Here is a great shot by Vino Darius Calloway, taken on June 24th, 2016 on the Bonneville Salt Flats…I am SO blessed to be able to shoot with great photographers who also happen to be wonderful people!
Category Art
Draped In Gold…Ravish Sands Competition Suit MUST SELL
I love this GORGEOUS Ravish Sands suit, but it really needs to go, as it is a reminder for me of what I have decided to let go of, i.e., the world of competing. This is a custom made suit, and is perfect for the NPC or IFBB Bikini competitor who wants to be a golden goddess! The base of the suit is a hologram yellow, and the top and the front of the bottoms are heavily crystallized with Swarovski crystals. The gold and rhinestone chain connectors are flirty and sexy, and gently drape around and under the hips.
I paid $500 to have this suit made, and wore it on the IFBB Pro stage at two events in 2014. The suit is in fantastic condition, with no missing crystals or signs of wear, and there is only a minimal amount of staining on the inside of the suit from competition spray tan.
This suit will fit a 34 to 36 C or D cup, and the bottoms will fit a 34 to 35 inch hip. For reference, I am 5’5″, and I competed in this suit at 119 lbs., with 34-24-34 dimensions.
I am now willing to let go of this suit for $165 which includes shipping.
Please message me at stacey@staceynaito.com if you are interested. Serious inquiries only. I really want this beautiful suit to go to a good home!
Quit Taking My Musical Icons
Michael Jackson’s death in June of 2009 was so shocking and painful for me that I still feel profound sadness over his passing. I grew up listening to his music, so his voice and artistic vision helped to define my entire life from childhood. David Bowie had a similar impact on my growing years, and I was so passionately moved by his musical genius that he remained a favorite artist from the time I was very little through today. Though Bowie was ill from cancer, his death was shocking as well, and my heart has been heavy from it.
When I heard that Prince was dealing with poor health, I began to worry. Surely this 57 year old multitalented musical god wasn’t near death’s door? Alarm bells went off in my head when I heard about the emergency plane landing on April 15th. Then on the morning of Thursday, April 21st, I flipped to Sirius XM’s Z100NY and thought it was very odd that a Prince song from 1984, “When Doves Cry”, was playing, since the station runs current hits. I pulled into a gas station and turned off the ignition to pump my gas. When I started up the car, “Purple Rain” was playing on Z100NY. I groaned and thought, “Oh no…”, grabbed my phone and looked up Prince. Sure enough, news of his death had hit the world.
It’s been seventeen days since Prince’s death, and I still feel like I was punched in the solar plexus. I have been listening to The Groove to soak up Prince’s music, and my iPod runs Prince tunes while I am training at the gym. Admittedly, though, I already had a collection of Prince songs loaded onto my iPod for many years, so jamming to something like “Sexy M.F.” was a regular occurrence. There is no doubt that I am one of the many millions of Prince fans who are in mourning, who appreciate the enormous talent this man had. Prince was daring, controversial, brilliant, innovative, original, and charismatic, and had a profound influence on my teen years and early adulthood.
R.I.P. Prince.
A Random Image In The Sun
Taken by Chaz Photographics.
What Do You Want To See On My Blog?
Hey everyone! I wanted to check in with you to see what you would like to see on my blog. Since I have been posting every single day, it can be a real challenge to come up with content to post. For that reason, I am not as prone to write lengthy posts.
I have also decided to change my posting frequency to three days per week from now on. I will post every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday or Sunday.
Here is a list of topics which I typically cover:
Preventative health
Optimal health
Brain health
Medical conditions
Anti-aging
Nutrition
Healthy recipes
Supplements
Weightlifting
Exercise
Fitness
Bodybuilding
Sports
Cosmetic Dermatology
Skincare
Makeup
Personal grooming
Empowerment
Modeling
Branding
Fashion
Bodybuilding contests and prep
Music
Pets
Relationships
Travel
Comedy
Entertainment
I welcome suggestions from you! Please reply to this post and let me know how I can best accommodate your interests.
Thanks so much for following my blog!
Depotting MAC Eye Shadows Is Not Fun
Despite the fact that I hardly wear any makeup in my daily life, I have an enormous collection of makeup which I accumulated mostly during 2006 through 2010, when my love for MAC Cosmetics was at its peak. My collection of eye shadows is particularly impressive, with over 80 MAC eye shadows, about a dozen NARS, Chanel, and Chantecaille eye shadows, and roughly 60 MAC loose pigments.
My collection of eye shadow pots was neatly organized in bins, but because I had so many, the shades at the bottoms of the stacks were neglected because I couldn’t see them without digging through the plethora of pots. I kept thinking that I would eventually depot these eye shadows and organize them into palettes, but my busy schedule prevented that from happening for years.
I finally decided last month to depot my MAC eye shadows, and also thought it would be a good idea to depot my MAC blushes, MAC Mineralized Skinfinish bronzers and highlighters, and press the pigments. For those of you who know what all that means, I am sure you are groaning at the idea of depotting that many eye shadow pots, 12 blushes, 17 MSF domes, and all of those pigments. Nevertheless, I was determined.
Before I began the project, I asked a number of professional makeup artists if they had any tips on how to easily depot the eye shadows, and every single one of them told me that it was very challenging.
I decided to start with my MAC blushes. An hour later, I had depotted six of them, but not without denting the pans they were in and crumbling a couple of them, which meant that I was forced to master the art of re-pressing crumbled powder makeup pans. Oh joy. I was so frustrated that I took the rest of the blushes off the list.
MAC blushes depotted and in a MAC Pro Palette Duo.
About a week later, I decided to depot my MAC eye shadow pots, which meant sorting them out in groups of 15 by color family, then heating up the pots on my straightening iron. The setup for this project took up the entire dining room table:
Here was my setup for the MAC eye shadow depotting session I had. The larger pots in the top left of the image are my MAC Mineralized Skinfinishes. The other pots and small palettes comprise only about half of my MAC eye shadow collection. The knives, cookie sheet, rubbing alcohol, and magnet sheets you see in the image were used in the depotting process.
The pans were so difficult to wedge out that the pans became dented once again, and shadows crumbled. So I once again had to re-press some of them. I spent about two hours working on the palette pictured below, and became so frustrated with the poor design of the MAC palette and inserts that I moved all the pans over to the Makeup Forever palettes I purchased.
The first palette I attempted. No more MAC palette nonsense for me! I got rid of this MAC palette duo, and switched to Makeup Forever palette tins, which are great for the standard MAC eye shadow pans. The Z-Palette brand is excellent for pressed pigments and domed makeup pans.
My first Makeup Forever eye shadow palette with MAC eye shadow pans
After completing the first eye shadow palette, I got lazy and removed the inner tray from the pots without bothering to remove the pans from them, and placed the trays into the palettes. Less work, and much less frustration meant a happier Stacey.
I spent a third day using my lazy depotting method on the domed MAC eye shadows. I thought it would be easy and safe. I was wrong. I sliced my fingertip and jabbed my right hand three times with the knife I was using to snap the domed shadows from their pots. But after placing them in the domed Z-Palettes, I was a pretty happy camper.
Finally, on my fourth day of makeup organizing hell, I pressed all the small sample jars of MAC loose pigment which I had collected over the years. Those turned out beautifully:
After all that, you would think I was done, but I am still planning to press a portion of the full sized MAC loose pigments I have:
My collection of MAC full sized loose pigments
I am also considering depotting the MAC Mineralized Skinfinishes, but the thought of them cracking and crumbling worries me. These things are beautiful!
One of my MAC Mineralized Skinfinishes
A long row of MAC Mineralized Skinfinishes
Silks Class
Last fall, I began taking flying trapeze classes and loved the challenge of performing tricks while suspended in the air. What I did not enjoy was being up on the pedestal board, which is the 12 inch deep platform that performers stand on and launch from. Even though I don’t have a significant fear of heights, that damned platform would freak me out every single time I went up there. When you set up to launch off the board, you have to lean completely forward, either by holding onto the side rail or having someone hold you at the waist while you lean waaaaaaay forward. It’s completely unnerving. After three flying trapeze classes, and twenty visits to that blasted board, I still hated being up on the board so much that it distracted me from the joy I felt when I was finally swinging on the trapeze. I could no longer deal with the feeling that my heart wanted to leap out of my chest every time I stood on the board, so I abandoned my pursuit of the flying trapeze.
Though I was pretty much done with flying trapeze, I began to consider taking classes in static trapeze, bungee trapeze, and lyra hoop. I also looked into aerial silks and was so fascinated that I had determined that it was the aerial art I wanted to try next. My roommate and friend Myra bought me a silks class session for Christmas (thank you Myra!), so my opportunity to try silks came about even sooner than I had expected. I booked a class session and headed over to the dance studio earlier this week after work.
The instructor, Kylie, was very friendly and really knew how to explain the tricks in a way which anyone could understand. She showed me the first move, which was a straddle mount inversion. You can see a straddle mount inversion demonstrated in this video:
After Kylie demonstrated the move, she had me come up and try it. I grabbed the silks and attempted to jump into a straddle. No go. My legs folded in and I sank to the mat. I tried a second time and got it, but I didn’t look nearly as graceful as the former ballerina who was now trying to instruct me on the art of aerial silks.
We then did the single foot lock:
And aerial splits:
Throughout the class, I also did arabesques and other ballet-inspired moves while suspended on the silks (it’s a good thing I took basic ballet when I was a kid!). At the end of the 75 minute class in aerial silks, my interest had not waned. I was intrigued. I loved the challenge of using the strength in my abdominals and arms, but the forearm tendinitis and achiness in my wrists and hands became limiting factors in my stamina, so I have some concerns about taxing my body by taking more classes. There are other obstacles as well: 1. lack of free time, 2. lack of funds, and 3. not wanting to remember all the choreography in my already very full brain.
If you are considering taking aerial silks, be aware that you will be at a distinct advantage if you have a strong upper body, because you will be supporting your body weight with your upper body for the majority of the time. If you have severe arthritis in your shoulders, elbows, wrists or hands, you will not enjoy silks. This is a VERY challenging art!
Rings Are My Thing
Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved rings. They were always my favorite items of jewelry, and would always catch my eye. My mother was aware of my fascination for rings, because every time we went to one particular toy store in a local mall, I would make a beeline for the collection of costume rings which were always by the register. Occasionally, she would tell me to pick one out, and she would buy it for me. I treasured those rings, and still have one crafted of faux aquamarine in a box of collectibles to this day.
My two core teachers during first through third grades (at Montessori, I had the same core teachers for the three years I was there), Miss Umholtz and Mrs. Austin, also loved rings. Miss Umholtz would change things up every week, so that a different group of unique silver rings would adorn her long, slender fingers. On my last day of school at Montessori, Mrs. Austin gave me a gift: a tiny cloisonne heart ring. That ring also sits in my collectibles box, along with the faux aquamarine ring.
As my own personal style began to emerge over the years, I discovered that I preferred wearing many rings at one time over just wearing one or two. By the time I was 20, I adopted the habit of wearing at least 3 rings at a time. The only exception to this was when I was married. During those years, at the stern suggestion of the man I married, I only wore my wedding ring on my left ring finger, and I wore my college ring (which was given to me by my mother) on my right hand. Once my marriage was over, however, my habit of stacking and adding rings slowly but surely crept back.
I now wear between five and seven rings at a time. At one point, before I got married, I wore ELEVEN rings on my fingers. I love the feel of silver or platinum around my fingers. Interesting or unique designs will always catch my eye, especially if they showcase a beautiful stone or crystal. Some of the rings in my collection have such powerful stones in them that I have to be in the right frame of mind to wear them. I also love wearing rings on different digits, like my thumb, or above my knuckles (aka midi rings).
It’s amusing to note that midi rings have become popular recently, because I have been wearing them since the 1990’s, when it was considered a bit odd to wear one. What is a midi ring? It is a ring that is worn between the first and second knuckles. I’ve got news for those of you who think this is a new or relatively new trend: midi rings, or above knuckle rings, have been worn since the Middle Ages. During Renaissance times, wealthy people wore midi rings to indicate that they didn’t have to perform manual labor.
Bernhard Strigel, Portrait of a Woman, ca. 1515
I am such a creature of habit that I will wear the same group of rings everywhere. That includes the midi rings and the ring I wear on my left thumb. It doesn’t bother me that some people think I wear too many rings. I very rarely wear earrings, so I make up for it with embellishments on my hands. My rings have become little pieces of armor for me, and I am so accustomed to how they feel on my fingers that I feel strange when I have to remove them for a photo shoot or other event.
Throwback Beach Image By George Kontaxis
Throwback with Ian Lauer in Malibu. Taken by the amazing George Kontaxis.
Another Version of LHGFX Image Posted A Few Days Ago
Here is the color version of the black and white image which I posted a few days ago.
dr. stacey naito's blog 