The first day at beauty camp

The first day activity in the so-called beauty camp would be:

----Taking our pictures in various poses- laughing, listening, talking, and smiling. The point is to capture your face at the best angle. You don’t need to show them to anyone. It would be required to compare with your picture after the last day at beauty camp you see.

In Dr. Loretta’s own words,

“When a patient focuses on an almost invisible detail- a few thin lines above her lips, pores that seem too large, a chicken pox scar from childhood- then I know she is examining herself with a high-powered magnifying mirror. She isn’t seeing her whole face anymore.”


----Second activity is to analyze the photo and try to find our best face features and also some uninvited elements on our faces. By uninvited elements, I mean anything you want to get rid of – blackheads, freckles, wrinkles, fine lines, redness, flaking, scales, dark circles…etc.

And the most important activity: Facial exercises!

• The smiling exercise: this is terrific for firming your jawline, minimizing lip lines and lifting the corners of the mouth. Begin by pressing your lips tightly together to form a wide closemouthed smile. Then slowly part your lips into a broad grin. Open your mouth wider-and wider still. Hold for 4 minutes! (Now that would be a task!)

• The meat-chewing exercise: Extend your neck upward to tilt your head back as far as it goes comfortably. The muscle that you feel stretched is called platysma. Keeping your head tilted back, open and close your mouth until you feel a pull on your neck.
  
  Other things to learn and do this week:


• Get 30 minutes more sleep each night.


• Use 400-thread count, all cotton pillowcases- most of us sleep with our faces scrunched against our pillows. Basically, the pillowcase is our mask for that 8-hour of sleep. Therefore, the surface should be fine enough and soft enough not to cause any irritation!
  Wash your pillowcases, towels in all free clear laundry detergent to avoid any kind of irritation.

The first day at the camp ends! Basically, it was nothing but preparation for the days ahead. Tomorrow, I would write about various ingredients in our face cream and significance of each of them.

On beauty and my apprehensions...

The other day, I was looking at myself in the mirror, preening, observing and feeling smug-“oh, now that I have started drinking lots of water, my skin feels hydrated…yeah, the under eye dark circles look better now…hmmm…but why do my face still looks dry? Is it the weather? Or is it the sun? Oh not again! Now that I am looking carefully, I think I still have dark circles…sigh…and these brown spots, yuck! They are so ungainly! Why is my face not glowing? That last Neutrogena cream I used promised so! What do I do about them???? …..and the self-criticism goes on and on…It always starts with feeling good about myself but stealthily takes an abrupt turn towards the road to apprehension…

So after this experience, I decided to deal with this apprehension once and for all. I searched the web for tips on ‘healthy skin’…I went to the EP library and picked up two so-called bestselling books on healthy skin. Since I was so driven to get rid of this problem, I read both the books in a day’s time!! Am I not wonderful? ;)

Having read those books, I felt empowered to tackle the ever-increasing problem of us women. So, I have decided to put down the important tips or technical details given in those books for everyone to read. Instead of putting it in my book blog, I am putting it here because it is more like my experience!

The first book I read was: 6 weeks to sensational skin: Dr. Loretta’s Beauty Camp Handbook for your freshest face by Dr. Loretta Ciraldo, M.D.

I picked this book because I thought who would know better about skin than a lady dermatologist? So, here it is! The best thing about this book is: it’s divided into chapter talking about days in beauty camp. The main things which it covers are:
· How to read product labels to spot the best and worst ingredients
· The Survival Basics- five steps to keep your skin problem-free
· How to choose the most flattering hairstyle and makeup
· Two facial exercises that really work to reduce lines and wrinkles
· How 30 minutes of extra sleep at night- on the right kind of pillow case – can dramatically improve your skin

So I would deal with these topics one by one everyday starting from tomorrow.

Beauty begins....

Am I enjoying the Summer? You bet!

It was like flying in the air...fragrant breeze was caressing my face...I could smell the green grass around me...the beautiful sunset was mesmerizing...if there is a heaven, I swear I was experiencing it...Naah, its not a dream; it was how I felt today while riding my bike!

Yeah, after much planning, budgeting, strategizing & procrastinations, we finally bought our bikes today! Mine is a beautiful magenta-colored mountain bike while AD's bike is a red-colored glacier mountain bike. To give the new members a warm welcome, we rode them to our neighborhood Round Lake and believe me, the experience was out-of-the-world!

I am losing my sleep over my excitement for the next ride tomorrow! I feel like a girl again...I was reminiscing the high school days when I used to ride my 'Lady Bird' bike practically everywhere...aah those carefree days...

So, whats the difference between the bike ride in US & India ? Well...in India, my ride used to be a strategy to survive the all-directional traffic, overcrowded roads and oh yeah, fighting the pollution! But in MN, I experienced bliss by riding amidst greenery, beautiful lake, serenity and no pollution! And the best part is: I don't have to go to the so-called 'hill station' to experience it; the lake is five minutes from my home! Another difference: In India while biking, we ring the bell to warn people; but here, I have to announce using my 'politest' voice: 'on your left'! Funny,eh?

That's what I love about America, it has made possible for me to do all those activities which is unthinkable in India now: biking, boating, canoeing to name a few...I love reliving these carefree days...For me, its a welcome respite from that stressful worklife in India...

Yeah, I am breathing again...!

My obsession with Law and Order

I have a confession to make…Yeah, I m one of them who watches re-runs of Law & Order and never gets tired of it… who waits for marathon or mini-marathons of L&O and watches it devotionally…who finds a sumliminal joy in watching the same type of criminal and murder cases !

I love all series of L&O: CI, SVU or the main ones…I love Olivia Benson of SVU and am sure she is actually a good person…because I like her so much , I have found out about her real life and what does she do. I was disappointed to find that she is not a real cop! Nevertheless, she is kinda my role model: brave, good- hearted, beautiful…what else do I want! :-)

I love Bobby Goren and his eccentric way of solving Criminal Investigation cases. I like Munch, McCoy, Eames, Van Buren and everyone associated with L&O! I know; I am sounding like one of those teenagers with OCD…yeah whatever..

Why do I love L&O so much? I believe its because of the mystery, the adventure of solving a case which doesn’t always have a happy ending…or may be because it tell me the reality of life- life is not always a bed of roses…or because there are people weirder than me in this world and I am lucky to not be like them…I don’t know ..whatever the reasons are, I wont stop watching it and hope that it is aired forever! ;)

Live Earth 07/07/07

Our Saturday was spent by watching Live Earth Concert. Earlier, When I began watching it, my intention was to just enjoy the awesome singers; I love Jon Bon Jovi, Police, Akon, Keith Urban and John Mayor and all others. .But as time passed by, listening to the facts and knowing how global warming is affecting us and going to affect future generations, I took the pledge to go green! In my blog, I have taken the facts about the event, link to the participating bands and other tools. Further, I was wondering why the Live Concert was not organized in India. This made me question what India is doing for going green. Thus, I have also collected facts on how India is going about recycling and other steps to go green.

Some facts about the Live Earth concert

Live Earth was a 24-hour, 7-continent concert series which took place on 7/7/07 that brought together more than 100 music artists and 2 billion people to trigger a global movement to solve the climate crisis. Live Earth reached this worldwide audience through an unprecedented global media architecture covering all media platforms - TV, radio, Internet and wireless channels.

Live Earth marks the beginning of a multi-year campaign led by the Alliance for Climate Protection, The Climate Group and other international organizations to drive individuals, corporations and governments to take action to solve global warming. Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore is the Chair of the Alliance and Partner of Live Earth. Live Earth was founded by Kevin Wall, the Worldwide Executive Producer of Live 8, an event that brought together one of the largest audiences in history to combat poverty. Wall formed a partnership with Al Gore and the Alliance for Climate Protection to ensure that Live Earth inspires behavioral changes long after 7/7/07.

Live Earth staged official concerts at Giants Stadium in New York; Wembley Stadium in London; Aussie Stadium in Sydney; Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro; the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg; Makuhari Messe in Tokyo; the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai; and HSH Nordbank Arena in Hamburg.

To see the Live Earth Concerts, click here.

To listen to the main campaign song, click on the videos on the right.