| Life and Style |
Happy Habits? |
| Everyone talks about breaking bad habits and how hard it is. Millions
of people struggle with it every day. From smoking to compulsive eating,
habitual behavior has a bad rap. But do you ever think about “happy
habits”? |
| I do a lot. As hard as it is to break a habit, it is sometimes even
harder to find time and energy to get into a new happy habit as an
adult. If you can, it can change your life. |
| My happiest habits sound inconsequential, but in the end they really
improve my quality of life. They make it unnecessary to crash diet
or to spend quite so many hours in the gym doing cardio. These habits
include walking everywhere I can and cooking a lot, so I control the
quality and portion sizes, and still have exciting food. I prefer
to find exercise I actually like to do. And I limit my socializing
to a few nights a week, so I have time for work and rest, and am not
swept away by my love for the DolceDolce Vita.
Notice, it definitely includes time for the DolceDolce
Vita, but in truth that came naturally. |
| Believe me, it hasn’t always been easy, and it still isn’t.
I think we get into ruts. Things get away from us. Bad habits form
from fatigue, lack of time, depression, and even proximity. I know
all these have happened to me. The trick is to think about our habits
every once in while and sort them out, friend from foe. I know that
is what has saved me. Yet the biggest changes in life are often not
about moving, just about moving on in your own life. |
The worst habit I dropped over the years was smoking. I never smoked
regularly, but when I did I smoked a lot. I adored it. I wish I could
say I came to my senses or that I suddenly felt awful, but I didn’t.
It felt just fabulous. I just loved to smoke with a drink. It was
all too Sex and the City.
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Photograph by Natalie Chiu
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| Then one day, a wonderful doctor rained on my martini. He explained
in the nicest way that smoking might not kill me at all, but it could
give me a stroke. He told me I wouldn’t like that at all, and
he suggested I quit. It was so sensible, I had to listen. In addition,
I had gained a few pounds. |
| So, I just did it. Quit, cold turkey. It really wasn’t hard
at all. I was terrified of gaining weight, so what a wonderful time
to get rid of few other bad habits. I got into the habit of walking
almost every day. I went back to eating my usual healthy protein and
vegetable diet, which had fallen by the wayside. And it all worked
out very well. |
| I have never smoked again. And I actually lost more weight I had
planned; it’s not a bad thing. |
| Now, don’t get me wrong; this wasn’t drastic. I didn’t
lose 50 pounds. I didn’t through go a total lifestyle change,
but I did make a few adjustments that definitely improved my life.
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I did all of this for almost three months and told no one. It was
fabulous.
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| Change your habits |
Photograph by: Natalie Chiu
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| There was a great sense of freedom to privately adjusting my lifestyle,
relationships, attitudes, and habits. After all, I knew it wasn’t
negotiable. I wanted more time to walk, think, work and be. I still
wanted a social life with great dinners, with wine and fun. But I
also chose to spend less time with those who had negative attitudes,
habits, and were not “life-enhancing”. I was, and always
am, seeking an optimal balance. It brought me even closer to loved
ones. I even made cherished new friends. Those were the “happy
habits” I acquired. |
In all honesty, it was harder to make time for myself to exercise
and to learn to say no to old friends with bad habits than it was
to quit smoking. It was harder to learn my “happy habits”.
I just had to get used to taking that time for me. After all, I wouldn’t
question the time I spent brushing my teeth or getting my hair cut;
it was just that simple. Why can’t we learn all these fabulous
habits in grade school?
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| Change your Life |
Photo by: Natalie Chiu
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| Science tells us that most people who lose weight don’t keep
it off for more than two to five years. Studies also show that happiness
is largely predetermined by attitude. I think a lot of life and happiness
may be the result of simple habits. Learning to walk more, eat better,
finding exercise you love, and even making your bed every day can
change your life. Maybe we can even make being happy a habit. Darlings,
we have so little control over most things, but we can choose our
friends and our habits. Here’s to “happy habits”. |
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| Women want luminous skin at any age |
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| Beauty |
How to look more luminous |
| An interview with top dermatologist Dr. Stuart H. Kaplan |
| Beverly Hills dermatologist Dr. Kaplan has acted as an advisor to
shows like Baywatch and is the personal skin care specialist to many
of Hollywood’s elite. Now, he answers a few key questions for
DolceDolce readers on how to achieve more beautiful
skin. |
| DD: Women are looking not just for blemish-free
skin, but “luminous” skin. How can they achieve this? |
| Dr: Kaplan: My definition of luminous skin is healthy,
radiant skin that has a smooth, even skin tone, is free of blemishes,
and has not been tanned. |
| Besides good diet and exercise, here’s how a woman can achieve
this: |
| 1) Use a scrub two to three times a week to slough away dead skin
cells. Look for products that do not contain large abrasive particles.
Instead, ingredients such as finely ground date seed power and jojoba
beads are a gentle, yet effective, way to scrub away buildup on the
skin without overly abrading or drying your skin. |
| 2) Use a mask one to two times a week. Look for clay masks that
contain pineapple or papaya enzymes. These ingredients gently exfoliate
and refine the skin, without over-drying. However, do not use a scrub
and mask the same day, as it has a tendency to deplete your skin's
moisture and will cause excess sebum production. |
| 3) Consider a chemical peel. This will help even skin tone, as well
as erase light freckles and age spots. |
4) For patients with excess wrinkling around the eyes, dark brown
spots, excessive amounts of freckles, or general dullness of the skin,
I usually recommend a laser micropeel. This works the same as a chemical
peel, but the procedure is not painful, and the results are more dramatic.
If a patient can handle more downtime (one-and-a-half to two weeks
of staying indoors), I recommend a deep laser skin resurfacing procedure
using the new Sciton Laser. This procedure
removes several layers of skin to dramatically reveal new, luminous,
baby soft skin.
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| DD: What are the worst things you see women
do to their skin? |
| Dr: Kaplan: |
| 1) Not wear sunscreen daily. Remember, even on overcast days, 75%
of UV rays still filter through. Use a hat and wear sunglasses. |
| 2) Pick at blemishes. The older we get, the more of a tendency there
is that these blemishes will scar permanently. |
| 3) Not use a moisturizer. I recommend my patients use a moisturizer
for both day and night. If this is too cumbersome, I recommend using
a sunscreen during the day, and a great moisturizing night cream,
to be applied before going to bed for an uninterrupted time to penetrate
and treat the skin. |
| 4) Smoking. It has long been known that smoking can wrinkle the
face and turn it yellow. It is now believed that it can do the same
to the whole body, according to a study published recently in the
Archives of Dermatology. This study shows that smoking affects the
skin all over the body - even skin protected from the sun. The total
number of packs of cigarettes smoked per day and the total years a
person has smoked were linked with the amount of skin damage a person
experienced, even affecting non-facial skin that was protected from
the sun. |
| DD: What are the most important things a woman
can do for her skin daily? |
| Dr. Kaplan: Wear sunscreen. Remember,
skin cancer is the result of cumulative ultraviolet rays absorbed
during your lifetime. I recommend the BIto my patients. It is a lightweight,
fast-absorbing cream that is an intense moisturizer, anti-wrinkle
cream, and sunscreen, all in one product. With 10 active ingredients,
including patented peptides, botanicals and the exclusive Phytogenic
Triactive Complex of Soy, Grapeseed and Black Cohosh, the kaplanMD
Day Cream is clinically proven to deliver the benefits
of a dozen skincare products in just one convenient application. It
also contains a highly micronized form of titanium dioxide, so it
gives you powerful UVA & UVB protection without leaving a messy
white residue on your skin. This is especially useful for people of
color, as well as for women who don't want their sunscreen affecting
their make-up/foundation. |
For more information about Kaplan Skincare,
visit www.kaplanMD.com
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Or to order from the U.S. and Canada call 1.800.754.6435. |
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Great Sun blocks that won’t let you fry:
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Sprays on clean and gives great protection makes it easy to reapply!
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| La Roche Posey makes a great line of sun protection. Check it out
at your favourite drugstore or order online at www.laroche-posay.com.
The products offer great protection and a low irritation level. |
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| Not registered yet to receive DolceDolce’s free weekly email
newsletter? Help us grow; sign-up
today, and forward
to your friends. Because life should be sweet. |
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| Life and Style |
Do You Have IT? |
I’m sure that you do. I believe that all DolceDolce
readers are “it girls”
in their own special ways. No matter what their ages or types. It
is a state of mind and a fab term created by Canadian-by-way-of-Britain
writer Eleanor Glynn back in the 1920’s.
Do you love it? She created “it” for Hollywood and no
one has improved on it since. The British glossies still names their
“it” girls. The flavor du jour, of course, is Kate Moss.
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Cocktails by Jenn
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| Cocktails by Jenn, a line of premixed
cocktails, is looking for “IT Girls” in Atlanta, Chicago,
Philadelphia, and San Deigo. The contest is online, and the prizes
are fun and include lots of V.I.P. perks. Go to www.cocktailsbyjenn.com.
It is a shame the contest is not being held in all our fabulous cities,
for all our “It girls”, but be the generous women you
are and e-mail this to friends and family because it is super fun.
Hurry, the contest ends June 25th. |
| Jenn’s cocktails - Cosmopolitan, Appletini, Blue Lagoon, and
Margarita - come by the bottle as well as in adorable single-serving-sized
four-packs. They taste good - not too sweet or artificial - and are
ideal for informal gal-get-togethers and or BYOBs (shudders). |
| Beauty |
DolceDolce Tip: Remember you must use sunblock
all over your face every day, but your moisturizer needs may change.
Moisturize only where you need to, or you may breakout or clog your
pores as we get into hotter and more humid weather. The same is true
for foundation. It looks great when used to even out skin tone. Apply
it over red spots, breakouts, under eyes, around nostrils and at the
corners of the mouth if you need a little coverage. Blend it well
and use the minimum for a fresh look. Not sure where you need it?
Ask a good makeup artist. Two fabulous foundations that look natural
and are a snap to use are Chanel Teint Innocence Naturally
Luminous Compact Make-up and Cover Girl
TruBlend Liquid makeup.
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| Fashion |
More Bag Lady Chic
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| Has your lip gloss ever melted? Or maybe you worried about your
medication melting during a long hot day at the beach? Then, you need
an IcyBag. Available in pretty pink or blue with refreezable inserts,
these clever little zip-up bags keep your treasures frosty cold. Invented
by a woman, natch! I use mine to stash a diet soda in my car on a
long, hot day of errands. |
| Bazura Bags are a line of bright and colourful
bags, totes, and accessories hand-crafted by a woman’s’
cooperative in the Philippines. “Basura” means garbage
in Filipino, and indeed the bags are made from recycled juice containers.
The co-op employs more than 500 women and pays schoolchildren to collect
litter. To find out more, check out www.bazurabags.com
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Bag lady chic, it’s a sweet thing.
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| Beauty |
Nothing’s Sexier than Pretty
Feet |
| Don’t you just love pretty feet? They are so sexy and they
don’t gain weight or bloat when you get PMS. But they do take
some work to look fabulous. On the up side, the better your feet look,
the better they will feel. |
A regular monthly or even bimonthly pedicure has become standard
for many fab-footed fashionistas. But even all that salon care won’t
keep your feet as pretty as they can be without some regular TCL at
home.
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| We love the new Kiss My Face Obsessively Organic Peppermint
Foot Scrub and Crème. It is so minty, it zings.
And the scrub actually has some rub to it. |
| Also on our must-have list is Intensive Heel Repair
from Earth Therapeutics. Use this with the Smooth
and Buff Kit that has a metal rasp and a little plane
to carefully shave and smooth rough spots. If nightly use of this
combo doesn’t fix your cracked heels, see a chiropodist. |
| Sandals and sling-backs can really tear-up your tender feet. A few
minutes of nightly pampering will keep them looking and feeling delicious
all summer. |
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Beauty |
Bye-Bye Blisters |
| Blisters can happen to anyone. They are almost a rite of summer.
Band-Aid has two effective new products
to fight the dreaded summer blister: Band-Aid Blister
Block and Band-Aid Advanced Healing Blister
Cushion. Buy them online if you can’t find them
locally. These little products can prevent blisters, so carry them
in your bag. Slip one on at the first sign of trouble and dance all
night. There’s also a stick called Band-Aid Active
Flex Blister Block Stick at www.drugstore.com
that you can slick on to protect delicate toes. Why suffer? |
| Food |
Italian Twist |
| This week’s recipe is a perfect little cocktail snack all
on a stick. I call it the Italian Twist.
Be sure to try it and save it, as we are going to have lots of great
entertaining ideas all summer long with more of our popular cocktail
recipes. After all, what makes life sweeter than a few great friends,
a few fabulous drinks, and luscious snacks. We call it the DolceDolce
Vita. Enjoy! |
| Soak a handful of bamboo skewers at least 15 minutes in water so
they won’t burn. |
| Place a melon ball on each skewer. (You can buy melon balls pre-made
in the salad bar of most grocery stores, or scoop them out quickly
yourself with a small melon baller. It’s easy and all kitchen
stores, even a grocery, will have them.) |
| Add a small fresh ball of mozzarella called bocconcini |
| Optional: wrap the cheese in a fresh leaf of basil |
| Wrap the melon and cheese in a slice of proscuitto, just big enough
to go around once. |
| Make at least three of these skewers per person, if this is the
only appetizer you’re serving. |
| Broil a few minutes on a foil-lined baking sheet, watching carefully.
The prosciutto will crisp, the cheese will warm, and it will be delicious!
How easy and fabulous is that? |
| PS: Do this on a grill, if you are a grilling type of gal. |
| So darlings, here we are, a week gone. I hope you enjoyed the Dr.
Kaplan interview and will do a mask, get a good sunblock, and glow,
glow, glow! Also, isn’t it fabulous there is now a way to slide
into sandals and avoid icky blisters this summer? I haven’t
got one yet and hope not to. Most of all I hope you’ll think
about your habits. Maybe yours are all divine. Wouldn’t that
be fabulous? If not, you are in charge of you, and change is infinite
and can be wonderful. |
| Until next week please sign-up
to DolceDolce if you haven’t already, and forward
us on to a friend. Drop me a note if there is something you’d
like to see here. I’ll be thinking about all of you. You are
my inspiration. Now, go shake a cocktail and nibble a twist - I think
I will - you so deserve it. Ahhhh! The DolceDolce
Vita! |
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| Gracey Hitchcock |
| Editor |
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