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The 3 Cardinal Sins of Fitness You Might Be Making

You attend spin class religiously. You watch every morsel of food you put in your mouth. You take pride in the amount of weight you can bench. You’re doing everything right … but are you really?

Here are 3 cardinal sins of fitness you might be making:

1. You exercise and then lounge around for the rest of the day.

True, you may have gotten your workout in, but that doesn’t give you a free pass to lay around being lazy the rest of the day. Whether that’s sitting at a desk at work or chilling on the couch with your family, sitting is a danger to your health regardless of your exercise habits. Sitting too much increases your risk of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and cancer. If you need to sit during the day, try to make the best of it: fidget in your chair, stand up and walk around every 15 minutes, or use the stairs whenever possible. Every tiny bit helps in the battle against weight gain and disease, so don’t underestimate the small efforts you can make.

2. You starve yourself after a workout.

You just spent the last hour busting your tail on the treadmill; the last thing you want to do is toss that calorie burn down the toilet by eating, right? Wrong. Not eating after exercising can lead to poor recovery, fatigue, and low blood sugar. To adequately prepare your muscles for your next workout, you need to give them energy to rebuild and recover. This is especially true when it comes to strength training, high intensity workouts, or workouts lasting longer than 60 minutes. Try to eat within 30 to 45 minutes of completing your workout, but even within two hours is pretty good. Shoot for a combo of protein and carbohydrates. If you’re worried about adding too many extra calories to your day’s total, plan your meals around your workouts. For example, hit the gym right before lunch. When you finish working out, dig in: It’ll take care of lunch time and refueling in one shot.

3. You skimp on the stretching.

I know. It’s hard to get to the gym, squeeze in a workout, and still wipe off your sweat before the kids get up. It’s understandable you want to maximize your gym time with cardio and strength training, but skipping on the stretching part could land you on the sidelines with injury and pain. Trust me, I know. Stretching increases your joints’ range of motion and improves blood flow to your muscles, both of which can prevent injuries. Make sure you warm up before stretching or your injury prevention plan could backfire. Flexibility may not be the most exhilarating part of staying in shape, but it’s definitely important. If you find stretching too dull, add some yoga or dance to your workout routine to mix things up.

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Makeup Secrets: Top 7 Desi Bridal Foundations!

Having a flawless base is the key to having the most beautiful bridal makeup look.  Desi makeup artists are renowned for having the best bridal foundation base and everyone wants to know, WHAT DO THEY USE! Here is a breakdown of some of the best bridal foundation available on the market.  You must know choosing the right foundation is a science that depends on your skin type, the level of coverage you need, lighting and your specific skin issues.  Read ahead to find out what desi makeup artists use for creating that perfect bridal base with a detailed review on each of the products to help you decide which one would suit you best!

1.     Kryolan TV Paint Stick

Rating: 4.5/5

The most widely used foundation for bridals amongst South Asians the TV Paint Stick has proven to provide an excellent bridal base.

Coverage: Medium to Full Coverage

Skin Types: Works Best on Normal to Oily Skin

Pros:

• A little product goes a long way
• Very Long-Lasting
• No Need for Concealer or Touch Ups
• Works well under lighting
• Designed for TV & Photography Use
• Affordable
• Available in 250 different Shades as per their website (but most retailers of this product carry just a few selected shades)

Cons:

• Not available easily in many countries
• Feels heavy on the skin
• Heavy formula can clog pores and promote acne breakouts
• There is a fine line between looking great and overdoing this product, so you have to be very careful not to make it look cakey.
• Is a bit of a nightmare to wash off
• Generally you have to mix shades to create the right tone for your skin
• Looks great in photos, but heavy in person
• Can enhance fine lines and wrinkles particularly on dry or mature skins

Pro Tips: Use it with a wet sponge (particularly the Beauty Blender Sponge) or with your good old fingers for optimal results.

2.     Illamasqua Skin base Foundation

Rating 5/5

 

Illamasqua is a newer makeup brand made by Kryolan.  Kryolan is a brand that generally caters to professionals.  Illamasqua on the other hand has the same high quality and highly pigmented products as Kryolan but designed for everyone to understand and use.  Illamasqua’s Skinbase is one of the best bases available on the market; it’s the perfect formula.

Coverage:Light to Full Buildable Coverage

Skin Types:Suitable for All Skin types

Pros:

• Natural to Full Coverage (Buildable)
• Liquid Formula sits close to the skin to allow for more natural base (even if you build it up to a full coverage)
• Controls Shine
• Hydrates
• Smooths the skin
• Suitable for ALL Skin types
• Free of Sulfates, Synthetic Dyes, GMO’s and Triclosan

Cons:

• Illamasqua is a new brand so its not available in all countries yet
• Available in only 26 colors (you may have to mix to get your shade)

Pro Tip: You can apply this product in many ways (there is no right or wrong) Works well with fingers, buff brush and Duo Fiber brush.

3. MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation

Rating 4/5

 

Mac Studio Sculpt is a creamy, luxurious GEL-based foundation that provides a medium buildable coverage.  It’s a very popular foundation in the UK and North America for South Asian Bridals.

Coverage: Light to Medium Build-able Coverage

Skin Types: Best for Normal to Dry Skins + Mature Skins

Pros:

• Comes in a great variety of cool and warm shades
• Natural Satin Finish
• Hydrating
• Instantly smooths and softens the skin
• Great to use as a liquid highlight and contour (golden shades for highlight, warm bronzy shades for contour)
• SPF 15
• Long-Wearing
• Water Resistant

Cons:

• Doesn’t work as great on Oily Complexions
• I find MAC is missing some of the middle (brown) shades which would suit darker South Asian skin

Pro Tip

Apply with a foundation brush starting at the center of the face to build up the product, blend out with fingers or Duo Fiber brush.

4.    Airbrush Foundation

Rating 5/5

 

Airbrush foundation has taken the world by storm.  It’s basically a fine mist of foundation sprayed with a small air compressor.  It covers skin flawlessly, but allowing the skin to breath.

Coverage:Medium to Full Build able Coverage

Skin Types:Suitable for All Skin types

Pros

• Flawless Finish
• Looks Great in Photos and in Person
• Light Weight
• Invisible look but with a FULL Coverage
• Never Looks cakey
• Water Resistant
• Easy to remove
• Long Lasting
• No Touch Ups necessary
• Sanitary

Cons

• Airbrush Gun is irritating to clean
• You’ll have to order it online in most countries outside North America, Uk and Europe
• Expensive
• If you are planning to do your own makeup you’ll have to learn how to use the machine J

Pro tip:

Practice makes perfect, it’s not very difficult to use.  Test on paper first to see how different settings work.

 5.     Dior Air Flash Foundation

Rating 4/5

Dior Air Flash is an ultra-light foundation that delivers an easy to do airbrush effect.  It’s an innovative mist foundation that you simply spray on and you’re ready to go.

Coverage:Light to Medium Build able Coverage

Skin Types:Suitable for All Skin types

Pros:

• Light to Medium Build able Coverage
• Soft, Velvety Finish
• Light Weight
• Easy to Use
• Evens Skin tone
• Reduces the appearance of fine lines
• Gives a glowy effect

Cons:

• Only comes in 10 colours
• Expensive

Pro Tip:

Spray onto the face in a circular motion for a natural finish, for a fuller coverage spray on and buff with a kabuki brush.  Works extremely well with a liquid foundation as a base and the Dior AirFlash applied as a second layer of foundation when wanting to achieve a fuller yet natural coverage.

6.     Estee Lauder: Double Wear Foundation

Rating 5/5

 

Estee Lauder owner of well-known makeup brands such as MAC, Bobbi Brown and Clinique is a powerhouse brand.  Its Double Wear Foundation is an award winning foundation for it’s range of shades from Allure Best of Beauty Awards 2013. Why is this a great bridal foundation?  As the name suggests its DOUBLE WEAR – so it gives a great full coverage.

Coverage:Medium to Full Buildable Coverage

Skin Types:Suitable for All Skin Types

Pros:

• 15-Hour Staying Power
• Fantastic non cakey full coverage
• Natural to Semi-Matte Finish (Matte Finishes work better under lighting and for photography)
• 31 Different Shades (the shade range is just great has those in-between colors many of us South Asians are looking for)
• Easily Available in most countries
• Stays well under heat and humidity
• Evens complexion

Cons:

• Formula can be drying
• They just changed their formula this year (2013), and many women are complaining about that the new colors and formula is not as great as it previously was.

Pro Tip:

If you find it drying in certain areas of the face just mix in some drops of Estee Lauder’s Advanced Night Repair and it works like a dream.

7.  Cover FX Total Cover Cream Foundation

Rating:5/5

 

Cover FX is a 2-in-1 concealer and foundation that is popular in North America.  It’s a cream that is so good it can cover up even the worst of scars.

Coverage:Light to Full Buildable

Skin Types:Suitable for All Skin Types

Pros

• Radiant Finish
• SPF 30
• Optimum coverage of skin imperfections: ance, redness, under eye circles, uneven skin tones, post-surgical bruising, tattoos
• Non-comedogenic
• Suitable for even sensitive skin (zero irritancy score)
• Medium to Full
• Great Shades – each being 3 percent darker then the previous shade in the series
• Does not contain: Parabens, Sulfates, Synthetic Fragrances, Synthetic Dyes, Petrochemicals, Phthalates, GMO’s, Triclosan

Cons

• Not available in all countries
• Can get cakey

Pro Tip:For full coverage, apply a small amount with a foundation brush starting at the center of the face and blend outwards.  Build product on problem areas and spots.  Set with a powder.

For sheer coverage apply an even smaller amount and blend using a patting motion.

How to Hide Dark Spots

How to Hide Dark Spots on DESI Skin

Generally Desi skin is closest to one color pigment, but with sun, heat and genetics it’s also very common for Desi’s to have different pigmentation on the face.  We can’t really run away from dark circles and dark spots, so here are some tips to help you deal with them without having to apply  heavy base.

Normally dark circles and dark spots are grey, blue and green (cool colors) – so by simply applying an orange color corrector mixed with a bit of strong yellow or a ‘camel’ color from a color correction palette it will warm up or cancel out the the dark areas.

Simple apply the color corrector on the dark areas before foundation followed by powder if needed.  Don’t try this technique all over the face, only on dark areas as you may end up looking like a Mandarin :).   MAC has a great size pro palette which has 4 concealers and 2 color correctors – I like using the medium palette for desi skin tones.