How To Get Rid of Body Hair (Part 1/2)

How To Get Rid Of Body Hair (Part 1/2)
Whether temporary or permanent, you are spoilt for choice if you would like to remove body or facial hair

By Verlaine S Ramos | Reprinted with permission from Ezyhealth & Beauty magazine

HAIR removal has been practiced for centuries in many cultures. Whether it is the face, armpits, legs, bikini line or other body parts, many women (and even men!) would like to have smooth, hairless skin for different reasons, but mostly for aesthetic purposes.

Many options are available to remove unwanted hair, most of which are just temporary, although there are a few that offer permanent hair reduction and removal. Choosing the best method, or combination of methods, really depends on your preference, budget, time availability and skin type.

TEMPORARY HAIR REMOVAL

Plucking
With the use of tweezers, plucking is the most common and inexpensive way of removing hair, especially for the occasional coarse hair or a small group of hairs. Since the hair is pulled from the hair shaft, the results last longer. However, it can be very time-consuming and painful, and may cause damage in the hair follicle such as folliculitis (inflammation), ingrown hairs or hyperpigmentation.

Tip: Choose tweezers that are made from stainless steel and have a rubberized or non-slippery covering, which offers better grip.

Shaving
Shaving is the most temporary way of hair removal because it just cuts the hair off at the skin surface. Results last from one to three days, so it needs to be done every so often to maintain a “hair-free” appearance. Shaving may cause skin irritation, cuts and stubbles.

Tip: Always apply some type of moisturizer (water, shaving cream, body wash) to the skin to help the razor glide over the skin and prevent cuts or scrapes.

Waxing and sugaring
Waxing involves applying warm or cold wax (which are usually attached to strips) onto the skin and quickly stripping off the hardened wax, thus removing large amounts of hair at one time. Sugaring is similar to waxing; only it uses a thick sugary substance that’s like caramel. In both methods, hair is removed from the roots, so regrowth usually takes weeks, and hair usually becomes softer, lighter in colour and much sparser.

Tip: Sugar waxes are easier to clean up because they can be rinsed with water. Redness is normal after waxing; to relieve it, apply an ice pack or rub on tea tree oil.

Depilatories
They come in gel, cream, lotion, mousse and roll-on types. Depilatories contain a chemical called thioglycolate, which literally melts hair away, and the effect lasts for around a week. They can cause serious skin irritations because they can dissolve not just the hair but also the keratin in skin.

Tip: Always test any depilatory on a small area of your skin first for allergic reactions, at least 48 hours before applying it to a large area. Follow instructions religiously, as leaving them too long can result in irritations, too.

NEXT: OTHER FORMS OF HAIR REMOVAL

The articles cannot be reproduced, whether in part or in whole, without the permission of Ezyhealth

How To Get Rid of Body Hair (Part 2/2)

Whether temporary or permanent, you are spoilt for choice if you would like to remove body or facial hair

By Verlaine S Ramos | Reprinted with permission from Ezyhealth & Beauty magazine

Click here to read Part 1: Types of Temporary Hair Removal

Threading
In threading, a long twisted loop of thread is rotated rapidly across the skin, so the hairs are trapped within the twisted string and are pulled off. This is an ancient manual technique that originated from India, and has become popular in other parts of Asia as well. It is fast and benefits those who are allergic to waxes or depilatories.

Tip: Go for fully-trained threading technicians with good reputations, and make sure he or she uses 100% cotton threads.

Epilators
A mechanical epilator works like many tweezers – it has a rotating head that grasps multiple hairs and pulls them out simultaneously. Epilators come in corded, rechargeable and battery-operated designs, with different speeds and tweezer strengths. Regrowth takes several days or up to weeks.

Tip: Make sure you exfoliate the area to be epilated first. Always pull the skin taut to avoid pinching.

PERMANENT HAIR REMOVAL

Hair Reduction
Laser-assisted and Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) are two procedures that offer significant hair reduction that is more lasting, especially after several treatments. These methods can be costly.

Laser
This medical procedure works by passing laser light through the skin, which targets the dark pigment, called melanin, in hair. When the light beam hits the hair follicle (where hair growth originates), the intense heat destroys the hair follicle instantly.

Hair colour and skin type are the key factors that influence the success of laser hair removal. It is most successful on people with dark hair (brown or black) and light skin. However, it can also be used safely on people with darker skin types. Some side effects can be dyspigmentation, blistering, scarring and crusting.

Intense pulsed light (IPL)
IPL is similar to laser in terms of principle of targeting melanin in hair follicles, however, a specially constructed filtered flashlamp that emits wavelengths ranging from 500 to 1200 nm is used, instead of one wavelength used in laser. The pulses of light in IPL are very short in duration, so discomfort is minimal. Some disadvantages include temporary redness and increased or decreased pigment in the treated area.

Permanent hair removal
At present, electrolysis is the only method that permanently removes body hair. In electrolysis, a small, hair-thin probe is inserted into the hair follicle, followed by a pulse of electric current that damages and eventually destroys the hair follicle.

Sources
1. www.dermatology.about.com/cs/hairremoval
2. www.skinbiology.com/hairremovalmethods.html
3. www.emedicine.com/derm/TOPIC503.HTM

The articles cannot be reproduced, whether in part or in whole, without the permission of Ezyhealth

Wine Lessons #2: How Do Sparkling Wines Get Their Bubbles? (Part 1/2)

LESSON #5: How Do Sparkling Wines Get Their Bubbles? (Part 1/2)

The most famous and arguably the best method is called methode champenoise, so named because it is the method used in Champagne, purportedly invented by the famous monk, Dom Perignon

ONE of the most frequently asked questions in wine is “how does Champagne get its bubbles?”

There are actually several ways. The most famous and arguably the best method is called methode champenoise, so named because it is the method used in Champagne, purportedly invented by the famous monk, Dom Perignon.

This process involves a second fermentation of the wine sealed inside the bottle. Carbon Dioxide emits during fermentation, creating pressure when trapped in sealed bottle with nowhere to go but to dissolve itself back into the liquid as bubbles into the wine.

So there you have it, Champagne is made, simple enough.

Well, not quite I’m afraid. The process itself is a bit more complex than that. But it’s easy to understand. Let’s quickly run through it, shall we?

Step 1: We start with dry still white wine – called the base wine or cuvèe – no bubbles and usually quite high in acidity, not delicious to drink actually

Step 2: The wine enters the bottle and a bit of life yeast is added before sealing to provoke a secondary fermentation which produces carbon dioxide and creates immense pressure inside the bottle.

Step 3: The bottles are stored upside down. In preparation for getting rid of the solids, a process called remuage or riddling is performed. Essentially each bottle is rotated a little regularly. This helps the solids to slide down into the mouth of the bottle, and why? Read on.

Step 4: We have to get rid of the solids from the wine, easily done normally when there is no extreme pressure inside the bottle to spill out the wine along with the solids. A process of degorgement takes place. First a neck portion of the bottle is frozen in brine. Then the bottle is uncorked, pressure inside the bottle jettisons the bit of frozen wine and the solids out of the bottle. With perfect timing to a few milliseconds, spillage is halted right after the solids are thrown out.

Step 5: Before resealing, the bottle is topped up with a “dosage” of wine, sugar and even a bit of grape spirit to achieve a consistent style, the right degree of dryness and alcohol strength.

There are a few variations to this method, mostly in Step 2 with the objective of avoiding the very expensive processes in Step 3 and 4. For example, there is the Charmat or tank method in which secondary fermentation takes place in a (large) sealed tank.

Pressure again causes carbon dioxide created from fermentation to dissolve into the wine while solids are created containing dead yeasts. The sparkling wine is filtered and transferred into a pressurized tank to “decant” away the solids. The wine is bottled from that tank. A lot of Proseccos are made this way.

Click here to read Part 2

Go back wine lesson index

Wine Lessons #2: How Do Sparkling Wines Get Their Bubbles? (Part 2/2)

LESSON #5: How Do Sparkling Wines Get Their Bubbles? (Part 2/2)
The most famous and arguably the best method is called methode champenoise, so named because it is the method used in Champagne, purportedly invented by the famous monk, Dom Perignon

Click here to read Part 1

THE word “Champagne” can no longer be put on labels unless the wine comes from the appellation Champagne and has conformed to a certain set of rules and regulations governing the making of the wine.

Lesser non-conforming wines from the Champagne region can only be called Crémant or just Sparkling.

For the rest of the world, the generic term “Sparkling Wine” replaces the familiar once-generic and ubiquitous Champagne, not without some very notable exceptions. Some sparkling wines never had the need or the urge to call themselves Champagne to being with. Let’s run through a short list of these illustrious sparkling wines.

Blanquette: sparkling wine from France’s Limoux region within Languedoc, made from Mauzac grape

Cava: Spain’s pride and joy, affordable fizz made from macabeo, xarello and parellada

Crémant: both in Limoux and Loire, fresh and crisp sparkling wine made from Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc

Crémant de Bourgogne: “Champagne” made in other parts of Burgundy, no longer legal to bear the Champagne label

Prosecco: Italy’s fizz made from grape of same name

Sekt: Germany’s slightly lesser known but nevertheless excellent bubblies

There are many styles of Sparkling wine and here are a few most notable ones:

Vintage Champagne: made only in very good years from grapes of a single vintage always built for ageing

Non-Vintage Champagne: NV as they are called, these are “house” blends made from base wine from several vintages, done with precision to achieve consistency. Although NV can easily live for several years, even over a decade for the high-quality brands, it is designed for consumption on release

Brut: bone dry; classic blend is Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier

Blanc de Blancs: Made from 100% Chardonnay

Rosè: a bit of red wine added in resulting in pink color and often a little more body than the usual brut

Blanc de Noir: made from red grapes like Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier

Champagne is customarily served chilled to near freezing. There is wisdom behind this practice. Acidity is purposely high in Champagne to achieve vigor and freshness.

In our lesson on serving temperatures we discussed how lowering the temperature can soften the sharpness of acidity on the palate. However if you have bottle of luxury Vintage Champagne, it is probably better to drink it a few degrees warmer.

Our palates become numb if temperature is near freezing. It would be hard to appreciate the nuances of a great wine.

Although most Champagne and sparkling wine are drunk on their own, they are remarkably good with food. Strawberries and shellfish are classic pairings but Champagne is a lot more versatile than that.

For example, cheeses like Double Gloucester and Red Leicester, Brie and even Gouda go very well with Brut. Chablis is a first choice with raw oysters but Champagne is a very close runner-up. With Sushi, Champagne is the wine of choice.

“In victory, you deserve Champagne, in defeat, you need it.” – Napoleon Bonaparte

“I drink champagne when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it – unless I’m thirsty.” – Madam Lilly Bollinger

Next lesson: Grape Talk – Cabernet Sauvignon

Go back wine lesson index

Expert Advice on Renting Furniture

Rent Furniture, Save The Earth?
One way to acquire ‘new’ furniture without having the companies make more is to rent them. Is this a better, more sustainable option?

By Kevin Chow | reprinted with permission from Home Concepts magazine

FURNITURE leasing is a concept that is not foreign to most expatriates living around the world. In this story, we explore the idea of leasing furniture as a sustainable option when it comes to decking out the home.

Expats Furniture Rental

Expats Furniture Rental offers short- and long-term quality residential furniture and appliances for the private and corporate sectors. The rental items range from hard furniture to soft furnishings like carpets, paintings and kitchenware.

To reduce the consumption of raw materials in furniture production, the company uses recycled wood, instead of falling trees for new timber. Part of this process would be to take wood from old structures, treat them, and transform them into new pieces of furniture.

When the expatriate leaves the country, we will collect back the furniture which in turn will be rented out again and this cycle goes on,” explains Khommi Tan, marketing manager of Expats Furniture Rental.

“This is especially evident under our short-term rental whereby all items available are our ex-rental stock. Besides, we have our own team of well-trained personnel to regularly carry out the maintenance and service of the furniture.”

Esco Leasing

Esco is one of the pioneers of furniture leasing in Singapore, and has been actively serving the expatriate community for 23 years now. As part of its commitment to the environment, the design concepts and direction undertaken by its team of in-house designers and home stylists have always been eco-inspired.

An example of this philosophy in practise can be witnessed at the Esco factory in Central Java, where they use reclaimed timber for their furniture, and organic hand printed raw linen/hemp for home furnishings.

This is how Esco maintains its green focus:

1) Defining a lease period for the required duration of each expatriate family’s stay here in Singapore.

2) Reutilising the inventory for the useful lifespan of the furniture through subsequent rental programmes.

3) Recycling the material to fashion new designs.

10 THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE LEASING FURNITURE
(Source: Expats Furniture Rental)

1. Available time frame before moving into the apartment
2. Setting aside a budget for furniture rental
3. Prioritising your needs and wants
4. Knowing the quality of the furniture that you are renting
5. Intended ownership of the furniture after the lease expires
6. Hassle of maintaining and servicing the furniture/ appliances
7. Hassle of shipping own items from abroad
8. Possibility of damage in transit
9. Disposal issue when returning back to home country
10. Sourcing and engaging a credible and reliable furniture rental vendor

30 July to 12 September: The Boy Who Cried Wolf (Singapore Repertory)

Aesop’s classic fairy tale is brought to life by an exciting script and a professional cast of adult actors.

LITTLE Petey is bored, bored, bored. It is really not much fun to sit on a little rock, on a little hill, watching a little flock of sheep all day long.

So little Petey decides to hatch the perfect plan to have some fun and scare the socks off his fellow villagers. But little does poor Petey know that a very tiny lie can lead to a whole lot of trouble…

The Boy Who Cried Wolf is a wonderful new production from The Little Company. Based on the classic fairy tale by Aesop, you will be delighted by how it is brought to life by an exciting script and a professional cast of adult actors.

This play is a heart-warming illustration of why it’s important to tell the truth, and how one lie can make a world of difference.

Dramatised by award-winning playwright Jean Tay who is best known for her plays Everything But The Brain (ST Life! Theatre Awards winner for Best Original Script 2006) and Boom.

Directed by Tracie Pang (ST Life! Theatre Award nominee for Best Director in 2007 and 2008) who has directed numerous productions for The Little Company.

This comic twist to a classic tale brings home a familiar lesson in a fun and accessible way.

Recommended for 2 – 6 year olds

About SRT’s The Little Company
The Little Company is a professional theatre company that produces quality plays for children. Since 2001, over 200,000 children and adults have been delighted by our performances. We aim to enthrall children from ages 2-12, with theatre that is written, designed and performed specifically for them by professional adult actors.

We strongly believe that theatre can help children develop socially, mentally and emotionally. The Little Company was founded in 2001 by Singapore Repertory Theatre, based on the belief that children deserve the same quality of theatre as adults.

Past productions include Christmas and the Gargoyle Who Wouldn’t Say Thank You, Little Victories, The Ugly Duckling, The Snow Queen, The Selfish Giant, The Gingerbread Man, Baby Love, The Emperor’s New Clothes, Scrooge – The Musical and most recently The Tooth Fairy and Bear and Chicken Go Camping.

DATES: 30th July to 12th September 2009 – please see SISTIC for performance schedule

PRICES: Mon-Fri $18 – Weekends $20 excluding SISTIC fee (Group Discounts / Family Packages available)

VENUE: DBS Arts Centre – Home of SRT

TICKETING: SISTIC at 6348 5555 or www.sistic.com.sg / www.srt.com.sg

21 to 31 May: Dolores by Andres Barrioquinto (Utterly Art)

OUR LADY OF SORROWS
Andres Barrioquinto paints the many faces of female sadness

DOLORES is a female name from a Latin word meaning “sorrows.” It is usually applied to contexts of mental pain and suffering.

This exhibition which features the moody portraitures of Andres Barrioqunto presents a collection of different women, depicted in either a vast landscape or a lively kaleidoscopic bed of flowers.

According to the artist, the placement of his figures in such vast and remote scenery creates a certain feeling of isolation and loneliness. “I want to emphasize or somehow portray the effects of men, or maybe the backwash of life in general towards women.” Barrioquinto says.

Generally, his concepts for this art show are inspired by all the women around him, from the youngest tramp strewn across the street to his very own birth mother. This is a tribute to them, for the scars and afflictions that life has left them with.

It is highly noticeable that in this present batch of paintings, the figures somehow bleed a certain blanket of mourning for the human soul. “My paintings are usually dark and macabre, and they still are now, only in a different and more subtle sense of expression.”

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Andres Barrioquinto (b. 1975, Philippines) graduated in Fine Arts (Painting) from the University of Santo Tomas in 2000. A prestigious recipient of the Thirteen Artists Award (2003) bestowed by the Cultural Centre of the Philippines, Dolores is his sixteenth solo art exhibition and fourth in Singapore. The exhibition progresses from the geometricism and detailed realism that he has been developing in the past year.

VENUE: Utterly Art Exhibition Space (diagonally opposite the Sri Mariamman Temple, Pagoda St Exit) 229A South Bridge Road (2nd Level) Singapore 058778
TEL: 6226 2605
EMAIL: utterlyart@pacific.net.sg
OPENING HOURS: Mon-Sat 12 noon – 8 pm Sun 12 noon – 5.30 pm
“Dolores” by Andres Barrioquinto ends on 31 May 2009

28 May to 20 June: “Flux Technicolour” by Ian Woo (Fortune Cookie Projects)

“Magic Mountain” by Ian Woo

Steady Flux of Talent
La Salle College lecturer paints his imaginary cinematic experience

FORTUNE Cookie Projects presents an exhibition of new work by Singaporean artist Ian Woo. His seemingly free-form improvisations belie a highly disciplined architectonic. Using pattern and colour he creates a series of imaginary worlds, landscapes and allegories that allow the viewer to make his own choices and his own discoveries.

A lecturer for Postgraduate Studies at Lasalle College of the Arts, Woo has exhibited extensively throughout Asia. His work can be found in corporate, private and institutional art collections around the world.

Artist’s Statement

‘The title Flux Technicolour comes from a reference to the idea of a continuous presence of fluctuating changes in both colour and forms that affects the gravity of the paintings. I think about temperature and quality of light quite a lot when applying colours to a painting.

“I also have this fascination that the painting is an imaginary light box, where structure, substance, colour co-relate to become matter. I like to pretend that the painting is like a film still from some imaginary cinematic experience.’

The Organisers

Fortune Cookie Projects, an international art advisory and curatorial firm with offices in Singapore and New York, has long been active in organising art exhibitions of major artists throughout Asia. Mary Dinaburg and Howard Rutkowski, the principals of Fortune Cookie Projects, each have over thirty years experience in the international contemporary art market.

Projects featuring prominent artists such as Sigmar Polke, Georg Baselitz, Jorg Immendorff, A.R.
Penck, Per Kirkeby and Markus Lupertz have been realized in Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and Hong Kong. Most recently Fortune Cookie Projects curated the first major retrospective of art paintings by Julian Schnabel, which traveled throughout China and Korea.

Fortune Cookie Projects has also been instrumental in curating exhibitions and securing platforms for Asian artists at institutional and commercial venues throughout the United States and Europe.

Fortune Cookie Projects is the organiser of Showcase Singapore, Southeast Asia’s first international contemporary art fair, which debuted in September 2008.

Fortune Cookie Projects also curated the first exhibition of paintings by Julian Schnabel in Singapore which will travel to the National Museum of the Philippines in June 2009.

For directions:

Fortune Cookie Projects
39 Keppel Road #02-04
Tanjong Pagar Distripark
Singapore 089065
Tel. No. (65) 9382 1700

Create your own Cinematic Masterpiece: The New Canon LEGRIA HV40 Camcorder

The New Canon LEGRIA HV40 Camcorder

Canon’s new High-Definition MiniDV LEGRIA gives consumers the power to create cinema-grade movies at home

BLENDING high-definition (HD) cinematic quality video, superb still images, and advanced features, Canon’s new LEGRIA HV40 is the HD camcorder designed with the budding video enthusiast or independent filmmaker in mind. Featuring Canon’s full-HD CMOS sensor and a set of comprehensive controls, the LEGRIA HV40 gives users plenty of room to exercise their creative clout.

LEGRIA HV40 aims to inspire people with its professional video quality and film-like recording,” says Andrew Koh, Director and General Manager, Consumer Imaging and Information Division, Canon Singapore. “With its exceptional HD capability and cinematic effects, consumers can create professional looking movies with a big cinema-like feel. We believe this will inspire more people to make films that are powerful enough to take to the big screen.”

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Canon Legria’s Key features

• Canon’s True Full HD CMOS Sensor 1920 x 1080( DIGIC DV II)

• 10x Optical Zoom and 200x digital zoom

• DIGIC DV II Imaging Processor

• Super Range Optical Image Stabilizer

• Instant AF

• Advanced Accessory Shoe

• 25P CINE Mode recording

Read more about Canon LEGRIA HV40 Camcorder

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Are You A Walking Smell Bomb? (Part 1/2)

Posted by 88dblifestyle on May 20, 2009

Sweat is actually odourless, so what you need to do is check on your hygiene

By Dr Shyneth Galapia | Reprinted with permission from Ezyhealth & Beauty magazine

AT SOME point in our lives, all of us have experienced being next to a person with body odour. It’s never a pleasant experience to sit next to a smelly classmate or be crammed on a train full of sweaty people.

More importantly, people with body odour may suffer from personal and social relationships. Feelings of embarrassment and decreased self-confidence are common.

SWEATING IT OUT
Sweating is the body’s biological way of regulating temperature, that’s why sweating is more profuse when it’s hot. Composed mainly of salt and water, sweat produces a cooling effect on the body as it evaporates from the skin.

Although about two to four million sweat glands are distributed on the skin, some body parts are more likely to sweat because they have more sweat glands.

According to Dr Chan Yuin Chew, a dermatologist at Gleneagles Medical Centre, “The palms, soles and underarms contain a lot of sweat glands.”

Sweat glands occurring over most parts of the body are called eccrine glands and they are responsible for producing the watery component of sweat.

Those found in hairy areas such as the scalp, armpits and groin are called apocrine glands. Bacterial breakdown of sweat produced from these glands is most likely to produce body odour because it contains protein, carbohydrate, ammonia and fats.

As these glands only mature during puberty, young children rarely develop body odour.

Several factors influence the way people sweat. Certain foods (spicy) and beverages (hot and those with alcohol or caffeine) can make you sweat.

Other factors that increase sweating include certain medical conditions (fever, hyperthyroidism, heart attack, tubeculosis, malaria) and medicines (morphine, anti-depressants).

“When one is excited or angry, there is increased sympathetic activity and one will notice that he or she will start sweating more profusely,” says Dr Eileen Tan, a dermatologist at the Eileen Tan Skin, Laser and Hair Transplant Clinic in Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre.

DECODING BODY ODOUR
Body odour is an unpleasant smell produced by a sweating and unhygienic person. Most of us would point to sweating or perspiration as the culprit, but it is not.

Sweat is actually odourless.

Dr Tan says, “Body odour is caused by a natural process involving sweat that occurs on the skin’s surface. However, if sweat is left on the skin for a long period of time, the bacteria that normally live there feed on it and break it down. This process releases chemicals that cause the unpleasant smell.”

READ NEXT CHAPTER: Your body odour checklist — and how to fix it

The articles cannot be reproduced, whether in part or in whole, without the permission of Ezyhealth

Read more about hygiene and body odour.

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