I Feel Pretty: The Beauty Thread

[LaaLaa]

Issie's mask is going to be my Christmas present to myself, fo' sho. Are there parabens in Bare Minerals liquid? I'm a makeup addict, so I truly don't where to begin cleaning up that whole situation.

Dr. o, what do you think about krill oil? The ad in my Costco mag and this infographic are swaying me away from my current bottle of giant pills.

[ophy]

I'm a makeup addict, so I truly don't where to begin cleaning up that whole situation.

You can start at the skindeep database! Just plug in your product and check it's danger ratings based on each ingredient.


For example, here's the link to the ratings and ingredient breakdown for the 131 BareMinerals products that EWG has in their files:

http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/search.p...=bare+minerals

Dr. o, what do you think about krill oil? The ad in my Costco mag and this infographic are swaying me away from my current bottle of giant pills.

As a general rule, you want to be a bit cautious about anything you find on the Mercola site, just FYI. I'm not saying that their science is absolutely shoddy in every case, but I will say that they jump on some bandwagons that smack of quackery to me. And! Dr.Mercola has money invested in whether or not he can push certain new health fads.

That said, I have been intrigued by the krill oil claims as well. Six weeks ago, I asked my new doc about whether or not I should switch from my fish oil brand, and he didn't seem swayed over to krill oil as being all that superior, and didn't think I should. The fish oil I use is super high grade pharmaceutical level, and is the only kind my eye doctor wants me to take for my eyes . . . so when I asked *her* about krill oil, she also told me to stick with the fish oil. I'm getting really good results from it, so I'm hesitant to stop taking it anyway.


But for funsies, I looked into some of the claims and decided that the interwebz were really mixed on this topic.

To counter the Mercola infographic you posted, there is this . . .

http://healthwyze.org/index.php/comp...-medicine.html

Dr. Mercola swears that krill oil does not contain mercury and he claims that supplementation from this bottom-feeder is safer than traditional omega-3 sources, including those purely from plants, which are always absolutely free of heavy metals. To dishonestly push his krill product, Mercola furthermore claims that flax oil (the original flax supplement from whence the benefits of omega-3 were first proven and which is the core component of the best anti-cancer protocol, the Budwig Protocol) is actually inferior, because it does not contain the same omega oils that krill does. He neglects mentioning that the heavy processing causes krill oil to become rancid, to lack healthy oils by the time it reaches consumers, and that it is a carcinogen by that time.

"...I investigated the high temperature treatment for fish oils, for the purpose of making them keep longer, and killing their fishy taste. I came to the conclusion that these oils do great harm to the entire internal glandular system, as well as to the liver and other organs and are therefore not suitable for human consumption."

-- Dr. Johanna Budwig

Legitimate alternative medicine usually employs flax oil because it does not require destructive processing; and more importantly, because flax oil is transformed into the exact amount of omega-3 that is needed by the human body during metabolisis, which maintains the appropriate ratio of it with omega-6 and omega-9. It is not possible to get the ideal ratio with any type of fish oil, for they are either too much or too little in regard to the other omega oils, and this assumes that the final product will actually still contain some omega oil. Regular fish in the diet is perhaps the healthiest of all foods -- but not Mercola's product which is made from blended bottom-feeders that are heavily processed at a chemical factory. These are a few of the details that he omitted from his marketing video.

and this:

http://www.drkurtperkins.com/2010/08...-overkill.html

Nothing against, Dr. Mercola, I love his material, I use many articles from his website www.mercola.com and he’s done volumes for the promotion of drug-free living that I can only dream about. He has great influence on where I am today and the journey I have been taking the past 6 years of practice.

BUT, and I hate to have a ‘but’ when talking about Dr. Mercola, but I feel the Krill Oil promotion is mostly hype. I have to get a little ‘sciency’ but stay with me on this one. Every cell in your body is protected by a layer of fat called a ‘phospholipid’ bilayer. This layer is made up of ESSENTIAL fat building blocks called triglycerides.

Don’t get caught up on the triglyceride, they are ESSENTIAL to your body. Don’t freak out just yet if they are high on your blood work. It’s not a fat problem, it’s a carb and sugar problem. Anyway, Krill oil is being marketing as better because Krill is already in the phospholipid form. This kind of makes sense in theory. Especially for Americans where more is always better.

It would be like going to Home Depot looking for a door. You can get a pre-made door, or you can buy the wood, sand paper, paint, hinges, etc and make your own door. The problem with Krill, there’s no proof that consuming the whole form is any better than the building block triglyceride form. In fact, all the studies prior to the Krill hype touting the benefits of EPAHA Omega-3 have been from the triglyceride form.
. . .
He is correct that there are a lot of crappy fish oil supplements out there that go rancid. A general rule: never buy your fish oil from Wal-Mart, Costco, Target, or Sam’s Club. There are many good companies out there. Look for the ration of EPAHA to be 18:12. If you see this, there has been no altering. It’s basically squeezed fish. If it’s a good product, the company will make readily available all purity reports.

and:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/krill-oil/#axzz3LDiOMtne

Like fatty fish such as salmon and mackerel, krill are rich in both EPA and DHA. They also contain an antioxidant called astaxanthin, and you’ll see this being touted by some krill oil distributors as an advantage over fish oil. However, know that many fish, including salmon, are rich in astaxanthin as well (this is the chemical compound behind the pink).

The only “issue” here is choosing a top-drawer supplement. The cheap fish oil sitting on the shelves at Wal-Mart is not what you want to put in your body. There is a lot of bad fish oil out there, so you must choose a quality source. As with everything else in life, you do get what you pay for. My work in supplement research and development – extensive to say the least – makes me choose fish oil over krill oil. If I knew krill oil were inherently superior, I’d not only take it, I’d make it. One of the primary issues with both krill oil and inferior fish oil is burping. I’m not sure if fish breath is as bad as garlic breath, but it’s certainly up there. Rx-quality fish oil is incredibly pure and, thank goodness, burp-free. That said, there is nothing “wrong” with krill oil – there’s just nothing inherently “right” with it, either.

I do agree that 90% of fish oil supplements are cheap crap. You want to get something that is processed correctly, and most are not.This is what I take: Moss Nutrition EPA/DHA HP Select Fish Oil 1280 mg
https://www.mossnutrition.com/produc...tWidgetID=1015


Now, as for the 'pro krill' column, there was this study done a few years ago:

Evaluation of the effects of Neptune Krill Oil on the clinical course of hyperlipidemia.
Bunea R, El Farrah K, Deutsch L.

Department of Internal Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of krill oil on blood lipids, specifically total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and high-density lipoprotein (HDL). METHODS: A multi-center, three-month, prospective, randomized study followed by a three-month, controlled follow-up of patients treated with 1 g and 1.5 g krill oil daily. Patients with hyperlipidemia able to maintain a healthy diet and with blood cholesterol levels between 194 and 348 mg per dL were eligible for enrollment in the trial. A sample size of 120 patients (30 patients per group) was randomly assigned to one of four groups. Group A received krill oil at a body mass index (BMI)-dependent daily dosage of 2-3 g daily. Patients in Group B were given 1-1.5 g krill oil daily, and Group C was given fish oil containing 180 mg eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and 120 mg docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) per gram of oil at a dose of 3 g daily. Group D was given a placebo containing microcrystalline cellulose. The krill oil used in this study was Neptune Krill Oil, provided by Neptune Technologies and Bioresources, Laval, Quebec, Canada.

OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary parameters tested (baseline and 90-day visit) were total blood cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL, HDL, and glucose. RESULTS: Krill oil 1-3 g per day (BMI-dependent) was found to be effective for the reduction of glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL, and HDL, compared to both fish oil and placebo.

CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study demonstrate within high levels of confidence that krill oil is effective for the management of hyperlipidemia by significantly reducing total cholesterol, LDL, and triglycerides, and increasing HDL levels. At lower and equal doses, krill oil was significantly more effective than fish oil for the reduction of glucose, triglycerides, and LDL levels.

PMID: 15656713 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

You probably don't have hyperlipidemia, but the results are still worth noting.

What I decided to do was stay with my high quality fish oil, and add Astaxanthin to my supplements. That is the super antioxidant also found in krill, and is good for all kinds of body processes (and fights certain kinds of cancer growth).

But there are supplements out there who claim to combine krill and fish in one pill which might be worth experimenting with. Or! you could alternate . . . try a good fish oil for six months and get your blood work done. Then switch to a krill oil for six months and test your levels again, and report back to us next December.

HEY GUYS LET'S EXPERIMENT ON LAA.

[LaaLaa]

Hah! I'mma just take whatever you take and be done with it. I didn't even think about getting the Krill antioxidant separately.

My current foundation is only a 3, but surprise! Parabens. Boooo.

[IssieCol]

I got friend-guilted into buying Younique mascara from one of my bestie's moms who shills for them and is like a power seller or some shit. She got to take a free trip to the Bahamas for selling ALL the mascara. Y'all. This stuff is legit. If you've ever tried blinc mascara it's a little like that except like ON CRACK. Instead of little tubes, it's fibers. I've used it since Monday, it lasts all day erryday, it doesn't smudge and I look like a mascara commercial come to life. The girls in the office are now like, "Ok wait, what are you using, I need it."

If anyone on y'alls fbs is selling it, buy dis shit. It's expensive, but eh, treat yo self.

[LaaLaa]

Ooh! But are you suuuure it doesn't smudge? I've been burned by fiber mascaras before! My contacts were on fire.

[NeoMaxy]

I was skeptical of the eyelid primer because I don't have the oily eyelid prob discussed here before. But! I got four samples with my Naked eyeshadow pallet and I can concur good results! After a 12 hour night shift my eyes still look like I freshly applied everything.

I only wish my contact lenses were as happy with it.

[emmaleigh]

I quit Cetaphil cold turkey. I switched to Burt's Bees cleanser and unsurprisingly, it totally made me break out. The product I'm using isn't on the EWG data base (neither are any of the current Bare Minerals foundations btw). I'll stick with it for awhile longer I guess. I'm prob gonna look like a monster in a couple days anyway and skin will be the least of my issues.

[ophy]

I've never used the cleanser, so I have no opinion on it. The sensitive skin wipes are really gentle, though. You could consider switching to those if your skin doesn't settle down.

[IssieCol]

Laa, I forgot to reply to you! I still have not had smudge probs with the mascara. The trick is to seel the fibers with the gel right after you put them on and then once the gel dries, I've started taking a dry mascara wand from an old tube and kind of wiggling my way through my lashes to take out any clumps. The main thing with Younique is that it's time consuming. With my old mascara, it'd take me like a minute to curl and apply both sets of lashes. With this stuff, it takes me more than 5 minutes to get through the whole process because it can be messy. The fibers can fall on my cheeks sometimes. And then once I have my lashes super long, the ends brush up against my eyelids and I have to take time to clean them off. So if you wanna try it out, set aside a good chunk of time the first time you use it. But even though it takes me longer, I totally don't mind because for real? CRAYMAZING results.

[jennchum]

So, I have lost 45 pounds since March.

I am in total disbelief. I haven't been this skinny since before I had children. I was down to a size 8, which at 5'10 is pretty small, and went out and bought new clothes for my new body. I was so excited!

And then promptly dropped ten more pounds to make me a smallish size six. A size six who has NO clothes at all. I have one pair of jeans that fit.

I just bought ALL NEW CLOTHES last month!

Basically I did a modified version of ophy's old diet before this new one. With all whole foods, etc. But, I never gave up my six cans of Dr.Pepper a day habit.

I also run up and down stairs all day at work. But other than the diet change and cutting out ALL fast or processed foods, I didn't try that hard.

I am in shock. I feel like the weight loss is a gift from the gods.

My face doesn't even look fat in pictures anymore, y'all.

[isadora]

WOW! That's amazing!

Congrats!

[vanessa]

Wow, good job, Jenn.

[ophy]

THAT IS SO AWESOME OMB.

Good for you!

You and I could share clothes now. I'm down to 109lbs and hovering between a 6 and a 4. Amazing the difference that whole foods can make, right?

Did you also give up gluten? On this diet, some do, and some don't. I don't think I would have been able to drop a lb every three days if I had stayed on gluten. What meats are you eating, if any?

[LaaLaa]

Holy shit! High five, dude.

Issie, now I have to hunt down a dealer for that mascara! But I just got the clay mask in the mail and I'm trying it tonight. Eeeeee.

[isadora]

I tried that mask only once so far because it made such a ridiculous mess that I now feel overwhelmed every time I look at the jar of mud.