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I LOVE coconut oil. It's awesome for your hair and skin. I've used it as both a body and face moisturizer, and once a week I put it in my hair, leave it for a couple of hours, then shampoo out. Leaves it so soft and shiny and healthy.

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Also, I forgot to mention that there are several much cheaper dupes out there for the Clarisonic–Olay has one, as does Sally's, and I believe Neutrogena and a couple of other brands. The cheaper systems do not work the same as the Clarisonic–those brushes rotate, as opposed to the Clarisonic, which uses the sonic technology and merely vibrates. I cannot personally attest to the effectiveness of those cheaper dupes, but I have read other people say that while they did like them while using them, once they got ahold of a Clarisonic, they noticed a huge difference in quality between that and the cheaper systems.

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I finally caved and bought the Mia a couple of weeks ago from Ulta. For those of you thinking about purchasing it, make sure you buy from an authorized seller, otherwise Clarisonic will not honor the warranty on it. I found it quite a bit cheaper on Amazon and was about to buy it, but then read that Amazon is not a licensed Clarisonic dealer, so if something goes wrong with your Clarisonic during the first year, when a warranty would normally cover it, Clarisonic will not replace it. Ulta has the warranty, as does Sephora, and I'm sure there are a few online shops that do as well, just make sure the retailer you purchase from is an authorized Clarisonic dealer. Also, check into the retailer's return policy–Ulta has a 60 day money back guarantee, and I believe Sephora's is the same length of time. This little gadget ain't cheap, so you don't want to drop $100+ only to realize you don't like it.

Here are my thoughts so far on it: I really, really like it. I use my own cleanser with it (I have read the included Clarisonic cleanser is actually not very good); I recommend you use a good foaming cleanser. The African Black Soap I mentioned early sudses up a lot and works really well with the Clarisonic. I use it only once a day, at night, because I feel like twice a day is overkill, and I have read of people who had problems with irritation when using it this often. The Clarisonic is deep cleaning your skin, and I don't feel like this is necessary in the morning–a quick rinse, some moisturizer, and you should be good to go. Nighttime is when you need to get all the accumulated junk of the day off your face (makeup, pollution, dirt, etc.) It definitely gets your face very, very clean, and because of this, it seems to me that my serums/nighttime treatments are soaking into my skin better, thus getting me more bang for my buck with my other products. My skin is always nice and healthy-looking and glowing after I wash with the Clarisonic in the evening. Some people do experience purging, so you may get some breakouts, because the Clarisonic is removing all the crap under the surface of your skin. My forehead is very sensitive to all types of manual exfoliation, scrub or skin brush, it doesn't matter, nor does it matter how gentle the product is, I always get little bumps if I use some type of manual exfoliation for more than a couple of days on my forehead. (Although the rest of my face is absolutely fine, for some reason. Skin is weird.) I used the Clarisonic all over my face for about two days, got a bump on my forehead, quit using it there, just treated the area with a spot treatment until it went away, and I now just use the Clarisonic every few days or so on my forehead. Make sure, when using it, that you do not press the brush into your face–all you need to do is lightly set it on your skin and make gentle circles all over the area you are cleansing–the Clarisonic will do the work for you. If you get any purging, I would back off for a couple of days, treat the area, and then go for it again. That way you can kind of gently ease your skin into it if you have reactive/sensitive skin, or a lot of clogged pores being cleaned out.

I kind of wanted to be able to return this because it's so expensive–the Mia is the cheapest of all the Clarisonic systems, and I still dropped about $130 including tax–but I can't bring myself to. It makes me look forward to washing my face, as strange as that sounds.

I did a lot of research on this prior to buying it, so look around, read the reviews, and decide for yourself whether you think it's a product that would work for your skin type. There are tons of reviews on Youtube, Makeupalley, Amazon, Sephora, Ulta, and all over various beauty blogs. They can also help you decide which system would work best for you.

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This is my favorite episode–I've seen it at least half a dozen times.

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I had my sister over last weekend for a pole jam, and I don't remember what I did, but I went up into a move on spinny mode, and came down screaming "OW MY VAGINA!!" I'm pretty sure I blacked out whatever happened in between getting up on the pole and frantically hopping back down. My sister found it all extremely hilarious.

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I love the butterfly, but I suffer from sweaty hands too, and on top of that right now, a cold pole, so the bottom hand in my split grip tends to slide a lot, because it's closer to the bottom of the pole rather than the middle section that's got my body on it and is therefore a little warmed up. I'm comfortable enough with the move that I can pull it off now except with the sweatiest of hands/coldest of poles, but I definitely feel your pain.

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I was going to make the same suggestion Sparrow just did, actually. I do tricks when I'm alone because, well, I live alone and there are no studios nearby for me to attend, so I really don't have any other choice. But what I do if I'm attempting a new move or if I'm doing one I already know but am not quite comfortable with yet, I take all the cushions off my couch and pile them around the base of the pole; this way, if I fall out of a new move, I land right on them and nothing gets hurt but my ego. Also, if I'm practicing a move that I'm not quite confident in yet, it gives me that safety net, so I'm concentrating on the mechanics of the move rather than being scared shitless.

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Congratulations!

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Can't wait to hear how everything went, and I wish I was closer, because it sounds like it's going to be amazing!

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Welcome! You are going to love the lessons–they have been so helpful for me. Veena is the best I have seen so far at really breaking things down so that moves you've been struggling with just click all of a sudden.

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You have some seriously cute, comfy-looking stuff. I can't wait until I actually have money again. I'm sure I will be stopping by.

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Yeah, I'm sure she wasn't trying to be vicious or anything, I suspect she probably just really wasn't thinking about what she said. It happens to all of us, from time to time. How did the student react?

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It's possible the sub just didn't really think about what she was saying, but I still just can't quite wrap my mind around the comment.

I'm curious, DaniDub, did the instructor offer modifications or perhaps suggest another entry into the move, or did she simply make the statement and then basically just move on?

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I don't think it's constructive at all, if she didn't give her a way to get around the difficulties she was having. All of us have our own challenges due to our bodies–women with thinner thighs have a harder time gripping skinnier poles. It doesn't mean they can't do it, just that they're going to have to adjust their positioning and the tightness of their grip to stick the way they need to.

I also have to agree with amy that it wasn't appropriate, regardless of whether or not the student was sensitive. The thing is, she didn't know whether the student was sensitive or not, because, like you mentioned, she hadn't established any kind of previous rapport with her. So that student very well may have heard 'you're fat, that's why you're having problems with this move.' I don't know how advanced the student is, but I imagine that would be pretty damn discouraging for just about anyone if they were just starting out, and even for someone a little farther along.

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I don't recall what the exact yoga explanation was, but for me at least, I find that it's true, and my flow does get messed with somewhat on heavy days if I'm inverting. The same thing happens if I take a really hot bath on a heavy day–my period will actually stop for about half an hour, then come back heavier. It's not a big deal and I don't let it take over my life, but sometimes on really heavy days I will stick to upright workouts and a little bit more tepid bathwater.

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Jade, great videos! I'm always looking for new floor/lap/chair inspiration. Thank you for sharing these.

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Yoga instructors sometimes advise against women inverting on their periods because it can, for some women, mess with flow a bit. I've found this to be the case with me–if it's a heavy day and I'm inverting on the pole a lot, or doing handstand push-ups, my period will actually lighten up quite a bit, and then return even heavier for a little while. It doesn't last long, but it is a little annoying, so sometimes on really heavy days I will avoid upside down workouts. This is not the case for every women though, obviously, and it's nothing to get too concerned about, just a little irritating. 

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Congrats on your studio! Wish I was closer.

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I really need to consider picking up these DVDs when I have some extra money. I could really, REALLY use some good flexibility training. 

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I suppose I could maybe, kind of see buying likes for their own  video, although I will still argue until I'm blue in the face that it's stupid. But to buy dislikes for Veena's vid? That is childish and unprofessional and an absolute waste of time that could be spent far more productively.

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Technically, that move sensualscimitar is describing is supposed to work the abs, but I have done it before and it's pretty much all about momentum, which of course works your abs very little. I've had to do it in karate classes before and always hated it. I never felt like it was an injury waiting to happen or anything, it just felt like a waste of time to me.

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The pushing someone into a stretch has always made me nervous. Because the thing is, YOU know what your body is capable of and how far you can comfortably go in a stretch. It is not your teacher's body–I don't care how much training she has had, she does not know exactly what is going on in your body and how far you can safely stretch your muscles. I would personally be very, very wary of someone coming along and physically pushing me deeper into any sort of stretch.

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Webmaster, that is indeed extremely suspicious. Not to mention childish. What the hell is wrong with Veena doing a comparison video? You would think these people would have better things to do with their time.

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That's pretty much what I figure, and I really like the look of the CKR anyway. The CAR just makes me really nervous–I feel so much more secure with my knee there.

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I love the CKR, but to be completely honest, I hate the CAR. It honestly scares me. I fell so many times when I was first learning that it's like it flipped on this 'you're going to fall why bother' switch in my brain. I always piled a bunch of couch cushions underneath me while attempting it since I don't have a spotter, so I never hurt myself, but I could just never get the hang of it for whatever reason. I can do several moves that are considered more advanced than the CAR without a problem, but that one still eludes me. I've shelved it for now and will one day go back to it when I feel ready to tackle it again. It just depends from person to person.