Daily Loaf

If your family (like the one in the photo) is suffering from a severe style deficit — more Beverly Hillbillies than Beverly Hills — then this is the auction item for you. The Whole Aveda Salon Spa in Oldsmar is offering to spruce up the entire clan (up to 4 people) with a Whole Family Makeover just in time for the holidays. Get the Star Treatment for mom (customized facial and makeup, eyezone wrap, shampoo and style), the Manly Man for dad (massage, back treatment, pedicure and haircut) and haircuts for the kids. You’ll shine brighter than the neighbors’ 15,000-bulb Light-O-Rama!

Estimated value: $350. Suggested opening bid: $50

Bid for this item below:

As a child, I spent many afternoons with Playboy magazines I found in my parents’ bathroom. I would hide one in my waistband, climb a tree, and find a comfortable spot to sit and flip through the pages. I didn’t read the articles, but rather stared at the big-breasted women coyly looking back at me.

I was thrilled at the prospect of growing up to look like these women. As they were the only naked ladies I’d ever seen, it only made sense that all women had these magnificent boobies. I eagerly awaited the day my own chest would blossom. 15 years later, I’m still waiting. Read the rest of this entry »

The $500 billion beauty industry is embraces a message that tells women they must correct, conceal and camouflage. Peel away the glitz and glamour, says Stacy Malkan, co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and author of Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry, and you’ll expose the toxic truths lurking beneath the beauty industry’s seedy underbelly. Malkan shares five of the biggies that the major beauty purveyors would rather keep under wraps.

1. Many skincare products contain chemicals toxic to the skin

“A mind-boggling array of products contain chemicals that sensitize skin and trigger skin problems such as rashes, redness, acne, and other symptoms of contact dermatitis”, says Malkan, who notes that doctors often misdiagnose these problems as eczema and prescribe drugs such as steroids or immunosuppressants. Then, of course, there are the toxic chemicals that are known or suspected causes of long-term health effects such as asthma, infertility, learning disabilities, and cancer—ingredients that companies persist in including despite the fact that they “already know how to make great products without these hazardous chemicals,” she says.

2. Companies that donate to breast cancer research still use carcinogens in their products
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The 2010 collections of 15 local and regional  designers were featured in this years Fashion Week Tampa Bay 2009. The event, held at the Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk, was packed full of  fabulous fashion, VIP soirees, after parties, vendor and exhibitor boutiques, and two nights of runway couture. The organizers have a two-fold mission: to bring together emerging and established fashion and accessory designers for the bay area to enjoy, and to raise funds for non-profit organizations. This year’s beneficiary was Best Buddies, an organization dedicated to enhancing lives of those with intellectual disabilities.

Hit the jump for more drool-worthy designs from local haute heroes like Ben Chmura, Ivanka Ska, Sana Hassan and more. Read the rest of this entry »

Talia

Editor’s Note: Actor/director/teacher/playwright Ami Sallee Corley (right) continues her series of posts about the challenges of being a freelance artist in Tampa Bay. Today’s topic: Self-esteem (or lack thereof)

So I have had the incredible honor of being one of the cast of Pericles, Jobsite’s newest Joe Popp rock musical.  I get to play the love interest, a post-graduate hippie chick rebelling against her Cape Cod “old money” roots.  I’m in jeans and braids and half the time I am barefoot and tote around a nice chip on my shoulder for Daddy’s attempts to assimilate me into “society.” Daddy: “I thought you were going to see that Kennedy boy?”  Talia: “No.  That was your idea, and I told you I don’t want to end up at the bottom of a lake.”

So, in a very favorable review, CL’s Mark Leib refers to me as Read the rest of this entry »

For USF men, the new mantra seems to be “Take it off. Take it all off.” According to a New York Times article about the rise in heterosexual manscaping, a University of South Florida grad student has done two (yes, two) studies that show a high percentage of male USF students prefer to go smooth like Brüno. Read the rest of this entry »

The raunchy cosmetics brand Urban Decay — which already sells  highly pigmented eye shadows with grimy names like Baked, Roach and Asphyxia — has launched Pocket Rockets, a line of colorful lip glosses.

Pocket Rockets come in eight colors; they’re shiny and pretty and tastes good … blah, blah, blah. What’s so different about these creme-brulee-scented glosses is that they incorporate holographic images of sexy men in the packaging. Yes, the handle of your lip gloss has a picture of a buff man dressed in stylish clothes, from formal to preppy.

If you buy David, a mauve-toned gloss, you get a 30-something, corporate cutie in a suit. If you choose Jesse, a sheer — sparkly blackberry gloss — you get a hipster with long, scraggly hair. If your the type of girl who digs boys that are taken, you’ll probably grab Julio, the young father with a chunky baby girl on his hip.

But wait! (In my best Billy Mayes voice) There’s MORE!!!!  Read the rest of this entry »

Tara Lee (above left) is a Tampa mom who dared to ask the question, “If my children’s toys were recalled because of lead contamination in paint, why has lead not yet been banned from lipstick?”  The question led Lee to co-found Best in Beauty, a company that informs consumers about the hazardous, and sometimes toxic, ingredients found in everyday cosmetics and toiletries.

Listen to my interview with Tara Lee after the jump…

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The Canadian manufactured performance enhancement diet supplement Hydroxycut, used for weight loss and body building, has been pulled from the market in a voluntary recall at the request of the US Food and Drug Administration.

This is technically not a drug and is advertised as a “Diet Supplement”. The distress to the liver caused by this supplement has caused 23 reports of liver problems including the death due to liver failure a 17 year old boy. In at least one case a person survived their trouble by receiving a liver transplant. Read the rest of this entry »

Common cosmetic ingredients such as cetyl alcohol (a wax derived from sperm whales) and carmine (a red pigment extracted from crushed insects) are found in your favorite crimson lipstick.  So what cosmetics are out there for vegan vixens? Lots!

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Summer is coming up, and what better way to start it off than with a sneak peak at some new fashions? In addition to a killer photo shoot by Athena Torri, I have some exciting news about a new store opening in Tampa! Designer Raven Reda of Suspicious Package has wrangled in some great independent designers, artists and Tattoo..ers(?) to unite in a hip store on Howard Ave., called F.A.T. ink.

F.A.T. ink will have its soft opening May 1. We’ll get Raven in the studio later this month for a podcast to chat more about the specs and future of the store. Did I mention that Aleka Phoenix is finally going to have a steady place for people to buy clothing and accessories?

So to get you excited for all this news and the highly anticipated summer line from Aleka Phoenix check out the some shots from photoshoot”Electric” by Athena Torri with models Jojo & Jonathan Rosa, hair by our own Fusionista Tara at Salon 54 and makeup by Abra Molinari: Read the rest of this entry »

For decades, women have answered  ”mascara!” when asked the proverbial “desert island” question. But what if there were a product that could transform your natural lashes to look like you’ve already slapped on the goop? That could free up your sole item for, um, fresh water, maybe…? Maybe not.

Now, what if that product started it’s life as a treatment for glaucoma; still interested? In enters Latisse, the only FDA-approved natural-lash growth, thickening, and darkening treatment. 

An interesting side-effect occurred when glaucoma patients used the eye drop Lumigan— long, dark, incredibly dramatic lash growth. Now, the main ingredient in Lumigan is in Latisse, a prescription treatment for sparse lashes. Latisse is applied much like a liquid eyeliner, at the very base of the eyelashes on the lid once a day. The results are incredible, and can be seen starting at four weeks with full results after 16 weeks.

So sorry ladies, you’ll need a prescription to get your hands on this magic wand. But if you look anything like Tilda Swinton you might  just get the M.D. go-ahead!

New lipgloss boasts weight loss ingredient Hoodia, a South African appetite suppressant.

Huge Lips, Skinny Hips plumping lipgloss is the debut product from Purple Lab.  Available in 6 fiendish colors including “No Panty Lines” and “Kitty Poledancer,” HLSH has added vitamin B6 for some increased circulation and lip-plumping action.

With the unceremonious death of its discontinued predecessor, Too Faced Cosmetics’ “Fuze Slenderize” appetite-curbing, energy-boosting gloss, I don’t expect this product to have legs, thin or fat.

Huge Lips, Skinny Hips’ competitor EAER (Exercise and Eat Right)’s withering stock took it’s worst dive in 25 years this week.  Where are you when we need you Richard Simmons?

MAVEN MUNCH! Have some…
Women ingest up to 6 pounds of lipstick/gloss in their lifetimes, so it kinda makes sense to go organic. Stick with natural lip products made with fruit pigments.
Insider’s Pick: 100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Lip Glosses. $13.

The season’s newest vibrators are available in Tampa Bay department stores.

New, motorized mascaras claim to vibrate at upwards of 7000 oscillations per minute to create hyper-extended, multiplied lash looks. And for $34 and a trip to a department store, your puny human hands can vibrate involuntarily too.

The season’s hottest vibrators

It would take more than a battery-powered shimmy to shake my hands out of 34 wild ones, so I took a trip to Estee Lauder and Lancome to try out their testers with motorized, disposable brushes. Estee Lauder’s TurboLash and Lancome’s Oscillation both taut battery-powered wands with the most noticeable difference being how the vibration is activated.

Lauder’s mascara hums as soon as the mascara wand is pulled from the product. The vibration halts when the wand is replaced. Lancome’s wand includes a button that you can push to activate the vibration, or you can simply use it without.

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