Friday, November 28, 2008

Hand Care

You may be going to beauty salons for facials or skin care treatments, or using homemade skin care products to take care of your face but you may have forgotten all about your hands. Your hands need just as much care as your face and you don’t even need to go to the beauty salon for this.
Here are a few quick tips on how to care for your hands.
Hand Care Tip

  • Always wear rubber gloves when you plan to do any household work or gardening. If your hands are exposed to too much water, soap, detergents, dirt or chemicals then, the skin of your hands can become wrinkled and rough.
  • Ideally, you should moisturize your hands at least 4 times in a day, especially after washing them. Even if you do not have time make it a habit of moisturizing your hands before you go to bed at night. This is just as important as brushing you teeth before you go to bed, every night.
  • You can also use your face exfoliator on your hands. This will help to remove any dirt and dead skin cells, and nourish and rejuvenate the skin of your hands.
  • You can scrub your hands with bath salts, after washing them with soap. This will leave your hands squeaky clean. Do remember to slather some moisturizer on your hands afterwards.
  • If you have oily hands, you can try rubbing cornmeal on them after washing them with soap.
  • Go in for regular manicures (professional or homemade) to keep your hands and nails in good condition.
  • Drink lots of water and fresh fruit juices. Eat a balanced, low-oil diet.
  • Exercise regularly. If you are healthy and fit, you skin will have a healthy glow.
  • If the skin of your hands is dry and flaky—you can massage a little petroleum jelly on your hands before you go to bed at night. After you do this, you may wear thin cotton gloves. Wake up in the morning and enjoy the soft feel of your hands.
  • A quick, easy-to-make homemade scrub for your hand will help. Here’s the recipe for a rejuvenating homemade hand scrub:

Ingredients for the homemade hand scrub recipe

  • White Oats- 1 tbsp.
  • Honey-1 tsp.
  • Water-½ cup
  • Milk (refrigerated)-1 tbsp.

How to prepare the hand scrub

Take the water and the oats in a glass (Pyrex) vessel. Boil the mixture till the water evaporates, completely. Take care not to burn the oats. Scrape out the well-boiled oats and put it in a glass bowl. Add the milk and honey to the boiled oats and mix well.

How to apply the hand scrub

  • Clean your hands with a mild soap.
  • Pat your hands dry with a soft towel.
  • Apply the hand scrub, evenly, over your hands (fingers included).
  • Leave on for 10 minutes.
  • Wash off the hand scrub with lukewarm water.
  • Pat your hands dry with a soft towel.
  • Take an almond-sized drop of moisturizer in your palm. Massage it into the skin of your hands and fingers, using gentle but firm rotating movements of your finger tips.
  • Use this hand scrub two times a week for best results.
  • This hand scrub exfoliates, moisturizes and rejuvenates the skin of your hands. Use this hand scrub, regularly, and enjoy the clean,
  • soft and firm feel of your hands. (You may use this scrub for your feet as well.)

Hair Styles For Women Over 40

Hairstyles for women over 40 wishing to change does have its obstacles but the first obstacle to overcome - providing you want to change, of course - is the perfectly natural fear that you may never look the same again. What if I don't like my new hair style you may think or what if my new hairstyle does not suit me or how can I get my old style back?

This sort of panicking is natural but unfounded. Hairstyles for women over 40 are no more than a series of variations on a simple theme - and it may surprise you to learn that I believe there are actually only nine alternatives. The various patterns can of course be mixed to produce hundreds of different effects, but there are only nine basic cuts, all of which can be grown out or re-styled fairly quickly. So never be afraid of changing your hairstyle.

The only really drastic step as far as changing styles for a women in her forties and older is concerned, is when someone with very long hair decides to have it all cut off. Apart from amazing your friends by having your hair tinted an outlandish color or turning up with a mass of curls when the day before you had completely straight hair, nothing is more dramatic than cutting off ten or twenty years of hair growth, because it will take a long , long time to grow back to that length again.

So think about your decision carefully. If your young you'll find the decision harder. Your long hair probably suits you and time seems to pass much more slowly and you cannot imagine ever having the patience to wait for it to grow again. If, however, you've reached an age when long hair is actually making you look older than you are then it's time to think about facing those scissors!

As we get older and develop character lines around the face - particularly around the eyes and mouth - long hair tends to emphasise the downward trend of these lines and exaggerate our age. It is for this reason that hairstyles for older women are often shorter and colored with highlights to take the emphasis away from the face.

You can only get away with long hairstyles after a certain age if you can afford to spend a lot of time and a considerable amount of money on your hair. It's all very well for models and celebrities to wear their hair longer but they have hair stylists at their beck and call. Women in their forties do not have this luxury unless they are very lucky.

So hairstyles decisions for 40+ women wishing to change can not be entered into lightly. Get as much advice as you can from your hairdresser, make sure you have identified your hair type accurately, choose a hairstyle that will work, make sure that you have the right information about caring for your new hair style and remember - the cutting off as a relatively minor event, It's choosing the right hair style for your new, short hair that is the major one.

We absolutely love talking about hair styles when it comes to making a fashion statement. The most common questions I have been asked has formed my website. The site is packed with information dealing with all aspects of haircuts for women providing up to date information and resources.

Natural Beauty - How to Enhance Looks

There are so lots of beauty tips out there nowadays it is tough to figure out which beauty tip works and which doesn't work. You have to be cautious when deciding to start a fresh beauty regime. A few of the instructions that are hanging around on the net, on TV, in the stores, and between friends are nothing extra than worthless details. Beauty tips are becoming hot gossip between groups of girls. One should be familiar with their own body well and what their exact desires are when look for a beautifying scheme that really works. There are three chief spots to spotlight on no matter who you are. This spot comprises your soap, diet, and other cleanliness goods. The basis these are the most significant things to think is that they are what we utilize on an every day basis and carry the majority of impact.

When it comes to beauty tips with cleanliness goods the finest item to think is what you want to utilize and what you do not. It is vital to smell clean and fresh, but a few goods are just not a requirement. While colognes and perfumes smell good, they are not an essential. When it comes to goods that can assist you attain a superior looking you, you must put time into finding the correct toothpaste and deodorant. Fragrance and other perfumes wear off of you, excellent cleanliness is everlastingly. You should also take care of your surrounding as it also add up to you hygiene.

When we think of beauty instructions, the last thing we think about is our diet. What we drink and eat can have a massive bang on how well we appear. The healthier our diet is, the better we will appear. Numerous foodstuffs can have an unpleasant consequence on our body's look as a whole. Fatty foods, refined sugars, and Junk food can cause you to put on mass, as well as facial blemishes. Eating high fiber, low fats and carbohydrates, and lean meats can assist you acquire the structure you wish for and maintain your system running accurately. If you desire to look and feel good, you have to consume well and healthy. If you maintain your diet and take care of your hygiene if will definitely add to your beauty. If you can't look after your diet yourself you can consult a dietitian.

How to Lose Inches Off Your Waist - Easy Inch Loss Tips

Let's be honest... the majority of us could stand to lose a few inches off of our waist. But the question is what is the best way to lose those unwanted waist inches?

The best way to lose inches off your waist is to take a multifaceted approach. I do not suggest using only one technique, simply because using multiple techniques has been proven to be so much more efficient.

Let me tell you straight off the bat that although you may be tempted to do hundreds of sit-ups each day, this is not going to help you lose those waist inches!
The quickest and most effective way is a three step approach:
#1: Try an inch loss stomach wrap
This will not only cause an immediate inch loss but may further promote a long term loss of weight. These wraps can be simple to perform, and can be done at a local spa or at home with household ingredients.
#2: A well balanced calorie restricted diet
A very important step for losing waist inches is that you need to eat healthy foods, but you also need to take in fewer calories than you burn every day. The amount of calories you need is different for everyone but a good bench mark is consuming around 300 calories under your resting metabolic rate (RMR).
#3: Exercise 4 or more times each week
This one is pretty simple. Be active! Be as active as you can every day. You are not expected to train like an Olympic athlete, but what you need to do is be physically active for 30-60 minutes for most days of the week. Physical activity helps to burn calories and improves circulation; this in turn will increase fat loss, helping to lose inches on your waist.

Whatever you do in terms of cardiovascular exercise will work well for this. Some good activities are walking and cycling or even swimming.
Any type of resistance training is also useful. This will help burn calories as well as increase your RMR, because more muscle tissue means you burn more calories while at rest.

The bottom line
So in order to drop a dress size in a week, then your only option is the stomach wrap. But in order to make this change long term you need to combine stomach wraps, a healthy diet and regular exercise, this is the way to go to lose waist inches.

The Best Shampoo For Black Hair Care

Black and African American hair require increased moisture and added strength for proper manageability and to reduce breakage. The best shampoo for black hair addresses both of the these issues allowing for styling ease and increased strength.

Today's black hair and hairstyles demand products formulated specifically to work in conjunction with styling aids, relaxers and chemical treatments to allow for increased scalp and hair health. Black hair care requires increasing moisture due to the fundamental molecular structure and inherent dryness associated with coarse and thick hair. Improving moisture reduces breaking and dryness while complimenting hair products used for creative designs and styles.

Black hair by nature is generally thick and protein structures are tight and compressed that lead to small, dense curling. Density and coarseness act to inhibit adequate moisturization preventing natural hair oil (sebum) to fully coat and treat hair to the tips. This lack of moisturization leads to brittle or weak hair as well as poor nutrition and slow growth. Excessive styling with flat irons and dryers further aggravate dryness and can increasing breaking and snapping.

The best shampoo for black hair infuses moisture while repairing and rebuilding protein bonds for improved strength. Active ingredients such as Emu Oil have become increasingly popular for black hair care in that it helps moisturize the scalp as well as the follicle shaft. Acting similarly to Jojoba Oil, Emu Oil is a natural moisturizer and helps improve protein bond strength while promoting growth. It is a natural anti-inflammatory and anti-bacteral so it helps soothe the scalp relieving you of itchiness, dryness and irritation - especially if you have dreadlocks or braids.

LusterPlex has also become popular as an active ingredient for both shampoos and and conditioners. LusterPlex was formulated to increase shine and tensile strength. It naturally has become a sought after ingredient in many ethnic hair products for helping to retain hydration and reduce breakage. LusterPlex has been clinically shown to increase sheen, increase strength and improve smoothness, adding a silky, soft texture to coarse and thick hair.

If you're looking for the best shampoo for black hair, look for products formulated with Emu oil and LusterPlex for increased strength, improved silkiness and faster growth.

Simple Nutrition Tips For Sexy Abs

Your body fat level plays the biggest role in whether or not you have sexy abs to show off.
You can do all the ab exercises you want but if your abs are covered with a layer of fat, no one is going to see them no matter how developed they may be. So get your nutrition in order.

1. Don't Go Shopping Without A List
This is huge. You must know beforehand what you need to get at the grocery store for two big reasons.
If you don't, you'll end up making impulse buys of food you shouldn't have in the house.
Not if you want to stick to your nutrition program and show off your sexy abs.
By having a list you can go directly to the food items you need and avoid all the junk food areas that the store tries to make you walk through since these are high profit items.

2. Read Food Labels
You may be surprised what's in certain foods or how many calories are in a serving (a serving is NOT the entire bottle or bag).

3. Get Your Fruit
Besides all the myriad health benefits of fruit, it will also help to satisfy the sweet tooth that most of us have.

4. Eat Before You Go
Never go food shopping on an empty stomach. You'll end up buying a lot of things you wouldn't get otherwise.
Going food shopping while hungry is a great way to sabotage your health and fitness program.

5. Get Your Vegetables
Be sure to get a variety of veggies in different colors so you get a wide range of vitamins and minerals.

6. Get Your Protein
This can come in the form of chicken breasts, tuna (packed in water), turkey (not the lunch meat kind) or lean cuts of beef.

By following these six food shopping tips you'll make sure to have the right food in your house.
Not only will this help keep you on track and well on your way to sexy abs, you wont be able to binge on any junk food if your discipline does crumble.

You may eat too many calories but at least it will be nutritious calories and not empty ones that can cause a lot of health problems.

Simple Skin Care Tips For Beautiful Skin

Have you read one skin care tip after another and felt unsure about which one you should follow? If you open up magazines or surf the web, you will find loads of skin care suggestions and oftentimes it's simply hit or miss.

When you want to get skin care tips, avoid consulting magazines. Mainstream magazines are partial to big brand products that pay to have their name mentioned. It's hard to know what is really effective unless you try it yourself but here are some surefire tips that will have your skin looking clear, young, and beautiful in no time.

  • Many skin care tips out there recommend over-cleansing your skin. The truth is that you only need to cleanse your skin in the evening before you go to bed. Splashing your face with warm water in the morning is sufficient. Over-cleansing can lead to dryness and irritation.
  • This is probably a skin care tip you've already heard, but moisturize your skin frequently. Use both a day cream and a night cream for the best results. Look for natural and effective moisturizing ingredients such as grapeseed oil, jojoba oil, olive oil, avocado extract, and shea butter.
  • Of the many skin care tips that are overlooked, one is the importance of using a deeply hydrating mask for a periodic hydrating boost. Simply applying creams day to day is not enough in order to give your face and neck the deep moisturizing treatment they need.
  • Another skin care tip that involves mask is using a deep cleansing treatment. Look for a deep cleansing mask that contains bentone gel and kaolin clay to remove the build-up of dirt and grime from your pores.
  • Don't apply just any cream to your eyes. Look for a light eye gel specifically for use around the eyes. Keep an eye out for ingredients like Eyeliss and Haloxyl, which are scientifically proven to reduce under-eye circles, wrinkles, and bags.
  • Avoid using creams that contain an SPF factor. Most of the skin care tips you have heard all your life surely preach the importance of SPF factors in skin creams but the truth is that SPF factors can cause skin problems and have been linked to cancer. To avoid sun exposure, use a wide brim hat and sun umbrella instead.
  • If you want to whiten your complexion, look for a cream that contains extrapone nutgrass. Unlike other whitening ingredients, extrapone nutgrass does not cause irritation. You can enjoy its whitening effects without experiencing any harmful side effects.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

10 Ways to Find Your Own Style

Many people want to know how to develop their own style. Style is individual and reflects a persons lifestyle and personality but here are my top 10 ways to find a style that makes you look and feel great.

  • 1. Think about how you want to look and feel and what you want to hear others say about your style.
  • 2. Picture yourself in everyday life and get a mental picture of the style you have and the type of clothes that you would like to wear.
  • 3. Think about whether you want to fit in or be individual, wear clothes that associate you with a particular group e.g. Goths or stick to main stream clothing styles.
  • 4. Look at people around you and what they are wearing, look at celebrities and what they wear. Pick and choose bits that you like then add your own ideas and experiment with different accessories.
  • 5. Find out which colours really suit your complexion and hair colour and incorporate these into your style.
  • 6. Find some key basic items that fit in with your style, fit you really well and look great on you. These can then be teamed with different items and accessories for variations of your style.
  • 7. Research which styles of clothes suit your body shape and base your style around these.
  • 8. Use your style to enhance you best assets and minimise your worst. If you hate your legs wear dresses with leggings or trousers. If you love your face wear jewellery to draw attention to it.
  • 9. Try on lots of different clothes and accessories in different combinations. Its not just about what you wear but the way that you wear it.
  • 10. What ever style you choose - make sure you feel comfortable and confident with it.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Wherever You Are, Be There

One of the major reasons why we fail to find happiness or to create unique lifestyle is because we have not yet mastered the art of being.

While we are home our thoughts are still absorbed with solving the challenges we face at the office. And when we are at the office we find ourselves worrying about problems at home.
We go through the day without really listening to what others are saying to us. We may be hearing the words, but we aren't absorbing the message.

As we go through the day we find ourselves focusing on past experiences or future possibilities. We are so involved in yesterday and tomorrow that we never even notice that today is slipping by.

We go through the day rather than getting something from the day. We are everywhere at any given moment in time except living in that moment in time.

Lifestyle is learning to be wherever you are.
It is developing a unique focus on the current moment, and drawing from it all of the substance and wealth of experience and emotions that it has to offer.

Lifestyle is taking time to watch a sunset.

Lifestyle is listening to silence.

Lifestyle is capturing each moment so that it becomes a new part of what we are and of what we are in the process of becoming.

Lifestyle is not something we do; it is something we experience. And until we learn to be there, we will never master the art of living well.