Saturday, November 1, 2008

News, Politics and Hair - Twin Cities' Women Provide Hair-Raising Opinions on Local Celebrity Looks

Fantastic Sams, which offers a full range of hair care and color services, conducted a survey among Twin Cities' women to elicit opinions on salon visits and hair color services but also wanted to take a pulse on local celebrity hair for some fun insights.

"We found that Twin Cities' women not only have strong opinions on their own hair, but they have a lot to say about their favorite celebrities' hairstyles as well," said Ernie Valeski, regional director of Fantastic Sams of Minnesota.

Josh Hartnett, followed by Twins' player Joe Mauer, was awarded best hair for male celebrities, and actresses Jessica Biel and Cheryl Tiegs got the first- and second-place nods for women. On the other end of the spectrum, Jesse Ventura and Sarah Jane Olson were voted most in need of a hair makeover. Local news personalities with the best hair were KARE-TV's Belinda Jensen and WCCO-TV's Frank Vascellaro.

In addition, survey respondents provided the following thoughts on celebrity hair:

• Equal party loyalty: When it comes to politicians, party affiliation doesn't necessarily predict best hair picks. For the local mayor with the best hair, Mayor Rybak earned 62 percent of the vote over St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman at 37 percent. In the ongoing Senate race, U.S. Senate candidate Norm Coleman won this election with 66 percent to Al Franken's 34 percent. (Franken polled better in Minneapolis and St. Paul than he did in the suburbs.) Rybak received 72 percent of the Minneapolis vote and Coleman won his city as well with 68 percent, but suburban voters put Rybak over the top.

• Channel surfing: The race for best anchor hair was tight: KARE-TV's Belinda Jensen got high ratings here (25 percent), followed closely by WCCO-TV's Amelia Santaniello (21 percent). Santaniello's husband Frank Vascellaro narrowly edged KARE-TV's Sven Sundgaard and Mike Pomeranz (25 percent compared to 22 percent for Sundgaard and 19 percent for Pomeranz), with Jeff Passolt of FOX 9 not far behind (18 percent).

• Hollywood hits. While she received only 11 percent of the overall vote, actress Winona Ryder was particularly popular with redheads (and in St. Paul), and women with blond hair rated Mauer just as highly as Hartnett - the rest preferred the actor over the catcher.

• Aging gracefully: Women ages 51 to 60 prefer Tiegs' hair and women ages 41 to 60 like anchor Julie Nelson's. Likewise, Sundgaard draws rave reviews with the under 40 crowd whereas Vascellaro is a ratings hit with those over 40.

Survey Methodology
The survey, commissioned by Fantastic Sams and conducted by Stir Strategy, is based on a sample of 200 women living in the Twin Cities' metro area.

About Fantastic Sams Fantastic Sams, a nationwide franchise with nearly 1,400 salons throughout the United States, provides a wide variety of affordable hair services for the whole family. More than 100 Fantastic Sams salons are located in Minnesota, employing more than 1,000 stylists. For more information, visit http://www.fantasticsams.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sarah_A_Peterson

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

The Disappearing Cold Sore

Throughout time man has imagined genies, wizards and magic. If I was granted three wishes, the first would be to make my cold sores disappear!

Although David Copperfield or Houdini have no power over cold sores, you do have some power to control them.

There are 3 magical tricks that can wipe out cold sores.

- Avoid triggering an outbreak
- Once the lesion forms, apply a salve to it
- Prevent the cold sore from developing in the first place

The first trick is to avoid a situation that could trigger an outbreak. A cold sore will usually start when your resistance is lowered. Some of the situations that bring on an episode are:

- Illness; a cold, the flu or a sore throat (This is where the terms "cold sore" and "fever blister" come from because one often gets a sore after having a fever or a cold)
- Exposure to the elements, such as sun and wind
- Stress (physical or emotional)
- A blemish (pimple) near the lips
- A runny nose
- Dental work
- The menstrual cycle

The problem with this method is that you can not always avoid a trigger situation and even if you can, it only reduces the likelihood of an attack. It's no guarantee that a cold sore won't appear.

The second trick is to apply some sort of preparation to the sore once it has surfaced.

These range from prescription drugs, and over the counter salves to home remedies.

There are many different salves, ointments, or preparations that have been used with varying degrees of success.

Here is a partial list of items that can be tried: Ice Rubbing alcohol Finger nail polish remover (acetone) Hydrogen peroxide Hand sanitizer Mouthwash Aftershave Cologne Clearasil Bath soap Toothpaste Salt Sulfur from unburned match heads Deodorant Vinegar Bleach Jack Daniels. Vaseline Neosporin Campho phenique Aloe Vera Mentholatum Abreva Chap stick Desitin Orajel Lip balm Ear wax Your own skin oil Chopped garlic, or garlic pieces Tea tree oil Green tea bag Frozen tea bag Dried Instant coffee made into a paste with a little water Pepto Bismal Whole milk Eucalyptus oil Preparation H Hydrocortisone Green Papaya Sap Benadryl applied topically with lip balm Calamine lotion

The effectiveness of these applications varies from one person to another and even from one outbreak to another.

Proponents of these preparations say that healing time is significantly reduced. However studies have shown that normal healing time is reduced by only a few days. Claims of cutting healing time in half have been shown to be misleading.

In fact many people, including myself, have noticed that some ointments even make the outbreak worse.

The problem with applying any kind of treatment to an active cold sore is that the best that you can hope for is to shorten the healing time and perhaps reduce the pain.

Unfortunately, all of the stages of the cold sore will still appear.

In the meantime you suffer from a painful and ugly sore lasting from several days to two weeks.

The third trick is to prevent the sore from forming in the first place. This is the one that I use now, having tried the other two for over 30 years, and I feel very blessed to be able to defeat the cold sores rather than suffer through them.

Now, when a cold sore attacks, the worst condition I experience is a red area about the size of a pencil eraser for a few days. I never have the blisters, open weeping sore, or scabbing anymore.

The advantages with this method are:

- There is no ugly painful and embarrassing sore to deal with.
- There are no salves, ointments or preparations that need to be applied several times a day.
- And it is not complex or costly.
- Best of all it works.

The vitamins and supplements can be purchased at your local health food or drug store very inexpensively without a prescription.

Although my cold sores do not disappear with the wave of a wand, my new found formula makes them vanish into thin air with a minimum of effort on my part.

For a fast and easy way to stop cold sores in their tracks, or even stop them before they start and to get a FREE 10 day email course about cold sore treatments that work visit http://www.fastcoldsorecure.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brett_Kitchen

Monday, September 1, 2008

Lemon Acid to Remove Age Spots

Those who prefer home remedies to commercial and/or chemical solutions will be glad to know that it is possible to use lemon acid to remove age spots. Lemons, like all citrus fruits, naturally have very acidic juice. This, combined with Vitamin C, is a known formula for skin lightening. It is essentially a natural bleaching agent.

Unlike artificial agents and other age spot remedies, lemon acid is mild enough to work without eliciting any discomfort or posing a threat to overall health.

While using the juice alone is an effective means of using lemon acid to remove age spots, and some people even recommenced rubbing raw lemon slices on age spots, certain recipes can speed up the process and improve results. Here are two good options:

Lemon and Sugar Combination

By combining lemon juice and sugar, you add the element of exfoliation to your treatment. When the skin is exfoliated, the outer layers are slowly rubbed off. Over time, this results in the age spots being worn away. Thus, sugar is a great addition to lemon acid to remove age spots. When combined, the two ingredients can be used as either a paste that is left on for several minutes or a wash-off scrub.

The Ultimate Mixture

Follow this recipe for a popular home remedy that not only uses lemon to remove dark spots but also improves the overall condition of your skin:

1 tsp grated horseradish root

1/2 tsp vinegar

1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

3 drops of rosemary oil

This mixture should be applied one to two times per day like a scrub.

You can use lemon acid to remove age spots, or you can stop playing with fruit and buy a real product.

Check the latest product reviews and ratings at http://www.EraseAgeSpots.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shelley_Taylor