When presenting yourself as a woman, every detail counts. The right handbag pulls your outfit together and is the finishing touch to your feminine look.

The wrong bag, however, can spoil an otherwise perfect outfit and even call attention to body flaws. Who needs that?

Here are 6 things to consider when choosing a handbag:

1. Length

Length is an important and often overlooked detail. Your handbag accentuates the part of your body it falls next to, so keep these tips in mind:

• To make your hips look wider, choose a bag that falls at hip level.

• To make your waist look more shapely, choose a waist-length bag.

2. Shape

Handbags can range in shape from square and structured to soft and rounded. To provide balance, look for a bag with features that are the opposite of your body. For example:

• If you have a straight body shape, look for a slouchy or rounded bag to create the illusion of curves.

• If you’re on the rounded side, a more structured bag will flatter your features.

3. Size

Your handbag should compliment your overall body proportions. If you’re tall and/or stocky, a tiny bag will look out of place. If you’re small, a big that’s too big will overwhelm you. Choose a bag that’s in sync with your proportions.

4. Style

A bag that’s too casual or too formal for the rest of your outfit is a common fashion “don’t.” Study fashion magazines and blogs to learn which bags looks best with specific outfits. I also recommend the Stitch Fix boards on Pinterest for tons of bag+outfit ideas.

5. Function

While your purse should look good, it also needs to serve its purpose. There’s nothing more annoying than a tiny bag that doesn’t fit your essentials… or constantly losing things in a bag that’s too big or has too many compartments. Make sure the size and various compartments of the bag work for you.

6. Color

Color is one of the most important handbag considerations. Here are two tips to keep in mind:

• Forget about the old rule to match your bag to your shoes. While your bag and shoes should coordinate, they don’t have to be an exact match.

• A black or brown bag will give you the most mileage, but don’t be afraid to try something different. Red, burgundy, forest green, and dark blue are surprisingly versatile handbag colors.

Let’s talk bags!

As much as I love shoes, I might be even more obsessed with bags. That’s why my collection is constantly growing. (Thank you, Ebay!)

What about you? How many bags do YOU own?

Take my poll and tell me about your favorite bag in the comments below! Even better, share a photo of it with us!

Love,
Lucille

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

Hormones. Everyone has them, but do you know just how powerful these molecules are? How they affect your entire existence, as you know it? So let’s talk about them, but with a focus on what happens when someone undergoes hormone therapy.

When many people hear the phrase “hormone therapy,” the common thought is: It is only for women going through menopause, but we’re going to look at hormone therapy used for transitioning genders.

No matter what your gender, age or race, everyone has both estrogen and testosterone in them. Estrogen and testosterone are the main components in the body that makes a person look male or female. Now what makes a person feel male or female, well, that’s an entirely different post…

Estrogen molecule made of estrogen pills by healthmindandlife.com

In females, the ovaries and adrenal glands produce estrogen and testosterone. Testosterone in females is important for muscle strength, sex drive, and a sense of well-being. Now men have about 10 times more testosterone than females, and males can produce testosterone, in the testes, much faster than females can in their ovaries.

In men, testosterone is chemically converted to estrogen, as the body needs it for maturing sperm and possibly regulating sex drive.

So when a person transitions to the opposite gender, they undergo hormone therapy to adjust the levels of estrogen and testosterone in their body. This essentially puts a patient through a second puberty. While the new hormones can’t totally reverse the effects of the first puberty, it’s the development of the secondary sex characteristics which makes the person begin to physically appear as the gender they identify with.

When males transition to females (MTF), they’re also given anti-androgens. These block testosterone from doing what testosterone is supposed to do and lowers the amount of testosterone overall. This significant reduction of testosterone means the typical secondary sex characteristics in men will start to go away. Muscle mass will shrink, fat will redistribute, and body hair will become thinner and lighter.

In order for the female attributes to develop, transitioning males take forms of estrogen in gels, pills, or shots.

Although hormone levels may reach target levels in the first year of therapy, it takes roughly 2-3 years for the physical changes to occur, but hey, that’s still quicker than puberty.

Females transitioning to males (FTM) are given testosterone, sometimes called T. Does that mean cup of tea? Nope. Ice-T? Still no. Mr. T? Um.. Testosterone – that’s the one. T can be applied topically with a gel or through routine shots. The increase of T lowers the voice, produces facial hair, and increases muscle mass. This increase of T also lowers the amount of estrogen in the body causing the breasts to decrease in size, the shoulders and hips to broaden, and the menstrual cycle to stop.

It takes about one to two years of being on these hormones for a born female to attain male levels of estrogen and testosterone.

So there you have it. Estrogen and testosterone through hormone therapy play a huge role in physically transitioning genders. And since these hormones are so powerful, you should never take hormones without talking your doctor first. I hope you enjoyed this dose of biochemistry for you.

As found on Youtube