Wednesday, May 23, 2012

How To Bleach Hair

Blondes have more fun and maybe that's why you want to learn how to bleach hair. Well, that's really not a sure thing -the having more fun part anyway- but maybe you want to walk around blonde for a while. I've been wanting to bleach my hair blonde for the longest time anyway. It'll make me look better in a bunch of outfits, so that's a plus too.

Now, I knew that just dumping a bunch of chemicals on my head was probably a bad idea. Daring, sure, but it isn't very smart so I decided to go to the research. There's plenty of advice on how to bleach hair running around, but the internet isn't exactly known for accountability. Just about anything can crop up on the net. Here are a few considerations for anyone who wants to be a blonde, at least for a little while.

Of course, before I put a single cent into my "blondening" efforts, I did some research. First, I had to figure out if it'll look good with my skin tone and of course, with my clothes. Access to photo manipulation software can easily show you just how you would look platinum, ash or dark blonde. Before I even started on the road to bleach my hair blonde, I checked out how it would look.

Damn nice, that's what, so for me, it was all lights are green and go. For you - check it out. If you have it bleached, it's gonna stay that way for a while. Might even damage your hair while you're at it and it'll only be worse if it makes you look sick and washed out. Well, nothing wrong with that if that's what you want, but most people aren't looking for that look.

You do have to consider that doing this at home is probably a bad idea to begin with. Salons know how to bleach hair - this is what they paid to do. It's so easy to ruin hair - too much wrecks it, too little and you can barely notice what changed or at worst, you end up another shade of the rainbow. You also have to consider that putting your hair through this ordeal means that you're going to damage it at some point if you keep it up, no matter how careful you or the salon is.

Another reason to get into the salon chair? Hydrogen peroxide. That's what you use to bleach your hair and it's not exactly something you should handle without care. Getting in your eyes means that you should pull a "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and call a friend to get you to help. Swallowing the stuff is even worse.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Your Menopause and Weight Gain

Sad, but so true, one of the #1 most common symptoms of menopause is weight gain, as well as a change in the overall shape of your body.

About 90% of pre menopausal and menopausal women gain weight, an average of 10-15 pounds.

Women who have an early menopause or surgical menopause (due to cancer treatments or hysterectomies) may experience more rapid and extreme weight gain. Lovely!

Here's the kicker, when it comes to menopause and weight gain - you may be eating and exercising exactly the same way you always were, but you still can't seem to maintain your previous weight. You continue to gain, and it seems to be landing right around your middle?

As you enter the early stages of pre menopause, maintaining weight becomes more and more difficult, and losing weight becomes almost impossible. This is because of a fluctuation in your hormones.

Your hormones have direct impact on your appetite, your metabolism and fat storage. This is why it is so difficult to control your weight gain during menopause, no matter what you do. Fluctuating Estrogen, Progesterone, and Androgen will fight you all the way.

Estrogen:
This is the female sex hormone that is responsible for causing monthly ovulation. During female menopause, your estrogen levels decline rapidly, and your body will stop ovulation. Estrogen also seems to play a big role in the weight gain. As your ovaries produce less estrogen, your body works harder to convert calories into fat; the fat is used to increase those depleting estrogen levels. Unfortunately for you, fat cells don't burn calories the way muscle cells do, which causes you to pack on unwanted pounds.