Reducing the Appearance of WrinklesWritten by Brian Fong
Wrinkles. One of most dreaded words in dictionary. At first sign of a wrinkle, our reaction is pretty much universal. Horror! After we calm down, we begin to wonder just what we can do to eliminate this much dreaded effect of aging and how do we keep other newer and deeper wrinkles from following. If we already find ourselves with wrinkle mania in full bloom, we look for solutions to turn back hands of time and restore our skin to its once youthful state. Fortunately, there are options available to us to reduce appearance of wrinkles.Let's take a moment to discover what causes these wrinkles. First and foremost, aging. As we grow older our skin naturally looses collagen and eslastin that help to keep our skin firm and taunt. Also, our skin cell reproduction slows down and rejuvenating effect that new skin cells have on our skin’s appearance diminishes. These types of wrinkles are known as intrinsic, they cannot be avoided. It is Mother Nature at her best (or worst!). Other factors, like environment and sun damage, can also cause skin to wrinkle. Smoking also causes skin to produce less collagen, inevitably leading to an increase in wrinkles. These types of wrinkles are called extrinsic. They are life style choices that are, for most part, under our control. These extrinsic influences are leading cause of pre-mature aging patterns in our skin. Now that we know why we have wrinkles let’s talk about how to reduce them.
| | Beads—A Sign of the Times?Written by MJ Plaster
When you hear word “beads,” do you immediately think of jewelry? Or do you think of Rosary beads or some other non-jewelry use of beads—beaded dresses, headbands, belts? Perhaps you think of a country and western outfit, a studded, head-to-toe piece of jewelry.The first thought that enters your mind when you hear word “beads” may date you and give away your age faster than physical attributes. If you’re a product of 50’s, your mind may wander to pop beads, those plastic pull apart, pop together baubles that have risen in value from pennies to $20, $30 or more. If you’re a product of 60’s, you may think of “love beads,” which complemented long-haired, unkempt look, or your mind may wander to long strands of beads that once adorned inside doorways in Haight Ashbury with sounds of The Mamas and Papas blaring in background. Thanks to television, it’s difficult to forget beaded belts of 70s. From Ancient Trade to Modern Computer Applications Beads predate mid-20th century by eons. Remember abacus? Of course, you can’t actually remember back 2000 years unless you possess powers unknown to this author, but you can remember learning about abacus in school. In Europe, Venetian glass beads and German metal beads served as currency in trade as early as 16th century. Beads also played a central role in Native American jewelry. Bohemia (aptly named) was center of European bead trade from as far back as Middle Ages. Through twists and turns of history, bead making moved to Bavaria and now, has once again found its home in Chezk Republic, in Bohemia area, home of Swarovski Austrian crystals. In 1990, Native American traditional beadwork intersected with computer sciences. Several college campuses introduced a pilot program in which beadwork shaped foundation for courses AutoCad and other design program courses for Native American students. The popularity and applicability of these courses continues today.
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