Confessions of a gimmick-aholic

Most people don't know how much energy and money any given company will put into marketing and advertising. I remember taking marketing classes in college, and how much psychology goes into that whole process. For example, you'll notice that people don't just put pink flowers on a product because they look pretty, they put them on there because pink is a feminine color. It's effects are calming, warming, and nurturing. There's a reason pink is the color for little baby girls and not red. And that's just the color aspect of advertising. You can also use "target audience" techniques. Lets say you're trying to sell yogurt. You're not going to put a 20-something man in your commercial because who buys most of the groceries? Women. And who is out there trying to take in more calcium? Women. And of course there is the whole part about probiotics and the feminine balance.
Marketing is a HUGE industry, and as I've just demonstrated, it goes much deeper into the psyche than people realize. I, for one, am Marketing majors DREAM. I'm the type who sees something shiny and goes "Ohhh! Pretty!!" Seriously, it's bad. But there are a few things that I have learned that people use to fool us in Marketing, especially in the health and beauty industry. And I'd like to share that with you.

1. Don't buy into the hype, especially in magazines. There are a few beauty products that can't really market too intensely: body lotions, body washes, and shampoos. Because yes they can show someone with great skin and hair, but the uses for something are pretty self-explanatory. "You want moisturized skin/hair, buy the moisturizing type of our product." Duh. There really just isn't enough variation besides "moisturizing, curl refining, straightening, etc." But then there are a lot of products, specifically for the face, that are marketed like crazy. It seems like I see a new lotion ingredient every week that is supposed to be the "new thing." They pour out lines like, "Try our new face lotion with agave nectar from the depths of Mozambique- which are recently discovered to be totally awesome for your skin, just look at our survey!" And then they proceed to pump out some survey of who-knows-who people who say "Ohh... it's grrrreat!!" I'm sorry, who are you people, exactly? Are you people who have spent a winter in the Alps and try this lotion and it makes you feel good because your face is parched? For all I know, this survey group is the scientists who made the stuff.
Every once in a while you will see a magazine article that goes over these types of things. And the majority of them say something like, "This stuff is all crap. Use gentle, oil-free moisturizer. For wrinkles the only thing found effective is Retinol. Cellulite-killing gels usually only contain caffeine and therefore make it disappear for like an hour, tops." Don't buy into the hype! It's an illusion.

2. Buy what works FOR YOU. I read a lot of magazines. And they are always interviewing celebrities and asking what they use. It seems like they all use the same things, and they are all expensive! For example I can't tell you how sick I am of hearing about La Mer lotion. I'm sure it works great, but I have oily skin and that stuff is totally thick and heavy. Lots of celebs use heavy lotions and styling products because they have to be on camera a lot. Their hair and faces are dried out from all the products and tools they have to use on them. So just because they say it's so fantastic, does not mean it's the product for you. Use what works.
3. Know your limits. When Gwynneth Paltrow started her blogspot, Goop, I was so stoked! I have been reading about her health regime for years and she always looks amazing. For the first few entries I was still pretty pumped: here I was getting advice from Gwynneth Paltrow! But then one day I realized: I cannot find NOR afford any of these ingredients! It all sounds really great and lovely, but some of her ingredients include things like: Garam Marsala, Buckwheat Flour AND Spelt Flour, Panko Breadcrumbs, and Mallorcan Hibiscus salt. Also you may want to keep in mind that the majority of these celebrities not only have a personal chef, but also a trainer, nanny, stylist, and housekeeper. There people are able to do all or any of the things they do because of this Team. So remember to stay within your boundaries. If you are a great chef- perhaps you MAY want to online order Garam Marsala and Mallorcan Hibiscus Salt. But if you're like me and a starter cook: use what you are comfortable or at least able to find fairly easily. Feel free to experiment but stay within your limits. Don't stress yourself out trying to stretch yourself thin by being your own elaborate Team. Do what you can and let the rest be what it is. Celebrities put an obscene amount of money into their personal lives and habits because it's their JOB. But it isn't yours.

4. Forget the glitz and the glam. Remember those old movies where the actors would smoke cigarettes ever so glamorously? They made it look so elegant... well anyone who's ever been around cigarettes in real life knows how un-elegant they can actually be. People that light up in movies, perhaps at the dinner table... can you imagine that in real life? Yuck. The same goes for a lot of these things they show on TV now-a-days. You see movie stars ordering 1/2 pound burgers and chugging beers like it's cool. No 105 pound celebrity eats whatever they want and not exercise at all and it just goes away. These people work their butts off, literally! But in the movies they try to make it seem so effortless. I'm sorry but I don't buy that. And more and more it seems like celebs are coming clean about it. Gone are the days of "Oh I just eat what I want and I'm naturally skinny," replaced now by people like Gwen Stafani saying "I work my ASS off to look this hot!" So be realistic. You want to eat hard? Work out hard. Face facts people- it DOES go somewhere. 5. Inform yourself. Lets say you're at Wendy's fast food restaurant. The obvious choice of a low-calorie option would be a salad right? Wrong. The Homestyle BLT Chicken salad is a whopping 790 calories! Even a Chicken Cesar salad is 490 calories. They really get you on that dressing, folks. And a lot of the time they will have deep fried chicken on there, which is even worse. At McDonald's, ordering crispy chicken instead of grilled costs you an extra 110 calories, and their Cesar dressing comes in at 190 calories. That's without even the salad part! And sure, you can dress your salad down, but ultimately what you're getting is a bunch of lettuce with chicken and some no-flavor dressing on top that totally sucks. The crispies and the dressings are the best part! They're also the most dangerous. The best option, in my opinion, is to get a kids meal. Most fast-food places have fruit cups rather than fries now and you get a much smaller portion of whatever you want, plus a drink for around $5. Hamburgers (or if you're like me and cant resist cheese) are usually the best bet. I have basically ONLY fast food places near my work, which is pretty discouraging. But I am somehow managing to not gain 100 pounds by staying aware of my options and the reality of some of that supposed "good stuff" out there. Here are a few of my favorite meals from the drive-thrus near me:

• McDonald's: Honey Mustard Snack Wrap (On extra hungry days I'll get 2), Apple Dippers with Caramel sauce, and a small Lite Lemonade: 360 calories and 9 grams of fat.
  
• Subway: Lite Lemonade and 6" Turkey Breast on Honey Oat bread: lettuce, pickles, cucumbers, banana peppers, pepper jack cheese, and Spicy Chipotle sauce (my Subway Vice): 480 calories, 18.5 grams of fat. Most of the fat is in that Chipotle sauce and there are TONS of low-fat sauces to swap!
  
• El Pollo Loco: 2 Tacos El Carbon, BBQ Black Beans, and a medium Lite Lemonade: 507 calories, 13 grams of fat.

...There are a ton of other places I could go over but I'll just stick with those for now. Perhaps I will do a whole "fast food" article at some point. But for now, my point is just that most company websites offer nutrition facts and it is TOTALLY worth it to pay attention to them!

Good Luck!

Love,

Lula Mae

The Other Side of The Story

Hello all you beauties!

I am proud to introduce myself as the other side of this collaborative blog. An experience I am so looking forward to! I am just short of my twentieth birthday and I as well live in this little ol' town of Huntington Beach.

I am a fashion student so I am constantly around beautiful girls, that leave you with a bit unsettling of a feeling. I use to constantly be bothered by this, I always felt like I should look a certain way. But as Im getting older, I really am starting to realize that what I have ( along with everyone else!) is truly beautiful! Because we are all unique, and that my friends is the most beautiful thing of all!

So at that step to feeling as beautiful as you are, Im going to let you in on a few of my little secrets:

So much like Lula Mae talked about in the previous blog, after winter I frantically look for products to put some moisture back in my skin and hair. I swear come January I have the skin of an alligator...not so sexy!

So I tried a few new things, and they have all been INCREDIBLE!

First off, I tried this hair mask from Aveda. It might be a bit on the pricey side, but I PROMISE its so worth it!

I cant even begin to tell you how amazing it is, Aveda gets a gold star on this one. I worked in hair salons for over 5 years and have tried everything from goldwell to pureology, and nothing compares to this! It makes your hair feel like butter! (I mean that in a good way!) Aveda is also a vegan product, they make all of their products out of natural oils and plants. All this adds up to a hair reconstructor that actually works ( There is hope for us who have been a bit to straightner-happy the past few years) and smells amazing!

On a side note..

while your relaxing in your bubble bath with your aveda hair mask on, treat yourself and light up some candles with calming soothing scents.

This week I came across a bit of a hidden jem.

If your looking for some inexpensive candles that smell delicious and look chic at the same time..

hats off to forever 21 for their new candle collection. They are all soy based and come in a variety of delectable scents

I suggest gardenia noir :)

Okay sorry I got off track a bit with the candle, I just couldn't leave it unmentioned.

BACK TO MOISTURE!

This Lotion is a must for dry skin. I actually started using this a few years ago when a family friend brought it back from Greece for me. I savored the bottle in fear I wouldn't ever get it again.

Then the other day I was browsing through ulta and to my astonishment, there it was. i swear there was a beam of light and angels singing when I saw it.

yes, it is that amazing.

So there you have it, a few of my new favorites (as well as an oldie but goodie) to make a beautiful you, even more radiant :)

xo.

Emily for Lula Mae

Au Naturel

One of the things that makes me so happy in today's beauty world is the resurgence of natural beauty. Sure, a lot of it is sold in packages and not just "naturally" given to each of us, but never the less it's still there. Gone are the days of streaky highlights or contouring blush! Gone are the hair straighteners and rock-hard gels (well, sometimes I still sneak my straightener!). Magazines that once advertised these images are now being replaced with healthy, glowing, natural beauties with flowing hair that embraces it's curves just like the girls do. If you read a lot of fashion magazines you will notice that hardly any models have dyed hair, which I find refreshing. Their hair is usually healthy and long, either dark or with natural looking highlights like this:I love that today's look is to be healthy and natural. I know there are still some fashion loops that encourage lots of makeup or funky hairstyles, but I'm glad that a pretty large one supports not torturing your face and body. Most magazines will show you women in shape, no more stick figures for us to continually try to emulate. I think a lot of it may have to do with the fact that today's women are so informed. We know what to put in our bodies to make them healthy and not sickly, we know not to go out in the sun without sunscreen. We know better. My beauty resolution this year has been to embrace the natural beauty God has given me. But we can't all be naturally flawless, so there are a lot of products out there that you can use to "enhance" that natural beauty. Some of them are a bit ridiculous, and I prefer the more practical. We want to be the girl who looks relaxed and calm, sort of like we have just come home from an awesome vacation in the Bahamas. Well I don't know about you but I can't exactly afford the Bahamas, so here are my "healthy & relaxed" beauty resolutions and products.

1. STOP dying my hair!! I have literally not seen my natural hair color since the 4th grade. So for starters I dyed my hair as close to it's natural root color as I can get and resolved to stop messing with it! This also means a year of some sacrifices, such as using my blow dryer as often and to start using heat-protectant spray. I want my natural hair to come in as flawless as possible. Here's what I'm using (and loving) on my hair so far:Tresemme Heat Protectant spray. I just bought this a few weeks ago and I LOVE it. I normally don't buy Tresemme because I think I always figured since it's pretty cheap it probably isn't very good quality, but this stuff has been everything the pricier stuff has and more. I even bought the shampoo and conditioner (the Thermal Recovery kind) and really like that too. I hate, hate, HATE sticky hairspray hair. In fact I don't like to use any products at all when I can help it. But I've been using this one for years and like it a lot. A quick once-over of your whole head and some leave-in conditioner at the ends made my hair look amazing when it was longer the year before last. Now that I'm trying to get my natural color back I'm cutting it more to get rid of dead ends, so I mostly only spray this into my hand and scrunch the ends to give them definition. I also love that it smells like salt-water (ie: the beach).

I discovered Hayashi through a friend of mine years ago and still get giddy when I can find the packets of 911 reconstructor pak. It's a little pricey for a bottle but probably a good investment. This is, without a doubt, the BEST deep conditioner I have ever used. And I've tried a lot.

2. Start eating and drinking more health-mindedly. This means more water, more vegetables, and less heavy cream-based products and fried food. Whenever I eat greasy, heavy food I can't help but think of that grease seeping out of my pores. It usually turns me off to it pretty quickly. I know we've all been hearing for years how important it is to drink water, but something I read last night really struck me. I read that we not only lose water through exercise and when we "go," but also just doing nothing because it evaporates from our skin. Even when we sleep we are losing water, which is why it's important to drink a glass before we go to sleep and another when we wake up. We wake up in the morning with 8 hours of not hydrating ourselves, and if we don't "refill" our hydration levels we start out the day in the red zone. Being dehydrated causes us to lose focus, mistake thirst for hunger, and get cranky. Drink up, ladies! As for food, I am trying to get more vegetables this year... even if I have to be sneaky about it! Most women don't get nearly enough vegetables and are seriously lacking in nutrients that would normally help us fight off disease, weight gain, and help us stay strong. It's so easy to sneak extra veggies into salads, sandwiches, or soups. The way I figure it, the more I fill myself up with vegetables the less hungry I will be for bad snacks later on. For this reason I have kind of allowed myself to eat vegetables "at will," and with no limitations on how much I'm allowed to eat.

3. Take vitamins! This is a duh one. You'll probably notice that I often refer to "duh" things and moments. This is because if you don't know this already, you really should. You need a ton of vitamins to be totally healthy. You probably aren't getting them. Vitamin supplements have them. Vitamins are usually pretty calorie-free. Therefore: take vitamins. Yous skin, hair, body, and mental health will thank you for it. I like USANA's Body Rox (despite the awkward name) and am working on Very Green Dietary Supplement from Trader Joes.

4. Stay active, but stay relaxed. This is my MOST difficult area. I am severely lazy and I work full time. By the time I get off work I usually feel like taking a shower, eating dinner, and vegging out or reading. This is why I am trying to incorporate some body time into my work day. If I can get my lazy bum to a yoga class or on a walk with my boyfriend and his dog, AWESOME. Unfortunately these days are rare. I'd love to sit here and lie about how active I am, but I'm just not. So what I have been trying to do is factor is some physical activity wherever I can. I'll park my car father from the grocery store so that I have to walk. I clean my house (a lot) so that I can squeeze in some physical activity rather than sitting on the couch after 5pm. I stretch at work, and if there's no one in the office I may even throw in a couple of Sun Salutations. And then I obviously try to eat as much healthy food as possible. I recommend you try to be more active than that, but for days that you just can't get there- squeezing some sneaky activities into your day will help.

5. Get my skin looking radiant! Winter wind and inside heaters can cause some pretty nasty skin. Mine tends to get dry, dull, and whiiiite! The best solutions for winter skin (in my opinion) are a great scrub, an even greater lotion, and a tan. No, I'm not telling you to hit up the tanning bed! But those spray tans are getting better and better in quality so I say go for it! If you're looking to save a bit of money on multiple trips, go with St. Tropez's line of self-tanners. They're the best! Be sure to scrub off any dead layers before tanning. Body brushing is all the rage right now, for instructions go to: http://healingtools.tripod.com/skinbrush.html. As for face exfoliation I still have yet to find anything that works better than adding a little bit of plain white sugar to your regular face wash (no foam washes, it won't work). I also like St. Ives line of scrubs. When I was younger they seemed too oily but their newer formulas are fantastic. For a good cheap lotion for any type of skin, go with Cetaphil Cream. I don't care much for the kind in a dispenser but the tub of cream is perfect for my combination-oily skin.To Recap, this is what you want to look like (except maybe with a bit more meat on our bones because, well, we can't all be bikini models!):

...And not this (although I'll give Posh credit for not overdoing it with the tanner like she used to):

Love,

Lula Mae.

Nice to meet you, Lula Mae!

Welcome to the first blogpost on Lula Mae Blogspot! Today I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce and tell you a little bit about myself.

I am a 26 year-old woman living in Orange County, California. I'm not from the Southern California that you see on The OC or any such "Real Housewives" show on TV. My life takes a far simpler approach to the area I live in. I was raised in a middle class family as the youngest of 5 kids. Brought up in relatively modest fashion in a relatively wealthy area I have had to teach myself how to balance my pocketbook and my consumer appetite. A life-long admirer of magazines and publications such as Cosmopolitan, Allure, and Shape- I have picked up a trick or two during my life.

I don't claim to be a doctor or a cosmetologist. I am simply a woman who has learned what works and what doesn't. I don't go with what everyone else claims is good (but is usually just clever marketing), I go with what makes me feel good. I look for that balance between simplifying your life and looking the best I possibly can while doing it.

I'm not going to lie, it isn't inconceivable to find me curled up in some big comfy sweatpants and a boyfriend-tee. I cheat and sneak in a fast-food hamburger once in a while. Life is all about the joy of the ride, if you ask me. I think it's a bit silly to expect women to be "on" all of the time. And in future posts I will discuss those "off" days and events with you. But it's a swaggering balance between on and off days, and remembering not to take either side TOO seriously.

We decided to call our Blogspot "Lula Mae" after Audrey Hepburn's character in Breakfast at Tiffany's. What's that, you say? Her name was Holly Golightly?? Well anyone who has really paid attention to that movie knows that Holly was her alter-ego. The real name of the lead character of Truman Capote's book was Lula Mae Barnes. Lula Mae was Holly stripped of the fanciful person she had created in New York (She had changed her name when she arrived in the big city). Lula Mae is the person we all are when we take off the makeup and the designer dress. She's who we are at our core, and the person we should strive to make feel good. Not the big-wig department store and not Mr. Atkins. Do what makes YOU feel complete. Exercise because it makes you happy, not because you want to fit in your skinny jeans. And hopefully, somewhere along the way, we can all be the healthy, beautiful person we aimed for all along- but this time for the right reasons.

Love,

Meg