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Water is one essential nutrient no person can live without. Water composes 50% to 70% of the body’s weight. Drinking water is essential to the health of the skin and body because:

* It sustains the health of the cells
* Helps in the elimination of toxins and waste
* Helps regulate the body’s temperature
* Aids in proper digestion

It is estimated that 75% of Indians are chronically dehydrated. Even mild dehydration will slow down metabolism by as much as 3%. Drinking lots of water can help stop hunger pangs for many dieters. Lack of water is number one cause of daytime fatigue.

Is water really essential for the appearance of your skin?

While not everyone agrees, we think the answer is a resounding yes! Skin is intricately tied to the overall health of your body. When your body is properly hydrated, you’ll look better and feel better. Water gives you a radiant complexion and in addition, bloating and puffiness often disappears.

How much water is needed?

The amount of water needed by an individual varies, depending on body weight and level of daily physical activity. Also illness, pregnancy, and breastfeeding are special situations that demand greater fluid consumption. Drinking too much water may lead to a rare condition called Hyponatremia. Check with your physician for recommendations.

At Kosmoderma, we follow an easy formula to help you determine how much water is needed every day for maximum physical health:

-Take your body weight in kilograms
-Divide this number by 8
-The resulting number approximates how much 8-ounce glasses of water you should drink every day.

For example, if your weight is 50kg, you should drink 6 glasses of water every day. If you are involved in intense physical activity, add 2 extra glasses of water to the final number.

Consuming lots of fresh fruits and vegetables for healthy skin will satisfy some of your body’s fluid requirement. Also milk, juice, and other healthy beverages are part of your daily total. Just make sure that most of your daily fluid is pure, clear water. So keep a large bottle of water on hand daily and keep the body hydrated.

More...]]> http://www.femefashions.com/feme/blogs/Indian-skin/754.php HAIR FALL IN TEENAGERS

It is normal to shed some hair each day as part of this cycle. The average scalp contains about 1,00,000 hairs. On average a person loses about 100 hairs per day. However, some people may experience excessive (more than normal) hair loss. Hair loss of this type can affect men, women and children.

What are the causes of excessive hair loss?

Many people suffer from hair loss due to various factors like:

Stress
Prolonged illness
Nutritional deficiency, Crash diets that lack sufficient protein, Iron and Vitamins
Hormonal imbalance – thyroid gland problems (either overactive or under active)
Chemical and Physical stress to the hair shaft from Hair Coloring, Perming, Permanent straightening or lengthening.
Severe emotional Stress
Infection of the scalp – Fungal infections
Medications

Can improper care of my hair cause hair loss?

Yes. If you use tight hair rollers, the pull on your hair can cause a type of hair loss called traction alopecia. If the pulling is stopped before scarring of the scalp develops, your hair will grow back normally. However, scarring can cause permanent hair loss.

Hot oil hair treatments or chemicals used in permanents (also called “perms”) may cause inflammation of the hair follicle, which can result in scarring and hair loss.

When to seek Medical Help?

You are losing hair in an unusual pattern
You are losing hair rapidly or at an early age (for example, in your teens or twenties)
You have any pain or itching with the hair loss
The skin on your scalp under the involved area is red, scaly, or otherwise abnormal
You have acne, facial hair, or an abnormal menstrual cycle
You are a woman and have male pattern baldness
You have bald spots on your beard or eyebrows
You have been gaining weight or have muscle weakness, intolerance to cold temperatures, or fatigue

Medication and Birth Control Pills

A teenager taking medication for a medical condition could notice a loss of hair as a side effect of the medication. This is also true of young girls who start to take birth control pills. In some instances of male pattern baldness, teenage boys could start to experience this at an early age. When hair loss occurs in teenage years, it is a cause for alarm and parents should take their children to a doctor to determine the underlying reasons. Long periods of illness, chronic diseases, surgery etc. are also reasons why hair sometimes starts falling more than it should, but this is often temporary, nothing that a good diet and adequate rest won’t solve.

Vitamin Deficiency & Nutrition

When a teenager starts to notice hair loss it could also be a sign of a vitamin deficiency in the diet. Since teenagers like to eat a lot of junk food, the lack of proper nutrition could be the cause of thinning or balding. The lack of proper nutrition can also cause other illnesses in addition to hair loss. Meat or foods rich in protein and vegetables are usually not high on the list of foods a teenager likes to eat. Therefore, dietary supplements can help prevent any further loss of hair.

Hair Spray & Braids

For young female teenagers, the way they wear their hair could be the cause of the hair loss. Having the hair tied back very tightly, as in the case of French braids, pulls on the roots and causes them to fall out prematurely. Excessive use of hair spray has also been linked to balding among young girls because of the build-up of oils and chemicals on the scalp that can block the follicles and keep them from growing as they should. A solution for this is to try not to use too much spray and to wear the hair loose on alternate days so as to avoid scarring of the scalp, which is a cause of permanent hair loss in teenagers.

Prevention:

Stress management and eating a healthy, balanced diet rich in proteins, vitamins (especially biotin) and minerals (particularly zinc) are, therefore, extremely necessary to arrest hair loss. Consume plenty of dal, soybean, paneer, channa, egg whites, white meat like chicken or fish, nuts and leafy vegetables

Hair treatments – perming, straightening and colouring – are also damaging to your mane and lead to hairfall. Be prepared for at least a 10 percent reduction in hair volume two months after any such treatment. To minimise damage, do not repeat these treatments too often – once or then twice in a year at the most. Always go to a professional and ask for a hair protecting serum before treatment. Also use appropriate aftercare products.

Another big no-no is over-enthusiastic massaging during oil application, in the mistaken belief that this will increase the scalp’s absorption and stimulate follicles. In reality, a vigorous massage will only serve to uproot hair in the telogen phase and lead to hair trauma.

Hair is at its weakest when wet, so never roughly comb it after a wash. Disentangle the strands gently with a wide-toothed comb or wait till they are semi-dry.

Holding a hair dryer too close to the scalp is another reason for hairfall – the heat can cause lasting damage. Use a diffuser attachment on the dryer, holding it at least eight to 10 inches away and never wait till your hair is bone-dry – always leave a little moisture in. Cold air drying is, in fact, the best method. Also avoid hot rollers and tongs if you value your locks.

Steer clear of tight hairstyles that pull your hair taut. Indian mothers enthusiastically twist their daughters’ hair into tight plaits, thinking this will increase hair length – it actually only serves to encourage a receding hairline and balding in the frontal areas of the scalp. So keep your hair looking neat, but don’t pull and manipulate it too hard.

What are the treatment options?

There are various treatment options available.

1. Minoxidil
2. Finasteride
3. Low level Laser therapy
4. Dermaroller
5. Mesotherapy
6. Stem cell hair rejuvenation
7. Hair weaving
8. Hair transplant
9. Nutritional supplements

What diet should be followed to get good and strong hair?

Just like your skin and body, your hair also needs a balanced diet to stay healthy. By including sources for essential fatty acids in your diet, you can give your hair back its strength and lustre. Foods such as tuna, sardines and such oily fish, and nuts, olives and avocados are rich in essential fatty acids. Sprinkling flaxseed and pumpkin seeds over your salad is also another great way to get these Essential fatty acids in your diet.

To keep your hair well hydrated, be sure to drink 6-8 glasses of water everyday. Also try to include foods which contain silica such as rice, oats, lettuce, parsnips, asparagus, onion, strawberry, cabbage, cucumber, celery, cauliflower and green leafy vegetables. Silica is vital to the strength of hair, and can stop hair breakage. A lack of vitamin B in the diet can lead to oily greasy hair. To fight greasy hair, be sure to eat lots of whole grains, nuts, seeds, dairy products, eggs, wheatgerm, legumes and green leafy vegetables. Although the link between premature graying and diet hasn’t been established, evidence does suggest that the aminoacids tyrosine – which acts as a precursor to color producing pigments in the hair and skin – can help!

Thinning hair or hair loss may be a sign of iron deficiency. Be sure to eat plenty of iron rich foods, such as red meat, eggs, legumes, whole grain cereals, dried fruits and green leafy vegetables. Since hair is composed mostly of protein, your hair will most likely respond well to the addition of high protein foods such as meats, eggs, cheese, seeds and nuts. These foods can help reinforce the hair follicles and prevents the hair from falling out.

More...]]> http://www.femefashions.com/feme/blogs/Indian-skin/744.php acne, cold lasers offer a pain free way of removing them. If you want to work on an ugly scar, cold lasers help you to make that area look as normal as the surrounding skin.

It is the wonderful light that lightens your beauty worries. It is a non-invasive process with cold lasers as there is only focus but no incision. We will share ideas from our experts and success stories from our customers. Keep reading this blog to know in how many ways cold lasers can contribute to your beauty.
More...]]> http://www.femefashions.com/feme/blogs/Lasers/743.php With the summer it’s all about the sun, radiation, tanning and protecting the skin from the Sun. In the Monsoon it’s about the skins hydration and moisture level.


So what can we do in the monsoon to care for the skin???

Cleanse skin with gentle cleansers:
The high humidity during the monsoon months can cause sweat to run in rivulets over your body. This can create a build-up of dust, dirt, grime and other toxins on the surface of your skin
Skin will also have a tendency to go drier and gets easily dehydrated in the monsoon season, so use a gentle cleanser unless you have acne prone or very oily skin.
For normal to dry skin: use a soap free cleanser as soap is very dehydrating for the skin.
For acne prone / oily skin: use a Salicylic acid based cleanser once a day in the morning and a soap free cleanser at night.

Moisturize your skin:
Monsoons can cause a de-hydrating effect on dry skin and an over-hydrating effect on oily skin. Use a good moisturiser.
For normal to dry: Use a cream based moisturiser or a rich lotion
For acne prone / oily: Use a light lotion, avoid heavy moisturisers

If skin feels very dry you can also use a hyaluronic acid based skin serum with the moisturiser to keep the skin soft and hydrated

Use Sunscreen:
Just because the clouds have moved in and it is not so bright or sunny anymore, it does not mean that you can stop using the sunscreens or stop bothering about sun exposure.

True, the days are dull and not so bright but what you have to remember is that the clouds block only 20% of the radiation, so you are still being exposed to the harmful sun rays and this can lead to long term skin damage like pre mature ageing, lines, wrinkles and sagging.

You can use a lesser strength SPF than the summer time. SPF 24 – 30 is ideal in the monsoon times. Use a water proof sunscreen so that should you get drenched in the rain, the sunscreen still stays on.
The sunscreen has to be reapplied every 4 – 5 hrs

Use skin fresheners on a regular basis:
Use skin fresheners, like rose water or thermal waters that can be sprayed onto the skin. This keeps the skin hydrated and prevents dehydration. This is especially useful for persons who work in a air conditioned environment.

Go for Detox & Hydrating facials:
This is the time to have detox facials that help drain the body lymphatics and toxins.

Protect your skin from fungal infection: Humid weather in the rainy season brings with it one of the major skin care issue of fungal infections. Fungus grows easily in areas where warm moisture can accumulate and foster growth, like between your toes, armpits and groin. One way to take care of this is to bath with an anti-fungal soap and apply anti-fungal powder after the bath. Try to avoid keeping your skin wet for a long time and if you have been in rain, take a bath in lukewarm water.

Eat Right:
It is essential to eat healthy at all times not just during monsoon. Nutritional supplements are usually advised to give extra protection and care for the skin during the monsoon. Take Vit E, Fish Oil (Omega 3) capsules. These are rich in oils and will help with skin nutrition and nourishment. Also take a multi mineral tablet that contains zinc as this is essential for skin healing processes. Also take Vit C so that you can boost your resistance during the monsoon.

Let your body rest:
Try to get at least 6 – 8 hrs of uninterrupted sleep at night so that the body gets time to recover and recoup for the next day. During this period your skin also vitalizes itself.

Avoid heavy makeup:
Let your skin breathe, so avoid heavy makeup, at least during the day. Use light water based foundations if you must use a foundation during the day. Avoid cake / heavy solid foundations during the monsoon. Opt for water proof make up so that it does not run if you should get wet in the rain.

So protect your skin and have a blast this Monsoon!!!



More...]]> http://www.femefashions.com/feme/blogs/Indian-skin/636.php It's New Year time. All of us are set to welcome another year in our own ways. Most of us make resolutions, and also gift ourselves something new to cherish the beginning of a New Year.

Though I am a total failure in making resolutions and keeping it up, I surely do pamper myself by buying something or do whatever makes me feel happy. This time, I decided to pamper myself at a beauty salon. Don't you all agree that treating yourself to a good massage, pedicure/manicure or a good facial is a great way to de-stress and leave behind all your worries and failures.

Well, me and my cousin sister treated ourselves to a nice pedicure and a manicure at a well known beauty spa in town for the New Year's eve. And, on January 1, 2011, we have planned to shop together without anything in mind. Isn't that a great way to welcome the New Year!

Here's wishing you all a Very Happy, Prosperous and Joyous 2011.
More...]]> http://www.femefashions.com/feme/blogs/Complexion-Mania/455.php glamour every now and then is not new to us. Of late, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra and Vidya Balan are seen sporting de-glam looks clad in sarees and trendy blouses, or so to say backless blouses.

Sarees, especially cotton and silk ones with heavily embellished borders appears to have caught Vidya's fancy. It looks like designers are coming out with trendy, backless blouses with just a strap to tie.

The barely-there blouse has been drawing attention at every event and party our bollywood heroines are attending. That's glamour redefined, I guess!
More...]]> http://www.femefashions.com/feme/blogs/Complexion-Mania/446.php Tina Ambani, wife of industrialist Anil Ambani, is reliving her Bollywood days. Looking gorgeous even at the age of 53, Tina stepped out in style for the Big Star Entertainment Awards held recently in Mumbai.

Clad in a black and silver mini skirt with a shimmering gold top, Tina looked more stunning and glamorous than the other leading ladies of Bollywood present at the event. Tina was a successful Bollywood actress in the late seventies and early eighties.

Though Mrs. Ambani is seen socialising a lot and present at every event, we rarely get to see her make a glamorous public appearance like the one she did at the Awards event. I was amazed with her blod dressing sense.

Who says one should look their age! Tina is the perfect example to all the 50 plus women to sport a young and gorgeous look.
More...]]> http://www.femefashions.com/feme/blogs/Complexion-Mania/440.php
Break-up in a relationship is seen in all classes of people, but when it is that of a celebrity's, we are all ears. Cheating on one's partner is no more an issue of guilt when caught. For some, it is a matter of pride.

The recent Arun Nayar-Liz Hurley break-up had raised many a brows. But the latest news is that, Hurley is pleading forgiveness with her husband Nayar to take her back after she dumped Aussie cricketer Shane Warne when she learnt that he had sent a series of sex texts to a married woman even as he was having an affair with her.

Everything is definitely fair in love and war, or so it seems. Realtionship, today, is like a merry-go-round. You tend to bounce back to where you started. But will you succeed? Experts and counsellors feel that in such cases, the 'ex' is always found to be the best by those who walked out of a relationship.

Whatever it is, relationships are bound by a thin thread, which can cut off any time for a very silly reason or for a serious issue.
More...]]> http://www.femefashions.com/feme/blogs/Complexion-Mania/437.php MONSOON HAIR FALL

Rain! Rain! go away! Come again another day! Remember this nursery rhyme? After the scorching heat, the rains definitely come as a relief, but they also signal the need for extra protection, be it of our homes, our vehicles or even ourselves. Most importantly, maintaining those lovely, long, shining tresses- the hair. Like summer, in Monsoon too we face some hair care problems.

After summer, when the monsoon comes, the quantity of humidity and moisturizer affects our hair the most. Again rainy and damp weather makes it difficult to dry hair normally and as a result hairs become weak and greasy. Sunlight is absent, air is full of extra moisturizer, thus creating difficulties like limpness, greasiness and hair fall.

One reason why hair may fall at a higher rate during the monsoon could be that, as a coincidence, hair may be in the end phase of its life cycle. This coupled with humidity, weakens the hair making it easily breakable and you could have a problem.

If you get drenched in the rain, shampoo your hair as soon as you get back home. Rainwater carries atmospheric pollutants that weaken the hair roots causing hair fall. Along with rainwater, another danger in the monsoon is the municipally-treated water. During the monsoon, the municipality guards against bacteria with additional chlorine in the water. This concentrated chlorine compound may kill the bacteria but can also be harmful to your skin. Chlorine can cause dry skin, dry hair, itching, flaking and hair loss. This may be why the monsoon is the time for dandruff proliferation. A regular use of a mild anti-dandruff shampoo is recommended.

Avoid hot hair-treatments such as perming, straightening or coloring during the rainy season. These are not advisable since these treatments need time to settle on your strands and are likely to be washed away in the rain. When combined with wet weather, these treatments tend to weaken the hair shaft and promote breakage and hair fall. Ironing the hair repeatedly is not advisable either as the repeated flow of hot air can cause breakage and split ends.

While hair loss may not be a disease in the conventional sense of the word, it can still cause a lot of suffering. Traditionally, hair loss has been regarded negatively and subconsciously associated with aging and even loss of beauty. Thus, hair loss, especially if it is premature, is capable of causing great emotional turmoil and may, in some cases, even lead to social withdrawal.

In monsoon hair does not dry totally leading to dull, frizzy, damp hair. To avoid limp and flat hair you should follow a fitness regime for your hair exclusively in monsoon season. Here are some handy tips and helps for your hair to protect it from the damages causing in this season.

1). Choose the right product: Always use a brand that suits your hair texture best and makes it clean and silky with less hair fall. Mild shampoo is a good option. Medicated shampoos are available nowadays to revitalize the hair and to clean it. Check with your dermatologist for options

2).Don’t wash hair frequently as this can lead to drying and breakage. Wash twice to thrice a week maximum.

3) Condition your hair after each wash as this will coat the hair fibers and protect it from environmental damage.

4). Drink plenty of water and eat a balanced diet. Protein and fruit vitamins are necessary to fight against hair fall in monsoon. Hair fall is very common in this season. So you have to make your hair strong from inside.

5) In your diet make sure there is adequate intake of Biotin, Iron (Ferrous) and Proteins. These are available as oral supplements. Ask your dermatologist to recommend one for you.

6) Warm oil applications to the scalp is very good. Use gooseberry / Amla oil as this is very nourishing to the scalp and hair. Leave on for minimum 45 mins and wash off.

7) Warm compress to the scalp and hair after applying oil or conditioner is excellent. This will help penetrate the nutrition into the hair root

If you are having hair fall (normal is up to 100 follicles a day), see your dermatologist immediately

More...]]> http://www.femefashions.com/feme/blogs/Indian-skin/342.php complexion is dark? We have a host of fairness creams - both desi and international brands - which promise to make you look a lot fairer and a new YOU.

As I recall, for decades, women had their loyalty towards Vicco Turmeric and Fair & Lovely - leading fairness creams. I have seen my grand mother, mother and aunts use it very religiously every day. But the thing is, all of them were decently fair in colour, so I could hardly see the difference in their skin become brighter or white .

With time, more and more number of local and international brands have hit the market, leaving the consumer more confused. The fashion conscious women have became the easy target for cosmetic giants. From creams making you look fairer to those promising to fight wrinkles, age spots, dullness etc. etc., are leaving the women wanting for more. From Ponds to Oil of Olay, Lakme to Nutrogena the list is endless.

To let the secret out, even I have tried almost all brands that promised to make my skin (read skin of all women) fairer, smooth and supple. Having failed to get the results I was looking for, I am now trying one more new product of repute that I picked from a leading super market. Wish me luck that at least this cream will make my face look brighter and leave the skin smooth.

As a leading cosmetic brand says, "loving the skin we're in is the most beautiful feeling of all".

More...]]> http://www.femefashions.com/feme/blogs/Complexion-Mania/330.php