Keep Your Skin Firm

There is a certain part of our body that can disclose all our habits, tiredness and even food we choose or how often we exercise. Whatever we do it affects our skin sooner or later. If we do not live right skin loses its firm. It might be unnoticeable in early youth, but we can’t ignore it later. What can we do to prevent skin from losing its shine and elasticity? Basically, you need to live healthy life and take care of yourself. Here are some simple firm skin secrets to follow.

• • Use sun screener. You probably know that 15 daily minutes in a sun, gives your skin the best portion of the D vitamin. What about a longer period? Sun can dry skin cells and do pretty much damage by fastening aging processes and causing serious diseases. Sun

• screener can prevent this from happening. Even if you want to become tanned, without protective means you will rather give your skin damaged but not shinny look.

• • Moisturize your skin every day. Sun, wind, cold, improper soaps, air conditioning or central heating – these are only several things that make a skin to lose its moisture. Apply special cream or oil right after bathing. Pay additional attention to your hands and face; they front most of environmental damage around the year. The less dye and perfume a lotion contains the better it’s for your skin.

• • Exercise regularly. It makes your shape look better and gives you energy. Furthermore it keeps your skin elastic. Regular exercising helps your skin to take up more necessary oxygen. When aging this skin ability can be strongly reduced.

• • Try contrasting shower. Pour yourself with hot and cold water by turns before you get out of bath/shower. This will make your skin to

• relax and contract again and again and will keep it more elastic. Contrasting shower is also recommended as prevention mean against cellulite.

• • Avoid changing your weight too fast. When you lose weight too fast, your skin may not keep in pace with your body. And crumpled wrinkles may be left as a result. Needless to say ultra dieting is not healthy for whole organism. This also works the other way around: if you gain a lot of weight in a short time without moisturizing your skin, small tears may follow.

• • Eat healthy food. Every food is good for you in certain portions. If you prefer fast food to vegetables and home prepared meal, you probably get too much refined carbohydrate and fats, but not enough proteins, vitamins and minerals that your body needs for real.

• • Drink a lot of water. Humidity is vital for skin cells to regenerate. If you don’t drink recommended daily water intake, your body dehydrates and your skin fails to regenerate. Saying that water is a base of our life is not made-up. You should drink 8 glasses of water a day and additional 1 or 2 glasses if you are on diet or exercise intensively. Tea, natural juices and juicy fruit or vegetables can replace water; but coffee, carbonated drinks and alcohol make body to dehydrate even more.

• • Quit smoking and avoid alcohol. Both these things makes your body (of course including skin) to lose water. Furthermore, many unwanted materials get into your body and causes from small to serious skin diseases. Do I need to remind you that skin of heavy smoker is usually pale grey in color?

• • Avoid stress and let yourself to rest. Skin is the most conscientious mirror of your inner feel. If you don’t sleep well regularly, a skin becomes flabby. If you worry a lot, certain wrinkles will form on your face too early.

These advices do not sound like a magical solution, but all the great things are simple. You don’t need to go on strict dieting or buy expensive lotions to keep your skin firm and beautiful. If you love you body and take care of it, it will shine and look great.

Healthy Nails Now

The best way to make sure your nails are healthy is to moisturize them daily, and care for your cuticles. The cuticle is the nail's protection between the exposed dead part of the nail and the matrix, where new cells are generated. Removing the cuticle destroys the nail matrix, which is essential to healthy nail growth. On the other hand, you do want to keep cuticles from becoming overgrown, which suffocates nail growth. The solution: Liberally apply a cuticle remover (not cuticle oil or cuticle cream), which will make the cuticle more pliable. Then, take an orangewood stick and anywhere the cuticle skin touches the nail plate, push it back using tiny circular movements. Hold the stick at an angle so that you do this gradually and gently, without going inside the cuticle. Use a moisturizer daily to prevent dryness.

Eat Right
Though you can't feed the nail directly, a good diet is essential to overall nail health. Biotin-rich foods like eggs, soy, whole grains and liver are said to be extremely helpful to nails, along with foods rich in sulfur minerals like apples, cucumbers, grapes, garlic, asparagus and onions. Also, be sure your diet includes essential fatty acids, or EFAs. Like vitamins and minerals, foods rich in EFA's, such as salmon, nuts, seeds and tuna, help keep nails shiny and pliable.

Do Not Use Your Fingernails as Tools
Using your fingernails as tools to perform tasks -- pushing back your cuticles or scratching a label off a CD is a no-no! Use proper tools for picking and scraping and not your nails.

Born to be shoemakers! Part 2: Manolo Blahnik

We continue to speak about shoes. Shoes are a must in our wardrobe. Shoes play the main role in our everyday life: you have a party but you can't go without pair of stylish shoes; rainy weather outside, but you can't walk with your dog without a pair of waterproof boots; if you have a business lunch, you need representative shoes... Shoes are a must for our look! We are going to speak about people who care about our style, comfort and social status.

Manolo Blahnik was born in Santa Cruz de la Palma (Canary Islands) on the 28^th of November 1942. His father was Czech and mother was Hispanic by origin. The children (Manolo and his sister Evangeline) grew up in Austro-Hungarian discipline. Manolo still remembers such home rules as keep whites white, have clean nails and wear a shirt and a jacket with a cotton dust coat over the top.

Manolo Blahnik and his younger sister lived with their parents on a banana plantation, where they were home-schooled by their rigid Catholic mother. Maybe because they were close to banana plantation, Manolo had his own little monkey and guess what? He made little shoes for her. At that time there were no planes, so traveling was difficult. But after the war it went better and family settled in the mainland. Manolo, who was 12 then, went to school in Geneva, Switzerland.

After he finished school, he entered University, the faculty of languages and literature but very soon understood that it was not his path. To earn money, he sold antiques in Paris, attended lectures in Paris and London Schools of Art. Finally, he settled in London for the remainder of his life.

There, he opened his first shop in the center of Chelsea in 1973, and success doesn't leave him since. He was invited to work for Dior, replaced Roger Vivier, the leading shoes designer for this brand. Madonna, Naomi Campbell (his favorite supermodel), Sarah Jessica Parker, Ivana Trump, Kate Moss, Jennifer Aniston, and Nicole Kidman are among his patrons. One pair of Manolo Blahnik's shoes costs 300 to 1100$.Once, after presentation of his new collection, a mysterious lady bought 50 pairs of his shoes at once.

Today, 4 Italian factories are dealing with Manolo Blahnik shoes. First - makes classic lightweight shoes with little heels, second - makes shoes for haute couture, third - makes casual shoes, forth - makes sporty shoes. Each of those does about 80 pairs per day.

When he speaks about his job he usually uses three words - pleasure, felicity, enjoyment. When someone speaks about his shoes, they use the same words adding only perfection to this list. Manolo always mentioned that he made shoes for all ages and all times. He puts shoes fantasies on paper and sometimes it is hard to give life to this because of his unbelievable creativity. Among a big variety of designs, women also love comfort and safety of his shoes. Sarah Jessica Parker wore 10 cm high heels from Manolo Blahnik even during her pregnancy. As a shoe-maker with self-respect, Manolo sawed up wooden last without assistance and designed a shape of heels.

His talent collected a good set of awards. Among them are Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA 1987), Spain's Balenciaga fashion prize (1988), the Nieman Marcus Award (2000), La Aguja de Oro (The Golden Needle, Spain 2001), and La Medalla de Oro en Merito en las Bellas Artes, presented by the King of Spain, Juan Carlos I (2002).

Some facts from Manolo's life:

1. In 1974 he was on the cover of "Vogue".
2. Madonna on his shoes: "as good as sex, but the shoes last longer".
3. He sells 60,000 - 70,000 pairs annually.
4. He said he would never do any products by his name except shoes.
5. Manolo Blahnik is 65 years old.
6. Manolo always has manicure and pedicure.
7. Usual height of heels on his shoes is 10 cm.
8. The strangest place he has seen his shoes at was in Beijing, at the Ming emperors' tombs, when one woman wore a very light beige pair of his shoes.
9. Blahnik began by designing shoes for men.
10. Blahnik currently resides in a Georgian home in Bath, England, along with some 10,000 pairs of shoes.

You are going to buy your Manolo's shoes, aren't you?

Hidden secrets of tantric sex

Is the Tantra a sex-obsessed corruption of Buddhism? Padmavajra thinks not.
The last great phase in the historical development of Indian Buddhism was known as the Vajrayana (literally, 'The Thunderbolt Way) Its major contribution to Buddhism was a number of new and radical practices leading to Enlightenment.

The Vajrayana's aim was to bring the practitioner to Enlightenment as quickly as possible, and one of its central concerns was the liberalization and canalization of more and more of the practitioner's energy. Part of its way of effecting this was through sexual 4metaphor, sexual symbolism, and even through what have been called 'sexo-yogic' practices.

Because of its apparent use of sex as an aspect of spiritual practice, the Vajrayana has provoked two extreme responses in the West. In the early days of Buddhist studies, the Vajrayana was generally condemned as a corruption of the sublime ideals of Buddhism. More recent interest has tended to the other extreme. Some are attracted to the Vajrayana precisely because of its apparent sanctification of desire in general, and sexual desire in particular. In a recent exposition of the Vajrayana by a Tibetan teacher, we find the following, '...if desire for a woman arises, it must be relied upon...'. Such a presentation of the Vajrayana would seem to suggest that being a Buddhist does not involve changing ourselves. We can, apparently, keep hold of our desires as they will lead us to Enlightenment.

The truth behind the use of sexual themes in the Vajrayana is, as might be expected, far from either of the extremes mentioned. Though we are dealing with a vast and complex subject, it is possible to discern three distinct (though related) aspects of the place of sex in the Vajrayana. Firstly, there is the shock value of sexual language. For example, in the canonical texts of the Vajrayana - the Tantras - which flourished in India roughly between the 4th and 10th centuries CE, we can find sexual intercourse with the chaodali (outcaste girl) and prostitutes being recommended. At that time, contact - what to speak of sexual congress - with an outcaste, according to Hindu society (back to which Buddhism had to some extent been drawn), would have been deemed spiritually polluting. But, in making such recommendations, the Vajrayana was simply trying to shock people out of their mundane social conditioning. It was seeking to liberate the energy locked up in the convention and taboo of Hindu society.

Whether or not these recommendations were enacted is an open question. Stephan Beyer enthusiastically describes the followers of the Vajrayana thus: 'They sang of wisdom as the great Whore, for she opens herself to every man who seeks her, ...made love to the spontaneous maiden within them, and preached a world upside down, ... and were altogether quite outrageous and shocking to all good and sober citizens. It would be interesting to ponder how the Vajrayana would speak to our own age, where sexual license has become a kind of norm. If they wanted to shock people out of their conditioning today, the old followers of the Vajrayana might have to appear as rock bands singing about the ecstasies of celibacy!

In that passage quoted from Stephan Beyer, we read that the followers of the Vajrayana 'made love to the spontaneous maiden within them'. This brings us to the second aspect of sex in the Vajrayana, the so-called 'sexo-yogic' practices.

We have seen that the Tantras recommended sexual intercourse with the chaodali. Now, as well as aiming to decondition, this sort of recommendation would sometimes also have been referring to certain forms of yogic practice. Here, the word c~anda1i is not referring to a woman at all. In this context, chaodali can be translated as 'the fiery one' and, simply stated, refers to the vital energy that must be contacted and incorporated into our practice. It parallels the better known kundalini.

The practices associated with the arousal of the chaodali occur in the anuttara-yoga Tantra, the highest level of Vajrayana practice, and - traditionally - should be undertaken only after years of successful training in Hinayana, Mahayana, and lower Vajrayana disciplines. Indeed, in India and old Tibet, these practices would not have been known about, even in theory, by those not initiated into them. (This might be one of the reasons why these practices were 'hidden away in sexual language - to keep them out of the reach of those not ready to undertake them.) Sangharakshita has recalled that in his own contact with Tibetan monks, lamas, and lay people, there was no special interest shown in these teachings, and definitely no unhealthy emphasis.

There also seems to be some doubt as to whether the 'sexo-yogic' practices were intended to describe anything physical at all. Herbert Guenther, a writer normally very sure of himself, says in commenting on one of these practices: 'We move in a world which probably is neither physical nor mental, but may partake of both (or be something completely different). In some of the practices found in the Tantras and their related works we encounter elaborate visualization techniques where the practitioner is instructed to see himself as a Buddha in sexual union with a female consort, usually described as a dakini. Here the aspect of sexo-yogic practice merges with the third aspect, that of sexual symbolism.

Within the Mahayana, Enlightenment was principally seen as the insoluble union of wisdom and compassion. Mahayana artists were fond of depicting this union in paintings and images, in the form of the androgynous figure of the Bodhisattva - a beautiful sixteen-year-old: gentle, yet strong in appearance.

The Vajrayana sought to depict this union even more vividly, and so depicted the Buddha or Bodhisattva in sexual union with the dakini. We often come across such figures in Vajrayana art. The Buddha or Bodhisattva looks serene, contemplative, blissful; while the dakini - appearing like a goddess - embraces him tightly, and looks rapturously into his face. Here the male figure symbolizes Compassion, the female figure Wisdom. Sangharakshita has commented on such depictions thus: 'One must observe that though there are two figures there are not two persons: there is only one Enlightened person, one Enlightened mind, within which are united reason and emotion, wisdom and compassion.

These representations embody under the form of sexual symbolism (here of course one has nothing to do with sexuality in the ordinary sense) the ideal of Wisdom and Compassion united. 4 Traditionally, these images are considered highly sacred, inspiring profound reverence and devotion, not in any way stimulating a sexual response. However, they have suffered abuse.

Some people go so far as to recommend that. during sexual intercourse, the man should visualize himself as the Buddha: the woman should visualize herself as the dakini. Both should experience their lovemaking as an enactment of the uniting of Wisdom with Compassion. Such recommendations provide the deluded with a first class means of rationalizing away their mundane desires.

For most of us, such a practice would be a purely mental activity making no significant difference to the basic urges involved. It would be no more than a fancy way of having sex. For those experienced enough to see and feel themselves to be a Buddha at such times, it is highly unlikely that they would want to involve themselves with sex at all! Being so content, complete, and rich within themselves, they would hardly need to reach beyond themselves for their pleasures.

To conclude, within the Vajrayana, sex - as most of us understand and experience it - is not part of the path to Enlightenment at all. Sexual language within the Vajrayana is strictly metaphorical, strictly symbolic: not to be taken literally. Indeed, if taken literally, some Vajrayana writings will not lead us to Enlightenment, but will sink us more deeply in the mire of greed, hatred, and delusion.
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A-line Clothes Are Back In Fashion!

Many things in our life are happening in cycles. Autumn is changing summer, spring - winter, and this cycle is repeating every year. You can notice the same in fashion world - fashions trends that have been on the top in fashion industry some time ago, suddenly are coming back on the catwalks. This season we can notice how A-line forms appear in various clothes as it was very popular in 60's. It's a return of A-line forms in the fashion world right now.

A-line fashion is a fashion line which was created first time by favorite French designer Christian Dior. The main characteristics of it is a letter A - narrow shoulders and emphasized waist goes to widely flowing skirt. Though it's long time ago that A-line forms appeared, they still remain in many designers collections on catwalks.

Christian Dior in 1947 presented his first collection in the fashion world which revolutionized the fashion industry. It was something absolutely new and the collection that was named Ligne Corolle has started a new fashion trend. It got the „New Look" name from American fashion journal „Harpers Bazaar" main editor Carmel Snow, who pointed that designer's clothes have a completely new appearance. Elegant dresses, costumes with emphasized waist, easy falling skirts made a contrast with shy colors and strict forms, straight knee long skirts and long jackets with wide shoulders, which were common to meet on the streets those days. Dior gave back feminine beauty to women.

A-line clothes came back to women wardrobes again after a long time. Typical A-line is once again the queen of the catwalks, but this time we can see it not only on the classical skirts or dresses. This time it is appearing in light tops, blouses, tunics, which create a feminine look.

A-line form clothes - narrow ups and wide downs - is an ideal form for plump women who want to hide problematic parts of body - wider hips, bigger tummy or round butt. Very slim or petite women should be careful because otherwise a negative effect will be reached - they will disappear in the tones of material, as in the tent. It doesn't let you show the advantages of your body, besides this doesn't look fashionable at all. But if you really want to wear something from A-line clothes you should choose certain accessories. The best idea would be an easy widening skirt or medium long tunics. Everything else would be too much and too wide.

A-line clothes have a bit different and unusual appearance this spring. Previous A form dictated very wide, extensive and usually long clothes without accentuating the body lines. This season is known for its new vision of A-form - short, slowly widen down, body emphasizing rain-coats and jackets from jeans and other materials. A-line form is not narrowed only with suitable for spring and summer raincoats, but it also has a mark in short and sporty jackets. The whole A-form silhouette this season is going up, making the clothes article look lighter and simpler.

Dresses are ones of the most saying in fashion trend, as always; and this time, the designers are presenting geometric forms with fanciful textures, unusual patterns and bizarre style. The collections of dresses are fulfilled with the A-line form silhouette of a young lady.

What colors should you choose to look classy? Throw your bright color clothes to the far corner of your wardrobe - this is not the way to look this year! Spring and summer collections are offering you to clothe pastille colors from caramel till cream-colored, gold, grey or light brown clothes. If you want something more eye-catching, wear expressive accessories which may vary between royal blue, green, purple or even hot red shades.

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Fashion Jewelry: The Triumph of the Sacred Feminine

Minimalism and unisex are in the past. Long-forgotten femininity revived. Wide palette, free lines, big gemstones are back. But it’s not just a classic – it’s a new vision.

Designers think nothing but movement concept. Lively lines of brooches and pendants involve us into the secret garden of fairy-tale flowers with dainty leaflets and colorful butterflies. Pink, yellow and blue gems (rose-cut multicolor sapphires), spots of green (emeralds) and, of course, diamonds are extremely popular, especially combined all in one set. The texture of these airy-fairy wonders is light and graceful, similar to lace.

Summer fashion jewelry hit is a short necklace with bulky white beads. Rather off-white than snow-white. If you prefer Annie Lennox’s style put on a long flat gold chain with a pendant appropriate to your personality and mood. As for rings, faceted gemstones have replaced round polished ones. They also should be as huge as you can afford. It’s up to you whether to prefer this enormous ring with one big center gemstone or whether to prefer it splashed with pavé diamonds. Long pendant earrings are still popular. And yellow gold , yellow gold and one more time yellow gold! Nevertheless we shouldn’t forget about organic materials and semiprecious stones, which are in trend too. For example, long wooden beads are especially applicable to linen clothes in the hot part of summer day. So you may choose between ethnic and antique or vintage styles. Which jewelry style will find an echo in your heart?

This brief jewelry style guide will possibly help you. Here are the main jewelry styles:

♦ Classic jewelry style;

♠ Avant-garde jewelry style;

♥ Antique or vintage jewelry style;

♣ And ethnic one.

The characteristics of classic style jewelry are elegance and delicacy with strict, neat line and proportion. Classic platinum brilliant-cut diamond ring will endure vagaries of fashion and stay popular, at least as the capital investment. Classic style is often understood in the meaning of antique style, but the classic one definitely does not have a "retro" connotation.

Avant-garde jewelry style on the contrary is extremely changeable. This peculiar style may be even shocking. The jewelry is often made of unexpected materials. The form is abstract, but sometimes it's thematic. The shapes are geometric and linear. It’s quite popular with the young. Those who like being eccentric and bright adore such jewelry.

Sometimes, antique or vintage style jewelry is mistakenly associated only with heavy gold chains, huge diamonds and silver jewelry. Other materials are also possible. But retro look or aged surface of the jewelry is not the point. When you look at it, you think that it came to you through the years or even centuries and it seems like every such thing is having its own unique story. And that’s the point! Vintage style jewelry usually belongs to artistic, romantic and delicate spirits.

Ethnic style jewelry is not necessarily rustic, more often it’s smooth and pleasant to touch. It’s made of natural material, which is characteristic of this or that region. Ethnic style jewelry reflects folklore and decorative art, myths and traditions of ancient civilizations. This style came about as the production of folk-crafts.

Though the styles differ greatly all of them have contemporary fashion versions. You may use each of them, if you like, depending on the season, event or part of the day. But you are also free to create your own individual style.

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Haute Couture

Even if you are not interested in fashion and newest trends, you probably have heard the mystic words combination: Haute Couture or High Fashion. Houte Couture differs from ready-to-wear fashion and street wear and usually has nothing to do with latest trends. Only eighteen fashion houses have a privilege to entitle themselves with this magical phrase. A single high fashion costume costs up from $40000. What is so marvelous about it?

The keys that make high fashion outstanding are luxury, thoroughness and private attitude. The luxury is ensured by original design and high quality fabrics. Every garment is sewed by hands; decorations such as beads and embroidery are also applied by hands only. Imagine an evening gown decorated with thousands of tiny beads, this adornment can take weeks of seamstresses work! But it's not only accurate work or exclusive materials that makes high fashion garment high priced, it's also the brand name that's makes clothing special.

If money isn't a problem to you, you can order any costume from a certain fashion house haute couture collection. Body size or figure is not a problem here, as fashion house will personalize a clothing for you. The costume delivered to a customer is precisely fitted to his or her proportions and wishes. But don't take a fashion house as simple tailor atelier! Once a person choose a clothe model, color and fabrics, huge team of tailors, embroiderers, furriers, vendeuses and other starts its work to satisfy the client. Making a high fashion clothe is not the same thing as making a copy of clothe in a collection. As not everyone has model like shapes or height, so a garment is adapted to client. This means they not only change clothe size, but make a clothe highlight advantages of the clients figure and hide disadvantages. Fashion houses are interested in good look of their collections.

Originality makes haute couture even more outstanding. There might be two people that ordered the same clothe, but they can still feel original. High fashion garments never reach stores, so you won't see thousands of people wearing the same dress in streets. Some of high fashion collections are copyrighted, to protect certain style from being copied by less famous companies. All these features make high fashion very expensive and only a small part of people can afford it. There are approximately 3000 people that order clothing from haute couture a year. And only 1000 of them buy garments this way regularly.

A number of haute couture houses varies as they need to meet very strict requirements to be in the list. These requirements are even defined by law in France. Following fashion houses have the right to call their collections high fashion: Armani Prive, Chanel, Christian Dior, Christian Lacroix, Elie Saab, Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier and Valentino. To be accepted to exclusive caste of haute couture fashion house has to present a collection of minimum 35 costumes of evening wear and daytime wear. These collections have to be presented every season certainly in Paris. Other requirements are to design haute couture clothes for private persons and hold atelier in Paris working full-time with at least 15 people employed.

It might look that haute couture title doesn't pay off for a fashion house as they need to work hard to keep the title and a clientele is surprisingly small. But many people get interested in designers ready-to-wear or accessories because of good image of haute couture. When a person buys a dress from ready-to-wear collection by famous fashion house she finds her style closer to those who can afford to wear high fashion. The good name of haute couture is sometimes used by others designer to get attention. Designers entitle their collections the high fashion when they want to accentuate that this wear is luxurious and exclusive.

from jurgita.com