Sunday, September 30, 2007
'Beauty' Workshop
This morning, Joyce and I attended a 'Beauty' workshop at California Fitness. Well basically, they collaborated with Loreal and Redken to conduct this free workshop, and to promote their products and services.
We had a light tea reception before the workshop commenced. It started with the Loreal makeover session. The key take away is that there are 3 main skin tones: warm, neutral, cool. Foundation is not = base = moisturiser. When putting on liquid foundation, do not dab the dots on the different corners of the face as it will dry by the time you get to the last dot and may leave a patch. When putting powder/blusher, it has to be in a circular and outward direction so as not to clog pores. Putting a blusher/eyeshadow alone without a base/foundation may cause blemishes in a long run as they get absorbed into the skin.
For the haircare talk, it was just basic introduction of their different haircare products which are available only in the salon. And one thing to note is that when it is a shampoo for the hair, do not use it on the scalp. It is also important to get water soluble products so that the chemicals do not build on your hair. (Joyce, bring a brolly :) ) Hair loss is most of the time related to hormonal changes and is best to seek medical advise. And to test if your scalp is healthy, put your 10 fingers on your scalp and massage your head. If the head of hairs moved with each movement, it means you have a healthy scalp. If it doesn't move, you may want to go to one of those Redken salons to do a scalp analysis to determine the scalp problem.
After the talk, there was a demo ABT session which we did not participate. The whole event lasted about 2.5 hrs. Well, I guess we gained some knowledge in the session, even though it may be a sales talk!
Labels: Beauty
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Mid-Autumn Festival Legend
A long time ago, according to a famous Chinese legend, the earth had 10 suns circling it, each taking its turn to illuminate and warm it. One day, all 10 suns appeared together, and the combined heat resulted in a terrible drought. To save the world from imminent destruction, China's famous archer, Hou Yi, shot down 9 of the suns. He became a hero and the Emperor presented him with the most beautiful woman in the land, Chang Er, to whom he married. The Emperor also rewarded him with a magic pill containing the elixir of immortality.
Mooncake is a Chinese pastry traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Typical mooncakes are round pastries, with a thick filling usually made from lotus paste and surrounded by a relatively thin crust (baked or snow skin). The mooncake may contain other ingredients in its center such as salted duck egg yolks or even chocolate truffles. Traditional mooncakes have an imprint on top consisting of the Chinese characters for "longevity" or "harmony". They are usually eaten in small wedges accompanied by Chinese tea.
Labels: Food
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Insomnia
For many women, it's tough to get a good night's sleep. Studies show that women may be 20 percent to 50 percent more likely to have insomnia than men. And there are reasons for this.One culprit behind women's sleep difficulties can be fluctuating hormone levels. With optimal levels of estrogen and progesterone in your system, the time it takes to fall asleep and the number of awakenings during the night decrease. But hormone fluctuations occur for many reasons, including monthly menstrual cycles, use of birth control pills, pregnancy, and perimenopause -- the five to 10 years before and up to one year after menstrual periods end.
If you find yourself tossing and turning at night, simple changes in your daily and nightly habits may result in better sleep. The Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource offers these suggestions:
* Caffeine: Limit it. In addition to the usual sources -- coffee, tea and soda -- be aware of caffeine in chocolate and in medications used to treat headaches, colds and sinus congestion.
* Nicotine: Nicotine impairs the ability to fall asleep and stay asleep.
* Alcohol: Even though drinking alcohol may make it easier to fall asleep, as few as one or two drinks within two hours of bedtime tend to disrupt your sleep and lead to more frequent awakening in the latter half of the night.
* Inactivity: Lack of physical activity during the day is associated with increased sleep problems. But strenuous exercise too close to bedtime may make it more difficult to fall asleep.
* Large meals: Eating too much close to bedtime may make falling asleep and staying asleep more difficult.
* Naps: Naps can make it harder to fall asleep at night. If you can't get by without one, limit it to less than 30 minutes.
If self-treatment strategies don't help, ask your doctor for help. Sleep difficulties can be related to a number of medical conditions.
By Health Bites 93.8Live.sg
Labels: Health