Monthly Archives: December 2012

Top Tips to stop a dental disaster this Christmas

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Food plays a big part in our Christmas celebrations, adding excitement and an excuse to eat our favourite treats! Recent stats from Denplan, the UK’s leading dental payment provider, show that 74 per cent of people consider themselves to have a good diet – but we all over-indulge at Christmas. In fact last year’s dental emergencies peaked for Denplan patients around the festive season, seeing a whopping 1946 claims in January.

To help you avoid any dental pain this Christmas here are some top tips on what to eat, as well as how to deal with a dental emergency, from Denplan’s Chief Dental Officer, Roger Matthews.

“Christmas is a time to enjoy, and we all like to treat ourselves at this time of year, but because we are eating and drinking more than usual, we can put ourselves at risk of damaging our teeth, and the last thing you want is a dental emergency over the festive period. If you do damage a tooth, it’s always best to get it looked at as soon as possible, to avoid further damage or discomfort. Here are my top tips on foods that won’t harm your teeth and which ones to eat with care!”:

Top Five Tooth Friendly Foods

1. Cheese! Christmas isn’t complete without a decent cheeseboard, so as you’re tucking into a chunk of cheddar you’ll be pleased to know that not only is it rich in calcium, which promotes healthy teeth, it also balances out the PH in your mouth which lessens the damaging effects of acid from a festive glass of wine on tooth enamel and helps kill bacteria that cause tooth decay and gum disease

2. We often have bowls of snacks lying about at Christmas, but instead of opting for crisps, why not opt for nuts instead? Peanuts (unsalted if possible) contain calcium and vitamin D, both vital for oral health as well as your general health. Walnuts, which are often used in puddings and cakes, also contain zinc fibre, folic acid, iron, thiamine, magnesium, vitamin E & B6, potassium and zinc – all of which play an important role in keeping our teeth and gums healthy

3. Christmas lunch is renowned for its abundance of vegetables. Broccoli and carrots in particular are great for your oral health as they contain vitamin A which help strengthens the tooth enamel

4. Crudités will promote good oral health as, because they are eaten raw, they massage your gums, which encourage blood flow, and clean your teeth too

5. The humble turkey provides us with a great source of protein, which is rich in phosphorus. This combines with calcium and vitamin D to make our teeth (and bones). By eating plenty of protein you will help reduce tooth decay and keep your teeth strong and healthy

Top Five Teeth Rotters:

1. Sweets, biscuits and cakes – Although the endless supply of chocolate and puddings it so tempting, try to keep them to a minimum as sugars are a prime cause of the acidic biofilm which causes dental decay. Acid resulting from frequent consumption of refined sugar dissolves the minerals essential for healthy teeth. When you do indulge, its best to have sweets in one go after your meal, rather than picking throughout the day

2. Fizzy drinks – If you like a bit of fizz in your soft drinks or mixers why not opt for soda water. Fizzy drinks are loaded with sugar and even sugar-free or diet drinks are still acidic and in excess can cause tooth enamel to erode away. But, if you can’t resist them, use a straw as this will lessen direct contact with your teeth

3. Processed cereals – Breakfast may not be the most important meal when it comes to the festive season, but if you’re looking to grab something quick and easy to set you up for the day try to avoid processed cereals as you’ll be amazed at how much sugar is hidden in these, much better to opt for porridge or bran based cereals – or, better still eggs! Either clean your teeth before you eat or half an hour after, to avoid damaging your enamel

4. Crisps – Cooked starch breaks down into component sugars – the main enemy for teeth. Why not opt for carbs low on the glycaemic index such as vegetable crisps instead?

5. Wine – We all love a glass of wine or two at Christmas, but white wine can be very acidic and contribute to enamel erosion, try drinking it just at your main meal, as drinking little and often is far worse than drinking once a day. Red wine can also increase the risk of staining, especially if you forget to brush your teeth as often as you should with the distractions of festive fun! If you are drinking red wine, try to remember to leave a gap before you brush your teeth to remove any stains

“However, if you do find yourself unlucky, falling over after a festive night out or cracking your tooth on your favourite Christmas sweets, here’s my step-by-step guide on what to do,” Roger continues:

What should I do if a tooth is knocked out?

Call your dentist immediately and book an emergency appointment, ideally within an hour of the incident as your tooth will have the best chance of surviving the trauma during this time
Handle the knocked out tooth by the crown (the top), not by the root (the pointed part on the bottom) as touching the root can damage cells that are needed to re-attach the tooth to the bone
Gently rinse the tooth in water to remove any dirt, but be careful not to scrub it. It is very important that the tooth doesn’t dry out – if you can, place the clean tooth in your mouth between the cheek and gum to keep it moist. Alternatively, wrap the tooth in a clean cloth and cover it with milk or a salty saline solution (the solution used for contact lenses)
If a baby tooth is knocked out, don’t try to insert it back into the mouth. The patient should be seen as soon as possible to make sure that none of the tooth remains in the mouth

How should I handle a chipped or fractured tooth?

If you fracture a tooth, rinse your mouth with warm water and use an ice pack or cold compress to reduce any swelling. Take ibuprofen, not aspirin, for pain, as this is an anti-inflammatory
Book an appointment to see your dentist at the next most convenient time, depending on how much pain you’re in
Minor fractures and chips can be smoothed out by your dentist with a sandpaper-like disc, while larger ones may be fixed using restorative procedure
Denplan patient, Dawn Schier, added: “One recent Christmas Eve most of one of my teeth fell out. I rang the dentist, who arranged that I could go to the surgery on Christmas morning. He did a wonderful job and I had a lovely Christmas lunch eating all the things that I didn’t think I could. Can you imagine how awful it would have been not to have been able to use Denplan’s services on Christmas day? It temporarily sorted my tooth out and I had a lovely Christmas lunch! I went back after Christmas and had the tooth fixed permanently.”*

Denplan as approximately 1.8 million registered patients whose products include a 24-hour worldwide dental emergency cover. To find out more about how you can be covered this season visit www.denplan.co.uk.**

* All dentists have different emergency opening hours, please check with your practice

** Terms and conditions apply

Love Your Skin Intensive Hydra-Gel Moisturiser Review

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I got this moisturiser in a goodie bag at London Fashion Week and I love it. I have quite good skin with just the occasional breakout, but my skin is sensitive. I also really hate the feeling of a heavy moisturiser on my face and Love Your Skin’s Intensive Hydra-Gel Moisturiser is really lightweight. It smells divine and has a great consistency.

It has nearly finished now and my skin loves it. I feel a change in my skin when I don’t put it on. It doesn’t have an SPF, which I usually insist on in a moisturiser and I tend to use a lot of it, but that is because I love it. It is non-greasy and comes in a convenient pump action bottle. This moisturiser will surely become a cult classic.

It is a reasonably priced 29.99 for 100ml. Would I buy it? Definitely.

What they say:

The Intensive Hydra-Gel Moisturiser is an indulgent hydrating moisturiser, rich in collagen, to attract and bind moisture to the skin, and Vitamin E to maintain a smooth texture. Light and gentle, this non-greasy moisturiser is the perfect way to hydrate and nourish skin.

Love Your Skin – London is a new British skincare company created by skincare expert Lorraine Winslade. You can find their products at www.lys-london.com.

What is your favourite moisturiser? Comment below.

Best Caskets in Los Angeles

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A loved one passing away is always hard, so anything that makes dealing with the administration of a death is something to be thankful for. After the FTC passed a new funeral rule in 1995 consumers became able to supply their own goods at funerals. This was great news for people buying funeral goods as it makes the process easier and makes sure you do not get ripped off during a time when you will be emotionally vulnerable. The rule also allows you to get the price over the telephone and see a written price for caskets los angeles and anywhere else.

If you are looking for caskets for sale los angeles SameDay Caskets who specialize in a fast, reliable service. They have great costumer service and a brilliant selection. They also have caskets in a wide range of styles, for all budgets: 18 and 20 gauge steel caskets, elegant hardwood, and affordable veneer options. They even do same day delivery.

The caskets will arrive safely, intact and in time. If you need caskets los angeles then SameDay Caskets will give you fast, free delivery to anywhere in California. You can even visit their factory to see the casket in person. Sounds like value for money to me.

Sponsored Post.

Beware 18:00 on Saturdays in December!

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Brits lose £2bn of items a year with most losses at 6pm on Saturdays in December

Figures released highlight the need for Brits to protect their belongings as we reach the most dangerous time of year for losing things. According to the research – commissioned by www.mozy.co.uk, the world’s most trusted provider of online back up and data access solutions – more items are lost at 18:00 on Saturdays in December than at any other time of the year.

The transition from work to weekend, and Saturday-afternoon Christmas shopping to Saturday-night Christmas celebrations, appears to create the perfect conditions for loss with nearly as many items going missing on Fridays and Saturdays as the rest of the week put together.

And people travelling through Aberdeen, Birmingham and London should be extra cautious since these three cities form the Bermuda Triangle for lost property with more items reported lost or stolen there than any other cities in the UK.

A whopping 30 per cent of Brits lose two or more belongings a year and, globally, less than half of lost items are ever recovered. With the average Brit mislaying more than £80 worth of possessions in the past 12 months, this amounts to well over £2billion of lost property in the UK this year.

The most commonly-lost item is the smartphone which accounts for 35% of all item lost by men and 25% by women globally. In line with this trend, 70% of people have lost electronic gadgets, such as smartphones, laptops and MP3 players, which is all the more upsetting because losing these items not only means losing an expensive device but also the data that is held on it.

Claire Galbois-Alcaix from Mozy commented: “’Getting carried away’ and ‘carrying too much’ were two of the top reasons for losing things and dashing home from work to get to a seasonal party or bustling back after a day of Christmas shopping are great examples of these. Going straight from work to a party, laptop bag in hand, or snapping the festive fun with the camera on your smartphone puts more than just the devices themselves at risk though. As the research shows, it’s the vital work on the laptop or the irreplaceable pictures on your phone that people really hate to lose. That’s why we’re urging everyone to backup the content on their devices before they get to the most dangerous time of the year. It’s simple to do and you can even do it for free.”

Reinforcing how important backup is, 57 per cent of respondents said they would be more upset about losing the data on a device than the device itself. So valuable, in fact, is the information on smartphones that, rather than just getting a replacement device, 97 per cent of people who had dropped their phone down a toilet said that they had tried to retrieve it.

Some of the most common things that people reported finding were money (in some cases as much as £3000), bags, pets and jewellery – though more than 15 sets of false teeth were reported found by the research respondents. More unusually, mummified dogs, a C17th cannon ball and a winning scratch card were all uncovered.

The best hope for recovering lost items is for someone else to return them, the research found. 52 per cent of items that found their way home came at the hands of a conscientious stranger, compared to just 11.5 per cent of items that were rediscovered by their owners. Beware though, whilst 61 per cent of people have found an item that wasn’t theirs and 52 per cent successfully returned them, 16 per cent kept the item for themselves and six per cent sold it.

When it comes to looking for lost items, almost 90% of Brits give up looking for an item after a week – only the USA look for less time (92%). The Germans are the most persistent with over a quarter of respondents continuing their search for a month or more. Interestingly, the Germans are also the country least likely to lose belongings with 64% of respondents claiming not to have lost anything (compared to a global average of 51%) in the last 12 months, and the highest proportion of people who had lost items saying they had only lost one item (14%). Going against the lucky stereotype, the Irish are the most likely to lose items (36%).

Regional differences also appeared in the type of items that are lost and how they are lost too. Fashion-conscious French are twice as likely to lose a favourite item of clothing than the Brits and four times as likely as Germans. Americans are twice as likely to lose laptops as Germans and four times as likely to lose their keys. Germans however are two-and-a-half times as likely to lose their purse or wallet as Brits or the French. Americans are four times as likely as Germans to lose an item because they ‘got carried away’.

Top ten things that go missing (global):

1) Smartphone

2) Jewellery

3) Sunglasses

4) Keys

5) Bank/credit card

6) Clothing

7) Umbrella

8) Purse/wallet

9) ID

10) Paperwork

The five things people are most upset to lose:

1) Bank card

2) Laptop

3) Smartphone

4) ID

5) Wallet/purse

Looney Losses – some of the most unusual things people reported finding:

– 1947 Florin

– £3000 in £10 notes

– A chicken

– A handcuff key

– A hogs pudding

– A black pearl in a shell

– A small antique clock

– £100,000 in vouchers

– A bag of worms

– A bowler hat

– C17th cannonball

– False teeth

– Mummified dog

– Rolex

– Unexploded bomb

– A safe

– A full bank deposit bag

– A samurai sword

– A .45 calibre handgun

– A draft screen play

– A parakeet

– A little black book

– An antler

– A cucumber in an umbrella stand

– One Prada shoe

– Two guinea pigs

– A rowing machine

– A cash register

– A winning scratch card

– A gold tooth

 

Pixengo: New iPhone App helps people with their Christmas trimmings

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Last year people spent nearly 1.4 billion pounds on greetings cards, more than was spent on tea and coffee put together! But with many families looking to slash festive costs this Christmas, tis the season to be thrifty.

Now you don’t have to spend a fortune posting Christmas cards. Pixengo, an innovative new App for the iPhone available to download from iTunes, is FREE and allows you to add thoughts and emotions to still images by fusing them with 30 second sound bites.

Record a festive message, whisper sweet nothings to a partner or even sing a Christmas carol if you are brave. Let your photos do the talking!

Pixengo means you can send personalised Christmas greetings to friends, family and loved ones. Capture a photo using the App or select an existing one from your camera roll – perhaps one of you, your family or even a pet! If you want to enhance the image Pixengo comes complete with special creative tools and filters.

Add a recording and share via your Pixengo stream, email, Facebook or Twitter publicly or just with your nearest and dearest. If you mess up you can rerecord, simple.
Lucky recipients see the photo, click on a play button to listen to the sound clip and have the option to like or comment. You can view ‘Pixengos’ in a web browser on your mobile or a computer; you do not need the App.

Pixengo saves you time and hassle as well as money by allowing you to send Christmas greetings on the go from your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, and to multiple recipients if you wish – all at the touch of a button! This means you can spend more precious time with those closest to you.

Personalised Pixengo greetings are perfect for any celebration or special day, not just Christmas. You can send birthdays wishes, congratulate someone on getting married or having a baby, and wish people luck in a new job.

Check out our example Christmas greeting Pixengo by visiting http://new.pixengo.com/p/18CYJ74

ShopStyle reveals a surprising winner in the party fashion stakes – the humble onesie for men

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Maybe it’s the arctic weather, but this season it seems we’re snuggling up on the sofa in an oversized onesie rather than out partying. Of the fashion terms searched for by men and women in the last month, the UK’s no 1 fashion shopping site ShopStyle.co.uk has revealed that the humble ‘onesie for men’ was the most searched for term, coming in above traditional party clothes ‘sequin dresses’ and ‘faux fur coats’.

 

But the good news is it seems we haven’t dumped the glamour for comfort completely. Of the fashion terms searched for by men and women, ‘sequin dress’ came third, with the enduring fashion classic, the maxi dress fifth, and over-the-knee boots in tenth. Lace proved to continue to be a popular trend, with lace dresses in at numbers eight and nine.

 

Joanna Wells, editorial director for ShopStyle commented: “Like it or not, this has been the year of the onesie with everyone from Rihanna to Rylan from the X Factor sporting the casual and cosy look. At this time of year we’d usually expect to see a sparkly party dress as the number one most searched-for item; but it seems the more elegant Kate Middleton look is still popular with lace dresses coming in the top ten.”

 

Top 10 most searched-for fashion terms during November and December 2012:

 

  1. Onesie for men

 
  1. Onesies for women
  1. Sequin dress
  1. Parka
  1. Maxi dress
  1. Faux fur coats
  1. Lace dress
  1. Black lace dress
  1. Red dress
  1. Over the knee boots

 

Viviscal Review *Updates*

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2012 was a year were I worked pretty much flat out, so you can imagine that I was pretty stressed sometimes. As a result my hair was not looking it’s best. I decided to do something about it and luckily a PR company sent me some natural food supplement, Viviscal to review.

I took Viviscal for three months. So, the result….

I do think it made a difference to my hair. It definitely grew faster. I have to get my hair cut twice as much. In fact I got it cut and less than a month later a friend commented on how long my hair was. It also definitely has more oomph, is shinier and feels so soft that I keep stroking it. Over all my hair has more volume. Would it work for actual hair loss or actually give you more hair overall? I’m not sure. I took it for three months and you have to take two pills for six months and then one pill after that. The results were promising though. I reckon it is possible. Read more about the study below.

*Update* We bought over six months of Viviscal with our own money for a writer, who wants to remain anonymous, to review. She is suffering from hair loss. After the six months her hair loss was worse, not better, despite the huge expense of the pills. Obviously the Viviscal did not make it worse, it just did not help. She did think her hair was shinier overall. We were also told by two trichologists that no hair supplements actually work. So for actual hair loss we would recommend going to your GP or a Trichologist. We have our very own trichologist who can answer your hair questions.

Kate Hudson apparently gets her amazing hair from taking Viviscal. According to David Babaii, hair stylist,

“Kate’s naturally long and full hair is a result of taking Viviscal”

The principal ingredient AminoMar CTM was originally developed in Finland in the 80’s, when a Finnish Professor discovered that the Inuit’s great hair and skin was a result of their fish and protein rich diet. By isolating the key ingredient molecules to replicate the Inuits’ secret of beautiful hair, he created AminoMar CTM, a ground breaking proprietary marine protein complex.

This was the basis of the first hair growth supplement. Since the professor’s discovery, Viviscal has been tried and tested by doctors, dermatologists, trichologists and hair stylists worldwide. A study of a third male and two thirds female patients, published by the Swedish Alopecia Society, showed that following six months of treatment with Viviscal, 95% of patients showed regrowth of hair. More recently a US study showed an increase in terminal hair after 90 and 180 days of taking the Viviscal supplement verses placebo and as the results were so promising this study is being continued.

Beautiful hair growth begins from within. As well as the AminoMar C marine protein complex, scientifically formulated Viviscal supplements also contain Vitamin C, Niacin, Biotin*, iron, zinc horsetail extract and millet seed extract. These are all essential for maintaining normal healthy hair growth and the basic structural building units of proteins that are essential in the formation of the hair structure.

Viviscal Maximum Strength is priced at £49.95 for 60 tablets (one month supply) and should be taken twice daily – once in the morning and then again in the evening. It is available from Superdrug, Lloyds Pharmacy (including Selfridges), pharmacies and health stores.

Tropical Sun Freebies

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The Tropical Sun team (who funnily enough are all called Ray) has launched a live vending machine sending out freebies of their authentic Caribbean products. Check out the video: