Lifestyle Choices

What does cooking do to food? When properly carried out, it greatly improves the flavor. Cooking changes the chemical composition and often makes the foods more digestible. The heat helps to destroy many harmful germs. But do not overlook the fact that one serious type of food poisoning known as botulism may arise from the use of vegetables that have not been properly canned or preserved.

Under proper, germ-free conditions many foods can be preserved indefinitely, such as in canning. However, one should be careful when opening a can not to introduce germs into the food from outside. Carefully wash the container before opening it. (more…)

Stop Killing Yourself, Dad!

Men, let’s stop putting off that all-important medical checkup. Why not make an appointment right now? Better still, let your wife make it for you. She has even more to lose than you have in this. It is time to see your doctor.

Stop driving yourself so hard. You need more rest. Don’t try to whip up those jaded nerves and flagging muscles by using stimulants. These only cover up the problem. They never solve it. Alcohol, especially when taken to excess, is definitely harmful. The man who is wise will leave it alone.

For the same reason it is better not to smoke, particularly if you are looking forward to enjoying a long life free from disease. It is no secret that cancer of the lung is becoming more common every day. Men seem to be particularly susceptible to this disease. Those who get it are almost always heavy smokers. Primary cancer of the lung hardly exists among those who do not smoke. (more…)

Which is the stronger sex? That depends on what we mean by strength. If we refer to the ability to survive, there is no doubt that women have most of the advantages. Today they are outliving their husbands by six, eight, and ten years or more. This is true all over the world.

Ever since childbirth infections have been brought under control, the picture has been changing in favor of the women. It would seem that the ladies have more flexibility in their systems. They have more stamina. Their biological resources are greater than those of the men.

This difference begins very early in life, perhaps before the child is born. This is probably nature’s way of preserving the race. Nowhere is the female superiority more clearly in evidence than in pregnancy. A woman at that time seems to have special reserves of strength. Not only must her heart and lungs care for her own needs, but also for those of her baby. Every organ in her body is geared to work that much more efficiently. Later in life those same female hormones apparently protect her from degenerative diseases which are so much more likely to cripple her husband. (more…)

Shop with your head, not just your heart, and you’ll be sure to get the most from your foot-wise purchase. Touch the shoes you’re going to buy; rub your hand over suede shoes; the color should be consistent but look different each way. If it doesn’t, the nap is too short and it will wear poorly … If the shoes are unlined, take careful note: does the color come off on your fingers? If the answer is yes, you can bet that it will come off on your feet too … Velvet shoes should be thick and soft looking, feel plushy to the touch … With silk or other fabrics, check the edge where cloth meets sole; (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…)

One of the most useful things you can do yourself to prevent your face from aging and to correct sags and bags even after they have occurred is to practice face exercises every day.

The bones you were born with give yaw face its individual shape and structure. Short of plastic surgery or adjustments to your skull through cranial osteopathy, there is nothing you can do to change them. But your muscles are constantly changing either for better or for worse. They are made up of bundles of fibers, each of which works independently to shorten muscle and draw a part of the face into a particular expression. Just like the muscles in the rest of your body, each of these groups of fibers has an antagonistic group. This means that for each muscle that pulls an area of your face into one expression, there is an opposite muscle to pull it the other way. (more…)

The Products

Makeup products offer you two things: coverage, which to some extent will conceal minor flaws and blemishes in your skin, and most important, color. There are literally hundreds of different makeup products on the market. From the amount of advertising that accompanies the launch of each of them—the new wand-lipstick or foam cheek color or moisture- encapsulated powder—you would assume that to do a good job of making up her face a woman needs all of them. You don’t. In fact you need very few.

Neither do colors change a great deal from season to season, in spite of the fact that each cosmetic house brings out new autumn or spring collections. If you gather together a simple range of shades for eyes, cheeks, and lips that you know look good on you, there is no reason to replace half of them with each new season’s arrivals. Yes, there might be the new shade of fuchsia lipstick which you fancy or a new-formula foundation (foundations seem to get better and better each couple of years), but the quality of a makeup product is not dependent on its price, although the package—including the little compacts, mirrors, and applicators—is usually better the more you pay. (more…)

Straight hair is often strong and beautiful hair. It can be lank, in which case you should treat it with a thickening product, which will enlarge the shaft of each hair and make it look fuller. It can also be lackluster, which calls for a conditioner to make the scales of the cuticle lie flat and enable hair shafts to reflect light better. Straight hair is often good blunt- cut and worn not too long, or tied up in a twist, or chignon.

Curly hair needs to be carefully cut, for this can make all the difference between its looking fantastic and frizzy. A layered cut is usually best, one in which the direction of each scissor snip goes counter to the direction in which the hair grows, so it makes the most of all your hair’s natural curves and idiosyncrasies. It is best not to impose a particular style on your hair, but, rather, to go with the natural swing of things. If your hair tends to be wiry, you can correct this by using a softening conditioner. (more…)

You may well be aware of the benefits of massage. Massage increases circulation, promotes sleep, reduces stress levels, increases muscle tone, promotes elimination of toxins and waste, supports weight loss, increases skin pliability and enhances well-being - to name but a few. Imagine if you could do this every day. Well, you can, and it only takes a few minutes every morning to do it.

How would you feel if we told you we both have a full body massage every day? Well, it’s true, and we have been having these massages every day for the past 14 years - not once have we missed a day! It is the ultimate skin treatment. We love it and cannot imagine life without it. Having a daily full body rub or massage is a great insurance policy for your overall health. The important thing to remember is to ensure the products you massage your body with are natural and full of essential vitamins and minerals. Also, it is important to make sure this is a good body rub, not some airy-fairy tickle! You want your body to wake up, feel alive and be ready to get into your day. You may have guessed by now that your daily body massage is performed by YOU!

A little note: how do you feel when you stand naked in front of a mirror? Are you horrified, pleased, shocked or rapt? If for some reason you cannot stand in front of the mirror every morning and say: ‘Wow - I look and feel great: then you definitely need to take on the daily body massage routine! (more…)