Lernert & Sander: Natural Beauty on Nowness.com.

Ever wonder how much makeup you slather on in a year? Two Dutch artists--Lernert and Sander--set out to answer that question by directing a short film entitled, "Natural Beauty," starring Belgian supermodel Hannelore Knuts. They applied 365 layers of Ellis Faas makeup in one day. It took seven bottles of foundation, two bottles of cream shadow, three lip glosses, and two bottles of liquid blush, and NINE HOURS of non-stop work to get the job done. (Knuts--with her head fixed between two panels--drank her yogurt lunch through a straw all in the name of beauty and art).

As I watched the layers of foundation melting off her face I wondered--do I really use this much makeup over the course of the year? How much do I actually pile on every morning in an attempt to look like I'm not wearing any at all? If only I had kept a tally of how many bottles of tinted moisturizer I'd gone through in 2010. (I'm just about at the bottom of my first bottle for 2011). What are we really trying to cover up? Why do we feel the need to mask our natural beauty on a daily basis?

What about you? Where do you stand after watching this? And what makes you feel beautiful?

Keep reading:

11 Ways to Feel Beautiful (And not one involves more makeup)

[via Nowness]

Photo: Thinkstock

We now know that the "5-second rule" for dropped food is a myth (although some of us may still practice the 1-second rule, especially when no one's looking). But what about the carrot sticks or lettuce leaves that tumble from the colander into the sink? Surely the sink, which is regularly doused with soap and water, must be cleaner than the floor, which is regularly defiled by the feet we use to stand at the sink -- right?

Wrong, wrong, 500 times wrong, says Kelly Reynolds, Ph.D., an assistant professor of microbiology at the University of Arizona. While the floor may be crawling with 1,000 bacteria per square inch, the sink typically hosts around 500,000 bacteria per square inch -- and she's seen sinks that had millions more than that. "The sink is a ready source of bacteria just from washing off hands as well as food, which may carry fecal bacteria." The number of bacteria it takes to make us sick depends on the type, but Reynolds says that it takes between 100 and 1,000 bacteria to transmit salmonella, which is the most frequently reported cause of foodborne illness.

Reynolds says our kitchen sinks are often dirtier than the toilets of public bathrooms, which may be regularly scrubbed with powerful disinfectants. "If you dropped something in the toilet at the gas station, would you rinse it off and eat it? Use the same mentality for your sink."

[Next: What to do if you drop food in the sink]

 

Men! What are they thinking? We can't always answer that, but we'll be posting our favorite glimpses into their world in this space every Thursday.


* We were already plenty impressed with the contents of Daniel Radcliffe's bookshelf, and now the Harry Potter star has impressed us with his candor and maturity about giving up drinking in August's U.K. edition of GQ: "There's no shame in enjoying a quiet life, and that's been the realization of the past few years for me. I'd just rather sit at home and read, or go out to dinner with someone, or talk to someone I love, or talk to somebody that makes me laugh." (via Salon)

* If you, like Englishman and baseball infographic king Craig Robinson, find America's pastime "endlessly fascinating," look at a few of the stunning images included in his new book, Flip Flop Fly Ball. (Deadspin.com; Amazon.com)

* We dare you not to smile while watching this video of a recent U2 concert in Nashville, where Bono pulled a blind fan from the audience to play "All I Want Is You" on guitar. (The Vancouver Sun)

* "It's more like I'm having an experience than making a picture." — Cy Twombly, RIP (NYTimes.com)

Photo: Thinkstock

I consider myself pretty savvy when it comes to food myths—or at least when it comes to debunking them—which is why I figured out awhile ago that putting an avocado pit in guacamole does not keep it from turning brown. But a new book, Lobsters Scream When You Boil Them: And 100 Other Myths About Food and Cooking by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough, helped me to understand why. It seems that the pit trick does work, albeit in a tiny way: It limits the oxygen exposure for the guacamole that's directly underneath the pit. Alas, the rest of the dip will turn brown as the avocado's compounds absorb light. So, how do you keep guacamole from browning? Read on...

Photo: Courtesy of Sheyna.com

Making your own jewelry can be a chance to express your creativity and personal style. But for those of us who don't have the dexterous hands of a jeweler, securing a clasp or tying a microscopic knot on a homemade bracelet or necklace can be more frustrating than stress-relieving. If you fall into the latter category, Sheyna.com, a design-it-yourself jewelry site, might be the perfect solution. With over 5,000 chains, charms, beads and stones to choose from, ranging in price from $5 to $5000, you can get your arts and crafts vibe going at any price. The best part: Clicking and moving your mouse are the only skills needed to design your dream jewelry. Just select individual pieces from the gallery (or a ready-made design from the shop that you'd like to alter) and pull them onto the drag-and-drop digital sketchpad. This tool even builds your jewelry on a budget—pricing out your bracelet, necklace or earrings as you make each addition. Blossoming jewelry designer? After you've finished your sparkly masterpiece, you have the option to publish it and share with other shoppers, or keep this one-of-a-kind creation for yourself. Sheyna's pieces are handmade by artisans from around the world and arrive on your doorstep ready to wear. It's official: DIY has never been easier.

Other DYO (design your own) jewelry sites we like:

• The bracelet building function on Pandora.net is particularly fun, and you can create everything from watches to rings.
• Charmed by Ingrid Anne offers adorable necklaces at affordable prices—the perfect personalized gifts for your friends.
  

This week, Leigh Newman opens up about the war going on in her refrigerator. On one side: her husband and the healthy, affordable ball of mozzarella. On the other side: her, the kids and a bag of processed, overpriced yet inexplicably delectable cheese sticks, which "may or may not be made of actual cheese (depending on the brand), and this last point is moot because they do not taste like cheese. They taste like dairy Styrofoam."

Photo: Thinkstock

The last time you dropped a can of stewed tomatoes on your foot, what did you yelp? We bet it wasn't "banana split!" or "lox!" or some other neutral word. A popular study that came out a few years ago confirmed what most of us instinctively know when it found that participants who swore while their hand was submerged in a bucket of ice water were able to endure the pain longer than if they didn't swear, or if they shouted nonnaughty words. However, new research suggests that cursing comes with complications, especially for certain women.

A small yet interesting study of 34 middle-aged women (some with rheumatoid arthritis, some with breast cancer), published in the May issue of Health Psychology, found that the women who frequently swore in the company of others turned out to be women who were less likely to feel that people sympathized with them and felt their pain (and this had the power to make them feel even more depressed). "Would middle-aged men—or, for that matter, women of a younger, more swearing-prone generation—feel the same way?" asks Boing Boing. "There's a possibility that this study could have more to say about what middle-aged women expect from themselves, or who other people expect them to be."

You know who doesn't care who other people expect her to be? Helen Mirren, who is one of the classiest cursers we've ever seen (watch her drop the f-bomb with aplomb). Dame Helen is a great example for those who are hesitant to harness the power of swear words when they need it most. Maybe if we were more accustomed to seeing and hearing women express themselves (uncensored!), we'd be less worried about what we shouted when we put our own hands in ice water...or on a molten steering wheel, or in the hinge of a door, or on a hot pan handle. In other words, if we got caught trying to ameliorate the ordinary pains of domestic life.


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The hidden benefits of anger, cursing and negativity