auction but what I don’t get is Justin Bieber’s hair clippings being sold for over $40,000. While the baseball card market continues to thrive (since the 1800s) star memorabilia has been growing steadily over the last few decades.
Here’s an interesting fact: In 2009 an American widow by the name of Elsie Poncher sold her husband’s burial spot which was in a prime location – directly above film legend Marilyn Monroe (Westwood Village Memorial Park, Los Angeles) so that she could pay off her mortgage. This of course after the exhumation of her husband….and we didn’t ask where he went after that. The ad read:
“Here is a once in a lifetime and into eternity opportunity to spend your eternal days directly above Marilyn Monroe.” It sold for $4.6-million in an eBay auction. In fact the person occupying the address right now is looking face down on her.
There seems to be a healthy market in the trade of everything from baseball cards to paper contracts to antique jeans. If there is a seller, there is a buyer, and often at surprising values. The reasons why people collect sundry objects of daily life vary from investment opportunities to association with greatness to nostalgia and historical value. Sometimes the owners of Pawn Stars have to call in an expert to evaluate an item they don’t know too much about to determine the value. Which brings me to question how anyone can correctly know the worth of a certain item – or is it just a guestimate? It’s very interesting. And people will pay any amount they can afford (or not) to obtain what they want because….
People’s fascination with the lives of others means there will always be a collectibles and memorabilia market.
Now if only I could get my hands on Audrey Hepburn’s black strapless dress (not that it would fit) or even her cigarette holder from Breakfast at Tiffany’s or Jackie O’s Oversize sunglasses. In a perfect world – what joy that would bring!
Perhaps if one really knew when one was happy one would know the things that were necessary for one’s life. – Joanna Field
I re-discovered this book titled “Simple Abundance” by Sarah Ban Breathnach – “A Daybook of Comfort and Joy” given to me by a dear friend 14 years ago. She inscribed on the inside cover “I hope that each day begins and ends with as much enlightenment and divine guidance as found in these pages. I had read excerpts from the book every day right until the end and just started re-reading through it once more – so much wisdom to be found on every page that I just had to share something for the New Year. Beginning with this paragraph by Margaret Young:
Often people attempt to live their lives backwards: they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want so that they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then, do what you need to do, in order to have what you want.
Here is a sampling from one of the January pages:
So, how happy you are right now? Do you even know? Most people know what makes their parents, partners or children happy. When it comes to an awareness about the little, specific things in life that bring a smile to our faces and contentment to our own hearts, we often come up short. What is missing from many of our days is a true sense that we are enjoying the lives we are living. It’s difficult to experience moments of happiness if we’re not aware of what it is we genuinely love.
We must learn to savor small, authentic moments that bring us contentment. Experiment with a new cookie recipe. Take the time to slowly arrange a bouquet of flowers in order to appreciate their colors, fragrance, and beauty. Sip a cup of tea, pause for a few minutes to pet a purring cat. Simple pleasures waiting to be enjoyed. Simple pleasures often overlooked.
An good example: In 1926 a young Englishwoman, Joanna Field, began to feel that she was not living a truly authentic life, that she did not know what made her truly happy. To remedy this she kept a journal in order to discover what specifically triggered the feeling of delight in her daily life. The journal, A Life of One’s Own, was published in 1934. It was written, she confided, in the spirit of a detective who searches through the minutiae of the mundane in hopes of finding clues for what was missing in her life.
Joanna Field discovered that she delighted in red shoes, good food, sudden bursts of laughter, reading in French, answering letters, loitering in a crowd at a fair and “a new life when first it was grasped.”
Let us each grasp a new idea this year – the awareness of what it is that makes us truly happy.
even if it’s just a happy finger.
Let us consider our personal preferences and learn how to recognize, then embrace, moments of happiness that are uniquely our own.
Permission to fill your plate with a little less color.
For years we’ve been told to “eat the rainbow,” on the theory that the more colorful our fruits and vegetables, the more nutrient-rich they are. While that advice still holds, research reveals that certain pale foods – like cauliflower and celeryroot – have a lot to offer too, from helping ward off heart disease to boosting bone health. And because many of these veggies are in peak season during cooler months, now is a great time to lighten up.
Let’s take three for now:
Celery Root – whether you boil it or eat it raw, this root vegetable offers more than twice the iron of a boiled potato, and at least 35 percent more fiber per cup. Also contains more than 70% of your daily recommended intake of vitamin K.
Cauliflower – one cup of this cruciferous veggie packs 68 percent of your daily recommended allowance of Vitamin C. The white florets also contain the nutrient choline, which the brain converts into a chemical that researchers believe may help to slow age-related memory loss.
Parsnips – a cup of cooked parsnips satisfies nearly 30 percent of the daily vitamin C needs and delivers more than 20 percent of the suggested intake of the mineral Manganese. They also contain nearly 6 grams of fiber per cup (more than 22 percent of the daily recommended intake), helping you stay full a little longer.
Other great whites – garlic and horseradish.
So for tonight – mix your greens with white!
Taken from an article by Ashley Gartland – Feeling Good
In Chinese Astrology, 2014 is the Year of the Horse. In the style world, it seems to be the year of the fashion tome. Penned by It girls and icons, these titles will look lovely on the coffee table of any style junkie.
How so?
“Ready for Take-Off” – a gentle eye + face makeup-remover. One swipe of this blend of Apricot Kernel, Coconut and Avocado oils will completely remove all traces of makeup while helping to condition your skin at the same time.
This refreshing spray incorporates exotic floral waters of rose and orange blossom with lavender, geranium, eucalyptus and frankincense essential oils. Use as part of your morning and/or evening skincare ritual, just before applying your moisturizer or oil. Can double as a toner. Use it after “Ready for Take-Off.”
“Luxe Lounge” – Facial Oil (same ingredients as in getspOILed – see below). If you haven’t jumped on the facial oil bandwagon yet, now’s the time — not only does it give your regular moisturizer a boost, but it helps your makeup to go on smoother—and the dewy effects of this infused potion of 19 key ingredients makes for the perfect winter beauty routine.
This special 3 in 1 balm (which is full size) contains jojoba, rosehip seed, carrot seed, kukui nut & apricot kernel oils with rose water and beeswax – rich in moisture and vitamins to help soften the skin on your eyes, lips and cuticles. It really works!
up all over, and the man bag is getting chic. Have a peek:
Here is a sampling from one of the January pages:
For years we’ve been told to “eat the rainbow,” on the theory that the more colorful our fruits and vegetables, the more nutrient-rich they are. While that advice still holds, research reveals that certain pale foods – like cauliflower and celery root – have a lot to offer too, from helping ward off heart disease to boosting bone health. And because many of these veggies are in peak season during cooler months, now is a great time to lighten up.
In Chinese Astrology, 2014 is the Year of the Horse. In the style world, it seems to be the year of the fashion tome. Penned by It girls and icons, these titles will look lovely on the coffee table of any style junkie.
Know any?
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