The Brunette Diaries

Skin care tips for open pores

Open pores gives you an appearance of premature aging. Usually, those with the oily skin type are largely affected by this problem. The most common cause of open pores is acne infection and picking on pimples. The pores may be most apparent on the nose, cheek and chin where the oil concentration is higher. However, if you are willing to take that extra effort to take care of your skin, you can conceal such open pores and make your skin healthier than it is.

Exfoliation

Most people with open pores tend to think that scrubbing the skin excessively can cause the pores to appear closed. However, over-exfoliation can worsen the problem. Make sure you exfoliate only once or at the most twice a week without being too harsh on your skin.

Pimples

When you pop a pimple, your pores get damaged and this prevents it from returning to its original size. Rather, use some soothing remedy than touching a pimple, so that you can prevent scarring and open pores.

Sunscreen

Everyone seems to overlook the advantages of sunscreen and settle for a natural tan. However, sunscreen actually prevents damage from ultraviolet rays rather than just tanning. Collagen degradation can cause open pores as well, and if you use sunscreen effectively you can manage to keep your collagen levels optimal.

Home remedies

There are several home remedies to help with this problem. Lemon juice, aloe vera, curd, honey and vinegar and apricot are some ingredients that are usually used to prevent swollen open pores.

Microdermabrasion

Another way to reduce the size of the pores is with microdermabrasion. This method is normally conducted by a healthcare specialist. In this technique, fine crystals are used to mechanically peel the skin that helps to reduce open pores.

Beauty essentials for brighter and younger looking skin

Who wouldn’t want a flawless skin? Whether you are a teenager, a tweenager or nearing your late forties, age is just a number! A good skin care regimen can make you look years younger. If you don’t follow a skin care routine yet, it’s never too late to start. To get you started, find some beauty essentials listed below…

Moisturizer:

No skin care routine is complete without moisturizer. Always use a good moisturizer with SPF 15 before you step out of the house, as the sun can age your skin well before you do. Even before you go to bed, you must follow a CTM (cleansing-toning-moisturizing) code. The results will surprise you within a few weeks.

Skin serum: A good skin serum infused with vitamins B12, A, E can help in effectively combating wrinkles and fine lines. You can find the best anti-ageing serum at any good cosmetics outlet.

Anti-wrinkle day/night creams:

No, these anti-ageing and anti-wrinkle creams will not give you results within a day. Skin care goes a long way. If you want wrinkle-free skin at 40 then you must start taking proper care of it from the time you are in your late twenties. Use anti-wrinkle creams in the day as well as the night and keep yourself well hydrated.

Sunscreen: A good sunscreen is a must have for every girl irrespective of her age. The harmful UVA and UVB rays emitted from the sun cause tanning, dullness, and premature ageing. A sunscreen with SPF 20 or more should be regularly used for a flawless complexion.

Follow these tips and be assured of turning heads around!

Bad skincare habits

Many of us indulge in temporary skin care cover-ups that damage our skin in the long run. You must realise that health of your skin will deteriorate with age and therefore you must take care of it with utmost care today. Try to stay away from these bad habits and keep your skin healthy and enduring.

Over exfoliating

Although exfoliating gets rid of dead skin cells and removes clogged dirt from pores, if this is overdone it can damage your skin. Generally, exfoliating twice a week with a natural product, devoid of harsh chemicals, is enough.

Biting lips

If you have dry chapped lips, you may feel that licking or chewing can work a charm, however this will do nothing but severely dehydrate them. Try investing in a lip scrub to remove rough skin from your lips and then moisturize with a lip balm.

Squeezing pimples

We may convince ourselves that acne squeezing helps, but the only help it could give you is temporary. This will only worsen the situation over time and even cause acne scarring.

Using too much product

When it comes to skin care, try to keep it simple. Most people layer their skin with moisturizers, sunscreen lotions and makeup products. Extra product building up on your skin can irritate it. Try cutting down on excessive products on your skin and let it breathe.

Not changing sheets and pillow cases

Often our pillow cases become a haven of bacteria and dirt. Staying exposed all day makes it an easy target to harvest bacteria. Change your pillow cases and bed sheets often and dust it once in a while.

Taking very hot showers

They certainly feel nice, but they can wreck havoc on your skin’s lipid barriers, leading to drier skin. This can also lead to acne as your pores are opening due to severe continuous heat. Lukewarm water is advisable, and keep the showers short instead of exposing your skin to heat for such extended periods of time.

This summer, go head over heels!

Summer has come in full swing and brought along sunshine and heat. Not to forget the humidity in our environment that adds to our woes. Most of us, especially women, dismally underestimate the value of sun protection for our hair. Come on ladies! You have to comprehend the dangers that you expose your hair to, every time that you walk out in the sun. We can hardly think of reasons why a woman would avoid wearing a headgear. In addition to the obvious fashion statement that hats can make, they shield your face from the harmful UV rays of the sun, keep you cool when you need it most and, lest we forget, they’re lifesavers on bad hair days!

Here’s a list of 6 must-have hats for the summer in a variety of shapes, and colours. What are you waiting for, pick-and-choose!

Straw hats:

Vintage straw boater hats can add a nautical charm to any outfit. The best part about straw hats is that one can sport them with dresses or jeans or even a bikini! They’re perfect for a day picnic as well as for a trip to the zoo.

Panama hats:

Ironically enough, Panama hats don’t come from Panama but from Ecuador. Authentic hand-woven panamas are extremely durable and chic. If you are a travel-person, make this hat your travel-buddy.

Sun hats:

This is one piece that you must never forget to carry if you are headed to the beach. Sun hats come in different colours and designs that give fresh feel to the classic topper.

Caps:

Caps are no longer just a sport-player’s headgear. Apart from being casual and cute, caps also save you from the sun keeping your head cool.

Flapper hats:

If The Great Gatsby left you longing for the glamour of the 1920s, worry not. It’s not late yet to don your favourite flapper style cloche hat. Wear it to a high profile party or a midnight summer ball.

Wide-brimmed floppy hats:

Increase your oomph factor with a huge wide-brimmed floppy hat. A ’70s-inspired floppy hat will provide a chic and sexy element to your outfit. This is the ultimate lady’s hat and you can never go wrong it.

Hurry up, take your pick and get the inner fashionista out in the sun!

Stylish ways to wear a scarf

Many of my friends have been asking me how I manage to wear my scarf in so many styles. So I thought of doing a tutorial. Basically, I usually wear a scarf in 3 simple ways and later style them differently according to my outfit and the occasion. Here are few styles that I absolutely love and do them very often.

The real action heroes of Bollywood

When it comes to action, Bollywood does take it to the next level, from high octane fighting scenes to car chases. But when it comes to stars who have a background in the action scenes they are performing, the scenes become more realistic and entertainment. So here we take a look at the real action heroes of Bollywood who have chosen to do their own stunts without using body doubles.

(Also read – Bollywood celebrities who changed their names)

Tiger Shroff

Son of Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff, Tiger Shroff has been trained in gymnastics and martial arts since childhood. Tiger made his Bollywood debut with ‘Heropanti’. He gave a lot of efforts into developing his martial arts skill for this movie and was appreciated a lot for his performance. He trained in martial arts and parkour, and focussed on his body for around 2 years before the shoot began. Tiger did all the stunts by himself and did not need a body double.

(Also read – Bollywood celebs before stardom)

Akshay Kumar

Khiladi Kumar has always been a supremely fit actor and has trained in Muay Thai, a martial art form of Thailand when he was in Bangkok. He does most of his stunts by himself and has been known to be the most daring action stars in Bollywood. He was awarded the highest Japanese honour of “Katana” and a sixth degree Black Belt in Kuyukai Gojuryu Karate. Akshay jumped from one elevator to another at a height of around 110 feet in an action scene for the movie ‘Singh Is Kinng’. He even carried a 350 pound wrestler named ‘Undertaker’ for the film ‘Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi’. He has also jumped from a height of around 45 feet in the movie ‘Khiladi 786′. These are just a few of the innumerous stunts that Akshay has done in his illustrious career.

(Also read – Bollywood relationships you may not know about)

Vidyut Jamwal

(Also read – Bollywood stars and their bikes)

Actor Vidyut Jamwal practises Kalaripayattu – a martial art form from Kerala. This includes strikes, kicks, grappling, preset forms, weaponry and healing methods. He made his Bollywood debut with ‘Force’, where he starred opposite John Abraham and Genelia D’Souza. He received a lot of praise for his performance in this action packed film and won the Filmfare Best Male Debut Award for the film. His stunts in the film ‘Commando – One Man Army’ were extremely dangerous and were done all by himself without the support of any ropes or harnesses.

Easy ways to get rid of warts

Warts can be really embarrassing and frustrating, especially if yours is on the face; it can really disfigure it and be the ultimate cause of concern and lack of confidence. If you are a victim of common flat warts on your face, hand, foot or any other bodily area, you should probably try these home remedies to get rid of them. But you must be patient when it comes to treating warts, as it could be time consuming to remove it.

Warts can be really frustrating and painful

Here are a few ways that you could try to treat your wart with.

Ice pack:

Apply an ice pack to your wart for 5 minutes and take a sterilized needle and poke it deep into the wart several times. The needle must penetrate every layer of skin under the wart. By introducing an alien to your body, you will stimulate the antibodies in your system and encourage them to fight the wart off. This method is quite effective if done with utter precaution. You can get rid of multiple warts by poking just one, as it will help your body discover the others too.

Also read: Skin care tips for open pores

Vitamin C or E:

Crush a vitamin C tablet and make a thick paste by adding a little bit of water. Apply it to the wart and cover it with tape or bandage. You can also apply some vitamin E oil on your wart and keep it covered. Do this every day for two weeks and watch your wart disappear.

Also read: Beauty essentials for brighter and younger looking skin

Hot water and pumice stone:

Scrape the wart away with a pumice stone

If you have a wart on your hands or feet, soak them in hot water with an antiseptic liquid until it softens. Now, scrape the wart away with a piece of exfoliating pumice stone till the whole wart is scrubbed off. Then, take some bleach on a cotton swab and apply it on the area where your wart was. The bleach may sting a bit. But the area must be washed well after bleaching.

4 Reasons Why You Should Adopt A Homeless Dog

“A dog doesn’t care if you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give you his.”John Grogan, Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog

A little girl enters the pet store with her mother. After going through the different foreign breeds in the shop (who were kept on display like decorative items), her mother says, “You can buy a Lab, they tend to be more faithful than other breeds or you can go for a Doberman, they are good guard dogs.” The little girl did not utter a word and kept staring out of the window. Her attention was fixed on a little puppy that was playing across the street, and getting dirty jumping in a poodle. “So full of life,” she thought to herself, and told her mother that she wanted to take the little cuddlesome puppy home. Her mother turned scarlet with disappointment and said, “But he is a stray! Why would you want a street dog when we can afford to buy a foreign breed?”

Don’t most of us have the same mentality like the little girl’s mother? We want dogs like Labradors, Dobermans, Pugs, Pitbulls, Rottweilers, etc, and then we call ourselves ‘Dog lovers’, when evidently we are nothing more than just ‘Breed lovers’.

Stray dogs, just like other dogs, offer you the same pristine love and lifelong companionship. So if you’re among those who has always wanted to keep a pet, here’s why you should consider a homeless dog:

1. An antidote for depression

Do you see the breed, colour, size of the dog when you are playing with him? Of course not! All you can see is the spark in his eyes and his radiant “smile” that can brighten even your gloomiest days! A dog, irrespective of the breed, just needs a loving and a compassionate friend. They want you to cuddle them after you reach home and pamper them with some jerkies! You can simply talk to them, and they will never retaliate, lecture or taunt you. They are all ears when you talk to them. They also work as “social catalysts” and help you get out more, and interact with others thereby reducing isolation.

2. The Indian breed myth

People have formed preconceived notions about Indian breeds. They consider them unhygienic, dumb, rebellious and even stubborn. As a matter of fact, the behaviour of a dog depends on his training. If you buy a German Shepherd worth Rs. 12,000 and do not train him appropriately or beat him up very often as a punishment, he will end up becoming ferocious and will never obey you in his life.

Stray puppies could initially have ticks and problems like intestinal parasites due to their poor living conditions. But these are easily treatable; plus, even the pedigreed puppies can have these problems. So, instead of calling street pups “unhygienic”, you can make an effort to de-worm them and apply some anti-parasitic medicines to help them get rid of such predicaments. What’s more, street dogs have a better immunity against diseases and infections, thanks to adaptation since generations. While pedigreed dogs are a haven for ticks and fleas, it’s comparatively easier for street dogs to get rid of them.

3. Customers or Parents?

Many affluent families buy dogs for tens of thousands of rupees and then abandon them if they are attacked by serious medical issues like kidney failures or severe stomach infections. They behave just like customers, who throw away an old gadget the moment it stops functioning properly. But dogs aren’t lifeless objects and nothing hurts them more than separation. Instead of behaving like a customer who pays money to ‘buy’ a pet, you can behave like a parent and adopt an orphan, homeless dog.

4. The homeless need love too!

Adopt a local Indian breed once, and with time you’ll notice that they are as smart and friendly as any foreign breed. There are numerous puppies lying on the streets, who crave for food and loving homes. Most of them either die painfully due to diseases or hit-and-run accidents, while the others continue to live in agony. These puppies can be given a chance to live a healthy and safe life; all you need to do is change your attitude towards Indian breeds.

If you are thinking of bringing home a cute and loving dog, do consider Indian breeds once! By doing so, you’ll be saving a precious life.

Top 4 tips for puppy care

Everyone loves animals. Do I hear a no? Okay, there may be some people who dislike them, but majority of the world’s population love animals and some people even have them as pets at home. Be it parrots, guinea pigs, cats, dogs or even lion cubs, there are a variety of animals and birds that can be kept as pets at home. However, dogs seem to top the pet list worldwide.

The way they yelp for food, their bum wobbling when they play, their sad face for locking them in the kennel, the excitement they show when they see you after long hours, getting petrified of their own fart noise, hiding under our legs when lightning strikes and much more. Can you name one thing that you don’t find to be cute in your furry ball of joy? Initially, they might be a headache; but, they capture our hearts soon enough and become a part of our family.

With so much ‘dog’ertainment that we get, the least we can do is to tend to their needs. Once we bring them home, they are under our protection. It is important for us to know what is right and wrong for the puppy’s growth. If you are a first timer, here are a few essential tips that will help you take good care of your four-legged buddy.

Do you have the essentials?

Your pet might be a part of your family, but he is still an animal. It is mandatory to keep his things separate from yours. Feeding bowl, water bowl, comb, brush, shampoo, towel, collar and leash have to be washed regularly and kept aside. Do not mix your stuff with his. It is not good for your health and your puppy’s.

Did you puppy-proof your house?

It is important to puppy-proof your house, lest it keeps on chewing your stuff during its teething phase. Keep things at a higher level so that the naughty little one is unable to reach there. Be it kitchenware, shoes, clothes, combs or the kinds; don’t make it accessible for your puppy.

Do you take him to the vet regularly?

Initially, your puppy needs a few vaccinations to ensure that doesn’t face any health issues. Also, even if he is in the pink of health, make sure you visit the vet on a regularly basis, mainly because, even though he may seem fine he doesn’t ‘talk’ to tell us his invisible body problems.

Do you groom him from time-to-time?

If your puppy is furry, it is important for you to groom him from time-to-time. Otherwise, his hair can easily get knotted up and give him a lot of pain when you decide to sit one fine day to comb his fur. Also, clean and bathe him frequently as per the vet’s instructions. Make sure you keep a tab of fleas and other pests that may be clinging on to your pet’s body.

Do you know that human food is toxic to your puppy?

By feeding your puppy with food that you consume, you are intoxicating him. It might be difficult for you to gobble chips when he is sitting right in front you waiting for you to throw him at least one piece. But, don’t feed him. When you are eating, either keep him in his kennel or train him to not ask for your food.

Having a dog as a family member is a wonderful feeling. You can love him or abuse him; but, at the end of the day, he will still love you unconditionally. Let’s not do the latter, and be faithful to him, as he is to us.