Guest Post: How To Make An Elegant Perfume Last All Day

Learn the art of making your perfume last all 

day with Zohoor AlReef.

-VicinityMakeup

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THE ART OF MAKING AN ELEGANT PERFUME LAST ALL DAY

The scent of a beautiful perfume shouldn’t be a fleeting luxury; it should last all day. And while there’s a true art to making a fragrance last longer, even the lightest, most delicate perfume can be made to linger by mastering the art of applying it. 

The first golden rule is to always apply your perfume to the skin before dressing. Heat and chemical reactions activate your perfume’s aroma, so you can maximise its effectiveness by applying it to the body rather than to clothing. The perfect place to apply perfume is at your pulse points – where your heart rate can be felt through blood vessels that lie close to the skin. The warmth of your blood at these points will activate the perfume, making it even more fragrant and noticeable. Being strategic is essential, so apply it to your temple, below the ear lobe, inside the wrist and elbow and at the base of the throat to produce maximum effect.

Dabbing is likely to leave much of the perfume on your fingertips, so spraying your perfume is always best. Spray the perfume about 20cm (8 inches) away from the skin to apply the fragrance across a wider area. And most importantly, avoid rubbing the perfume after you’ve applied it as this will break down the molecules and “crush the fragrance” – potentially making it disappear completely.

Use other products with the same scent

The best way to ensure a long-lasting fragrance is not just to rely on perfume. Fragrance gift sets that contain several different products with the same scent are ideal for this as they allow you to incorporate a fragrance into your whole beauty regime.

Enhance the rich scent of your perfume with scented shower gels, moisturisers and deodorants that can be bought all together for a complete perfume experience.

Adapt your perfume to seasonal changes

If you’re worried that the scent of your perfume isn’t lasting very long, it could actually be linked to seasonal changes in the weather. Heat encourages chemical reactions that release fragrances and create stronger scents; so on those warm summer nights you probably won’t need to apply as much as usual.

Heat also speeds up evaporation so if you’re wearing a light eau de parfum or eau de toilette, you’ll probably need to reapply it more often in hot weather. And in winter, the cooler weather will lead to slower chemical reactions and fragrances that develop gradually and with less intensity. So in winter, you may just need to give your perfume that extra spritz to ensure it stays fragrant. This would also be an ideal time to start using scented toiletries that enhance the scent of your perfume.

Store your perfume well

Making your perfume longer is not just about how you apply it; it’s also about how you store it. Storing your perfume badly can make it lose its scent and if certain new chemical compounds are formed, it could start to irritate your skin or develop an unpleasant smell.

The best way to preserve your perfumes is to store them in cool, dry conditions away from sources of heat and direct sunlight. Avoid keeping them in the bathroom as this will allow humid air to infiltrate the bottle.

Finally, buy your perfume in a spray bottle to let in less air and protect it against evaporation and contamination. Following these storage tips will keep it at its best for as long as possible and if your perfume is in its optimum condition, it’ll last longer on your skin too.

About the author

Inspired by the sights and sounds of the Orient and beyond, Zohoor Alreef has been creating luxury perfumes for over 20 years. There are now 200 stores in the Gulf region with exotic fragrances inspired by countries as far afield as France. Now available to buy online, browse our range of luxury perfumes online at http://www.zohooralreef.com/.

Guest Post: How Anti-Oxidants Help Protect Your Skin Against Aging

Here is a guest post on behalf of skinfo.com
educating us about anti-oxidants and the
role they play in protecting the skin against aging.
We found it truly insightful and hope you do too!

-VicinityMakeup

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The beauty world has been buzzing for many years about antioxidants, the powerful “cure-all” for  nature’s effects on skin. Although many products, creams, powders and even foods claim antioxidant benefits, many still don’t’ know what they are, how they work or what antioxidants can do for your skin.

Antioxidants are both nutrients (i.e. vitamins and minerals) and enzymes (proteins in your body that assist chemical reactions.) These elements help reduce the effects of oxidation, or the stress that occurs when free radicals (chemically active atoms) grab electrons from cells, protein and DNA. In other words, antioxidants protect healthy cells from damage. Oxidants are necessary for many biological processes like metabolism and breathing. Although it’s impossible to avoid some damage from free radicals (as some are a normal part of our bodies) antioxidants can help protect your skin from the free radicals found in environmental factors: pollution, sunlight, smoking and alcohol.

A healthy diet combined with antioxidant-rich skincare products can benefit your skin in a variety of ways. 

Here are a few of the top ways:

1) Increased Collagen Production – Collagen is the main protein that gives your skin elasticity (or, in other words, a tight, youthful skin tone.) Collagen is highly susceptible to free radical damage; collagen is easily broken down, causing wrinkles. Strengthen your skin and neutralize free radicals by applying an antioxidant night cream daily. This type of cream is often thicker than daily moisturizers, and can work with the restorative process of sleep to improve skin ton and allow collagen production to continue.

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2) Reduce Age Spots  -- Age spots, sometimes known as liver spots (or solar lentigines to doctors), are harmless discolorations of skin. They often appear and darken over time, and happen when sun exposure speeds up the skin pigment melanin, which becomes clumped together. To reduce the appearance of age spots, search for a daily sunscreen that includes vitamin C. The sunscreen can help stop future melanin overproduction, and the vitamin C is known to lighten age spots already existing on the skin.

3) Reduced Acne – Acne isn’t just a teenage problem; many adults suffer from this problem, too (in addition to other skin issues, like age spots or wrinkles.) Acne can be caused by different things, but if you have oily skin, this can be a culprit. Vitamin A is an amazing antioxidant to help with acne for several reasons. Vitamin A helps reduce the overall level of oil in the pores of the skin, and also move deep into pores to remove keratin plugs, which are also a known cause for acne. For adults suffering from acne, search for a daily wrinkle cream moisturizer that includes Vitamin A that can help you get clear, wrinkle-free skin tone.

4) Anti-Inflammation – Dry, cracked and inflamed skin not only looks painful, it feels painful. Individuals with dry skin can experience flare-ups due to weather or environmental factors, but antioxidants can help calm skin and restore moisture. Alpha lipoic acid, found in pine bark and green tea, have great anti-inflammatory properties and can increase circulation and promote cell regrowth. With this antioxidant, you’ll see a more even skin tone and less stress on your skin.  If you’re faced with inflamed skin, try a natural cleanser with green tea to soothe and restore.

About the author

Amanda is a social media manager for a health care organization by day and a blogger and freelance writer by night. She's also a mom to an amazing 2 year-old boy and wife to a great guy who indulges all her celebrity gossip. Amanda loves coffee, fashion, Twitter, makeup, nail polish, and cats (not always in that order.) Her work has been published on family.com and blogher.com. For more celebrity gossip, fashion, beauty and DIY, visit Amanda's blog, It's Blogworthy (http://itsblogworthy.com) or follow her on Twitter and Google+.

Guest Post: Four Beverages That Can Contribute to Poor Health

Special thanks to mercola.com for reaching out to

us with their immensely beneficial guest post, we love it and

hope you all do too!

-VicinityMakeup

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In addition to knowing what you eat, paying attention to the beverages you drink is a critical aspect of health. Water is an important component of your diet, as it makes up more than half of your body’s tissues and has a role in almost all of your body functions, including detoxification, temperature regulation, and cushioning of joints.

It’s best to stick to just pure water. The following are some beverages you should consume less of or eliminate from your diet completely:

1.       Coffee and other caffeinated drinks – Prolonged consumption of caffeinated drinks, like coffee and energy drinks, can make you prone to a number of health problems, such as insomnia, irregular blood pressure, palpitations, anxiety, and mineral deficiencies.

2.       Alcohol – Consumption of beer and other types of alcohol should be limited (or eliminated completely) if you want to improve your health. It should be completely avoided if you have high uric acid levels. Overconsumption of alcohol can lead to metabolic syndrome, abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, poor liver health, and more.

3.       Fruit juices – Most commercial fruit juices contain only 10 percent fruit juice. They may as well be called “sugar water,” as they are loaded with high-fructose corn syrup, which can cause great damage to your system. Fruit juices also contain synthetic nutrients, artificial colors, and preservatives.

4.       Soda – Whether it’s regular soda or diet soda, you should not drink it at all. While regular soda contains high concentrations of fructose and synthetic ingredients, diet soda contains artificial sweeteners that are linked to brain and neurological disorders.

How to Get ‘Healthy’ Water

To determine if you’re drinking enough water, check your urine: it should be light yellow. A darker shade of color may mean that you are dehydrated. It is important to stay hydrated, as insufficient water levels in your body can cause fatigue, dry skin, headaches, and constipation.

However, you shouldn’t settle for just any water. Having some type of water filtration system at home is highly recommended, because the water treatment procedures done by your local water company can add contaminants to your water.

Adding chlorine to water is one of the most common treatment methods used to clear water of inorganic material. Once chlorine reacts with the organic substances in water, toxic disinfection byproducts (DBPs) can form. Studies show that DBPs are carcinogenic and can cause reproductive problems in lab rats.

Some treatment plants add fluoride to the water, as it is believed that fluoride can help promote oral health. The truth is fluoride is a neurotoxin that can worsen dental health and accumulate in your bones, causing skeletal fluorosis.

Aside from investing in a high-quality water filter, you can also:

·         Avoid distilled water – Aside from being too acidic, it can leach minerals from your body.

·         Avoid alkaline water – While distilled water’s pH level makes it too acidic, alkaline water’s pH makes it too ionized. This type of water is only good for short-term use (about two weeks) or detoxification.

·         Avoid bottled water – 40 percent of bottled water is actually tap water, which may have not been treated. Plus, there are over 30 contaminants found in bottled water, including arsenic and carcinogenic compounds.

·         Store water in the right containers – Even if you have the purest water on the planet, storing it in a plastic container can cause chemicals like bisphenol-A (BPA) to transfer to the water. Use glass containers instead.

·         Add lemons or limes to water – Adding these can normalize water pH levels, especially if your pH is too acidic, and provide a refreshing twist to your drink.

About the Author

Because of her interest in natural health, Adrienne Nicole R. regularly reads about health news and strategies. She is subscribed to the Mercola natural health newsletter, which enables her to discover steps to take control of her health. She is currently researching the benefits of having an efficient whole house water filtration system in your home.