"You know, some of these groups are still out here pushing the harmful narrative that "mammograms save lives" even though some of the deadliest cancers might not show up on mammograms? That's ludicrous... No, wait... it's MALARKEY! And the American Medical Association recommendation to start mammograms at age 50 is kind of late, don't you think? Personally, I believe that, in certain populations, it's almost a form of genocide. Women of all ethnic backgrounds are being affected by breast cancer at ages younger than 50, but indigenous Native American and Black women are disproportionately diagnosed at younger ages. I would like to see that AMA age recommendation changed, but that's just my opinion... Would you like some lip balm, sir?" Time was running out, but while I was smoothing pomade into his hair, I just kept on talking.

"Pretty soon you're going to be retired from this job, and you might end up getting super bored, like my dad did when he first retired. So, if you're looking for something fun to do and you want to keep making a difference in the world, you're welcome to come with me on a ride-along. I go to college campuses, office buildings, church basements, community centers, or anywhere else there is a large gathering of women willing to listen to me talk about breast and ovarian cancer risk reduction, early detection, and genetic counseling. How cool would it be if I introduced my special guest, Mister Moonshot Former Vice President Joe Biden, you shout out some inspiration to the crowd, and then just dropped the mic on 'em? If you don't have anything pink to wear, don't worry... I'm very crafty and I will totally bedazzle some matching hoodies for us. Sir, I think you look pretty fabulous. Let's get you in front of the camera."

The Vice President asked me what motivates me to do this stuff, so I quickly told him while I straightened his lapel. He gave me a "proud dad" hug, some strong words of encouragement, and then said, "WOW. You're the real deal... You turned out all right, kid!" 

(VP JB, if you get the chance to read this, my offer is infinite and still stands. The ride-along, the bedazzled hoodies, everything... I meant every word. Breast cancer awareness month may have just ended, but I do this stuff all year long. You and The Mrs Dr JB are welcome to call, text, email, or come rage out with me at any event of your choice.)

 

Working on The Contenders was a dream gig for me. Documentary work is always my favorite because I am constantly learning fascinating facts while on the set. My mom was a political history geek and a DC native, so when I got called for this job, I wasn't going to let untimely medical procedures hinder me from accepting it. The director and producer were both women, and when I made them aware of my situation they were very understanding of my physical limitations. Thankfully they also understood when I totally crossed the line and threw all of my well-taught "setiquette" out the window to stand on my personal soapbox at work! I apologize to all my on-set mentors and makeup teachers who may have cringed while reading this, but they all know that when I'm not at work, I am active with a both a non-profit women's health education group and an organization that works directly with cancer patients. Therefore, I could not be in the room with THIS GUY on this particular day and not speak up. 

 

While filming The Contenders, we heard hundreds of hours of interviews about election history from former candidates for the United States presidency and the people who helped support them. Some of these candidates did not win, but all of their campaigns changed politics and press coverage in ways that still resonate sharply today. 

Watch The Contenders on PBS, On Demand, online at Ozy Media, and don't forget to vote! 

Coming out of winter hibernation means it's time to switch skin care and prep for summer. I start by exfoliating away dry, blotchy winter skin and follow up with skin care designed to moisturize and brighten the dull spots. 
Twice a week, after a gentle brightening scrub, I apply an organic blend of essential oils from Boots Botanics all over my freshly exfoliated face, neck, and décolletage. It absorbs almost immediately, leaving my skin with a finish that is dewy, but not greasy. The light moisture left behind is nourishing and effective at balancing my hormonally-challenged combination/oily skin, but still gentle enough that it does not irritate the post-surgical areas. 

Power Kiss Gloss from Lise Watier feels divine on the lips. It doesn't have much pigment, so it can be a staple of my daily makeup wardrobe whether I am wearing warm or cool colors. The super sheer coral looks natural on ALL skin tones or adds a pop of all-day shine to your favorite lipstick without changing the shade.

I love products that I can multitask with, and I've discovered multiple uses for Senna HD Eye Lift. I used it to set under my eye concealer on "no makeup" days, to highlight brow bones, and to brighten inner corners of my smoky eye. This finely milled pressed powder is a very pale gold that could possibly appear a bit chalky on deeper skin tones than mine. Senna is releasing a darker shade very soon, and I am looking forward to adding them both to my professional kit.

Both Eye Lift and Power Kiss Gloss are fantastic, whether you need finishing touches for a "full face" or you want a quick fix that looks fab, without the fuss.

 

The Honorable Ms Lynch.

My original intention for writing this breast surgery aftercare list was to share with other folks prepping for a mastectomy, but I can imagine that anyone who has had their chest opened up and pectoral muscles moved for any reason at all is going to experience similar challenges in their grooming routine. I had the luxury of planning a double mastectomy for a few years, because of my genetic status. If you know someone who just found out that they need a mastectomy last month, last week, or yesterday, please share this post and the following links with them.

If you think that you may be at high risk for hereditary cancer, Bright Pink has information that may help you in your quest to understand genetic testing and begin early screening. My family is affected by BRCA2 cancers, and my inner circle understands that I have been in a cycle of preventative medical surveillance, surgeries, and recovery for the last ten years. Unfortunately, not everyone has access the same kind of family support system, and people around you who think "it's just a boob job" may be the very same folks that you have to lean on temporarily. Medical acronyms like BSO, HBOC, DIEP FLAP, and PBM are familiar to cancer survivors and previvors, but the rest of the world doesn't know what they mean because they don't have to. Direct your family, friends, or roommates to a web page that describes in medical terms exactly what procedure you are having done, if that's what it takes to get them to understand that you need help. Some of them will be too squeamish to finish reading it, but they need to know that mastectomies are serious surgeries with certain specific aftercare needs. My surgery and recovery was a group effort between my friends and family, and a medical team including a dermatologist, a genetic counselor, a gynecological oncologist, an occupational therapist, and a couple of plastic surgeons. My prophylactic breast surgery was not a "boob job" because the alternative for me is death, not a flat chest. 

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"Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation and that is an act of political warfare."

-Audre Lorde, A Burst Of Light

 

 

Hair by Mary Blomme, for Phillip Michael Studio Bridal. Photography by Mathy Shoots People.

The complete wedding editoral and vendor list is available on CapitolRomance.

• Jumpstart your immune system and brighten your skin from within by eating plenty of citrus fruit, cucumbers, and carrots. I've gotten in the habit of shredding about two cups of carrots every night. The next day they are ready to go, whether it's to blend with fruit and greens for a morning smoothie or to make a quick fuss-free salad to take along with me. Now that I'm experimenting with gluten-free baking, I'm also expanding my knowledge of carrot desserts. (Feel free to send recommendations!) I love to grow cucumbers, and when I have them in the garden they are a mainstay of my summer diet. To make up for that, I'm buying citrus fruits to use as a base for smoothies, salsa, marinades, and sauces. Fresh, canned, or frozen: even in winter, eating a diet rich in brightly colored, antioxidant-rich veggies will increase your chances of having soft and even toned skin. 

• Juice Beauty is a beauty and skin care brand with a strong stance on organic ingredients, and pure fruit juice is one of Mother Nature's greatest exfoliators. The Juice Beauty Green Apple Peel is available in several different strengths. There is one formula for the sensitive skin client and a different one geared towards customers like me, who prefer a little tingle when they exfoliate. Use it twice a week for the best results because it encourages cell turnover, gets rid of dead skin, and it definitely brightened my dull spots. 

• Shea butter is one of my favorite ingredients of all time, and I am a huge fan of the Shea Moisture brand of products. I am always enthusiastic about trying sulfate/fragrance/dye/allergy free brands, but every time this brand puts a new product out, they slay the competition. I just tried the Shea Moisture Olive and Green Tea Body Butter, since I tried the shower gel last year. It's creamy, but not greasy, and SO unbelievably, buttery soft. The light, herbal scent is gender-neutral (Dude approved!), and my skin stayed smooth all day. 

• The Shea Moisture CC Cream looks effortless, feels weightless, and I'm wearing it daily. In my prior BB and CC cream experiences, formulations from other skin care brands ended up fighting on my face. The end result was often the familiar chalky grey sheen negatively associated with the SPF CC creams, tinted moisturizers, and hydrating primers some rival brands are selling to women of color for over forty dollars. This product was under 20 dollars, but the pigment and the SPF work perfectly together. Finally I can protect myself from the sun, hydrate without looking oily, and even my skin tone in one step. (I've added a serum to my evening routine because I am sleeping with a heavier moisturizer at night.) The finish is luminous, but more pearlized than shiny. I'll replace my personal foundation a couple of months from now when I run out of this. 

 

The Inreda DVD rack costs seven dollars in the media storage area of Ikea, so I bought two when I thought that I would use them to organize video games and DVDs. Laid out side by side, the two mats can evenly dry about 100 brushes at one time.

Now that bridal season is in full swing, I'm just about fully booked, and things are going well! However, I have noticed a disturbing uptick in one particular bridal trend that needs to end now: 2014 is the year of The Obsessive Pinterest Bride.
I am a freelancer, and consider every job as an audition for the next. One angry bride with internet access can ruin my whole season, so my ultimate goal is to give each and every one of them an outstanding experience, from first contact to the final follow up. I have been working with brides for a decade, and I have never seen a planning tool that is more confusing and destructive to the creative process. Beautiful women contact me, and say in their initial emails "I don't wear very much makeup, so I'd like to look natural. Do you mind if I send you a link to my Pinterest page?" ...And then they send me a link to 200 photos of women wearing full coverage foundation, highlight and contour, black winged eyeliner, layered lashes, and opaque matte lipstick. Yes, it is beautiful makeup, but it is as far from natural as a makeup artist can get. I would never use that much makeup on a person who is not on stage, period. 

The majority of the Pinterest photos I see were staged on-set by a team of professionals, who need it to look good for only an hour or however long it takes for the photographer to get the shot. The makeup artist and hairstylist are standing just out of the frame, ready to run in and powder a nose or slick down any stray hairs. Many of these looks weren't designed to hold up for hours (after sweat and tears, or an entire wedding/reception/after party), but to be photographed quickly and then changed to another look. Unless you are paying me to follow you down the aisle with my set bag, to stay all day and all night ready to touch up your makeup at any second, chances are I'm going to use a different batch of products than what would be used for a quick photo.

Clients need to remember that some of these women in the pictures are not actual brides on their wedding day, but MODELS working on a bridal shoot. I frequently point this fact out to clients because it is part of a model's job to take care of their skin, whether that means getting regular facials or just having a fantastic home skin care regimen. Please, do not expect that on your wedding day or at your bridal trial your makeup artist is going to swoop in like a magical fairy and give you perfectly flawless skin. If you haven't been doing the prep work by drinking tons of water and using quality skin care products, then my work is only going to be as smooth as the canvas that you have given me to paint on. 

I have never done a bridal or formalwear photoshoot where the hair stylist didn't bring a suitcase full of extra hair. Let me repeat that again: I have NEVER done a bridal or formalwear photoshoot that didn't require the hair stylist to bring a suitcase full of extra hair. However, I have seen engaged women share page after page of Pinterest images with hairstylists and expect to get the exact same extreme multi-tiered voluminous updos. Unless you are showing up to your bridal trial with at least two extra bundles of hair, the hairstylist has to work with what grows out of your head. Some brides realize this, order hair extensions weeks before the wedding, and have them dyed to match. A lot of Pinterest brides see a photo, fall in love with a look that is impossible for the average human to achieve, and have very unrealistic expectations based off that photo. 

These photos have also been professionally retouched. I will admit that sometimes it takes a highly trained eye to know how much a photo has been digitally manipulated "in post" (that's industry talk for adding filters and effects). Here's a clue: when the model or bride in the photo has a face that is blurred completely poreless and devoid of natural moles, freckles, or vellum hairs ("peach fuzz"), that is probably NOT a good inspiration photo to show your wedding day makeup artist. 

It's not just the wedding vendors who are feeling Pinterest pains. Sometimes I feel the most sympathy for my friends who work as tattoo artists. It seems that people don't put much thought into the placement or color choices of their permanent artwork. We work in a visual industry, so I definitely do not want you posting online and telling your friends I did that work on you if it doesn't represent my best quality work! At the end of the day, if one of my customers chooses bad makeup, at least they can wash it off. I can't imagine having to recreate poorly placed, horribly colored, permanent artwork on someone who can then walk around sullying my professional reputation for the rest of my life! ("Dude, check out my bitchin tat! D did it.") 

If a seasoned artist is trying to talk you, the client, out of something, you should definitely listen to their suggestions and their reasons why. It's up to us as visually creative professionals (especially hair stylists, tattoo artists, and makeup artists) to be responsible and explain that might not be the best look for your hair type, skin tone, or face shape. It is up to you, the client, to research the person who is working on you, pick the right professional for the job, and LISTEN during the consultation. I don't arrive for my annual appointment armed with a binder full of photos of random smiling people, and then proceed to tell the dentist how my teeth should look when they are done and what to use to clean them. 

Here are a few tips that will make almost any type of potential client have a successful consultation: 

Ask open ended questions. If you are going to send an artist a picture of a person who looks absolutely nothing like you, be up front with the artist about what elements of the photo catch your eye. (Statements like "I like the glow on her skin" and "I like the placement of her eyeliner" tell me a LOT about what to do on a person.) If you, the client, bring us a photo and just say "I like her tattoo/hairstyle/makeup" be prepared to hear that you may not get that EXACT look, but we can design something similar that is more suited to your individual needs! Tell us what you like about the look, and we can try our best to bring those specific elements into your look. We aren't trying to be difficult by not giving you the exact result from the photo. We are doing our best trying to give good customer service as artists, because our name and professional reputation is on the line too. 

Be honest. Tell your stylists what they are getting in to, so they know exactly what your needs are. In 2007, while I was busy planning my wedding and attempting to recreate a Harlem Renaissance era jazz club vibe in a Chicago park, I was experiencing major hair thinning because of medical treatments. I told my friend and hairstylist, Charles Campbell of Kiva Salon in downtown Chicago, exactly what meds I was on, and he correctly assessed that I would probably be losing even more hair in the weeks before the wedding. Then he gave me the sexiest wash-and-go pixie cut since that scene in "Friday" when Debbie slow-mo jogged up the street and waved at Craig. (Apparently all those magazines that say "guys prefer ladies with long hair" didn't ask any guys who were teenagers in the 90s.) When The Dude saw my hair, he loved it and said I looked like Nia Long. SCORE!! I also told the vendor who created my birdcage veil that there wasn't going to be much hair left to grab on to, and she adjusted the comb accordingly. If I had been unrealistic in my expectations, I would have insisted on keeping the length, and adding extensions into thin, brittle, medically-damaged hair because I had to create that picture-perfect vintage late 30's hairstyle in all the pictures in my bridal binder. We aren't trying to get in your business, but your medications and hormonal treatments will affect hair and skin texture. It is best that you honestly tell your wedding glam squad these things, so they can plan for you accordingly.

Be flexible and open minded. Just because you haven't heard of some of the brands I'm using doesn't mean they are no good. When you limit your stylist to using the products that you requested, you are shutting down the opportunity for them to do their best work with the professional materials they are accustomed to using. Sure, you may think your department store foundation is great for daily wear, but you are a teacher/lawyer/accountant who doesn't get their picture taken on a regular basis. I'm sure that I haven't heard of some of the things you regularly use at your daily job either, but I'm not going to challenge your expertise on the matter. When you go to any type of stylist and say things like, "I know my texture is fine and straight, but would like to try adding curl to my hair, if possible" or "I would like to try a bright lip but haven't found the right red yet" or "I usually hate my legs but I have been working out and I might be ready to show them off now" you give stylists the power to find the colors and shapes that work best ON YOU, instead of making us feel pressured to recreate an exact look from a photo. 

I'm not saying that you should delete your Pinterest page and scrap all of your ideas. What I am saying is that you should look with a more critical eye and decide what it is about these styles that appeal to you, before you get your heart and head set on the impossible. 

Remember these tips, and good luck planning your wedding!

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