Choosing The Right Shampoo For Your Hair Type

There are hundreds of shampoo's out there, from the Suave you can purchase at the local pharmacy to designer shampoo's like Kerastas and Philip B. that can only be purchased from speciality salons and stores. How do you choose?

First, know your hair type. It's fairly easy to know what type of shampoo your hair needs if it's permed or colored. If your hair is permed then most likely you're seeing a stylist on a regular basis and he or she has suggested a product for you. If your hair is colored you will want a shampoo that will be gentle on the color and not strip it from your hair. Is your hair dry? Oily? Thin or full and coarse?

What affect do you want the shampoo to have on your hair? Be aware of claims made by shampoo manufacturers. The only thing regulated by the Food & Drug Administration is the list of ingredients on the back of the shampoo bottle. This means that manufacturers can claim their shampoos moisturize or add volume whether or not they do.

Herbs and botanicals smell great, but their affect on the hair has never been proven. Actually most shampoos and conditioners affect your hair only temporarily by leaving product behind on your hair after you wash. They have no long term effect on the condition of your hair at all.

Don't believe that you have to use one manufacturers entire hair product line. It's the same for skin care products. All shampoos clean the hair. All soaps clean the face. All conditioners leave a trace of product on your hair which help keep the cuticle smooth. All moisturizes soften and moisturize the skin. It doesn't matter if you mix and match products, despite what they say.

واصل القراءة

Chinese Medicine for PMS

Many women have resigned themselves to the monthly emotional and physical roller coaster that their menstrual period brings. Psychological symptoms include weepiness, moodswings, irritability, anger, and depression. Physical symptoms can include bloating, cramping, backaches, breast tenderness, food cravings, headaches, acne, and digestive problems.

Oriental medicine has developed treatment for the many complaints of pre-menstrual syndrome over the past two thousand years. Treatment and prevention involve the use of acupuncture and herbs along with nutritional and lifestyle counseling.

Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine are based on the theory that life energy, called "Qi" (pronounced "chee"), flows through channels or meridians in the body. When a person is under mental, emotional, or physical stress, the energy, which normally flows freely through the body, begins to stagnate.

This may not sound rational to the modern mind, so it might be helpful to illustrate an obvious example of "Qi Stagnation". When a person is under stress, their neck and back muscles tense up. This can interfere with nerve stimulation to the arms or legs. The Chinese would consider the person's neck or back to be "stagnant" while the person's limbs would be "deficient" (lacking in nervous stimulation).

The buildup of the uterine endometrial lining and the hormonal changes a woman experiences before and during her period are seen as a natural process that is conducive to stagnation, particularly at times of stress in a woman's life.

Acupuncture and herbal medicine is used to harmonize and free up patterns of stagnation in the body in order to alleviate the many symptoms of pre-menstrual syndrome. This can result in relaxation, stress relief, and mitigation of many of the symptoms of PMS. Symptoms of PMS such as cramps, breast tenderness, backaches, depression, moodswings, constipation, bloating, can all be treated with herbs and acupuncture. Acupuncture has also recently been endorsed by the National Institute of Health for the relief of pre-menstrual pain.

Many of the herbs used for PMS alleviate depression and are phytoestrogenic. They may improve a woman's natural hormonal functioning. Herbs such as vitex, bupleurum , white peony, and black cohosh are used in Chinese herbal formulas to balance hormones and treat Qi stagnation. Vitex is particularly useful for fibrocystic breasts and for menstrual pain due to endometriosis and fibroids.

As a result of acupuncture and herbs, many Asian women have a much easier "time of the month", and now women in the West can also benefit from the wisdom of Oriental medicine.

واصل القراءة

Hairstyles

Most current fashion comes directly from the runway to the streets, and the 2006 hairstyles are no exception. When spectators watch the models, they are not only looking at the clothes they are wearing, but also their hairstyles, which is also an important component of their entire look. Judging from today’s models, 2006 hairstyles emphasize casual elegance with some sassy touches here and there.

Most of these looks involve hair that is pulled up with smooth sides or messy tendrils. Loose waves and curls seem to be making a comeback in 2006 hairstyles, not that the super-straight sedu look is out of fashion yet. Still, if you want to stand out from the crowd with the most trendy 2006 hairstyles, it might pay to put just a bit of wave into your medium or long locks.

The casual elegance of the 2006 hairstyles can be sleek or sassy. One popular look for this year is the messy bun, which can be created several ways.

• Shampoo and condition hair, preferably the day before an occasion, since freshly shampooed ponies are more difficult to deal with.

• Add leave-in conditioner or mousse to your hair

• Blow dry your hair with a large, round brush

• Gather your hair into a neat pony tail, smoothing in the sides. Fasten with an elastic that is the same shade as your hair.

• Divide your pony into three sections and, with a large or small barreled curling iron (depending on how curly your want your messy bun to be) curl the sections and pin them curls until they dry.

• Brush out the curls and pin portions of the messy bun to your head until you achieve the desired style. Leave one curl pinned to cover the base of the ponytail.

• Tease out hair from the side if you want tendrils. Curls these, if desired.

For a straight messy bun, use a flat iron rather than a curling iron.

The elegant pony, always in fashion, has been enjoying the spotlight in fashion shows as an ideal 2006 hairstyle. Elegant ponies are placed lower on the head, close the nape of the neck. Make the side smooth or tease out a few tendrils, if desired. Use a finishing spray for extra shine. You may want to transform your elegant pony into a classy chignon by curling the pony and tucking it into the elastic. Let the chignon hang freely, or pin it to the nape of your neck.

Just when you though it was safe to throw away your curling iron, be prepared for subtle waves and loose curls for long to medium 2006 hairstyles. You can create more body in your hair by using a body building shampoo and conditioner. Large curls can be created by putting in large curlers (hot curlers or the foam curlers for wet hair) or using a large-barreled curling iron. When you dry your hair, use a large, round brush to coax your hair into large curls or waves. Ironically, your flat iron can be used to create subtle waves and curls if you wrap sections of hair around it. Don’t go overboard, though. Straight hair is still the “in” style, and loose curls and waves are a highlight, rather than the main focus, of 2006 hairstyles.

واصل القراءة

Tips For Beautiful Skin

For most women, part of the morning and evening routines involve a skincare regimen of applying creams, moisturizers, tonics, lotions, and the like. Why do women put themselves through this? They do it primarily to combat the signs of aging, and to maintain youthful looks and beautiful skin! It is a safe bet, however, that most women haven't put much thought into what is in the products that they are using. 

Some women probably do not realize that what they are putting on their skin may actually be undermining what they are trying to prevent to begin with. In fact the average woman puts twelve products on her skin daily, most of which contain harmful chemical preservatives. Dr. Myron Wentz, founder and chairperson of USANA Health Sciences, has this to say about beauty in the company magazine's June/July 2005 issue: "Some say that beauty is only skin deep. Nonsense! I believe that true beauty is a reflection of true health, and true health begins deep inside each and every cell in the body. But true health and true beauty have an outer component, which is why we require protection from environmental insults such as solar radiation, pollutants in our environment and the drying effects of air. . . The fact is you simply cannot contain a healthy body if your skin isn't healthy. And your skin can't be healthy if your are subjecting it to toxic substances that are ultimately absorbed into your body." 

So, what can women do? How can they combat environmental pollutants, the affect of solar radiation, and the drying effects of air? How can they be sure they are using the very best products on their skin so they can be healthy inside and out? Here are 7 tips to assist in this process: 

________________________________________

1. Be very aware of what is in skincare products. Use products that are all natural as much as possible. 

2. Look for products that contain Dermal Surface Renewal Technology. DSR smoothes away existing signs of aging such as laugh lines, crows feet, and dullness. 

3. Use products that have regenisomes. Regenisomes penetrate the skin to speed cell renewal after sun exposure. They also use the light of photosomes to undo sun damage, and have ultrasomes to renew skin while sleeping. 

4. Find products with Proteo-C and Proflavonol-T. These two vitamins protect the skin from premature aging caused by the sun, pollution, and other environmental factors. They also provide advanced nutrition to the skin to keep it appearing smooth and firm. 

5. If possible, use products that are paraben free. Parabens are synthetic chemical preservatives that are widely used in personal care products such as shampoos, conditioners, hair styling products, make-up, facial masks, skin lotions and creams, and deodorants. They also are typically ingredients in baby lotions, shampoos, and other personal care products for infants and children. In addition, parabens are in many foods and pharmaceutical products. Researchers are beginning to find parabens in benign and malignant human breast tumors. While some studies have challenged their toxicity in many products and question their long term affect on humans, using products that are paraben free can eliminate the risk of exposure to this harmful chemical. 

6. Drink plenty of water! Water hydrates skin and hair as well as flushes toxins out of the body. 

7. Limit stress or learn to manage it effectively. Stress is harmful both emotionally and physically. Find that stress reliever activity that works best and use it on a daily basis! 

Follow the above 7 tips to true beauty and health.

واصل القراءة

Steps to Great Makeup

Great 7 Steps to Great Makeup

___________________________________________

1. Avoid wearing too much

Makeup is meant to enhance features not bring negative attention to you. That's what wearing too much makeup will do; it will bring you unwanted attention. Don't wear too much of anything such as:

i) Eyeliner: dark, thick eyeliner will make you look overdone and will ruin the rest of your makeup.

ii) Mascara: too much mascara looks fake and will flake. It looks especially bad if worn with thick eyeliner or dark blue eye eye shadow.

iii) Foundation: Make sure your foundation is the same color as your skin. Foundation is meant to protect and give the face a smooth look. The magic word is blend.

iv) Powder:The same holds true for powder - not too much. Also, be sure to blend your makeup so there are no obvious lineS

2. Lips

Apply lip liner to completely cover the lips, add color and your lipstick will stay on much longer. Make sure your lip liner doesn't show. Also, your lip color should match your skin tone; wear cool colors if you have cool coloring and warm colors if you have warm coloring. If you want to make your lips look smaller, keep your liner on the inside of your lips. However, if you decide to make your lips look larger, going outside the natural outline of you lips is a mistake. This can look quite messy and unnatural.

3. Appropriate makeup

Wear makeup that is appropriate for the occasion. If you are going to the beach you shouldn't wear the same or as much makeup as you would if you were going dancing. Also, when you are in daylight your makeup should be a lighter than when you are out for the evening.


4. Too little or no makeup

Some women don't wear makeup because they are not sure how to use it and are afraid of being overdone. If you are unsure, start will light colours in your shade. Start slowly and add one product at a time. Maybe start with foundation, add mascara, blush or lipstick. If you are not used to wearing makeup, using a lot a first may be a little too much for you, so start slowly. The bottom line is a little is better than none. If you are still unsure seek professional advice.

5. Overall look

When your makeup is completed it should look natural. That means avoiding colours that clash. If you have dark skin and hair you will look better in darker shades; light colours will make you look washed out. If your hair and skin tone are light, light colours will look better on you. Dark makeup will make you look older and harsh. If you have oily skin, first use oil control moisturizer and foundation. Then be sure to wear loose powder, keeping pressed powder with you for touch ups.


6. Hair color

Your hair color should also be in harmony with your skin. If you have dark hair and you want to add color, keep it close to the same shade. If you have light hair, use light colors. As you age your skin will lighten, so should your hair color. One last thing about hair color - if you do color you hair be sure you keep it up, don't let your roots show.

7. One last thing

Keep makeup looking fresh all day by doing regular touch ups. Don't let your makeup fade or crease. Smile!!!

واصل القراءة