Are circle lenses worth all the hype?

January 31, 2015February 2, 2015 ~ Emmie Reve ~ 3 Comments

So this trend has been happening for a long while now. Circle lenses are contact lenses worn with or without a prescription. They usually change the eye colour and iris size, and are mostly used for cosmetic reasons and cosplay. It’s another asian make-up trend that latched on here in North America, and the goal is to make your eyes appear more dolly-like, more cute and more interesting. Wearers and makers of circle lenses claim many things…that they enhance the eyes, play up colour and intensity, and make the eyes look bigger and brighter, more gorgeous. But do they really do all those things? I kind of doubt how enlarging the iris (the coloured ring around the pupil) can make eyes appear larger. More like a doll’s eyes, yes, but nothing can really make the actual eye appear “bigger”, in my humble opinion. I think the enlarging the eyes thing is just marketing talk.

An example of how cute the culture of circle lens packaging is!

I feel the only thing that these over-seas circle lenses can do is change eye colour. The main obstacle when choosing a coloured lens is how to balance a noticeable change while wearing them and not having it look unnatural or fake on the eyes. I can’t wear circle lenses that are big in diameter (determines the iris size), even though they are all the rage. That is because my eyes are small and my eye surface area to lens ratio is too great for wearing large diameter lenses. They actually look too fake on me. This has been a major bummer for me because I have to use 14mm diameter and that is very minimal iris enlargement. I’ve just been basically changing colours of my eyes. I’ve done blue, grey and purple lenses. Recently, I decided to try red lenses! I got them on sale from Pinky Paradise. 1 pair doesn’t cost that much ($20-25) and shipping is reasonable. Just don’t get addicted to these lenses and feel the need to have every colour of the rainbow. That will rack up quite a bill quickly.

This is my natural eye colour, with no lenses.

With redish coloured lenses. Are my eyes more striking? Or are circle lenses useless? — With Venus brand red lenses. Are my eyes more striking? Or are circle lenses useless?

So what do you think? Is the payoff for wearing circle lenses there? or is it just better to be au naturale when it comes to the eyes? We also need to think about how wearing contacts requires proper cleaning, care and storage, because maintaining eye health is a serious thing. I got some unknown eye condition two years ago while using various circle lenses, and it took me months to heal. I practiced good handling methods so til this day, I wonder if it was from frequent use of these lenses. So in the end is it really worth all the hassle just for a subtle change in eye colour? I am still on the fence whether sporting circle lenses are as great as the trend makes them out to be or something I can go without…

The mystery of the “top knot” bun

January 13, 2015January 27, 2015 ~ Emmie Reve ~ Leave a comment

As a child I remember loving the Nancy Drew series…nothing intrigued me more than a good mystery and following it out as the teen-aged sleuth Nancy solved it. The current mystery I have been trying to solve is about why every girl has been sporting a hair style known as the “top knot” these days. So I recently made an effort to make one of these things and two tired arms later, from combing my hair in an upwards direction, I finally understand.

In case you didn’t know, a top knot is a really, really high bun. The kind that is so high, the round “bun” part is actually on the top of your head, and all your hair is pulled upwards along the face. I had to ask myself why it has become so popular, and the go-to style for casual elegance and put-togetherness amongst women everywhere. Because for some reason, a regular lower bun is granny-like, and unglamourous, maybe even too cerebral? But the higher top knot is alluring, fashionable and fun. Why is this great divide happening between where on the head you gather the bun?

After some thought, here is what I think:

~ Top knots are like an instant face lift. Pulling the hair up, and out of your face has a gravity defying character that flatters and lightens up facial features such as the eyes, fore head and cheek temples. It pulls everything up a bit.

~putting a bun at the top the head is dramatic, and adds height to a person. It e-longens the face, making it seem slimmer and more delicate

~Because the bun part is on the top of the head, it doesn’t stick out in the back and doesn’t interfere with the line of the back of the head. It’s smooth all the way down to the neck and swan like.

I gather and comb my hair up into a high pony tail. fasten with an elastic.

coil the hair in a bun shape around the base of the pony tail. Tuck in ends underneath the bun. arms tired yet? Mine were.

The second part of this mystery? Why are top knots so hard to do in hair? I have thick, ultra straight hair that really wants to go down in direction. The idea of making it go up is foreign. My arms always get so tired combing my long hair in an upwards position, to wind into a bun. But a few things really help tame hair so that it will get into place for top knots:

These are french pins. They do not pull or tease hair. They work by weaving through different layers of hair!

-have slightly dirty hair, or hair that has not been washed, using dry shampoo helps. I find the added texture in your hair makes it grip as you are pushing it up.

-use french pins because they work, and do not pinch and pull hair the way bobby pins do. (French pins are awesome and so easy to use. Ask me if anyone needs a tutorial!)

-Forget hair donuts (those spongy, foam donut shaped bun fillers used to make top knots), they are way too unnatural looking and uniform, if you get them to work–not everyone has thick enough hair to cover the hair donuts!

Am I right about why there is all this rage over the top knot? What has been your go to hair style that never lets you down whenever you wear it?

The Holidays are depressing, but don’t go on an eat/drink binge…

December 16, 2014January 11, 2015 ~ Emmie Reve ~ Leave a comment

It’s the holidays at the moment. And consumerist North America would want you to believe this is the best time of the year. A time for sharing and giving, hanging out with loved ones, and just being thankful, for all the stuff we can get! But truthfully, it is a really stressful time of year in most people’s realities. Family get-togethers, the obligation to give gifts and find outfits for parties…and just eat, drink and be merry. But mostly we eat and drink and gain weight. I actually quite despise the holidays. Being forced to deal family relations that are mostly difficult, flawed and painful are on my list this year, and there is no awesome shade of lip gloss, smoking hot colour of eye shadow, or cute mini skirt that can lift my spirits. Christmas music playing everywhere just compounds this feeling of suffocating repetition that is the end of the year. Mostly, I just think about all that I wanted to get done and all that I didn’t. Yes, this time of year always depresses me for all the above said reasons.

The depressing qualities on life in general. Degas paints it in a disconnected way with the clutter of zig-zaging bar tables. The sadness of drink. — The depressing qualities of life in general. Degas paints it in a disconnected way with the clutter of zig-zaging bar tables. The sadness of drinking a glass of absinthe.

But that brings me onto this topic of eating and drinking during the holidays. I like food. I like me the drinks. But I recently found out how the two actually do not go together…drinking (alcohol) actually slows down your body’s ability to break down fat and sugars, raising the risk of it being stored as fat. That means every drink you have actually makes what you eat during that time twice as fattening…simply because it is being ignored, and your body is busy metabolizing the alcohol. So what does this mean in terms of our holiday eating habits? It means we have to be careful when pairing the two.

Wine and beer tend to have more calories because there are still sugars and starches left over from the fermentation process. Which makes straight up spirits the more slimming choice. I like to treat myself to gin and diet tonics just because I know at least I am not adding sugars to my drinking. But also think about how drinking puts a pause button on your metabolism, and makes what you eat before, during and after crucial in terms of picking what and how much to eat. Therefore keep meals and snacks light. And after drinking avoid the urge to gorge on super greasy fattening foods. Just keep drinking tons of water to wash yourself out.

You often see people washing down burgers and fries, wings and nachos with alcoholic drinks, wine and beer and as normal as this would seem, it is probably the easiest way to gain weight. Our culture is about living, and enjoying life. But what is enjoyable about looking in the mirror a few days later and having a double chin, or having your pants feel overly tight? It is not always worth it, if you think about it.

You often see ads about drinking responsibly during the holidays…and this is true. Equally as true is the sentiment that it pays to be responsible to your waist line too. The saying everything in moderation is always one of my favourites to live by (except when it comes to great love, in that case I say live like there is no tomorrow!).

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