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Great New Year’s Resolutions (And How You’ll Break Them)

By Carleenp · Comments (0)

Monday, January 2nd, 2012

The beginning of a new year promises many things and prompts many of us to change our habits. Or does it? I’m sure many have been through enough New Years Days to know that once you’re back with your nose to grindstone a couple of days later, things don’t really feel that different. Here is a list of common New Year’s Resolutions, and reasons why they – and many similar resolutions –often end up broken.

Getting in Shape

In the UK, the Dog’s Trust runs with the famous slogan ‘A dog is for life, not just for Christmas’. When people get round to making their resolutions, having filled up with several Christmas dinners and with a month of turkey sandwiches ahead of them, they can feel like an old dog. And finding themselves out of breath after a brisk walk probably helps the effect. But like that dog, sometimes it isn’t a good idea to introduce a fitness regime around the beginning of the new year. There are many disruptions, distractions and reasons for losing motivation (hey, it’s cold). You’d probably get more traction out of starting a mid-year resolution.

Give Up Smoking

Why does giving up Smoking fail at New Year? Because it’s frequently unsuccessful at every other time of year too. By no means should you take the high failure rate of New Years Smoking Resolutions as a reason to not try at all, but even with nicotine gum and fake cigarettes to help you, it’s tough.

Get a Better Job

Combine the problems of the previous two bright ideas and you get this one. It’s the wrong time to be considering how much you enjoy your job, and it’s very easy to have outrageous expectations about how easy it is to walk into a job. True, a number of new job suddenly spring up immediately after Christmas, but then so does the competition (and everyone else making the same resolution). Nevertheless, this can be an efficient resolution to make: sometimes a job really is the thing at the core of your life that needs to change.

Be Good To Yourself

This should be easy, and it’s good to see people being a little more selfish with their resolutions. But can we do it? Making an effort to enjoy life more, to actually use the Spa day gift voucher you received as a gift and to remove yourself from stressful situations. These tactics can help you, but ultimately, some people are just more prone to stress and they may well just cause themselves more worry by confronting themselves with this.

Spend More Time with Family

Like so many New Year’s Resolutions, this one is made because you’ve been recently nudged into guilty submission over how you live your life for the rest of the year. Spending more time with the family seems so easy in theory, especially when right now, you’re spending time with family (and very nice it is too). But the reality is different. You don’t see that aunt because she lives too far away. You don’t see that cousin because, honestly, he’s a pain in the ass. You’re a busy person with a schedule to juggle, and the time you spend with the extended family is time you spend away from friends and closer family. Here’s an idea: organise a summer barbecue for the extended family. Then it’ll be their turn and you won’t feel so bad.

Anna Freshwater is a copywriter and blogger who writes for Sanctuary Spa who offer a pamper service and Unique gifts for women in the UK.

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Categories : Diet and Fitness

Tags : Diet, Fitness, New Years, Resolutions

5 Beauty Fixes After Overindulging On New Years

By Carleenp · Comments (0)

Wednesday, December 28th, 2011

Today brings a bit of a preemptive post!

While Christmas morning might be a big event for the kids, New Year’s Eve is usually when the adults go a little wild with holiday celebration. Unfortunately, the late night, usual New Year’s dressings of alcohol, rich food and sometimes too-cramped rooms and houses can make you look tired, puffy and worn out the next morning. A few quick and simple beauty rules can help you look more vibrant and awake (even when you don’t feel especially awake!).

Tip 1: You Know It Will Be a Long Night, Be Prepared

Chances are you’ll probably know if you have plans in advance for any New Year’s celebration. Take advantage of this and plan ahead for the next morning. There’s nothing worse than waking up after a late night and trying to pick out clothing or gather makeup and hair care supplies. If you have all of your morning routine items laid out in advance, you’ll have a few extra moments to apply makeup, enjoy a cup of tea or coffee, and not feel as rushed to get on with your day while trying to hunt down everything you need.

Tip 2: Hydrate Yourself

Long nights can take a toll on your body in more ways than you might realize, especially if you celebrated New Year’s with a few traditional alcoholic beverages. Even though it’s usually consumed in liquid form, alcohol can contribute to dehydration. Combined with fatigue, a possibly smoky environment if there were cigarettes present at the party, and consumption of possibly salty or rich snacks during the evening, chances are your body needs to replenish. Drink water, and moisturize your skin with a good hydrating cream, especially if your skin feels dry or rough.

Tip 3: Pay Close Attention to Your Hair

Just like your skin, your hair might need some special attention the morning after New Year’s. Depending on your hair type and the environment that you spent the evening in, your hair may be dull, lank or oily the morning after, which can add to a and disheveled appearance. Take the extra time to shampoo it using a good shampoo formulated to your hair type, and condition it thoroughly.

Tip 4: The Eyes Have It

One mistake many women make after New Year’s eve parties is trying to conceal eye bags and puffiness with heavy eyeliner. While it seems like this would draw more attention to the eyes themselves and help overshadow any puffiness, it will do exactly the opposite in practice. Less is more when it comes to eye makeup the morning after the celebrating. Use a cold compress, such as cucumbers or tea bags, on eye puffiness before applying makeup. Avoid dark eyeliner and eye shadow; instead, use only some mascara and light, shimmering eye shadow on upper lids.

Tip 5: Use Less Makeup

Your skin may need a day or two to recover, so avoid heavy makeup or blush that might accentuate wrinkles, lines or skin dryness. Caking on the makeup is one of the worst ways to try to conceal fatigue after New Year’s celebrations or other long nights out, since the makeup will gather in crevices and can further dry out skin. Use a light powder to take the shine from your nose, and use concealer sparingly.

Take it easy this New Year’s Eve everyone! Have fun, but be safe!

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Categories : Detox, Diet and Fitness, Holiday Items, Makeup

Tags : Health, Make Up Tips, Makeup, New Years

Finding the Perfect Party Dress

By Guest Post · Comments (0)

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011

With Christmas now just around the corner, the party season is officially here – and most of us have at least one ‘do’ to go to. But finding that perfect outfit to wear can be something of a mission, as every girl knows.

It starts with a mental inventory of your wardrobe, wondering if there’s anything in there you can press into service. After all, Christmas shopping doesn’t leave much room in the budget for splurging on new clothes. But then, as you go through the options you realise: that doesn’t fit, you wore that one last year, you have no shoes to go with that one, and as for that one – well, what were you thinking??

There’s no getting away from it, it just has to be a new dress. And this is such a perfect time of year for party dress shopping. After all, the sparkly season is one of the few times you can justify an outfit that’s just a bit more eye-catching than usual…. and for many of us it may be the only time we’ll even contemplate wearing a dress. Whether it’s shiny satin, daring hemlines, sparkly sequins or sweeping empire lines, the perfect party dress will make your evening go with more of a bang.

1. Check out what the celebs are wearing
A good place to start is the celebrity style websites – check out what’s in style based on those in the know. Most celebrity style filters down to the high street pretty quickly, so what Alexa Chung and Kate Middleton are wearing to wow the photographers can usually be found on the high street at prices that won’t totally wreck your budget.

2. Think about your body shape and your colouring
Not all outfits suit every shape, and one of the biggest fashion mistakes is following the latest fads without having someone sanity-check whether that cherry red number works with your peachy skin (it won’t), and whether that clingy bandeau is just a tad too clingy (especially after a few mince pies). Different shaped dresses flatter different figures, depending on what you want to show off (and what you want to hide), so don’t buy without giving it some thought.

3. Go for something different
Buying a party dress should be a chance to try something new – so if you’ve got a similar piece in your wardrobe already, don’t buy it! The classic example is moving away from black. Yes, that little black dress is still a fashion favourite, but let’s look for something a bit more show-stopping this holiday season, shall we? You don’t have to go completely wild – just look for something you wouldn’t normally go for; try a different colour, different fabric or different shape.

4. Browse the fashion websites
Before you set out on foot, do yourself a favour and take a look at what’s available from the comfort of your sofa – starting with your favourite brands, and using some of the brilliant comparison sites to see what else is out there you wouldn’t normally find. But do remember – the photos show dresses on women with figures most of us can only dream of, so don’t forget to consider how it will actually look on you.

5. Hunt for EBay bargains
If budget is an issue or if your designer tastes aren’t matched by a suitably hefty paycheck, then EBay is a must for picking up party dress bargains. There are literally thousands available, most of them going for a song. Admittedly you can’t try on before you buy (usually a must, unless you’re an absolutely classic standard dress size), but if it doesn’t work out, you can always sell it on again.

6. Hit the high street
Of course, once you’ve done the research, nothing beats a good trip to the high street – you can touch, you can try, you can take a friend for that all important second opinion… and when you’re finished you can reward yourself with a glass of mulled wine in the pub before heading home with your sparkly new party dress.

Katie Theisinger is an experienced fashion writer, web designer, blogger and frequent contributor to fashion trends at Café La Moda. Written for those who love fashion and beauty, she hopes this article can help get you through the party season and leave you looking and feeling fabulous … enjoy!