Guides and Tips

After having children a lot of women find they are left with that extra skin around their stomach which no amount of dieting or exercising can manage to shift. We see lot’s of stories in the press about famous people having cosmetic procedure’s such as tummy tucks to help get their body’s back into shape after having children but is it really the easy answer that people hope?

A tummy tuck is actually classed as major surgery and as such caries a lot of risks which people don’t often think about. Here’s a brief list of tummy tuck complications.

That list is also summarised below:

• Scarring – Although the excess skin on your stomach will be reduced you will be left with a scar which can run all the way across your stomach
• Pain, bruising and tenderness – All of these should gradually fade as you recover however this can take up to 6 weeks
• Slow recovery – Some patient’s, especially those who are older or smoke can find the wounds take a lot longer heal and hence have a slower recovery
• Reaction to the anaesthetic – As with all surgery requiring a general anaesthetic you can sometimes find you have an unexpected reaction or feel very poorly after the operation
• Blood clots – After surgery as your unable to move around as easily you can have a higher risk of getting a blood clot
• Infection – Whilst ever care will be taken to ensure doesn’t happen unfortunately some patient’s can still find their wound becomes infected which can lengthen the recovery time

Deodorant has been around since the earliest of organised societies. People learned quickly that body odour can cause discomfort and embarrassment and have always looked for ways to combat the stench that is caused by sweating-especially underarm odour. Men in particular were interested in combating body odour as they are more prone to sweating.

Before the invention of commercial deodorants hit populations, cultures found many ways to mask their odours such as the Egyptians whom depended on strong citrus and cinnamon concoctions of paste to mask the body odour. The stronger the concentration the better the job it did.

First Commercial Deodorant

Then in 1888 everything changed with the introduction of the first commercially produced and sold underarm deodorant. The Mum antiperspirant was a zinc, chloride and wax paste substance that was applied to the underarms. It was tacky and caused an uncomfortable sticking when the arms were raised but it did kill the bacteria effectively.

In the mid-twentieth century a plethora of aerosol deodorants hit the market and found popularity. These contained aluminium zirconium and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). By the 1980s more than 80% of the deodorants sold were of this kind. However, once it was learned that CFCs damaged the earth’s ozone layer people began to demand a different product that did not hurt Mother Nature.

Stick Deodorants

Enter the world of stick deodorants. Though aerosol (now with safe propellants), roll-ons and powders are still available, stick deodorants are the most widely used and sold world-wide deodorants. Great advances have been made in these sticks and most have compounds that smell pleasantly, kill bacteria, an inhibit perspiration.

Men’s Deodorant in the 21^st Century

Male hygiene products have greatly increased in recent decades. No longer are only women the target of products for personal care. The modern assortment of men’s deodorant has hundreds of scents and products including Right Guard, Gillette and the ever popular Lynx Deodorant that recently launched their latest musky deodorant – Lynx Excite. These ensure that men are continually smelling and feeling their best.

You can’t read a magazine or watch TV without seeing an advert claiming their anti-ageing skin product can work miracles in keeping your skin wrinkle-free and youthful. Each product seems to claim to have a new and wonderful ingredient, but the real question is, what are these anti ageing ingredients and how do they work?

Vitamin C

Vitamin C helps to increase the production of collagen in the skin to keep it appearing youthful. It also helps boost circulation to keep skin hydrated.

Vitamin A

Vitamin A is used to reduce the depth of wrinkles in the skin. It does this by lightly inflaming the skin so wrinkles appear to diminish. It also stimulates skin cell renewal.

Collagen

Collagen is found throughout the body and keeps skin firm. A lack of collagen can lead to wrinkles and sagging of the skin. Many skin products contain collagen to supplement the collagen the body produces.

Elastin

Elastin is an essential protein which keeps skin flexible – thus minimising wrinkles. Many skin products contain elastin to supplement your own body’s elastin.

Alpha-Lipoic Acid

Alpha-lipoic acid is a very strong anti-oxidant which helps protect against the damage that sun can cause to skin cells. Alpha-lipoic acid also helps regulate collagen.

Glycolic Acid

Glycolic acid helps to break down old skin cells on the surface of the skin, allowing newer (and hence more youthful) skin cells to become visible on the surface.

Some ingredients can potentially irritate your skin, so be sure to test products out and work out what anti-ageing skin care product is best for your skin.

• Tap your nails on a hard surface every day. Tapping your nails has been shown to stimulate nail growth.
• Moisturise your nails and your cuticles to keep your nails looking young and healthy.
• Keep your nails clean with a good quality nail brush.
• Don’t cut your nails too short, or let them grow too long. Cutting them too short can lead to nails receding, and leaving them too long will leave you prone to breaking your nails. Ideally nails should be filed to just beyond the end of your finger tips.
• Use a file to shape your nails, and a buffer to smooth away imperfections.
• Remove nail polish every 4 – 5 days to let your nails breathe. Applying too many coats of nail polish on top of each other can cause the nails to dehydrate.

• Apply moisturiser to your cuticles often, this will help stop them from lifting up and looking ragged.
• Apply cuticle removal cream to your cuticles at least every couple of days.
• Don’t cut live cuticle skin. Only remove dead cuticle tissue. The removal of cuticles should be painless.
• Hang nails can be removed with cuticle scissors, cuticles should be pushed back with a cuticle pusher.