>The Beauty Blog – Eyes

Posted by Jessica Jewett 3 Comments »

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The eyes are the windows to the soul. What better feature on your face to highlight than the place that expresses the most depth of thought and emotion? The biggest mistake I see women making with their makeup is being far too heavy with both their eyes and their lips, making a person overwhelmed when they look at her. The most basic rule of makeup is that you need to decide which is your best feature – your eyes or your lips – and highlight the favorite feature and go light on the other feature. Of your lips are not so crazy, then your eyes will stand out more.

Aside from makeup, your eyes need proper care in order to look their best without having to use so much product. Moisturize the area around your eyes for age prevention. Find a good oil-free anti-aging cream made for your eyes to help control wrinkles and prevent more wrinkles from forming. I usually use Oil of Olay for anti-aging creams, as I discussed in my previous blog. Always remember that you are never too young to start an anti-aging skincare regimen and it especially applies to the eyes because that is where you get wrinkles first most of the time. Lay off the grease, sugar and fat. Eat natural, fresh foods, and drink as much water as you can. Sleeping is the best way to keep your eyes looking young and fresh.

e.l.f. Essential Eyelid Primer, $1.00

Preps your eyelid for smoother, longer-lasting and crease-proof eyeshadow. The ultra sheer nude color works to increase eye color longevity. The lightweight liquid formula quickly absorbs into the skin for comfortable wear.

The most overlooked aspect of applying eye makeup is the fact that it’s very important to put on a primer first. It acts as a buffer between the oils in your skin and the pigments you put on your eyes. A good primer will make the pigments brighter and prevent your eyeshadows from sliding, fading or cracking as the day passes. It’s no different than preparing a canvas or a wall before you paint it. This particular primer is my everyday primer because it’s only a dollar and I don’t have to worry about conserving it. Dab some on your eyelid and spread it from your lash line to your eyebrow with your finger. Let it set for a minute before you begin putting anything else on your eyes. This one is pretty good considering it’s only a dollar. It looks very pink in the bottle but it dries smooth with your skin color.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion Tube, $19.00

An eye shadow primer that preps, brightens, and provides all-day wear. Packaged in a new squeeze tube with a precise needle nose, these bestselling primer potions glide effortlessly onto the skin providing the ultimate eye prep for smoother, more vibrant shadow and all-day, creaseless wear. The original, award-winning formula disappears completely when applied—ideal for the purist who wants a straightforward primer. Eden, Greed, and Sin work triple-duty as primers, highlighters, or eye shadows. If you want to avoid shimmer, Eden provides a matte, nude wash of color. Greed and Sin both feature a sensual shimmer that makes eyes pop. Formulated in an array of textures, the shades in this line truly offer something for everyone.

Since this one costs more money, I use it less often, more for special occasions. It works very well though and it comes in several varieties to help you achieve a light, matte, shimmer or natural look. If you have an odd skin color or you like to wear more eye makeup than other people, this is more of a heavy duty primer that will work better for you than the e.l.f. primer shown earlier in this blog.

Sedona Lace 88 Ultra Shimmer Eyeshadow Palette, $19.95

Long lasting with high quality ingredients suited for professional makeup artists. Includes mirror and two sponge applicators.

I love, love, love Sedona Lace makeup palettes! There are several different kinds ranging from shimmer to matte to warm to cool to neutrals. I got this 88 color shimmer palette first but they are palettes with almost 200 colors in them and they are built like color books. I find these pigments to be stronger, smoother and longer lasting than anything I have picked out at the drugstore. Be careful with the mirror though. I took it on a cruise and the mirror shattered in my luggage and we had to take a hammer to it to get the pieces out. You will need to buy brushes as well. I prefer not to use the little sponge applicators that come with these color palettes because they are short and the pigments work better with brushes. The basic looks I do begin with a light color from the lashes to eyebrow, followed by a darker crease color, and finally a highlighter under my eyebrow.

MAC Eye Shadow, $14.50

Highly-pigmented powder. Applies evenly, blends well.

I love MAC even though their products are a bit pricey. I find these pigments to be longer lasting and stronger than other pigments and the color selection is great. They feel a bit heavier to me than other things I have used in the past, so if you don’t like to feel your makeup, you might want to use this sparingly or use it just slightly on top of lighter feeling products. They are worth the money though and you can build your own custom palettes in the online MAC store. That way you will use everything you buy instead of buying a pre-made palette just for one or two shades and everything else goes to waste. These are especially good if you’re looking for a bright, expressive face.

Bare Escentuals bareMinerals Glimmer Eyecolor, $13.00

Eyecolors in a variety of brilliant shades and versatile textures. These eyecolors provide a variety of coverage options, from opaque all-over lid color and crease contouring to shimmering, translucent shades that add subtle or dramatic highlights. Use them wet or dry and mixed together with other bareMinerals products to customize colors as you desire. Their consistency makes them incredibly easy to apply and blend.

I’m a big fan of every product Bare Escentuals makes but I especially like the glimmery eyeshadow pots. I would not use these for daytime looks though unless you’re more adventurous with makeup and you can pull it off. I usually put matte colors on and then a complimentary glimmer shade on top of it for a night out. The glimmer is a little bit glittery but subtle too. I suggest you put these on with a damp brush because it makes them stick better and the pigment stronger.

Make Up For Ever Glitters, $13.00

A catwalk just wouldn’t be a catwalk without glitters. These lightweight, fine particles of bright light add glamour to any type of makeup – on the face or body. A little bit goes a long way. Just pat on the skin with a wet brush for a long-lasting effect. Dany’s Tip: “Sprinkle onto lip gloss in the evening to emphasize lip volume. To make glitter adhere to the body or hair, first spray these areas with water, then place a small amount glitter in the palm of your hand and gently blow onto the dampened areas.”

If you’re looking for serious blinging glitter, this is the eye pigment for you. I definitely advise against using this much glitter during the daytime because you will look overly done, but this is a fun way to dress up at night or for a party. There are several colors of glitter to choose from and I suggest that you wear a solid color without much embellishment because glittery eyes should really be used as an accessory. Don’t overdo your whole look.

MAC Eye Kohl, $14.50

A soft-on pencil liner that lines, defines and shades the eyes with rich colour and a silky-smooth, matte/pearl finish. Ophthalmologist tested.

My general rule of thumb is that I use eyeliner pencils in the daytime and liquid eyeliners at night because pencils tend to be more subtle. I like this pencil because it goes on very smooth and I don’t have to rub it in and aggravate my skin in order to see any color. Eyeliners of every kind will bleed up your skin if you are naturally oily, so my suggestion is to be sure that you have enough eyelid primer on and start off light with the eyeliner. It’s easier to add more pigment as you go than it is to try and remove it if you accidentally put on too much. If you don’t have a steady hand, use short strokes and connect the short lines across your lid. You can blend it with a brush later if your line isn’t straight enough.

e.l.f. Essential Waterproof Eyeliner Pen, $1.00

Get no smudge with no-budge eyeliner, which creates a fabulous and fresh look of precision that lasts for hours. The smooth pen applicator easily glides on color for very fine to bold lines for effortless beauty.

Most people are very intimidated by liquid eyeliner because it has to be painted on from a bottle like nail polish. One slip of the brush and you have to start over again. I personally prefer eyeliner pens like this one from e.l.f. because they are easy to control while still giving you the strong liquid liner look. Use short strokes and angle the pen to give you the thick or thin line that you want. Be careful of the color bleeding up into your eyelid if you have oily skin – just be sure there is enough primer. This pen comes in several colors. I have used black and brown but I find the brown too much like copper, so I stick to my brown pencil if I want that color. Don’t be afraid to try new things with eyeliner.

Tarte EmphasEYES™ Inner Rim Brightener, $18.00

A brightening eyeliner for the inner rim of the eye. This multitasking pencil liner gently glides along the lower inner rim and inner corner of eyes for a wide-awake effect. It can also be used to highlight the brow bone to give brows added shape and definition.

I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to have a highlighter like this one because it really opens your eyes, especially in photographs. What you do it pat dry your lower eye and roll this pencil along the waterline. It may feel weird at first but it really makes you look more awake. Then you outline the inner corner of your eye and blend it into the beginning of your eyeliner for a fluid look. Although this product is specifically made for your waterline, you can achieve the same look on a budget by buying a white or soft peach eyeliner pencil from the drugstore. It just takes a little more effort.

Covergirl Lash Blast Volume Waterproof Mascara, $8.99

The biggest brush ever from CoverGirl, for a blast of lush, volumized lashes. Lashblast’s volume-boosting formula and brush are designed to max out each and every lash leaving you with the ultimate big lash look.

I’m not an expert on mascara but this one has been my favorite for a while. I do have to make several passes over my eyelashes but that’s because I like my mascara and eyeliner to be heavy. Black mascara and eyeliner brings out blue eyes but be careful of looking too harsh with black if your hair is blonde or red. You may want to go with a dark brown or medium brown if you are lighter complected. It’s also very important to keep your brush clean or you will find that clumping becomes more frequent. I just wash mine out from time to time with soap and water. The brush on this particular mascara does great with combing through my lashes and I don’t have a problem with tarantula eyes.

Tomorrow we will be talking about lips.

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>The Beauty Blog – Face

Posted by Jessica Jewett 1 Comment »

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The most important thing in maintaining your beauty and youth is taking proper care of your skin. It’s not just about using the right products. Proper skin care starts when you are still young enough to think you don’t need to do anything for it. This is the biggest mistake people make regarding their skin – waiting until they start to age before they try to do anything about it. The majority of women with great skin started maintaining it when they were young. I was guilty of waiting until I started to age to start taking better care of my skin and I’m never going to catch up. I can, however, teach you the tricks that I have learned along the way.

The most important thing I can teach you is to start drinking water like it’s going out of style. Soda is my biggest weakness and I have paid for it because my skin has never been as good as it could have been but I’ve been working on changing my habits this year. Fill up a water bottle (stop using the water bottles that get thrown away because you’re killing the environment) and carry it with you throughout your day. When you crave sugary drinks, think of the pimples and wrinkles bound to spring up and you’ll go back to your water bottle. Also, stop tanning. Just stop. Whether you are in the tanning bed or out in the sun, you are destroying your skin and you are going to age a lot faster, not to mention oh so sexy skin cancer. Your skin color is not a deal breaker, meaning a man is not going to choose you because you’re tan, and if it is a deal breaker, then you don’t need a man willing to put your health at risk for beauty. If you need color, use a spray-on product or a bronzer. Then, an overlooked aspect of skin care is sleep. If you’re not sleeping enough, you’re going to look tired and old throughout your day and you’ll have to basically plaster your face in makeup to look awake. Lastly, maintain a skin regimen. Scrub, exfoliate, moisturize, etc., every day. Moisturizing is important even if you have oily skin because it’s not always going to be oily as you get older. Dry skin is tired skin.

Here are some of the skin products that I use regularly.

Avon Clearskin® Professional Acne Treatment System, $32.00

Step 1: Cleanse Deep Pore Cleansing Scrub contains our exclusive Oil Control System. Exfoliates pores; leaves skin feeling cool, clean and healthier-looking. 4.2 fl. oz. Step 2: Tone Clarifying Toner Pads specially formulated to help retexturize, calm and soothe; skin looks and feels smoother after just one use. 45 pads. Step 3: Treat Daily Correcting Lotion multi-tasking treatment lotion visibly minimizes pores and controls surface oil. Proven to even skin tone. 2 fl. oz.

I have always had terrible skin as far as breakouts go, especially around that time of the month. For a long time, I used the Proactiv line of treatment products but I found their toner to be too harsh and their lotion to be too oily. The toner made my skin peel like a reptile and the oily lotion just made me break out again. Clearskin from Avon is based on the Proactiv system but it’s gentler. You won’t see results right away like Proactiv gives instant gratification but one day you’ll look in the mirror and realize your skin has been clear for a while. I also noticed that Proactiv eventually stopped working but Clearskin still works on a consistent level. It’s gentler, lasts longer and it’s less expensive. I do this daily. I do it twice a day around that time of the month.

Oil of Olay Total Effects Daily Moisturizer, $19.99

Total Effects Daily Moisturizer provides the total anti aging power of hydration fused with vitamins and antioxidants for visibly younger-looking skin that looks more resilient to aging. Total Effects fights 7 signs of aging (fine lines and wrinkles, rough texture, uneven skin tone, dullness, prominent pores, age spots and dryness) by: • Minimizing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles • Moisturizing to soothe and nourish dry skin • Balancing color and tone while reducing the appearance of age spots • Smoothing skin’s texture with gentle exfoliation • Refining to minimize pore appearance • Protecting skin’s surface with antioxidants • Firming skin’s appearance with hydration. Oil-Free. Fast-Absorbing. Dermatologically tested. Non-Comedogenic (Won’t Clog Pores).

It’s important when you’re shopping for a daily anti-aging moisturizer that you look for things that are oil-free and non-comedogenic. It needs to be light but perform its job. You don’t want something that is going to cause you to look heavy or make you break out. Don’t undo the cleansing and toning products you used before you put on your moisturizer. I also wait about an hour after cleansing and toning before I put on my anti-aging moisturizer or makeup. The act of cleansing and toning aggravates your skin and it needs time to be in the open air and settle before you do anything else to it.

Avon Ideal Shade Cream-to-Powder Foundation SPF 15, $10.00

Formulated with PreciseLight Technology. Foundation, concealer and powder in one! Mattifies oily, breakout-prone skin. Flawless medium-to-full coverage with a natural matte powder finish. “Preciselight technology” has innovative light-adjusting pigments, making your skin look natural wherever you are. Also available in shades for foundation in deeper skin tones: Rich Expresso, Dark Cocoa, Sable and Caramel.

When I’m ready to put on makeup after I’ve done all my cleansing, toning and moisturizing, I start with this one. It really is as it describes – foundation, concealer and powder in one. It’s got the texture of a creamy powder. If you’re not careful, it can get cakey, so I suggest you start with a light coat and add to your problem areas as necessary. For me personally, it does not even out my skin color well enough so I have to add the Perfekt Skin Gel (see below) on top of it. If you are mixed race like me and have a blotchy skin color like me, you might need another concealer in addition to this product.

Perfekt Skin Perfection Gel, $57.50

A multitasking all-in-one vitamin enriched, sweat-resistant and water-resistant skin perfector. Glides on effortlessly to instantly improve skin tone, reduce redness, and help minimize the appearance of enlarged pores and fine lines. Enriched with powerful antioxidants including the universal antioxidant alpha lipoic acid, and vitamins A and E to help repair, protect, and fight future environmental skin damage, this lightweight gel helps maintain hydration leaving the skin with a healthy, even glow by locking in moisture and absorbing excess skin oils. And the best part? You can take this handy size with you anywhere. Oil Free. Fragrance-free. Paraben-free.

If I tell anyone to spend money on one product, it’s this one. I always have problems with my skin color being weird and uneven because I’m mixed race, and I have problems with makeup rubbing off because I rub my face on things a lot. This is the only product I have ever tried that stays put even if you sweat or get wet and it is the only product that evens out my color. If I’m going for a basic look, I just use this and skip the Avon compact above, but if I’m going for serious nighttime wear, I put on the Avon and then Perfekt on top of it. It’s magic. Yes, it is expensive but it’s worth it. There is also eye concealer and cheek color in this line of products. I’ve only seen it at Sephora. Drop everything and run out to Sephora right now!

Avon Ideal Shade Concealer Stick, $6.00

Formulated with PreciseLight Technology. The perfect cover-up. Seamless, skin-true, full coverage. Visibly conceal undereye circles & blemishes. Eyes look tired? Gently pat concealer along undereye circles from inside out, then blend. Now you’re out-the-door ready with spot-on confidence.

This is a very handy little tool that you can carry with you should you need any last-minute touch ups. It’s the size of a thin lipstick and rolls out just the same way, which makes it easy to use. It goes on smooth and it will last a long time because you won’t need to keep rubbing it on like some concealers. I use it mainly under my eyes because I’m an insomniac, so I have bags and circles under my eyes a lot. Most of the time, people can’t see how tired I usually am because of this handy little concealer stick. It also matches my skin color very well. Once I swipe it under my eyes and blend it in, you can’t tell I used anything to brighten up my tired eyes.

Tomorrow we are going to talk in detail about products for your eyes.

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The Charge At Fort Hell: A wife’s point of view

Posted by Jessica Jewett No Comments »
Fanny Chamberlain in the Civil War.

In my last blog, I posted Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain’s account of how he was shot and almost died while leading his men on foot outside of Petersburg, Virginia. It’s important that you read his own words about what he endured before you read my own words about what I endured. I was his wife in my previous life at that time. That’s me in the picture on the left. I’m not here today to provide proof of reincarnation or who I was back then, so you might as well skip this blog if you’re just here looking for credibility or to discredit me. Frankly, I don’t care who believes and who doesn’t believe. It doesn’t change the truth. Some things are true whether you believe in them or not. I’m here to talk about that terrible summer in 1864 and what I went through and how it still affects me today.

It took most of my present life to get into a peaceful place where I could actually talk about the things I witnessed back then. I started having nightmares and flashbacks about it when I was a small child before I even knew who these people were, where these places were, or even being in a developed position to understand wars, combat and bloody wounds. There were several times as a little girl in which I woke up sobbing and terrified but I didn’t have the words at that young age to explain what I was seeing in my nightmares. I was also ashamed and couldn’t talk about it even after I figured out I was having Civil War nightmares. I talk about all of this in greater detail in my book, Unveiled: Fanny Chamberlain Reincarnated.

The initial nightmare was of being inside an army tent and watching as a handful of men performed a horrifyingly painful procedure on a man lying on a cot. When we remember things we saw as children, everything seems a lot more exaggerated than it really was, and I remember my initial nightmares being ridiculously bloody and the men being sadistic and torturous. The reality was one of them was a doctor and they were probably putting a metal catheter in him (Lawrence), which was supposed to allow his bladder to empty while the wounds were healing, but I still don’t know exactly what I saw because I couldn’t see everything.

19th c. diagram of inserting a catheter.

Catheterizing people was new and experimental in the Civil War. Lawrence’s wound trajectory passed through his pelvis in such a way that the bullet damaged his bladder and urethra, so not only was he bleeding from the entrance wound at his hip but urine was leaking from his bladder through the entrance wound as well. When he was transported to Annapolis for medical care, Dr. Vanderkieft was the head surgeon there who basically thought – well, he’s going to die anyway, so why not experiment with this new catheter system. There was no such thing as plastic in the Civil War, which meant that the catheter was metal, and inserted through the penis to the bladder. Deposits from chemicals in the urine attached to the catheter and eventually blocked the flow after three or four days and the painful process of pulling out old catheters and inserting new catheters for weeks and weeks on end created a fistula. A fistula is a hole in tissue, usually near genitalia, that does not heal and causes incontinence, infection and so forth. He went through a few surgeries long after the war to try and close the fistula but the damage was done. I’m certain the catheter experiments did more damage to his body than the actual gunshot did. He was no longer able to father children, he suffered from periodic incontinence, almost constant pain, various infections, illnesses, swelling, etc., for the next fifty years until his death of urisepsis. Certainly Lawrence would have suffered because of his wounds regardless of how they healed but the areas that Dr. Vanderkieft didn’t mess with much healed naturally and were much less of a problem in his elderly years than the areas on which were experimented.

See what I did? I got uncomfortable with talking about it in personal terms and jumped right into historical facts about the situation rather than get into my feelings. It’s a coping mechanism. I think I get so into historical research as a direct result of my trauma – because I’m somehow trying to understand why it happened at all. It has been easier my entire life to approach it as a historian and spit out cold facts at people rather than risk exposing my own wounds. These things don’t just go away when we die. Trauma takes multiple lifetimes to heal and there were only 77 years between my death as Fanny and my rebirth as Jessica. In spiritual terms, that’s a blink of an eye. It’s all still quite fresh and raw to me even though I have made great strides in making peace with what happened. I was not shot in combat but he was such the love of my life that witnessing his suffering was like going through it myself. Not only did I care for him for months in the hospital but I saw other men cut to pieces, dying, suffering and enduring their own wounds. I cared for some of them too. I was also pregnant at the time.

Of course I don’t recall everything about the summer of 1864. Nobody can remember everything about past lives. People who claim to know everything about their past lives are likely embellishing or not telling the truth at all because past life memories are typically spontaneous, uncontrollable, brief and sporadic. In my case, I had flashbacks to the Annapolis hospital very early in my life because trauma carries with you stronger than any other emotion. There are just a few scattered memories that repeat themselves periodically in my life like a loop of film going around over and over again. I got a decent grip on it in my early 20s though because it was giving me such anxiety that it was affecting my ability to function in my everyday life. Past life flashbacks can be extremely vivid and stick with you for months or years. If you don’t get control over it, learn what you’re supposed to learn from it, cope with it, and let go of the negativity associated with it, you will get stuck in the past and fail at your present life. I have seen people get so stuck because they can’t control it that they fall into serious depression and some have become suicidal. I know one woman who attempted suicide three times because she couldn’t release the trauma of her last life. Luckily, she found a therapist who understands past life trauma and she is much better now.

Woman taking care of wounded Civil War soldiers.

The reason why this war and my husband getting shot was so traumatic for me was because I was told he was going to die from the moment news got to me. I was just beginning to realize that I was pregnant when it happened and I had two other small children at home. When a woman is told her husband is going to die, there is almost no time for shock or grief. As a mother, I had to frame my mind around this loss and figure out what to do with my life to provide for these children. Lawrence was shot on June 18 and I left Maine for Annapolis by about June 20. Time was off the essence. I was trying to reach him before he died so I could say goodbye to my husband. Instead of him dying within days, we were jerked back and forth between hope and despair for weeks and he went through delirious fevers, agonizing pain, medical experiments, and knowing that he should have been dead. The psychological damage when you watch someone you love suffer like that for weeks upon weeks, waiting at any moment for death to come but never does, is almost impossible for me to describe. I spent three months when I was writing my book trying to describe those feelings but I realized people simply cannot understand if they haven’t been through it.

There are a smattering of flashes, images, emotions, sounds and even smells from that time throughout my life which I have tried to articulate with words before but it never comes out right. Sometimes there were flashes of looking down on the body of a bearded, dirty, feverish man and I used to think they were images of a dead man until I understood it was Lawrence in the worst moments after the gunshot when I first got to him. I used to wonder why he was so dirty until I studied the war better and realized that cleanliness was not the priority when someone was sick or wounded. The hospitals were always short staffed. It would have been up to me to clean him up and make him more comfortable, which I did most certainly. Another time, I have a vague recollection of him being more lucid. It felt like nighttime and I was leaning over him talking quite seriously but what I said escapes me now. He pressed his hand to my cheek and said quietly, “You shall have to be their mother and their father.” It was like being punched in the stomach and having the rug yanked out from under my feet all at the same time. There was a brief time when we both truly thought he was going to die.

He survived by the grace of the divine and was home in time for the baby to be born. She was our last child and I thought he was home for good but he left not long after her birth to rejoin the army. Five months after he was shot and came as close to death as I’ve ever seen anyone get, he couldn’t even mount a horse but he was eager to see the end of the war. I was not very happy with the decision. He developed post-traumatic stress disorder (although the condition was unknown back then) and we struggled for years to hold our marriage together. As much as I study the war now and feel pride for his service to his country, I have a lot of resentment toward the war also. That war and every war before and since then destroys the greatest men of their generations one way or another.

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