10 Steps To Look Younger

The secret of the youth has been searched since long time ago. Many researchers have done some experiments to find ways to slow down the aging process.

There are some techniques which have been implemented, but the most important things for us to do are being consistent in implementing healthy lifestyle and eating habits.

We can’t stop the natural change, but we can still look younger if we want to work hard to slow down the aging process.

Therefore, I’m going to help you with 10 easy steps to make you look younger:

Detox – It’s important to start detoxification, getting rid of toxin from our body. Our body metabolism has done that process, but in everyday life we are exposed to so many chemical hazards from air, food and environment. Fasting or just consuming fruits and vegetables are ways to detoxify our body.

Sleep – Having enough sleep at least 6-8 hours a day will make our skin healthier. Having a good sleep is also important because growth hormone is working during that time. It renews the old cell of our body, include the skin cell. Our skin will look fresh and young if we have enough sleep.

Food – Eating healthy and safe food everyday will make our body fit, slim and also look younger. Try to eat more fish instead of red meat. Fiber food, vegetables, fruits, and supplements are important food to consume. Drink less coffee and other caffeine beverages.

Exercise – Through routine exercise, we will feel happier, energetic, and confident. It also increases our bone density and muscle which can make our body look 15-20 years younger. Beside aerobic, walking, and swimming, goes also to the gym to do lifting exercise.

Relax – By trying to be relaxed, our face will look younger. Stress and worries appear on our face. If we can manage our stress and feel at peace, our face will look younger and attractive.

Be Positive – A positive mind and affirmation we said can bring positive life to us. Negative thought tend to bring failure and make us look older and unattractive. Meditation is one way to make positive thoughts.

Medical Check-up - Just like a car, our body also needs attention and care so it can work well everyday. Having routine medical checkups during our healthy time is important to recognize diseases as soon as possible.

Active Life – Always try to be active during your life. Activities can increase health; and if you are in your elder age, your memory will increase too.

Social Life – Happy social life can increases our spirit, bring peaceful mind, and make us feel and look younger. Communication with our friends, family, neighbors, colleagues, and others can bring happiness to us.

Performance - Start to look at our performance. Is our body weight ideal for us? If not, try to fix that to the best ideal weight. Also look to the skin, hair, nail and teeth. Those are important as they will show our age. Looks good and feels good will increase our performance.

A History of Cosmetics, Part 2

For centuries after the Egyptian empire faded, the fashion norm around the world was a pale complexion. A tanned, sun-dried face was associated with being a commoner who worked out in the field all day alongside her husband. The upper class ladies of course did not participate in physical labor like that so they stayed inside and had white faces.

A white, pale complexion was also a symbol of wealth. If you had enough money, then you didn’t have to work. So a pale complexion was extremely important to some people. To get this look, women (and men too) would use a combination of hydroxide, lead oxide, and carbonate in a powder form to paint their faces and bodies. Unfortunately, this lead to a sometimes fatal side effect, lead poisoning.
To remedy this, chemists in the nineteenth century finally discovered a mixture of zinc oxide that didn’t block the skin from being able to breathe and kept people out of that irritating lead poisoning sickness. It worked so well that it is still used today by cosmetics manufacturers.

In the Edwardian era of London, around the turn of the century of 1900, society women with a disposable income would throw lavish parties and do a lot of entertaining to show off their wealth. As hostesses of the party, it was important for them to be the best looking woman at the function, so it was extremely important for them to look the youngest they possibly could. Women at that time who lived these extravagant lifestyles did not eat well, would not exercise, and breathed in the heavily polluted air that the cities of the time produced. They would rely on products like anti-aging cream and face cream to help hide their blemishes.

They would also go to the beauty salon. It was a little different back then than it is today. Women would sneak into the back of the salons and hide their faces as they entered. One of the most famous of these discreet beauty houses was the House of Cyclax, who would sell creams and rouges to ladies. Mrs. Henning, who was the owner, sold and created many products for her desperate customers who didn’t want anyone to know that they were getting old.

A History of Cosmetics, Part 1

With all the billions of dollars spent every year worldwide on cosmetics, sometimes we may find ourselves asking, “How did it get to this point? When did it become the norm for me to have to wake up every morning and before I even go out the door I get to paint my face from top to bottom? Surely a woman way back in history didn’t just wake up one day and apply eyelashes, lipstick, eyeliner, foundation, and rouge all at the same time. No, it was, like many things, a culmination of things from the past.
Remember the Egyptians? That was over four thousand years ago. Cleanliness and appearance were terribly important to the Egyptians. They believed the appearance was in direct link with the health of the soul. They strived to always look and smell good. And with a society who values their appearance, you’re inevitably going to have people who are going to make themselves stand out. But the Egyptians, being the innovative people they were, used cosmetics for reasons that were even smarter than just trying to look good.
Mesdemet was the earliest kind of eye shadow- a substance made of copper and lead ore. The dark shades they believed would ward off evil eyes to their own. It was also a great disinfectant and insect repellant. Kohl was a dark powder that was also applied around the eyes in an oval shape. It was a combination of lead, ash, ochre, copper, and burnt almonds. To further enhance their appearance, they would apply a mixture of water and red clay to the cheekbone area. They would also paint their nails colors of orange and yellow with a substance called henna.
As time moved on and cultures were exposed to each other more and more, the Greeks began to pick up on the many practices of the Egyptian’s use of cosmetics. They would give themselves a pale color with a foundation that contained lead in it. This proved fatal on more than one occasion. As the Romans began to pick up the cosmetics practice, the pursuit of beauty became much less about functionability and took a turn into much more exotic routes. The Romans would paint their nails with a combination of sheep’s blood and cooked body fat.

7 Beauty Tips for Looking Younger

Ever since Eve took that first bite of the apple, the human race has been obessed with beauty.

The truth is we begin the aging process just as soon as we pop out of the womb. Every day of our lives our bodies slough off and regenerate new cells. The speed at which that process takes place when we are children is vastly different as we get older.

Every day you are bombarded daily with commercial messages and beauty tips that attempt to lure you into believing that the most recent miracle drug is just what you need to fight off the ravages of Mother Nature.

We are living longer as a whole. Singularly, that can be a curse or a blessing, depending on your perspective.
The best route to natural beauty and healthy skin is to take care of what you have. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? The truth is that your skin takes a beating from the environment every single day. Here are some of our favorite beauty tips for keeping your skin fresh and healthy:

1: Stay hydrated and do it with plenty of water! That does not mean soda, caffeine or any other type of liquid, even if it is low cal. Soda (even diet soda) has a high concentration of sodium. Sodium retains fluids. You need fluid that will hydrate and flush your body free of toxins. Make sure you are drinking at least 8 glasses a day!

2: Protect your skin from harmful ultra violet (UV) rays. We all love the sun. We love being in it and we love having a beautiful tan. The truth is you can poison yourself with too much sunshine. UV rays cause skin cancer and if that isn’t bad enough it causes your skin to age faster than it should, contributing to unsightly wrinkles. If you must play in the sun, make certain you are using an adequate sun screen. Don’t leave home without it!

3: Keep your skin clean. Use a soft warm cloth. Skin does not require scrubbing. You will do more harm than good if you do.

4: The best cure for wrinkles is to never have them in the first place! If you are like most of us, you didn’t listen to your Mom when she tried to tell you to stay in the shade, stand up straight and stop squinting!

5: Eat healthy. Knowing how and what to eat, can make a huge difference in how you feel. Improper eating habits can cause depression, weight gain, illness and an overall lethargy.

Weight gain causes your skin to stretch. As you get older, it loses it's elasticity and you're left with sagging skin.
The best solution to this is to maintain a proper weight.

A rule of thumb for eating habits are...don't eat more calories than you consume. Don't go one single day without doing something extra and physical for at least 30 minutes per day. This can be three ten minute walks. Or 30 minutes of vigorous aerobics, or 12 minutes of weight lifting and 18 minutes of walking.

6: Don't worry, be happy. A happy outlook appears to trigger the release of endorphins. Endorphins relax the cardiovascular system and cytokines which alert the immune system to pay attention in detecting abnormalities like cancer cells. Listen carefully to yourself. If you have put yourself down since childhood, over a lifetime, negative subliminal messages can take their toll by turning you into a pessimist. Spend one week writing down the phrases you use in your “self talk.” Chances are you will find that you repeat a dozen or so phrases over and over again that reinforce that negative image. If you know about them, you can change them. Outer beauty and inner joy go hand in hand.

Here are a few quick tips for increasing joy, hope and optimism that will work no matter what your age:

Make a list of at least 50 great things that happen to you every day.

Laugh a lot. You’ll heal your body and your mind.

Discover a new challenge each month.

Try meditating for just five minutes each day.

7: Sex After 50 – Ha! How many of you jumped ahead to this section?

The importance of physical intimacy actually depends on the couple. An alarming number of men used to give up on sex after 60 and many women used to feel that their sex life ended with menopause. Thankfully, that is no longer the case.

Sex at middle age can actually become better and more satisfying than ever before. Maturity gives a couple more experience in lovemaking. The children are usually grown and left home. The pressures of building a career and day to day life are usually less stressful than in younger years.

Is beauty really skin deep?

The answer is yes and no.  It’s a paradox, isn’t it? True beauty begins from the inside out. Don’t you wish there was some way to “wriggle your nose” and regain that soft skin you had as a child? Well, until someone comes up with the true “Fountain of Youth” we are stuck with what we have.

Just remember that getting older doesn't have to mean getting old.

10 Definite Don’ts Of Great Hair Care

If the amount of money consumers spend on hair care products annually is any indication, most people are concerned about the appearance of their hair and strive to attain beautiful, healthy and stylish locks.  In fact, most will go to any lengths to achieve their desired look. From professional salon treatments to over-the-counter serums, hair care is a big business.

The only problem is that while many people are buying the right hair care products for their hair, they forget to follow basic hair care regimens that will guarantee the health and beauty of their tresses. Additionally, many are also causing needless damage to their hair by participating in unhealthy hair care behavior.

So, what should you do to make sure that your hair stays healthy, shiny and strong? 
To avoid all hair care disasters, follow these 10 absolute don'ts of great hair care. 

Hair care don'ts

1. Avoid unprofessional and over-the-counter hair care products whenever you can. Many of these only offer false hopes and promises.

2. Do not cut your own bangs. Leave all of your cutting needs, even bangs, to your hair care professional.

3. Avoid excessive sun, chlorine and salt water during the summer months. Excessive exposure can cause severe damage that is irreversible even if you use the best hair care products.

4. Do not use clarifying hair care products on your tresses more than one time per week. They can strip hair of moisture and essential oils.

5. Do not visit a hair care salon without first getting a referral from someone you can trust. Choosing a salon based on an advertisement or sale alone is very risky.

6. Do not purchase hair color that comes in a box.

7. Never stick with an outdated look because you are afraid of looking different. Styles change for a reason. Ask your hair care professional to bring you into this decade with a new style.

8. Do not straighten your hair with a clothes iron. C'mon, this was so over in the 70s. We have straightening irons that won't damage your hair for this now. Look in the hair care isle.

9. Don't brush your hair or put too much tension on it while it is still wet. This will cause breakage. Also, do not wear tight styles such as corn rows for extended periods of time unless you have ethnic hair.

10. Never use sun-lightening products such as lemon juice or over-the-counter hair care products designed to lighten hair with the sun unless you want a very short hair cut in the future.

In the end, hair care is a very individualized and personal thing. Feel free to add your own flair and style to your hair care routine, but remember to include hair care principles that will benefit your hair and avoid those that damage it.