The Beyonce ad and skin bleaching

The controversy over the recent L'Oreal Paris ad for Feria hair color featuring an allegedly whitewashed Beyonce (right) should spur talk about the perils of skin bleaching. (For the record, L'Oreal has firmly denied that they lightened the skin of the fair complected singer/spokesmodel.)

To clarify: I am not implying in this post that Beyonce bleaches her skin at all. But I think this whole debate prompts a discussion of skin lightening, which is so prevalent in Asia and Africa and how harmful it is for women -- on so many levels.

In Jamaica, some dark-skinned women are so anxious to lighten their complexions that they will concoct homemade mixtures of household bleach and chemicals used to straighten hair. A  BBC report quoted dermatologist Neil Persadsingh as saying: "If you go to the ghettos, you will see people with their faces white from the application of these bleaching preparations. You see this every day in Jamaica." The situation has gotten so bad that the Jamaican government launched a campaign called "Don't Kill the Skin" last year, aimed at young girls. Even skin lighteners that are sold in Jamaica are not safe and can cause thinned skin, acne and scarring.

Over here, the skin lightening market is a major industry and the main ingredient of most creams and serums -- hydroquinone -- is some scary stuff. The FDA proposed a ban on it in 2006 because it was deemed a cancer causing chemical after being tested on rodents. Right now, you can buy over-the-counter products with 2% hydroquinone and prescription treatments that contain 4% of the chemical.
Clearly, the beauty ideal in this country and elsewhere begs for correction. I found a soap online marketed to women called "Fair & White" -- at what price, physically and psychologically?

UPDATE: The Young, Black & Fabulous has published a picture of the Beyonce ad, as it ran in Essence (left), alongside the Elle ad.  The Elle ad looks a lot blander than the Essence ad. The pigmentation is just off. The whole Elle ad looks like it got left out in the sun and faded.

Do you think L'Oreal Paris has some explaining to do?

Photos: Getty Images; L'Oreal Paris; TheBYF.com

Invisible clothing coming soon

Today, CNN reports that researchers are now able to cloak objects by fiddling with light and reflection and the invisible suit may soon become a reality. What do you call it: The Peeping Tom Ford suit?

No doubt, an invention that could abet thieves and perverts -- among other miscreants -- would be a liability to society. Expect the military to be the only benefactor at this point. (The findings come from UC Berkeley and will be published later this week.)

This on the heels of a recent report that smart clothes are making scientific strides. Among the new crafty fabrics are a pair of underwear that can detect cancer cells and a smart bra that detects temperature changes in breast tissue and alerts to a possible tumor.  Some doctors are skeptical at this point. There are also fabrics that contain vitamins and deodorants on the horizon.

And you thought Spanx were a miracle?

photo: Universal Pictures

Casual Friday or casual fired day?

The Los Angeles Daily News has banned jeans and tennis shoes in the workplace. Tennis shoes? Do they mean sneakers? Hmm. Maybe newspapers really are out of touch.   

But the paper isn't alone. CNN reports that 64% of employers surveyed have banned flip-flops, 28% have outlawed jeans, and 49% have forbidden miniskirts. More than one-third (35%) of companies have gone as far as to send employees home for unsuitable work garb. Is getting sent home early a bad thing?

Lastly, 41% of bosses said that they would be more apt to promote someone professionally dressed over the colleague in the denim miniskirt, flip-flops and "Baby Mama Seeks Drama" T-shirt.  Anyone else remember Julia Robert's response when questioned about her inappropriate work attire in "Erin Brockovich"? She said: "Ed, I think I look nice."

Does someone in your office dress like she's going to give her dog a bath? Do you think the clothes make the manager?

photo: Julia Roberts as Erin Brockovich by Bob Marshak for Universal Studios.

Anna Patterson: How did she do that?

Ever drink a few glasses of Merlot and mutter to yourself, "I could have created that Google search engine!" Keep boozing. Meet Anna Patterson. She engineered the Google search engine while working for the empire and has invented a new engine called Cuil. (It's Irish for knowledge and pronounced like "cool.") A quick peek at Patterson's look -- while at Stanford, left, courtesy of the college database -- shows that she wasn't doing beer bongs and flat ironing her hair on Friday nights.

According to her bio, she was a research associate to Formal Reasoning Group in the Computer Science Department at Stanford and her interests included: programming languages, concurrency and verifications and analysis of distributed systems. Her side interest? Visualizing structures using 3-D imaging techniques.  (Cuil!)

Photo: www.formal.stanford.edu

Photo bombers: Coming soon to a picture of you

"Photo bombing" has yet to achieve mainstream attention with a Wikipedia page. Then again, do you really need someone to explain to you what it means? In essence, the goal is to stealthily terrorize a picture by any means possible. Nudity is extremely popular, as are obscene gestures. But that's obvious. The best photo bombers, in my opinion, are more skillful, agile and, above all, brave.

Masterful photo terrorists find the most insidious way to disrupt the composition of a shot and mock the subjects at the same time. (The guy who's photo bombing this shot of the three blond amigos with big egos achieves both. The Caucasian thug below takes a different approach and mocks himself.)

Funniepicturez.blogspot.com has a great gallery of photo bomb pictures -- scroll down to the photo bombing feature. Googling the term brings up the very same shots, so it's a movement in its infancy -- like Dadaism during WWI. (None of the photo bombed pictures on the site I mentioned are X-rated shots, but a few images might offend -- so visit at your own risk.)

Critics will say that photo bombing hardly constitutes "art intervention," which is the intentional meddling into a preexisting piece of artwork or even an art venue, like a gallery or museum. (The performance artist who took a hammer to Marcel Duchamp's famous urinal -- titled "Fountain" -- in Paris in 2006 and called it his own "art" is a good example of an art interventionist. Same goes for an artist who manages to sneak his work into a museum.)

But I think photo bombing is a genius poke at our society's rampant exhibitionism, fueled by the Internet. Flickr has enabled people to turn the Web into boring photo albums. Or one giant mirror. Hot girls post pictures of themselves and ask commenters to rate their assets. Pictures from weddings, family reunions and proms are uploaded without any artistic censorship. No shot is left behind, alas.

Vive les photo bombers!

Photos: Funniepicturez.blogspot.com

The boss wants to see you and weigh you

On CNN this morn, an article about how a company in Lincoln, Nebraska has three full-timers devoted to "wellness." The 565 employees have mandatory quarterly check-ups to measure body fat, weight and flexibility. The program has been around for 16 years and those who achieve optimum results get a company-paid trip---to climb a mountain.

(These Buddhist monks, above, pay 10 to 15 cents to weigh themselves on a bathroom scale in Phom Penh.)

Studies show that people who weigh themselves daily gain less weight. I might weigh myself at work if there was a more private scale--maybe with a discreet LCD read out instead of that sliding reader--that wasn't crammed next to a vending machine that burps out Pop Tarts and Snickers. (Into my eager hands, of course.)

But I wouldn't want the Los Angeles Times to make weigh-ins obligatory. It's fascist and fatist. Not to mention the fact that with all the recent and brutal cut backs here, I think we've done enough corporate downsizing.

photo: Doug Niven/AFP/Getty

Brits visit L.A. for nips and tucks, not Disneyland

Did mummy hug Mickey Mouse? Um, no. Did mummy see the Hollywood sign? Fraid not, love. Then, what was mummy doing in Los Angeles, anyway?

Well, according to one plastic surgery clinic, the Brits are coming to get face-lifts and nose jobs and hair transplants. The waning dollar and mighty euro have made the price of a Beverly Hills chin tuck more affordable.

"We have seen an influx of patients from the U.K. taking 'vacations' to Beverly Hills and coming to our office for surgery so they can have Beverly Hills doctors work on them for a lesser price because, in comparison to the dollar, the pound is booming right now," says Dr. Toby Mayer, co-director of the Beverly Hills Institute with Dr. Richard Fleming. "U.K. patients are coming to see us for multiple facial procedures, fillers and hair replacement surgery. They are taking full advantage of our weakening economy for their own cosmetic benefit."

Of course, these doctors are promoting themselves, along with their premise. Still, it makes sense that Europeans would visit the cosmetic surgery capital of America to get the Hollywood makeover. The WSJ reports that New York, California and Florida are the top destinations for Europeans seeking "work done." A July 8 article reports:

U.S. hospitals and prominent plastic surgeons have begun to tailor marketing campaigns targeted at Europeans, touting both their medical expertise as well as lower cost. Some U.S. plastic surgeons are promoting themselves through in-flight magazines read by international travelers. The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary in Manhattan, one of the U.S.'s oldest specialty hospitals, is preparing to launch a marketing campaign in London. The initiative is "capitalizing on the value of the dollar" as well as a recognition that New York is "very much a destination," says Allan Fine, a hospital vice president.

Photo: Getty Images

Why women can't handle 'Dark Knight'

Hey, Christopher Nolan.

Ever drink a gallon of Diet Coke and sit for two hours with your legs crossed? Oh and then -- just when it seems like Gotham is safe and credits will roll -- suffer through another 32 minutes of clenching your nether region muscles?

Clearly, the director of "The Dark Knight" and the auteurs behind other interminable fan boy action movies such as "Iron Man" (126 minutes) don't know that a woman's bladder is about the size of a salted cocktail peanut. Men have bladders that are walnut-sized. And those very gals, after silently praying that the Joker will die or Batman will retire or everyone will just perish en masse and the movie will end, tend to be seated in the centers of theater rows.

Yesterday, at the two-hour mark, I watched no less than seven women get up and crab shuffle their way to the aisles to hit the loo. It was interesting to note that one woman -- like a suffragette, of sorts -- led this brigade to the bathroom. Once she stood, others followed.

But it struck me that maybe fan boys are finally getting their revenge on women who mocked them for their comic collections and Spiderman Underoos. Is this comic craze in movies just another Hollywood conspiracy against women? (But "Sex and the City" clocked in at 2 hours and 28 minutes, you protest. Yes, and many women chose to dash off when their least favorite lady hit the screen. Not to mention the fact that it was directed by a man.)

Zack Snyder, director of upcoming geek boy extravaganza "Watchmen," has told the New York Times:

"The main picture is nearing three hours long, and I know I have a fight on my hands just with that."

Um, more like a "flight" on your hands at 124 minutes, when a dozen chicks run for the aisles. How about an intermission for the geek girls?

Photo: Warner Bros.

Strawberry Shortcake makeover: Yes or no?

Not sure about this revamp. It's hard to accept any tinkering with nostalgia. But then again, the new Strawberry Shortcake does look better with a blowout and shoes that don't resemble potatoes. That frilly pinafore and bloomers only added bulk too.
The NYT has the full story, including the ridiculous  term "fruit-foward" for her new look. The new SS has a cellphone, and she's ditched her cat Custard too. Just please don't let her land a reality show and make a sex tape.

Photos: TCFC

SATC inflation: the Eiffel Tower bag

What happens when a purse gets primo exposure in a movie such as "Sex and the City"? It gets uppity in price. Last September, the Rage posted here about the first glimpse of Sarah Jessica Parker's look in the movie. (Pictures were released by New Line.) At that time, the Eiffel Tower bag by local designer Timmy Woods sold for $338, and her Horsy bag sold for $350. Now, the Parisian monument bag sells for $450. What gives? The designer responded to an inquiry by saying: "All of my prices have gone up because everything costs more. I didn't raise the price on the Eiffel Tower bag because it was in the movie." Hmm. The price of the Horsy bag didn't go up, suspiciously. Timmy Woods has sold 1,500 of the Eiffels since the movie debuted. You should have bought yours when I first posted about it.

Photos: New Line; Timmywoods.com.