I Love Massages

     I just love getting a massage. If I was weathly I'd have one every week. Maybe even my own personal masseuse. Since I'm not, I'll have to try this DIY Facial Massage.

Face Massage

Massaging your face can help prevent new tension lines and wrinkles from appearing. It does this by relaxing the muscles and by stimulating the blood vessels under the skin. You should cleanse your face thoroughly before you begin. Follow the steps described below. 

1. Start by stroking the whole face. Use both hands and work up the neck, out across the cheeks, then glide gently inwards, work up and out over the forehead. Finish by applying gentle pressure to the temples.

2 . Stimulate the skin by using the back of your hands and loosely rolling your fingers up the cheek. This can also be used on the neck and under the chin.

3. With your thumb and forefinger, gently pinch the skin along the jawbone and under the chin. This is very stimulating and helps prevent a double chin.

4. To release tension around the eyes, firmly squeeze the eyebrows with your thumb and forefinger. Always work from the bridge of the nose towards the temples.

5. For  tension in the neck and shoulders make firm circular  movements working up either side of the neck then out across the shoulders

                                      

Taken from an article at Holistic.com

Wordless Wednesday

Funky photo of my Hosta bed.

Tips for More Beauty Sleep

Sleep hours are a potent time for your body to repair itself, skin included. Here are tips for adding more beauty to your sleep:

 Sleep flat on your back: Smashing your face into a pillow creates fold lines that eventually become permanent if they're repeated every night. Spending time on your back also helps counter the effects of gravity that accumulate during the day. In a recent study of  women and men, Japanese researchers found there was greater wrinkling in the afternoon than in the morning; they concluded that the face literally falls with gravity as the day progresses. At night, you get a chance to reverse that.

Stay hydrated: Keeping skin moist from the inside out is a simple, relatively inexpensive, and quite effective moisturizer. Drink six to eight glasses of plain water throughout the day and include omega-3 fatty acids (found in fish and nuts) in your diet, says Dale Prokupek, MD, a Beverly Hills internist and an associate professor of gastroenterology and nutrition at UCLA. To help avoid moisture loss from the skin while sleeping, turn on a humidifier. "I used one in my bedroom for a dry throat problem and soon realized my skin never looked better," he says. (Be sure to clean the humidifier often, especially if you're prone to allergies.)

Use a moisturizer after bathing: Seal in the moisture that the topmost layer of your skin has absorbed with a hydrating body lotion or cream. Because you're going to bed--not pulling on a silk blouse or cashmere sweater--you can try a cream that's richer than you would feel comfortable wearing during the day. 

Taken from an article by Janet Kinosian. Janet is a journalist who writes for the Los Angeles Times.

Fragrance Tips: Do's and Don'ts

* DO wear more perfume if you have dry skin. Scent needs oils to last. 

* DO wear stronger scents in cold weather. Cold reduces a scent's strength. 

* DO wait ten minutes before deciding to buy a new scent. 

* DO try scents on your own skin, as everyone's skin chemistry is different. 

* DO apply perfume right after you shower or bathe. Your pores will be open and soak up the scent. 

* DON'T use deodorant soap where perfume is applied. 

* DON'T use perfume near pearl or costume jewelry. The alcohol in perfumes can cause pearls to yellow and can strip the coating off jewelry. 

* DON'T stick to one fragrance all year long. Temperatures affect the intensity of fragrance. 

Taken from an article on this website:  Free-Beauty-Tips.com

Wordless Wednesday

The beautiful island of Santorini as seen from our cruise ship.

The Glass of Water Theory of Stress Management

Sent to us online, source unknown.

This short and amusing illustration of how to manage stress really hit home for us. There's nothing like a good story to help us get the point, so check out the Glass of Water Theory of Stress Management here: 

SIMPLE SOLUTION:  

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?" 

Answers called out ranged from 8 ounces to 20 ounces. 

The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. 

"In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes." He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on. 

"As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden. 

"So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can.

"Relax; pick them up later after you've rested. Life is short. Enjoy it!" 

We Remember