How to tell a nose job from a real nose

People always blindly throw out accusations of someone having a nose job nowadays when they haven't even any idea what a fake nose looks like.  I'm going to share with you the gist of how to identify between a normal and fake nose.

There's different types of nose jobs... Some are simply shaving down a bump in the nose bridge to slimming a bulbous nose to inserting an implant to define and raise the nose.  The latter is the easiest one to identify and coincidentally is the most popular one as it achieves the biggest change.

There are a variations of implants that be molded and inserted to sit above the nose bridge.  The one thing all these implants have in common though is that they are meant to be made in perfection... So perfect that they often show on the nose as a perfect rectangle.

Sides are perfectly straight and symmetrical reflecting the shape of a rectangle.

Transparency is another indicator.  As an implant is inserted, skin is lifted and stretched and produces an unnatural sheen.  Keep in mind though, this can be covered with makeup.  

In side view, a line can be seen on close observation.  This is the implant.  

In noses which have been slimmed and not given enough height compensate it, it will look like this:

Pinched.  Even when smiling her nostrils stay unnaturally close together.  The nostrils inside may have been sewn to bring them closer together.  This is Dawn Yang by the way.  From what I can see, not only did she fix several areas of her face... She's fixed her nose several times alone.

Her next nose job increased the bridge and tip to make the sides look more natural.  Slim noses are more known for tall noses.  Having a slim nose with a bridge that isn't high enough draws attentions to the unnatural look of the nostrils.  The attention now is brought back to her bridge.

Still, the tip was too thin, leaving the nose looking awkwardly hollow.  (Note the straight line again and transparency).

Her more recent nose job is probably one of her best, I'm wondering if she achieved this with fillers though.  It gave her nose less of a hollow feel and compliments her face better now.  However, this picture is from her blog which she photoshops (I can easily see in many pictures she blurs and erases part the top of her nostril out) so whether it really looks like this in real life is hard to say.  The tip is widened and extended.

The ever so beautiful Angelababy.  It pains me how gorgeous she is, lol.  What do you think?  Most of us already know how drastically different she looked in her younger days... So did she or didn't she?

I would say no.

Her nose is more of a triangle than a rectangle, it also does not run perfectly straight on both sides,

Shadows are natural

Lines do not run all the way down straight to her tip.  It flares out in the end.

Nor do I believe Gahi got a nose job for the same reasons.

Keep in mind, shine does not equate to translucency.  Furthermore, contouring and photoshop can also make a nose look fake in matter of minutes.  If all else fails, ask the person to push their nose up to imitate that of a pig if you dare.  Implants can't bend, they're vulnerable to snapping.  However, I don't think that their choice is really of your concern.  But if you are curious, this is a general guideline. :)

Skin Care: Exfoliators & Peels

Finally!  My long awaited in depth skin care post! 

What's exfoliating?  Exfoliating is the act of removing dead skin cells to bring about smoother skin and stimulate the growth of fresh skin cells.  Peels act in the same way, only with a different method.

A lot of people spend their time focusing on creams when they think of skin care... But honestly, creams are but a tiny fraction of achieving the ultimate skin.  What a lot of people don't know is that our skin needs exercise too!    As we age it begins to become lazy, produce less collagen and delay the growth of new skin cells.  Healing wounds linger around longer, increasing the chances of scars and our skin loses that overall glow.  Some may even notice that they suffer from dry patches that creams just cannot fix...  Dry skin can be seen as just excess dead skin cells hanging around with nowhere to go.  The solution is really one and the same, concentrated exfoliation on the area.  

In order of strength (from lowest to highest), I'm going to share with you the different methods for excess skin removal.

1. Laneige Yogurt Peeling Gel

Great for those with sensitive skin, it's a safe way to gently remove dead skin cells without provoking any aggravation to their face.  It has a delicious yogurt scent (I swear, you'll almost want to eat it) and the consistency is thick and easy to control when concentrating it on areas of your face.  This contains no grains but acts on certain gentle acids (don't let the word scare you, certain fruits have natural acids) to gently remove dead skin cells.  I use everything from exfoliators to mild chemical peels and can still achieve results with this product.  For me, it's a daily pick-me-upper for my skin.

2.  Microdermabrasion

There are many types of microdermabrasion sets out there that can be purchased for home use.  The best is to pick one with fine grains, grains that cannot be seen with the naked eye but can still be felt.  There are tutorials out there that advise others to use sugar as a cheap alternative, DO NOT listen to them.  There is a reason behind it's terminology - MICROdermabrasion... Micro because it's suppose it's suppose to be working at a microscopic level with your skin using fine grains.  Sugar is merely scratching your skin and although it looks and feels better afterwards, you've left tiny dents to your skin.  In spa treatments are done using different methods which produce better results, but often leaves the skin feeling much more aggravated.

Yes, I do sell these if interested!  $70 for both, $35 alone.

I use Mary Kay's (it comes with a replenisher which is a serum with soothes and calms the skin afterwards).  Depending on the person, skin can stay red up from 10 mins to 1 hour after.  Redness from spa results can lasts up to several days depending on how much skin they've removed with the machine.  In both situations, skin becomes less and less red as it becomes used to it after several treatments.  Aim to use no more than twice a week.  I personally find exfoliation great at ridding dry skin.

3. Exfoliating Brush

Electronic cleaning brushes can be purchased for cheap.  The exfoliating brush would be that with the bristles.  Revlon sells one for about $10.00.  Contrary to how harmless it looks, the electronic brush can actually remove a great deal of skin cells.  Be careful of overdoing it!

Alternatively, there is also a manual brush one can use.  This one is from shiseido.  The bristles help achieve a deeper clean and at the same time scrape away dead skin (I would only classify the electronic one as being stronger than microdermabrasion).

This brush is actually quite expensive at about $30.00!

Warning:  Before going forward I'd like to just state that light break outs aren't not unusual at first with any type of exfoliation.  Skin becomes more vulnerable as it adjust with having a layer removed.  Clogged pores underneath are also coming forward to remove itself.  

4. Lactic Acid Chemical Peel

Feeling a little more adventurous?  Chemical peels have one advantage over exfoliators... They are capable of reaching deeper into the skin, thus removing more layers and cleaning it on a deeper level.  Clogged pores are brought forward - which means, breakouts are certain in the beginning as with any chemical peel.  After using it for several weeks, all clogged pores are unclogged and skin becomes clearer than before.  Continuous use will not trigger anymore break outs.

Lactic acid is derived from a type of milk.  If you've never tried any type of chemical peel then lactic acid should be your first choice as your skin adjusts to the new treatment.  It is the most mild of it's kind.  Upon first application, leave it on for only 30 seconds.  It can burn your skin if you're not careful.  However, it shouldn't be anything severe.  If you're interested you can purchase it for the directions, I'm only here to tell you about it. :)  Warning:  These feel extremely irritating and itchy.  It acts FAST.  If you've ever wondered how to remove blackheads without physical force... Chemical peels are the way to go. 

MakeupArtist'sChoice sells these along with a pH prep solution with alone,

 can also remove a slight amount of dead skin

5.  % Glycolic Chemical Peel

Been using the lactic acid for a while now and want to increase the results?  Then it's time to move up to glycolic acids which comes in a range of percentages.  Again, start at the lowest range to reduce the likelihood of a burn.  Glycolic acids are not derived from milk and is harsher.  This reaches even deeper into the skin to relieve hyperpigmentation, age spots, and encourages collagen growth.  Achieves great deep cleaning results (blackheads, etc).

6.  Laser treatments (ex- Fraxel, etc)

These are the best of the best.  Works by doing slight damage deep within the skin to force the skin to repair it and push forward sun damaged skin.  GREAT for sun damage.  However, I haven't done any laser treatments to my skin yet so I will refrain from telling you anymore of it.

I am aware there are much more treatments out there, such as different creams (Retinoid) that also remove help skin turnover rates but I am only writing of the one's I use on a daily basis.  Perhaps when I'm older I will turn to it but as for now, I have enough!

"Exercising" your skin through such methods not only gives you immediate results but promotes collagen growth.  Collagen is what makes skin look plump and youthful.  As we grow old, you may notice that certain areas on your face would look more hollow, this is the collagen becoming lazy.  After treatments your skin feels noticeably softer and looks much smoother while also bringing whiter, undamaged skin forward.  What's more?  Your skin will receive creams and serums better!  But a warning before I leave off, do not make your skin too thin.  Skin that is too thin can do the adverse and become more susceptible to wrinkles and sun damage.  Also avoid areas such as under eyes as well as places on your face where veins are evident unless you know what you're doing... These areas already have skin that is thin.  Removing more will result in more obvious veins.  Lastly, always use sunscreen to stop the cycle of skin damage.  These treatments would be rendered pointless if you were to go out back into the sun with a more vulnerable face as less layers of skin now protect you from UV damage!

With the exception of any down time you may have with above treatments, you will notice your skin produces a healthy sheen afterwards.  This is the look of healthy skin.  

Just a fun note, if you ever look at the nose of those who've gotten a implant to heighten their nose, their nose has a similar sheen because the implant stretches the skin out so much that it appears tight, almost translucent!  Lol, but my "how can you tell who's had plastic surgery" must be saved for the next post!  Until then... Have a great day great days! :)

Warning: Photo-Heavy

So I thought it was time for me to update you guys on the little kitties I raised.  If you're unfamiliar with the situation, I had taken in 4 newborn kittens with their momma cat after my mom found them abandoned in a friend's garage.  The mother cat had originally been lost and taken in by her friend... By taken in I simply mean that she fed her and allowed her to live in her open garage.  It was in the dead of winter and newborn kittens are incapable of regulating their temperature, they rely solely on their mother for warmth.  My mom urged the lady to take them into the house but she wouldn't... And so she said, "Let me take them.  My daughter will raise them."

Of course she knew I would and so into my care came a bundle of kittens and a grouchy momma cat.

I paid quite a bundle for them!  The mother cat had an infection which they didn't know about and she had fleas!  I removed her collar and gave her a high tech flea killing drop that was dispensed on the back of her neck.  After a day, all bugs on her had died.  I'm not taking any bugs in!

Cat food alone was crazy expensive.  I purchased higher end food full of nutrients and let me tell you, the mother cat eats a lot!

The kittens!  There were two pairs of twins.  One full of fluff (long-haired) and the other pair short haired.  Uber cute!

They fall asleep quickly just like a human baby.

They often looked for their mom.  I watched them learn to walk, play, even speak!  

They like to sleep in my dirty laundry

While everyone was admiring the kittens in the pet store window... I had even cuter (if I can say so myself) ones in my possession!  I no longer don't have to be one of those annoying individuals that tap endlessly on the glass.

You tell me that's not cute.  IT'S SO FLUFFY!!

Go ahead, tell her... Tell her she's not cute.  Even a man will bend down and pinch her cheeks!

Like kids, they are extremely naughty!!  Especially when they're all together.  Once they learned to walk, their favorite thing to do was rush pass me as a group, splitting up and all 4 of them doing something bad at once.  They know I can only stop one of them at a time. 

They naturally stick together

Ready for even more cuteness?

Hahaha!!  That's how she looks when she first wakes up!  Confused, max!

The two long haired ones were very hard to tell apart for 

most people but one was actually a girl and the other a guy.

She's wanting some cookies that momma's eating but was too scared to disobey her momma!

I didn't know I was going to be keeping these two when I took this picture 

but both of them would crawl onto my lap when I'm trying to get ready.

Okay, so the question is... Which one(s) did I keep?

Meet Chub Chubs and Minji (boy and girl)!

Chub Chubs is growing at an extraordinary speed.  He's already the same size as my adult cat, Kinju.

Though keep in mind, Kinju is quite small for an adult - What can I say?  All my cats know how to be cute! Also Kinju taught himself to pee over the shower drain himself after observing water flow and knows how to open certain doors... How's that for a smart cat?

Chub Chubs sister was extremely pretty.  But I chose Chub Chubs cause he did the most hilarious stuff - Like batting the air for nothing and trying to walk on his hind legs.  Minji was the baddest one out of them all, but she's cute like that.  I felt really bad giving away her twin sister because she really liked Kinju.  Always ran to him. :(  But she didn't really seem to like humans so I figured she needs more one on one time with humans and less with other cats.  The "owner" of momma cat asked for momma cat back and I agreed... Only if they allowed her in the house which they agreed to.  The other two kittens were given homes.

"Oh hi, you're home?  I kinda messed up your bed."

NOM NOM NOM!

Minji looks like she's holding the camera

Okay, there.  After 6 months I finally updated you guys.  Don't say I never do!