Depression Awareness 2012

Every year, I like to talk a little bit about an invisible illness that many of us suffer from, but very few people are aware of the facts surrounding it.  That affliction is depression, and it's still very misunderstood by those who have not personally experienced it.

Clinical depression isn't just feeling sad once in a while, or naturally grieving for a period of time after a sad life event.  There's more to it, and it can seriously affect your day to day life.  Here's how it's defined by the National Institute of Mental Health:

"Major depressive disorder, or major depression, is characterized by a combination of symptoms that interfere with a person's ability to work, sleep, study, eat, and enjoy once-pleasurable activities. Major depression is disabling and prevents a person from functioning normally. Some people may experience only a single episode within their lifetime, but more often a person may have multiple episodes."

There are many different forms of depression, some of which are:

Dysthymic disorder, or dysthymia, is characterized by long-term (2 years or longer) symptoms that may not be severe enough to disable a person but can prevent normal functioning or feeling well. People with dysthymia may also experience one or more episodes of major depression during their lifetimes.

Minor depression is characterized by having symptoms for 2 weeks or longer that do not meet full criteria for major depression. Without treatment, people with minor depression are at high risk for developing major depressive disorder.
Some forms of depression are slightly different, or they may develop under unique circumstances. However, not everyone agrees on how to characterize and define these forms of depression. They include:

• Psychotic depression, which occurs when a person has severe depression plus some form of psychosis, such as having disturbing false beliefs or a break with reality (delusions), or hearing or seeing upsetting things that others cannot hear or see (hallucinations).
• Postpartum depression, which is much more serious than the "baby blues" that many women experience after giving birth, when hormonal and physical changes and the new responsibility of caring for a newborn can be overwhelming. It is estimated that 10 to 15 percent of women experience postpartum depression after giving birth.¹
• Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), which is characterized by the onset of depression during the winter months, when there is less natural sunlight. The depression generally lifts during spring and summer. SAD may be effectively treated with light therapy, but nearly half of those with SAD do not get better with light therapy alone. Antidepressant medication and psychotherapy can reduce SAD symptoms, either alone or in combination with light therapy.²

Bipolar disorder, also called manic-depressive illness, is not as common as major depression or dysthymia. Bipolar disorder is characterized by cycling mood changes—from extreme highs (e.g., mania) to extreme lows (e.g., depression). More information about bipolar disorder is available.

What are the signs and symptoms of depression?

People with depressive illnesses do not all experience the same symptoms. The severity, frequency, and duration of symptoms vary depending on the individual and his or her particular illness.
Signs and symptoms include:

• Persistent sad, anxious, or "empty" feelings
• Feelings of hopelessness or pessimism
• Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, or helplessness
• Irritability, restlessness
• Loss of interest in activities or hobbies once pleasurable, including sex
• Fatigue and decreased energy
• Difficulty concentrating, remembering details, and making decisions
• Insomnia, early-morning wakefulness, or excessive sleeping
• Overeating, or appetite loss
• Thoughts of suicide, suicide attempts
• Aches or pains, headaches, cramps, or digestive problems that do not ease even with treatment.

What illnesses often co-exist with depression?

Other illnesses may come on before depression, cause it, or be a consequence of it. But depression and other illnesses interact differently in different people. In any case, co-occurring illnesses need to be diagnosed and treated.

Anxiety disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, social phobia, and generalized anxiety disorder, often accompany depression.  PTSD can occur after a person experiences a terrifying event or ordeal, such as a violent assault, a natural disaster, an accident, terrorism or military combat. People experiening PTSD are especially prone to having co-existing depression.

In a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded study, researchers found that more than 40 percent of people with PTSD also had depression 4 months after the traumatic event.

Alcohol and other substance abuse or dependence may also co-exist with depression. Research shows that mood disorders and substance abuse commonly occur together.

Depression also may occur with other serious medical illnesses such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, and Parkinson's disease. People who have depression along with another medical illness tend to have more severe symptoms of both depression and the medical illness, more difficulty adapting to their medical condition, and more medical costs than those who do not have co-existing depression. Treating the depression can also help improve the outcome of treating the co-occurring illness.

What causes depression?

Most likely, depression is caused by a combination of genetic, biological, environmental, and psychological factors.

Depressive illnesses are disorders of the brain. Longstanding theories about depression suggest that important neurotransmitters—chemicals that brain cells use to communicate—are out of balance in depression. But it has been difficult to prove this.

Brain-imaging technologies, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), have shown that the brains of people who have depression look different than those of people without depression. The parts of the brain involved in mood, thinking, sleep, appetite, and behavior appear different. But these images do not reveal why the depression has occurred. They also cannot be used to diagnose depression.

Some types of depression tend to run in families. However, depression can occur in people without family histories of depression too. Scientists are studying certain genes that may make some people more prone to depression. Some genetics research indicates that risk for depression results from the influence of several genes acting together with environmental or other factors.

In addition, trauma, loss of a loved one, a difficult relationship, or any stressful situation may trigger a depressive episode. Other depressive episodes may occur with or without an obvious trigger.

For more facts and statistics on depression, visit my previous posts,  helpguide.org and the National Institute of Mental Health. 

If you are experiencing thoughts of suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Speaking on a personal level, depression deeply affects me.  Sometimes it's this overwhelming weight on my mind and body, a dark cloud over my head and a feeling like I'm carrying the world on my shoulders while walking through deep mud.  It can make even simple tasks seem impossible; it destroys my concentration; it hampers my motivation.

There are many ways to help someone with depression, but you know what really doesn't help?  People who tell me "Snap out of it!,"  "Just cheer up!," "What do you have to be depressed about?  There are people who have it much worse than you!."  "Happiness is a choice!".  Do you really think that I want to be depressed?  That I love feeling like shit?  That I can just flip some magical switch and everything will suddenly become sunshine and rainbows??  That invalidating my feelings will actually somehow make me feel better?  Be kind and supportive toward your friends with depression.  You may not understand what they're going through, but a sympathetic and non-judgmental ear can make a world of difference to them.

Anyway, now that all that uncomfortable personal stuff is out of the way, how about some cheerful nail spam?  The color for depression awareness is green, and that just so happens to be one of my most favorite polish colors.

And for everyone out there reading this that's going through depression, don't despair.  You're not alone in this.  There are people who understand and you don't have to suffer in silence.  We're here for you.

Essie Armed and Ready

 L'Oreal Bijou Gems in B. Strong

 

Pro 10 Camouflage

 

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Chlorophyll

 OPI Damone Roberts 1968

Deborah Lippmann Don't Tell Mama

 

Mavala 126 Electric Green

Calvin Klein Splendid Color in Emerald Green

 

Hard Candy Greed

 Claire's Kelly Green

 Barielle Shades in Lily of the Valley

 

 L'Oreal Wear Extraordinaire in Martini Olive

Confetti My Favorite Martian

Man Glaze Nawsome Sauce

The Painted Nail olive green shimmer (no label)

 Dare to Wear Poison Ivy

 

Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro in Rags to Riches

 

Revlon Colorstay in Rainforest

Color Club Magnetic Force in Sci Fi

Butter London Swinger

 Pretty Serious VT100

Butter London Wallis

 Ninja Polish Zultanite (over black)

Man Glaze Mayonnaise

It's been a long time in the making, but now it's finally here. ManGlaze has released their newest shade: Mayonnaise.

Over a year ago ManGlaze sent some of us a teaser picture of a white matte prototype topped with some silver glitter and it looked amazing. Now I can see it with my own eyes. I like.

ManGlaze Mayonnaise. It's a matte white- a nice clean matte white without yellow tones in it like actual mayonnaise would have. It has a slight pearlescence to it to keep it from looking like pure white-out.

He sent along a bottle of Hot Mess so I could duplicate that original white/glitter look:

One coat of Hot Mess over three coats of Mayonnaise.

And with topcoat, just because:

The formula on this was pretty good. If it were normal polish I'd probably say it was too thick, but since it's a matte it has a different set of standards for me. I didn't have any trouble with application- it was thick but not unmanageable. Since it's white it can get streaky and that's why I did three coats. As long as you have plenty of polish on the brush and never let the brush or nail get too dry while applying you won't have a problem. It was easier to apply than KO White which is the only matte white I can compare it to. Not as easy as OPI Alpine Snow matte, but that's basically pure white-out so, apples and oranges. The only complaint I have about the formula of Mayonnaise is that it takes a lot longer to dry than Fuggen Ugly or The Death Tar. I wasn't prepared for that and ruined my first manicure. Just give yourself a little extra time with this one.

Another thing that seems different about Mayonnaise compared to the other ManGlaze shades is that the bottle is tiny. I don't know if it's a mini or if this is the normal bottle size for this shade. I can't find any info on the size or volume of the bottle online to know for sure. I wasn't expecting such a petite bottle- no Costco industrial sized drum of Mayo here! EDIT: Mini is a mini, the one you'll purchase from the website will be normal sized.

In case you've never used a matte polish before, or maybe you're just having trouble with them, here's how you should apply mattes:

Apply basecoat and let it dry COMPLETELY. If it's not completely dry it will cause the polish to crack like those old Cover Girl crackle polishes. Though, you should try it at least once, cause it looks pretty cool.

Get a really big bead of polish on your brush- it will seem like too much, but trust me, you'll need it. Apply the polish in a gentle pushing motion, as if you were pushing the bead of polish down your nail instead of a painting motion. If you use Seche Vite topcoat, this is also the same method you'd use to apply that, if that helps you imagine the motion. Don't stop the brush, don't press down hard, don't go over the same spot twice. You want it to be one fluid motion, from cuticle to free edge, for each stroke you need to make to cover the nail. Aim to cover the whole nail in two to three brushstrokes keeping the brush wet at all times (you may need to add more polish to the brush between strokes).

It is very important not to press down too hard with the brush. It'll cause streaks and ridges. You want a very light touch and you want the brush to stay very wet. Try to use as few strokes as possible. This will give you a smooth, even, ridge-free matte application.

Overall, I'm rather impressed with Mayonnaise. Application was easier than I anticipated. It's not yellowed looking like KO White, but it's also not a stark white-out creme white. It's definitely wearable. It doesn't remind me so much of mayonnaise as it does of royal icing. But, royal icing doesn't sound as nasty as mayonnaise so I don't think that name would have stuck.

(This was sent to me for review.)

First attempts at the 'Ruffian Manicure'

Since I'm always swatching I feel like I never get to play around or experiment much. And then when I experiment or do things just for fun, I feel like I've wasted valuable swatching time! But, I decided I wanted to try this Ruffian thing cause I like the way it looks. Here's a couple combinations I ended up with:



My very first try. I was already wearing this gorgeous Chi Chi Moondust (thank you Kaz!) and decided to put a little China Glaze 2030 on. I like the blue and gold together! I'm going to have to do this combination again!

But I'm not really sure if you're supposed to let the polish on the sides show, or how far down you're supposed to go... Or how wide it's supposed to look?

Instead of taking the whole thing off, I wanted to see what it looked like with a third color, so I added some China Glaze GR8 (can you tell I had my Konad supplies nearby? lol)

Looks kinda cool with the holo!


Wanted to try it with some brighter colors so I picked out some Color Clubs. I can't get that green to photograph properly, it just turns this stupid pale color! Argh! But it's really darker than that, and neon, not pastel.

And before I took that off I wanted to see what it would look like with a third color again:

Can't capture these neons properly! So frustrating! But for once Pucci-licious looks like it's supposed to in a picture! Something about being next to a blue helped... Odd. And if the orange and pink look thick, it's cause they are. There's about four coats of those because the blue showed through too much, plus Seche Vite on top and to make it even worse it's still wet in these pictures. Would look a lot less thick and bubble nail like when it's dry. I like the multicolor look, but to me it looks like lines of gumdrops on my nails! Which reminds me, I had a box of Candy Corn flavored Dots around here somewhere...


Thought matte/glossy would be a good combination so I did ManGlaze Fuggen Ugly on top of Essie Limited Addiction. Looks cool, I like the contrast! But it also looks like my nails are being ripped off my fingers, doesn't it? Like the cuticle is all bloody and my nails have slid halfway off? Gory!! I might have to keep this in mind for Halloween!

And because I couldn't leave well enough alone, this abomination happened. It is really fuggen ugly.

Now I want to try every combination of colors and finishes I can think of. I like this look. It's like a moon manicure but different and easier! I'm going to go try another one right now, actually.

New stuff from ManGlaze

We've been hearing for a while now that ManGlaze was up to something... Creating new products... hearing the whispers and rumors. The time is finally here to see some of the new stuff they've been working on, and I was fortunate enough to receive a few samples to review. So, here are ManGlaze's new creations!
Hot Mess matte glitter topcoat, Matte-Astrophe matte topcoat, Matte is Murder. ManGlaze always has excellent artwork on their bottles- these feature work by Joe Simko and Jason atomic. You can click these for a closeup.


Hot Mess. Matte silver glitter. This is a really dense silver glitter that dries completely matte. You can use it as a topcoat to add glitter and mattify, or wear it alone as I'm doing here. Matte glitter is one of my favorite looks in the universe, there's just something about it... It looks like frozen metal platelets or something. Like stones under a layer of ice?


Matte Is Murder. Matte black shimmer. This replaces the original Matte Black / The Death Tar. The Death Tar is now discontinued. Matte Is Murder is really pretty similar, but it seems a touch blacker in matte form, a more visible rainbow shimmer and a slightly more matte finish than the original. It's also vegan.


And... the obligatory topcoat shots!


Hot Mess with topcoat. As you can see, this is an extremely sparkly glitter. Like a little disco ball on each nail. And, as an added bonus, it's very very smooth. Glitters usually leave a bit of grittiness on the nail, and this really doesn't, even without topcoat. Something about the matte finish makes all the glitter particles lie completely flat on the nail.

Matte is Murder with topcoat and Hot Mess matte accent. Hot Mess looks really cool over matte black... it's so dense that you can only see a bit of the black through the silver, which kinda gives it an overall grey look. And the Matte Is Murder with topcoat? Gorgeous. It completely transforms with shiny topcoat... From a badass matte asphalt black to a deep glossy black filled with tons of rainbow sparkles. There is a lot of holographic/rainbow shimmer in here. Click the picture to see it up close. It reminds me of Bloom Mena once there's topcoat on it.

I didn't get a chance to use Matte-Astrophe in these pictures because... well.. the polishes are matte to begin with. But, I did use it for a manicure later that day, so I got a chance to test drive the formula.

Matte-Astrophe is a matte topcoat that can be used either to restore the matte finish on your ManGlaze or other matte finish polishes, or to mattify a glossy color. I used it on top of Sally Hansen Burnt Sienna and it was amazing. Burnt Sienna is kind of a golden-olive-brassy type shade, so when the Matte-Astrophe was applied it looked like antique metal, old brass or even a frosted glass Christmas ornament. (I'll get pictures soon, as well as include this in my Matte Topcoat review.) The one tricky part about Matte-Astrophe is that is *must* be used on dry polish. If the polish is wet -at all, even just a little!- it will cause a crackle effect. This can be used to your advantage, actually... It looks pretty cool when done intentionally. My topcoat crackled on my ring fingers, somehow my polish wasn't quite as dry as I thought it was. The effect it gives is of little rivers of glossy color breaking through a matte surface- kind of how lava looks when the molten red rock shows through the cracked black top. I enjoy it and I plan to experiment a lot more with it.

The formula on all of these is on par with the rest of the ManGlaze line. Perfect. Smooth, opaque, dries extremely fast. I did two coats of each of these colors, you might be able to get away with one if you are more careful in your application. These don't dry while you're applying them so they're extremely forgiving with sloppy application. I didn't have a single problem- the polish went where it was supposed to and brushes fit my nails perfectly. An interesting feature of these particular bottles is that they click closed. When you've closed the bottle tightly enough, you'll hear and feel a little click. I've never experienced that before on a polish bottle, so I thought it was worth mentioning! EDIT: I've just received word from ManGlaze that the clicking isn't an intentional feature- mine might be a fluke! So if yours don't click, don't try to force it :)

The price has gone up quite a bit for the topcoats- Matte-Astrophe and Hot Mess are $13.13. Ha! Love it. (Not the price increase, cause that's a bummer, but the fact that they're $13.13) Matte Is Murder is still $6.66.

Also worth noting: These are a limited run and there are fewer than 1500 bottles available of each. They are numbered as well, which I think is pretty cool. Gives a really personal touch to the product.


Overall, I love these as much as I've loved any ManGlaze product. Like I always mention in my ManGlaze reviews, I really appreciate their sense of humor, their awesome artwork and the fact that they're totally my style. The formula is good, the finish is good, the brushes and bottles are good, I have no complaints.

As far as I'm aware, ManGlaze can only be purchased online at ManGlaze.com and at a few select boutiques. (And while you're on Manglaze.com, check out the picture of Lajon Witherspoon wearing ManGlaze polish. Now that's a celebrity endorsement I can appreciate!)