paintedlady said:

sure, but to be fair it's technically the camera lens that is cracking here.

paintedlady said:

You're just an evil heffa!

SCNDLS said:

God imagine if you had her teeth and Jordan's eyes.....cheddar everywhere

bboy87 said:

You too! Just evil!

SCNDLS said:

When I think "crack" I think overall loss of youthful looks. You and I both know some old black folks have THE whitest teeth... she not only looks like she just ate a glob of mud but she also puts a new perspective on "wind in your hair".

and LMAO @ "kinda lightskinned"

paintedlady said:

I've always heard and thought of it as the skin's condition. Well, hell the shit cracks EVENTUALLY but generally speaking black people, especially those with darker skin tones, tend to look younger than their years as they age. Case in point, Lena Horne looked younger than her age for a LONG time but now refuses to be seen in public, last I heard, in part cuz of her appearance.

But you know it's common knowledge amongst US that the lighter you are the more "crack prone" your skin may be cuz there's less melanin to protect you, of course there are exceptions, but Jasmine ain't one of 'em.
[Edited 2/24/10 15:55pm]

SCNDLS said:

The fact that old evil ass Joe Jackson looks younger than 80 is shocking to me

SCNDLS said:

YUP! .Smoking can age you faster too. I know Jasmine suffered from cancer and isn't she a smoker too? Does Ms. Ross smoke?

SCNDLS said:

That's given the same conditions though. There are so many things people can do to affect how they age, like smoking, alcohol, amount of sun exposure, diet, moisturizing or not etc.

bboy87 said:

Hold up now... why is Lionel looking better and better?

paintedlady said:

yet those soupcoolers keep gettin bigger and bigger


Lionel is the most appropiately named people in the muthafuckin world

Fauxie said:

Of course, like I said, there are exceptions BUT it's a proven fact that melanin protects us and prevents or slows down a lot of aging. Any dermatologist will tell you that.

My mother and her sister are in their late 60s (moms is 70 in October her sister will be 68) and have NO wrinkles on their faces. My mom's boyfriends are typically at least 15 years younger. Youthful skin is VERY common in my family and among most black folks I know.

SCNDLS said:

yo momma likes us "young tenders" too?

SCNDLS said:

Lucky you! I'm not doing all I could to say young looking. I like to tan sometimes and I'm a smoker.

bboy87 said:

What can I say, I get it from my mama

bboy87 said:

*ahem* don't be talking about momma SCNDLS

Fauxie said:

Smoking will certainly fuck up your efforts cuz that smoke restricts the capillaries in your face or something, speeding up the aging process.

Another thing I noticed, is that GENERALLY speaking, black people don't smoke as much as white folks and other groups. I noticed this a lot when I was a waitress in the clubs. We had alternative nights at some of the "black" clubs I worked at, and I would ALWAYS have an asthma attack or respiratory infection after working those nights cuz the white folks smoked so much more than blacks. I've also noticed this over the years that when I go to black clubs rarely do they smoke, but "white" clubs are the complete opposite.

SCNDLS said:

That's a good point, thinking about it. Why is that, do you think?

Yeah, I need to quit smoking. For now I don't go out in the sun that much, and won't until I quit. I just like a little colour on my skin. I'm hoping my moisturizing with anti-aging serum, having a decent diet, cutting way back on alcohol, doing exercise and ultimately quitting smoking will allow me to still be in the sun a little and not get too old-looking too fast.

My father's 60+ and has a fair bit of wrinkling on his face, but still looks good for his age, so that's a good sign.

Melanin:Aging of the Skin and Skin Cancer
Author: Diana Clarke
"Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is responsible for 90% of the visible signs of aging on the skin of whites," says Dr. Michael J. Martin, former Assistant Clinical Professor in the Dept. of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at University of California, San Francisco.

Blacks' skin, however, ages much slower.

Why are most dark-skinned blacks protected from harmful UV rays? Because compared to whites, blacks possess more melanin, the pigment that gives skin its color.

Melanin

Melanin offers protection against UV rays for blacks and other dark-skinned people. Conversely, fair-skinned people are much less protected and more susceptible to skin cancer. Furthermore, albinos' skin offers no protection.

Although blacks' skin produces more melanin than whites', all skin has the same number of melanocytes, the cells that manufacture the melanin.

Melanocytes manufacture melanin from an amino acid, tyrosin, with the help of an enzyme, tyrosinase. In the bottom layer of the epidermis above the dermis, UV light stimulates the production of melanin in the form of insoluble melanosomes. These surround the epidermal cells, which move up to the surface of the skin. The result is a tan.

Blacks' skin produce more melanin, even in the absence of sunlight, and their type of melanin, eumelanin, is more effective at blocking solar rays. However, white skin produces melanin only in the presence of sunlight and after the UV rays have penetrated the lower portion of the epidermis and have caused skin damage.

"Melanin also functions as an excellent free radical scavenger. It affects the delicately designed lipids that hold moisture in the stratum corneum (the outermost layer of the epidermis). If the skin loses its moisture, it becomes rigid and cracks," says Sergio Nacht, PhD., Senior Vice-President of Enhanced Derm Technologies, Inc. in Redwood City.

The Theory of Melanin for Environmental Adaptation

Originally, people of a particular race resided in a particular area. As time went on, their skin adapted to the environment. For instance, people who lived geographically close to the equator had darker skin, and people who lived far from the equator had lighter skin.

In Scotland, which lies at a northern latitude, descendants of the Britons have white skin. When their skin is exposed to the meager sunlight, the scant amount of melanin their skin produces is unable to block the sunlight. Therefore, their bodies are able to make Vitamin D with the help of sunlight. Vitamin D, a vitamin found in fish oil, is necessary to prevent rickets, a bone disease caused by too little calcium.

In contrast, in Africa, which is near the equator, blacks require intense sunlight to penetrate their dark skin to make Vitamin D. This is all well and good. However, when blacks lived in England during the Industrial Revolution, they were the first to develop symptoms of rickets, such as retarded growth, bowed legs and fractures because not enough sunlight was available.

Fortunately, in 1930, Vitamin D was discovered and dispensed as a supplement to add to the diet.

On the other hand, the skin of whites in Australia are in complete opposition to their climate. Consequently, intense UV radiation has been the major cause of skin damage and skin cancer Down Under.

paintedlady said:

cracks = wrinkles

That's how I've always interpreted it.

paintedlady said:

I ain't never heard about Jasmine having cancer. When was this?

if you don't stop wanking, you'll go blind.

i typed that on my braille keyboard with my nose.

I don't have really light skin, so that's SOMEthing, right?

My mother was (as a young woman) blonde and blue-eyed whereas my father has course black, wiry hair and naturally tanned skin, and I got a bit of both.

I love feeling the sun on my face though.

Fauxie said:

You ain't black, but it's SOMEthing

SCNDLS said:

She's better (in remission)... but she was sick for a long time... let me look that up.

SCNDLS said:

I ain't giving up my sun, SCNDLS, I've decided. I'll just have to do absolutely every other thing right as far as taking care of my skin.

p.s. An old lady in the barber's once guessed I was from Morocco. A white guy with a tan and a beard equals Moroccan? Thais think I'm crazy for tanning since they nearly all want lighter skin.

Fauxie said:

Not smoking would have the biggest impact. Stop that shit!

I dunno what the deal is with blacks smoking less, but I can only count TWO friends in the last 20 years who smoked. One is my best friend and former roommate. I've know him for almost 20 years and found out he smoked maybe 6 years ago. And even tho we lived together 2 years, I've NEVER seen him smoke in person and he never smells like smoke which I can smell a mile away. The only evidence is his nasty cigarette butts in my garage.

SCNDLS said:

Smoking causes cellulite in women.

I think if all women knew this, very few would smoke.

paintedlady said:

Please do.

SCNDLS said:

yes, it's so interesting to see how our bodies respond to the environment (or how God created us to be well suited for our environments )

So WTF am I doing in California?