Tag Archives: no makeup week

Beauty, Film & TV, Literature, Music, Sex Ed

Best Of RadCooks 2010

Leave a comment
What a year it's been! 2010 was Radioactive Cookies' inaugural year and I think we did a pretty great job! Since it's inception on February 24, 2010, RadCooks has received almost 30,000 hits and I couldn't be happier! In honor of the New Year, we of course need to recap all the amazingness of 2010. So here's a best of list that'll make you laugh, cry and probably cringe. 5 Most Visited Posts 1. PHAT GIRLS: 25 Hot Full Figured Women In Hollywood: All you skinny bitches can move aside because 2010 was the year of the big girl! As a proud curvaceous woman myself, I am so happy that the chubby chasers of the world have made Phat Girls my #1 most visited post the year! 2. RadFem To Watch: Jaclyn Santos: Thanks to a Tweet from the RedFem herself, Jaclyn Santos, this post received 2nd honors! Thanks Jaclyn, we hope to see more of you in 2010! 3. HAPPY MILF DAY: 40 Hot Hollywood Moms: Mother's Day 2010 was my busiest day of the year. With the most posts I've ever done, I also received the most viewership. Shame on you all for reading my glob instead of spending quality time with your mommy! 4. THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE: A Look At Ass-To-Mouth Surgery: The Human Centipede, what can I say? Those of you that read this post along with honorable mention THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE Review I just want to let you know that you are all very sick and you are not alone! 5. VAJAZZLE With A "J" & VAGAZZLED aka Swarovski Pubes: Let's not forget my Vajazzled posts! The pair, tied for 5th place were some of my very first posts! Though I can't take all the credit, I have to give a shout out to Bryce Gruber who took one for the team and had her lady garden bedazzeled on camera! MissBleecker's Top 5 Posts 1. KATY PERRY: The Ironic Feminist: Who could forget my massive and incredibly late Katy Perry post? Not only was this one of my most extensive posts but it was also one of the funnest. Let's not forget it introduced Prof.PurplePants! 2. CHRISTINA AGUILERA'S "NOT MYSELF TONIGHT": A Lesson In Radical Feminism: One of my top rated posts, NMT was a great song that I felt was seriously underrated. And of course, I'll always have a spot in my heart and on my glob for my #1 girl Christina Aguilera! 3. AUTO-FELLATIO: Sampling Your Own Pancakes: Oh auto-fellatio, you almost made it into the top 5! What can I say, it was a simpler time when I could write about a man pleasuring himself orally, though I have heard of a slight demand for an autolingus post... 4. The No Makeup Week Series: A great week of my life was spent au natural for you good people. It was a really great experience and hopefully the first of more to come in personal experiments! 5. RadFem Of The Century: The Ho That Boned 13 Duke Athletes And Wrote A Thesis About It: How could we forget the Duke Fuck List author Karen Owen? This was your year girl, relish in it! 5 Posts You Didn't Read But Should 1. The Interactions With An Anonymous Stranger Who Will Remain Nameless Series: This series is a personal favorite of mine. With three volumes down, I hope to keep you updated on the awfully bad attempts made at yours truly. 2. The 2010 Oscar Predictions and Outcomes Posts: I really cannot believe that there were so few readers of my 2010 Oscar posts. Not only did I predict nearly all the winners (yeah, you could have cleaned up in your office pool) but I analyzed the Oscars through a feminist and political lens. Let's not have the same fate for Oscar Watch 2011! 3. MissBleecker Goes To Washington: I was on a bus for 10 hours in one day, I missed all of my friends, I wore cookies on my breasts, and I came home to keep the party going for Halloween as Ke$ha and you still didn't read my post?! 4. The Theory of Sexual Economics Pt. 1 & Pt. 2: I have to admit these posts were a bit off collar for RadCooks but interesting nonetheless. Check them out to see what personality type is your best match according to me! 5. “THE RUNAWAYS” REVIEW: Men, You Can’t Stomach This Kind Of Gore: Now I will admit, having seen The Runaways, it was not the best movie of the year, it wasn't the worst either. It just didn't get much recognition either way, as my review did. However, I attended a screening with Joan Jett and she had some insider scoop that any rock 'n roller would love to read! Well there you have it, the Best Of RadCooks Lists 2010! I hope you all had a great year! I can't wait for 2011, I'm sure it'll be as disastrous a year in pop culture as 2010 was!
Beauty

NO MAKEUP WEEK: Day 7 – Wednesday

2 Comments
Coincidence? I Think Not A couple of days ago I found out that I'd be doing something really cool at work that involved meeting some VIPs (I cannot give anymore details for fear of being terminated. Hey Bosspeople, confidentiality agreement met!) I was exited, ecstatic, elated, other exclamations beginning with "e," and then I looked at my calendar and saw that the pivotal day was also the last day of No Makeup Week and I silently cursed ever starting this godforsaken challenge week. I seriously considered throwing the whole thing out the window and saying, "Fuck it, I'm not meeting VIPs looking like a garden gnome." But then I thought, "No, you cannot abandon this project MissBleecker." And so I decided, makeup or no, I was going to go through with business as usual, because, after all, those were the rules. And then I thought to myself, this just seems too perfectly orchestrated to be true, I mean either my life is a SitCom (which I often think it is) or the Universe is trying to tell me something. It just seemed far too perfect that the culmination of my beauty project would eventually end in the biggest test of my faith in my face (and all that I am to back it up.) Needless to say, the day went swimmingly, and although the VIPS (all of which were beautiful/handsome/put together people) might not have been scathed by my presence, as I am not at the top of the food chain (not yet, at least), they also did not seem to be bothered by my unmade face and were friendly nonetheless. Lessons Learned So what does this all mean? What has this week taught me? Why do I wear makeup? Well for one, because I like it. I like wearing make up because of the way it makes me feel I look. If this experiment has taught me anything it's that I don't actually wear make up for other people, my friends, people who really know me, don't care much if I'm picture perfect or looking like Ke$ha on a Sunday morning. It's me that doesn't want to look in the mirror at my true face. And why is that? It is because I think I'm ugly? No, certainly not. Maybe it's because after 22 years of looking at my reflection gradually change and age, the only thing I can keep constant is the image I wish to present to myself. So what am I saying, that make up is merely a placebo? Possibly. Who knows if what I see in the mirror is drastically different from what the world sees when they look at me. When you study your face, you can see all the years marked on it, you can see the cracks, the lines, the freckles, the differences that no one else can. So when you cover it up, are you seeing what you've done to your face or what you'd like it to be? People strive for perfection, it's what motivates us, it's what separates us from animals. We try to achieve, to be our best selves, to evolve into what we wish to become. For me, making my face is a transformative process which allows me to raise my head higher, look people in the eyes and not be afraid. It is a mask I wear, and I wear it proudly. After this whole week, I know that tomorrow, when I get ready, I'm going to take the extra 10-15 minutes and paint my face with my warrior lines. That mask is what protects me from the world, it lets me face her without any fear. And let's face it, after all is said and done, we're all a little shallow, and why? Well because we live in a material world baby, and hey, I'm a material girl! Side Note: I've been thinking of that line all fucking week!
Beauty

NO MAKEUP WEEK: Day 6 – Tuesday

Leave a comment
So you might have noticed that RadCooks has undergone a slight face lift. The much needed changes to my glob's theme have come about due to boredom and an inability to grasp advanced CSS editing skills within a work day. You'll hopefully be seeing more changes to RadCooks once I master the art of web design; and for those of you who are not familiar, that shit is pretty fucking hard, but until then, I leave you with a slightly more colorful, personalized and RADiant RadCooks. I like the houndstooth! Feeling Feelings What to say about Day 6? I started writing yesterday and it turned into something that was deep and somewhat surprising, so I'll expound upon those thoughts for my conclusion. However, what my stream of consciousness showed me was that this experiment has become a lot more personal than I'd originally intended. With the end drawing near, I need to ask myself why I did this and what I expected to get out of it. I honestly did it because I thought I couldn't. When I read the original Jezebel post I thought it would be fun to challenge myself and glob about the crazy hyjinks that my makeupless face would surely get me into. I must say, this week has been a bit more hyjinky than normal, and when you read Day 7's post it would just be that the universe decided to have my last day of No Makeup Week coincide with another major event (details to come.) Anyway, back to the point I was making before I rudely interrupted myself, I feel as if this experiment has become more than just something fun and challenging, it's become personal to me. I've begun to question what I see when I look in the mirror, what people see when they look at me, beauty in general. What I thought was one way has proven to be another and now I feel that on Thursday, life after No Makeup Week is either (a) going to change my perception of my face and beauty forever or (b) just be something I globbed about when I was young. What scares me most is how vulnerable I've been over the past week; I've taken down my most physical barrier between myself and the world and I'm presenting myself as I am and not the perfect image I wish to be. More so, dear reader, I'm being completely open and honest with you. What's happened over the past week was an unexpected switcheroo, you're no longer reading words written by MissBleecker, this is pure me.
Beauty

NO MAKEUP WEEK: Day 5 – Monday

Leave a comment
A Case Of The Mondays I woke up this morning groggy, confused and thoroughly unsatisfied with my dreams, add that to the fact that it was raining cats and dogs and I had to hike nearly a mile to physical therapy and I was not a happy camper. Mondays, why was the day ever invented? Mondays jolt you back to reality like a defibrillator. I walked into work, feeling gross from the rain and when I looked in the mirror to fix myself I remembered why it is my concealer is my best friend. As you all know, I had a pretty full weekend and my face paid the price. I had been rested, I had been glowier, but not on Mondays. And then it hit me like a ton of bricks, I remembered where the obsession started. You see in high school I wore make up, I would wear eye liner here, blush there, but it wasn't an everyday thing and never to the extent it is today. Like A Punch In The Face Freshman year of college, first semester, I had 8AM classes everyday, work until 4PM and then an evening class. By the time I got back to the dorm it was dark out, I'd grab dinner at a dining hall, chow down and then drink myself silly. It was college, I wasn't under my mother's eye and we were freshmen, it was what we did. Needless to say, my complexion took a beating, at least that's how it looked. Because one day, out of no where, I was hanging out in my friend's room and his roommate looks at me and comments on my dark circles, "It looks like you got punched in the face." Well that's what the insult felt like, it knocked the air out of me and the next day I bought industrial strength under-eye moisturizer. Now, I don't know if it was the comment, or what it made me see in myself, but after that some sort of concealing was happening on a daily basis. Of course I can't blame my entire self-view on one idiotic remark from a man who clearly does not know how to converse with the fairer sex, and I'm not going to, but there are always remarks, looks, feelings that we get off other people, internalize them and add them to the why-I-hate-myself pile. And even to this day, the number one thing I need to cover up are my dark circles. I will say, to the man's credit, that he was absolutely correct, it did look like I'd gotten punched in the face, it still does, and that is one of the reasons why I wear make up. But here's some free advice, to all men, even if you don't want to sleep with her, never, ever, under any circumstances say anything negative about a woman's face. Because let me tell you, she's thought about her face every which way, so anything you say will resonate with her as true. So again, never say anything negative, even if she asks you... especially if she asks you.
Beauty, Film & TV

NO MAKEUP WEEK: Day 4 – Sunday

Leave a comment
The Day Of Rest I might have taken Sunday as a day of rest a little too literally. Yesterday I slept most of the day away, finally waking up 2PM. I did the usual: recon to find all my belongings I'd scattered around my room in my altered state, recounted my weekend with a long-distance friend, and ate left-over Indian food. Before I knew it, I had to be on my merry way, for this weekend I had a full dance card and my next tango was coming up in the form of a birthday party in the ABCs. But first thing's first, I was overdue to get my lady garden landscaped by the "we don't fuck around" Russian ladies at Dyanna Spa (highly recommended.) When I got there, my Waxer/Waxologist (what's the job title?) took a look at my face and said, "You look different." She said she didn't know what it was but that it was different and nice. And so we conversed about different things, the weekend, my job, my vagina; my naked face seemed to be bridging not only a language barrier but bringing me closer to a woman who'd seen me in more positions than my yoga instructor. Sunday, Bloody Sunday I was beginning to feel more confident, especially after my weekend of partying. No one really seemed to notice I wasn't wearing makeup, and if they did, they didn't care. Which goes back to the old philosophy, people care far too much about themselves to notice anyone else. After the party, I checked out a tattoo parlor (I'm thinking of getting one,) and looking at the artists' books and the massive work that people had gotten made me question beauty. More so than putting a face on everyday, we all have beauty routines. We brush our hair, we moisturize, we accessorize, we create ensembles, we make up, we dye, we wax, we tattoo, we pierce, we tuck, we implant, we Lipo, I could go on forever, but I think you get the point. Beauty routines are not abnormal, but they are varying, both by way and extent. Now some might say certain regimens or procedures are unnecessary, and they might very well be, but they might very well not be to that individual. But where and when do we draw a distinction between normal, acceptable beauty alterations and deformation? Side Note: I know I'm raising a lot of really deep questions this week, and while I might not be able to answer all or even any of them definitively by the end of the week, they represent more of a greater meditation on beauty than just asinine questions meant to confuse the reader. I'm guessing this didn't help with that much. This post is brought to you by Original RadFem, and no stranger to makeup, Christina Aguilera.
Beauty

NO MAKEUP WEEK: Day 3 – Saturday

Leave a comment
So considering my body has decided to wake itself up today at 2PM, I had a fairly good Saturday night. It all started with my my Saturday afternoon shopping extravaganza. *Ripple* *Ripple* *Fade* *Fade* Shopping With A Purpose I wanted to go to Macy's to get some jeans and decided to walk because yesterday was the prettiest little day ever. So I hobbled my ass up 6th avenue and along the way I stopped in some stores and it was like the heavens opened up and placed carefully constructed items in my path that said, "I am yours, take me home with you!" I bought everything from Fall boots to my Halloween costume (Bearded Lady.) It was like the Universe was rewarding me for not wearing makeup with material wealth! When I got to Macy's the shopping was beginning to take it's toll on me and when I stepped into the classic department store on the ground floor, aka the cosmetics department, I knew I had to get away from it; the perfume girls, the makeup artists, the fluorescent lit mirrors, the free samples, oh god, the free samples! I was like Whitney Houston in a crack den. After avoiding the cosmetics areas like the plague, I went home to relax before the party experiment. Saturday Night Fever I did the bar scene on Friday and so the natural progression of experimentation with my face was to bring it out to a party with people I hadn't seen in a while and some I'd never met before. So I brought my untouched face over to my good friend Prof.PurplePant's place and we set out to embark on what would be a 6AM night. When we got to the party the dim lighting and the beer were giving me a little more confidence. That confidence boost, however, did not prepare me for the male attention I was about to receive. In my weakened state I was hit on, rather cavalierly , by two men. Being that I was not expecting it, it got me thinking. Might it be true when men say they don't care about an unmade face? Could it merely be the lighting? The alcohol? Or perhaps they're just trying to old, Hit-on-Everything-with-Lady-Parts Game. Whatever it is it couldn't possibly be because I actually look okay without a fresh paint job, or at least that's what the magazines tell us. Now I've been hit on in every outfit I have; in a dress, in pants, in sweats, men will always find a reason to hit on a woman. So this experience forced me to ask myself, if I'm not doing this to my face to present my best self when I got out into social scenes, then why am I doing it? Is it just my natural insecurities coming out when there's not a barrier between my face and the world? Or could it be possible that I'm doing it for myself without much care of what other people think?
Beauty

NO MAKEUP WEEK: Day 2 – Friday

1 Comment
TGIFriday... Or Not Fridays are usually always welcomed with a sigh, a smile and a shot; but this Friday, being the first that I would go out into the desperate streets of New York City sans makeup, was something different. Friday was the first time that I found it hard to not put makeup on. Work is one thing, I sit at my desk, not too much interaction with people, even if I'm out during the day, under the harsh light of the sun, not every woman walking down the street has her face on, but the night is a different story. It was girls night, and before I went to meet my ladies I went home and found it difficult to not throw on some eye makeup and the strawberry lipgloss that had been staring at me from my nightstand. I had to put it away, the sweet aroma of faux berries and shimmery shine was too tempting to keep out in the open. So instead of giving into temptation, I washed the day off my face, did my hair and threw some bling on (shiny things tend to distract boys.) Under The Cover Of Night And so I went out, under the cover of night, me and my girls shopped in SoHo, dined in Little Italy and got drinks on Spring St. The bar scene is usually not the best lit place and with the people surrounding me drinking and with their eyes glued to the college football game, I shouldn't have felt anymore self-conscious than I had in the light of day. No one was looking at me, and if they were, the circumstances weren't adequate to decipher my au naturale face. But that was exactly the problem, no one was looking at me, and then I started looking at the other women in the bar, what were they telling me with their faces? Night makeup: we slather it on thicker, we brush it on darker, it's not so subtle, it says "Notice me!" or at least, "Look at me and not that other girl." Why is it that in the darkness and with the prospect of meeting someone, we women, put on a different face? A darker face? A more severe face? You can ponder that while you watch the severe faces of Madonna, Lourdes and Queen Eye Liner Whore, Taylor Momsen at the launch of the Material Girl line. Like could she like say like, like one more like time? Update: I wanted to give a big thanks to everyone for helping RadCooks reach it's 20,000th hit today! I feel the love and I want to swim in it!
Beauty

NO MAKEUP WEEK: Day 1 – Thursday

Leave a comment
Morning In Mourning I had to wake up extra early today, because, being the spaz that I am, I injured my foot in my sleep and had to follow up at the foot doctor, oh what a glamorous life I lead. Mornings are not really my thing, but this one was a little less rushed since I didn't have to perpetuate my daily makeup regimen (points not wearing makeup). I let my shaggy bangs hang low over my brows and donned my black-rimmed glasses to hopefully distract from the zombie look in my eyes. And so I was off, two hours earlier than I'd normally have to wake up, and on very little sleep (I worked 12 hrs yesterday, don't ask). My interaction with the foot doctor was my first foray into the makeupless world, and being that she was primped and put together at 8AM, it did not make me feel any better about my cracky look. When I arrived at work, not only did I feel like shit, for not having slept well, but I looked it. And as if the raccoon eyes weren't enough self-inflicted punishment, I was sporting a fetching new ankle support device, because, let's face it, if I didn't already feel out of place my doctor was going to make sure I was. Hey, at least it matched my dress! Professionalism Is Overrated One makeup enhanced theme that came to mind today was the idea of cosmetics in the professional world. As the working girl that I am, I find myself trying always to present myself with the professionalism required for an office job (an office job mind you that comes with a Foosball table in the kitchen). Everyday I wake up, primp, don my trendiest outfits, cover up all the areas that need covering and then I put on my "work face;" fresh, awake and completely appropriate, without that whole news-anchor thing. I would normally never dare come into work without at least a good base and some warmth in my cheeks, and so this experiment is forcing my to ask myself why do I associate makeup with professionalism? Is my face yet one more thing I must cover up when coming into the office? What is it about tired eyes that say, "I'm lazy?" On one hand, it could be that I didn't feel like taking the 5 minutes to fix them; but on the other hand, it speaks the truth. I'm a hard worker, and working almost 50 hrs a week makes a girl a little tired; am I not just showing my professional battle scars?
Beauty

NO MAKEUP WEEK: A Crisis of Faith

Leave a comment
Hello Loyal & Deranged Readers, it is I, MissBleecker, your fearless, albeit fickle, leader (of sorts.) I won't dwell on my absence of late, just consider it a mental vacation. That is all. Well why have I returned to you, you ask? Well, let's just say, for the sake of this abusive relationship, I can't stay away from you too long, I have so much more torment to inflict. But what has broken you out of your month-long globbing funk? Well, today, as I was perusing my favorite feminist blog (aside from, you know, my own) Jezebel, I stumbled upon a quaint little post, The Week Of No Makeup. Writer is embarking on a challenge to not wear a stitch of makeup for a whole week. Nothing, nada, zilch. None to work, none to dinner, none at bars, none on dates (gasp), none on the hungover Sunday brunch with your parents (just as well, it's usually just the mascara-smudged remnants from the Saturday night shit-show.) And then it happened, Writer challenged all the women reading the post to do the same, go one week sans face-paint. Now MissBleecker is not one to shy away from a challenge, and so, Writer, I accept. 7 days without makeup (I'm sorry world.) Not only will I be participating in, what will heretofore be referred to as, The No Makeup Week Challenge Extravaganza, or something better for short, (how about Cavewoman Status Week?), but I will also be chronicling my week-long journey in this little box known as the interweb. Now, for some girls (we'll call them Eyeliner Whores), this challenge wouldn't be so tough. Those are the girls who are all like, "oh, I wear makeup," but really only wear eyeliner and maybe some tinted lip gloss. No, MissBleecker is a makeup fiend, I wake up and literally put on a new face. There's not a day that I don't wear makeup; I wear makeup to the grocery store, I wear makeup to take a stroll, I wear make up to buy makeup, I even wore makeup to hot yoga once (not recommended.) And I don't just do one or two things either, I have a fucking routine. So yeah, this is going to be extra hard for me, but I'm committed, and even though it's going to be an awkward, uncomfortable and a long week, it's going to be worth it in the end (I hope.)
The Rules 1. No makeup. 2. Any skincare (untinted of course) is acceptable. 3. I retain the right to do my hair, wear my regular cute outfits and accessorize. 4. My mani/pedi from last week is still going strong, and since I paid for it, it stays until it chips. 5. Nothing else will change in my day-to-day life. 6. I will document all changes in attitude; my own and those with whom I come into contact
So there it is, the gauntlet has been thrown down; starting tomorrow not brush nor liner nor cream shall touch my face for 7 consecutive days. I will be continuing life as normal, going to work, meetings, out with friends, and even to the odd party; may god have mercy on our souls!