BellaSugar

A Sense For Beauty, Part II: Smell

BellaSugar — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:00:22 PDT

Ever notice how smells evoke memories and create moods? When it's time to chill out, calming lavender and clary sage are great ways to relax your mind and body. Or, when you're feeling frisky, spicy, musky scents can be powerfully seductive.

I tend to be drawn toward faint floral scents, or anything infused with a hefty dose of essential oils. What's your aroma of choice when it comes to beauty products?

To find out a few different ways you can incorporate essences into the room help make your at-home beauty treatments more enjoyable,

Douse your favorite essential oil on four cotton balls and place them in each corner of the room.
Fill up your sink with warm water and mix in a few drops of essential oils as you apply your makeup - inhale and enjoy!
Burn a scented candle to create a special and memorable meditative atmosphere.

Source

10 Cool Facts About Olfaction

BellaSugar — Thu, 24 May 2012 03:30:00 PDT

We all have a sense of smell, and we all use it constantly, whether we realize it or not. Scents and smell are two of the most important yet often overlooked elements of everyday experience. Want to learn a few truly amazing facts about the things your nose knows? Then just keep reading.

Gwyneth Paltrow Is White Hot For a Night Out in London

Katie Henry — Wed, 23 May 2012 08:38:30 PDT

Gwyneth Paltrow flashed a smile and waved to photographers as she arrived at a charity dinner for the Clinton Foundation's Millennium Network held at Old Vic Tunnels in London tonight. Other attendees included former president Bill Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, Princess Beatrice and her boyfriend Dave Clark, and Will.i.am. Gwyneth dressed in all white for her latest night on the town, which was in stark contrast to the all-black ensemble she wore for Jay-Z and Kanye West's Watch the Throne afterparty on Sunday night. Gwyneth's sense of style seems to be rubbing off on her daughter, Apple, who debuted pink hair over the weekend. In addition to looking good, Gwyneth can also count on smelling good since she was recently named the new face of Hugo Boss's latest fragrance, Boss Nuit Pour Femme.

16 Weird Reasons People Quit Their Jobs

Emily Co — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:28:26 PDT

Although common sense dictates a graceful exit when you're leaving a company, there are always going to be some who slip up. Staffing agency OfficeTeam recently conducted a survey among more than 1,300 employers who divulged some of the strangest reasons former employees have given them when resigning from their jobs. Here are a couple of doozies:

"A guy said he was making too much money and didn't feel he was worth it."
"The worker told us he just couldn't get up in the morning."
"He quit because he didn't like the way the office smelled."
"An individual did not like the sound of file cabinets being slammed."
"One person quit to watch a soccer tournament."
"We had someone leave because he had to stay home to feed his dog."
"An employee left because he wanted to watch a movie with his girlfriend during work hours."
"A person quit because he hated the carpet."
"He just walked out without a peep. We have no idea why he left, and we were not able to contact him."
"One worker left to become an apple farmer."
"A staff member quit to climb Mount Everest."
"There was an individual who left to play the trombone."
"Someone left because her boss lost the dog she had given him."
"Our employee said he was joining the circus."
"One person left because she lost her cell phone too many times at work."
"An employee said it was his routine to change jobs every six months."

Although you may be tempted to leave a job in a manner of your choosing (especially if you harbor negative feelings), it's best to reconsider your approach.

"How you leave a job can be just as important as what you did while you were there," said Robert Hosking, executive director of OfficeTeam. "Regardless of the reason for resigning, making a graceful exit by tying up loose ends and thanking colleagues shows your professionalism and can help you down the road in your career."

For those who are contemplating an exit, here's a quick guide to leaving your job with grace.

How to Combat That Afternoon Slump

Leta Shy — Thu, 03 May 2012 13:40:46 PDT

Sometimes, you just can't beat that afternoon slump. Sitting at a desk all day can leave you feeling the opposite of energetic, especially around those postlunch hours when our bodies expend more energy digesting or we crash from the effects of our morning cup of coffee - and when that happens, don't think you can always rely on energy drinks. Besides their long list of unpronounceable ingredients, a new study has found that energy drinks contain high levels of citric acid, which can cause major tooth enamel erosion.

Luckily, even without the energy drinks you don't have to spend your nine-to-five dreading the inevitable urge to nap. Here are some ways for combating that afternoon slump.

Exercise in the morning. A good day begins with a good start. Exercising in the morning is beneficial for many reasons: you don't have to worry about scheduling a time later, and it's nice to be able to check something off your list before the day really begins. A morning sweat session is also good for keeping your energy levels up throughout the day, so if you find yourself hitting a wall in the afternoon, try moving your workout session to before work and see how you feel.
Take an afternoon walk. If you find yourself spending more time dozing and daydreaming than working in the afternoon, take a 10-minute break to rev up your body. Just walking around the office, chatting with co-workers, or taking a break to enjoy the sunshine outside can be all you need to give your body a recharge.

Still tired? Read on for more tips that'll keep you from taking a nap at your desk!

Spring-Clean Your Makeup Bag

BellaSugar — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 09:59:00 PDT

It's almost May, so it's time for a little Spring cleaning . . . of your makeup bag, that is. Since expired cosmetics can cause skin irritation and eye infections, it's important to replace them before they go south. Unlike food, though, cosmetics aren't required to have an expiration date on their packaging. Instead, you'll have to keep track of when you opened them. Most products have a jar symbol, in which the number signifies the number of months you have until the item is no longer usable. If you have a hard time keeping track of when you've bought things, just use a Sharpie to write down the purchase date. (Or use these handy expiration-date stickers.)

If you know how to take care of your cosmetics, your makeup should serve you well. But use common sense: if your gloss is gloopy, your nail polish is separating, or your lipstick has a funny smell - it's time to bid it adieu. To see guidelines for when to replace your makeup, read more.

Meeting My Sperm Donor

The Good Men Project — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 10:00:50 PDT

We're happy to present this story from one of our favorite sites, The Good Men Project. Ben Sommer, conceived through alternative insemination, is a young man now and tells the story of deciding to meet his donor.

I grew up in a middle-class home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with two loving parents, both of whom are women. My conception was perhaps the most organized and scientific miracle of the modern American family - my architecture, the dream of dozens of individuals conducting their work across thousands of miles.

Objectifying Ryan Gosling

I was conceived through alternative insemination. A donor submitted his sperm to the Sperm Bank of California in Oakland (TSBC). Later, it was sent to the Fenway Community Health Center in Boston. Since opening its doors in 1982, TSBC has helped families without the ability to conceive on their own to birth over 2,000 children. Two thirds of those have ended up, like me, being raised in a lesbian household. TSBC is also the first sperm bank to offer a donor-identity-release program, which allows children of alternative insemination access to their donors' information when they turn 18.

I am not as much an oddity as you might think. As of 2005, some 270,000 children in the United States had same sex-parents. We are a generation that is just now beginning to come of age and able to share our stories. This is mine.

Growing up in a lesbian household was much like growing up in any other family unit, I imagine: vacations to Cape Cod, parents working late and sometimes not, play dates with a diverse group of friends.

I never gave much thought to that mysterious figure across the country. I never questioned the fact that I didn't have a father. As far as I was concerned I didn't need one. Is having two moms really all that different than having a mom and a dad? Parents are parents, right? I didn't see a difference at the time. My parents didn't either - at least at first.

They decided to conceive through a donor, in part, to avoid the complications that a third parent would bring. Asking a close male friend to donate, like some couples have done, can create unforeseen consequences. In the past, there have been custody battles between the donor and the parents raising the child. This was the case with a friend of mine, whose parents arranged donation from a male family friend. With a semi-anonymous donor like the man my parents chose, it would be clear who my parents were. And it was.

That's not to say that it was smooth sailing. "When we first learned you were going to be a boy, we really panicked," my mother told me recently. "Who's going to teach him to throw a ball? We didn't have many male friends. There was even basic stuff, like who's going to teach him to pee standing up. That doesn't come naturally."

Read the rest of the story below.

21 Disposable Products You Can Reuse

Wise Bread — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 09:00:39 PDT

Even when the product is supposedly "disposable," you can always reuse it. Wise Bread shares awesome ways to reuse these 21 disposable products.

It’s said that we live in a disposable society. But the word "disposable" is a misnomer. Disposable is considered throwaway, something you use once and dump, regardless of the life that may be left in it. As a frugal shopper with a concern for the state of our environment, I think that just won’t do.

I often reuse many so-called “onetime-use” items, and I asked friends, family, and colleagues to tell me which disposable items they squeeze more life from. Here’s my list, including some of the surprising ideas I was given.

RELATED: 25 Things to Throw Out Today

1. Butter Wrappers

If you’re like most people, you unwrap your butter, pop the stick into your handy holder, and throw the wrapper away. But wait a second - instead of trashing the wrappers, keep them in a sandwich bag. The next time you need to grease a baking tray or dish, you’ve got something all ready to go.

Read on for more.

When to Toss Spices and Other Pantry Basics

Sara Yoo — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 04:10:00 PDT

With warmer weather tickling the air, I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and dig into a little Spring cleaning. Sure, there are ovens to clean and counters to scrub, but one task I'm forcing myself to tackle this season is tidying up my pantry and spice rack and clearing out old and expired items. Today I've rounded up some guidelines on how long to keep basic pantry staples and how to tell when they're ready for the trash (or compost). While these time frames are a general rule of thumb, it's important to use your senses to detect what to keep and what to toss: if anything looks, smells, or tastes strange, it's probably best to get rid of it. So let's get a-cleaning!

Source: Flickr Users Simo ubuntu, JMR_Photography, and alsjhc

PaleyFest: Modern Family Stars Bring the Laughs

PopSugar — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:48:26 PDT

PaleyFest ended on a high note last night as America's favorite Modern Family came out to talk about their hit comedy. The audience got a sneak peek at the show's next episode, and the cast sat down to answer some questions. The panel, which included Julie Bowen (Claire), Ty Burrell (Phil), and Sofia Vergara (Gloria), had no shortage of funny answers and great one-liners as they kept the audience laughing the whole night. Check out the most memorable moments.

Nolan Gould (Luke) on feeling like they're a family: "It feels like my real modern family. Like leaving my real family and going to my other family. You know, Julie is always messing with my hair and picking lint off my clothes. Seriously, like every day I leave the set my hair is like Einstein's because she's always messing with it."
Burrell on how Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Mitchell) has the hardest time keeping a straight face: "Sometimes we'll start a scene and there's no particular joke in it and he'll just start laughing at the absurdity of the fact that we're all pretending to be other people."
Ferguson on the most intimidating thing he's done on the show: "The ice dancing thing was scary for me." To Bowen: "You were light as a feather, and remain light as a feather. I just wasn't sure my muscles were big enough for that feather."
Eric Stonestreet (Cameron) on being nervous about riding a horse: "I feel like when we all walked into the corral to get on the horses for the first time, like, the horses were looking at all of us and thinking 'no, no, not you. Sofia, you're fine, Julie, you're fine, but please no, not you.'"
Bowen on taking a spill in the Wyoming episode: "I wasn't supposed to fall! I hit the ground so effing hard and all I remember was thinking, 'If you don't turn around and deliver your lines right now they will cut and this fall will have been for nothing!'"
Ed O'Neill (Jay) on having Vergara as a wife: "When they first told me I was going to be married to her I thought, well it makes perfect sense."
Vergara on working with O'Neill: "He helps me a lot with my pronunciation, but sometimes he confuses me more."
Creator Steve Levitan on bringing in the dog, Stella: "The dog was Gloria's idea. Sofia is a wonderful actor but she's not that good of an actor. Once we realized she hated the dog we just had to write it that way."
Vergara on working with the dog: "I'm not used to having a little dog on top of me and it licking my face. I'm from Colombia where we have big dogs and they live outside in the yard and they sleep outside of your houses. They don't sleep in your beds on your pillow. It's not that I have anything personal with it. And she's very heavy to carry her. It smells like the foods. It's disgusting!"
Burrell on the episode "Virgin Territory": "It's a lot of pressure watching an episode like that and realizing I'm never going to be that good of a parent. When my daughter loses her virginity I'm just going to sit her down, show her the episode, and be like 'alright we're clear, we all learned a lot. Good.'"
The cast talked about working with Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, who plays Lily. "Lily couldn't be here because she's already in rehab," Ferguson joked. Stonestreet weighed in on the ridiculous amount of backlash they received for recasting a 2-and-a-half-year-old. "Can you imagine when they're 19? I think they won't be friends." They joked around and made rivalry predictions that "old Lily" and "new Lily," who are actually friends now, won't be friends as teenagers.
Stonestreet on the most gratifying thing about being part of a gay couple on prime-time television: "There is nothing more gratifying than going to a place like NASCAR, and a guy carrying a giant tire says, 'My wife and I love your show, man. Where do you get those shirts? My wife is always trying to dress me like Cam and I'm like, man, I love Cam, alright!'"