5 Beauty Tips for Healthy Skin in Summer

Summer is here to fill our days with its glory. It is the ideal time of the year to flaunt your beautiful dresses, have the most delicious seasonal foods and fruits but don’t forget to attend to your skin. Read these Beauty Tips for Healthy Skin and try to apply as well.

Though our skin is far better in summer as compared to the dry, itchy skin days in winter, still you need to pay attention to hold on to that inner and outer glow. Here are 5 easy tipsfor glowing skin in summer.

1.     Exfoliate

As the season changes, keep your skin exfoliated. It is the best way to keep your skin healthy and glowing. It helps you to remove the dead skin cells. It also regulates blood circulation making your skin glow naturally.

Scrub off the dead skin cells through an exfoliating sponge. You can also prepare anatural scrub at home by mixing gram flour, oatmeal and milk. Apply the paste on your skin and scrub it gently for 2-3 minutes. Rinse with cold water.

Repeat the process twice a week.

2.     Hydrate

Keep your skin hydrated throughout the season. Drink plain water or natural fruit juices. Add vegetables to your diet. It will keep your skin healthy and plump.

Read More: Five Quick Drinks for this Summer to Keep you well-hydrated

Use green tea, it will help keeping the dead skin cells away due to its antioxidant nature.

Natural fluids serve as a perfect detox. They’ll keep your body cool and your skin clear.

3.     Nourish – Beauty Tips for Healthy Skin

Feed your skin through your diet. Your skin shows whatever you eat. Nourish it with foods that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids like nuts, eggs and fish. These foods are high invitamins and they’ll keep your skin fresh and your complexion glowing.

Keep reading Beauty Tips for Healthy Skin, a lot more to come…

Avoid salty foods or snacks. Include fruits and vegetables to your diet that are high in water content like water melon, lettuce, cucumber etc. Don’t forget to increase the water intake.

4.     Moisturize

You might be thinking that it’s summer so the skin is moisturized naturally. But no! Whatever the weather is, keep your skin moisturized.

In summer, adapt water based moisturizers. Try to use the moisturizer at night. It will give increased benefits.

5.     Cleanse – Beauty Tips for Healthy Skin

One of the most effective beauty tips for healthy skin is to cleanse your skin with a good quality cleanser. Try products that are made of cucumber or Aloe Vera gel.

You may also make a cleanser at home. It’s simple and quick to make. Take plain yogurt and mix it with honey. This two ingredient mixture is the best cleanser you’ll ever get. It not only cleanses your skin but also serve the purpose of moisturizer, leaving your skin soft and glowing.

Apply the mixture and cleanse for 10 minutes. Rinse with cold water.

Repeat the process twice a day or at least once daily. Your 10 minutes will make a great difference.

These were 5 quick tips for healthy skin in summer at home. It will give a natural glow to your skin. These home remedies are simple and easily adaptable. It will only take 30-40 minutes of your total time daily. But the results are certainly going to be terrific and rocking.

Stay healthy. Happy summer!

Article via: blog.vidpk

Changing Search Trends in Ramadan – Google Explains How!

Find out what Google has to say about consumer trends in Ramazan. It’s definitely about food, entertainment and changing lifestyles. 

Ramadan is just around the corner and with changing eating habits it has a vivid impact on our routine activities. Not just our working hours or sleeping patterns are affected but our activities to spend the day are also changed.

A recent study declared that Ramadan has a major impact on the online activity of the people who are fasting.

Google conducted a study this year using the search statistics of Muslim countries from 2015. It revealed that a major time of the day is spent surfing the internet.

Ramadan is expected to start on 7th of June this year. Muslims all over the world will be observing fasts for a month. Staying away from food in the scorching sun from sunrise till sunset requires extra patience.  This also means that people spend the peak hours of sun at offices or homes mostly using gadgets.

Consumer Trends in Ramadan/Ramazan

The significant change in online user engagement observed is given below:

• The Online Shopping Tide

During Ramadan since people mostly prefer staying indoors therefore the ideal option is to shop online. People spend a large amount of money buying gifts, planning holidays and updating their wardrobe, all for the coming grand festival at the end of the holy month – the Eid day.

The study at Google shows that though all shopping categories observe an uprising curve, but clothing and travelling has the highest growth rates. The rate increased to 29% and 30% for both respectively as seen last year.

The increasing interest health and beauty products suggest that the shopping curve for these categories is certainly going to rise this year.

• Entertainment, Entertainment and Entertainment

Usually people adopt food therapy to pass their leisure time but that’s not the case in Ramadan. Since people cannot eat or drink, they find the alternative in entertainment. For that matter, they are inclined to surf funny videos on internet.

The trend seems to be at its peak during the last week of Ramadan and Eid holidays.

Google reported that video streaming rate especially on smart phones increase by 13% during Ramadan.

• It’s Food on Everyone’s Mind

Though people can’t have food while fasting, it’s only food they think about all day.

Searches related to special recipes for ‘sahoor’ and ‘iftar’ gain much popularity. People tend to hike the internet for new recipes.

As the last week of the holy month approaches, even a greater rise in search trends is observed regarding menus and recipes. With Eid festivities approaching, people tend to try something new along with the traditional foods.

As per Google’s report, people search for the recipes between 2.00 – 4.00 pm and 9.00 – 11.00 pm. The ratio of the web surfers, increase even more during weekends.

So, Ramadan is the best time of the year in Muslim countries with respect to e-commerce. It is the best business opportunity for everyone out there.

We are sure that you’ll also agree with Google’s statistics regarding the changing search trends. Because this is what most of us undergo to pass the long hot days during Ramadan.

Article via: blog.vidpk

Ways Your Body Reacts to a Binge

We’ve all had those days when the entire bowl of gulab jaamun just went missing — all while you noshed on them while watching your favourite episode of Game of Thrones. It feels amazing at first but it’s only a matter of time till you feel like you’ve abused your tummy and other systems! As compiled from Reader’s Digest magazine, discover the silent stress compulsive eating puts on your body, and do away with this gross habit once and for all.

The pancreas goes into overdrive
Have you noticed that we tend to never ever binge on healthy foods? Most people, in fact, binge on sugar and simple carbohydrates, such as foods made with white flour. In response to a quick intake of too much of these foods, the pancreas pumps insulin into the body, trying to counteract and manage the extra sugar suddenly present in the blood stream. This internally exhausts your body without you knowing it. Now you know why you feel sluggish and sleepy post binge-ing!

Want to live longer? Keep your body in shape

Dopamine, the brain’s ‘pleasure hormone,’ gushes
“Whereas eating a healthy, balanced meal might release a moderate amount of dopamine,” says Denise Wilfley, Scott Rudolph University professor at Washington University in S. Louis and National Eating Disorders Association representative, “eating high-fat, high-sugar foods, like a pint of ice cream, might lead to a release of extremely high levels of dopamine.” If you binge again and again, the brain needs more dopamine to reach the same level of pleasure. It could take more food, or different types of food, to trigger that “feel good” sensation in the future.

You release adrenaline and cortisol
Did you know that the physical stress of binging stimulates these stress hormones? As the body feels various hormones surging, it strives for homeostasis, or balance, says Dr Wilfley. You might briefly feel the “rush,” marked by increased heart rate or sweating. This is followed by the “crash,” marked by lethargy, increased irritability, and sluggishness as glucose levels drop drastically. This could leave you irritable and cranky — the last thing you need is getting annoyed by your kids after a long day at work.

The brain “checks out”
“Mindful eating and binging can’t occur at the same time,” says Kari Anderson, executive director for the Women’s Centre for Binge and Emotional Eating. In a study published by the American Psychological Association, people used binge eating as a means of escape from self-awareness. “It’s really quite protective,” says Anderson. “In order [for the body] to even tolerate it, there’s a shift in mental state.” Make sure to always start with healthy proteins and salads before you dive into the chocolate cake sitting in the fridge.

Immune system takes a dive
Another shock to add to your worries — research has proved that overeating is a traumatic experience for your organs. As the body swings between high levels of glucose and insulin, immune function can dip for up to 24 hours after a binging episode, notes Dr Wilfley. If you don’t want to fall sick and maintain excellent health, you must give up this insalubrious habit.

You can’t tell if you’re really hungry
Ghrelin is the hormone that increases appetite, signalling that it’s time for a snack or meal. Leptin decreases appetite, telling us when we’re full. Studies show that chronic binge eaters actually have lower levels of ghrelin and trouble responding to both hormones overall — in other words, if binging is happening on a regular basis, it just becomes really hard to determine when you’re hungry or satiated. That means you might just be eating out of boredom and not because you’re hungry — recipe for weight gain anyone?

You might wake up more often
Do you wake up in the middle of the night for no reason at all? Do you never sleep soundly? Binging can make it difficult to rest effectively, according to Dr Wilfley. You might have trouble falling asleep and may wake up during the night out of discomfort, thirst, or acid reflux. Chronic acid reflux, or GERD, is common in people who binge-eat over a long period of time. These are silent signs of reflux you might ignore.

Afterthought: Then why do we binge?
“Binges are set up by your brain,” says Elyse Resch, a registered dietitian and co-author of the book Intuitive Eating. According to Resch, food binges are likely caused from food restriction or as a rebound from dieting deprivation. 

Binging to the point of discomfort more than once a week for over three months could signal a condition. In 2013, the American Psychological Association diagnosed Binge Eating Disorder (BED) as an official eating disorder that afflicts countless men and women globally. If you think you might have BED, talk to your doctor about helpful resources.

Article via: tribune

How to Avoid Heat in Summer – Tips to Beat the Heat

With the temperature rising as high as 40 degree Celsius, it’s getting seriously hotter. The sun shining its brightest and it looks as if your skin is sucking the heat into your body. Outdoors seem a torture in this hot weather. Add in the pollution and you are doomed. It’s time you read some tips to avoid heat in summer.

The current heat wave signals even hotter days are approaching. How to avoid heat in summer?  Try a few simple tips and you are ready to enjoy the season!

Safety Tips for Summer Heat

• Dress Up Cool

Arrange your wardrobe a little. Use loose fitting cotton clothes. What you wear can affect your comfort level when outdoors.  Try these:

• Light colored clothes

Whites, blues, and other light colors are the intelligent options for summer. These colors will not only make you look cool but also they’ll keep you cool.

• Sunglasses

Sunglasses are fashionable and they keep your eyes safe from the ultraviolet rays of sun.

• Cover your head

When out in summer, keep your head covered with a hat. You’ll look smart and the sensitive spots on your face will be safe from the harmful rays of sun. This is an easy and cheap way to avoid heat in summer.

• Sunscreen

Don’t forget applying sunscreen on the areas of your skin that are exposed to sun.

• SPF protected lip balm

Like sunscreen protects your skin, an SPF protected lip balm will protect your lips.

• Stay Hydrated

Summer means sweating, which means you need to pay extra attention to keep yourself hydrated. Here’s how:

• Drink more water

Keep yourself hydrated by drinking more water than usual. Don’t wait till you are thirsty. At least have a glass of water every 60 minutes. It doesn’t cost a fortune to drink water during summer but it can do miracles for your health.

• Add juices to your diet

Natural juices without added sugar are a great way to keep you hydrated. Also, the other nutrients keep you healthy and active. Add juices to your diet this summer and see the magic. You won’t have to worry about how to avoid heat in summer.

• Keep the caffeine intake low
  

Caffeine may sound refreshing after a hectic day but there’s nothing that dehydrates you more. On hot days, avoid caffeine intake. Replace it with fresh juices.

If you still feel like having caffeine loaded drink, then increase the water intake.

• Supervise Your Meals

Whatever you eat, it has a tendency to alter your body temperature. To stay cool, adjust your diet a little.

• More fruits and vegetables

Fruits and vegetables are healthy and refreshing. They are certainly high in water content. Add fruits and vegetables to your meals.

• Keep that meat low-fat

Fats are high in salt content and take longer to digest. The salt content also makes you feel more exhausted.  To avoid heat exhaustion, have low fat meat.

• Avoid Going Outdoor at Peak Hours of Sun

Normally between 10 am to 4 pm, the sun is at its peak with raised temperature and high UV rays. Stay indoors during these hours. Keep your body cool. Have food, get a drink or maybe take a nap.

• Keeping Yourself Cool without AC

Surviving a hot summer without AC sounds impossible. One may survive the day somehow, but what to do at night time? After a long day, you need a sound sleep.  Here are a few simple DIY strategies from our grandparents’ time. Try these and stay cool!

• Use cotton sheets

Use light coloured cotton bed linens. They are light and keep you cool through the night. You will avoid heat during summer at night with these sheets.

• Use exhaust fans
  

Set exhaust fans to keep the room temperature low. And turn on the ceiling fans. They’ll keep your room cool and everyone in the room will avoid heat during summer.

• Apply icepacks

Need to cool down? Use icepacks on pulse points. Apply it on your wrists, elbows, neck, knees and ankles and you’ll feel super chilled in no time.

• Take a cold shower

Cold showers are a relief in summers. Take a shower with cold water before you go to bed. It will adjust your body temperature and you will feel good.

• Keep the water content high

Have a glass of water before bed. It will keep you hydrated during the night.

• Turn off the lights

Lights emit heat. To keep the room temperature low, turn off the lights. Take advantage of the natural light as long as you can and when it’s dark outside, use minimal lights.  Use cool white light bulbs. And turn them off when you don’t need any light.

• Wet sheet hangings

Hang a wet sheet on an open window. The breeze passing through the sheet will lower the room temperature. Cool down your room and have a sound sleep. You’re sure to avoid heat in summer using this trick.

• Keep your feet cold

There are a number of pulse points in the feet and ankles. It is very important to keep them cool. Sink your feet in cold water. It will keep your body temperature low. Better keep a water bucket near the bed so you can sink in your feet whenever you feel hot.

• Unplug every extra appliance

Disconnect all the electronics. They are a master source of heat in your home. To reduce the heat in the house, literally unplug every gadget or other appliance that’s not in use. It will lower the heat and also save energy.

Relief from the Sun Stroke – How to avoid heat in Summer

If you get burnt, seek relief. Use antioxidants to neutralize the damage done by UV rays. Try using green tea or a take a spoonful of onion juice. These antioxidants are readily available and they can efficiently make up for the cellular damage done by heat.

• Warning Signs of Heat Illness

Heat illness can do a serious damage to your health. Know the warning signs and keep a check on yourself..

• Confusion
• Sudden change in temperament
• Frustration
• Dizziness
• Fatigue
• Goose bumps and chills

If any of these signs occur, pay heed to it. Contact your health specialist and look for a remedy. Follow the safety tips for summer heat and take rest.

• Stages of Heat Illness

There are three stages of heat illness

• Heat Cramps

Muscle contraction, profuse sweating, dizziness, irregular heart rate and weak pulse are the signs of heat cramps.

In such case, massage the muscles, have a chilled drink and relax in a cool place.

• Heat Exhaustion

In addition to profuse sweating, irregular heart rate and weak pulse, your body remains cold. That’s a sign of heat exhaustion.

One wonders, how to avoid heat in summer?

Cool down the body temperature as soon as possible. Have an ice bath. Sit under a fan or use IV fluids.

• Heat Stroke
  

Rapid pulse, dry skin, frustration, sudden drop in blood pressure and possibly coma, these are the signs of heat stroke.

In such case, immediately call an emergency service and seek medical help.

All three stages must be addressed at the instant without any delay. Moving from one stage to the next can be sudden and without any warning and it may cause death.

We are hoping that you’ll find these tips really helpful. If you have any other simple and smart solution to avoid the heat in summer, feel free to share in the comment section below.

Article via: blog.vidpk

Run Barefoot to Boost Your Memory

NEW YORK: Running barefoot is better than running with shoes for your working memory which refers to our ability to recall and process information, according to a study
.

How dumb! Blondes are just as smart as others
Working memory is used throughout our lifespan. By improving it, we may be able to realise gains in key areas, from school to work to retirement.

“Working memory is increasingly recognised as a crucial cognitive skill, and these findings are great news for people looking for a fun way to boost their working memory,” said one of the researchers, Tracy Alloway, from the University of North Florida in the US.

The researchers enlisted 72 participants between the ages of 18 and 44, who ran both barefoot and with shoes on at a comfortable, self-selected pace for approximately 16 minutes.

Working memory was measured before and after running.
The results of this research, published in the journal Perceptual and Motor Skills, found a significant increase – approximately 16 percent — in working memory performance in the barefoot-running condition.

There was no significant increase in working memory when running with shoes.

“If we take off our shoes and go for a run, we can finish smarter than when we started,” Ross Alloway, who is also from University of North Florida, said.

When running barefoot, one often has to avoid stepping on potentially hurtful objects by using precise foot placement.

Just walking around can help you live longer
It is possible that the barefoot condition required a more intensive use of working memory because of the extra tactile and proprioceptive demands associated with barefoot running, which may account for the working memory gains, Ross Alloway explained.

Article via: tribune

In Fashion: The Way We 'Fashion Week'

The bridal power game
While its fashion standards may fluctuate, BCW is at the top of its game in many other ways. The event is extremely regular, invariably taking place twice every year, ricocheting between Lahore and Karachi. Also, since it’s owned by the channel itself, it invariably gets plenty of mileage.

It is a perpetual highlight on the network’s channels, taking up prime-time spots during Eid and weekends, reaching out within Pakistan as well as to a well-dispersed Urdu-speaking audience around the globe. Up till last year, when rival channel Urdu1 hadn’t taken over Hum’s position as media sponsor to the ‘other’ fashion weeks, some of this viewership time would also be allotted to Fashion Pakistan Week and the PFDC’s bi-annual events. Now, though, it’s just BCW all the way.

There’s even a special BCW publication that is released after every event, zoning in on outfits in detail. It’s quite popular amongst the general shaadi-bound masses and the copycat kaarigars in Karachi’s Kehkashan and Lahore’s Liberty Market consider it a must-have for their particular line of work.

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There’s no denying it; Hum Network’s Bridal Couture Week wields a certain force. A trendsetting, fashion-forward force? Not really, but it still has a particular clout

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The glossy, glittery cherry on top comes courtesy the hordes of celebrity showstoppers. Veritably the entire Pakistani acting fraternity works with Hum TV and they are ever willing to extend the friendly gesture of walking onto the catwalk in heavy-duty bridal regalia. However, does bona fide scintillating fashion require a perpetual stream of celebrities in order to make a splash? No, but then again, high fashion hardly ever features at BCW.

Instead, there’s a whole lot of razzle dazzle, a grandiose stage that looks great on TV, quite a bit of generic apparel and celebrities that are loved by the considerably large drama-watching populace. It’s one of the main reasons that has them hooked on to BCW, applauding their favourite stars as they pose in gilded golds, glitter, haphazard cuts and even ostentatious crowns and floral head-dresses. Fan-worship is blind, apparently — especially fashion-blind.

It’s no wonder then that BCW’s regular participant designers are unanimously enthusiastic about the business that is raked in by the event, happily paying the oft-heavy participation fees and earning them back in profits. There are, in fact, ateliers that have particularly expanded their clientele via BCW. Zainab Chottani is a designer who has consistently been part of BCW and has thereon grown from strength to strength. Tabassum Mughal and Islamabad’s Rani Emaan are other prime examples — maisons with critical acclaim but growing, thriving businesses.

“A fashion week is supposed to generate business and that is precisely what we manage to do, very successfully,” points out Hum Network’s CEO Duraid Qureshi.

It is this business potential that continues to attract some very illustrious designers to BCW’s lineup, alongside a spate of up-and-coming brands. The recent Spring/Summer contingent, for instance, featured Amir Adnan, Sonya Battla, Tena Durrani, Nickie Nina, Zainab Chottani, Asifa & Nabeel and Fahad Hussayn as highlights.

“It doesn’t matter what fashion week I am showing at,” says Amir Adnan. “I am, ultimately, representing my brand. I make sure that I present a well-thought-out collection which has something new to say. I don’t believe in dragging clothes out from my ready stock and parading them on to the catwalk.”

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Business versus fashion
Emerging from some of fashion’s most promising brands were pastels with intricate silver handwork and beads, fashioned into front-open short shirts, flirty hems, draped and tulip shalwars, belted dupattas and the requisite farshi ghararas and shararas. Pretty, commercially viable, but seen on the catwalk about a trillion times before. Were these designers not interested in pushing boundaries at all?

The remaining milieu of up-and-coming designers fumbled with untidy finishings, slapdash gaudy embroideries and collections that lacked cohesion. Significantly, like their veteran peers, they tread conventional territory. At BCW, it seems, there isn’t much diversification between good and bad design. Designers apparently save their trendsetting statements for other fashion weeks, opting for commercial and run-of-the-mill designs for BCW’s mass-friendly waters.

“We spend a lot of time sifting through collections and selecting our participants,” professes Sultana Siddiqui, President of Hum Network Limited. “Our aim has always been to provide a platform for established designers as well as encourage newer ones who show potential.”

It’s an altruistic sentiment but could this entourage also be encouraged to up the ante? It is a fact that cutting-edge design doesn’t appeal to the mostly conventional bridal market. However, for the love of genuine fashion, could at least a smattering of designs stand out, if not the whole collection? And could the garish simply be eliminated? It doesn’t matter if they’re marketable — they just don’t reflect well on BCW.

The way we are
Nevertheless, there were highlights to BCW this time — and we’re not talking about actor Adnan Siddiqui breaking out into a catwalk jig! Sonya Battla debuted onto the BCW platform and taught it a thing or two about fashion-forward wedding wear. Simmered silhouettes, clean well-defined lines, well-conceived layering and intricately-crafted embroidery defined the collection, targeted more towards the individualistic bride rather than the bling aficionado.

At the other end of the spectrum, Amir Adnan delved into the glamorous side to wedding wear, pairing waistcoats with bright jamawar jackets and printed variations to the sherwani. Focusing on destination weddings, it was a synergy of traditional elements with modernity and the collection’s 17 star showstoppers were as big a hit as the clothes themselves.

“Destination weddings are glamorous gala events with people converging from all parts of the world and attire leaning towards the avant-garde,” explains the designer. “The celebrities in my show represented precisely the kind of people one would expect to meet at a destination wedding and they wore the clothes with a persona that had immediate impact.”

“It doesn’t matter what fashion week I am showing at,” continues Adnan. “I am, ultimately, representing my brand. With that in mind, I make sure that I present a well-thought-out collection which has something new to say. I don’t believe in merely dragging clothes out from my ready stock and parading them on to the catwalk.”

Other designers — and fashion councils — need to follow this principle urgently. Commercialism has been eroding away fashion-forward technique not just at BCW but also at recent editions of Fashion Pakistan Week and the PFDC’s fashion weeks. What’s the point of stepping into fashion week’s spotlight if you don’t have any new trends to set or at least a cohesive collection to put forward? True, it may bring in sales in the short run but only distinctive signatures last the long haul. That’s an important point to ponder upon.

Article via: dawn