Lunar Eclipse

Don't forget to look up in the sky tonight, and see the moon's color darken to the color of a dark orange. The moon's color during the lunar eclipse is caused by sunlight filtering through the Earth's atmosphere.

You will be able to see the lunar eclipse all across North America. For people living east of the Mississippi, you won't be able to see the eclipse until after midnight.

The lunar eclipse will last three and a half hours. The moon will fall into the depths of the Earth's shadow for about an hour and twelve minutes. When the Earth moves between the sun and the moon, it changes the tint of the lunar surface from white to orange, to tan and back. You will be seeing the effect Earth's atmosphere is having on the color of sunlight passing through it.

Unfortunately cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver and Boston, clouds will be in the way of the lunar eclipse. But if you're living around New York, Philadelphia, Miami and Dallas you will be able to enjoy the lunar eclipse without cloudy conditions.

So get your telescope and look up into the sky and see one of the wonders of science right before your eyes.

Gone by Extinction

I don't feel like a valued customer for the beauty company Lancome. Once again, it has happened; a product has been discontinued without fair warning.

I confess, I have oily skin. Unattractive I know. So I use the Pure Focus line of products for oily skin- to control my shine- by Lancome. I completely ran out of my face lotion, which is the Pure Focus Matifying Moisturizing Lotion. I go to the store to buy another one, and the sales lady tells me that there were no more behind the Lancome counter. So I go to another store, and same thing. Well, like a desperate, mad woman I call every single Lancome counter across the Chicagoland area and suburbs and find out that no one had my lotion in stock.

When I called Orland Park mall in Ill., a wonderful sales woman tells me she's going to investigate what happened. I guess she could hear the desperation in my voice. She calls me back and tells me that my lotion has in fact been discontinued in the Midwest area. It is only available in the East Coast. What makes them so lucky?

I believe that I can speak for every skin-sensitive woman out there when I say that I cannot just put on any lotion or cream on my face because I could get irritation. I need time to research a product and make sure that it is oil-free and non-comedogenic, before testing it on myself.

The people of Lancome should know better than to just cancel sales for a particular product. They should be aware of the suffrage skin-senstive women go through. And this is not the first time the company has done this.

I am such a Lancome devotee because I grew up in a household where only those products are used. My grandmother and mother have been using its products for as long as I can remember. That's why I trust this beauty company so much, and have been a customer since I was a pre-teen. I am now in my early 20s.

I am truly dissapointed in Lancome that it would take away a product- a necessity for some women- without posting a sign at least at its counters to warn customers. This has been a true devastation.

Photo and story by Olivia N. Castaneda

A Brazilian Angel

Victoria's Secret supermodel Adriana Lima was at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Ill. last night and yours truly received her autograph.

The line was a little over 300 people long. And the most ignorant, obnoxious group of teenagers were behind me for the two hours I patiently waited to see her. She was scheduled to be there 5 to 7 at night. I arrived at 4 p.m.

First of, it was a mission and a half to get to the mall. I had to take two trains. Then once there, those punks behind me were so rude and loud that even the people in front of me stepped in to my defense, when words were exchanged.

But the moment when I finally made it to Adriana, none of that mattered. Up until the point security tells me- No pictures allowed!- when they saw my camera.

No pictures? No pictures? Did they know what I went through to get there? Apparently not. No pictures? How will I remember this moment?

She signed and handed me an autographed catalogue page of herself. At that moment I thought- I at least have to shake her hand and say something meaningful. So I reached out my hand and said, "Thank you. And congratulations on becoming a mother."

Her gorgeous green eyes opened up so wide and she put her hand to her chest and said, "Aw. Thank you!"

And I smiled.

Photo and story by Olivia N. Castaneda

The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2010

Oh la la. The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2010 was on CBS last Tuesday, making it the sexiest night on television. Like any fashion show, the season's trends were quite noticeable in the skimpy lingerie outifts. The performing artists throughout the show were Katy Perry and Akon. And it was the beautiful Adriana Lima who opened the show and was the featured angel who wore this year's diamond bra.
The first walk through was called Tough Love. And a tough love theme it was. During this scene, there was a sense of Lady Gaga's fashion style. The models stomped to rock music while wearing large, bold shoulder jackets- one of leather and another of silk chiffon- and towering platform knee-high boots. The outfits also had a rebellious touch to them with studs and spikes embellished on everything- jewelery, shoes, the bras, panties, corsets and even some of the wings.

The second theme was country style, showing off the season's trends of plaid and laced-up boots. The third theme was called Game On. The models came out in sport themed outfits- boxing, soccer, a rhythmic gymnast with the ribbon, football, weight lifting and lacrosse. I absolutely loved this part of the show in particular because there were male gymnasts in the background working on the mushroom doing circles, straddle-ups and back tucks off of them. I did gymnastics for about 11 years, so seeing that be a part of another passion of mine- fashion- was pretty awesome.

In the fourth theme all the models looked so angelic in their wings, wearing nuetral tones made of silk shiffon and lace. As they walked through Akon sang his hit song Angel from his 2010 album Angel. During a television interview for the show, Monica Mitro, EVP Victoria Secret PR, said that this year's show had the biggest number of angel wings because all the models want them. The fifth theme was called Wild Things and the models came out in exotic animal prints, another trend for the season.

And where is the Pink section?- I wondered through out it all. But the producers left it as the grand finale and what a hit it made. PVC outifts were the first to come out in skirts, jackets and an umbrella. Perry sang some of her hit songs while these large ballons of all different colors floated and fell onto the runway. Then bubbles were added. It went perfect with the Pink theme, but did look a bit chaotic as the models walked through the balloons that were starting to overtake the catwalk. And the last model was Chanel Iman. She came out with a bubble gun, adding to the chaos, but it sure did look like fun chaos.




Photos and story by Olivia N. Castaneda

The cheating frenzy

What happened to couples staying committed? To love, honor and cherish has become only words, as the ever growing cycle of cheating has swarmed the media. The ideal couple where a man and a woman stay faithful to each other has seemingly become a fairytale.

It started out as a fantasy for Eva Longoria when she married current NBA player, Tony Parker. She never would of thought that three years later she would find hundreds of sexy text messages back and forth from another ex teammate's wife. Furious with the findings, she then found out about other women who have claimed to have had sexual relationships with Parker. Longoria is currently filing for divorce, and reports say that she doesn't want any of his money.

The current trend of cheating among celebrities has become more and more prevelant in the recent years. Jessee James and Sandra Bullock recently divorced after Bullock discovered a mistress who started coming out of the woodwork. I'm sure you remember when you heard that Tiger Woods cheated on his wife Elin when dozens of women claimed they had an ongoing sexual relationship with Tiger. With Tiger's private life in the media, he admitted himself into a sex rehab program. Along with Tiger, David Letterman has also got involved with several women on his show.

Infidelity is a serious issue in today's world. If you think your partner is cheating check it out, because most often enough you may be right. The statistics show that 70 percent of married women and 54 percent of married men did not know of their partner's cheating.

Although no relationship is perfect, there is no excuse for cheating. The society we live in today glamorizes sex, and makes it okay to cheat. Although forgiveness is a great quality in a person, don't let it get in the way of being true to yourself and your happiness. You've heard the phrase "once a cheater always a cheater," but is it actually true? Surprisingly the statistics say that only 15 to 20 percent of people who cheat do it again. But the cheating continues.