Ways to Look Flawless in Photos

While it is increasingly easy to edit your own photographs to make sure you look your best, there’s not much you can do to stop someone else taking an unflattering picture (short of screaming “No!” at the top of your lungs). Here are ten quick and smart tips that will help you to look gorgeous and polished in photos, saving you a lot of time you might otherwise have spent airbrushing or cringing in embarrassment.

 To make sure you don’t end up with a double chin in photos, drop your shoulders to elongate your neck and try to lean your face forward by approximately half an inch. This change won’t make your posture look odd in photographs, but it will make sure your face looks slimmer.

 Always be aware of nearby light sources when you’re being photographed indoors. Standing below a light will cast uneven shadows on your skin, while standing in front of a bright lamp can make you look washed out. You’ll look your best in shots where you are facing a window that provides soft natural light.

 Leave your nude lip glosses and dark red lipsticks behind if you know you’re going to be in a lot of pictures. Bright lipsticks will make your mouth look perkier and create a youthful look, while darker colors artificially age you by shrinking the lips.

 It can be difficult to look happy without looking crazed when you are asked to grin on command, but there is an art to creating a perfect smile. Placing your tongue directly behind the teeth helps to create a natural, friendly grin.

 When it comes to other makeup, focus on your eyes. Curled eyelashes, dramatic eyeliner and effective mascara will give you a captivating and seductive look.

 If one of your main issues is blinking in photographs, practice briefly closing your eyes for a second just prior to the photograph. If you slowly open your eyes just as the picture is being taken, you should be able to circumvent the blinking curse.

 Make sure that the person taking the photo is shooting you from above. Photos taken from below create double chins and place the focus on cavernous nostrils, while images snapped from above tend to make the subject look slimmer and more elegant.

 For a more slender body shape in photos, place your hand on your hip and angle your body so that you are slightly turned to one side. As a bonus, this pose typically provides a flattering angle on the face as well.

 To combat red eye, take a quick look at a bright light before a photograph is taken. Your pupils will shrink, dramatically reducing your chances of looking demonic in the image.

 Finally, try to get used to being photographed and work to build your self-confidence. A huge part of looking good in pictures is being natural, happy and proud of how you look.

Homemade Face Mask Recipes

Homemade Face Mask Recipes

Store-bought facial masks and one-time-use sheet masks are enjoyable for an at-home spa treatment, but they’re expensive with regular use. You can make your own therapeutic face mask with ingredients in your kitchen. Commercial face masks often contain synthetic ingredients and they’re shipped with lots of packaging materials. Making your own face masks is an eco-friendly way to treat yourself without exposing your skin to potential harm.

What’s a Face Mask?

Face masks use plant extracts and other beneficial ingredients to help repair and condition your skin. To make your own face mask, you simply combine the food ingredients in a food processor or blender, or mix them manually with a utensil. Apply the paste to your face immediately and rinse it off after 15 to 20 minutes.

Face masks can help with a range of skin problems, and you can select the ingredients in your face mask according to your skin’s needs. Here are three face mask recipes for all skin types:

Lavender Avocado Face Mask to Hydrate Dry Skin

1 teaspoon organic honey

1 teaspoon virgin coconut oil

1/4 ripe avocado

5 drops lavender essential oil

Note:  Some essential oils can irritate the skin.

The coconut oil and avocado in this recipe provide essential fatty acids that moisturize and nourish your skin. Organic honey is a natural humectant, which means it helps lock in moisture in the skin, making it softer and more plump [1]. Lavender essential oil has moisturizing and soothing properties. It’s also antimicrobial and it fights hyperpigmentation in the skin to diminish blemishes, acne scars, age spots and sun spots. Plus, you get the relaxing effects of aromatherapy!

Turmeric Yogurt Face Mask for Glowing Skin

1 tablespoon natural, plain yogurt

1 tablespoon organic honey

1 tablespoon of turmeric powder

The lactic acid in yogurt acts as a natural exfoliant, clearing away the outermost layer of skin cells to uncover younger, healthier skin [2]. Honey moisturizes, nourishes with antioxidants and has a microbicidal effect [1]. Turmeric has been shown in studies to treat numerous skin conditions through its antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. By reducing hyperpigmentation it helps smooth out your skin tone and give you a healthy glow [3].

Papaya Egg Face Mask to Exfoliate and Cleanse

1/2 cup mashed papaya

1 whipped egg white

1 teaspoon organic honey

Papaya is chock full of natural enzymes that clear away dead skin cells. This luscious tropical fruit is also a source of antioxidants. In fact, papaya is shown in lab research to protect human skin against sun damage and oxidative stress [5].

Egg whites have natural astringent properties, which help clear away impurities, tighten skin and shrink large pores. There’s also a bactericidal enzyme in egg whites called lysozyme that can help acne clear up faster [6].

Homemade Face Mask Tips

Apply the face mask immediately after combining the ingredients. Use either your fingers, a paint brush or a cotton ball to spread the mixture evenly on your face, avoiding the eye area. Sit back and relax while wearing a homemade facemask, to minimize the mess and maximize the absorption into your skin.

Food is one of the safest ingredients to put on your skin. Essential oils, on the other hand, are highly concentrated. Lavender is considered safe for topical use and has low toxicity [4]. However, some essential oils can irritate skin, so it’s important to select carefully.

References:

1.  pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24305429/

2.  ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6017965/

3.  pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27213821/

4.  ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5878871/

5.  ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3984819/

6.  pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25285490/

Feel Good in Your Body Right Now

Feel Good in Your Body Right Now

Anyone who’s worked towards a weight loss or fitness goal knows it can be quite a journey. While it’s important to stay focused, that can easily turn into the unhealthy habit of waiting for that desired dress size to be happy. Here are some tips to help you avoid that trap and feel good in your own skin right now:

Focus on functionality

Your body may not be perfect but it does a lot for you. Whenever you perform a physical activity like walking around the block with ease, appreciate your body for it. Its main purpose, after all, is to keep you moving through life and if it’s doing that, you have something to feel good about.

Change what you can
right now

When it comes to how you look and feel the little things matter. Wear what you feel good in, change your hair, get your nails done, or choose a new signature scent. It’s hard not to feel good in your skin when you’re pampered and smelling delicious.

Believe in the inevitability
of your ideal body

If you’re dieting and working on fitness, you need to do so with absolute conviction that it’s just a matter of time until you reach your goals. Believing that the things you don’t love to see when you look in the mirror are temporary prevents your insecurities from having power over you.

Watch your thoughts

If your inner voice is in the habit of loudly and confidently criticizing your body, train it to compliment you with equal authority instead. Frequently point out the things you like about your body and use affirmations to keep those positive thoughts at the forefront of your mind.

Be selective about the
company you keep

Seek out people who speak kindly about others, bring out the best in you, are comfortable with their own imperfect bodies, and make you feel good about yours. If the people in your social circles are fueling your insecurities, it’s time to reevaluate your relationships and make some necessary changes. 

Detox your social media

In addition to people who surround you in real life, those who appear on your feed can also impact your body image. Never compare your whole reality with the snippets others choose to show. Take breaks when you need to and only follow accounts that help you feel good and inspire you.

Love yourself

Loving yourself will help you strike a balance between accepting yourself for your inherent worth and improving yourself because you are worthy of your own potential and being the best version of yourself. If you can only take away one point, this should be it – love yourself.

Like anything worthwhile, reaching your fitness goals will take time, but life is happening right now. Make it one of your goals to feel good about your body even as you work on getting it fitter.

Fun Ways to Remind Yourself of Your New Year’s Resolution

Fun Ways to Remind Yourself of Your New Year’s Resolution

Making your New Year’s resolutions is easy; keeping them is hard — as you may be finding already. But with these prompts to remind you of the promises you’ve made to yourself, they can become second nature. If they’re well-chosen, helpful resolutions, you’ll be glad of these prompts, even if they’re somewhat unorthodox. Some involve technical preparation, but that’s part of the fun. In any case, they all will help you remember.

Simplify them

Reduce each of your resolutions to a few words for easy recall and reference. Ideally, cut them down to just one word each, like “smile,” “apply” or “brave.” That single word will bring back the whole commitment and the reasons behind it. Maybe write out those keywords in bright colors, stick them onto a colored card, and thread them into a necklace, bracelet or bookmark to remind you of them throughout the day.

Send reminders to yourself

Set up your phone to remind you daily (or more often if you like) until you’re confident you can remember your resolutions independently. If your phone doesn’t have this function, set your alarm to come on at a convenient time each day. You can also time a tweet to yourself, to receive at a relevant time. If you’ve made a resolution to get fit, for instance, set your message to reach you just before your scheduled workout time.

Make a ringtone with your keywords

Record yourself listing your keywords, preferably as a song or with some background music or beat (something you’ll enjoy listening to), and set it as your phone’s ringtone. Just watch your friends’ faces when they hear (and are bewildered by) your mysterious chant.

Make a resolutions-themed screensaver

Create a computer screensaver, featuring your keywords or illustrations for them, or both together. You could use your computer’s “paint” program or similar art capability to write the words in bright colors and add in some illustrations, or you could use a photo or download an image to represent each of your commitments. Alternatively, type out your resolutions in full, preferably in unusual fonts and bright colors that will keep you looking at them. If you’re not sure how to convert your design into a screensaver, just search online for guidelines, and you should have it up and working in no time.

Sing your resolutions in bed

Chant or sing your New Year’s resolutions. Adopt a favorite tune for them, and sing it as you close your eyes at night and again in the morning before getting up. Use these quiet, private times to consider whether you’ve been keeping to them, and how you could improve. It’s also worth re-evaluating the commitments themselves, to see if they’re the best ones possible for you, and whether they’re too hard or complicated to adhere to for the whole year.

Your pesky reminders will soon drive you to take your commitments fully on board, accommodating them in your everyday life, so you don’t even have to stop and think about them. But until that point, these simple tricks will keep you safely on track.

Stress Less this Fall with Calming Autumn Activities

With school and work kicking into full gear, fall is the time to get back to business. Along with the excitement of this busy season, though, comes a fair amount of stress. New schedules and a different pace can make you wish for the lazy days of summer to return. But don’t let the fall season shatter your nerves. Instead, take advantage of the calming activities autumn has to offer, and make room in your routine for some satisfying relaxation.

Try these six ways to de-stress during the fall, and have your most enjoyable season yet.

Take a Colorful Drive

Autumn colors aren’t just pleasing to the eye; they can be highly stress-relieving. That’s because such sensory experiences as soaking up the vibrant colors of the changing leaves divert the mind to something gratifying and positive. Take a drive along a scenic, tree-lined roadway and stop for a picnic lunch to bask in the glory of nature–and the peace and tranquility it brings.

Embrace the Spices of the Season

Spices can rev up ordinary food and drink, but they also have the power to calm. Some of the best spices for stress relief are those prominent during the fall months. Nutmeg is an ancient spice used to relieve anxiety and treat insomnia, while cinnamon helps calm the digestive system and cloves relax the muscles. A pinch is all you need from these powerful stress relievers.

Enjoy Fall Deals at the Spa

Now that life is back to routine for the family, it’s time to focus on you. Many spas around town offer deals to help you do just that. Research fall specials on relaxing activities that will help you unwind and recharge, like a calming body soak, massage, or pedicure. A trip to the spa can be just what the doctor ordered for stress, and autumn deals can make this activity hard to pass up.

Sip on a Hot Drink

If you like sipping on hot cocoa during the fall months, you’ll do more than satiate your taste buds. Cocoa contains polyphenol antioxidants known to relax the mind and boost mood. Don’t care for cocoa? Other hot drinks soothe and relax the body. Try spiced apple cider or cinnamon tea, or enjoy a healthy hot soup made from squash or other fresh, seasonal ingredients.

Do Some Autumn Exercise

Known to release endorphins that calm and relax the body, exercise is one of the best de-stressors of all. Fall offers up plenty of stress-reducing exercise options in a crisp outdoor venue. Go on a hike, bike the nature trails, or play some golf. You can even rake leaves for an invigorating and relaxing activity right at home.

Don’t let the autumn stress you out. Revel in this enjoyable time of year with calming activities that also benefit your health.

UA-146562848-1