ASK WOMEN’S HEALTH [ WE HAVE THE ANSWERS ]
The right
wand gets
your lashes
where you
love ’em.
How ca mascara will me? There Whether your lashes a thick, there’s a simple wQn I tell which work best for are so many! —Kirsten D., Buffalo, N Y re long or short, thin or ay to figure out which
mascara will work for you. The secret: the shape
of the wand and the placement and thickness
of the bristles. Each affects how much mascara
goes onto the lashes and where. The formula also
matters—that’s what hydrates your lashes and
sets them in place. So choose your weapon:
FOR LENGTH
Exceptionnel de
Chanel Forget
bulky brushes.
Going long requires
a sleek applicator
with tiny combs
that coat each lash
from the base up.
$30, chanel.com
FOR VOLUME
Cover Girl
LashBlast With
50 percent more
bristles than its competitors, it separates
and thickens the
thinnest of lashes.
One coat is plenty.
$8, drugstore.com
FOR GOOF-PROOF
APPLICATION
Givenchy
Phenomen’Eyes
Suffer wand drift?
For more control,
try this bristled
ball about the size
of a pencil eraser.
$28, sephora.com
FOR CURL
L’Oréal
Panoramic Curl
Works like hair
spray: The curved
applicator lifts
your lashes; the
wax-based mascara
sets them in place.
$9, walgreens.com
FOR
SENSITIVE EYES
Blinc Kiss Me For
contact wearers
or those prone to
tearing or drying up,
this delicate formula
is smear-proof and
nonirritating. $24,
sephora.com
I left a
load of
laundry in
the washer
for a week,
and now my
machine and
clothes smell
nasty. What’s
the best way to
banish the odor?
—Amy S., Tempe, AZ
To kill the bacteria
that funked up your
duds and washing
machine, add a quarter
cup of bleach to your
empty washer and
run it through a cycle,
recommends Steve
Boorstein, founder of
clothingdoctor.com
and the author of The
Clothing Doctor’s 99
Secrets to Cleaning &
Clothing Care. Then
re wash your last batch
of clothes “using a
detergent designed
for heavy dirt, such
as Tide, plus a scoop
of Oxi Clean Versatile
Stain Remover to
really kick the cleaning po wer up a notch,”
Boorstein says.
How often
should I change
the passwords
for my bank
and other
important online
accounts?
—Ashley L., Detroit, MI
For starters, assign
a separate password
for shopping sites,
another one for per-sonal-banking sites,
and another for e-mail
accounts, says Kevin
Beaver, an information security consultant and the author of
Hacking for Dummies.
Pick a mix of letters,
numbers, and—if the
site allows—special
characters (like asterisks). If you can’t
remember complicated passwords,
Beaver recommends
using unique sentences or phrases that
are hard to crack, like
“My#1is2cute.” Once
you have a great password in place, there’s
no need to change
it more than once a
year—unless you have
trouble signing on.
“The telltale sign of
attempted password
cracking is that your
account is getting
locked out continually,”
Beaver says. If that
happens, it’s time to
upgrade your code.
I’ve been
reading about
all these
cleanses. Is
detoxing even
necessary?
—Veronica F., Austin, TX
When it comes to
ridding itself of toxins, the body is a
beautifully designed
machine, says David
Ellington, M.D., who
runs a family medicine
practice in Lexington,
Virginia. The liver
and kidneys break
do wn and filter toxins
(anything from copper to ammonia) out
of your bloodstream
and intestines and into
your waste. So far, no
detox diet has been
scientifically proven
to be able to beat your
own natural cleansing process. That said,
there’s nothing wrong
with noshing on more
raw fruits and veggies. Just don’t take it
to the extreme by, for
instance, consuming
only raw foods or only
liquids for days at a
time—it could put you
at risk for malnutrition,
fatigue, and a host of
other health problems,
including a reduced
metabolic rate and
chronic bad breath.
A coworker
showed up
at the office
hungover—
which meant
more work for
me. Should I
report her or
suck it up?
—Carmella T., Boston, MA
The first time she
shows up smelling like
a frat party, give her
a pass, says Cynthia
Lett, author of That’s
So Annoying. Everyone
has a lapse in judgment
now and then. The
second time, tell her
that her inability to
focus is increasing your
workload. Third time?
Tell your boss.
FROM TOP: LISA SHIN; MARNIE BURKHAR T/MAS TERFILE
