sexiest dress up

Apricotsthey have nourishing and firming qualities that help to both, tighten and rejuvenate your skin.
Recipe- Grate a ripe apricot and apply the pulp or the juice onto your face and neck. You could also just take an apricot slice and rub it all over instead. Leave it on for twenty minutes and wash it off.
Result- your skin will look firm but still feel supple

Does your curly haired friend now sport poker straight hair? Well don’t be too surprised, here what she could have done…

Rebonding, Thermal Hair Rebonding, Chemical Straightening, is nothing but different names given to the procedure of permanently straightening the hair. Which is nothing but the breaking down of natural bonds of the hair and reforming them to a smoother bond, resulting in straight hair. Here are a few tips to familiarise yourself with before you decide to go in for a complete transformation:

There are various hair straightening brands available in salons across the city. They vary in intensity. The poker straight effect may be achieved with a stronger product. If you believe your hair is your biggest fashion statement and cannot be changed as easily as a pair of shoes, and certain that you want to trade your curls with silky straight hair, then be doubly sure you are willing to maintain it.

Rebonding is a three to four hour-long procedure, depending on the length of your hair. It includes several hair washes, blow drying and ironing, application of the product, followed by more washes, drying, application of neutraliser, followed yet again with final rinses.

A little tip: Choose the salon by checking how much experience it has, the pricing and the time it takes to complete the procedure. Also, visit the salon and speak with the person who will be doing your hair. Cheapest is not always the best.

More importantly: Do not forget the after care. Using the right smoothening shampoos and conditioners will ensure your hair does not look frazzled. Continuous moisture (read: hair spas) treatments and use of hydrating shampoos and volumising conditioners make all the difference!

Daily intake of orange juice could lead to the onset of type two diabetes in women, a new study published in the journal Diabetes Care revealed.

While drinking orange juice is deemed healthy since it contains a high percentage of vitamin C, the absence of any fibre in it could raise the body blood sugar which increases the risk of contracting diabetes by more than 18 percent.

Researchers from the Harvard Medical School in United States studied the eating habits of more than 70,000 female nurses over a period of 18 years. The researchers found that drinking just one glass of orange juice increased the risk of diabetes by more than 18 percent while eating three servings of the whole fruit reduced the risk by 24 percent.

One of the reasons given for the increased risk of diabetes in women drinking orange juice is the absence of fibre and is hence absorbed very quickly by the stomach while eating the orange fruit contains fibre which slows down its absorption. Packaged orange juices also have a high amount of sugar in them which increases blood sugar in the body.

However the study also found eating oranges could reduce the risk of diabetes by 18%. This indicates the natural sugars added in the juice may be the culprit in increasing the risk of diabetes.

Ageing is an inevitable part of growing older. However, certain factors can minimise the appearance of blotchy skin, age spots, and wrinkles. Limit the amount of alcohol you consume, quit smoking, avoid crash diets, increase intake of dietary antioxidants (whole grains, fresh fruits, vegetables) & vitamin C and reduce saturated fats in diet. Manage your stress, get regular exercise, avoid harsh skin products, get enough rest, use sunscreen, avoid harsh winds and drink plenty of water.

Before you turn to branded beauty kits and sundry suntan lotions to keep looking good in summer, try heading for the kitchen.

Rose water, lemon juice, cucumber and yoghurt are among the many magic potions tucked away in your own home.

"For a natural sunscreen, one can sprinkle cooled water - in which tea leaves have been boiled - on the face," aromatherapist and well-known beautician Blossom Kochhar said.

Kochhar, who says the sunscreen is an absolute must before stepping out, lays down a simple rule - it should be worn above moisturizer and below makeup.

"Regardless of your skin type, sunscreens should be worn only after moisturising and below make-up."

For those who plan to take a dip in the swimming pool, Kochhar recommends rubbing a layer of Vaseline in which a few drops of essential oil of lavender have been added to protect the skin from chlorine.

While people usually ensure protection of the skin, they often ignore the hair and lips.

"Ignoring the hair and lips results in the hair becoming brittle and lustreless and the lips turning dry and chapped. It's a good idea to apply a sunscreen sparingly, probably mixed with water, over the lips before stepping out into the sun," beauty expert Shahnaz Husain said.

"At the end of the day, after washing one's face, one should rub the lips with a soft towel so as to remove the dead cells. Applying a few drops of pure almond oil over them and leaving it overnight will make them soft and even lighten dark lips over a period of time," she added.

While cleansing becomes doubly important in summer, both Kochhar and Husain say that overdoing it can actually harm the skin. And after cleansing, using a natural skin toner like rose water can do wonders for one's skin.

To protect the hair, says Husain, one should cover the head while stepping out and wash it often to avoid dust and grime accumulation.

"One can also remove a tan using a whole lot of homemade remedies. For the face, one can mix equal quantities of lemon juice and cucumber juice, apply it on the face and leave it for 20 minutes before washing it off with cold water."

"Alternatively, one can mix a pinch of turmeric to yoghurt and apply it on their face, neck and arms regularly for 30 minutes or put cucumber pulp with yoghurt and then wash it off to remove a tan," Husain says.

To remove a tan from the hands she suggests applying a paste of sunflower oil, lemon juice and sugar, while soaking one's feet in water containing lemon juice cleans, de-tans and perks up the feet.

Besides externally taking care of one's skin and hair, experts also stress that one should be careful about the diet during the sultry months.

Dietician Ruchika Verma says that it's best to avoid hot, spicy and salty food in summer.

"Besides hot, spicy and salty food, one should also go easy on the tea and coffee intake, even alcohol. Gorge instead on fresh fruits, vegetables, salads and yoghurt," Verma says.

Husain adds: "For an extra cooling effect, one can add mint to the lemonade. It's very refreshing."

Of course, it goes without saying that summer is the time to have loads of water to stay cool and keep glowing!

source:zeenews.com

Bips has strong views, knows her plus points and is quite clear where she wants to be. In the time we spent on an outdoor shoot in Bangkok, I couldn’t help but notice Bipasha Basu’s change in attitude. Having known her from her modelling days in 1997, where she was laidback about fitness, it’s great to see she actually had a personal trainer accompany her on an outdoor of 25 days! This sudden change happened as late as 2004, and I strongly suspect her super-fit boyfriend must have something to do with it. She has no vices like drinking or smoking.

Obsessed with the Suryanamaskar (she does a 108 of these a day!), the exotic face and voluptuous body of the ‘90s has given way to a more sculpted face and a fit body to die for. A trim exterior is backed by a strong core (thanks to some disciplined yoga with BharatThakur’s team). She spends two hours, six days a week in the gym.


For someone who used to dread dance sequences, she’s become the Bidi Jalailay girl, who also happens to be the only nonsporting person to endorse Reebok! She trains in the morning. Her routine is Day 1 — upper body,Day 2 — abdomen workout, Day 3 — legs and lower body, Day 4 — gluteus maximus, Day 5 — upper body, Day 6 — abdomen and gluteus maximus, accompanied by 108 Suryanamaskars daily with 50 minutes of cardio, and a 10-minute warm-up, which includes stretching, and holding dance postures with emphasis on breathing. Weekly four times, the 50 minutes of cardio is split up into 20 minutes on the treadmill, 10 minutes on the elliptical machine and 20 minutes on the rowing machine, twice a week.


She also does a spinning class a week. She believes in weak-point training, works especially hard on her triceps and does the Bhujangasana really well. A victim of an injured left knee, she does physio for it. Being flat-footed, she grips paper with her feet to overcome the problem. Post a trip to Rio, she started working on the gluteus maximus, as a ‘good butt’ is a sign of a great body! She is a strong believer in circuit training, which keeps the heart rate up. To break monotony, she adopts a new routine every four months. She uses yoga to strengthen her lower back, core muscles and redevelop her left knee muscles.

Equipped with little knowledge three-and-a-half years ago (which included running with bad shoes), she caught on by reading and with help from her trainer Paul. She doesn’t train when very tired and averages six-and-a-half hours of sleep.


Bipasha’s diet starts with tea, almonds soaked overnight and warm water. At 9 am, she has six egg whites, mushroom and toast with porridge, skimmed milk and fruits. At 11 am, one apple. Lunch sharp at 1 pm consisting of green vegetables, dal, grilled chicken or fish, green salad, two soya chapattis and strictly no rice except her birthday, which is quite an achievement for a Bengali! She has tea at 5 pm with digestive biscuits. Dinner is at 9 pm with dal, salad, three vegetables cooked in olive oil, grilled fish or chicken with a miniscule portion of dessert.
Sounds exotic? Well, that she is, dark and Indian in essence, and now very fit!