Review: Chantelle Rive Gauche tshirt bra

Goodbye, boobs. You were always good to me. As I've continued to work on trimming my body fat and building lean muscle, as expected, I have continued to drop in cup size. I am now sitting at a 30DD, and had to break down and purchase a new bra. The silver lining in this is that you get a new review.

The bra that I ended up purchasing is one that I've tried on many, many times, but never liked enough to buy until now. What changed, you ask? Well, I did. The reason I had always passed on this bra before was because I felt like it wasn't capable of containing my knockers. It's really adorable for a basic tshirt bra, but when it came down to it, I just didn't feel like it could handle what I had. Fast forward and now I'm several cup sizes smaller, and this bra actually does really well for me.

Appearance (5/5)
I actually think this bra is adorable for a basic, nude tshirt bra. The lace detail is very feminine and it looks cute on. This is the main reason I tried this bra on so many times before; I just thought it was so cute. It also gives a really great silhouette; very uplifted look and is smooth under tight fitting tshirts.

Comfort (5/5)
Yep, it's really, really comfortable. It actually feels like I have nothing on at all. Nothing digs, pokes or chafes. It's really great.

Fit (4.7/5)
I docked .3 points because the band is a little loose for a 30 and because the straps are not fully adjustable. It'd be nice if the band was tighter and I could fully adjust the straps, but that's honestly all that I would change about this bra. That being said, as I alluded to earlier, this bra is probably not suitable for super busty ladies. The band only goes down to a 30, and the cup only up to an F, so there is some limitation in terms of size anyway, but even when I was just a couple of cup sizes larger, I always felt like I wasn't getting enough support from it. Now that I've actually gotten quite small on top, it's really ideal. I'd say this bra would be best for smaller busts.

Overall (4.9/5)
I really do love this bra. It's cute and it's practical, but do bear in mind that it will only work for a very small subset of people who wear a 30 band or above and who are relatively small in the cup.

I realize I disappeared for a while + Freya Frankie review

Over the last couple of months, I have been working on both school and taking better care of myself. My fast, as I intended it, was a springboard into improving my lifestyle. For the majority of my life, I have maintained a healthy diet and exercise regimen, but the past couple of years, I've been so busy with school that I began to neglect my health, and I was beginning to feel it.

So, since ending the fast in late August, I have completely overhauled my eating and exercise habits, restoring them to what they once were, before school took hold of my life. I have been eating predominantly whole foods and exercising five times per week, mixing cardio, strength and yoga. I am happy to say that as a result, I've lowered my body fat by several percentage points, and have had tremendous increases in a variety of fitness markers.

However, we all know that along with losses in body fat come losses in bra size. Prior to reinvigorating my health, I was generally wearing size 30FF, and just starting to make my way into 30G. After losing some fat, I am sitting comfortably in a 30E. I am probably not done losing body fat, as I would prefer to get back down to the "athletic" range where I used to be, so my purchasing and reviewing of bras will be somewhat limited until I reach my final goal.

I did have to break down and get a new bra though, because literally all of the beautiful bras I bought and reviewed earlier this year no longer fit. I opted for the Freya Frankie in the white colorway, because I thought it was fun and loved the mix of different colors.
Appearance (5/5)
I love the flirty and fun multicolor dots against the white fabric. It's pretty, youthful and gives an excellent silhouette, as Freyas often do.

Comfort (5/5)
I have absolutely no complaints about this one. It's very comfortable and feels almost like I'm wearing nothing at all. The fabric is not itchy, and nothing pokes.

Fit (4.5/5)
This bra fits like a dream, however I did dock a half point because the band feels a bit looser than a standard 30 band. I don't think it would be enough for me to size down though. It should be noted that, as is typical of Freyas, the underwires are narrow and will be best suited to women who usually wear narrow underwires. It may not fit correctly on women who usually need wider underwires.

Overall (4.9/5)
Maybe it's just the psychology associated with this bra currently being the only one that fits me, but it's my favorite for the time being. It's extremely comfortable for everyday wear, and it looks great under clothes.

Check that label!: Methylisothiazolinone

Found in many conditioners and shampoos, methylisothiazolinone (MIT) is commonly used as a preservative to inhibit microbial growth.

Published in the Journal of Neuroscience in September of 2002 was one of the first studies into the safety of MIT. Although it has been used in personal care products for many years, there was inadequate information regarding its safety, leading a group of researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine to conduct a study of it.

There is increasing evidence supporting that environmental exposure to neurotoxic substances may lead to the development of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

In the study, the researchers isolated rat cortical neurons and applied 100 micromolar MIT for only 10 minutes. Within 24 hours, the neurons underwent widespread cell death. They found that the reaction cascade caused by exposure to MIT resulted in the depletion of glutathione, a powerful endogenous antioxidant, and production of reactive oxygen species, which are free-radicals contributing to DNA damage.

Smaller doses of MIT administered over a long period of time also showed neurotoxic properties. While the smaller doses did not outright kill neurons, it did inhibit the growth of neurites, which are used to form connections between neurons, essential for different parts of your brain to be able to communicate with each other. This has some pretty obvious health implications for adults, but even more so for developing fetuses who may become exposed through the mother's toxicity.

While we're at it, I should probably mention parabens too, which are also preservatives, are known to be toxic and are probably more ubiquitous than MIT. Parabens have the ability to mimic estrogen and because they are easily absorbed into the skin and are lipophilic, they may accumulate in the body. Studies have shown them to be particularly concentrated in breast tissue, and have found them to induce the growth of cancerous breast tissue.

I ventured over to the local drugstore to pick up a few things and couldn't help peruse the hair and skincare aisles to do some label checking. Although I didn't track specific numbers, I estimate that well over 50% of the labels I checked contained MIT, and probably closer to 90-95% of things I looked at contained at least one paraben.

So what does all this mean for you? Although you should bear in mind that all of this data is not yet conclusive, an increasing amount of evidence does support that these compounds may very well not be safe for use. In the end, I think that knowledge is power; as long as consumers are well-informed about the potential safety concerns of the things they use in their everyday lives, then each individual person is free to decide whether they feel the risk is worth taking.

Sources:
In Vitro Neurotoxicity of Methylisothiazolinone, a Commonly Used Industrial and Household Biocide, Proceeds via a Zinc and Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase-Dependent Pathway

Toxic Effects of the Easily Avoidable Phthalates and Parabens

A lesson in proper bra fitting

Maheda is well known in Poland as an expert bra fitter. She has a series of videos on Youtube, showing the difference that can be made by wearing the correct bra size, and this is an example of one of her fittings. In this video, the model is originally wearing a 34C (75C) and Maheda fits her into a 30FF (65FF). The difference the right size can make is huge.

This video has English captions if you do not speak Polish; if the captions do not automatically show up when you start playing the video, just push the [cc] button down at the bottom of the video and it should display the captions.

Homemade mascara

I love mascara. It is my favorite cosmetic ever, and I would forsake all other cosmetics for it. The only problem I really have with it is that often it is quite thoroughly loaded with all kinds of weird chemicals. If you want to get one that is not chemical-saturated, it's definitely going to cost you. Well, being a broke student entangled in a complex love affair with mascara, I decided I needed to find a solution that doesn't involve drugstore mascara.

I am attempting to make my own mascara with the following ingredients:
- purified water
- avocado oil
- activated charcoal or cosmetic grade black iron oxide
- candelilla or beeswax
- vitamin E oil

This ingredient list is a composite I've created from a number of different recipes; no one recipe looked good to me, so I picked bits and pieces from multiple different recipes and essentially created my own. I don't know what proportions I should mix these in, but I figured I'd wing it until I get what looks to be a good consistency. I'm not sure if this is going to work, but it seems like it would: the oil providing the slip, the wax providing a bit of thickness, and the vitamin E oil serving as a mild preservative. We'll see though.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional cosmetic manufacturer, and to be quite honest I don't know much about making cosmetics at all, so if you choose to try this recipe, I am in no way, shape or form responsible for anything that might happen to you. Proceed at your own risk.

*photo by AndreaNicole

There's an app for that: a review of the Bra-Fitter app for iPhone and iTouch

It was only $1.99, so I figured what the heck, and I bought the Bra-Fitter app for my iPod; and being endorsed by Stanikomania, I figured it was probably a pretty good calculator.

That being said, it is both good and bad at the same time. Naturally, I first tried it out by entering in my own measurements, and voila, it returned my correct bra size. However, I decided to test it with a variety of different measurements, to get a feel for its consistency. I entered in 25 inches for the rib measurement and 35 for the bust measurement, for which it returned the size 30E, which will be too large for a person with a 25 inch ribcage. I also tried it on the other end of the spectrum and the results were only marginally more acceptable. Here is what I think this thing is doing: for rib measurements under 28 inches, it is adding 4 to 5 inches to the underbust measurement, and for larger rib measurements, it is adding 2 to 3 inches. One quite silly contradiction that occurs with this is that a 27 inch ribcage is recommended a larger band than a 28 inch ribcage.

It seemed pretty wonky to me to begin with and I wondered why it would be adding all kinds of inches? Then it occurred to me that I believe this app was developed by Polish bra fitters, and one of the most important things in Polish bra fitting is to have the firmest underbust measurement possible. The prevalent bra fitting advice in Poland is to exhale all the air from your lungs and take the absolute tightest underbust measurement possible. For me, this decreases my measurement by a whopping two inches, which may well make all the difference in the world when using this calculator. Out of curiosity, I then clicked the help button, which took me to a FAQ page. Here is an excerpt from the page:

"Most professional bra-fitters nowadays say that after getting the measures [sic] done it is usually wise to go down [in] the band size (and up a cup size), especially if you are larger-busted."

Although this measuring technique obviously must be considered in order to use this calculator, there are some other excellent stand-alone features. Probably one of the best features is a size troubleshooter, which can be particularly useful for sizing down one band, as quoted in the FAQ above. After the calculator generates a bra size based on your measurements, there is an additional screen that will help you troubleshoot problems with the recommended size. For example, if the band feels too big, or is riding up, it will suggest smaller band sizes, with the appropriate cup sizes for you to try. I think this alone is useful. Another useful feature is size conversion between all the major sizing systems: UK, US, Continental, French, Australian and Japanese, as well as sizing charts that are specific to individual brands. The sizing charts for individual brands could be wildly useful, just because there is so much variation in sizing systems between brands.

Altogether, it's your call whether you think this app could be useful for you and at only $1.99 USD, it's not expensive. I'd be interested in seeing if this works for people when they use the Polish method of taking the underbust measurement, although I do believe that this calculator will be too unreliable for those with sub-28 rib measurements, as well as those with ribcages above 32 inches. However, if you want to reliably find your bra size and don't need all the other bells and whistles of this app, THIS is the best calculator I've found so far.

*photos are from Stanikomania and the official bra-fitter website

Oils by skin type

I posted a while back on using oil to cleanse your face, also known as the oil cleansing method. The most important factor in using the oil cleansing method successfully is to figure out what oils to use. There are different oils that are appropriate for different types of skin and even the proportions in which you mix those oils can make a difference, although determining proportions is usually by trial and error.

Here is a brief list of oils by skin type:

Oily - jojoba, grape seed
Dry - olive, sweet almond
Normal - olive, sweet almond, avocado
Acne prone or sensitive - jojoba, grape seed, sweet almond

It should also be noted that castor oil, which is commonly used as a carrier oil, can be drying, so if you have dry skin, you may want to avoid castor, or at the very least, mix it in lower proportion to a heavier, more moisturizing oil.

Additionally, if you'd like to add essential oils to your oil mixture, tea tree tends to be good for oily, or acne-prone skin, while lavender does well with dry skin.