Saturday, October 5, 2013

How to get a sexy back this Navratri

How to get a sexy back this Navratri

by Dr Shuba Dharmana

October 5 onwards begins the nine-day garba, dandiya festival, Navratri. For many, it is an occasion to show off their dancing skills as well as their beauty – wearing backless cholis and sari blouses is the norm during the festivities which demands having a toned, spotless and sexy back.  Dr Shuba Dharmana, a celebrity cosmetic dermatologist tells us about the various beauty treatments you can opt for to get that sexy looking back this Navratri.

Party peels

The most popular treatment is party or super peels that do not cause any peeling but infuse a boost of radiance similar to a bridal peel. This makes the back look flawless and glowing. 

Skin brightening

This treatment along with glutathione (a powerful antioxidant used for its skin lightening properties) tablets, injections and mesotherapy is quite popular for people who want to make their backs a shade lighter. (Read: Get smooth and flawless skin with Besan)

Microdermabrasion/ skin polishing

If a smooth, flawless back is what you want, opt for this treatment. A mild peel like lactic or glycolic is used to exfoliate dead skin cells and give an instant glow. Opt for a microdermabrasion with or without a mild glycolic peel for a glowing back this Navratri.

Chemical peels

For removing pigmentation, spots or tanning, a series of TCA peels are used. TCA peels penetrate little deeper into the skin and cause more peeling of skin. A milder peel only penetrates the superficial layers hence causes little flaking. This kind of peel needs to be repeated every 2 weeks for 6-8 times to see results. If you have warts on the back, they can be cauterised by a dermatologist.

Lasers

Scars on the back are lightened with the help of fractional laser or C02 laser while laser hair removal is best suited for unwanted hair on the back. (Read: Peel off years from your face with laser skin resurfacing)

Facials

Apart from the back, the face also needs to be glowing. The popular facial options include medi-facials like a hydra facial which involves liquid skin resurfacing, and photo or laser facials which help give an instant glow. (Read: Get radiant skin with these simple home-made face packs)

Costs involved

The costs of these treatments usually depend on the brand, peel used, the doctor's skill, the clinic, location, etc. A microdermabrasion can cost anything between Rs 1,000 to 3,000 while stronger peels for pigmentation cost around Rs 2,500 to 30,000. 

Tip

If you can't find to go to a skin clinic, you can use a body scrub to help exfoliate the dead skin cells and then moisturise the skin. This will make your back smoother and add some shine to it.  Lemon juice is a natural bleaching agent. Rubbing half of a lemon on your back and then using a mild scrub to exfoliate it will remove tanning and lighten the skin colour. And don't forget to apply sunscreen on your back when you step out during the day. (Read: Navratri special – How to fast the healthy way)

For more articles on beauty, check out our Beauty section and for videos, check out our YouTube Channel. 

Image source: Pinterest

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Friday, October 4, 2013

Understand what turns on your sex partner with this simple tip!

Understand what turns on your sex partner with this simple tip!

by Rachel Hercman

'It's like he can read my mind.'

When it comes to relationships, we've all heard these words. Whether we said it ourselves or heard it from a friend gushing about a relationship, the ideal of a partner reading our minds is one that many women hope for and value in a dynamic.

The notion of mind reading in a relationship is appealing on many levels. It makes partners feel like they are intricately connected; like they are two halves of the same whole. It eliminates the need to be vulnerable in opening up. It removes the necessity of making needs known, something which many women struggle with as caretakers.

But the reality is that most people are not mind readers, and the expectation of mind reading is not only unrealistic but can be detrimental to relationships and cause conflict.  This issue especially manifests when it comes to having a satisfying sexual experience with a partner.

Movies and fantasy tend to depict a sexual experience where the partners intuitively know what feels good for the other one, but in real life that is often not the case. For most couples, developing a sexual dynamic entails patience and communication, both verbal and non-verbal, regarding what is pleasurable. Similar to two musicians who are meeting for the first time, it may take time and practice for them to work harmoniously together and adapt to each other's strengths and preferences. (Read: Guide to first time sex for women)

Having to communicate with a partner regarding sexual pleasure does not automatically mark a relationship as inadequate or abnormal. On the contrary, it is normal and par for the course, and should be embraced as an integral part of constantly improving the relationship.

If you find it difficult to have a space to express to your partner what feels good, try using this exercise called Sensate Focus. Sensate Focus was originally created with the goal of removing intercourse as the primary objective of sexual activity, helps the couple connect through sensual touch, and provides a space to convey what does and doesn't feel good.

There are different variations of the model, but generally speaking a couple starting sensate focus would begin by taking turns touching each other (e.g. ten minutes each). The 'toucher' doesn't have to mind read what their partner does or doesn't like, as there is constant communication between the partners about what feels good. Partners can communicate verbally (e.g. 'this feels good', 'I like this') and non-verbally (e.g. nodding, smiling), but verbal conversation should be limited so that partners can be fully present for the sensations and enhance their body awareness about what feels good.  Partners should strive to be closely connected to what is actually pleasurable, as opposed to what they have been conditioned by society to believe feels good. (Read: Guide to first-time sex for men)

The practice of sensate focus is effective as it is both an ends and a means. It is an ends in that it can be an enjoyable, sensual activity that allows partners to relax and receive pleasure without feeling like it must be reciprocated simultaneously. And it is a means to better understanding about what feels good, within a healthy and comfortable context, so that there doesn't need to be mindreading. What may happen is that partners may become more attuned to each other's non-verbal messages that something feels good, which can translate into better 'body-reading'.

So, if you're wishing your partner could read your mind in the bedroom, try this exercise and see what happens. You may be surprised at what you learn about yourself and your partner!

The author, Rachel Hercman, LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker) is a psychotherapist specializing in sexuality, dating, and relationships. She works at the Medical Center for Female Sexuality in New York, a center that provides cutting-edge medical and psychological treatment for female sexual dysfunction, where she helps women improve their sexual functioning, body image and relationship satisfaction.  

For more articles on sexual health, visit our Sexual Health section and for videos check out our YouTube Channel. 

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Thursday, October 3, 2013

Beat hair loss with these 5 vegetable hair packs

Beat hair loss with these 5 vegetable hair packs

by Agencies

What do you do when oil therapy and regular hair spa fail to keep your tresses healthy? An expert suggests that you can use vegetables like carrots and onions to boost the growth.

Hair transplant surgeon Sakshi Sareen explains how to prepare natural pastes to promote hair growth:

Onion: Squeeze an onion and take juice out of it. Add one to two teaspoons of honey to it. To do away with the odour, you can use rose water with onions. Mix and apply it on your hair. Keep it for 40 to 50 minutes. Then wash your hair. 

Potato: Blend two to three potatoes and extract the juice. Add one tablespoon of honey, one egg yolk and small amount of water. Mix them together and leave it for 30 minutes on hair. Then rinse it off with water. 

Garlic: Apply fresh garlic juice on your scalp for effective hair care and hair re-growth.

Coriander: Make a paste with freshly chopped coriander leaves and water. Use its juice to apply on the scalp. Keep it for about an hour and then wash it off.

Carrot: Boil some carrots. Grind and blend them in the same water you boiled them in. Apply the paste on your scalp and leave it on for 30 minutes then wash it off. (Also read: Home remedies for hair loss that actually work!)

Source: IANS

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Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Have You Heard this Story About Cookies?

Have You Heard this Story About Cookies?

by vijigermany

Have You Heard this Story About Cookies?

The story of the Cookie Monster stealing from the cookie jar is something we've grown up with. In fact, most of us have been cookie monsters at some point in life. A cookie is one of those all-time favourite comfort foods... as a snack between mealtimes, with tea and that secret mid-night indulgence that can be relied on more than any other food. Why, even jolly old Santa Claus can't resist a quick snack of cookies and milk after an uncomfortable journey down the chimney!

Cookies apparently originated in Persia sometime in the 7th century AD, probably as a travel take-along. Numerous accounts state that they were born as a by-product of cakes! The term cookie itself derives from the Danish word "Koekje" meaning little cake. They were originally made from left over cake batters when cooks would use it to test ovens. Ideal as travel snacks, cookies soon became quite popular with the rich and poor alike. By the 14th century, they were a rage worldwide and every country had it's own version of this delicious treat. This humble everyday snack as we know it today, was in fact made on special occasions in some countries.

The ritual of tea began in the early 19th century when Anna the Seventh Duchess of Bedford requested for tea and biscuits between lunch and dinner - a demand which grew into high tea and later became a social event – and an opportunity for bakers to showcase their latest cookie inventions. And showcase their talents they did! The world saw an abundant variety of these "little cakes" making their appearance everywhere – as simple crispy discs, chewy balls dusted with icing sugar snow, cookies sandwiched with cream, macaroons, rolled cookies, pinwheel cookies, refrigerator cookies, in the form of gingerbread men, fried cookies… even savoury ones later known as crackers!

Why in America, they even became a delicious and fun way of gauging one's fortune by way of Fortune Cookies!

However, though very global a concept, India is not far behind in the cookie legacy. The Dutch and Portuguese gave us the gift of baking – a gift we enjoy even today in the form of fried delights like Rose Cookies, Kul Kuls and Kormolas (Christmas specials shaped like flower buds) and baked goodies like Nankhatai, Macaroons and Osmania biscuits. Shakkarparas, Namakparas and Matthis also qualify as savoury cookies, especially nowadays when they are baked, not fried.

Whatever the technique of making, whichever the ingredients and wherever in the world they are made, cookies bring a delightful smile on the faces of children and grown-ups alike. Every time a child or adult reaches out for the cookie jar, the legend of the cookie monster comes alive….

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My teenage son is rebellious and withdrawn. How do I handle him?

My teenage son is rebellious and withdrawn. How do I handle him?

by Agencies

Q: I have a 17-year-old son. I need to learn some tips from you  as to how to handle him at this vulnerable age? Kindly help. —Rita

Answered by Seema Hingorrany, clinical Psychologist/Author

Rita, your concern is a concern for many parents. Your son is at an important stage called adolescence, which is a period of upheaval and conflict. You will realise that a child who was once  co-operative and communicative suddenly has become opinionated, withdrawn and rebellious. Many parents often wake up one morning to find themselves totally bewildered about how to handle this 'stranger' who used to be their child. To inculcate right values you just need to take off your 'parental hat' and exchange it for 'friend's hat' and talk to him about your own personal hopes, fears, wishes, values, etc. When we show them our human side, including our flaws and weaknesses, we give them permission to accept themselves, and then they are likely to feel free to share those feelings with us. Showing respect for your teen's feelings and developing a non-judgemental attitude are your best tools. Teenagers with high self-esteem and positivity make more responsible health choices. (Read: New-age parenting: Understand your adolescent better!)

Help your teen to build these characteristics by:

-allowing him or her to voice opinions and to be involved in family decisions.
-listening to his or her opinions and feelings helping him or her set realistic goals.
-showing faith in his or her ability to reach those goals giving unconditional love.

Also, one cannot forget that teenagers may look like adults, but they are not. Their brains are still under development, which causes them to be more impulsive, more spontaneous and developmentally not ready to foresee the consequences of their actions. Knowing this  and knowing that they are not ready for certain levels of responsibility can help you better manage your expectations and your relationship.relationships. 

Content Source: DNA/Seema Hingorrany

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Monday, September 30, 2013

‘Breaking Bad’ Recap: ‘Felina’

'Breaking Bad' Recap: 'Felina'
ThinkProgressToday,

Credit: AMC

This post discusses the series finale of Breaking Bad.

Tony Soprano had to live on in perpetuity, picking at onion rings in diners with a wife whose affections were bought, a son in perpetual crisis, and a daughter who'd chosen a life a little further from her father's than Michael Corleone's proved to be from Vito's, but still not far enough to achieve the American dream. It's an existential vision of hell, Jean-Paul Sartre's No Exit by way of New Jersey. In that context, it feels almost unfair that Walter White gets to die, to avoid prison and the ongoing shame and pain of his family's hatred.

But there's something fitting about the fact that Walt dies, like the cowboy hero of Marty Robbins' "Felina," with "a deep burning pain in my side" that's the result not of chemotherapy, but a bullet. Walt's initial justification for cooking meth was that it would allow him to build up a nest egg for his family after he was gone, and to a certain extent, he resisted treatment, focusing more on accumulating money than on the worth of his own life. When we met Walt, he may have felt that he was not particularly valuable to anyone. His brother-in-law, Hank, commanded the room at Walt's own birthday party with his stories of busting meth cooks and meth dealers. He didn't feel able to defend his son. The tragedy of Walter White's life and his decisions was that he didn't recognize his value to his family when he was nothing more than a chemistry teacher. He spent the remains of that life making choices that caused his family pain, and that laid a foundation for them to continue to feel that pain after his death. And Walt's decisions shortened that life–he was clearly ill by the events of the finale, but he was taking his pills, and we don't know how long he might have lived.

It seems that Walt knows all of this, that he was blessed with something like self-awareness before he died. "I did it for me," Walt tells Skyler, simply, in the quiet coda to their marriage. "I liked it. I was good at it. And I was really–I was alive." Whether Gilligan intended it that way or not, watching Walt stroke his daughter's hair and be able to take pleasure from that act without the adrenaline rush of stealing her, without the transgressive thrill of sitting her in front of a screening of Scarface with him, is as powerful rebuke to the thrill of the anti-hero as I can imagine. The pleasures of a gentle touch, of powerful love, of bacon–be it turkey or pork–on your plate on the morning of your birthday are the things that really matter, not a machine gun in your trunk, laser pointers in the dark to terrify your enemies, ricin in a Stevia packet. And no matter how much Walt was a student of chemistry, he seems to have forgotten that events on a larger scale often function the same way as his nom-de-meth's Uncertainty Principle. By the time you know how your family will react to the news that you're cooking meth, the family that you claimed to do it for in the first place is long gone.

It's a realization that seems to dawn on Jesse Pinkman as he drives away from the Nazis' encampment, laughing and crying, our final sound from him a scream. After first outsourcing his moral decision-making to Walt, then becoming an actual slave, Jesse finally makes a choice that's truly his own, telling Walt that if he wants to die, "Then do it yourself." There's no question that Jesse is a damaged person who's done great damage in his own turn, but in turning responsibility back on Walt, he frees his ideas as well as his body. As much as it's gratifying to see that happen, to see that torture and time with Walter White haven't stripped Jesse of all potential capacity for decency, that scream is a reminder of a grimmer reality. Who does Jesse, who in the depths of his imprisonment dreamed of building something good, and natural, and clean in a shop of his own, have left to be good to? Andrea is dead. Brock, presumably, has vanished into the foster care system, and would never be available to someone with Jesse's record, not that Jesse would necessarily be capable of raising a small boy. Once upon a time, Walt failed to teach Jesse the basic principles of chemistry. And when he finishes with Jesse's moral education, Walt and his student have changed the world around them such that the lessons Jesse has learned are no longer of much use to him.

I think we'll be debating Breaking Bad's position in the anti-hero canon for a long time to come. But I also think we'll end up discussing it as part of a larger conversation about pulp and realism in the so-called Golden Age of Television. Breaking Bad has always had deep roots in the pulps in the same way The Sopranos is in conversation with mob movies like The Godfather, in their depiction of crime and all the life that's lived so vividly around it. Those pulpy elements tended to define Walt's antagonists, whether they were violent Latino drug dealers and cartel members like Tuco Salamanca and the Cousins, or the Neo-Nazis who became Walt's partners, and who he dispatched tonight to provide a measure of protection to his family and to provoke a final confrontation with the police. These antagonists tended to flatten Breaking Bad's moral worldview both by making Walt more sympathetic because of how intensely violent and amoral they were, and in the case of the Salamanca family, contributing to marginalization and simplistic treatment of the show's characters of color.

The Gus Fring arc on Breaking Bad was the height of the show's run in part because of the ways it transcended pulp. In Gus, Gilligan and company gave us a deft if limited sketch of a man of color who disguised his criminality with a deep investment in his community, who like Walt was motivated by love, though Gus's was lost (and there's a great deal more to be written about gay men of color and their curious status in prestige television), and who may not have been a technical genius, but was often a consummate professional, a man building a sustainable life of a sort, while Walt careened towards an inevitable end. When that arc reached its end, it did so by means that were heavy on plot and technical scheming, but that were also profoundly rooted in the show's relationships. Walt's poisoning of Brock to manipulate Jesse, his ability to enlist Tio Salamanca, a man from whom he'd taken everything–if sometimes in self-defense–as a suicide bomber against Fring, and the way that chain of terrible events ended, with poison growing in Walt's own back yard, had a profound complexity to them that got at each character's truest nature.

By contrast, the series finale pits Walt against a series of threatening but less meaningful antagonists: however fabulously creepy Todd was, and however strong Jesse Plemons' performance was, the crew's Nazi beliefs, their use of chemicals, and their inability to cook pure meth were never well-developed enough to tell us much about Walter White's position within the pantheon of the Southwest's angry white men. It was heavy on plot, on Walt's cleverness and how exhausting it had become. But the episode was at its best in the moments when it dispensed with all of that, when, as Jack's illustrated, there were no more deals to be struck or gambits to be made. "Before I go, may I see her?" Walt asked his wife, respecting her wishes in asking for permission in matters of Holly, the daughter he once stole from her, in not even asking to see the son whose respect Walt understands is forever forfeit. The best thing, it turns out, isn't being the one who knocks. It's in being someone who doesn't need to be kept from the door.

The post 'Breaking Bad' Recap: 'Felina' appeared first on ThinkProgress.

    





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