A New York City Health and Beauty Blog

Postpartum Bodily Changes and How to Solve Them

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Image: www.whattoexpect.com

Any woman who has ever given birth is all too aware of those often unexpected bodily changes that accompany pregnancy and labor. Sometimes it can even be a little depressing, especially when you find you have no time to start working out again and get back into shape. Some of these changes are even irreversible, although there are a few remedies that you can use to improve them. Here are some of the changes that you may be noticing and some possible solutions you can use.

Perineum Soreness and Pelvic Stretching
It is quite normal to experience this kind of soreness for several weeks, especially if you have had to undergo an episiotomy. The pelvic stretching that you experience with child birth, especially if you have had a few already, can be of some concern for many women as well. For the soreness, you can use cold packs, soak in a warm tub, and sit on a special pillow. What you can do to help strengthen the pelvic walls and help the perineum to heal is Kegel exercises. Practice these the same as you would any other exercise. It is easy to do them whenever and wherever you are.

Sagging Skin and Flesh
Just about everything starts to sag after giving birth, and this is something that is extremely difficult to counter. That’s where Scottsdale mommy makeovers can swoop in and save the day. Getting one of these makeovers will see to all those little extra bits of flab and all the sagging that you have to deal with. After a mommy makeover, you’ll feel as good as new, and there’s nothing quite like it to revive a woman’s confidence. You’ll look good and feel even better in no time.

Changing Complexion and Skin Discoloration
You may have developed sudden bouts of acne or skin discoloration, especially on your cheeks and around the eyes. This is normal during and after pregnancy, and it should fade. You may even have a reddish rash around your mouth and chin, which should also fade soon and is nothing to worry about. Many women, however, develop a condition called melasma, which is the emergence of dark patches or spots on the skin caused by excessive hormones. Thankfully, there are plenty of special treatments available for this now, including some over-the-counter options as well, so speak to a dermatologist about your possibilities. You can also prevent bouts of melasma by avoiding the harsh sun.

Hair Loss and Texture Change
If you find that you are suddenly losing a lot of hair, don’t worry. This is quite normal for a few months after pregnancy. If it continues past 4 months, you should consult a doctor. However, in the meantime, you can control the hair loss and encourage healthy hair growth by making sure to eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Avoid using your hair dryer, but if you must use it, keep it on the cooler settings. In addition, try not to tie your hair back too tight or braid it, as this can stress and pull at your hair.

These are just some of the bodily changes you may have to deal with and how you can combat them effectively. Most of the changes that you experience will be temporary, and you will soon be looking good and feeling great again.

Complimenting Your Skin Tone with Makeup

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Women of all skin tones deserve flawless makeup. But finding the right shades for you can be difficult, and too often women are left with streaky concealer, nudes that don’t match their skin and mismatched face and body coloration. Perfect products exist for basically every skin tone if you do enough research. Here are a few ways to find makeup for your skin tone.

Find Your Undertones
Before you start looking at makeup, figure out what kind of undertone your skin has: cool (pink or blue), warm (yellow or golden) and neutral (a combination). If you’re not sure which tone you have, there are a few methods for figuring this out, like checking the color of your veins in your wrist. A cool-toned person will have blue or purple veins, while a warm-toned person will have green veins and a neutral person will have blue-green. Another method is to think of how your skin reacts to the sun. If you tan easily, you are likely warm toned, if you burn easily, you are likely cool toned, and if you aren’t sure, you’re likely neutral. Most makeup companies will divide their foundations and concealers by cool and warm tones, so completing this step will help to narrow down your choices when you start shopping.

Quality Products
The quality of your makeup is of utmost importance. Even if you find a perfect match to your skin tone, makeup that settles in your pores or melts throughout the day is not flattering at all. Do some research before you make a purchase, and learn from the pros. For example, the professional makeup artists at New York Fashion Week use the best in the industry, like the Artistry collections from Amway, so the models are runway ready. Find the brands that the professionals turn to from reading blogs, watching YouTube videos and following their social media accounts. They may be a bit more expensive than a drugstore product, but when seeking out flawless skin, the investment is worthwhile.

Application Tools
You’ve found your perfect shade and bought a high-quality product, now it’s time to put it on. It may seem like common sense to use the tool that is included with your foundation to put it on, or even just your fingers. But this can lead to streakiness and uneven coverage. Makeup sponges like the beautyblender have been gaining popularity in recent years. Since they have no edges they create a seamless look, and are simple to use. There are also many foundation brushes that work well to blend out makeup. Read reviews on sites like Sephora, Ulta and Amazon to find one that will work for you.

Complimentary Tones
Once you have a great base in place, move forward to the rest of your makeup: eyes, cheeks and lips. As with finding foundation, it’s good to keep in mind what your skin’s undertone is, as different colors compliment undertones differently. For example, a cooler pink blush might fit in perfectly with warm skin. Women with darker skin tones can also experiment with more dark and bright shades than those with pale skin.

Perfect makeup is achievable. While you may have had trouble finding the perfect match and coverage for your skin in the past, following these tips will help you achieve an effortless and smooth look.

Former President and Cosmetic Surgery Patient?

male-plastic-surgeryFormer president Bill Clinton generated a stir with his speech at the Democratic National Convention —and it had nothing to do with politics. Observers watching the one-time leader of the free world on television commented that Clinton seems to have had some type of cosmetic procedures done, although they disagreed about the exact nature of the treatments.

Facelift? Probably not. Blepharoplasty? Yeah, it looked like the upper and lower eyelids had work done. Laser skin resurfacing, fillers, and BOTOX® have all been mentioned online as possibilities by aesthetic specialists.

“Clinton, 69, looked leaner, younger and more refreshed than ever,” the Hollywood Reporter weighed in, “as if he had experienced a Benjamin Button moment — aging backward, albeit very subtly.”

If Clinton has had an injection here, a nip-and-tuck there, he is among the ever-increasing group of today’s men who are paying more attention to how to combat the signs of aging. Between 1997 and 2015, the number of cosmetic procedures performed on men rose by more than 100%, according to statistics from the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. In the five years leading up to 2014, procedures for men rose 43%.

In 2015, liposuction (including for the neck), nose surgery, eyelid surgery, and facelift were 4 of the top 5 cosmetic surgery procedures for men.

Injectables such as BOTOX and JUVÉDERM were the most popular nonsurgical procedures for men. They minimize signs of aging temporarily by smoothing out wrinkles until the body naturally absorbs them.

Facial plastic surgery and nonsurgical treatments, such as injectable fillers and laser rejuvenation, carry less of a stigma among men than they used to. And the pressures are growing, with men even citing competition for advancement at work as a reason to turn to plastic surgeons for a boost.

Looking at Clinton, it’s easy to see why the popularity has continued to grow. He doesn’t look “worked on,” and the changes are not shocking. Dr. Joubin Gabbay, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon in Southern California, told the Hollywood Reporter that Clinton’s tighter, smoother facial skin and contoured jawline is what stood out to him. He believes Clinton combined a facelift with a neck lift and may have had some type of resurfacing.

Still, despite its increased prevalence, men remain more secretive about undergoing cosmetic procedures than women. Advanced surgical techniques used by plastic surgeons create subtle changes that allow a man to undergo a facelift, for example, without having to answer questions from co-workers or acquaintances.

“The best part of a modern-day facelift technique is that it achieves significant facial rejuvenation without changing patient’s unique facial features,” says Dr. Konstantin Vasyukevich, a Manhattan facelift specialist, on his website. “Long gone are the days of the facelift that would make the face look pulled or stretched. The face that appears ‘done’ or ‘lifted’ is not acceptable in today’s cosmetic surgery world.”

The increase in nonsurgical fat reduction techniques is also contributing to the rise. Procedures such as CoolSculpting® and KYBELLA® can reduce the neck fat that causes a double chin, which is one of the most common aesthetic concerns among men.

As more male celebrities and athletes — not to mention world leaders — become more comfortable turning to plastic surgeons to improve their appearance, you may very well notice that the guy next door (or in the next cubicle) is doing the same.

 

Summer hair tips & tricks from celebrity hairstylist, Danny Jelaca

Now that the summer is here our hairstyling routines have to change with the weather. Summer hair should be easy, beautiful, light and effortless. Celebrity hairstylist, Danny Jelaca shows us how to achieve carefree beachy summer hair that perfect for the day and a style that is perfect for the evening.

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Overnight Beach Waves

  • Blow-dry hair to remove excess wetness, but leave hair damp
  • Section hair off in 4 big sections
  • Brush hair downward to eliminate frizziness
  • Twist each section of hair until it is tight, then put each section into a bun and fasten with a bobby pin
  • The next morning, remove the bobby pins and un-do the buns
  • Shake out hair
  • Danny suggests adding Balmain Texturizing Salt Spray for bounce, texture and hold

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Glamorous Beach Babe – GREAT for evening

  • Blow-dry hair straight, removing all water
  • Section hair off
  • Take small pieces and heat up by passing an iron through the piece of hair rapidly, one time
  • Once hair is heated up, take iron and wrap hair in between the iron
  • Grab the end piece of the hair to ensure that it does not curl
  • Slowly move downward, applying pressure. Before reaching the end, let the hair go (leaving the ends straight)
  • Twirl the hair rapidly in the direction of the curl and then gently break it apart
  • Repeat these steps for each section until the whole head is complete
  • Once the whole head is complete, run fingers through the curls to even break them up

 

Danny Jelaca suggests adding the Balmain Dry Shampoo to add volume and make the hair smell fresh and clean. You can also layer in some Balmain Texturizing Salt Spray which will give your hair the perfect, effortless beachy waves.

What is your favorite way to wear your hair this summer?

How to Keep Your Hair Looking Great When You Hit the Beach!

How to Keep Your Hair Looking Great When You Hit the Beach!
Summer is definitely nearly here, and beach time will soon be upon us! Many of us spend a lot of time and effort on being beach ready, whether it is working out and dieting as soon as spring starts to get that bikini body, or taking care of skin and building up a base tan (real or fake). However, while we focus on our figures and getting our skin nicely exfoliated, moisturized and glowing, it is important not to forget about hair!

Whether you live by the coast and the beach is a daily part of life for you in summer or you are planning a beach vacation, regular exposure to hot sun, along with swimming, can leave you hair in worse condition. With some preparation and care, you can keep it looking soft and silky, and ready to be the perfect accessory for your favorite bikini or tankini bathing suit this summer. Here are some tips:

Don’t Brush It After Swimming in the Ocean

If for you, a trip to the beach involves a lot of fun in the ocean swimming, playing around with friends or doing your favorite watersports, it pays to get used to rocking the ‘surfer hair’ look when you get out if you aren’t able to immediately shower and wash the sea water out. Sea water is not particularly damaging to hair on its own – it’s just water and salt – but as your hair dries in the sun the salt can have a serious drying effect.

You can recover from this when you get to wash your hair with a good conditioner, but while you’re still out at the beach, ignore the temptation to brush it – even when it is dry. Your hair will be dry, stiff and a bit sticky from the salt water, and brushing will cause major breakages. Brushing is also liable to make your hair look super frizzy. This means that if you have long hair, you can either choose to let it look messy and bohemian – the surfer look – or choose a style like a braid that will keep it in place. Messy beach hair looks really good when you are actually at the beach, giving you a cool, summery look, but if you are planning to go somewhere else before you have a chance to wash your hair, a braid is your best friend!

Sunscreen for Your Hair!

Most people now take protecting their skin and eyes from the sun very seriously, but what about hair? Obviously exposing your hair to the sun isn’t going to give you cancer or damage your eyesight, but as you probably know from using heated styling products, heat is not good for hair. You can protect it with a good heat protection spray, much as you might use before blow drying or using other heated styling tools. As well as applying after washing your hair, carry the spray in your beach bag. A good rule of thumb is to apply it whenever you apply sun lotion, so before actually going out in the sun to begin with, and then every few hours, and immediately after going in the water.

Conditioner and Keratin

Once you do get a chance to wash your hair after the beach, give it a little more love than usual when it comes to conditioner. Your hair gets lighter in the sun, and it is no coincidence that just like bleaching with peroxide, this actually leaves it dry and more damage prone. Use a rich conditioner every day and also, use a weekly mask or hot oil treatment to give it a little extra nourishment. You can do this more than once a week if you want, there really isn’t a maximum amount of times to use these treatments, but if the expense and time bothers you then weekly is enough. It is also a good idea to use an additional keratin treatment, and for best results, leave this in your hair rather than using after conditioner and washing it out. This will add protein to your hair which will help strengthen it and both hide and repair damage.

It really doesn’t take much effort to keep your hair in good shape when you hit the beach. You may need to pay a high price for Special Conditioners so it would be better if you will find some latest discount offers from Argos buy using Argos  promo codes or for more offer open Dealslands UK. Just be careful how you treat your hari when it’s been in the water, protect it, and help it out with some good conditioning products when you get home, and your hair can look and feel great all summer long!