When Beauty Causes Heartache

September 16, 2016 by blogadmin Posted in Beauty Tagged heartache, heartbroken, love, love affair

There’s always a point in a woman’s life (or a man’s life) when beauty interferes and smashes her (or his) love life. I can relate to that as I just came from a recent breakup. It was pretty hard competing to win the love of your life, but sometimes it is admittedly hard to succeed, not because you are ugly or weak enough to lose the battle.

That is life, and you will just have to admit that it could be a blessing in disguise knowing how untrue your relationship was – and it’s the perfect time to free yourself, move forward and start all over again.

Some love affairs we’ve known in the history and in the movies would not miss telling about the mesmerizing beauty of the female character. Sadly, most of which started in beauty and ended in tragedy. Let us take a look at some of the famous love affairs that brought pain:

#1 Antony and Cleopatra

Cleopatra was the queen of Egypt and the mistress of Julius Caesar. After Caesar’s assassination, Marc Antony who was at that time one of the rulers of the Roman Empire under the alliance of Gaius Octavian who happened to be Julius Caesar’s grandnephew. Marc Antony, after marrying Octavian’s sister, could not resist being captivated by the beauty and intelligence of Cleopatra. The two fell in love. Octavian was furious and blamed Cleopatra until he declared war, it was the Battle of Actium in western Greece in 31 BCE. The two lovers had to surrender. The affair went tragic when Antony received a false news that Cleopatra was dead. Antony stabbed himself by a sword to death and died in Cleopatra’s arms when his men brought him to where she was hiding. Cleopatra was sent to jail, and from there she managed to bring a poisonous snake with her and had herself died from snake’s fatal strike upon her chest.

#2 Napoleon and Josephine

Force no one to love you

Napoleon Bonaparte was a ruthless and ambitious French soldier. He was captivated by the beauty of Josephine who was a Paris socialite. Napoleon, after so many attempts, won the heart of Josephine and they got married in 1796. Josephine continued her adulterous affairs with men even after the marriage and when Napoleon found out about this, he demanded a divorce but also relented after Josephine asked for forgiveness. The two went on living together but it had stopped when Napoleon knew that Josephine was not able to conceive a child. Napoleon desperately wanted a son to carry his royal lineage after being crowned emperor of France in 1804. Napoleon was still in love with Josephine and he could not live without her. He was soon after exiled to the island of Elba, and while he was there writing letters to Josephine, the latter died from a broken heart.

#3 Samson and Delilah

It is just one of the greatest stories in the Bible which proves that women can be the weakness of great men. Samson was born with extraordinary powers. He had used this to destroy thousands of people who were against his will. But his power got destroyed when a woman named Delilah lured him and cut his hair. His hair was his source of unbelievable strength. The story went on with lots of tragic and sinful acts. But Samson fell in love with Delilah with her beauty and charm. It had also started his downfall which has undoubtedly caused him remarkable heartache.

Beauty isn’t a Curse

The list could go on forever, excluding stories from my friends who also got over a heartache because of beauty. I am not saying that beauty is a curse. I also do not mean that those who experience heartache in any way do not possess beauty at all. The power of beauty, if misused, can lead to a tragedy including ruining a happy family, reputation and world peace.

Let go of the things you should not have.

People who are beautiful are always on the spotlight, whether in the movies or in a simple community. Fame is just always there. If fame brings unnecessary changes in the way you think of other people, you become selfish. You become greedy and as beauty becomes an advantage to you to get whatever you want, you tend to misuse it, only thinking about yourself…to the point that you are not even aware that what you are doing is wrong. You listen to no one, you only see yourself and your beauty. Then you bring heartaches to people around you, to the people who may have loved you the most even without beauty. This could be the worst scenario you don’t want yourself to get into.

The True Definition of Beauty

August 31, 2016 by blogadmin Posted in Beauty Tagged beauty standards, golden ratio, perfect face

I have stumbled upon so many articles discussing specific details about the perfect face. It enumerates the ideal proportion of a woman’s face, most of which shows a celebrity’s face as a sample. I’m sure there is a version of men’s as well. But you know how I felt when I saw those? I was like questioning how on earth someone had managed to discover the right proportion, or know what a perfect beauty is? I knew for a fact that I myself won’t perfectly meet all the specific definitions, and I didn’t mind…well with the way I reacted I’m pretty sure I did.

Marilyn Monroe

In today’s era, there are even apps that would tell you what lacks in your beauty after you submit a photo, so there are really defined standards. The perfect face and the perfect body meant Cleopatra, Marilyn Monroe, Farrah Fawcett and Halle Berry, but the definition kept on changing for every generation. It only means one thing, beauty is mostly defined by the mass media, by the people who see them on screen and off screen. And beauty won’t stay on fixed pointers, thus the guidelines and definition of beauty should also change from time to time…or perhaps just do not mind defining the proportions (or the so-called “golden ratio”) to avoid confusion and stereotyping.

But Science and a number of studies have concluded the right beauty measurement:

That the distance between eyes and mouth should be 36% or over a third or of the overall face length from hair line to chin. And that the space between pupils should be 46% or just under half of the width of face measured from ear to ear.

As per the specific definitions, coming from a chart which was used as a guide for makeup artists since 1933, the perfect face should have these features:

Length of the face should be equal to the length of 3 noses
Width in between the eyes should match the width of an eye
Same width for upper and lower lips
Symmetrical eyebrows conforming the line of the nose
Lower and upper eyelid’s space in between should have the amount of space between upper eyelid and eyebrow
Eyebrow begins on the same line as the corner of the eye nearest to the nose
Width of the face across cheeks should be equal to the two lengths of the nose

I’m sure you are now tempted to check your face on the mirror. You may do so. If it matches to the standards of beauty, you are lucky enough to tell the world that you are scientifically beautiful, otherwise you need not to worry a bit. Beauty industry in terms of skin and hair care can definitely help in finding that golden proportion on your face. The world has also defined beauty in a lot of ways that only a person’s viewpoint can only tell how beautiful you are. Some men would even tell you are beautiful by just seeing one good feature on your face, let’s say you have the nicest eyes. As for the lips, we all know how Angelina Jolie has changed how we see thicker lips. This feature has now influenced a woman’s sex appeal. Angeline Jolie, on the other hand did not make it to prove that her face has the golden ratio according the study led by University of Toronto. Would anyone dare tell me she’s ugly? I bet no one.

The true definition of beauty lies in the eyes and perception of the people looking at you. We are all oriented differently, what pleases me does not look good to you. But beauty can be seen if you resemble something that gives light and makes people happy. It still depends on the way we handle ourselves, in the level of confidence we have when we talk, think, move and make other people smile.

Something that gives “light” and makes people happy

The Borderline Between Health and Cosmetic Beauty: It’s still a Choice

August 15, 2016 by blogadmin Posted in Beauty, Health, Life Tagged BDD, beauy industry, cosmetic beauty, plastic surgery

Gone are the days when cosmetic beauty or cosmetic plastic surgery was part of a household debate. The world has seen it now as if it is just a matter of consulting a doctor for a regular headache. Before people were divided on the subject of natural beauty and that cosmetic surgery is a “sin” in terms of changing what has been believably given by God. Well I am not here to negate either side of the issue. Let us tackle what statistics say and how people nowadays react and respond to cosmetic beauty.

The Definition of Cosmetic Beauty

Cosmetic beauty refers to enhancement, restoration or improvement of one’s physical beauty. It is either done through the use of “cosmetics”, also known as make-up, which are substances or products used to enhance the appearance or fragrance of the body, or cosmetic surgery which involves a deeper enhancement or procedure where the body undergoes a certain surgery or operation.

Beauty Industry on the Rise

The beauty industry in the US has generated $56.2 billion in 2015 where hair care has contributed the most while skin care placed second and has also been growing fast. The growth is being driven in part by a generally increasing awareness of the importance of skin care but also specifically due to increase in the market for men. [Source: Beauty Industry Analysis 2016 – Cost & Trends, www.franchisehelp.com/industry-reports/beauty-industry-report/]

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) has also seen continuous growth in cosmetic procedures over the years. Lifts have remarkably dominated the stats from 2000 till 2015: breast lifts is up by 89%, buttock lifts by 252%, lower body lifts at 3,973% and upper arm lifts at 4,959%. This clearly shows the increasing interests among women and even men to undergo body enhancements. Apart from these said procedures, the top 5 cosmetic surgeries performed in 2015 are breast augmentation, liposuction, nose reshaping, eyelid surgery and tummy tuck. There are numerous surgery types being discussed in the data but it was shockingly true to find out that men shared 40% of aesthetic breast reduction surgeries (Gynecomastia) too. [Source: New Statistics Reflect the Changing Face of Plastic Surgery, www.plasticsurgery.org/news/press-releases/new-statistics-reflect-the-changing-face-of-plastic-surgery]

The ASPS President Dr. David Song, MD, MBA, FACS has quoted that they are seeing more men undergo procedures that tighten and tone their problem areas (like breasts) since plastic surgical operations become common and accepted in them.

The Negative Facts

True enough, cosmetic plastic surgery made waves in the Hollywood and now almost anyone who can save a buck can easily get a body part done. However, there are also some horror stories around these procedures. And taking into account some of the famous failed surgical procedures, most of them are celebrities who were afraid of getting old with their looks, not to mention some who just wanted to enhance what they thought was hideous (which I personally found ok anyway). There have been cases as well, wherein a husband tried to sue (and won the case) his wife for having ugly children despite his and his wife’s good looks. This case resembles establishing honesty with your surgery since your old looks will still stay in your DNA even after numerous attempts to kill your old self. That’s a sad fact you cannot run away from.

Science has also defined a psychiatric disorder called Body Dysmorphic Disorder or BDD, which is characterized by a person’s intense preoccupation with an imagined defect in appearance. This disorder is afflicted with significant distress and/or functional impairment, as recounted by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. BDD is prevalent to those who seek cosmetic surgery.

Can you Compensate Health (or Life) for Beauty?

Physical, mental and even spiritual health are at stake when getting a cosmetic surgery procedure. If in case a certain surgery fails, your body system might be affected and a failure gives a lot of mental stress and lifetime worries. These people really care about how they look, and if something goes wrong along the way especially if the procedure ruins their intended looks and makes it even worst, this means a total disgrace. This case has actually led a lot of people to attempt suicide, and sadly a lot of them succeeded too.

The popularity of cosmetic surgery is perhaps stimulated by the impressive physical rejuvenation shown by media figures or TV shows. Let us face it, the multi-billion industry has always been leaving us in awe whenever we see how pleasing these stars appear on TV and in the movies. We also see how their face, body, skin and hair style change and sometimes we tend to ask our hairdresser to mimic our favorite star’s hairstyle just to follow the trend. This influence is also changing the way we think and decide for ourselves, sometimes without us noticing it. This is how beauty is known these days. In the old days, thicker lips and bigger butts looked awful but they seem iconic these days and women would die to have one.

Seeing beauty before our eyes is always fascinating. When there is beauty, everything seems light. We all have the freedom to do whatever we decide on doing and for as long as we can avail the costly operation that we may think will save us from being called ugly, then we are free to do so. Let us just all remember that every decision we make has pros and cons, it might be different to each and every one of us who wants beauty, but the thought process is always the same. If this would add a meaning to your life as you constantly hate what you have now, then might as well try it, it will save you from agonizing about your ugliness all the time. But if you still believe that beauty still lies in the eyes of the beholder, then go on and continue finding happiness outside beauty. It is still your choice anyway.