Beauty House

Welcome to Beauty House. We believe that good health has a direct bearing on good looks. There are some simple health and beauty routines that can be followed to make you look more beautiful. And younger. Although youth may be no prescription for beauty, there is no reason to resign yourself to the wear and tear and deterioration that age inevitably brings.

Cosmetology, or the branch of medicine that aids in correcting or beautifying external parts of the body to improve appearance, cleanliness, or correct odours, has made great advancements. Here is a sample list of what can be done:

* Wrinkling of the skin can be effectively delayed
* Various skin blemishes can be corrected
* Hair removal can be made permanent
* Bulging thighs and tummies can be trimmed

Recent advancements have brought more exciting possibilities.

Looking good is not difficult. If you understand how the skin or hair functions and what is required to keep it healthy you have taken the most important step to looking good. Beauty House aims to help you in this endeavour.

How the Eye Works

The basic function of the eye is often compared to a simple camera.

* Light travels in straight lines but bends when it hits another transparent medium.

* The cornea is the curved front surface of the eye. When a ray of light hits this curved surface, it bends. It is here that most of the refraction occurs. The refractive index is approximately 1.376, which is comparable to that of glass or plastic.

* The iris is the coloured part of the eye. It adjusts automatically to control the amount of light entering the eye.

* The pupil is the hole in the iris through which the light enters. It enlarges when there is less light, so as to allow the maximum possible light to enter. It becomes smaller when you are in the presence of bright light.

* The lens is the transparent structure inside the eye that focuses light rays onto the retina. It is flexible and changes its shape and focal length. When we look at faraway things, the lens is pulled flat by little muscles. When we look at close-up things, the muscles pull in and the lens gets fat and round. This way, the eye is able to look at things near as well as far.

* The retina is the nerve layer that lines the back of the eye. When your eye focuses on an object, all the light rays from a single point on that object are bent toward a single point on your retina. The odd thing is that the images are inverted as they impinge on the retina! (This is because the rays of light are bent by a double convex lens!) The retina senses light and creates impulses that are sent through the optic nerve to the brain.

* The macula is a small area in the retina that contains special light-sensitive cells. The macula allows us to see fine details clearly.

* The optic nerve is the nerve that connects the eye to the brain. The optic nerve carries the impulses formed by the retina to the brain, which interprets them as images.

By the time this happens, you have not just seen, you have perceived. Vision is not so simple as we have made it sound. Two people look at the same scene and see different things. We recognise things with different associations. In these ways seeing is so closely connected to the understanding of what is seen – perception.

EYE CARE

Vision is a gift to be cherished. Maintaining good vision and taking care of our eyes is a relatively simple task for the vast majority. In this section, we will learn the art of taking care of our eyes and ensuring perfect sight for the greater part of our lives.
The number of people with visual problems is truly staggering. In a developed country like the United States, it is estimated that more than two million people lose partial vision every year and almost a quarter of this number become totally blind. The figures in India are expected to be several times more than two million.

In addition to care of the eyes, you can also get information on:

# How the Eye Works
# Common Refractive Problems
# For Spectacles Users
# World without Glasses
# Contact Lens Care
# Computer Vision Syndrome
# Conjunctivitis
# Glaucoma
# Ptosis
# Strabismus
# Retinal Detachment
# Cataract


Why are annual eye examinations important?

Annual eye examinations are strongly recommended for everyone. It also serves as a precaution. The benefits of annual eye examination are that it:

* Detects near and far sightedness at an early stage
* Detects astigmatism
* Detects serious diseases like glaucoma
* Detects cataracts
* Detects systemic diseases like diabetes and hypertension

Children for whom eye check-ups are crucial

The annual eye examination is more important in the case of children. More than 75% of a child's learning in the growing years is accomplished by vision and even a slight impairment in the child's vision can lead to a significant delay in the child's intellectual development. While all children need regular eye check-ups, there are certain groups of children who are at greater risk. These include:

* Children born prematurely
* Children born into a family that has a history of eye problems such as childhood cataracts, mal-aligned eyes , or eye tumours
* Children who have parents with health problems such as diabetes
* Children who have had eye injuries even if the injuries have occurred years ago.

Tips for preserving good sight

Besides an annual eye examination, some simple steps can be followed that can help preserve good sight. They are:

* Avoid meddling with the eyes as far as possible such as rubbing the eyes often, or squeezing them. If there is significant irritation in the eyes, consult your eye doctor.
* Avoid looking directly at the sun, welding electrodes or any other source of very bright, intense light.
* Try to watch television from a minimum of six screen lengths from the set, which is the recommended distance. Also watching television for very long hours every day has been known to cause eyestrain.
* If you have any systemic diseases like hypertension or diabetes, see your eye doctor right away. The eyes are very often damaged in these conditions and early detection and treatment is crucial.
* Do not use excessive eyeliners or other makeup material for the eye. Some of these could irritate and cause problems for the eye.

Common symptoms of eye diseases

Some common symptoms of eye diseases are:

* Diminishing vision. This may be sudden or gradual, persistent or intermittent.
* Redness and irritation in the eyes
* Pain within the eyes or headache
* Double vision
* Watering of or discharge from the eyes
* Flashes of light or sparks in vision
* Sudden prominence of the eyes
* Spots in vision

Beauty Hints

Whatever beauty aid you decide to make use of, stick to it and do it regularly to get a lasting benefit.

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Rub a rind of lemon over your face if you have an oily skin and this will lessen grease and whiten your complexion.

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Mix the juice of one lemon to two tablespoons of milk or cream. Apply this on your face and neck and massage for a few minutes. Then rinse off. Do this daily before going to bed. It helps to bleach your face and keep your hands soft and supple.

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Take a teaspoon of lime juice and stir in half a teaspoon of honey and a few drops of milk. Mix well and apply over your face and neck fifteen minutes before you take your bath. This lotion will have a mild bleaching effect on a greasy skin, which because of its excessive oil may be rather sallow.

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To one tablespoon of cucumber juice, stir in a few drops of lime juice and a dash of turmeric powder. Mix well and apply over your face and neck. Leave it on for half an hour and then remove it with ordinary tap water. This lotion makes an excellent whitener for all types of skin.

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Cut tomatoes in half and rub over the face. This is useful for toning up and whitening the skin and refining the pores.

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To cleanse the face, soak a piece of cotton wool in unboiled milk and rub the face with it gently from the chin upwards to the forehead.

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Mix a teaspoonful of turmeric powder with cream, sandal powder and bengal gram flour and make into a paste and apply once a day for about half an hour before a bath. This is an excellent beauty aid to keep the face fresh and soft.

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Grate and squeeze juice out of a small piece of watermelon. Apply it on your face and leave it on for about fifteen minutes. Then wash with hot water and splash on some cold water. This lotion not only freshens up the skin but also clears the skin of its blemishes.

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Grind a few cabbage leaves and extract the juice. Dissolve a little yeast in it and to this add a teaspoon of honey. Mix well and apply it thickly over your face and neck and leave it on for fifteen minutes. Then remove with cotton wool soaked in water. This is an excellent remedy for counter-acting dry skin

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To close pores that are open, rub ice wrapped in cotton wool gently on the face.

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Add a little carrot juice and orange juice to a cup of milk. Rub this mixture daily on a face scarred with smallpox marks and they may disappear gradually.

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To remove dead skin from the face, apply a mixture of glycerine, lime juice and sugar and rub gently.