Fish Pedicure

Who hasn’t heard of the latest pedicure craze where tiny Garra Rufa fish nibble away dead skin. Aside from it sounding quite strange and bordering animal cruelty, you may even catch a deadly disease.

Blood borne viruses such as HIV or hepatitis could spread from one customer to another via the fish of the contaminated tank water.

Salon Brushes

Visiting a hair salon is common practise for most people. Most of us just don’t risk cutting our own hair. But you might think again as it’s quite common to use the same combs and brushes all day without cleaning them. So it is quite possible, even though the risk is minimal, that you might catch head lice. How does that new haircut sound now?

Bikini Waxes

I don’t quite understand the need for waxing. There are many more preferable methods for getting rid of unwanted hair that are less painful and messy. A salon bikini wax if done wrongly can remove the upper layers of the skin, leaving is vulnerable to infections such as MRSA.

Washbasins

Fancy a stroke with your blow dry? Research suggests the uncomfortable position in which you have to hold your neck when being shampooed could, in some cases, result in a stroke. The condition, Beauty Salon Stroke Syndrome, occurs when an artery in the neck is constricted and cuts the blood supply to the brain.

Symptoms include dizziness, facial numbness and even a blood clot in the brain. If you are worried you may be at risk, avoid over-extending your neck by using towels as padding or ask to have your hair washed leaning forward instead.

Honestly, who needs all the apps that are currently floating around and being created everyday? Granted, some are useful tools, others entertaining but who on earth really needs the 59P ugle meter?

The App claims to be able to deter whether a person is ugly or not and scores their facial features on a scale from 1-10. The higher your score, the uglier your face. What a great way to waste 59P.

Summer has arrived and it’s time to let the bathing season begin. If you haven’t already done so, get off your sofa and working out. That hot body won’t shape itself!

Here’s 5 clips that will help you get toned and sexy arms:

This Tracy Anderson video clip is available for purchase on Tracy’s website. I highly recommend following her routine to give you long, lean and toned arms. If you like, show your support and purchase it. Top Exercise TV Trainer Tandy Guitierrez shows you how to get “LA” arms in time for beach season. Segments from the “Hollywood Trainer Sexy Arms Abs & Legs with Jeanette Jenkins” workout video Simple and effective, here is a great way to firm and strengthen your arms and shoulders using your own body weight. This Pilates video concentrates on the upper body and was specially created by request.

There are constantly new advances in cosmetic surgery. Some are good, some are bad, some are bizarre and unnecessary. I have always been set against liposuction as I believe that exercise and a healthy diet is the way to shed weight, not going under the knife.

The new craze is called Vaser Lipo:

So how safe is this new procedure? Dr Grant Hamlet, the surgeon who worked on Louise’s midriff at the EF MediSpa Clinic in Kensington, London, is so impressed with the low risk involved that he has even had Vaser Lipo himself, courtesy of a colleague.

During the procedure, the patient is injected with a solution made up of saline, adrenaline and anaesthetic to make the capillaries contract.

Then a probe is inserted through a small incision, which emits high frequency ultrasound waves that break down fat deposits in the body. They are then extracted by a gentle suction process.

The effects are permanent, but a healthy lifestyle is recommended to prevent fatty deposits building up in the troublesome areas again.

There is still some bruising afterwards, but this is minimised, he says, by a stringent after-care programme and the procedure, which can take up to six hours but averages on three, depending on how many areas of the body are targeted, is routinely performed using only a local anaesthetic.

‘Nobody wants to go under a general anaesthetic. For local like this, we use the same stuff as dentists,’ says Dr Hamlet.

Prices start at £5000.

Beautiful skin is not just down to good genes, but rather a properly functioning body.

As our largest organ, the skin is responsible for protecting us from invading bacteria, regulating our body temperature and keeping the insides inside.

It is made up of three layers – the outside layer, the epidermis; the middle layer, the dermis; and below that, the subcutaneous layer.

New skin cells form at the bottom of the epidermis and move gradually outwards, and the top layer of dead cells then sheds. This trip takes about four weeks, which means that with the right materials you can create better skin in a month.

An essential step for beautiful skin involves ‘friendly’ gut flora, ‘green’ foods and drinks that have an alkalising effect on the body, and avoiding acid-forming foods.

Some parts of your body should be acidic, such as your stomach when it produces digestive acids. However, in general, your body’s tissues and blood should be slightly alkaline.

Acid producing food includes: vinegar (except for apple cider vinegar), alcoholic drinks, margarine, pork and beef, salmon and mackerel. As well as coffee and black tea, yellow cheeses, pickles and mustard, chickpeas, most nuts, white rice and high-sugar and white-flour products.

You don’t have to cut these items out of your diet completely but reducing the amount you eat should have a positive impact on your skin.

Green drinks – those containing chlorophyll and wheatgrass – are the best way to create good acidalkaline balance.

Alkalising foods include spinach, peppers, courgette, broccoli, carrots, cucumber, cabbage and sweet potatoes – and surprisingly lemons and limes (although the fruit is acidic, it is actually alkalising in the blood). Avocado, asparagus (below), garlic, onions, radishes and uncooked tomatoes are also mildly alkalising.

Omega-3 is particularly good for your skin. It is abundant in cold-water fish such as sardines, trout and herring and although they are acid-forming, salmon and mackerel are good sources, too. Omega-3 is also found in flaxseeds, walnuts and green vegetables.

Omega-6, also found in flaxseeds, walnuts and leafy greens as well as eggs and fish, converts eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) which decreases inflammation and improves skin moisture. It also helps normalise blood pressure, helps with cardiovascular health and can reduce your risk of certain cancers.

Make-up can truly transform a face, but many women stay clear from blush and cheek products. Noone wants to end up overdoing it and many don’t really know how to go about with contouring the cheeks.

Here’s a few steps to follow to achieve a good look:

• apply your favorite foundation evenly across your face
• Choose 2 shades for your cheeks: a pink-toned blush for the apples of your cheeks, and a brown or bronze tone to use for contouring.
• Using a blusher brush, take a bit of your darker shade onto the tip. Suck your cheeks in by making a “fishy” face, and then carefully sweep the shade into the hollow created. Make sure to sweep upward, toward your ear. This is your contour shade, and it will help create definition in your cheeks.
• take the Blusher Brush and take a bit of the blush onto the tip. Be sure to gently tap off the excess to avoid blush fallout all over your cheeks. Then smile and sweep the blush in a circular motion over the rounded out area of your cheeks.
• Take the Face & Body Brush and sweep it over top of both colors, blending them out and making sure there are no harsh edges.

Coconut oil has been praised as one of the top skin moisturisers by many top models. But what makes it so special?

Coconut oil has antibacterial, antioxidant, antifungal, and moisturizing properties. Packed with Vitamin E, it is suitable for both consumption and topical application.

During the first few skin applications, the oil may take a little while to sink into the skin but the benefits are worth it!

In a bid to get radiant and beautiful skin, there are many options. Microdermabrasion is one of them.

Microdermabrasion is a physical exfoliation procedure that uses very small particles to remove the dead, outermost layer of the skin.

In the following clip, dermatologist Dr. Schultz will demonstrate an in-office procedure.

Take this, size zero! Species actress Natasha Henstridge proudly showed off her curvaceous figure in a brown string bikini.

The former model has previously spoken out about diet pills and unhealthy eating habits to maintain her figure.

Natasha told People Magazine: ‘My body’s definitely gone through a change since coming off all the crazy yo-yo stuff.

‘I’ve probably taken some pills that are taken off the market these days, that were like, ‘Oh, but it just gives me an extra boost when I’m working out,’ and it seems innocent enough and it’s over the counter.

‘Those things have a huge effect on your metabolism and all of a sudden, when you decide to go clean and healthy, things are changing in your body because you’ve done a little bit of damage

She looks incredibly stunning and clearly demonstrates that curves are sexy!

So we all know that exfoliating our skin regularly is a must to keep the radiance and beauty. But how often is enough? And how much is too much? You don’t want to end up hurting or damaging your skin. Dr. Schultz answers these questions in the following clip: