Test Driving Shiseido's New Interactive Foundation Finder

Summer! It's almost here, so I'm officially on the hunt for a new foundation formula and shade that suits my skin best in warmer weather. But...finding a new foundation is like the worst process ever. Whenever I go to a counter they basically upsell me until I'm buying diamond-infused, caviar-soaked stuff that I use once and toss because I look yellow or get a funky rash or something like that. You feel me, ladies?

So, I stick to this one formula from this one brand in one of two different shades (depending on the season and just how pasty I am), which gets super boring. So, when my editor Rachel introduced me to Shiseido's new Interactive Foundation Finder I had two thoughts: "Ooooh, fun technology!" and "Rachel, please, there's no way that's gonna find me an accurate formula."

But, when I actually gave it a try, the site proved me wrong. (Props to Rachel on this one.)

After logging on, I answer a series of questions. First up? The level of coverage I desired (medium), then it asked which benefits I'd like to reap from my formula, which are basically a toss-up between hydration and sun protection. Finally, you're asked to choose a woman's face that matches your own skin tone as close as possible, along with a few creams below that correspond to the woman whom is closest to your own skintone. 

And, then, ta-da! You find out the best formula for your face, plus essential application tips. My result was Advanced Hydro-Liquid Compact in O20 Natural Light Ochre, which was only $30 -- nearly half the price of my usual formula.

When I got a hold of the actual product a couple days later, I was amazed! This was totally not a formula I'd pick up in real life: I stay away from things that aren't super rich and creamy and the shade was a touch darker that I thought would work for me.

But, when I took seven seconds I swiped it all over my face -- minus the mirror, BTW -- I caught a quick glance and was super impressed at how naturally flawless my skin looked.

I did need an extra hit of moisture later in the day, but the coverage was still going strong 14 hours later.

SO impressed. Thanks, Rach!

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FDA: Lower Ambien's Dose to Prevent Drowsy Driving

By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, May 15 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved new, lower-dose labeling for the popular sleep drug Ambien (zolpidem) in an effort to cut down on daytime drowsiness that could be a hazard while performing certain tasks such as driving.

The move follows the FDA's request to manufacturers in January that drugs containing zolpidem carry instructions that lower the recommended dose and provide more safety information to patients.

"FDA has approved these changes because of the known risk of next-morning impairment with these drugs," the agency said in a statement released Tuesday on its website.

Sleep medications containing zolpidem include Ambien, Ambien CR, Edluar and Zolpimist, as well as generic versions of Ambien and Ambien CR.

"The purpose of the lowering is to help decrease the risk of next-morning impairment of activities that require alertness," Dr. Ellis Unger, director of the Office of Drug Evaluation I at the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said at the time of the agency's request to manufacturers. "We're particularly concerned about driving. A large fraction of the population drives and driving is an inherently dangerous activity."

Lowering the nighttime dose means there will be less residual drug in the blood by the time the person wakes up. Extended-release forms of the drugs tend to stay in the body longer, the FDA said.

The FDA has told manufacturers that recommended doses for women should be cut in half, from 10 milligrams to 5 milligrams for immediate-release products (Ambien, Edluar and Zolpimist) and from 12.5 mg to 6.25 mg for extended-release products (Ambien CR).

For men, the agency has asked manufacturers to change the labeling to recommend that doctors and other health-care professionals consider prescribing lower doses, meaning 5 mg for immediate-release products and 6.25 mg for extended-release products.

In explaining the different recommendations for men and women, Unger said that "women appear to be more susceptible to risk for next-morning impairment because they eliminate zolpidem from their bodies more slowly."

It's not clear why women eliminate the substance from their bodies more slowly than men.

Although there have been reports of adverse events, including motor vehicle accidents possibly related to zolpidem, the link has not and probably cannot be definitely established, Unger said.

The changes were spurred by new driving-simulation studies showing that currently prescribed levels of drugs containing zolpidem may be high enough to impair alertness the next day, he explained.

The FDA will be requiring driving-simulation studies for new sleep medications, and it is assessing other insomnia medications on the market. Eventually, Unger said, "we want driving data on all sleep medications."

Unger emphasized that next-day impairment is not limited to medications containing zolpidem but to all sleep medications.

"For all sleep medications, doctors should prescribe and patients should take the lowest dose," he said.

People taking any kind of sleep medication should not change their dose without first talking to their health-care professional, he stressed.

Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCES: May 14, 2013, news release, U.S. Food and Drug Administration; Feb. 14, 2013, statement, FDA; Jan. 10, 2013, news conference with Ellis Unger, M.D., director, Office of Drug Evaluation I, Office of New Drugs, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration

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FDA: Lower Ambien's Dose to Prevent Drowsy Driving

Blood levels from nighttime dose of sleep aid can remain too high the next morning, agency says

By Amanda Gardner

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, May 15 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved new, lower-dose labeling for the popular sleep drug Ambien (zolpidem) in an effort to cut down on daytime drowsiness that could be a hazard while performing certain tasks such as driving.

The move follows the FDA's request to manufacturers in January that drugs containing zolpidem carry instructions that lower the recommended dose and provide more safety information to patients.

"FDA has approved these changes because of the known risk of next-morning impairment with these drugs," the agency said in a statement released Tuesday on its website.

Sleep medications containing zolpidem include Ambien, Ambien CR, Edluar and Zolpimist, as well as generic versions of Ambien and Ambien CR.

"The purpose of the lowering is to help decrease the risk of next-morning impairment of activities that require alertness," Dr. Ellis Unger, director of the Office of Drug Evaluation I at the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said at the time of the agency's request to manufacturers. "We're particularly concerned about driving. A large fraction of the population drives and driving is an inherently dangerous activity."

Lowering the nighttime dose means there will be less residual drug in the blood by the time the person wakes up. Extended-release forms of the drugs tend to stay in the body longer, the FDA said.

The FDA has told manufacturers that recommended doses for women should be cut in half, from 10 milligrams to 5 milligrams for immediate-release products (Ambien, Edluar and Zolpimist) and from 12.5 mg to 6.25 mg for extended-release products (Ambien CR).

For men, the agency has asked manufacturers to change the labeling to recommend that doctors and other health-care professionals consider prescribing lower doses, meaning 5 mg for immediate-release products and 6.25 mg for extended-release products.

In explaining the different recommendations for men and women, Unger said that "women appear to be more susceptible to risk for next-morning impairment because they eliminate zolpidem from their bodies more slowly."

It's not clear why women eliminate the substance from their bodies more slowly than men.

Although there have been reports of adverse events, including motor vehicle accidents possibly related to zolpidem, the link has not and probably cannot be definitely established, Unger said.

The changes were spurred by new driving-simulation studies showing that currently prescribed levels of drugs containing zolpidem may be high enough to impair alertness the next day, he explained.

The FDA will be requiring driving-simulation studies for new sleep medications, and it is assessing other insomnia medications on the market. Eventually, Unger said, "we want driving data on all sleep medications."

Unger emphasized that next-day impairment is not limited to medications containing zolpidem but to all sleep medications.

"For all sleep medications, doctors should prescribe and patients should take the lowest dose," he said.

People taking any kind of sleep medication should not change their dose without first talking to their health-care professional, he stressed.

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Music Doesn't Hurt Driving Performance: Study

Tunes on CD, radio might even boost focus in some situations, researcher says

By Alan Mozes

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, June 20 (HealthDay News) -- Listening to music while driving doesn't seem to curb response time and might even boost your focus in certain conditions, new Dutch research suggests.

For younger but experienced drivers, loud music from a CD or radio is not a safety concern on par with talking on a cellphone behind the wheel, a simulated-driving study of about 50 college-aged students found.

"Speaking on a cellphone or listening to passengers talking is quite different than listening to music, as the former types are examples of a more engaging listening situation," said study author Ayca Berfu Unal, an environmental and traffic psychologist who was a doctoral student at the University of Groningen when she embarked on the research.

"Listening to music, however, is not necessarily engaging all the time, and it seems like music or the radio might stay in the background, especially when the driving task needs full attention of the driver," Unal said.

She acknowledged, however, that her observations are in many ways preliminary and still await publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Distracted driving is a serious public health issue. Each day in the United States, more than nine people are killed and more than 1,000 are injured in crashes that involve a distracted driver, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

To study music's influence on driving performance, Unal enlisted 47 university students between 19 and 25 years old to engage in a series of simulated road tests. Participants had more than two and a half years' driving experience on average.

First, they were asked to create their own playlist, to make sure the music they listened to was familiar and well-liked.

Computerized driving simulations then surrounded the motorists with four large screens to create a 240-degree view of traffic. Conditions included driving with loud music, driving with moderate-volume music and driving with no music. No sound adjustments were allowed while the tests were under way.

Participants took the virtual wheel for about a half-hour twice in two weeks along a monotonous, non-threatening and predictable drive in two-way traffic.

Unal monitored heart rate changes at five-minute intervals and assessed the drivers' car-following behavior as they adjusted to the changing speed of vehicles ahead of them. Drivers also were asked to report levels of arousal (feeling energized, bored, fatigued or sleepy) while on the road.

The result: Neither the presence of music nor its volume had any ill effect on the drivers' ability to properly follow the car ahead of them.

What's more, those who drove with music responded faster to changes in the speed of the car ahead than those driving without music. And the louder the music, the faster the response, Unal said.

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Even 'Hands-Free' Devices Unsafe While Driving: Report

They cause mental distraction that can lead to crashes, experts warn

By Steven Reinberg

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, June 12 (HealthDay News) -- Drivers who think hands-free devices for talking or texting are safer than handheld cellphones are mistaken, a new report suggests.

Instead, devices such as speech-based technologies in cars can overload drivers, taking their attention from the road and making an accident more likely, experts say.

"Hands-free is not risk-free, even though three out of four motorists believe it is," said Peter Kissinger, president and CEO of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. "We know now that devices like voice-detect or voice-to-email systems can create substantial mental distractions, which can lead to degradation of driving performance."

Each day in the United States, more than nine people are killed and more than 1,000 are injured in crashes that involve a distracted driver, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Brains aren't wired to multi-task, Kissinger said. "It's virtually impossible for the brain to do two complex things at the same time," he said.

Multi-tasking can lead to "inattention blindness," he said, which occurs when people are concentrating on one thing and don't see other things going on around them.

"You can literally look at something and not see it," he said. "We have seen that situation occur in the real world. We have seen people being engrossed in a cellphone conversation and run right through a red light and afterwards don't even remember seeing the red light."

Released Wednesday, the new report was prepared for AAA by researchers from the department of psychology at the University of Utah.

They tested drivers in a variety of ways with a range of distractions including listening to the radio, conversing with a passenger, talking on handheld phones and using hands-free devices. The researchers looked at reaction time, both in lab simulators and on the road, Kissinger said.

The researchers found that reaction time slows and brain function is compromised as mental workload and distractions increase. Drivers check the road less and miss cues that can result in not seeing things right in front of them, such as stop signs and pedestrians.

Behaviors like listening to the radio were a very mild mental distraction, which researchers classified as a level-one distraction, Kissinger said. Voice-activated technology, however, was very distracting at level three, which is considered the highest risk.

Another expert said inattentive driving existed before the era of electronic devices -- hands-free or otherwise.

"Distracted driving is a big problem on the road, but it has always been a big problem, even before cellphones and other electronic devices came along," said Russ Rader, a spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. "Even so, researchers expected to see a wave of crashes as electronic devices proliferated, but the opposite is happening on the road: Police-reported crashes have been on the decline."

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Sarah Harding banned from driving for six months

Sarah Harding has been banned from driving for six months after she failed to stop for police, when she was seen talking on her mobile phone and behind the wheel.

The Girls Aloud star, 31, arrived at Highbury Magistrates court this morning.

She pleaded guilty to driving while talking on her mobile phone.

Her solicitor, Nick Freeman, told the judge that her celebrity status would make travelling on public transport a "massive inconvenience" if she were to be banned from driving.

But the judge told Harding: "Mr Freeman is asking the court to deal with you as opposed to a normal person.

"Well, you are a normal person."

The singer, who is looking to launch a solo career after the band split following their tenth anniversary tour, already had nine points on her licence and was disqualified from driving for the next six months as a result.

SOURCE: METRO

On 8 April 2013, we wrote...

Sarah Harding was arrested after failing to stop for police last week.

The Girls Aloud star was seen making a phone call while she was driving on Charing Cross Road in London on Thursday. When an officer attempted to flag her down, she allegedly refused to pull over.

She was stopped minutes later, arrested, and taken to Holborn Police Station.

Police later confirmed that Harding had been charged with two offences. She is expected to appear at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court on 16 April 2013.

She faces a minimum £1,000 fine and risks losing her license for using her phone while driving. Failing to stop for police when asked carries a further £5,000 fine

"Sarah was ­driving in a 4x4 when a policeman on a bicycle saw her and tried to make her stop," a source tols one British tabloid.

"He was trying to flag her down but she carried on a bit down the road where she was pulled over a couple of minutes later.

"She was talking to the police by the side of the road for a while before she was arrested.

"Apparently Sarah was very upset when she was arrested and charged. The offences are pretty serious."

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SOURCE: NME

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American Energy Works: Driving Economic Growth

Energy-driven economic growth is more than theory in places like Mount Vernon, Ohio, and Chandlersville, about 60 miles to the southeast. Shale energy is building growth in both places – in different ways.

In Mount Vernon, Ariel Corporation is experiencing demand for the reciprocating gas compressors it manufactures, which are used to extract, process, transport, store and distribute natural gas from shale. In Chandlersville, Steve Addis and his wife own and operate Annie’s Restaurant, which is seeing an influx of workers who’re drilling new shale gas wells in the area. Both show how the oil and natural gas industry supports jobs beyond direct industry jobs.

More in this video:

Visit American Energy Works.org for more videos and information about the people who’re at work for America’s energy future.

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