Wisdom comes with age, they say.  Sometimes though, our beloved senior citizens feel that their brains are starting to get rusty.  It can get so bad that they feel they might need a gps locator just to get from the bedroom to the bathroom!  They just are no longer as sharp as they used to be.

Well before you hit your golden years, you should think about honing your thinking skills, before they start to finally go down the drain.  There are many ways you can do this.

Exercise your mind.  The more you stimulate the brain, the better it will perform now and later on in life.  Engage yourself in mentally-challenging activities.  Do crossword puzzles, read a lot, etc.

Exercise your body.  When you do physical activity, your brain gets flooded with oxygen and other nutrients which help keep your memory pathways working like a well-oiled machine.  So the next time you go out for a jog, remember that you’re not only burning calories, but sharpening your mind as well.

Shun stress.  Too much stress in the body raises levels of the hormone cortisol, which then causes tissue damage and even dementia.  High cortisol levels inhibit learning and memory.

It’s never too early or too late to keep your brain in tiptop shape.  Remember, if you don’t use it, you lose it!

One of our greatest enemies in keeping healthy (and beautiful!) is stress.  More than just the negative impact stress causes our physical well-being,  too much stress that is not managed well influences our emotional and mental health as well. On a physical level, it leaves us fatigued, causes a rise in blood pressure, makes us more susceptible to illness as it lowers our immunity, and makes us look haggard and old. On a mental plane, it leaves us forgetful, distracted and irritable. Emotionally, it leaves us overwrought and troubled.

Photo: “Stress” by Bernard Goldbach, c/o Flickr. Some Rights Reserved

While stress is indeed something that is a natural part of life, and in fact at times can be considered a beneficial and important part of daily life because it can serve as a motivation and fuels our adrenalin, too much of it can be detrimental to health. The goal, perhaps, should not be to just remove the stressors in our lives, but to build up our armor of defense against stressful situations.

Three easy stress busters that we can do on a daily basis to manage stress levels are as follows:

1. SMILE! Perhaps that’s why there’s a saying that goes, smile even if it kills you! By simply turning those corners of your lips upwards, you can feel a little bit better.

2. BREATHE. In the face of stress, we tend to hold in our breaths. We also end up breathing erratically. Take a step back, inhale deeply and exhale slowly can allow you a brief  moment to detach yourself from the problem.

3. LET IT GO. We tend to stress about things that we cannot change or are not worth it anyway.

In my last post I wrote about tips for summer sun protection. One of the most important ways we can keep protected from the harsh rays of the sun is by lathering up with the lots of sunscreen.

Picking the right sunscreen, however, can be such a challenge, especially nowadays when there are so many options to choose from. Not only are there so many brands to choose from, but you also have to take into consideration so many other factors such as the SPF factor, proof factors and what not. So how does one choose what sunscreen to get? Well, here’s a quick list to consider.

1. What activity are you going to be doing under the sun? This will help you determine whether you need a waterproof type, or whether water resistant ones will suffice.

2. Are you with friends/company or are you going on your own? This is an important one for me. I personally prefer the “cream” or lotion types of sunscreen since they tend to protect me better (or so I feel), but when it’s just me, I find the spray types are so much more convenient.

3. What is your skin type? If you are fair-skinned or on the paler side, then you probably will need a higher SPF. In general, rule of thumb is SPF 15 is good for everyday activities, but if you are going to the beach, try higher SPF counts.

With Christmas just a little over a week away, you are probably all frantic about going to parties left and right.  The glorious culinary options at your disposal make you feel as if your treasure metal detectors have just unearthed a treasure trove of sumptuous food.   You can almost hear the Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s Messiah playing in the background as you revel in the delicious smell of all that yummy food. 

Some would make this an excuse to take a respite from their daily healthy diet of greens and fiber.  But Christmas or no Christmas, you should stick to your healthy eating routine- at least for the sake of your waist.  So how do you resist all the gustatory temptation right at your fingertips?

Graze, don’t wolf down all the food.  Sure, most of the food at the table maybe stuff you haven’t eaten in ages, but that’s still not a reason to eat as if there was no tomorrow.  Simply graze over them, eat a little of each type of food served.  If you can, skip the really fattening ones.

Alcohol will most likely be a staple at Christmas parties, and you can still drink, but do so in moderation.  Otherwise, that bottle of beer will eventually find its way to your belly.

Brush your teeth.  Have you noticed how you don’t feel like eating after just brushing your teeth? 

If you’re having a party at a restaurant, split a serving of pasta with your friend.  Drink more water to fill you up.

You can still enjoy the Christmas season even if you’re watching your weight.  Discipline is all it takes.

Time is running out.  Before you know it, Christmas will be creeping up on you like a thief in the night.  If you don’t prepare yourself for the festivities, you might be left out of the loop.

With all the stressors associated with Christmas preparations: from picking out Christmas gifts for him or her to making sure your Christmas tree doesn’t look like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, it wouldn’t come as a shock if you find yourself shrouded in a cloak of sheer panic and exhaustion.

The last thing you need at a time like this is stress and fatigue.  Don’t you already get enough of that from the office?  Christmas should be about merry-making and pure, unadulterated fun.

In order to breeze through the Christmas season without being tangled up in a bundle of nerves, you can start by preparing a list of people whom you plan to give presents to.  Next to their names, jot down at least two gift ideas, so if the first one happens to be unavailable, you’ll have a ready alternative.

When it comes to shopping, do so before people crowd the shops.  The early bird does catch the worm.   If possible, do your shopping online for added convenience.   Also, remember to set a budget and strictly adhere to it.  This will spare you the worry of not having enough money left for other important things.

All it takes is careful planning, and you’ll have a stress-free Christmas shopping experience.

Image source: aboutpixel.de / eyes up © Christoph Ruhland

They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul. We put a lot of effort into choosing the right eye makeup just to enhance those peepers. More than these windows to the soul, we also give a well-deserved emphasis to eyebrows, as they do frame those windows and add drama to the overall look of those soul windows.

Just like auto estimating software, a certain degree of precision must be exercised when shaping our brows. If you pluck or tweeze in a harried way, your brows will definitely pay the price for it.

To get the perfect eyebrow shape, remember that the arch starts above the inside corner of your eye (over the tear duct), and it ends at the outside corner, right above your lashes. When you pluck, do it ever so gently- doing a hair or two each day- so as not to end up with a surprised look. Haste makes waste, even in eyebrow plucking.

After tweezing, use a special eyebrow gel- or even a bit of hair gel- to keep your brows neatly in place.

For parents of a newborn, baby clothes are one of the things that are most exciting to buy.  Lots of cute and adorable fashion pieces for little ones abound in shops both online and in malls.  Buying clothes for the little ones should just be easy but sometimes the vast array of clothing pieces for babies make shopping a tricky task.  There are dresses, onesies, longjohns, overalls, rompers, bodysuits, bloomers, and so on.  If you’re a first time parent and completely clueless about shopping clothes for your baby, refer to the notes and pointers below.

1. Babies grow up fast so it is wise to shop around for newborn and small sizes of baby clothing in small quantities.
2. Most newborn clothings are white.  White is a unisex color which means that your succeeding babies regardless of gender may be able to use them later on.  Further, white apparels will let you easily see insects or any tiny particles that may irritate or sensitize your baby’s skin.
3. Keep an eye on annual and festive baby clothing sale events as shops allow you to get hold of the best quality clothing at a very reasonable price.  Online shops such as The White Company frequently feature great deals and sales on their baby clothing collection.

You’ve been sitting in that booth, thinking about how displeased you are with the restaurant system of this joint you’ve just recently tried out when you see a sign on one of the walls: “Think before You Ink”. You feel it’s almost speaking directly to you, as you have been seriously considering getting a tattoo. Yes, it’s beautiful to have a piece of art permanently etched on your skin, but you really must think about it before heading off to see a tattoo artist.

One of the primary concerns of people wanting to get a tattoo is the pain factor. There have been numerous stories of people screaming out the door out of intolerable pain, or helpless crying while getting inked.

Truth be told, it’s not really so bad. It might help to know that only 1/16 of the needle actually penetrates your skin. Sometimes, the initial fear does help, as the body’s release of endorphins at the onset of fear helps to numb you a bit. After the first 60 seconds, it should be smooth-sailing.

It’s probably the fear of the unknown that overcomes anybody wanting to get a tattoo. Read up on the steps on getting a tattoo, so you’ll know what to expect.

Your reasons for getting a tattoo in the first place should overpower whatever discomfort you might experience during the process of inking. If you set your mind on the result, you’ll be better able to withstand whatever pain you may experience.

The Christmas spirit of love and sharing makes us appreciate our blessings especially the gift of a loving family. One of the things that make Christmas great is the family gatherings that keep family and social relationships healthy. Friends and family members who have not seen each other for a long time or those who have lost touch already get several opportunities to catch up with each other’s lives.

Why not take the opportunity this season to dress-up your home and host a get-together for family members or friends whom you’ve lost touch with already. Decorating your house for a Christmas gathering need not be costly. You can have Christmas decors that FIT your budget and look FABulous by recycling or redressing old decors and getting a few new ones for accents.

Cleanliness is next to godliness. It is also, without a doubt, next to good health. Keeping a clean home contributes a great deal to your family’s good health. One of the ways to keep your house as dirt-free as possible is by putting a doormat by your front door, or wherever people enter from the outside. Since our shoes are probably the worst harbingers of dirt, it would be wise to make it a habit to get your family and visitors to wipe their shoes off on the doormat.

Whoever said that doormats are boring couldn’t be any more wrong. Don’t limit yourself to the range of doormats on sale at the nearby mall. Nowadays, you can get them customized to match the overall theme of your house. Talk about being a doormat with personality!