Skin Care
Beauty and Skin Care

Packaging

Makeup:
When we are young, we wear it to look older.
When we are old, we wear it to look younger.
But at any age, the best "makeup" is the least "made-up" looking. This is a very important part in learning the "packaging of you!"

Packaging

Hair
Face Enhancement
Your Body
Smellin' Good

Your Body

First impressions are very superficial judgments that we all make daily. Attractive packaging can give you an edge when you are being judged briefly. Packaging is an enhancement of the physical-appearance genes we simply did or did not inherit.The best possible packaging of a single's body includes the least possible fat.

Getting rid of accumulated fat is a committed process. At the very least, you must commit time and energy to the task. And commitment of some money for a fitness club and personal trainer will speed the process.

So, before you start down the road to lean machine, try to get realistic goals in your mind. After all, you are no longer 20 years old and you do not earn your living as a model.

Why are you trying to loose weight?

What are your goals?

Walk through any mall and see the number of overweight couples smiling and holding hands. Thin is not a sure road to happy ever after.

If your desire for thinness stems from aspirations of your friends, your parents, society, or advertising, outline your own goals first.

Then if your decision is to lose weight:

Read some current literature on weight control

Talk to a nutritionist and/or a personal trainer

Increase your exercise

Plan to lose weight slowly

Consult a therapist for eating addictions.

As with all goal setting, be realistic or you will doom your fat battle to eventual failure.

And remember that occasional cheating and back sliding is human. Don't use it as an excuse to give up, however. Just start over the next day.

Pay attention to other parts of your body, too. Do you need a manicure? A pedicure? A lotion to smooth and moisturize dry skin? A shave?

Some guys think men don't have to worry about their weight or general appearance. They think that "looking good" stuff only applies to women.

Guess what? Good-looking women expect to date, marry, and love those good-looking men forever.

• Who cares if you have a little wart on your chin or a straggly, graying beard?
• Who cares if you love your cut-offs or an old pair of sweats?
• Who cares if you have a small pot-belly?

That good-looking woman in your life cares. She is not going to be impressed with any of the above.

Face Enhancement

It's  true:  Physical appearance does make a  difference  in  the dating world.

Certainly appearance has something to do with that elusive  spark we call "chemistry." But it also has a lot to do with the  person we first seek out in a crowd.

All  of us can improve the genes we were given at birth.  In  our head-to-toe "improved packaging series," let's look at our face.

Face enhancement is for everyone, men and women. Look at your eyes, your skin, your smile and your teeth. What can packaging or enhancement do for you?

At the very least men and women should clean and moisturize their skin twice daily. Your skin will feel and look better when you get into a skin care routine.

Then  skin should be protected from the sun. Skin  cancer  aside, study after study has shown sunshine produces premature aging and wrinkles.  Winter sun is not as harsh or damaging but  you  still need protection.

Many skin imperfections can be removed or diminished by surgery, chemical peels, lasers, etc. Consult a dermatologist in your area for more information. He/she may suggest:

Quitting smoking
Exfoliation  once a week (especially for crow's-feet and  whistle lines)
Glycolic acid products
Retin-A treatment
Glycolic acid or trichloroacetic acid (TCA) peel
Retin-A and liquid nitrogen
Dermabrasion
Maintaining a desirable weight
Filler injections for nose-to-mouth folds
Cosmetic surgery

Women can benefit from a complete make-over, especially when that make-over teaches them to duplicate the effects.

Men and women will have fewer wrinkles if they sleep on their back, placing a pillow under the knees to maintain that position.

As for facial hair:

Men can use it to hide facial imperfections
Women should get rid of it

Last, but not least, smile! It's free and nothing improves a face quite like a smile. Think about it. Who do you approach first? The person who is:

Smiling?

Scowling?

Maintaining a dead-pan expression?

Some singles smile often by habit. Some don't pick up this easily-acquired inclination.

Other singles don't smile because they don't want to show their teeth for some real or imagined defect. Let's face it: a smile with or without great teeth is better than no smile at all.

If the appearance of your teeth bothers you greatly, however, cosmetic dentistry is available and can do wonders for your smile.

Hair

Think back to your Christmas presents.
Which one did you reach for first? Probably the one that was packaged well. Never mind that it contained the worst gift of the lot and the plainly wrapped one was a cherished jewel. The attractive package usually gets the first look.
Packaging you encompasses your:

Hair
Face
Smile
Body
Clothing
Accessories
Odor
Carriage

Lets take hair:

First and foremost, hair should always be clean. My grandparents' generation (men and women) washed their hair once a week. Women had their hair done weekly, then heavily sprayed to carry them to the next weekly wash. Men washed their hair weekly, too, then wet it down or put greasy stuff on it each day.

I wonder how they stood it for a week. In fact, I wonder how they stood each other! If you do that in 1997, you not only look out-of-date, you do not look or smell clean by today's standards. So, keep that hair squeaky clean.

Hair is one of the quickest parts of you to re-package. A new, stylish hair-do  works  wonders for men or women and really is  a  "quick fix." Up-to-date hair styles also make singles look younger. You date yourself when you stick with that style "you've always worn."

But back to my grandparents. My gramps doesn't have that  weekly hair-washing problem because he doesn't have any hair!

What about you? No hair?

If your lack of locks bothers you, consider hair replacement. It gets more advanced and less noticeable each year.

Many women think bald men are downright sexy. Very few men have that opinion of bald women. If your female hair is thin and wispy, at least get a style that enhances what is left!

My sibling made an astute observation at the holiday brunch table by  offering, "We really promote hair in our society. We look  at it,  touch  it, stroke it, and even kiss it as long as it  is  on someone's  head. Just let it get separated, however, and we  hate it."

It's true.

And just watch people flirt sometime. It often involves using their hair. Men and women alike preen, smooth, and even flick their hair when  they  are in the presence of an interesting person  of  the opposite sex.

So  package your scalp in clean hair and current styles  for  the first  step  in a more attractive you.

Beauty Tip of the Week

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