Another Day, Another City

So I've been lucky that I've gotten to travel to a couple places for my rotation sites. I was in SF for my 1st rotation, which if any of you know me, you know how much I LOVED living in Cali.. it was great cuz I got to go to LA/Las Vegas/&San Diego while I was over there. I went back to Philly after that to do my school rotation, I'll love and hate Philly always. haha. Whenever I'm there, I hate it, but when I leave I always remember the good times I had while I was there. There is also a whole bunch of good places to eat and of course no tax shopping! Luckily CT also has no tax shopping, which I was super excited about.. also bad b/c I shouldn't be spending money, being a very poor poor student.

Hartford is a small city, we drove around the downtown and there wasn't much to do and not too many people walking around, granted, it was a rainy day! We haven't found too much to do yet, but I'm sure we will (or at least hopefully!) The good thing about Hartford is it is in between NYC and Boston so I'll def be hitting up those cities a lot with my roommates. & We did hit up the casino, at Foxwoods, randomly on a Tuesday night. It was actually very nice...in the middle of the woods, but a pretty decent resort/casino.

Its my first week here so just adjusting to everything but I know I'm gonna have a good time exploring the Northeast. Any suggestions on what I should do while I'm up here?!

pic credit: planetware.com

Closet Exchange

So of course I have a ton of clothes I don't wear anymore. You just get tired of them. Or they become just not appropriate anymore... like those tight clubbing shirts I use to wear 1st yr of college :P So my friend and I decided to check out selling our clothes. We went to Closet Exchange since it was close by my apartment, its like a Plato's closet, pretty much a 2nd hand thrift shop.

We brought a whole bunch of our unwanted clothes and they took the WORST stuff. I mean some of the things I brought in were decent, but they picked out the stuff was super cheesy. I had this yellow, faded Tommy Hilfiger racerback tank top from MIDDLE SCHOOL, which they wanted! Why? I have no idea! My friend brought 7 jeans and other nice things and they didn't want those! It just shows you how fickle second hand shops can be. The idea of selling your clothes seem good, but I mean you really only get about $1 for a shirt if you are able to sell it... so it makes me think, is it even worth it or should I just give it away to charity? Well I guess it is better than nothing! I was thinking trying to sell my decent pickings on Ebay, which may be a better idea, but more of the hassle I suppose.

What do you guys do with your old worn down clothes? Charity? Hands me downs to your siblings? Or do you just allow them to sit in your closet forever?

Buying Glasses Online?

Everything you want, you can pretty much get or find on the web. Thats the luxury of our internet technology, all at your fingertips! I love online shopping for clothing, shoes, books, beauty products and so on... but would you buy your glasses online?

There are definite pros and cons to both.

PROS
- Cheaper!
Glasses online are usually cheaper due to lower cost of overhead such as eliminating the need of maintaining an optical with employees and stock
-Less hassle due to online purchasing, you just fill everything online and the glasses get sent to you.
-No interaction with sales staff: this could be good if you prefer not being bothered by sales associates


CONS
- Unable to try the glasses before purchasing.
Its definitely difficult to gauge if you will really like a pair of frames without trying them on
-No measurements performed by the optical; measurements such as PD and bifocal/progressive heights must be performed to assure proper fitting or glasses
-No adjustments by the optical; if the glasses come back and need tightening or adjustments to fit properly, a trained staff is unable to do it over the internet
-No interaction with sales staff: this could also be a con because you don't have help from a live person except through phone interaction


I was fortunate enough to be able to try out a pair of eyeglasses from an online prescription eyeglasses company, GlassesUSA. I chose the Liberty frame in black, just a cute little simple pair. The prescription glasses were a pair of good quality frames/lenses which I didn't have any problems with! I think a single vision pair would be easy to order from an online source, but definitely with a progressive/bifocal pair it would be more difficult due to accurate measurements that need to be done. With that being said, every online company has their own return policy -- I checked the return policy on GlassesUSA and it said "If you are, for any reason, not completely satisfied with your eyeglasses, you may return them to us for a FULL refund or a NEW pair of glasses – no questions asked! We will be happy to exchange your glasses or offer you a full refund- NO MATTER WHAT… even if your dog chewed the frames!", which sounds like a pretty good return policy to me! If you are interested in trying this site, here is an offer from the company for 5% off using the code "Mommy5".

Another tidbit about GlassesUSA is that they donate their returned glasses to various organizations that re-distribute eyeglasses to people around the world who cannot afford vision care. I think thats great that the company does this! I was part of a student organization at school called SOSH and we went to Haiti to give eyecare to those who are less fortunate so I definitely have to give this company props for helping out for a good cause!

There are pros and cons to everything we purchase online, what do you think? Are you for purchasing glasses online or do you prefer purchasing your frames at your local optical shop?

Grow beautiful eye lashes?

This isn't really new news but I thought I'd share for those of you who still might be interested!

Latisse is an FDA product that was introduced in the beginning of the year to increase the length, and thickness of your lashes. You must have seen all the television and magazine ads for this product. It was touted all over different programs like The Today's Show and The Doctors. Brooke Sheilds, and eye brow/makeup artist, Anastasia both endorse this product.

Latisse is actually the same product as a glaucoma medication called Lumigan. It is a class of medications called prostaglandins used to decrease pressure in patients with glaucoma. One of the most beneficial side effects noticed by patients were their eyelashes grew! (more beneficial to women than men :)

Allergan decided to market this product as a beauty product to women who wanted the voluminous, long lashes. In their study, eyelashes typically grew 25 percent longer, 106 percent thicker and 18 percent darker.

There are some side effects that aren't as liked as the eye lash growth:

- Iris pigmentation: light color irises may increase in their brown pigmentation due to increased melanocyte production. Generally this will occur within 6 months if it does occur
- Orbital skin darkening - reported to be reversible when discontinuing the product
- Red eyes & itchy eyes (reported by 3.6 percent of patients)

This is an easy product to use. You place 1 drop of the medication (it comes in a small 2.5 mL bottle) on the applicator brush and paint it on your eyelid as if you were putting eyeliner on your upper lids. Do NOT apply it to the bottom lid due to the possible side effect of orbital skin darkening. Watch this video for more information.

It takes about 8 weeks for the product to work and if you stop using the product, your eye lashes will revert back to its natural state. The eye doctor office I worked at in California, sold this product along with Revitalash, another eyelash growth product. I noticed first hand that this product really does work. The women who tried it were very happy with the results. One woman remarked that it made her lashes thick it was almost like fur! (but I think she meant it in a good way as in they were voluminous and thick as opposed to actual fur like. haha) She was one person who tried previous lash products without any success, but she found Latisse to work very well for her.

Latisse is by prescription. You can get it at your eye doctor, dermatologist or cosmetic surgeon. It is important to consult with your doctor if your interested in this product. This product has been shown to be safe, but because it is by prescription you will have to see your doctor. It is important to discuss side effects and address any questions you have with them.

So have you or would you use this product?

Contact Lens Solution ... Makeup help?

So I was reading in Cosmo magazine about a tip I thought I'd share with all you contact lens wearers out there.. non-wearers can still use this tip although!

Use a few drops of contact lens solution or saline on your makeup brush to keep your color lasting a little longer! Simple enough right?

Eye Cream for MEN?

I'm very focused on girl products so I never really thought about what guys do for wrinkles! I figure they could just use the same products as us, but they could just be sly and pretend they were buying it for their girlfriends ;)

I did some research and supposedly there is a difference between the skin types of men and women, which makes having a product tailored to them more important. Although I did find some contradicting information so I am not entirely sure if men really do need a different product, but I'm sure for certain creams, they may work better for women. For instance, some eye creams actually contain variants that can be used to regulate hormones within the body for women since the imbalance of hormones as we age can deplete the skin of moisture and leave the skin susceptible to developing fine lines and wrinkles via.

There aren't that many products out there for men! But if you are looking for boyfriends or brothers, here are a few products to check out.

Jack Black Eye Balm

Three key benefits toted by this product are to 1) reduce puffiness 2) minimize the appearance of dark circles 3) alleviate fine lines and wrinkles. Its packed with a lot of vitamins and considered natural, which means it does not contain harsh chemicals by Sephora standards. Also the reviews on Sephora are pretty good for this product.

Anthony Continuous Moisture Eye Cream

This product claims to nourish, firm, brighten and tone the eye area with a blend of shea butter, squalenem age-defying vitamins A, C, and E, soothing cucumber extract, and carrrot root.

MenScience Eye Rescue Formula

This eye cream reduces the appearance of dark under-eye circles, fine lines and puffiness. It contains a combination of coenzyme Q10, kojic acid, green tea and vitamin E.

Or guys could just try the eye creams you can purchase at your local drugstore like Target or Walmart, I'm sure these products would be fine for guys too! Try a trusted brand like


Oil of Olay, Garnier, or Neutrogena

Do you guys have any other recommendations?

GHD Straightener Review

I got this GHD hair straightener for christmas from my cousin. I was looking for one for a while and I was super happy to receive this one. It is an amazing straightener! Quite pricey but if you are looking for a high quality professional hair straightener, this one is perfect. It gets very hot quickly and smooths over your hair effortlessly. Its great cuz you can use it as a straightener or to curl your hair, but I do admit I'm not very good at curling my hair with the straightener! I would definitely recommend this one if you are looking to upgrade your straightener. Everyone who borrows it always tells me how much they love it!

Features:
-Constant styling temperature, iron heats up to max temperature every millisecond ensuring optimum heat on the hair from root to tip
-Sleep function turns off iron if not used for 30 minutes
- Universal voltage feature (although I'm still hesitant to use this if I'm traveling to another country in case it short circuits it)
-Ceramic-coated aluminum plates help seal the cuticle and create shine while locking in hair's natural moisture
-Emits a large proportion of infrared heat and negative ions, both of which are less damaging to the hair, reducing static and creating shine by closing the cuticle.

It really depends on your needs on if you really need to spend this much on a hair tool. I do believe that a higher quality/professional hair styling equipment work much better than your average drugstore brands, but I don't think professional grade fits everyone's needs. If you need something simple, then a hair dryer and straightener from your local Target will work just fine for you! If you hair is more difficult to manage, then I would definitely recommend to upgrade to a professional styling tool. I do have a pension for professional grade since my mom works with this stuff so I may be biased but I def noticed a difference between my Super Solano hair dryer and my Conair.

Next purchase, a new curling iron since mine broke :(