Wacky beauty tips that work

Really, they do!

Toothpaste on a zit? Vinegar in your hair? Some of that ridiculous-sounding advice you’ve heard in passing is really right on.

You’ve been told this line before: “Okay, I know it’s weird but…” What follows is a surprising piece of advice- about anything from clearing up a zit to taming a flyaway- that totally does the trick. Call it word-of-mouth beauty. Sure, these tips might sound strange at first (“You put diaper cream where?!), but there’s a logic to them. We rounded up tons of such pointers (from pros as well as real girls) and tested them at Cosmo. Though a few clunkers had to be kicked to the curb, all the rest, presented here, are real gems.

1. Powder Your Roots
If your hairline starts to look greasy, dig up a big, fluffy makeup brush, and dip into a pot of loose powder. Tap it once on the back of your hand to remove excess, then dust it over your roots. It mops up oil and blends into your strands, so no one will know you didn’t shower.

2. Scent Strands With Perfume
Spray a light shot fragrance into the bristles. Run it through strands from roots to ends and your hair will smell amazing throughout the day.

3. Cure Calluses With Vaseline
Slather on the petroleum jelly, and put on socks before bed to dissolve tough calluses overnight.

4. Spot-Treat Smudges
Dip a cotton swab in eye-makeup remover, and trace it along your lids to erase any slip-ups or goofs when there’s not time to redo your whole look.

5. Fix a Flushed Face
If you turn red and stay that way after exercising (like seriously red for hours, even though you’re healthy and hydrated), take an antihistamine like Benadryl when you leave the gym to reduce redness.

6. Soften Your Bod With Avocado
Take a ripe avocado, remove the pit and skin, and mash it up in a bowl. Slather it all over your body, let it sit for 20 minutes, then rinse off. Your skin will be sooo soft- avocado is a natural moisturizer.

7. Super-Glue a Nail
Instead of tearing off your nail when it breaks, put a tiny dab of Super Glue over the split, and paint a generous layer of your favourite nail-polish shade over it. Go for an opaque option (like red, purple, or coral) to camouflage and seal the crack.

8. Use Makeup Remover on Stubborn Lipstick
Don’t try to rub red lipstick (which makes it smear across your mouth-not so sexy). Instead, take a cotton ball or tissue, dip it in makeup remover, and just dab to erase the dark stain fast.

9. Tame Brows With Eye Cream
Pat any kind of rich eye cream over brows to help keep them hydrated and banish those icky white specks that looks like dandruff.

10. Buff With Baking Soda
If you find yourself streaking (not glowing) after applying self-tanner, put some baking soda on a loofah, and scrub away the stripes.

11. Brush On Hair Spray
For the final step of your blow-dry, spray hair spray onto your brush, and run it through strands from roots to tips. This way, your do isn’t so plastered and stiff but still holds volume and shine.

12. Boost Body Lotion With Baby Oil
If you’re craving shiny legs that aren’t greasy, blend a drop of baby oil into your normal body lotion for extra luster.

13. Dab essential Oil on a Hangnail
Put apricot oil, the kind found in health-food stores, to protect cuticles from turning rough and raggedy.

14. Quell a Cold Sore With Cream
When a cold sore is coming on, dab a bit of thick moisturizer, like Aquaphor, over it to prevent it from getting worse.

15. Freeze Your Eyeliner
If the tip of your eyeliner pencil crumbles and smears on your lids, store the liner in the freezer for 15 minutes before use so the tip is firm and goes across your skin smoothly.

16. Use Toothpaste on a Zit
Use just a pea-size amount. Let sit for 15 minutes to absorb the oil so the pimple won’t get more clogged, then wash off.

17. Heat Up Your Curler
If you have stick-straight lashes, try blasting your metal eyelash curler with a hairdryer for a couple of seconds to heat it up so your lashes bend more easily. And use waterproof mascara. The formula dries faster than other mascaras, so it sets the curl more effectively.

18. Use Soap Without Water
You know those fancy bars that are actually too pretty to use? Toss them in your underwear or tee-shirt drawers to make skin smell delicious.

19. Groom Brows With a Toothbrush
Mist an (unused!) toothbrush or eyebrow comb with hair spray to help flatten and tame unruly brows.

20. Put Diaper-Rash Cream on Dry Spots
Slather on a thick layer of diaper-rash cream to heal cracked elbows and feet.

21. Lubricate Your Lashes
An easy way to draw attention to your eyes without putting on a pile of makeup is to comb petroleum jelly lightly through the tips of eyelashes to get sexy, subtle sparkle.

22. Steamroll Flyaways
Spray on hair spray, then roll the can over your strands. The round bottle fits the curved shape of your head, locks in the spray, and flattens out frizz.

23. Spike Lotion With Bronzer
If you don’t have time to book a self-tanning session, mix a few pumps of body bronzer with regular hand lotion and pat it on your legs for a gradual dose of sexy, beachy colour.

24. Air-Dry Your Curls
Let your hair dry indoors before going out in the cold. The curls will be really bouncy and piecey-perfect.

25. Press a Tea Bag on Splotches
If your skin is sensitive or just looking irritated and puffy for some reason, steep a bag of green tea for a minute or two, let it cool down, and dab it over your face. The antioxidants in the tea take down inflammation.

26. Shave With Conditioner
Ran out of shaving cream? Do double duty by coating your stems with a thick hair conditioner. It softens the hair so it’s easier to shave off and makes legs feel amazingly silky.

27. Amp Shine With Vinegar
Mix one part vinegar with four parts carbonated water and soak dry hair. Leave on for 15 minutes before you shampoo to lock in shine and combat dullness.

28. Exfoliate Your Pits
If your underarms start to look dry and flaky, an easy trick is to exfoliate them with a gentle face scrub to keep that skin pretty when going sleeveless.

29.Customize Your Body Lotion
Instead of shelling out for an expensive perfumed body product, you can make your own by pouring a few drops of fragrance into any scent-free lotion. Rub it on- the scent will last for hours.

30. “Brush” With Mouthwash
If you’re too wiped out after a late night of partying to clean your teeth, rinse with water and mouthwash, then use a dry toothbrush on the area where your teeth hit your gums.
31. Make an Egg White Mask
To revive tired, dull skin without hitting the spa table, try this: Crack open an egg in a bowl, separate the yolk, and use the egg whites to make a face mask. The proteins help to heal and restore skin’s moisture. Leave it on for five minutes, and rinse off.

32. Dry Sensitive Skin With T.P.
Instead of drying your face with a scratchy towel, pat with toilet paper- it’s ultra-soft on delicate skin (and bums!).

From: www.cosmopolitan.com.au

Flatten Your Abs Without Hurting Your Back

Which exercise can help without hurting?
By Martica Heaner, M.A., M.Ed., for MSN Health & Fitness
Martica

Q. I have a herniated disc. What is the best way to flatten and strengthen my upper and lower abdomen, but avoid straining my lower back?

A. A common misconception is that specific exercises will “flatten” the abdomen. Another common misconception is that different abdominal muscles need to be worked—upper vs. lower, for example. Here’s the truth:

If you wish to flatten your abdomen, this suggests that you have extra fat in the area. You can lie on your back and do zillions of ab crunches, V-sits, bicycle moves, reverse curls, curls on the ball, and so on—and not make a dent in the fat on your belly. Why? Because lying on your back and contracting your abdominal muscles burns very few calories. It burns about as many as lying on your back and watching TV (OK, maybe half a calorie per minute more).

To reduce body fat, you need to burn more calories—and a lot of them. This is best accomplished through a combination of eating fewer calories than you normally do, and burning up more calories with greater-than-normal amounts of exercise. The best calorie-burning activities are cardio or highly vigorous workouts such as walking, running, cycling, cardio machines, dancing, and vigorous, quick-paced heavy-weight-lifting circuit routines.

What’s deceptive about ab exercises is that they feel like something is happening. The more you lie on your back and pummel away at those muscles, the bigger the burn. But, don’t be fooled—that burn is not burning fat. It’s simply the result of the occlusion of blood flow and muscle fatigue from the repeated muscle contractions.

You can’t feel fat burning. When you walk for an hour, even at a slow pace, you are burning extra fat, but you can’t feel it being sizzled off your thighs or arms. When you eat less, you also burn extra fat. But again, you can’t feel this happening. What you might think is happening to your abs as you pound away at them with core exercise, is not. So what is happening? You’re strengthening the muscles, or developing increased muscle endurance. This is beneficial, as long as the type of ab training you do is not stressful to your back—especially if your back is already vulnerable from a previous injury or weakness.

To reduce your waistline, do more cardio. You can improve the strength and endurance of your core muscles by making sure that you have good posture during any cardio that you do. Stand up tall, lengthen your spine, and engage your abs—but don’t suck them in too deeply, because then you flex the lower back and increase the pressure on it.

I’ve written extensively about the best exercises for strengthening your lower back. Ab muscles work synergistically: When you work one, you work them all. Also, there are no separate upper and lower muscles. The rectus abdominis (your six-pack muscle), for example, is one long muscle that spans from your ribs to your pubis. When you do a reverse curl that targets the “lower” area, the upper area still contracts. When you do a curl and feel it more in the upper area, the lower area still contracts.

But these moves may not be the best way to help your spine. Instead, concentrate on exercises that stabilize, rather than mobilize (or move) your spine. Pushups, planks, and hands-and-knee ab-tightening exercises are best. Check out my columns Six-Pack Abs, As Seen On TV and Are Crunches The Wrong Move? And try these exercises in MSN’s Fit Zone: Build a Better Back Now and Flat, Sexy Abs in Five Moves.

5th Circuit's decision in Poliner is out

Total win for Presbyterian/THR/medical-staff docs. HCQIA immunity for money damages held to apply to emergency suspension decisions during the fact-investigation phase of the peer-review process. Judge Higginbotham's opinion for a unanimous panel is here. It looks bullet-proof to me . . . . Pretty amazing saga, which I am sure won't be over until there's a petition for reconsideration/rehearing