Beauty Tips - How to Keep Your Flat Iron Clean and Well Maintained

Once you have purchased a flat iron, whether you made a big investment on a high-end styler, or decided to go with a functional yet cost-effective option, one of your top concerns should be how to get the most out of your styler and help it to last for many years. If you properly clean and care for your flat iron, it should last at least 5-7 years and continue to give you great styling results every time.

Follow these guidelines for proper flat iron care to keep your styler in great working order for years to come!

Cleaning

Keep a hand towel nearby and wipe off the flat iron plates as you are working on your hair. The products in your hair and the heat protectant that you use tend to build up on the plates and burn. If you wipe off the styler frequently as you are doing your hair, you can prevent this from happening. You also prevent products from burning onto your hair.

You should never use a cleaner on the flat iron plates, especially an abrasive cleaner that could scratch the plate surfaces. Use a soft and slightly damp cloth to gently wipe off the plates. It is also a good idea to wipe off the handles periodically as you are styling.

If your plates do become burned or seem to be stained with residue, you'll probably notice that you have to pass the plates over your hair more times to get it straightened. You might also notice a burning or unpleasant smell in your hair as you are styling. There is not much that you can do to clean them once the plates are burned, so do be sure to take the time to wipe them off as you style.

Storing

For safety and to prevent the possibility of a fire, allow the styler to cool completely before storing. Store your flat iron in the storage bag that it came in or in another storage bag. Do not wrap the cord around the styler as this can cause stress to the cord where it meets the iron. This can cause the cord to fray or break, and you might have an electrical short or other power issues. You should also never hang the flat iron by the cord for the same reason. Just bundle the cord loosely next to the iron to store.

If this point was not emphasized enough from the notes on cleaning the iron, make sure that you clean the handles and plates thoroughly before you store it.

Maintaining the Handles

You might notice that the handles loosen with prolonged use. Usually you can remove the plate that covers the hinges and re-tighten them with a small screw driver or wrench. Always unplug the iron and allow it to cool before attempting any type of repair.

I am a writer and artist with a broad spectrum of interests one being hair care, health and general beauty. Please visit http://flatironreviewsguide.com for more information on selecting the right flat iron for your hair type, styling tips, and reviews of the most popular irons of all brands. You can also visit http://naturalhaircaretipsforum.com/ for tips and advice on natural hair care.
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The Beauty of Nail Polish


In the past, nail polish seemed to be something that people would put on for a special occasion. Painted toes were only done when going on holiday. Nowadays painting your finger and toe nails has become very popular and fashionable. With a much wider range available than ever before, if you have not looked at the varnishes you can get now, you will be surprised by the choices on offer.

Nail polish used to only really be worn in traditional browns or pink as these were natural looking colours and also red which was used for dressier occasions. However, today you can literally find any colour you desire. You not only get just one standard colour of blue for example, you can find a whole host of different shades from the blue palette. Painting just standard blocks of colour are soon becoming a thing of the past and people are using their nails as another way to get creative and inject style. One way of decorating your nails, which is still as popular today, is a French manicure. This design consists of keeping your nails looking natural by using clear, pink and white varnish to mimic and heighten the look of your real nails.

You can now find polishes where you apply one coat and then use a magnet to drag the polish in different directions to create an interesting design that is different every time. You can also find varnishes that crack once placed over the top of another meaning you get a two tone effect and intricate design every time. You can find nail stickers also and whilst on first glance they may not look great, once they are put onto your nails they can look like you have painted them on yourself and will be sure to impress. Some of the most popular designs when using stickers and also stamps are leopard print, animals and flowers.

Nail varnish is not only used for beauty reasons but also advertised to help with certain problems. Some people cannot stop themselves from biting their nails and end up never having a white tip along the top. If they apply a coat of this specially formulated polish it is said to taste disgusting and should stop the person from nibbling away. Some other products claim to help with nail growth which could be used after combating the habit.

If you want to help a problem or want to try out a new look then you will be spoilt for choice, it could just spur a new love of nail art and design.

Zoe Ball is an enthusiastic writer in the subject matter of fragrances and cosmetics. The websites recommended by Zoe Ball have been thoroughly researched and come highly acclaimed from direct experience. Take a look at a collection of NYX cosmetics today.
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Natural Beauty Cosmetics - Enhance Your Natural Beauty


Nothing can enhance a woman's face, beautiful or otherwise, better than the right make-up. Today, the beauty industry is a billion dollar business and the choice of Beauty Cosmetics available, is mind-blogging to say the least. While buying them, one has to keep certain things in mind. Some of them are the skin type, allergic reaction to a certain product if any, night or day wear etc.

How to buy Beauty Cosmetics

Before buying beauty products one must keep in mind to buy not the right beauty product, but the one most ideal for them. Buying them is a very individualistic exercise, as what suits one may not suit another. Hence, one should do some basic ground work before venturing into the shopping exercise. Cosmetics include facial make-up, perfumes, Nail-polishes and so on. People prefer buying branded cosmetics as there is always the safety issue to be considered.

Preference for Natural beauty cosmetics

Today, women are better informed than their counterparts a few years ago. They know the harm some ingredients used in manufacturing cosmetics cause; for e.g. lead. Similarly, there is also a growing sentiment among them to go for products that have not been tested on animals. Herbal and Natural Beauty Cosmetics have become the order of the day for many women. Natural cosmetics are popular these days as their long term benefits are preferred over the short term benefits that could be potentially harmful in the future. Natural beauty products use a lot of natural ingredients as opposed to synthetic ones.

Buying Beauty*Cosmetics Online

Nothing can beat buying branded cosmetics from the comfort of one's home. And if they are available at better or discounted rates, there is nothing quite like it. Nowadays, online beauty products sites offer a variety of cosmetics at the click of a mouse. One can chose the ones they like and need and order the same. The payment is made securely and the package is delivered to the door-step in a matter of just a few days. Nothing can beat that surely.

Urban women have gained financial independence in ways, not even thought of earlier. They like to be groomed and look their absolute best at all times. They have changed the way they shop for their cosmetics. These days it is just a matter of using a mouse and a keyboard and a credit card. The rest as they say is her story.

Daniel Daniali is a business entrepreneur who has run successful business of branded products like beauty cosmetics, natural beauty cosmetics and much more for more information please visit: http://www.atozbestbuy.com.
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Chipping you with drugs

This last week several articles hit the news about the use of microchips to administer drugs.  Some people may think this is a great advance in pharmaceutical science but I got shivers reading it.  Worse was thinking about the consequences from the well known risk of EMF exposure and tumours from pet chips.

What to me is worse is the first trial was designed to deliver a drug prescribed mainly to women, although men get it as well: The osteoporosis drugs.

Osteoporosis drugs have many drawbacks.  The same drugs have many risks including the risk of very bad fractures and having your jaw bone eaten away (necrosis).  For the most part the drugs are fluoride based and cause the osteoclasts in the bone health cycle to be stopped. In this study, however parathyroid hormone was used with the rationale that people do not like to get injections.

No one seems to think about the drug risks let alone the chip risk or more exposure to EMF that we do know causes cancer.
'Pharmacy on a chip' gets closerBy Jonathan Amos
The futuristic idea that microchips could be implanted under a patient's skin to control the release of drugs has taken another step forward.
US scientists have been testing just such a device on women with the bone-wasting disease osteoporosis.
The chip was inserted in their waist and activated by remote control.
In his article Amos did note that one device failed. In the report of the study the information about the failures in the very small sample size used was not noted.

Serious concerns must have been ignored by the "scientists".

What does happen if the device fails?
What does happen if the device administers all the doses at one time?
What does happen if the device explodes?
What does happen if the person with the device gets a cancerous tumour? (This is a foreign body.)
What does happen if other environmental factors constantly ping this device?

Many more questions must be asked.

And what if this is a way to track your every move?

Read up on risks of microchips for companion animals, this is relevant information for people chipping too -  http://www.chipmenot.org/microchiprisks.htm

Ask us about our natural care approaches to bone health.

Selections from Natural Health News

Dec 27, 2011
As your bone health advocate, I congratulate these researchers on the enormous effort to analyze and synthesize data from hundreds of studies. I also congratulate the drug company which funded this study for clarifying the ...
Jul 30, 2010
NutraIngredients coverage of the calcium research that found the risk of vascular calcium deposits causing heart attack outweighed potential bone healthbenefits can be found here. Sundstø noted the western diet was ...
May 26, 2010
Bone Health and AntiAcid Drugs. While you now just are learning about the problems with acid reflux drugs you might wish to know that this is no real surprise. The drugs shutdown acid production in the stomach that impairs ...
Jan 24, 2009
There are many articles I've posted here at Natural Health News in the past five years. Bone health is not a lineal process as mainstream medicine pundits would have you believe. It isn't even properly evaluated with the bone ...
29 minutes ago
I started educating people and writing about the health impact of EMF more than two decades ago. I spoke on the hazardous use of microwave ovens even earlier. As more and more EMF devices litter our environment we are ...
Jan 28, 2012
Real EMF Danger. Vatican radio waves blamed for high cancer risk ... Posted by herbalYODA at 15:49 · Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to Facebook. Labels: cancer and EMF, EMF. 1 comments: West Coast Family .
Jun 05, 2010
(CNN) -- San Francisco, California, likely will become the first U.S. city to require cell phone companies to disclose how much radiation their gadgets emit. The city's board of supervisors voted 10-1 on Tuesday in favor of a law ...
May 01, 2010
MAY IS ELECTROSENSITIVITY MONTH, many states are promoting this as a health education event. Cell Phone Radiation Levels · FCC Consumer Resources: Wireless Devices Even though some people who submit ...




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Beware EMF: Food and Health


I started educating people and writing about the health impact of EMF more than two decades ago.  I spoke on the hazardous use of microwave ovens even earlier.  As more and more EMF devices litter our environment we are certainly more at risk of real health dangers.

Read what one engineer has to say -

Cancer and Home Appliances
Alasdair Philips is qualified in both Electrical- and Electronic Engineering, as well as Agricultural Engineering.
In 1998, he started the British organization Power Watch, which is committed to uncovering the specific details of how electromagnetic fields (EMFs) affect our health and how we can practically protect ourselves against detrimental effects.
Mr. Philips is also a member of SAGE (the UK Department of Health Stakeholder Group on ELF EMFs) and a member of the UK Health Protection Agency's EMF Discussion Group.
Another early group he became involved with was called Electronics and Computing for Peace. COMPLETE ARTICLE

Selections from Natural Health News


Dec 11, 2009
That's the chemical in artificial butter flavoring that has been blamed for sickening hundreds of workers, killing a handful and destroying the lungs of at least three microwave popcorn addicts. Almost every other popcorn maker ...
Dec 18, 2009
A: For maximum safety, yes -- take the food out of the plastic before you microwave it. Even when plastics are labeled "microwave-safe," very small amounts of chemicals, such as Bisphenol-A (BPA), can leach out of them into ...
Mar 02, 2010
Dear OPRAH, NO MICROWAVE COOKING PLEASE! I am saddened by Oprah's promotion of microwave exposure on food. I just hope she makes an effort to stop telling people that microwaving food is just fine and dandy.
Nov 25, 2007
Summary: In this study, researchers set out to determine the effects of various approaches to microwave cooking (with differences in time cooked, power used, and use of water) on various health-promoting compounds found ...
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Cranberry for Your Health, yes, and get some FREE

I have always been a great fan of the cranberry.  I like it because it has differing enzymes than found in most other fruits and it has long been known to help you keep a healthy UT (urinary tract).
Recently, a new product has emerged in the rapidly growing "shots" market.  This time, one that's a healthy choice.
Northland's Cranberry Care™ liquid supplement is made from whole cranberry and hibiscus extracts – clinically proven* to support urinary tract health – and blended with antioxidant-rich blueberry and pomegranate juices for a powerful, all-natural, straight shot. This tiny drink also provides an excellent source of vitamin C with only 40 calories per serving.
Two clinically proven, all-natural ingredients* create one super shot. PACran® (whole cranberry extract) has been shown to help support urinary tract health by harnessing the powerful antioxidants found in the skin and seeds of the cranberry. UTI Rose™, which is extracted from the Hibiscus flower, has unique properties that have also been proven to support UT health.
Priced at $19.99 for the familiar 2.5 ounce 'shot size' bottle, the 10 pack can be found at Northwest Costco stores and through their web site.
If you're looking for an option to support UT health, this might fit the bill.
And if you'd like to try it for free, send us an email  with your name and shipping address as we're giving away a month's supply to three lucky readers. 

Selections from Natural Health News

Feb 03, 2011
You can also make your own cranberry juice from whole cranberries. Simmer them in water until they pop, then blend the water and berries on high in your blender. Use one pound of berries to one quart of pure, filtered water.
Nov 04, 2009
Pure cranberry juice, the very tart kind with no additives that you get in the health food section is an excellent help. Adding a small amout of pure apple juice is good for a bit of sweetness if you aren't used to cranberry juice's ...
Nov 16, 2010
We all know there is the issue of personal hygiene, cranberry nectar, cranberry sugar extract, and even something as simple as drinking more pure water... Vaccine to prevent urinary tract infections due to E. coli bacteria ...


Aug 27, 2010
A sneak preview obtained by NutraIngredients of 100s of herbs that have been processed by EFSA's health claims panel but not yet published, indicates an exhaustive list has been assessed including cranberry, ...
Nov 08, 2009
This week we're published the most recent issue of our long-standing column, "Natural Notes" featuring the cranberry, another healthy food offering natural blood thinning. Once it is published the links where you can find it will ...
Apr 22, 2010
Cranberries Alleviate prostate pain Fight lung, colon and leukemia cancer cells Prevent urinary tract infection. Green Cabbage Promotes healthy blood clotting Reduces risk of prostate, colon, breast and ovarian cancers ...
Aug 20, 2010
I so wish all products would have Stevia as their sweetner of choice. As for a Energy drink...I have discovered Oceanspray pure cranberry juice! This has so many health benefits and for me, it's helping my R.A. inflammation!
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Now there is proof

I write a new column on health and politics for Sinclair News.  I am pleased to have this venue because it allows me more freedom to write about things that need to be uncensored and where the fear factor is not an issue.

While Larry Sinclair is, and has been, controversial, I have often found myself in that same class for decades.

In my article about Big PhRMA published on 28 January, I mentioned a new drug, Bydureon (exenatide extended release), manufactured by Amylin Pharmaceuticals.  This is their new version of Byetta.

"This long-acting form is a version of their diabetes drug Byetta, that can be used weekly. Byetta is a synthetic exenatide formulation with risk for severe allergic reactions affecting the skin and respiratory system as well as pancreatitis and kidney disease.
Now approved by the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) this newer drug comes with a label warning that the drug caused certain thyroid tumors in rats.
There has been no information provided by the manufacturer whether the drug causes these tumors in people. The warning does state that the drug should not be used by people with history of medullary thyroid carcinoma (cancer). And to think, it was the early pioneers in endocrinology that believed strongly that diabetes was a thyroid disorder.
In 2010 the FDA denied approval of Bydureon and requested additional studies and clinical data.
There is much to be seen from yet another synthetic and potentially risky drug. All drugs in this class have potential interaction issues with other prescriptions you may be taking. Make sure your prescriber and/or your pharmacist provides you with this information, and you clearly understand it." SOURCE
Byetta costs about $250 each month.  Bydureon costs about $600 each month.

A site I follow is Health News Review. This effort tries to educate you about news reports on health topics and how to judge their value.  It also promotes good journalism practices.  Some things they do not like are the press release and advertising reports often relied on in media and by TV news outlets.

Today I was slapped with a real pie in the face example of just this; the Medscape Special Report – February 3, 2012, from Medscape Diabetes.


Bydureon
From Medscape Diabetes
Expert Commentary
Bydureon: An Easy, Effective New Treatment for Type 2 Diabetes
Anne Peters, MD on Diabetes
Bydureon vs Victoza: It's On!
Matthew Mintz, MD: The Diabetes Beat
Latest News
Once-Weekly Exenatide Okayed by FDA for T2DM
Medscape Medical News 2012
Diabetes Drug Bydureon Gets EU Approval
Medscape Medical News 2011
From the Literature
Effects of GLP-1 Receptor Agonists on Weight Loss
BMJ January 2012
Short-term Exenatide Treatment Leads to Significant Weight Loss
Diabetes Care January 2012


With all this media glitz what is someone with diabetes to do to try an determine if this is really the best drug for them, especially with unknown cancer risks?

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