Lipstick Tips

Here are a few lipstick tips I have picked up in the past that are quite good and interesting. Lipstick can be seen in just about every woman’s makeup bag, it’s good to know a few tricks to about it.
• Dual purposes - lipstick can act as a blush or as an eyeshadow.
• Get creamier as you age - as a woman ages so should her lipstick, stay away from glossy and matte lipsticks. Stick with creamy lipsticks.
• Lip Liner first - apply lip liner as a base to the lips before putting on lipstick to make it last longer
• Store lipstick in refrigerator - there’s a reason they make climate controlled make up storage areas. Lipstick lasts longer if it is kept refrigerated.
• Avoid lipstick on teeth - once you have your lipstick completely finished, run a finger through the middle of your lips and pull it back out to remove excess lipstick.
• Lipstick can be layered - if the color you bought isn’t the color you thought it would be once you put it on, you can layer it with other colors to get something new.
• Mixing colors - colors can easily be mixed to create new colors. Don’t be stuck with a color and think you can’t change it. Experiment with your colors.
These are a few tips to give you some more options with your lipstick. After all, everyone woman loves lipstick, wear it well!!

Freckles on the Face of God

Still no sign of my beautiful case…Sigh. I suppose it’s another lesson in patience, although after so many months of planning and re-planning it would be nice to finally have everything here and ready to build. XP Pro disks arrived safely this morning however, which is great. I have an upgrade copy of Vista Ultimate ready to go once that’s installed - strange way to go about things, I know, but better than forking out more money for a retail version.

The sun is literally blasting down here in Arklow, which is somewhat comforting although a little uncomfortable since I don’t seem to have wel-placed windows for airflow. Why is it that the wind always seems to be blowing the wrong direction on sunny days? Also it’s funny how on the really nice days the traffic seems to get so much worse - people scrambling towards the various beaches and pubs to satiate their need for sunburn and alcohol. Still doesn’t make sense why people would drive to these places though, if they live in the town and there’s a 20 minute delay to get accross the bridge alone. Oh well.

I feel like it’s xmas morning, I’ve just unwrapped a brand new shiny bike only to find it has no wheels. All these new componants sitting on the desk begging to be exerted. All in good time.

Applying Lip Gloss

Lip gloss is very popular right now. You can find them in almost any store you go in. Glosses can be worn alone or paired with other products. You can never have enough lip gloss. Check out these ways to use your lip gloss.

Over lipstick - add a little gloss to your lipstick by applying your lip gloss over your lipstick. It can make your lips feel more moisturized and give them a great shine.
Application - when putting on lip gloss, a little goes a long way. A few dabs to the middle of the lips can then be smoothed over using your lips or finger. Don’t out on too much because you will just be wasting it.
Add some concealer to lips before gloss to give lips an added flawless smooth look.
Make lips light pink and soft line the lips with a pink lip pencil and use pink colored gloss.
Light and Medium skin toned - use pale and natural shades for lining lips with a clear lip gloss
Darker skin toned - use brown shades with lighter lip glosses
Glosses are a great item to keep on hand at all times. There are so many different types and features to the glosses out now, you should experiment with various colors and textures to find the glosses that work best for you.

Vitamin D and Your Health: More than Just Bones

Vitamin D is important for bone growth and strength. Deficiencies in this vitamin in adults can result in osteoporosis and in children it causes a disease called rickets. Did you know that a deficiency in vitamin D has also been linked to higher incidences of cancer, heart disease, metabolic syndrome, and dysfunction of your immune system?

What is Vitamin D? Vitamin D is a vitamin that helps your body absorb calcium from the foods you eat. It also regulates the amounts of calcium and phosphorus that is in your bloodstream. Along with vitamins A, E, and K, vitamin D is stored within the fat cells in your body.

Where does Vitamin D Come From?

· Ultraviolet B Rays: One of our most potent sources of Vitamin D is the sun, and more specifically, ultraviolet B (UV-B) rays. Exposure to these UV-B rays triggers vitamin D to be made inside of your skin. Studies show that about 10-15 minutes a day of sun exposure is all you need to produce your daily requirement of vitamin D.

· Foods: Common sources include fish (i.e. salmon, mackerel, and tuna), eggs, margarine, fortified milk, cereal, and cod liver oil. Cod liver oil and fish contain the some of the highest amounts of vitamin D of any food.

· Supplements: Many calcium supplements contain vitamin D, but you can get vitamin D by itself as well.

What are some risk factors for Vitamin D deficiency?

· Elderly: The older you are, the more at risk you are for developing vitamin D deficiency. Those over the age of 50 require twice the amount of vitamin D compared to those under 50, and those over 70 require three times the amount of vitamin D. As you age, your skin becomes less efficient in synthesizing vitamin D from the sun.

· Breastfed infants: Although breast milk has many nutrients and antibodies that are important for your baby’s development, it does not have enough vitamin D. Your doctor may advise you to add vitamin D supplements to you child’s regular diet.

· Limited Sun Exposure: Unfortunately, it is difficult to obtain enough vitamin D from food sources alone. If you live further north, you are exposed to less sun and thus are at an increased risk of vitamin D deficiency.

· People with darker skin: The darkness of your skin depends on the amount of melanin within your skin. Melanin has been shown to diminish the amount of vitamin D your skin is able to produce. Thus, the darker your skin, the more at risk you are for developing vitamin D deficiency.

· Obesity: Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, which means the vitamin is stored within our body’s fat deposits. Unfortunately, this stored vitamin D is inactive and therefore cannot be utilized by your body. An excess amount of fat will result in more of this vitamin being stored, and therefore less being used by your body.

· Fat Malabsorption Syndromes: Again, this has to do with the vitamin being a fat soluble vitamin. When vitamin D is present in the gut, the only way it can be absorbed is if it is dissolved in fat. If your body can’t absorb fat correctly, then you will become deficient in vitamin D.

Now, you may be asking yourself, “Wait, I thought the sun was bad for me, now you are telling me I need it??” The answer is, yes and yes. Let me explain. Too much sun exposure can lead to many things, including early signs of aging (such as wrinkles and discolorations), precancerous, and even cancerous lesions. You do not need to sit out in the sun for hours at a time. I mentioned above that all you require is 10-15 minutes of sun exposure in order to produce enough vitamin D for the day. If you are eating foods rich in vitamin D and/or you are taking supplements, then you need much less sun to meet your requirements! So the bottom line is: everything in moderation!

There is compelling evidence to support the idea that vitamin D deficiency is unhealthy. Although vitamin D may be used in the treatment of osteoporosis and rickets, there is not sufficient data to show that increasing the amount of vitamin D you eat/make will improve or reverse the other health concerns linked with Vitamin D. However, there are several trials underway right now looking into this, and an answer appears to be just around the corner.

Here are some great sources for more information concerning vitamin D:

· Here is a Wall Street Journal article that discusses the impact of Vitamin D on your health.

· This is an extensive, but excellent article on vitamin D provided by the Office of Dietary Supplements.

· You can never go wrong with looking at what the Mayo Clinic has to offer on the topic.

· Here is another Mayo Clinic article on Skin Cancer.

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Poynter’s Pointers

1. Vitamin D deficiency is a real concern and has been linked to a variety of health issues, such as osteoporosis, rickets, heart disease, immune dysfunction, and even cancer.

2. You may be more at risk for deficiency if you are a breast-fed infant, over the age of 50, have darker skin, are obese, or have a fat malabsorption syndrome.

3. There are three main sources of vitamin D: food, sunlight and supplements. Sunlight is the most potent source of vitamin D.

4. The Bottom Line: Eat healthy foods rich in vitamin D, enjoy the sunshine (but not too long!) and talk to your doctor about supplementation if you think you are in one of the high risk categories.

Elisha Poynter, MD

Talika Eye Dream

Long nights and lack of sleep getting you down? Are your eyes looking more and more dark and droopy with too much stress and work? Why not try giving those naturally gorgeous peepers an overhaul with a great eye cream that rejuvenates them back to their natural brightness and perkiness?
Talika’s Eye Dream promises to do that and more. With its moisturizing qualities, botanical ingredients, and peptide powers, the mask’s main purpose is to liven up your eyes overnight when you apply it before sleep, making sure you wake up to gorgeous eyes that will show no clue of how hardworking or stressed out you are. Only more proof of how radiant you can naturally be.

New anti-aging solutions explained

By Ed Biado
One thing holds true for all living things: We all grow old. Being the most intelligent of species, humans are finding ways to combat the effects of aging, or at the very least, defer it. Today, the hottest new things are facial brighteners and hand serums. They actually go hand-in-hand (no pun intended!) because they are the primary targets of skin aging. Even if you have the face of a 30-year-old but your hands are those of a 50-year-old’s, it’s still a dead giveaway, isn’t it? Lumedia, a new breakthrough in these categories, is taking the cosmeceutical industry by storm. Read on to find out why facial brighteners are replacing wrinkle creams and why hand serums are the next must-have.
1. Facial brighteners give the face a fresh, youthful glow. Botox and going under the knife do remove wrinkles but the skin remains dull. Facial brighteners like the Lumedia Facial Brightener work against dullness, making it the new quintessential anti-aging product in the market today.
2. “As we approach the age of 30 skin becomes duller,” explains Dr. Nathalie Chevreaux, Ph.D., RD, director of Women’s Health at Basic Research. “Skin starts to turn a kind of mousey brown, spottier and splotchier as it loses that warm, radiant, pinkish glow we used to have when we were kids. And interestingly enough, this change in skin tone and color can occur in all ethnic groups. Unfortunately, no injection, scalpel or filler can bring back the radiant glow of youth. That’s why facial brighteners are becoming so important.”
3. According to Heather Hurst of the Bremenn Research Labs in Salt Lake City, Utah, “Facial brighteners are cutting-edge skin care. They enhance the color of your skin, so you use less makeup, less concealer. And you don’t look like you’re trying too hard to hide your age. You just look naturally younger.”
4. Unlike simple age spot removers, new-generation facial brighteners are designed to be used over the entire face and help restore the color and a more youthful appearance by increasing the skin’s appearance. They make the user look younger by increasing their skin’s brightness scale and amplifying full-spectrum reflectivity, luminescence and clarity.
5. A clinical trial conducted by the lab resulted in participants report younger, brighter, more radiant-looking skin in 29 days of using Lumedia Facial Brightener.
6. Lumedia Serum for Hyperpigmented Spots is a new, concentrated formula specifically developed to combat severe hyperpigmented age spots and help return the skin on the back of the hands to an even, smooth, youthful-looking color and tone.
7. It’s a new combination of three powerful skin lighteners that dramatically reduce the concentrations of the skin pigment melanin, as well as targeting the enzymes that control their production.
8. Lumedia helps to quickly fade dark hyperpigmented problem areas, making it the ultimate solution for problem age spots and visible imperfections caused by sun and environmental damage.
9. In a clinical trial of Lumedia’s core compound, subjects (mean age of 40) with mild to severe age spots and/or hyperpigmented skin applied Lumedia twice a day for four months. The result? Visible improvement in the appearance of hyperpigmentation was seen in all test subjects (100 percent), while 89.5 percent saw a visible improvement in age spots.
10. In another double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, a group of women (average age of 58 years) applied a treatment cream containing the active Lumedia compound to one hand and a placebo cream to the other hand twice a day for two months. At the end of the study, 95 percent of the treated subjects experienced a visible decrease in hyperpigmentation in the treated hand.
Lumedia is locally distributed by Luxasia and is available at Rustan’s Essences and other leading vanity stores.

Chapped Lips?

Lots of factors can cause chapped lips - the air, sun, humidity, decrease in water content, and more. If you constantly have a problem with chapped lips, check out some of the following tips to make sure your lips are always smooth and refreshed.

1. Apply lip balm. Of course, this is the number one method to avoid chapped lips. However, many people still forget to constantly apply lip balm. You can also use petroleum jelly.

2. Drink a lot of water. This increases moisture in the tissues and prevents lip drying. As much as possible drink at least eight glasses of water a day.

3. Avoid caffeine. Caffeine is one of the fastest ways to dehydrate, so better cut down if you’re a caffeine addict or switch to low-caffeine or decaf options.

4. Eat foods with lots of vitamins and nutrients. Chapped lips can signal nutritional deficiency. So make sure you aren’t lacking in all the important vitamins like calcium and magnesium.

How do you prevent chapped lips?

Spa Illuminata: fake-over

Set in the bustling streets of West London, Spa Illuminata is a haven among the hectic.

The entrance is spacious with an alluring scent; a modern take on a roman spa house.

The front of house shelves Declor and other high end products whilst at the back there are staircases leading you through this mature Victorian building with ample sized treatment rooms and relaxation areas.

I had decided that in honour of the sudden blip of sunshine that my body - having spent so much time in the wind and rain – was ready for some kind of pre-tanning treatment. Thus I went for a Sunrise Application, apparently one of Spa Illuminata’s biggest sellers to date.

My therapist Grace had a striking resemblance to the uber cool model, Grace Jones but with the gracious poise of Iman (David Bowie’s wife).

· She talked me through the procedure and told me about numerous celebrity clients she had treated, including Kelly Brook. Grace has previously worked for some of the best beauty companies in the industry.

At the beginning of my treatment I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew that this was a pre-tan application, although the aim was not to slobber me in fake tan and produce a WAG-esque appeal, but more to produce a healthy long lasting glow on which a tan could draw.

After the initial full body exfoliation (that was done with sea salt and lavender and smelt amazing) I was asked to shower in a petite cubicle hidden against the wall in my treatment room. I was left to dry myself off and again pop on paper knickers and return to the therapy bed. My skin was so smooth and delicate at this point I was afraid to even touch it.

To achieve a subtle yet believable fake tan the treatment finished with an all over body oil application, which when rubbed vigorously on the skin pulls the melanin in your skin cells to the top of the surface and attract the sun’s rays more. This was then completed with a light thin fake tan cream which was applied on top of this all over my body.

Surprisingly the fake tan dried within minutes leaving no obtrusive smells. The thinness of the cream was another amazing point. I could have simply got dressed and returned back to work with no one the wiser, as the procedure takes up to 4 hours to react. The fake tan however lasted a bit longer – 7 days to be exact.

The only criticism I might have had faded along with my fake tan due to the unforeseen British weather, and it was this. Grace must not have realised she had been rubbing the cream into the palm of my hands as well so I was left with an awkward discolourment for a few days...

· The Sunrise Application at Spa Illuminata costs £95.00 for one hour and includes the exfoliation and moisturising plus the application of the self-tan. Spa Illuminata, 63 South Audley Street, London, W1K 2QS 020 7499 7777; www.spailluminata.com