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I had some trepidation about booking a treatment at this Student Day Spa of the Australian Academy of Beauty Therapy, after an experience in a student massage centre. Granted, my masseur was a Greek version of Sven but I didn’t relish paying $35 for an hour of bruising. But the 2-hour Ultimate Facial for only $75 was just too good to pass up and worth at least a try.

australian academy of beauty therapy


The day spa in North Strathfield (they also have one in Bella Vista) resembles any professional day spa I’ve been to – soft-coloured walls, muted lighting, beauty products on display, flowers on tables a long hall of closed doors and women in coats talking in low voices.

The Ultimate Facial treatment is their most intensive facial treatment and includes deep cleansing, exfoliation, blackhead treatment, AHA peel, gentle lymph drainage, lash tint, brow shape and tint, half-hour massage of face, neck, shoulders and upper back, collagen treatment mask, hand and foot massage, and pressure point scalp massage.

My beautician, I’ll call her P for now, led me into a cosy, dimly lit room with relaxing music playing in the background – not just a trickle of water or the whooshing of the wind, mind you (both sounds which make me want to go to the toilet) but melodious chanting that reminded me of the Gladiator soundtrack. Anyway, P appeared quite professional, unobtrusive (totally understood the need for silence) and only spoke when I needed to move, and softly at that. My only gripe was her rather boisterous slathering of a couple of products on my face that I’d get gunk in my eyes or at the corners of my lips, but hell I’ve had worse treatment and paid twice as much for half the time so I wasn’t going to complain much. Besides that, I honestly thought I struck it lucky that day and they gave me one of their trainers instead – until the trainer came in mid-way through and started quizzing P about my skin analysis and her prescribed treatment. P’s answers earned approval which made me wonder what would happen if the beautician had mis-analysed my skin and gave me the wrong treatment.


But the best thing was the massage. I’ve had beauticians who have been more concerned about preserving their Elvira-like manicure than their clients so it was pleasantly surprising to have such a firm massage that soon lulled me to sleep. Pity P had to cut it short due to my pregnancy. What was good was that they remembered that I am pregnant (unlike the previous ones I’d been to when I had to constantly remind them) and so they didn’t use any of the electrical treatments on me.

Although my face was a little oily when I came out (leading hubby to ask why my face was so sweaty), it turned soft and supple the day after and no breakouts were experienced. It’s no wonder these guys get booked out, especially on Saturdays (they’re not open on Sundays) and bookings are essential at least a month before. For the service, the treatment was definitely more than the mere $75 I paid for and I’ll definitely be going back again.

If you’re interested in becoming a beautician yourself and running your own salon, these guys obviously provide the training required with their highly qualified teachers and latest technologies. For more information, check out their website
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10 bad trans fat snacks to avoid

May 27th 2008 02:32
Despite body awareness at an all-time high, many people are still less inclined to lose weight and take the steps to improve their overall health. As a result, 60% of Australian adults are either obese or overweight, dramatically increasing their risks of coronary heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure and type 2 diabetes.

We all know that regular physical exercise is a must for weight loss and maintenance and that we should limit our daily intake of saturated fats, but have you heard of ‘trans fats’ which, like saturated fats, are prevalent in a lot of our favourite snacks?

Trans fats, according to nutrition expert Kathleen M Zelman, are vegetable fats that make healthy fat such as corn oil and make it solid through the process of hydrogenation. They are commonly used in food manufacturing to make the food have a longer shelf life. The problem is that the body treats hydrogenated fat like saturated fat, a culprit for causing heart disease and contributes to obesity.

Zelman has listed the top 10 list of foods where you get the most trans fats from :

margarine

Margarine
During the manufacturing process, some of the unsaturated fats are converted into trans fat to make margarine more solid. The good news is that margarine production in Australia is different from American as manufacturers here make an effort to reduce trans fat levels so it is still a healthier alternative for your bread spread than butter.

muffins

Packaged foods
We all know they’re convenient and yummy but not only do these packaged foods contain trans fat, but they are also laden with additives – sweeteners, salts, artificial flavours, colourings, chemicals and preservatives. Packaged foods are also stripped of nutrients such as soluble fibre, antioxidants and ‘good fats’ designed to protect your heart. So think carefully before you pick up those choc-chip muffins, microwave popcorn and hot dogs on your next grocery shopping trip.

instant soup

Soups
Instant soup cups and ramen noodles contain very high levels of trans fats. If you can, try making your own or buy ‘home-made soups’ from take-away shops.

fast food

Fast Foods
Even though some fast food chains may advertise they use only liquid oil or very limited hydrogenated oil, sometimes trans fats are sprayed on the products during the food manufacturing. Skip the fries and order grilled chicken instead.

doughnuts

Baked Goods
Cakes, frostings and doughnuts all have plenty of trans fats. Make them at home, eat them less often or in smaller quantities.

choc chip cookie

Lollies & Cookies
If it contains chocolate or coconut or other high-fat items, satisfy your sweet tooth with hard lollies or jellybeans which don’t contain any fat.

potato chips

Potato Chips
When people tell you you’re better off eating hot chips instead of cold chips, you know these cold chips are definitely bad for you. If you must have them, opt for baked chips instead or think of other alternatives that have no or little fat, like pretzels.

cereal

Cereals & Breakfast bars
Choose cereals that have no fat and less sugar and granola bars that are low in fat.

ice cream with topping

Toppings, dips & condiments
Salad dressings, mayonnaise, cream, gravy, whipped toppings…wherever you can, try to substitute a lower-fat alternative like oil & vinegar for a salad dressing.


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It seems every time I open a gossip magazine these days, another starlet has opted for plastic surgery – on their nose, lips, buttocks, whatever - to the point that I can’t tell the difference when I do one of those quizzes where you have to guess which actress the lips/nose/eyebrows belong to. Well, a word of warning : below is a list of celebrities who probably frequent their plastic surgeon’s office more than they would their bathroom with disastrous and/or unnatural results –

jocelyn wildenstein

Jocelyn Wildenstein
What do you do when your husband cheats on you? Simple. Spend 2 million pounds on cosmetic surgery to make your face look like a cross between a dog and a feral cat. Honestly, how can this woman not look at herself in the mirror and not be tempted to scratch herself? This goes to show that having a lot of money doesn’t necessarily buy you taste – or beauty.


Michael Jackson surgery

Michael Jackson
What else can anyone say? Prince of Pop has become Noseless White Lady.


Latoya Jackson surgery

Latoya Jackson
What is it with the Jacksons asking for a ‘triangle’ nose? Can they even breathe with that? It seems all the more tragic when you see Latoya’s before photo.


Donatella Versace

Donatella Versace
OK. I haven’t seen pictures of her before she had plastic surgery so for all I know, she really does look like a chimpanzee with long white hair. But come on, no one besides Angelina Jolie, was born with those lips. Surely?


Fergie surgery

Fergie
Oh Fergie-ferg – looks good in music videos but has been dubbed ‘Fugly’ by many a male artist. I remember those innocent days when I laughed at your appalling dance skills next to Martika in Kids Incorporated. But at that time, I thought you were really cute. But looking at you now, it’s so hard to imagine we’re of similar age because you honestly look like what my grandmother would have looked if she lived to the age of 80.


Joan Rivers Surgery

Joan Rivers
Same kind of pose, same face? Not! Those arched eyebrows, the slanted eyes, the pinched nose, the mountains for cheekbones and the swollen lips. In a book, this heroine would have been described as strikingly beautiful but you can’t say the same for Joan Rivers, can you?


Lil Kim surgery

Li'l Kim
Maybe her transformation isn’t as bad as the others on this list but I felt compelled to put this in, simply for her fake no-so-li'l bazungas spilling out of that horrible horrible dress.


Mickey Rourke surgery

Mickey Rourke
I had a huge crush on Mickey because my childhood sweetheart looked like him – before the surgery, mind you. Alright, so his demise in the looks department may have been a result of old age, booze, drugs, weight gain but the surgery didn’t help either.


Pamela Anderson surgery

Pamela Anderson
Admittedly, as pretty as she was before, she would never have become famous if it weren’t for those hot air balloons on her chest and the plethora of porn videos she did with her exes. And I guess if self-respect isn’t on her life’s priority lists, she’s on the right track.


Priscilla Presley surgery

Priscilla Presley
I guess the profits of Graceland contributed to Priscilla Presley’s new ‘puffer-fish’ look, huh?
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There are now more fitness equipment options to choose from than ever. With the escalation and evolution of online shopping, price levels now vary widely for products of similar quality and durability. It's important to research and consider many factors before buying a high-end product. Read online reviews, peruse reader comments on sites like Amazon, and compare the equipment at your local gym or exercise equipment store.

Among the most popular fitness equipment manufacturers are Bowflex, Schwinn, Stamina, Weider, ProForm and Horizon. There are many others and quality and durabilit levels differ greatly. Some are expensive, high end machines while others are considered bargain brands that offer good value because of economies of scale created by the large volume of equipment manufactured.

Explore online fitness communities and blogs to help make your decision on a brand and equipment type. Read reviews and watch video demonstrations. Finding the right piece of equipment to suit your needs and one that keeps you motivated is an important part of reaching your fitness goals.

Click here to read more at our Orble Fitness Blog.
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MSN Health & Fitness has come up with a list of surprising places and people bugs cling to that will have you investing in a 1litre hand sanitizer and get some people even more paranoid than they already are.

The Bed

[ Click here to read more ]
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It seems understandable enough. When you take down your curtains, you naturally look out and inspect the view. But, in the cases of several women, they find that the view isn’t as good as they expected, sighting certain imperfections they feel must be remedied.

Australian cosmetic surgeons say there is an increase in women who bore the pain of a Brazilian then asked for their vaginal lips to be ‘plumped up’. It seems they don’t find their now exposed labia majora aesthetically pleasing with all but a wee strip of pubic hair all gone – especially with swimsuits becoming skimpier some beaches even encouraging nude-bathing. This is especially common among women over 40 who grow dissatisfied with their look as they get older. Other procedures to improve this certain private part are tightening the vagina through laser treatment and ‘trimming back protruding inner vagina lips’.

[ Click here to read more ]
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Do you have bad breath?

January 22nd 2008 01:34
Nothing is more of a turn-off for me than bad breath. I would actually prefer being stuck in an elevator full of wet dogs than be in the company of one with a cave of rotten meat for a mouth breathing in my face. One whiff of bad breath and my mind is screaming, “GEEZ! Ever heard of a mint?!?” and risking suffocating from taking only little gulps of air when I could. I once knew a guy whose breath was so bad that no session of mint-popping and chewing gum could eradicate it.

Tongue
courtesy of wikipedia.com

[ Click here to read more ]
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10 Steps to a soothing Foot Massage

January 9th 2008 01:55
I’m not afraid to admit that I have extremely bad feet odour. At one point someone witnessed a couple of mice treating my ankle boots like they were at Luna Park. So, as much as I would have loved to have ducked into a massage salon after a day of pummelling, shoving and kicking my way through post-Christmas sales, I never go into a salon where they don’t wash my feet first. This was after the embarrassing predicament I found myself in when a hot Italian masseur with the body of Michelangelo’s David let out a torrent of sneezes when he took a whiff of my big toe. Since then, I’ve learnt to massage my own feet, recalling the techniques I remember from blessed foot massages of the past.

Foot Massage
Er...I'll stick to thumbs, thanks

[ Click here to read more ]
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Everyone knows that a good sleep is a must – it improves memory and concentration and helps with weight loss – how many times have you heard personal trainers say “eat well, get plenty of rest”?

Sheep Sleep
Well, since daylight savings, I’ve had some trouble getting to sleep. It’s frustrating spending the 3 hours after hitting the pillow listening to the sound of 2-tonne trucks racing each other down the highway. I’ve tried taking some sleeping pills but when I found myself trying to unlock my car door to realise I was trying to break into my neighbour’s car, I scrapped that. Listening to Chopa Deepak’s sleep hypnosis track helped me relax but when the track finished and the first rousing beats of Eye of the Tiger came on, well….

[ Click here to read more ]
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The Ugly Side of Beauty

November 15th 2007 02:06
Did you know that you are absorbing more than 200 chemical toxins into your body, even before leaving your house? The lotions, creams, sprays, the shiny glittery things – products that are designed to make us feel and look good on the outside - can potentially lead to cancer, infertility, birth defects and chronic disease?

Not Just a Pretty Face
Stacy Malkan, a self-confessed former make-up diva, is a staunch advocate of eliminating harmful chemicals from personal care and cosmetic products, launching the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and writing Not Just a Pretty Face : The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry. Here, she exposes how the US Food & Drug Administration seems to be protecting the $35 billion beauty industry by letting their products hit the shelves without prior approval from the FDA and why only 10 harmful products had been banned from the US shelves while the EU has banned more than 1100. Pretty worrying considering that 70% of the products available for purchase contain phthalates which are connected to infertility and birth defects and that baby soaps contain 1,4 dioxane, a cancer causing chemical. So it’s not just the beauty junkies at risk, it’s everyone who has ever picked up a personal care product – from men liberally spraying deodorant to newborn babes via breast milk laden with pollutants from mothers who have used these products.

[ Click here to read more ]
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They get free samples of new beauty products before they hit counters and their reviews on what’s hot and what’s not are lapped up by the many beauty and age-defying-obsessed. Want to know what beauty editors have stocked their bathroom cabinets? Here are 10 of the beauty editor must-haves, according to NY Daily News :

Cetaphil Face Wash

[ Click here to read more ]
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Whether you came across them by accident, your favourite celeb swears by them or your friend strongly recommends them, there are some beauty tricks that actually work and don't break your budget. Here are some of mine, what's yours?

Body model
1. This one I found by accident when I had a slight shaving mishap and had to stay in the bathroom for a while. Directly after showering, rub moisturiser all over your body and stay inside the bathroom for 10-15 minutes (brush your teeth, wash your face, sit in the toilet, etc). I find that the warm, damp air makes my skin absorb the moisture, making my skin softer and more supple.

[ Click here to read more ]
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Bizarre Beauty Products - from Japan

October 2nd 2007 01:24
I’ve noticed people have stopped asking me for advice on how to lose the weight they’ve put on during winter because they hate hearing that dreaded word : exercise. So I’ve decided that the next time they ask me for tips on how to tone and shape up for summer, I’ll refer them to some bizarre beauty products from Japan I discovered through uniquedaily.com and have fun seeing which ones would be gullible enough to purchase one of these online-

Jawline Slimmer
Getting conscious of your double chin that you make an effort to always keep your chin up? The Jawline Slimmer can take the excess fat from your massive jowls. No exercising but it does involve some sweating. The aluminium guard is placed under your jaws and under your chin. All you do is add water and wait for the sweat to come out like you would in a sauna and voila, slimmer jaws!

[ Click here to read more ]
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A nanny once told me that one surefire way to get rid of pimples is to rinse your face with your own periods. But before you scoff at this, check out some of the more bizarre beauty treatments that have piqued people’s curiosity enough to queue up outside certain day spas :

Woman Bathing

[ Click here to read more ]
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