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Ask us your questions about the products and we can guide you through the best of the best.

The advice is free but the call is not.

We're not done talking yet, so really, pick up that phone....


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Sweet Torture Otherwise Known As.... Sugaring

I once had a friend from the Middle East. My first experience with waxing was watching her mother wax herself with a gum-like honey thing in her kitchen. She would lick this solid amber looking brick and then heat it and stretch it gradually over the burner on her stove. When the wax was the right consistency she put it on her thigh and ripped the hair out.

I asked her how I could get one of those little bricks of wax and she gave me one. I felt so cool because I knew she had probably brought it back in her suitcase from Syria. It was like some kind of foreign treasure to me. I was so excited at what I thought was this NEW depilation innovation. I went home and had no clue what to do and was afraid of burning my hand. I threw it in the garbage and that was that.

So fast forward 20 years:

I've been researching home wax or sugaring recipes for hair removal and have found some interesting stuff. Sugaring was invented by the Egyptians and they have a very specific recipe called Halawa (this means SWEET in Egypt) that has been cooked up and used since biblical times.

What would Jesus have waxed?

The ancient "queens of the Nile" such as Nefertiti and Cleopatra used such preparations pre-wedding. Egyptian culture today still says women must wax off all of their body hair and stay waxed if they are wed. We waxers know these things.

I decided to provide a recipe for the Halawa with instructions. Keep in mind that the wax is hot and to make sure it is the right temperature and consistency before making contact with your skin.

This is a very old, very famous Egyptian recipe for wax that is completely natural and extremely effective. It is basically caramel, right before it reaches the crystallizing stage (so it also tastes great). It is relatively simple to make, but take care to observe the caramelizing of the sugar, because the window for the wax to be just right before burning is very small. Do not be frustrated if you burn a batch; even experienced makers do this all the time. The best thing to do is to watch is continuously once the color changes to golden brown. You can eat it or you can use it as Hair Removal.

The recipe:

Ingredients for Halawa Sweet, AKA Sweet, Egyptian Sugar Wax, or Hair Removal

1. Two cups of water
2. Three cups of sugar or three cups of honey
3. Two teaspoons of lemon juice

Procedure

1. Place all ingredients in saucepan. Bring to boil.
2. When its color changes to golden brown, lower the heat and continue to simmer.
3. Keep a careful watch on the color. Once it starts to change to brown, turn off the heat.
4. Allow to cool a little, then pour small quantities onto heavy duty plastic, of the cereal bag type. Plastic that is not heavy duty will melt. It is not a good idea to use a plate, as you will need to peel it off something pliable after it cools.
5. When it becomes cool enough to handle, pull a piece off the plastic and pull and stretch it. This will immediately cause it to change color, from a clear golden brown to an opaque gold. It should be easy to stretch and pull. If it is too hard, you have left it on the heat for too long and must make a new batch. If it is too liquid, it has not been heated enough and must be heated once more, or a new batch made.

It is now ready for use! Don't forget to spread the wax against the direction of hair growth and rip it in the direction the hair grows.

The trick is in knowing when to turn the heat off, and may take a few batches until mastered. One test is to take a drop on a spoon and hold it between your thumb and finger (cool it under water first!). It should stretch between them. If its too liquid to stretch, continue to heat, and if it stretches but is brittle, discard and repeat, reducing the time you leave it on the heat.

An easier, although more expensive, alternative is to use just three cups of honey and a few drops of lemon. Simmer for a few minutes until the color changes then continue from step 4.

So do we eat it or rip out our pubic hair with it? I know I know... the decisions difficult, but we can agree that the bikini wax has less calories.

Please leave your results in the comments section. I would love to hear how this worked out for you. Also I have included a great you tube video that shows it being used so you can understand the technique.

Enjoy!

Don't Worry About Chopping Your Arm Off......We'll Just Grow It BackI

Man I am pissed. The Armed Forces Institute For Regenerative Medicine has stolen my idea.

I wish.

Their latest gizmo? A revolutionary "skin gun" that literally sprays stem cells into wounds on the battlefield. The purpose is to heal and regenerate the skin... drum roll ......in a matter of hours.

A mere $250 million dollars has been invested in projects like this, projects that could eventually end up as the latest great skin care gadget.

Finally the Starfish studies have paid off.

Zero Percent Crap

I don't really understand the mathematics of it, but I will say, I'm wildly impressed by 100 Percent Pure.

Talk about innovative, the owner (Susie Wang) has created this skincare almost entirely from fruits and veggies. She has a patent on the development on the pigments which are also plant derived (she won't be having any competition any time soon).

Now you might be wondering what all the hoopla is about, but in THIS industry, these standards just doesn't exist. Just have a look at the ingredients on the site.

If your a purist think about this;

A lip gloss thats 83% vitamin E oil and contains pigment ONLY from fruits and veggies?

Body washes that smells like fresh lime/lemon/nectarine and with no thickeners?

Fragrant body creams with no artificial fragrance? Pardon moi??

*BTW there are almost 18 different fruits/scents to choose from and the the whole line-up is cruelty-free, biodegradable, organic, vegan and vegetarian. Who can top that?

We strongly disagree, if you think you have met their match..let us know in the comments section.

Until then SHOP 100 PERCENT PURE

Why Lucy B Deserves An Emmy For Everything Frangiapani

This stuff is making me me wishful of an Aussie holiday and fast.

After launching the site (seriously not fun) I am in need of many things. To put me back together again I need a diet, some laser and a nice holiday for my efforts. Every time I smell the Frangipani Eau De Parfum and the Frangipani Bronzing Shimmer Oil I get that mini vacation I desperately seek. More relaxing than smoking a joint (not that I am a fan), or getting a massage this stuff will unwind the muscles in your neck. I think we may be on the cusp of world peace here.

I am nominating this as the must have summer fragrance. I must warn you though because I believe it will go out of stock I have become very protective of my bottle. In fact if I die I will not leave this fragrance to anyone. I can and will take it with me.

Effective immediately I am putting in my will that I should like to be sprayed with the stuff pre-funeral.

Somebody’s going to have to pry my perfume bottle from my cold, dead, Frangipani scented corpse.

How To Shower: Boys and Girls

I'll admit at the moment I'm idealess...however I think you'll find this video hilarious.

Let me know what you think in the comments section. :)

Hence You Must Mask Ye Faire Maiden...

How wretched you must look if you don't mask your face at least 3 times weekly, your body once weekly. We have come such a long way and modern concoctions are rather effortless.

Why? Because its how we treat the skin to the stuff it can't absorb. Just because your skin doesn't swallow up clay or seaweed it does not mean we shouldn't use it.

Who speaks such blasphemy?

In Shakespearean and Renaissance plays and readings, the frequent reference to "fair" actually means "distinctly shining". Egg glaze and poppy oil were just some of the things used to treat the skin and insure courtship.

Women also used to wear protective armor-like mask's around the square. This was done after chemical peels were left on the skin for 7 days. These peels would wound the face for a week or so and the mask served to protect it from the sun and to keep the skin "faire". Upon the 7th day the face would first be steamed with honey. Removal was complete by gently rubbing milk soaked breadcrumbs on the face. It wasn't rare for a woman of 50 to look 25.

Now today's painless masks can do many things like moisturize, brighten, give you that "O glow"... whatever your heart desires.

Or maybe just a little mini detox from your latest hangover?

Gone are the days of quicksilver, lemon and turpentine peels. Wait what?

We Force The Hand Of The Labs To Provide Us With Crap Products

Why oh why do we continue to buy cheap beauty products? Why do we pay $150-$250 a jar for "Creme De La Crap". Does anyone realize that this literally is just perfumed wax and costs less than a dollar a jar? Yeah, yeah PR is great isn't it. It just makes the world go round. You want to look good so you buy whats hot.

I get it.

We continue to force hand of the labs to provide us with crap products. We buy the seemingly cheap stuff at the drug store. It may seem cheap but it does nothing so you essentially waste your money. You go back out on the hunt for the product that will save your face. You wake up every morning looking like a crackle painting because these mental giants barely have any decent moisturizers on the market.

They have "The Kavorka" (Lathian Orthodox for Mojo) though don't they?

Lets think about this for as moment. Instead of buying stuff to give us instant gratification, to instantly smooth out our skin, buy the stuff that works.

Do the research, its not hard.

How? www.EWG.org check out the SKIN DEEP database. Amazing huh?

Have We Run Out Of Innovative Skincare?

If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.
-Andy McIntyre and Derek Bok

Sometimes its easy to spot false advertising claims. Sometimes not so much. Remember the only innovation lies in the advertising not the skincare.

Instant face lift cream! Erase those lines in minutes! C'mon!

The newest more clever claim is the "All Natural" approach. Some companies throw the natural word around knowing natural sells. They even design their packaging with earthy colors to trick your mind. These companies rely solely on marketing statistics. They know most people don't buy something based on ingredients. Most people don't understand what they do. I am here to teach you that reading ingredients is the only way to know the truth. Have you met my friend Google? Do the research yourself.

They Have PRopaganda: Expensive products have better ingredients.

I Have Truthful Tourette’s: The price of the product depends on the company making it. You can pay top dollar for the same chemicals that comprise a cheap product. Fancy marketing, good PR and huge AD budgets are what you pay for. Most popular skincare lines spend over 90% of their budget on this. The rest is spent on the actual development of the product.

Sometimes its only 3%.

After talking to a chemist I discovered some things. Chemists say that their clients come in looking for the same thing all the time. The concerns are how a product looks, how it feels after application, its fragrance and that its as cheap as possible. After all we force the hand of the labs to provide up with crap products by buying this garbage at the drugstore. In response to this, labs use inexpensive fillers and preservatives that are made in bulk. This stuff is cheap and chock full of harmful toxic chemicals.

These same chemicals are sometimes used to clean grease off garage floors. Some are also found in household cleaners.

Shocked?

The truth will set you free. But first, it will piss you off. -Gloria Steinem