BEAUTY OP-ED | What I wish I knew when I was young #1

There's loads... isn't there? It's probably healthier not to constantly have one eye on the past and what you wish you knew then that you know now, so I try to keep both eyes in the same direction -- looking straight ahead (or at my husband's bum in those houndstooth trousers). But, Dove's Self-Esteem Movement features something called What Do You Wish You'd Known At 13, so it got me thinking. T

But let's not try to cover it all here. Let's get onto the beauty-related stuff (even if, yes, some of it seems loosely related) I wish I knew at 13. There are plenty of other people who can address the other areas of expertise that would have been handy in our younger years.

First up, personal style and bullies... shall we?

PERSONAL STYLE ("Fashion fades, only style remains the same." Coco Chanel)

1. No one wakes up looking amazing. That's a myth that America seems to loooove. The reason those gorgeous Italian exchange students in high school looked so amazing is because they knew how to apply makeup, dress, talk, walk, watch their diet and fitness and do their hair. They didn't just put in a scrunchie and throw on a sweatshirt and pajama bottoms, like you lot did.

2. Just because the clothes in the department store don't fit properly does not mean there's something wrong with the shape of your body. It's because the clothes are all cut from one generic pattern. You don't have a generic-shaped body.

3. Don't ever wear anything with a crew neck. Ever.

4. You'll never believe it, but those Hammer pants (or Harem pants as the fash pack call them) you own in 5th grade totally come back into style twenty years later.
5. Buy your clothes in solid colours instead of trendy patterns and you'll keep them and use them for longer.
6. Don't cut your hair off! You do it like 5 times. And every time you cry... and end up getting hit on by girls.

7. You can expose your legs or your arms/decolletage but never put both on show at the same time.

8. Never ever wear knee-high boots and bare legs. EVER. It's one of the worse fashion sins ever perpetrated by womankind.

9. Do not use any products that are labelled oil-free, for acne prone skin, etc. from the drugstore. Every single one of them will make your acne and overall complexion worse.

10. Have more confidence by simply thinking better things about yourself. There's no reason to do otherwise. You're the only person forcing you think those bad things about yourself!

11. Everyone will always have detractors. Generally they just don't like change. Or the fact that you're changing. Ignore them.

12. If you wear anything that stands out, some people will always say “why are you wearing that”? because you're not dressed in boot cut jeans and a Northface polar fleece. Ignore them too. Because...

13. You should make an effort. It really is just as easy to put on a dress as it is to pull on a pair of jeans.

14. Whether you like it or not, you're judged on your looks.

15. Learn the art of dressing to your silhouette and not the silhouette you wish you had. You'll feel comfortable and look better.

16. Learn how to sew and number 15 will be even easier.

17. Don't spend loads of cash on expendable, cheap clothes, makeup and skincare. Buy high quality on occasion and maintain it.

18. Never wear long acrylic nails unless you want people to think you're the type who wears long acrylic nails (and all the things they associate with such a fashion item). 

19. There is nothing that says you have to gain the Freshman 15 when you go to college. Eat less, drink less alcohol and walk more. Go in with good habits and you'll be fine. 

20. Learn how to take a flattering picture. You have a good side and a less-good side. Figure out which is which. You'll be happy you did.

BULLIES (because it effects everything, including all things beauty. And BULLIES ARE UGLY)

1. The older girls in high school will be mean, especially when 'their' boys talk to you. Ignore them too. Or just stand up for yourself if needs must. They'll back track and then back down (I'm talking to you, hefty haunches B. Davis and ewok look-a-like L. Smith).

2. That one time in 8^th grade when you're mean to that one girl (the first and last time you'll do such a thing (you were at the mercy of someone prodding you to do it, but still no excuses)), DON'T DO IT. It's not ever nice and you don't feel nice for doing it either. If you don't have anything nice to say...

3. Girls don't stop bullying as they get older... they just change their methods.
4. Give a wide berth to toxic people, needy people, narcissistic people, people who lie, people who do drugs, people who always make you feel bad and people who always leave you exhausted.
5. Not everyone will like you and it doesn't matter. Half the time it's due to their own insecurities.
6. The same people who always ask "why you're dressed like that" are bullies too.

What do you wish you had known when you were 13? How about 21? Or 27?

Coming next week... things I wish I had known about beauty and health!

TRAVEL TALES | LA-style raw food in Chicago at Karyn's On Green

EVER BEEN to LA? No? Ever wonder what it’s like in LaLa Land? For a close approximation (if you can’t make it all the way there), Karyn’s on Green in Chicago (I know... bear with me) is hard to beat. At least for an LA-style dining experience (see?). Although, if you ask owner Karyn Calabrese about it, she’ll say that the restaurant is more LA than LA ( “you can’t even find any place like this in LA”.) Which makes me believe that this must be a sort of culinary Shangri-La, at least for vegan types in search of something less Patchouli soaked than the usual offerings.

Somehow, walking into Karyn’s on Green, it feels like this space -- a sort of abattoir for restaurants past -- has finally met its match. The minimalist, low-to-the-ground, Southern California cool is exactly what Karyn’s on Green needs. Vegans from all over Chicago come here. Fans and friends of Karyn’s come here. And, most importantly, food lovers come here.

Not that it's fine dining. It’s somewhere between fine and casual. It’s vegan dining dressed in Preen or Marc by Marc instead of Birkenstock and Kohl’s clearance rack. It’s sexy vegan. It’s a vegan I didn’t know existed. Karyn’s on Green has pulled a Justin Timberlake and brought sexy back (or brought it for the first time, really) to meatless eating.

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FROM THE FRONT | High Fructose Corn Syrup becomes Corn Sugar

WATCHING YOUR weight? You’ll have a new ingredient to look out for on ingredient lists then because High Fructose Corn Syrup is being re-named Corn Sugar.

Studies over the years claimed that HCFS was no worse than regular sugar (I don’t have the data on who funded those studies), but a recent (March 2010) Princeton University study linked consumption of HCFS to considerably higher weight gain than diets where the same amount of calories are consumed, but the subjects ate regular sugar instead.

Since 1970 there’s been a 1000% increase in the consumption of the stuff and in that same time, obesity has sky rocketed in the US. Causation or correlation? Not my place to say.

Continue reading >

Image credit: http://consumerist.com/2008/08/are-you-fighting-the-war-on-high-fructose-corn-syrup.html