Lilac City Momma

Lynn

5 Bad Habits That May Be Damaging Your Skin

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Your skin is important. It’s one of the first details someone notices when seeing you and can influence the way people perceive how you take care of yourself and how much you value your appearance. Having bright, clear and healthy skin makes a great first impression. This is why it’s important to take care of it and avoid bad habits.

The reality is that your skin is extremely fragile. The smallest cut, rub, or bump can leave long-lasting effects that are sometimes irreparable. If you take care of your skin now, you’ll avoid having to go through laser therapy for scars, botox for wrinkles, and expensive creams for breakouts in the future.

There are numerous bad habits on top of being stressed that you can pick up over time, which can have serious negative effects on your skin, so avoiding them is essential to your skin’s health.

Popping Pimples

After you’ve popped one and have felt how disgustingly satisfying it is, you often feel compelled to carry on – and this isn’t good at all. Every time you pop a zit, regardless of how you do it, you’re leaving a permanent mark on your skin in the form of a scar, which can be extremely difficult to get rid of. Doing it with your finger also pushes more bacteria and dirt into your pores, so avoid it at all costs.

Not Washing Your Face After Swimming

Contrary to what most people think, chlorine is not good for your skin. The chemicals found in swimming pools can bleach your skin and dry it out, subsequently damaging the melanin. You don’t have to stop swimming to avoid this though. Simply wash your face thoroughly with soap after each swim.

Hot Showers

As relaxing and enjoyable as it may be on a cold winter’s day, hot showers, especially long ones, are awful for your skin’s health. Redness and itchiness are increased as the outer layer of your skin is stripped away by the hot water, exposing a dry and scaly layer beneath.

Not Changing Your Pillowcases and Towels Often Enough

If you put your face on it, wash it often. In the case of pillowcases and towels, the general recommendation is once every two or three days. When you do wash them, be sure to do so at a high temperature to kill the bacteria. It would also help to use a separate towel for drying your body and face. If you don’t have laundry to wash, simply flip your current pillowcase inside-out to make it last longer.

Not Doing Your Research

This is one of the most important aspects of skincare. Knowing all the do’s and don’ts when it comes to taking care of your skin is essential. Simply head to a reputable website such as Healthy Skin Solutions whenever you have a chance and learn something useful.

Conclusion

Avoid the above habits and your skin will thank you for it. What habits have you kicked recently? Let us know in the comments down below.

Taking The Stress Out Of Kids’ Parties

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When you have children, one of your responsibilities will be to have all their friends over to wreck your house, scream for three hours and leave half-eaten food everywhere. It is called having a party and is an inescapable duty for all parents. To preserve your sanity and keep your blood pressure under control, it’s worth looking at ways to reduce the stress involved and give your child a party they will love without adding to your grey hairs.

Guests

When they are in kindergarten or just starting school, children usually want to invite their whole class over, and that can be a lot of little people running around your house. As they get older, they will probably be happy to have fewer guests and stick to their close friends, so it does get easier! If you are faced with a long list of potential guests, you might want to consider hiring a suitable venue for the party instead of having it at home. If the party is in the warmer months of the year, putting up a gazebo or large tent outside and letting the kids play in the backyard is a good way of keeping the worst of the chaos out of the house.

Food

Parents often feel obliged to make mountains of sandwiches and finger food for the party guests and spend hours preparing a lavish feast. The trouble is, kids are usually too excited about playing, presents and cake to eat much, so your efforts will go to waste. Keep the catering simple and don’t go overboard, you don’t need to, and none of the kids will notice. A pizza party is nice and simple, just cook up a batch of different pizzas, slice them up and let the kids help themselves. If you need more, it won’t take long to cook a few extra, and if they don’t eat it all at once, they can come back later for a cold snack. Pocket Change Gourmet has a quick and simple recipe for a delicious vegetable dip, which with a selection of vegetable sticks, pretzels or cheese straws, will add a touch of variety and impress the other parents. For dessert, you could follow the theme and have fruit pizzas.

Activities

If you can afford a children’s entertainer, it’s a great way to keep the kids happy and occupied and stop them bugging you. If that’s not an option, try and get them outside for as long as possible, where they can run around and let off steam without causing too much trouble. Outdoor games, balls, a paddling pool, anything that they can all have a go at and doesn’t exclude anyone is ideal.

If you are having a bunch of kids round to your house, it is never going to be calm and ordered, and there is bound to be some wailing, some crying and the odd upset. Aim to keep all your preparations as simple as possible and allow friends and other parents to lend a hand. Having those extra hands and help means less stress for you! Most importantly, don’t put yourself under pressure to throw the best party ever, because kids mostly just want to play and won’t appreciate the effort you put into making lily flowers out of kiwi fruits!

Summer Sun With The Kids – How To Organize Cheap A Vacation

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Every family should have at least one vacation per year. It’s a great opportunity to spend quality time together, away from the pressures of work and school. The kids can play on the beach or in the pool and the adults can chill out. Because everyone is so much more relaxed on vacation, there will be fewer arguments and less stress.

The biggest problem, however, is how to find an affordable vacation. The more kids you have, the more costly a blue sky holiday will be. Fortunately, it is possible to find cheap vacations to family-friendly destinations, and here’s how.

Travel During Off-Peak Periods

Traveling during school holidays is always more expensive. Travel operators bump up the costs during peak travel times, so the average family vacation can double or triple in price in July and August. Many families are restricted to booking vacations during the school break, but if you have any flexibility or your child’s school is willing to let you book a trip during term time, make the most of the cheaper prices.

Book in Advance

There are plenty of bargains to be had if you are willing to lock in a family vacation several months in advance. Popular operators offer great family discounts on early bird deals. If you are lucky, you may be able to book a package holiday to a popular destination where the kids travel free. For families with special requirements, or a burning desire to stay in a specific hotel, this really is the best option, as leaving it until the last minute means places will be limited.

Look for Online Last-Minute Bargains

Whilst making an advanced booking often secures some great discounts, there is also a lot to be said for waiting until the eleventh hour to book a family getaway. Most operators drastically cut their prices because they would rather sell a cheap vacation than have hotel rooms left empty. Travel operators sell off holidays much cheaper close to the departure date. If you are flexible, you should find all kinds of bargain deals to a range of different destinations, including 5* resort hotels.

Take Advantage of Online Deals

There are some amazing deals, coupons, voucher codes and special offers if you have the time to look online. Sign up for vacation websites such as Secret Hotels and wait for amazing deals to land in your inbox. These operators do the hard work and all you have to do is book your dream vacation for you and the kids.

Use Free Points to Go on Vacation

Do you use a credit card for your everyday spending? Many major credit cards have great value loyalty schemes that let you earn points for spending money on groceries, gas, and even your utility bills. You can earn Avios points and spend them on flights and hotels or save up points and redeem them for vouchers to spend on a vacation. What’s not to like about that?

Got any more great tips? Let us know!

Why You Should Consider Bog Mats For Your Next Business Event

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If you’re in charge of organizing a well-planned business event, you may want to consider hiring or purchasing bog mats for your event.


Why You Should Consider Bog Mats For Your Next Business Event:

Bog mats will ensure that your venue is easily accessible and can accommodate all of your guests

While your average guest may have no problem walking around on grass or dirt, guests who have mobility issues will greatly benefit from being able to walk on bog mats, rather than on unstable surfaces. If any of your guests, are elderly or get around in wheelchairs, it’s definitely well worth hiring bog mats for the duration of your business event.

Bog mats will decrease the chances of accidents occurring during your business event

When it comes to running a professional business event, your first priority should be your guests’ health and safety. To avoid your guests slipping over whilst walking around your event, it’s well worth placing enough bog mats down, that your guests will be able to safely navigate your event space, without any difficulty.

Hiring bog mats will ensure that your event gets set up efficiently and with plenty of time to spare

As a bonus, when it comes time to set up your event any workers who you may have hired to set up your venue, will be able to use your bog mats, to transport heavy equipment to various areas of your venue, quickly and easily. Which will help ensure that your event is fully set up, well in advance of your first guest’s arrival.

After all, there’s nothing more unprofessional, than having your first guests turn up to your event, whilst you’re still setting up.

Hiring bog mats will prevent your guests from exploring areas, which are off-limits to guests

By setting up a path of bog mats, to the areas which have been set up for your guests to access, your guests will be far less likely to wander off to sections such as a backstage section, which are strictly off limits. As most guests will naturally keep to any paths which have been carefully laid out.

You can place a wide variety of items on bog mats, to keep them from slipping

As most bog mats boast a rubber-like texture, you can rest assured that any chairs, tables or displays, which you place on your bog mats, will stay in place, all day long.

Bog mats can be used to protect your venue’s flooring 

Whether you plan on hosting your event outdoors or inside a large empty conference center, if you’d prefer to avoid damaging your venue, it’s well worth looking into bog mats for hire, so that your venue’s flooring or surface, isn’t damaged by the inevitable foot traffic which will traipse around your event.

So if you’re in charge of organizing a professional business event, which you hope will run smoothly and efficiently, you can make the process less stressful by hiring adequate bog mats to cover all of the areas of your venue, which will be walked upon by your guests.

5 Ways to Make Your Flight More Comfortable

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One of the modern wonders of life in the 21st Century is the rate at which we can get from one location to another, tens of thousands of miles away, in a single day. Even so, flying transatlantic and then perhaps across Europe could take the better part of 24-hours if you have any layovers along your route. Comfort is something you should always plan for, whether your trip is only going to be a few hours long or a flight that is much, much longer. If you’ve never taken a long flight before, these ideas may keep you as comfortable as possible that high up off the ground.

1. Wear Loose Fitting Clothes

There is almost nothing as uncomfortable than being stuck sitting in an almost upright position in tight clothing. While you are at it, you could also wear several layers. No matter how warm it is on the ground, traveling in a plane at high altitudes gets extremely chilly. You can always take off your layers, one by one if you feel too stuffy.

2. Carry Along a Travel Pillow

While most airlines will hand out small travel pillows and lightweight blankets if you ask, some don’t offer that service anymore. Also, who wants to rest their head on a pillow that someone else has used recently? While many germs die within moments after leaving the body, you can’t guarantee that, so at the very least bring your own travel pillow. If you aren’t sure which one to buy, check out various pillows that have been reviewed on the indreviews website.

3. Don’t Forget Your Earplugs!

You can always tell a frequent flyer by the quality of earplugs they bring with them. Noise levels in the cabin can get extremely loud with people talking and laughing, babies crying in the background, and the person next to you listening to music through headphones at decibels you are sure will make them deaf. Earplugs can help bring your comfort up many levels. Besides the noise levels, your ears will pop uncomfortably as the plane gains altitude, and earplugs help reduce the changes in pressure. Many frequent flyers say that earplugs keep them from discomfort on the plane and earaches after they land.

4. Comfortable Slip on Shoes Are a Must

On longer flights, you will be transferring planes at least once. Your next flight may not be on the same concourse and you may have a good long distance to walk to get to the next gate. Always wear comfortable walking shoes; slip-on shoes work best because you can slip out of them on the plane, take out your pillow, put your earplugs in, and take a nap.

5. Keep Your Pockets Empty

One last suggestion which many people often overlook is to keep items in their pockets to a minimum. Not only will you be able to get past security quicker without setting anything off, but you won’t be bothered by keys, pens, or coins jabbing at you as you sit in the narrow seat. Coins are a royal pain when they fall from your pocket because there is no room to move about to gather them up.

Yes, you can fly ‘quickly’ around the world, but quick is still a relative word. After half a day on the plane, you will appreciate having taken the time to plan for your comfort. These five ways to make your flight more comfortable should help you get the most enjoyment when you fly, no matter how long a flight you are on.