Lifestyle Choices

Precious stones, the essence of stone, are born of the mother rock after maturing in it. Stone is alive, in its fashion, with its very slow movement, from formation to wearing away.

Celestial activity is exercised on stone, a strong receptive substance. In Masonic symbolism, a cubical stone expresses the idea of stability, balance, and completion, and corresponds to the alchemical salt. A cubical stone surmounted by a point symbolizes the philosopher’s stone: The pyramid above the cube represents the spiritual principle resting on the base of salt and the ground. (more…)

Although money can’t buy it, anyone intelligent can learn to have good taste. You can spend like a drunken film star, but you risk an expensive clutter that hasn’t quite come off. If you pay someone else to design your home you risk something pretty expensive, lifeless and unlived in, or alternatively, an exuberantly camped-up setting with mouldings picked out in white and in which you feel uneasy.

So the first rule is Do it yourself. Because otherwise you’ll never learn.

Discovering your own good taste is an unpeeling process, eliminating the layers which other people have impressed upon you. One of the easiest ways to find out what you like is to get a pinboard and start sticking up anything which takes your fancy — a scrap of lace, photographs, postcards, a colour swatch, a cartoon. (more…)

THE DRAWER WITH THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING and what to put in it

Filing is a word that makes most women look mutinous, but it’s not only a good idea, but in home emergencies absolutely essential. Don’t be frightened by the idea of filing. The verb only means putting things in a sensible place where you can find them quickly and easily. Four years of my filing fit into a suitcase.

Know your limitations and don’t plan a filing system that is better than you are, as you won’t stick to it and you will find that even more depressing than doing it.

What follows sounds amazingly neat and tidy, but it isn’t. Most of my key work seems to be on the front of old envelopes (backs already used for key work). If I stopped to type or write them out they would never get done; it’s easier to shove any old scrap of paper into its correct place in the system than to have it lying around. (more…)

Should you work part-time or full- time? It depends on your needs. When I had my first baby I did part- time design work at home. Then I worked full-time from an office with resident home help. Then I worked full-time at home with no home help. Now I work at home, full-time during the term and theoretically not at all during school holidays. I have found it easiest (but not always possible) to go out to work full-time, and pay for adequate home help. For me working part-time seemed to involve twice the work for half the money with none of the office perks and protection. (more…)

Women hate being efficient in the home. Lists and routines simply do not fit into the pink-check-gingham.. and-lace mental picture of the soap opera mother, which so many of us were brought up to be. When you become a working mother with any luck you will get twice as much out of life, but you can’t run your house as if you weren’t working. A working mother has to work faster and more efficiently in the home. She has to be twice as reliable outside it because people expect her not to be.

I have evolved my own system, which I slowly slip away from, but it pulls me back to reality at regular intervals, and heaven knows what I would be like without it. (more…)

First, take a good look at yourself (body, soul and inside skull). Decide what areas could stand a little pleasant improvement. Decide what your life lacks. New friends? Less weight? More fun? Once you’ve decided what you want, stand up, take a deep breath, and S TART.

What you can do inside your home

Make yourself more beautiful: This is basically taking better care of yourself, encouraging healthy narcissism, learning to love and take care of your body, condition your skin and hair. Learn to relax. Take care of yourclothes. (more…)

A number of very special health, fitness, and beauty problems arise out of that unique condition of being a girl. This section is designed to give you a quick overview of some of those problems and to direct you in seeking further help, should you need it.

Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)

Premenstrual syndrome is a newly coined name for an old, old problem. Many girls and women have complained that before their menstrual period they experience a number of painful and sometimes incapacitating symptoms.

While there are any number of drugs (both prescription and over the counter) that you can take, there are some even more basic steps that experts recommend for coping with the problem. (more…)

For extraordinary color, shape, and appeal, follow these simple steps:

• Apply a thin coat of foundation to lips; blot. This will give color a good base for adhering.
• Using a sharp lip pencil (select a color that’s the same or slightly lighter than lip color choice), outline your mouth to give it a well-defined shape. Lips less than perfect?
• Use a flat lipbrush with firm bristles to apply a lip color. Start at center and work toward edges. The lipbrush gives you control and helps to spread the color evenly. Choose a creamy lipstick (labeled moisturizing or conditioning) that glides on easily.
• Blot by placing a tissue over your lips and patting on translucent powder with a wide, fluffy brush. Enough of the powder will sift through the paper onto lips to keep the color in place.

(more…)

Gold has long been used to adorn its lucky wearer; its lustrous beauty and intense natural color give it a unique appeal. Gold can be found in shades of yellow, white, pink, and green; each is lovely and special in its own right. Frequently, contemporary jewelry is “tricolor,” combining yellow, pink, and white gold to create a distinctly modern feel.

When shopping for bracelets, chains, pins, rings, watches, and earrings, remember that all that glitters may not be gold! Always look for the karat mark, e.g., 18k, 14k, 10k, stamped on the piece to indicate that you’re buying the real thing. The karat mark refers to the purity of the gold. Twenty-four karat is 100 percent pure, or twenty-four parts gold, and is considered too soft for use in jewelry. It must be alloyed with other special metals to increase workability and strength. Eighteen-karat gold is 18 parts gold and six parts other metals; fourteen and ten karat, are, respectively, fourteen and ten parts gold. These last three are considered the best choice for lasting jewelry. (more…)

• Don’t toss pearls carelessly into a purse or jewel box where they could be scratched by other pieces.
• Don’t expose your pearls to hairsprays or acid-based cosmetics and perfumes.
• Never clean pearls with harsh chemicals or abrasives.
• Do treat your pearls gently. Place them in a chamois bag or wrap in tissue before putting them away. Best bet: a quilted jewel case or bag to cushion them.
• Do wait until after applying cosmetics, perfume, and other products before putting on pearls.
• Do wash your pearls with mild soap and water once in a while to remove any traces of makeup or fragrance.
• Do take your pearls to your jeweler for restringing once a year. Ordinary wear can weaken and stretch the nylon thread on which pearls are strung.
• Do have pearls strung with knots between them. This will prevent loss if breakage does occur.

(more…)

In browsing through stores and reading magazines, you will find that nail polish is available in dozens and dozens of delightful colors, from sultry wines, scarlets, and mahoganies to berry brights, creamy pastels, and shimmering iridescents. How to decide on the colors that are right for you? Read on!

• The Brights.Clear tones of scarlet, rose, pink, coral, tomato, and tangerine. To wear these colors, your nails should be medium length to long, well shaped, strong, and resist chipping and flaking. Brights look well on fair to medium skin tones. These colors are not the best choice, however, if you frequently engage in activities that cause chipping, such as typing or swimming. Also avoid them if your fingers are short or stubby; bold, bright tones will only accentuate the shape.

(more…)

One of the most subtle but nonetheless powerful of our five senses is smell. Perhaps it is precisely because we don’t have a very highly developed olfactory sense when compared with other animals that what we do smell has a particularly potent effect on us. A pleasing smell or fragrance can linger in the mind and in the imagination like a haunting melody and trigger memories and feelings in a highly visceral way. Learning to appreciate and use fine fragrances is part of the development and refinement of this elusive sense, and one of the most alluring aspects of becoming a woman.

The cosmetic use of fragrance has had a long and varied history. For instance, it is known that Cleopatra used perfumed oils to enhance her legendary beauty. Later the Greeks and Romans refreshed themselves between courses at banquets with the application of water that had been perfumed by flowers. (more…)

Now that you have some idea of the kinds of fragrance that are available to you, you need to determine your own fragrance type or personality. Relax, though; you won’t find it hard work at all. Choosing the perfect scent will be an enjoyable experience.

Experts recommend that you sample a maximum of three fragrances when shopping for a new scent. If you spray on too many, your nose loses the ability to distinguish between them. Also, apply the fragrance directly to your skin when testing it; the true qualities of a perfume or toilet water are not revealed when sampled only from the bottle. Dab it on, and allow the warmth of your body to develop the fragrance on your skin. Ideally, you should wait at least ten minutes after you have applied the fragrance to decide whether or not it is for you. That lets the alcohol evaporate and the blending of the fragrances with your skin’s own unique oils to be at its zenith. Now take a whiff! (more…)

It is now common knowledge that uncontrolled stress can trigger a great many diseases and disorders—insomnia, gastric ulcers, high blood pressure, asthma, and migraine, to mention just a few. But for a long time these ailments were treated like something over which we had no control. It was assumed that one could only treat their symptoms with drugs, treat the stress that triggered them off with more drugs, and hope for the best. Now, thanks to research into altered states of consciousness and work done with biofeedback, studies have shown that every human being can exercise a high level of conscious control over his nervous system. (more…)

The Body’s Clearing System

While the act of breathing is supplying your cells with the oxygen they need, it is also removing carbon dioxide and wastes from your system. Carbon dioxide is a by-product of oxidation and energy release. If it were allowed to build up it would poison the cells and eventually kill them. So tiny blood vessels carry the waste back to the lungs, where it is eliminated when you breathe out and exchanged for new oxygen when you breathe in. At least that is how it should work.

In most women, however, this vital process of taking in necessary oxygen and eliminating poisonous wastes is neither as efficient nor as complete as it should be. This can be due to many things, from tissue anoxia as a result of a diet too high in fats, from insufficient iron, B12, folic acid, or vitamin E resulting in anemia. (more…)

The Decanter

This exercise stimulates the nervous system and at the same time stills a restless or anxious mind. I like doing it after I have been working in an immobile position for a long time—for instance, when I have been at my desk writing for several hours. I do it just before I get up to move about.

Sitting comfortably in a chair with a straight back or cross-legged on the floor, imagine that your body is like a decanter, the bottom of the decanter being your pelvis and hips and the top of it your head. Pretend that you are going to fill it with energy in the form of air. (more…)

Like good breathing, yoga can also make you beautiful. And I don’t mean by simply trimming a flabby thigh or flattening a neglected stomach. Of course, it will do these things too. But what I mean is more fundamental. The meaning of the word yoga is “union,” or in modern terms, “integration.” Practicing yoga regularly can bring a sense of calmness, poise, and detachment that eliminates the negative effects of stress and clears away tensions that stifle the full expression of your individuality— intellectually, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. It can also help bring together these four parts of a woman so she functions as a whole. (more…)

Instant broth cubes are superb for quelling an appetite and they cost you only about twelve calories a cup. You can also carry them to work with you or, if you don’t have boiling water available, make them up in a thermos to take along. They are also nutritious whereas coffee and tea will do nothing for you in terms of building health and beauty. Herb teas (no calories) are also excellent although they don’t give you the same full feeling that broth does. They can be sweetened with a teaspoon of honey, which is an excellent source of essential trace elements such as zinc, copper, iron, manganese, and chromium—often in scarce supply in ordinary slenderizing regimens. (more…)

There is a common misconception that body odor comes from perspiration. It doesn’t. Perspiration or sweat consists of nothing more than almost odorless water plus a few mineral salts that are responsible for that slightly salty smell many find has an almost aphrodisiac appeal to it. The unpleasant smell often thought to be the result of perspiration or sweat is in fact caused by waste products from the bacteria on the skin. The smell only occurs when more water is given off from perspiration than can be easily evaporated into the air and/or when clothing—particularly clothing made from synthetic materials, which hinder evaporation—interferes with this drying out process. (more…)

Eyeliners

Finally put on your eyeliner. A good way of emphasizing eye shape without looking too obviously made up is to use a pencil in the same tone you are using for your eye shadow, dotting it all along the upper lashes and then just under the lower ones so the two lines meet at the outer corners and form a little triangle. This kind of liner looks good when it is gently smeared with a brush or fingertip to blend it into the surrounding area and keep it from looking too heavy. You can also use another color line drawn on the inside of the lower lid if you like. If you use a light color there, such as off-white, it will make your eyes look bigger. If you use a bright color such as electric blue or brilliant green, it can look great for evening. (more…)