| The changing face of skin care | | Posted Sunday, December 17, 2006 1:15:19 PM by Blog57 Team | | Carlotta Aiken's cheeks are sprinkled with brown spots, just like her grandmother had. "She lived to be 93," Aiken tells Dr Simon Yoo, who is using a laser to remove the spots, a benign skin condition called dermatosis papulosa nigra. Aiken, 58, an art teacher, is a volunteer in a study at Northwestern University's Centre for Ethnic Skin, and she is playing a small part in a growing movement. At clinics and research centres in Chicago, New York, Washington, Detroit and Miami, dermatologists are developing better treatments for skin problems of people with dark skin. Some skin doctors concentrate their practices on blacks, Hispanics and Asians, who previously were neglected by drug and cosmetic company research. "African-American patients come to me frustrated that their previous dermatologists didn't understand their hair and scalp disorders and pigmentation problems," said Dr Diane Jackson-Richards of the Henry Ford Health System's Multicultural Dermatology Centre in Detroit.... | |
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| | | 27 need-to-know facts - from your measurements to your credit score - and how to find them | | Posted Sunday, November 12, 2006 3:09:29 PM by Blog57 Team | | OK, pop quiz. The subject? You. What's your credit score? Blood type? License-plate number? The length of your inseam? Do you stand to inherit a fortune? (Are you sure?) And what's in your will? A little self-knowledge goes a long way - especially when the parking-lot attendant asks how to identify your lost car. But when your brain feels fit to burst just from keeping track of to-do lists, it helps to sort out what you need to know from what is smart to know, with a few extra handy, fun tidbits to cram in if there's room. What's smart to know (but won't kill you if you don't) Your ring size »Santa can't very well bring you that gorgeous amethyst cocktail ring you've been eyeing without some idea of how big the band must be. » What to do: Wrap a piece of string around your finger and measure the length.... | |
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| | | Protecting your table | | Posted Wednesday, November 08, 2006 3:15:05 PM by Blog57 Team | | Whether your table is brand-new or heirloom old, the Smithsonian's senior furniture conservator has some sound advice. "Protect the tabletop by always using coasters, placemats and trivets," says Don Williams. Abrasive plate bottoms can scratch the wood, and extremely hot serving dishes have even been known to melt varnish. Protective table pads, preferably with fabric undersides made of rayon or polyester felt, are "excellent." A glass top cut to fit the tabletop provides a lot of protection, but it should rest on "spacer buttons" that are an eighth of an inch thick, to hold the glass slightly away from the wood. "Otherwise, it will wick moisture underneath," Williams says. Keep direct sunlight off the surface because it degrades the wood, colorant and finish; curtains or a tablecloth afford easy protection.... | |
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| | | Good cheap food the key to attracting tourists | | Posted Saturday, November 04, 2006 11:22:45 PM by Blog57 Team | | WITH no major industry or even a semiconductor or biotech factory, there is nothing much to push these areas into the limelight. However, Bukit Tambun assemblyman Lai Chew Hock believes that local food holds the key to promoting the places. ?We would like to develop Bukit Tambun as a seafood paradise to attract more people, including foreign tourists. The main econo-mic activity there is clearly the seafood res-taurants. ?But before we can push for this, the cleanliness of these restaurants must be improved first. The level of hygiene must be good enough for foreigners to want to come here,?? he said. .... | |
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| | | Welcome to his hit parade | | Posted Wednesday, November 01, 2006 7:26:11 AM by Blog57 Team | | Just as I slip the piece of sashimi into my mouth, the entire dining room at K-Zo, a new sushi restaurant in downtown Culver City, bursts into applause. I take an inner bow, congratulating myself on a brilliant ordering decision as I savor the dark, deliciously oily fish ribboned with silver. Then I ask our server why everybody is clapping. He shrugs wryly and hazards a guess: The couple at the other end of the sushi bar have just gotten married. Uh-huh. I'm picturing a justice of the peace, followed by sushi at K-Zo, and I'm thinking it's not a bad idea at all. Kampai! Whoever you are. .... | |
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| | | Hydrafinity gives moisture- without oil | | Posted Tuesday, October 31, 2006 1:35:01 PM by Blog57 Team | | I was just told last week at a facial that my skin, although presenting a oily T-zone in the classic combination skin oily/dry combo, is actually super dry underneath. What I need- along with most women in their thirties- is moisture without oil. The lightly-textured Hydrafinity range is perfect for just that. It's formulated especially for Normal and Combination skin types - when the need for oil control has passed but anti-ageing is not yet required; a time when what your skin craves most is hydration. Like the "hydra" name suggests, it is water-based. All four Hydrafinity products feature quenching Alpine Glacial Water from here in New Zealand and a garden of botanical extracts to intensely hydrate and invigorate your skin. Used daily, the Refreshing Cleansing Gel ($32), Revitalising Toning Mist ($32) and 24-hour Skin Hydrator ($42) will soften and smooth the skins appearance.... | |
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| | | Storied celebrity hangout shakes off hangover from oil spill | | Posted Saturday, October 28, 2006 7:23:10 AM by Blog57 Team | | Lebanon's ancient port and so-called celebrity hangout is finally emerging from the environmental and economic disaster inflicted by Israel's summer bombardment. Israeli air strikes on the power plant in Jiyyeh, south of Beirut, dumped thousands of tons of fuel oil into the Mediterranean. That fuel oil has since washed up along hundreds of kilometers of Lebanese and Syrian coastline, including the ancient rocks of Byblos.During a 10-day period in August alone, environmental cleanup teams extracted 275 tons of fuel oil from the sea and beach of the ancient port city and tourist attraction located 40 kilometers north of the capital.But now, despite the water's oily shimmer and the black sludge on boats and their moorings, almost all of the pollution has reportedly been removed."It has to be said, we're swimming again, the sea is clean and the fishing is good," says Roger Abed, son of Pepe Abed, famed for hosting celebrities from Brigitte Bardot to Bill Clinton at his Pepe Abed Fishing Club.The restaurant is adorned with photos of star celebrities such as Marlon Brando and Anita Ekberg from its 1960s heyday alongside a youthful looking Pepe, who is now in his 90s.Immediately after the cessation of hostilities came into effect on August 14, all marine life, and with it the livelihood of Byblos' 150 fishermen, was trapped by a 30-centimeter skin of muck.... | |
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| | | Smokies weddings to carry permit cost | | Posted Tuesday, October 24, 2006 3:09:44 PM by Blog57 Team | | Citing a fivefold increase in weddings inside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the past half decade, the National Park Service is ready to begin charging for permits for them. ``We are not making money. We are just recouping our costs,'' park spokeswoman Nancy Gray said of the plan intended to give Smokies' managers greater control over the 600 or so weddings held annually in the country's most visited national park. As of Oct. 1, couples must pay a $50 nonrefundable fee for weddings in the park straddling the Tennessee-North Carolina border. That applies to standard ceremonies, Gray said. More elaborate ceremonies that call for rangers to be present for traffic control or other services require an additional $150 use permit. Businesses that want to use the park as a location for weddings as part of packages they sell must buy a commercial-use authorization.... | |
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| | | Some sun exposure OK for vitamin D | | Posted Saturday, October 21, 2006 3:09:55 AM by Blog57 Team | | Q. Will increasing sun exposure to enhance vitamin D production cause skin cancer? A. Although excess sun increases the risks of wrinkles and skin cancer, new medical evidence suggests some sunlight is beneficial. Sunlight prompts our bodies to make vitamin D. Luckily, the amount of sun needed to make vitamin D is much less than the amount that causes skin cancer. Vitamin D is essential to building bones. It also regulates cell growth and is involved in immunity. Research shows that vitamin D decreases the risk of many types of cancers. It prevents runaway cell proliferation often seen with cancer. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to immune system disorders including multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes.... | |
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| | | In the Bag: Leaf & Rusher | | Posted Tuesday, October 17, 2006 7:10:10 PM by Blog57 Team | | Leaf & Rusher was founded by a world-renowned Beverly Hills plastic surgeon and a registered nurse who also is an injectables specialist. The Leaf & Rusher Skin Clinic is in Beverly Hills. Leaf & Rusher uses technologically advanced formulas from cleanser to night cream, eye cream to sunscreen. Leaf & Rusher developed an advanced remedy to help counter effects of aging, dehydration and especially sun damage. The product boasts such users as Jennifer Anniston, Brad Pitt and Lindsay Lohan. What the testers said: Tester 1 — There's lots to like about Leaf & Rusher Beverly Hills products, including sophisticated packaging, pleasant fragrance and the promise of restored "youthful glow to aging skin." And, of course, there's that Beverly Hills name. After two weeks of using the Green Tea Wash, Skin Tonic, Tx Night Formula and Tx Formula, my skin seemed slightly softer and I saw fewer visible fine lines than when I started.... | |
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