I like keeping my skin healthy, so I try and keep my eye out for products that could slow down or prevent skin aging and help me deal with skin problems like acne flare-ups or chronic dryness.

Unsurprisingly, most of the products I end up finding usually fall under a relatively new category of skin products called “cosmeceuticals.”
This is a pretty obvious thing to mention, but I really just have to put it out there, in case anyone misses out on it: “cosmeceuticals” is a kind of combination word made up of “cosmetics,” and “pharmaceuticals.”

There. Now that that part of my little definition-of-terms is out of the way, I can go on to say that, cosmeceuticals are primarily cosmetic products that are applied to the skin and claim to have active ingredients that are powerful or effective enough to have the same kind of healing effects on the skin as drugs have on the rest of the body.

Hold On a Second, is “Cosmeceuticals” Even a Real Word?

Actually, that was the first question I asked. I mean, it kind of sounds like some sort of bogus marketing gimmick meant to draw in hypochondriac skin-care addicts who want to be able to apply their flu medication by smearing it on their faces or something.

As it turns out though, “cosmeceutical” is an actual term. It isn’t recognized by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and neither are cosmeceutical products subject to FDA review.

Ok, so “cosmeceuticals” isn’t a legally recognized term, but it HAS been around, and it’s used in cosmetic advertising to describe topically applied skincare products with active ingredients like botanicals, antioxidants, vitamins, essential oils, and herbs.

What’s Up With Cosmeceuticals?

Alright, let’s clear something up first: cosmeceuticals are cosmetic products. They’re usually safe to apply without prescription, but are meant to serve a specific skin-care function. Cosmeceuticals include anti-aging products, mild acne-management creams, and products meant to help people deal with skin problems like chronically dry or oily skin. Hypoallegenic cosmetics are also often marketed as cosmeceuticals, since they’re formulated a special way, with a specific problem in mind.

One of the biggest criticisms that a lot of people have of cosmeceuticals and the usage of the term is that it can be misleading. People who aren’t very familiar with cosmeceuticals might think that products marketed as such could be used for medical purposes. They might also think that these products go through the rigorous testing that medical drugs have to undergo, for quality control and efficacy.

Sure, these products are tested for safety, but as far as effectiveness is concerned, as the old folks say; ”The proof of the pudding is in the eating.”

If it’s manufactured by a reliable company, then a cosmeceutical anti-aging cream, for example, will probably effectively make skin healthier and get rid of a few of those fine lines that people seem to hate so much. Not all cosmeceuticals are created equal though, and some products might not effectively deliver on their promises at all.

Your best bet, when buying cosmeceuticals, is to research, ask questions, and have a sense of humor, if the product you buy turns out to be a dud.

Tags: Anti-Aging, Natural Beauty, Skin by admin
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As humans, our hair is generally made from the same kind of stuff as our nails. You might think that, given this, the term “tough as nails” could apply to your hair, but actually, hair can be pretty fragile. Too much wind, too much sun, too much washing, and too much styling, not enough washing, and not enough brushing are just examples of ways that hair can get damaged. Chlorine damaged hair is one of the worst kinds of damaged hair. Luckily, it’s possible to prevent some of the havoc that harsh chlorine can wreak on your hair so that you won’t have to go to the salon for damaged hair treatment.
Your Hair, the Swimming Pool, and You
Swimming might be one of the best ways to tone the body and keep fit, but unless you have a personal, Olympic-sized pool filled with pure spring water infused with lavender oil or something, expect to get some nasty, chlorine damaged hair at a public swimming pool after you take the plunge. After all, the best way to disinfect pool water and give it that nice, clear blue color is to put chlorine in it. Chlorine might ensure that you won’t be swimming in green slime, but it’s still a pretty harsh chemical, and it can really do a number on a person’s skin and hair. –especially your hair.
Chlorine Damaged Hair
Chlorine might kill off bacteria really effectively, but in high concentrations, it’s actually a bit corrosive, and it can also strip hair of its protective oils. This makes your hair much more absorbent and prone to breakage and split ends. Without the oils that keep hair nourished and protected, hair can become really dull-looking and unmanageable.
If you have curly or wavy hair, having chlorine damaged hair can mean that you could be facing a really bad case of the frizzies. If you have light-colored hair, watch out: the chlorine can make heavy metals –like iron, copper, and manganese- in the water stick to your hair and leave it with a sickly, greenish color.
Exposing your crowning glory to this kind of nastiness just once can be pretty bad for your hair, and if you’re on the swim team or swim regularly for exercise, you could be looking at some seriously chlorine damaged hair.
Preventing Chlorine Damage
Just because you like being in the water doesn’t necessarily mean that your hair has to take the hit though; if you’re worried about you hair’s health but still want to swim, here are a few tips to try to keep the tress stress to a minimum:
Before Swimming:
Wet your hair in the shower before stepping into the pool. When you do this, your hair absorbs water that is (relatively) un-chlorinated from the tap or the shower, making it a little harder for your hair to absorb the damaging, chlorinated pool water.
Put a little hair conditioner on your hair before splashing in; this moisturizes your mane and offers a bit of protection from all that chlorinated harshness.
It might look dorky, but using a swimming cap over your hair (after it’s been soaked and conditioned, of course) is the best way to keep your hair from absorbing too much chlorine.
After Swimming:
Rinse, rinse, rinse! Washing that chlorinated water out of your hair in the shower ensures that the chlorine won’t do any further damage.
Try using club soda. This substance neutralizes chlorine; for whatever pool water you might have left in your hair after rinsing it out with regular un-chlorinated water.
It’s also a really good idea to wash your hair with shampoo after swimming. Shampoos with an ingredient called sodium thiosulfate –or antichlor- are the best for this; it gets rid of that sharp, chlorine smell, as well as the green color.
Condition your hair after your swim. Doing this moisturizes your tresses and repairs some of the chlorine damage.
After rinsing, washing, and conditioning your hair, keep being gentle to your hair; don’t blast it with a hair dryer set to max; use the cool setting one your hair dryer, or dry your hair by patting it gently with your towel.
If the damage is really bad though, it might be a good idea to get some professional damaged hair treatment at the salon.
After the Fact: Reversing the Damage
Chlorine damaged hair usually manifests in dry, rough, dull-looking, and brittle locks. It’s not exactly the prettiest sight in the world. Happily though, there are a lot of damaged hair treatments available to disguise and even repair some of the damage. (No, “wearing a hat” does NOT count as damaged hair treatment). There are some cases –as with split ends, which are irreversible- where the best solution is to simply get a haircut to get rid of the damaged hair. Using products with silicon-based polymers can protect the hair by providing a kind of “film” over it, as well as giving it some shine. It won’t fix it though. Damaged hair treatments that don’t involve a pair of scissors will almost always involve intensive conditioning and moisturizing, so try to make sure that you maintain your hair with some deep conditioning at least once a week. For the best damaged hair treatment results, try not to subject your chlorine damaged hair to further punishment with chemical treatments like perms and permanent coloring. It’ll just make it look worse.

Tags: Hair by admin
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People with no eyebrows can often feel like their faces don’t look complete, and even though there are a lot of different reasons for people not to have eyebrows, luckily there are also a lot of different options to take if you should happen to lose your eyebrows. You could fill in your eyebrows using makeup or tattoos, or you could opt to get artificial eyebrows.

How Do People Lose Their eyebrows?

The cause for a person losing their eyebrows could have been a freak lab experiment with an unfortunate miscalculation involving the Bunsen burner, it could have been because they got a bit overzealous with the tweezers a few too many times, it could be genetic, or it could be because of medical treatments like chemotherapy. Other possible causes are infections or nasty little parasites infecting the hair follicles in the eyebrow and thyroid problems or hormonal imbalance, and a good number of others.

Whatever the reasons, eyebrow loss can be pretty hard on a person, psychologically. Of course, there’ll be those who won’t really mind and can simply shrug and go on with their lives, but for a lot of people, not having eyebrows can feel awkward and embarrassing.

What Can a Person With No Eyebrows Do to Conceal The Fact That They Don’t Have Any?

If your eyebrows aren’t so much “completely gone” as they are just “sparse,” you can try adding a bit of volume and definition to them by filling in some of the blank spots with a few strokes of an eyebrow pencil. It’s definitely a lot less trouble than having to go off and get a set of artificial eyebrows, and it’ll usually cost a lot less than hair regrowth treatments that are likely not to work anyway.

If you have no eyebrows at all though, taking out the eyebrow pencil might not be the best course of action to take. Have you ever had any of those funny aunts whose eyebrows looked like they’d been drawn in with magic marker?

You wouldn’t want to look like that. Of course, it’s possible to get a less… cartoony look using makeup, but it can take a bit of skill and practice to get it just right.

It’s usually a lot easier to get a more flattering and realistic look using artificial eyebrows instead.

What Are Artificial Eyebrows?

Artificial eyebrows are usually made from actual human hair. Normally, they’re already pre-shaped and will either come with an adhesive backing so that all you need to do is apply them to the correct area on the face, or will require special glue application to keep them there.

How Do You Pick Out the Right Kind of Artificial Eyebrows

Whatever the case may be, make sure to check what the ingredients of the adhesive are to make sure that you won’t be getting any nasty reactions. Also, try to get artificial eyebrows that match your real eyebrow color.

If you can’t really tell anymore, you can use your natural hair color (yes, the hair on your head) as a gauge. Normally, eyebrow hair is the same color as the hair on a person’s head, or it can be up to two shades lighter or darker. Whatever the case may be, if you have no eyebrows, don’t worry; the right set of artificial eyebrows, if applied correctly, can look even better than the real thing.

Tags: Body Hair, Miscellaneous by admin
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So you’ve had a few birthdays behind you, and your years are starting to show. Your face’s battle with gravity has begun to turn, and your skin just isn’t what it used to be anymore.

This isn’t an unfamiliar story. Everybody ages, and everybody’s skin will eventually grow saggier and less elastic as time goes by. Unless there’s some odd, ageless genetic freak out there that doesn’t have –or won’t ever encounter- this particular fact of life, everyone goes through this eventually.

So, what’s a person to do? There are a lot of facial treatments out there. Out of all of them of course, Botox injections and facelifts usually show the most dramatic results. If you don’t want to try methods as drastic as these, or simply don’t want to subject your face to all the unpronounceable chemicals and incomprehensible procedures that most conventional cosmetic rejuvenation techniques and products offer, try going for an alternative kind treatment. An acupuncture facelift –which is also usually referred to as cosmetic acupuncture or acupuncture facial rejuvenation- might be the right one for you.

The acupuncture face lift has its detractors as well as its fans, and it does come at a pretty steep price –although it’s pretty small when compared to conventional face lifts- so make sure that you know what it entails and whether you’re comfortable giving it a try.

What’s Acupuncture?

I’m pretty sure that all of you people out there in internet-land might have heard of acupuncture at some point. From its name, a person can probably surmise that it involves puncturing of some kind. And yes, acupuncture does involve a bit of puncturing.

If you’re squeamish about getting injections, don’t worry; acupuncture needles are much, MUCH smaller and thinner, they don’t hurt at all. These needles are placed on acupuncture points on meridians along where qi –in traditional Chinese culture, this is what the vital energy that flows through everything is called- flows in the body.

Inserting the needles into certain acupuncture points is believed to relieve qi blockages and correct qi flow, relieving pain, alleviating medical condition, and restoring balance in a person’s body.

There are a lot of different acupuncture techniques, and there are a lot of different ways of viewing acupuncture. Not everybody believes in it, but this particular form of alternative medicine has shown enough results to be considered by most doctors in the West to be a medically valid form of treatment.

What is an Acupuncture Facelift?

Is acupuncture where the needles are applied to the points on a person’s face and is meant to revitalize and rejuvenate a person’s face; making them look better –and more importantly- feel better.

Before jumping on the acupuncture face lift bandwagon though, keep in mind that an acupuncture facelift isn’t an actual facelift. If you take well to the treatment, it’s possible that the skin on your face can improve, and problems like eye bags and fine lines will go away too. If you’re really lucky, after a good number of sessions, the skin on your face could tighten up so that while you won’t have that actual, “face lift” effect, you can look a lot less tired and yes, younger.

On top of that, since acupuncture is a holistic kind of treatment, it can also possibly relieve other conditions you might have, like insomnia or weight problems. Of course, it all depends on where on your face the needles might be inserted and whether or not your own unique body will take well to this kind of treatment, but usually, at the very least, you’ll be in for a very relaxing experience.

What Kind of Effects Should I Expect From an Acupuncture Face Lift?

The name can be a bit misleading, but acupuncture facelifts really aren’t facelifts, no matter how much you might want them to be. For one thing, the effects won’t be as dramatic.

Also, expect to come back for multiple treatments. Some acupuncturists will offer packages of fifteen to twenty treatments over the course of two months or so, and can usually cost anywhere between one thousand to two thousand US Dollars. Some may even charge for individual sessions, although results don’t really show after the first few sessions.

The acupuncture facelift gets a lot of mixed reviews; some say that there really isn’t any difference between before and after treatment, some swear that even though acupuncture did little more than refresh their faces have a couple of years shaved off, they feel a lot better and younger inside, and that the time and money they had put into the treatment had been more than worth it.

If you’re skeptical about the benefits of alternative medicine though, the acupuncture facelift might not be the age-reversal treatment for you. On the other hand, if all you want is a bit of a facial boost along with some stress relief, getting an acupuncture face lift could be ideal; after all, it’s cheaper than most conventional anti-aging surgical treatments, and there’s no downtime after treatment.

Tags: Anti-Aging by admin
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Okay, you guys are totally going to think I’m weird when I admit this… When I think “laser,” the first thing that enters my mind is “laser gun.” Which would then usually lead up to “laser gunfight,” which would then eventually become “epic interstellar battle set in the Thirtieth Century.”

I know that most people’s thought-trains don’t travel in those –I’ll admit- somewhat off-the-beaten-track directions, but you’ll have to admit, a thirtieth century interstellar laser war sounds pretty cool. These days though, lasers are actually used for some pretty mundane things. Like permanent laser hair removal.

If I had a choice, I’d really rather be zapping baddies with my laser gun than zapping my armpit hairs. I don’t have much of an opportunity to do this though, and I still think that lasers are really cool, so laser hair removal is, therefore, really cool too.

What is Laser Hair Removal Anyway?

Laser hair removal is when the hair on a person’s face and/or body is removed –usually permanently- using intense pulses of light set at a particular wavelength. This laser pulse targets the melanin –or pigment- in the hair shaft, and damaging it by heating the follicle so that the hair doesn’t grow back. If the person’s skin color is notably lighter than their hair, the skin in the area where the light pulse was targeted won’t heat up.

Permanent laser hair removal treatment won’t take with some people, but on those who do, you can be pretty sure that the hair in that area won’t grow back. That’s why they call it PERMANENT laser hair removal. This form of hair removal is really reliable, although it’s usually considered to be less reliable than electrolysis, which uses a slight electric jolt to destroy the hair shaft, rather than an intense beam of laser light.

Compared to electrolysis though, permanent laser hair removal is a lot less painful. Like electrolysis though, so that you can make sure that the area that you want treated will remain permanently hair-free, you’ll have to go back for multiple sessions over the course of a few weeks or months, so that any hair strands in their “resting” phase can be removed as they come out of that phase and begin growing again.

Who Are the Best Kinds of Candidates for Laser Hair Removal?

Since the laser beam targets the dark pigment in the hair shaft, people with very dark, coarse hair and light skin are usually the best candidates. Depending on the kind of laser being used, darker-skinned individuals usually tend to also end up with discolored skin around the treated area, since the light won’t be able to target their hair as well as it would with a stronger contrast between dark hair and light skin.

The stronger the contrast between light skin and dark hair, the better the possible permanent laser hair removal results will usually be, and the less likely it would be for a person to suffer from side-effects.

What Are the Side-Effects of Permanent Laser Hair Removal?

If you’re thinking about getting this kind of treatment for your unwanted hairs, keep in mind that the results can vary between individuals, and that a person can run the risk of suffering from side-effects like acne flare-ups, scab formation, hyper- or hypopigmentation, swelling, soreness, burning, and a condition known as purpura, where purple or red-colored discolorations appear on the skin of the area where the permanent laser hair removal treatment had been performed. That’s definitely not as cool as an interstellar laser war.

Tags: Body Hair by admin
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All of us are born looking a certain way. Some of us are genetically blessed with the facial symmetry of Botticelli cherubs, some of us are not so lucky. Of course, just because a person doesn’t quite have a perfect face doesn’t necessarily mean that they can’t be happy with their looks.

I’m certainly no vision of beauty myself, but I like my face just fine. In fact, I love my face. It’s mine, and I wouldn’t change a single part of it for the world. …alright, I’m lying. I hate my nose. It’s too bumpy, and if I had the guts, I’d change it in a heartbeat.

I’ve been thinking about getting rhinoplasty, and I’ve been trying to find a good rhinoplasty specialist. Finding one who knows what they’re doing isn’t that hard, but if you want a rhinoplasty doctor who understands what you want –one whom you can agree with- a little more research is sometimes in order.

What is Rhinoplasty?

Plastic surgery is any surgical procedure that involves changing the way a person looks. There are specific kinds of procedures for the different parts of the body; even the face.

Rhinoplasty is plastic surgery performed to reshape a person’s nose, and is usually meant to change the way a person’s nose looks, for aesthetic reasons. Also called a “nose job” or “nose reshaping,” this particular plastic surgery procedure is usually a pretty safe and simple one; most of the time, a rhinoplasty doctor will allow their patient to go home and simply take a few pain meds and antibiotics right after their operation.

Alternatively, there’s also non-surgical rhinoplasty, which doesn’t involve going under the knife at all. Like Botox injections, this little procedure involves needles, not knives.

Fillers are injected to change the shape and appearance of a person’s nose. It’s a much less invasive –and often cheaper- procedure than its surgical counterpart, but more often than not, the results are temporary. Depending on the kind of filler being used, most non-surgical rhinoplasty results last five months to a year, and only one kind of permanent filler has, thus far, been approved by the FDA.

Sometimes, rhinoplasty isn’t just a cosmetic procedure; it can be done by a rhinoplasty specialist when a person has a birth defect or has problems with breathing because of the shape of their nose. When this is the case, some health insurance plans will actually cover for all or part of the cost of the procedure.

If it’s just to change the way a person’s nose looks though, it’s really likely that health plans won’t pay for a nose job. This means that a Rhinoplasty can actually set you back by anywhere from one thousand US Dollars, to ten thousand. Ouch.

How do I pick a good rhinoplasty doctor?

Sometimes, finding a rhinoplasty specialist that’s right for you can be as simple as getting referrals from doctors or previous rhinoplasty patients. –Especially if this particular rhinoplasty doctor has come highly recommended by a number of people.

Of course, most of the time, a little additional research is still needed. This is especially true if you’ve found your possible rhinoplasty specialist by plugging in a few keywords on your search engine.

If you’ve already narrowed down your list of candidates, try to find out if they have proof that they had completed their training in surgery and plastic surgery. Rhinoplasty doctors who are members of medical associations, like the ASPS or American Society of Plastic Surgeons, are usually safe choices, since most of these groups have screening procedures for admission, and standards that a surgeon must maintain.

Another tip for finding a rhinoplasty specialist who’s right for you is to try and see if anyone else online has anything to say about them. Forums and blog entries can be pretty enlightening, if you know what you’re looking for.

Of course, we all know that the internet isn’t exactly the most reliable source of information out there, so one of the most reliable ways to find out if a particular plastic surgeon is right for you and your rhinoplasty is to meet them. Try and set up a meeting or book an appointment with them before sealing the deal, to ascertain whether or not you’d actually want to work with them.

Should I get rhinoplasty?

Sure, you might have already invested a good bit of money and effort into finding the right kind of rhinoplasty specialist, but if you find yourself having doubts, stop a moment and think about whether or not it’d work out well for you if you really do go through with the surgery.

And yes, unless it’s the filler injection-type procedure, it IS surgery; complete with the anesthetic and the scalpel. That can be a pretty big deal, because no matter how skilled your rhinoplasty doctor might be, there’s still the very real possibility that things can go wrong.

If you should decide that rhinoplasty is right for you though, don’t forget to make sure that you find a specialist that you feel you can trust.

Tags: Cosmetic Procedures by admin
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The fish pedicure has got to be the cutest foot-care treatment I’ve ever heard of. Before you ask, yes, the term “fish pedicure” is exactly what it sounds like: fish giving you a pedicure.

Getting Your Feet Wet

Conventionally, people would use razors to get rid of any scales or calluses they have on their feet. It’s not exactly the safest or most comfortable way to go about it, but it’s one of the cheapest and commonest ways to smooth down scaly feet.

A great alternative to razors is the fish pedicure. It doesn’t involve any sharp objects scraping dangerously close to major arteries, just some warm water, and a lot of really small fish. Depending on where you get your underwater foot treatment, you could be plunging your tootsies into a warm footbath with a hundred or more of these tiny, toothless carp called garra rufa.

These fish thrive in hot water, which, unsurprisingly, doesn’t really support much of the aquatic life they eat. So, when a tasty human foot comes along, they’ll swim up to you and eat their fill of your dead skin. Usually, letting the fish go at it for about fifteen to thirty minutes is enough for most people to come out of it with really soft, completely callus-free tootsies.

A lot of spas will follow up their fish treatment with an actual pedicure, which many say becomes a lot easier because of how soft the skin becomes after the fish are done with you.

No Worries About Piranha Movies

Being toothless, these little guys won’t be able to get to any of your live skin, so if you’re worried about suffering the fate of a movie extra in a piranha flick, stop. Barring a really unlikely freak accident where a stray fish might mistakenly decide to swim up places where “the sun don’t shine,” garra rufa are harmless to humans.

And they’re really cute.

On top of that, even though these guys are essentially eating your skin, a lot of customers say that it doesn’t hurt when they do. They say it’s more of a ticklish, tingly sensation, like your foot’s fallen asleep or being really gently massaged.

Doctor Fish!

The whole fish spa thing got its start in Turkey, but it’s spread to a lot of parts of Asia, and it’s making a bit of a splash in the United States, too.

In the US though, even though the novelty of the fish pedicure has made it a hit among customers, US health officials are still a little worried about whether or not using skin-eating fish to clean your feet of extra stuff would be particularly sanitary. A lot of people swear by it though, and a lot of the time, customers have nothing but praise for the treatment.

Garra rufa are also referred to as “doctor fish” and “nibble fish” and for good reason: When they nibble away at your dead skin, they can also relieve some of the symptoms of skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis, and skin asthma. A few minutes in a tub full of these great little guys will give your smooth, younger-looking skin that all but glows with health.

What could possibly be cuter than that?

Tags: Miscellaneous, Natural Beauty by admin
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A lot of people have problems getting rid of the extra layers of flab on certain parts of their body. I mean, I might occasionally love my flab, since it’s my sign of my triumph over a buffet, but it doesn’t exactly help me feel very pretty when I’m attempting to cram myself into last summer’s bathing suit.

I’ve done the diet and exercise route, and sure, sometimes I drop a dress size or two, but there are some fat deposits that just refuse to go away. This is where plastic surgery procedures like liposculpture come in.

A liposculpture procedure is a less invasive, but more precise form of liposcution. Instead of making big cuts over the parts of the body where the fat needs to be sucked out, a small incision is created, and a tiny suction mechanism is used so that specific fat deposits in the body can be targeted.

Be warned though; liposculpture cost can be more expensive than normal liposuction techniques, and since this kind of procedure is a lot more likely to be considered cosmetic rather than therapeutic or correctional, health plans usually don’t support it.

How is Liposculpture Done?

When you get a liposculpture, you are essentially getting a high-precision kind of liposuction. Although here, instead of a large incision –as with normal liposuction- a small incision is made where the liposculpture suction device is inserted.

A lot of the time, people can get confused about liposculpture, since it’s often referred to as “tumescent liposculpture,” and if you’re a little oblivious, like I am, you might ask, “Is that just ONE kind of liposculpture procedure? Are there any others?”

If this question is bothering you, and the internet doesn’t seem to be very cooperative, well, worry no more. Here’s the answer: No.

Tumescent liposculpture is basically just liposculpture. The tumescent technique is a cosmetic liposuction technique that made liposculpture possible. It’s a part of liposculpting. Created by Dr. Jeffery Klein during the tail end of the 1980’s, this particular technique involves making the fat in the specified area swell and soften considerably, using a saline-based local anesthetic.

The saline solution is a double-whammy too: It softens up the fat and makes the procedure possible, and it numbs the area so that a general anesthetic usually isn’t necessary anymore. Also, by softening the fat in the area, it makes that fat a lot easier to simply siphon out using less invasive tools like syringes or suction tubes called cannulae.

What’s So Good About Liposculpture?

One of the great things about the liposculpture procedure is that it’s an outpatient one, since it’s so much less invasive than normal liposuction. This means that unless something goes horribly wrong, or you really ARE that squeamish, you won’t have to sleep over at the hospital. Most of the time, you won’t even need to worry about being too woozy from other anesthetics, since the saline solution used in the tumescent technique usually takes care of that.

Depending on the doctor or the patient though, other pain killing drugs may be used for the procedure, on top of the saline anesthetic.

Usually, after liposculpture, you can go straight home, but it’s kind of a given that if you’ve just had the fat sucked out of you, a couple of days of rest from work might be in order, and attempting to make your debut into professional Mixed Martial Arts or rugby should be out of the question.

Another great thing about this particular kind of liposuction is that since it’s not as invasive, the side-effects are usually not as bad. Normally, there’ll be some swelling, tenderness, pain, and/or bruising in the affected area, but that usually goes away after a few days. You might also leak fluid from your injection sites, and while that might be really gross, it goes away after those first forty-eight hours post-liposculpture procedure.

Is Liposculpture Right For Me?

Liposculpture may not be the right kind of surgical fat reduction for everyone though, so check with your doctor before proceeding with a liposculpture procedure. After all, liposculpture costs can be really heavy, financially, and if there should be any complications during the procedure, or if you get results that really aren’t to your liking, then the liposculpture cost that you had incurred could multiply, or be a complete waste.

It should be a given that you shouldn’t get liposculpture if you’re pregnant. This might cause complications with the pregnancy. Also, keep in mind that liposculpture is meant for getting rid of specific deposits of fat and trimming and shaping problem areas. If you have a lot of fat that you want to get rid of surgically, you might want to try liposuction or other kinds of fat-reduction techniques to get rid of the bulk of the fat before refining and smoothing out the area with liposculpture. Unless of course, you want to keep on coming back for multiple liposculpture sessions.

Another thing to consider is liposculpture cost. This kind of plastic surgery procedure can set you back anywhere from 1,200 US Dollars, to well over five thousand. And this is usually just for the doctor’s professional fees, and doesn’t include other costs either; like the price of the drugs used or use of the facilities. The liposculpture procedure can be a great investment though, since this usually guarantees that even though you gain weight, your problem areas won’t be that big of a problem anymore, since the fat cells there will have been permanently removed.

Tags: Cosmetic Procedures, Weight Issues by admin
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Cellulite is known by a lot of different names: orange peel syndrome, the mattress phenomenon, hail damage, cottage cheese skin, and really really annoying.

Alright, I admit, I made the last one up, but I’m pretty sure that a lot of people wouldn’t be inclined to disagree. After all, cellulite on your thighs and lower belly can completely ruin a really great bikini look.

Luckily, the cosmetics industry has come up with a lot of different products to help people deal with this kind of problem. Revitol Cellulite Cream is one such product, and this entry just happens to be a Revitol Cellulite Cream review.

Fat or thin, male or female; cellulite can affect just about anybody –although a lot more women have to suffer this indignity than men- and let me make it absolutely clear that while there are a lot of treatments available, and that occasionally, they will be effective for some people, there is no one hundred percent guaranteed effective way to completely get rid of cellulite, short of invasive surgery.

In this Revitol Cellulite Cream review though, we can learn whether or not this particular product at can at least show results and relieve some of that annoying orange peel effect.

What is Revitol Cellulite Cream?

Revitol Cellulite Cream is a topical cream meant to be applied directly over problem areas where cellulite occurs. Treatment for cellulite using this particular product doesn’t involve any kind of funky laser therapy or invasive surgery; all you need to do is apply it on the parts where you need to get rid of that nasty cottage cheese skin.

What are Revitol’s Active Ingredients?

Revitol claims a lot of different active ingredients to keep the hail damage under wraps. Some of the active ingredients in Revitol include:

Algae or Bladderwrack Extract – this stuff supposedly helps detoxify and speed up the fat metabolizing process so that the stored up fat in the area will be broken down, and the toxins inside them released and disposed of.

Caffeine – Yes, you’re reading it right; Revitol contains coffee. Aside from all of the other stuff in this little cream, it contains caffeine, too. Don’t drink it in the mornings with your toast though; this caffeine is supposed to facilitate circulation in the affected area, so that toxins, excess fluids, and fat are metabolized and flushed out more quirckly.

Capsicum extract – Capsicum is basically pepper. The extract that this particular product uses as an active ingredient is likely to be the stuff that makes pepper spicy; capsaicin. This stuff works alongside the caffeine to ease the blood flow, as well as rejuvenate the skin and strengthen the connective tissues in the skin.

Does Revitol Cellulite Cream Work?

For the most part, this particular product does. It takes a bit of a while to take effect, but it does. I wasn’t able to get rid of my cellulite completely, but it was certainly a lot less visible, and the skin on my thighs and buttocks feel noticeably firmer and smoother.

Like a lot of the other Revitol Cellulite Cream reviews out there, I’m giving this particular product a thumbs up. It’s not perfect, and maybe it won’t work on all women, but with regular application and a little patience, it does deliver.

Tags: Body, Skin by admin
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Grey hair can either make a person look distinguished and worldly-wise, or it can make you look washed out, tired, and yes, I’ll say it: old. Age, after all, is one of the primary causes of grey hair. Conversely then, gray hair is often one of the most obvious signs of aging. In today’s youth-obsessed culture, one of the most common ways to get rid of grey hair is by coloring grey hair.

The Causes of Grey Hair

The substance responsible for people’s hair color is melanin, which is manufactured by pigment cells in the hair follicle and can determine what your natural hair color is. The more melanin a person has in their hair, the darker their hair can be.

A person’s hair turns gray when the pigment cells –or melanocytes- in the hair follicles die, and the amount of melanin in the individual hair strands grows less and less. When this happens, eventually, the hair strand growing out will be transparent or white; it won’t have any pigment at all.

The grey color that some people may get is actually just left over pigment from a person’s original hair color, and is a lot more likely to happen if you have dark colored hair. Individual strands of a person’s hair can turn white at any point in their lives, but generally, people will see their first grey hairs during their late thirties to forties.

One of the most obvious causes of grey hair is age; a lot of older people turn grey because melanin production tends to slow down as they age. Other causes can include heredity, smoking, excessive stress, thyroid imbalance, and vitamin B12 deficiency. Smokers are also said to be four times more likely to go grey than nonsmokers.

Coloring Grey Hair

Sometimes, going grey can be an opportunity for you to reinvent yourself: you can embrace your approaching new hair color and simply let the grey take over, or you can cover up this glaringly obvious sign of aging by coloring grey hair.

You can opt to try and blend the greys in with your natural hair color, go for a new hair color altogether, or even trying turning your grey hairs into highlights for your remaining, darker colored strands.

One of the problems with grey hair is that it can be pretty uncooperative when it comes to hair dyes; the lack of melanin tends to prevent the pigment from the hair dye from sticking to the hair itself. Grey hair is also usually a lot more fragile than their pigmented counterparts, so coloring grey hair is best done by professionals using semi-permanent colors, which are much gentler than permanent color treatments.

How to Get Rid of Gray Hair

Grey hair can be a really cool thing, but if it isn’t your cup of tea, and your hair is already grey, there are options you can try to get your old hair color back. Don’t hold your breath though; none of them offer guaranteed, hard and fast results. Your best bet for keeping the grey away is to dye it.

If you’re really lucky, you might actually have a genetic tendency to get your old hair color back after a period of gray, and won’t have to worry about the causes of grey hair or have to bother with coloring grey it or trying to get rid of it.

Tags: Anti-Aging, Hair by admin
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