This blog post is long overdue! I love long eyelashes, that is why I hardly ever leave home without putting mascara on. I have always been curious to try on fake lashes because I see girls wear them all the time, but I have always been too chicken to because I know you have to glue them on and I’m afraid that they’ll pull out my real lashes! I don’t want that! But then I heard about Revlon Fantasy Lengths fake eyelashes. They have two types: the Maximum Wear Glue On Lashes and…. the *gasps* eyelashes with Self Adhesive Strips! No glue required!

So I did my research and saw all positive reviews on the product. The only complaint I saw a few times were that the base of the lashes were too long and so people had to trim it to fit their eye. Revlon also mentions this on the box to cut it if it is too long. So I’m all prepared to trim it, but I try it on and… it is actually not long enough for me! I took the pic up top without eyeliner so you can see where it stops. I have come to the conclusion that I have huge eyeballs (no wonder strangers have told me I have ojos tapatíos which I thought was funny because my Mom is from Guadalajara, Jalisco). Anyways, the length was fine for me since I put liquid eyeliner on the top eyelid so you can’t tell where the eyelash starts and ends. I personally loved how easy it was to put the lashes on. The first time I was a little shakey and had to redo it but it was easier after that.

Revlon Fantasy Lengths comes in a great variety of really cute styles. They are very natural looking which would be perfect for those who not only want to wear them for a night out but on a daily basis as well. I recommend these lashes for girls who have no luck with mascara and or eyelash curlers.

Which reminds me… I had a friend’s teen daughter try it because she accidentally CUT OFF some of her eyelashes on one eye because of her terrible eyelash curler. She put the Revlon Fantasy Lengths lashes on and she looked fine, it looked like natural eyelashes and the length was perfect by the way she did not have to trim anything off. Another friend tried them on and the length was perfect as well. This particular lady was older and commented that she liked how the lashes covered her sagging eyelids. It made her eyes stand out more and she felt it gave her a more youthful appearance because it covered her eyelids.

When I tweeted that I got Revlon Fantasy Lengths I received this message: “These eyelashes work great! I am a member of the Sun Devil Dance Team at ASU and I have used these lashes for every game. After a long night of performing in front of thousands of sun devil football fans in the Arizona heat, I don’t have to worry because I know my lashes will stay on the entire night while making my eyes stand out to the crowd.”

All in all, I like Revlon Fantasy Lengths. If you want natural long looking lashes and mascara and eyelash curlers aren’t working for you – this is the way to go! Even if you want to change things up a bit with your look you could just wear their different eyelash styles.

I personally feel braver now with fake lashes since I’ve tried Revlon, and now I want to try lashes that are far more dramatic and longgggg.

I’ll just wait until Revlon comes out with those as well

When I saw these videos by Head and Shoulders, I couldn’t help but giggle. [click here to see 3 funny Head & Shoulders videos] The idea of putting stuff like tomato juice, mayonnaise, avocado/guacamole in your hair is something I am very familiar with! It is something I have heard about through family and friends who have tried these “hair treatments” themselves or know someone who has.

And, I also have a confession to make… I put vinegar in my hair! LOL. I know, I know, let me explain! There was a time when I kept dying my hair every week because I was not happy with the results. I dyed it a different reddish color, hated it, dyed it again the next week because I couldn’t stand it, hated it, and finally just wanted to get rid of the red altogether! But as most of you already know, red is one of the hardest colors to get out. So I went to a friend’s hair stylist and she said that my hair was too damaged to do anything at that moment. So she told me to put VINEGAR in my hair daily for a few weeks and then go back to see her. So I did! She even uses vinegar in the salon — it’s crazy! But it’s supposed to be good for your hair.

So I did some quick research and here’s some info I found:

Vinegar (mixed with water) supposedly removes excess product build up from your hair. Others say it calms itching of the hair and scalp and can remove dandruff.

As for Tomato Juice, some say it restores pH balance to your hair, making it shiny, more manageable, and beautiful. One person said that it removes unusual hair odor that usually occurs with children.

Mayonnaise is said to condition severely dry hair since it has natural oils and vitamins that leaves your hair soft and shiny.

Avocado (or Guacamole) apparently could be another hair treatment since it is rich in natural oils as well as Vitamin B-6 and E. I also read elsewhere that avocado pulp can stimulate hair growth.

So what is the truth? Who knows, different people say different things. But Head & Shoulders makes a very good point – why go through all the trouble with messy (and sometimes smelly) hair treatments when there are great products out there that treat all of your hair problem areas. Head & Shoulders for instance fights dryness, calms itching, relieves irritation, reduces redness, controls oiliness, removes flakes and gives you beautiful hair.

Easy peasy

Watch the 3 hilarious Head & Shoulders episodes by clicking here!

It has been about 1 year since I was first introduced to P90x… and I have yet to blog about the P90x Nutrition Plan! My diet has always been an issue for me. It’s really hard when you are constantly surrounded by delicious (yet fattening) Mexican and Puerto Rican food! Not only that, I’ve been frequenting fast food joints regularly because of my hectic schedule.

Which is why today I am going to blog about P90x’s Quick Options. P90x’s Nutrition Guide contains tons of detailed information on how you should approach your nutrition during their intense 90 day program. What I like about their Quick Options section is that they list some quick dishes that you could make at home. They also recommend a variety of convenient frozen foods such as Amy’s Kitchen, Cedarlane Natural Foods, and the usual (obvious) choices like Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, etc.

But what I have found to be completely useful are their smart fast food options! P90x says that you should NOT exceed one fast food meal per day and only a few times a week. Also, for those of you familiar with the 3 Phases, P90x has some guidelines. Throughout all 3 phases you must always avoid high-fat dressings on salads! During Phase 1 Fat Shredder you can eat chicken, turkey or beef without the bun or bread. For Phase 2 Energy Booster you can eat chicken, turkey or beef with half the bun or bread. And finally for Phase 3 Endurance Maximizer you can eat chicken, turkey or beef with the whole bun or bread. The P90x Nutrition Plan also has specific limits on how much calories, fat, and sodium you should consume for each meal based on your nutrition level. (The book explains how to calculate your nutrition level.)

The following are some smart fast food choices from the P90x Nutrition Plan. (Some food options are outdated so I’m putting possible alternatives in parenthesis. Note that some of these alternatives have more calories, fat, carbs and or protein.)

Burger King
- BK Veggie
- Chicken Caesar Salad (Tender Grill Garden Salad or Side Garden Salad – no dressing)

Carl’s Jr.
- Hamburger (Kid’s Hamburger)
- Charbroiled BBQ Chicken Sandwich
- Charbroiled Chicken Salad-To-Go (Charbroiled Chicken Salad)
- Garden Salad-To-Go (Side Salad)

Jack-In-The-Box
- Chicken Fajita Pita

McDonald’s
- Chicken McGrill (Premium Grilled Chicken Classic Sandwich)
- Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad -No Dressing (Premium Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken)
- Fruit ‘N Yogurt Parfait

I’ve been venting a lot on Twitter, BrightKite, etc. lately and sometimes I feel like I want to tweet-vent (twent?) more when I have other things on my mind but I don’t. So I just thought… maybe I should just start blogging this stuff! And not only that, password protect some.

It’s no biggie. Not some *exclusive* type stuff but these posts just won’t be readily available to those who wander onto my site. What I’m going to do is… when I password protect these particular posts I’ll just announce the new blog (like I always do) on Twitter, BrightKite, Plurk, etc. and mention what the password is. See? No biggie.

That way a majority of the people reading it will at the very least be people who know me / kinda know me / think they know me. (I guess that includes the stalkers who don’t follow me or subscribe but read my tweets… you know who you are!)

But either way, it will make me feel a bit better… it’s out there, but it’s not, you know? Make any sense to you? *crickets chirping*…

In my last workout blog I said that the next Winsor Pilates workout I blog about is a MUST HAVE for every woman out there! That workout is Winsor Pilates Bun and Thigh Sculpting. (Great for guys as well, I just say women because we complain about our thighs and tushy more than men lol!)

Why do I recommend this workout? Like the other pilates workouts, it is low impact yet very effective. The workout is a little less than 20 minutes long and is also a great alternative to your typical squats and lunges tushy exercises. (Seriously, you are just laying down the whole time.) It contains the entire Pilates side-kick series that tone, firm and sculpt your inner thighs, outer thighs and hips. Mari Winsor recommends doing this work out at least three times a week to “lift and shape your buttocks”. You-will-feel-the-burn.

But don’t just take my word for it, try it out yourself. Here is the complete Winsor Pilates Bun and Thigh Sculpting workout video I have, compliments of Tudou.com!

[And if you haven't already, check out my Get a Sexy Butt post!]

I used to always get acrylic french tips regularly, but I stopped getting them for many reasons. First, my nails grow strong naturally and getting french tips did major damage to my nails by making them super thin. Then of course the cost, no explanation needed there! And finally, the manicurists themselves! The last time I got my nails done was for a wedding and the lady did a horrible job. My nail looked like a “V” (it got wider from bottom to top) and when I told her she got a little attitude and tried to fix it but she didn’t do much. I ended up going home and filed my nails (like CRAZY) myself.

It kind of reminded me of this Anjelah Johnson routine, check it out, it’s hilarious!

Thankfully I found out about Revlon Runway Collection nails. I put on my first set last Thursday and still have them on right now. (I’m taking it off soon though since Revlon recommends you remove glue-on nails every 7-10 days to maintain strong, healthy nails.) I am very, very happy with the Revlon’s Runway nails! The styles are super cute – some are glittery/sparkly, have a little “bling bling” on them and others are a bit more simple but very stylish. The nails are also the perfect length, not too long and not too short.

Each package comes with 24 nails in 12 different sizes to ensure a perfect fit. I had no problem finding nails that fit. These nails look ridiculously natural. I received many compliments on them and ladies were always surprised when I told them that these were glue-on nails, they really have that nail salon look.

Revlon Runway Collection nails comes with a nail buffer, glue and a manicure stick. Throughout the week I washed dishes and did laundry… the glitter stayed on! I opened boxes, soda cans, etc. and my nails stayed on!

I highly recommend Revlon Runway Collection nails. It seriously makes me sad that I’m going to have to take these off (by soaking in acetone polish remover). So how much do these fine nails cost? 8 dollars! Yep, you read right! Now you do the math… (or just view the image below, they did the math for you)

(Click to enlarge)

I have the first 3 styles (from left to right: 91102 Starlet – the one I’m wearing in the very 1st pic up top!, 91087 Sequins, 91095 Minx), don’t know the name of the next two but I must get that black one! And I have the one on the far right (91098 Mystic).

There may be similar products out there but Revlon is a brand I trust. Not only am I getting a variety of styles for cheap, but they look great and my nails are not getting damaged in the process!

On Sunday August 23rd, an 18 year old Stefania Fernandez, representing Venezuela, won the Miss Universe crown making Venezuela the first country to win back to back crowns. Ada Aimee De La Cruz of the Dominican Republic earned the 1st runner up spot and Puerto Rico was also in the top 5 of the competition. When watching the Miss Universe pageant I couldn’t help but be proud of these women representing Latinas worldwide.

It is said that in 1966, representatives from Argentina, Ecuador, Paraguay, Venezuela and Brazil gave a press conference and stated that they were “the nothings of the contest” and that European contestants were given preferential treatment. True or not, in the past 57 years of the Miss Universe pageant Latinas have been title holders about 37% of the time. Within the past 9 years alone both Puerto Rico and Venezuela have won twice while Panama and the Dominican Republic won their first crowns as well.

So I did a little research and found a great site (Who Has the Most Miss Universes) and this is what I found. As far as title holders go, U.S.A. is #1 with 7 crowns, followed by Venezuela with 6 and Puerto Rico with 5. Brazil has won twice while 8 (Latin/Spanish) countries have had one Miss Universe winner: Peru, Columbia, Argentina, Spain, Chile, Mexico, Panama, and Dominican Republic. And this does not even include those who were runner ups and semi-finalists.

Here are some stats on the number of semi-finalists and 1st runner ups each (Latin/Spanish) country has had throughout the Miss Universe pageants:

What did I think about the 2009 Miss Universe Pageant? I did not think Venezuela was going to win! Not because I did not think she deserved it, I just did not believe the Miss Universe organization would have a Latina winner two years in a row. It is a little conspiracy theory of mine, since in the most recent years the winners have varied each year. So I thought Australia was going to take it. But of course I was thrilled to see Venezuela, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico up there in the top 5! Although I do feel Mexico should have been up there too, but I may be a little biased

There is a new band out there who is extraordinary in every way. They are N.E.D., a group of gynecologic cancer surgeons who are using their musical talents for good. The goal of this band is to raise awareness about women’s cancer. Their CD will be released on September 8th which coincides with Gynecologic Cancer Awareness month and an information booklet, “What Every Woman Should Know”, is included with every physical and digital EP.

The band members of N.E.D. are all practicing gynecologic oncologists who guide women (and their families) through cancer diagnoses. N.E.D. stands for No Evidence of Disease – the ultimate goal that treatment will completely terminate the disease. What I absolutely love is that these surgeons wrote their lyrics and music themselves and collaborated primarily through video conferencing. It is amazing what people can accomplish when they put their minds together to accomplish a shared goal!

Listen to “She Sings To Me” by N.E.D.:

Their CD includes songs that range from indie to folk rock. Proceeds from the sale of the CD (and live performances) will be donated to the N.E.D. Cancer Foundation which is supported by the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation (GCF). The proceeds are going to be used to support the new Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Movement (GCAM) to be launched with the first annual Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Day and Race (a half marathon) on November 8th, 2009.

Are you going to support the cause? I am!
View more info about N.E.D. – No Evidence of Disease

Info About Gynecologic Cancer

Gynecologic cancers are the uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells originating in the female reproductive organs, including the cervix, ovaries, uterus, fallopian tubes, vagina and vulva. They are caused by certain classes of genes that promote the growth of cancer. This abnormal function of the genes can be acquired through smoking, aging, environmental factors and can also be inherited.

Every woman is at risk for developing a gynecologic cancer. It is estimated that there will be about 80,000 new cases diagnosed and approximately 28,000 deaths from gynecologic cancers in the United States each year.

There are many things you could do to protect yourself and loved ones. Learn how to self examine, this offers the best chance at the detection of certain types of gynecologic cancers in their earliest stages, when successful treatment is most possible. You should also visit your gynecologist once a year, get your children vaccinated (for HPV), live healthy (eat right, exercise and make healthy lifestyle choices) and finally if cancer runs in your family – get tested!

Hello people! As you can see, I have been in the process of changing my blog layout. I chose this one out of sympathy for the guys who visit my site! Lol. I know you guys have been getting bombarded with beauty posts and I feel like this set-up softens it up a bit. Don’tcha think? This way, visitors can just go to the categories that they are interested in.

This layout also makes me see which topics I have been lagging on. So I’ll try to post on all subjects evenly… lol. TRY!

There might be some kinks here and there that I will have to fix as I come across them. If you find anything broken, please let me know! Thanks for your patience

Incase you haven’t heard the news, CoverGirl has just name Dania Ramirez to be their next spokesmodel! Dania Ramirez is a Dominican actress who is in the popular television series Heroes. Her other projects include X-Men: The Last Stand (she fought Halle Berry or “Storm”, remember that?) and the popular HBO drama The Sopranos.

Here is a behind the scenes video of Dania’s first CoverGirl print shoot…

Dania Ramirez will be joining the ranks of famous CoverGirls like Queen Latifah, Drew Barrymore, and Rihanna. When asked about what being a CoverGirl means, Dania said that “Being a CoverGirl is about recognizing internal and external beauty, regardless of age or background. As a role model, I hope to inspire women to be confident enough to achieve everything they want to achieve.”

Keep an eye out for Dania in January 2010 tv and print ads showcasing the mid-winter makeup collections. I’m so proud!

More about Dania…

Dania Ramirez was born on November 8th, 1979 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. She moved with her family to New York City when she was 10 years old and at the age of 15 was discovered by a modeling scout while working in a convenience store. She knew that she wanted to be an actress at an early age but started pursuing acting seriously later on in life. Dania is currently linked to Jessy Terrero, a successful Dominican music director and producer.

Visit Dania Ramirez’s official site: OfficialDaniaRamirez.com
Or Dania’s Myspace page: myspace.com/DaniaRamirez