Can you really take back the years?

Anti-ageing products are everywhere from the TV to the magazines and billboards that we see daily. There is a constant bombardment from the media to turn back the years and look younger. the easiest way to do this is to buy a superbly packaged, superbly expensive and superbly chemical pot of anti-ageing cream.
No longer are wrinkles considered to give a face character, they are now seen as a slippery slope to looking like your grandmother. According to a Boots survey, one in three women over 30 in the UK now use an anti-ageing product and the latest figures show that we spend more than £650 million on them each year.
There are hundreds of products on the market and the majority of them include Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Alpha-hydroxy Acids and Retinoids. All are promoted to help reduce wrinkles. Some of the biggest names in anti-ageing products are L'Oreal, Olay, Roc and No7. However research goes to show that these products actually have little or no effect on the skin and all they are good for is good packaging and advertising with people like Andie Macdowell and Jane Fonda fronting campaigns for L'Oreal.No wonder the products are flying off the shelves with all the images of beautiful, AIRBRUSHED women.
There is little a cream can do to take back years of sun exposure, smoking, genetics, drinking and an unhealthy diet so the key ingredient to all these products in my opinion is not all these chemicals but to start looking after your skin at a young age-drink plenty of water, wear sunscreen and take it easy on the cigarettes and booze!

Looking for a job??

These days boob jobs are as common as buying a new designer handbag. The fact is now a days the operation can be performed in one-two hours done under a general anaesthetic. Usually the operation requires an overnight stay in hospital, but occasionally you can have the operation and go home the same day. However recovery time is a few weeks and it is common to still feel pain months after.
For an operation that costs between $4000-$10000 in the US and £3500-£5000 in the UK, women are not afraid to shell out big bucks to look better. In 2006 329,000 breast enlargement operations were performed in America. The most common size to go to 300cc which is the size of a C cup.
Boob jobs are now seen as an acceptable present to give someone maybe at Christmas or for their birthday. Both Jessica Simpson and Britney Spears gave their mothers a trip to the doctor as a present to preserve their 'assets' as they were getting older.In California it is quite common for doting mothers to give their daughters a boob job for their sweet sixteenth- why not it solves the problem of 'late bloomers'! One case in particular came from here in the UK when a girl, Jenna Franklin aged 15 offered implants for her birthday present from her parents, both of whom are in the business. She had been considering it since the age of 12! Some doctors will not operate on anyone under the age of 18 but there is always someone to perform it if you look hard enough and are willing to pay.
However deciding on getting a boob job isn't a simple thing to consider, they can more costly than just the initial operation fee. For a start they last for about 10 years so depending on what age you get them, you're more than likely to have to replace them. We have all seen the horror stories from those dodgy surgeons on TV but these are realistic dangers that every woman faces. Side effects can include breast feeding issues, infection, implant leakage and can also interfere with mammography, a low dose x-ray of the breast tissue used to detect cancer.
The way the western world works now is that if we don't like something about ourselves we can change it, it just comes with a hefty price-tag and a recovery period of a couple of months!

Media Analysis-The horror of horror movies...

I have been one of those people who have watched horror movies since i was about 8. I am not sure whether i enjoyed them or whether it was just the thrill of rebelling against my parents when i watched an 18+ movie. I have become more aware that the older i get, the harder i find it to watch these movies. Whether this is my own personal complex or the fact that movies have become ten times more gruesome in recent times is still something i am trying to work out, probably a little bit of both i guess. Last week i went to see Saw IV, admittedly i've seen the other three and when you buy tickets to the Saw movies you know that you're not going to see a Disney film, however from the opening credits i watched about half the film through my fingers and for the other half i had to cover my face with my scarf. I think the plot is very clever but i cannot help but wonder who comes up with these barbaric ideas of how to disfigure and destroy the human body. On another level im sure anyone who came out of the cinema was secretly looking over their shoulder hoping someone had not taken any ideas from the film and was hoping to test them out! Other films that have received a lot of speculation about the level of gore and violence is Hostel one and two. Creator Eli Roth who came up with the sick plot said he based the film on real life events such as what is going on today in Iraq, a scary comparison but probably true.
The genre of horror has changed dramatically in the past 20 years. There is no comparison to todays horror films with those of a few years ago. The old classics like The Exorcist and the Alfred Hitchcock films are childs play compared to films today. The studios have started to remake horror films such as Halloween and The Texas chainsaw massacre with noticably more blood and violence.
It has been scientifically proven that watching horror films do have an effect on children whether it be having defficulty sleeping after viewing a scary film or avoiding or dreading a dipicted situation in their own lives. However as much as i hate watching these movies, I do sometimes indulge and enjoy the anxiety while being surrounded by friends. The situation quickly turns when i have time to think or i am on my own driving home-my imagination goes into overdrive and before i know it i imagine there is someone hiding in my boot. The appeal of these horror movies is not something i can pinpoint personally; some people like the plot, others the gore, others the suspense. Whatever the attraction they are hard to resist and i find myself always going back for more.

Media Analysis- A bride at three

I was flicking through the pages of Grazia magazine the other day and i came came across an article that really struck a chord in me. There was a picture and article about a little girl called Sunam from Afghanistan. At the tender age of three, Sunam has already been betrothed to her seven-year-old cousin. Dressed up in a veil, white dress, with hair and make-up done, Sunam has been given as a gift from her father to his sister, who is desperate for a daughter of her own. When questioned about her engagement party this summer, she fiddled with her dress and looked blankly at her family,not out of shyness but out of the fact that she is unable to talk much. Sunam and her fiancee now live together as siblings but when they reach their mid-teens they will get married. This situation is a regular occurrence in Afghan where statistics from UNICEF show that 16 per cent of children are married by the age of 15, especially those from poorer families. The poverty of recent years has shown that the marriage age in some areas has lowered below 15. To read this is such a shock when we come from such a free nation with so many choices. The match is made by the children's parents and often results in a miserable union for the rest of their lives. Sunam will grow up and be considered the property of the groom's family.Her future looks set to be little more than a slave who will cook, clean and have children for her husband. Often the wives are subjected to violence, if she disobeys her own family in the union or her grooms family once she is married. The man can also take a second wife if he loves her, according to both Afghan and Islamic culture. The girls are trapped in these marriages and it is very common for them to run away or commit suicide. In the cases that they run away they often end up involved in drugs and prostitution as the only way to support themselves. The minimum legal age of marriage in Afghanistan is 16 for girls and 18 for boys, however this is often overlooked and child marriages account for 43% of all marriages. Often the brides family is happy to receive a larger some of money for her at a younger age rather than wait a year or two.
There are several organisations trying to improve the situation in Afghan and lobby for more rights for women. In March of this year, the woman's ministry and rights group Medica Mondiale started a campaign to encourage marriage registration before a judge in the hope that this will cut down the amount of forced and child marriages. The realisation that this is going on in our world is not something that we are exposed to every day, however with a little research it is a subject with much depth and an ongoing issue with which girls younger than ourselves must deal with everyday. For more information on this subject go to www.womenforafghanwomen.org and www.medicamondiale.org.

Hot Stone Therapy

Hot stone massage therapy has been around in many cultures for many years. Its popularity has grown and it has now become one of the most requested massage treatments in spas and practices all over the world. Healers use basalt stones and warm them on hot coals or in hot water. The stones are arranged along the energy centers of the body and are used as tools to deliver effective tissue and muscle massage at a pressure level comfortable to the client. The heat of the stones allows a deeper and more intense massage because the muscles are so relaxed. Hot stone therapy can help in the treatment of muscular aches, strains, arthritic conditions and insomnia. It also helps to improve circulation and reduce stress, anxiety, tension and depression.
During the treatment the client lies on a couch with strategically placed stones under them and on top of them,both separated by a towel or cloth. Oil is applied to the skin and the therapist glides the hot stones across the bodies meridian lines. Different sized stones are applied to different parts of the body, for example; large stones are placed in the palms of the hands while coin sized stones are lightly wedged between the toes.This massage is used to balance chief energy centers, benefiting the whole body and leaving the client feeling rejuvenated and relaxed. The hot stones expand the blood vessels, pushing blood and unwanted waste materials through the body. This has a sedative effect on the nervous system and ensures that every cell in the body receives more oxygen and nutrients while at the same time waste material is removed more effectively.
I am obsessed with massages and during my time in Thailand got one religiously every day. I always feel relaxed and much more positive after a treatment.I have not been for a hot stone massage yet but my mum has and loved it. However treatments are pricey at around £50 for an hours treatment so unfortunately it will not be a regular occurrence. It is a brilliant pamper present for yourself or someone special if you're feeling generous.

A breath of fresh air

Facials have been around for years but with new research and technology different treatments have been appearing on the market all the time. One of the most talked about treatments at the moment is an oxygen facial which is the latest in bio-technology and proving to be highly successful. This is a high-pressure blast of oxygen that delivers serums containing vitamins, minerals and collagen to the skin. It offers similar effects of a chemical peel and microdermabrasion without the injections and side effects. The purpose of the facial is to leave your skin feeling cleansed, revitalised and looking years younger. The skin is exfoliated and then blasted with oxygen. This results in an instant firming and lifting effect by using hyberbaric technology to saturate the skin with oxygen and infues a rejuvenating hyaluranic acid serum leaving a clearer, plumper and smoother face. The price of one treatment ranges from £65 upwards. Supposedly a one hour treatment feels the same as skiing in the Alps for 2 weeks, a very tempting proposition for working women looking to feel revitalised during their lunch hour. The facial is proving popular with celebrities as women like Madonna, Sienna Miller and Jennifer Aniston swear by it weekly. If I wasn’t on a student budget I would definatly book in for a treatment, meanwhile a brisk walk in the winter will have to do.