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Skincare gimmicks are everywhere, but be sure no to fall into the hype. For legitimate skincare tips we spoke to some of Singapore’s top dermatologists to know which skincare habits to include and which ones to ditch. Be informed and be on the right track to achieving immaculate complexion with these dermatologists-suggested tips.

1. Exfoliate Regularly

Proper exfoliation is the key to look young and glowing. It is important to resurface the skin to correct skin damages, while maximizing the look of healthy skin. Chemical exfoliation in Glycolic Acid and Salicylic Acid concoction is one of the professionally suggested ways to exfoliate, which should be done once a month. For mild at-home facial scrubs, once to thrice a week would be enough to gently scrub off dirt and dead skin cells.

2. Zen the Skin

High levels of stress can spike up hormone production, which can lead to breakouts or aggravate skin conditions like psoriasis. Chronic and heavy stress can trigger inflammation and might not only affect your skin but your health as well. To distress yourself and your skin, take long baths and enjoy face masks at night. Twenty years from now, you’ll thank yourself for having a youthful, glowing skin.

3. Invest on Your Skin

Develop your own morning and night skincare regimen. Investing on the right products will prevent formation of discoloration or pigmentation and appearance of wrinkles and fine lines on your skin. Look for products according to your skin type (dry, normal, oily, and sensitive) and according to the problem you want to resolve (e.g. reduce dark spots, protection from sun’s UV rays, delay aging, restore skin’s elasticity, etc.).

4. Consult a Dermatologist

Though your choice of cleanser, toner, moisturizer, and sunblock can be based on your own preferences; once faced with pharmaceutical preparations such as steroid creams and even Retinol and Tretinoin, take the time to visit a trained dermatologist. It’s crucial to determine the compatibility of the ingredients to your skin to ensure safety and best results.

A youthful and glowing skin is always beautiful. And knowing the right products to use and skincare habits to do is crucial to achieve that perfect-looking skin everybody is dreaming of.

6 Fashion Tips That Will Make You Appear Taller

When you’re petite, your height will more likely feel like a hindrance to your fashion style. However, there’s something that you can do to fake some extra inches in your height. Here is a list of fashion tips that will instantly make you look taller using the pieces in your wardrobe.

1. Work on vertical lines and stripes.

Going for patterns, pleats, or even the old plain stripes will help you create an illusion of added height. Clothing pieces that have vertical lines or stripes elongate the body while giving a trimmer and slimmer appearance.

2. Sport a sweater or V-neck shirt for a heightened appearance.

Although high heels is the popularly known accessory that can physically make us taller, sporting V-neck shirts can also provide an illusion of longer torsos. Add on a few extra inches with the heels of your choice to fit look that you want to pull off.

3. Try out the maxi skirts.

One common fashion myth is that petite women should avoid wearing floor-grazing dresses and skirts. Luckily, this has been proven to be entirely false. A perfectly fitted maxi skirt actually creates an illusion of longer legs. Just make sure that you choose a skirt set in solid colours that skims your body’s length to create a vertical line.

4. Opt for high-waist bottoms.

This is one of the perfect pieces that can trick anybody into thinking that you’re tall. High-waist bottoms are perfect for elongating the lower half of your body. Just ensure that you keep the waist noticeable by pairing it with a semi-cropped top, or simply tucking your blouse.

5. Go for low-cut vamp heels.

This is one of small shoe shopping tricks that every small women should keep in mind. Low-cut vamp heels are actually a good choice for elongating, and giving your legs a slimmer look. Invest on a pair that perfectly matches your skin tone, and you have a mile-long leg illusion.

6. Invest on pointy flats.

Wearing sky-high heels every day is just impossible, so petite girls like you should invest on a good pair of pointed flats. Shoes that have pointed toes are known to lengthen any person’s leg line.

Dressing up to look taller is actually easy. Just get the right pieces, and pair them up to come up with an outfit that will not just make you taller but highlight your assets as well.

If you think of layering as simply stacking several bangle here and there, or piling on a few duds, then we’re here to show you five great ways on how you can creatively pile on your pieces without going overboard. From outfit layering to bangles stacking, here are several fashion tips that you can use to take your outfit to the next level.

1. Bracelet Piling

The great thing about stacking bangles is that you don’t need to be a fashion guru to get your arm party going. In fact, the more random you fill your arm with trinkets and charms, the more stylish it gets. Think of different textures, metals, colours and sizes, then randomly stack them together. If you want a fancier arm party, add few lavish pieces like bright gems on your wooden stackable.

2. Necklace Layering

Unlike in stacking bracelets, layering necklaces are a bit more complicated. Randomly piling them on won’t work here. You need to master the right proportions if you want to get an intriguing and chic look. The key to achieve this is to ensure that each necklace chain is set on different lengths. Varying the textures of your necklaces will also help if you want to achieve a cool, curated effect.

3. Ring Stacking

When it comes to stacking rings together, it’s simply mixing and seeing what pieces look good together. Also, taking note as to how fashion trendsetters load their fingers with various types of rings will help you in finding your own style in stacking your own rings. Just make sure that each ring you’re sporting is not too tight, as it could be painful for your fingers and look unflattering.

4. Layering Tops

If you’ve avoided layering clothing pieces in the past for the fear of looking bigger, it’s probably because you haven’t mastered the art of layering yet. Not only will sporting chic layers score you lots of style points, piling on the right mix of pieces will also help in complementing your form.

5. Pairing Bags

Why limit your handbags to just one accessory, when carrying two seems to be much more of a stylish option? Considered as one of the favoured street style look, piling the right handbags is not just functional, they’re actually also super chic. Just remember to pair bags that are in different sizes and colours.

Layering your clothing pieces and accessories creatively is a great way for you to figure out and develop your own personal style. So don’t hesitate to pair up your fashion pieces, if you want to add more flavour to your next ensemble.

Good news for people who suffered cyber bullying – Facebook and Singapore’s Media Literacy Council launched a site to fight cyber bullying. The site is called the Bullying Prevention Centre. The site offers information, guidance and recommendation for those who are bullied. It doesn’t end there because the site also offers information, guidance and recommendation for those who are accused of bullying.

If we navigate through the site, we will see specific actions against bullying. There are links included in the site that will lead us to the reporting tools of Facebook. After reporting an act of bullying, Facebook will then report to the Bullying Prevention Centre. This move will ensure that the conversation and the content in Facebook are relevant for Singaporeans.

Bullying Prevention Centre provided guidelines for people who are being bullied. Here are some of their guidelines that can help us handle the situation:

• Report the content: When someone is bullying you on Facebook, the first thing that you should know is report the content so Facebook can send a report or notification to the Bullying Prevention Centre.
• Get help: If we cannot handle the situation alone, it is time that we consider the help from someone we trust. They will support us and help us deal with the situation.
• Talk to the person: Finally, our last resort is to talk to the person who is bullying us. Sometimes, people do not realize how much it hurts. It is important that we let them realize that so they can stop what they are doing.

This is good news for people who are enduring cyber bullying. We should remember that it is never okay to bully or harass someone.

We already know about the recent study of National Sleep  Foundation (NSF) in United States. For those who are not familiar about NSF’s latest study, this is the time to learn about it. According to NSF, the hours of sleep vary depending on our age group. For example, if we are young adult (ages 18-25), we need at least 7 to 9 hours of sleep.

Singaporeans can benefit from the recent study of NSF. Sleep is an important factor in our health and wellness. With this, it is imperative that we do our best to get a quality sleep every day.  If we find it difficult to get a quality sleep here in Singapore, we should at least execute strategies that might help.

Here are some basics of getting a good night’s sleep:

• Do less things when we are about to sleep: When we are about to sleep, we should avoid doing many things. Our body needs to understand that we are preparing for work so we should reduce activities.
• Avoid stimulants: If we want to sleep easily, we need to avoid stimulates like alcohol and caffeine. Apart from that, we should also avoid food two hours before bedtime.

• Turn off screens: Screens are not an exemption. We should turn off the screens – any type of screen. Whether it is our TV screens or our mobile phone screens.
• Make our rooms conducive: The last thing that we can do is to make our rooms more conducive for sleeping. The bedroom can make a difference. Let us make sure that our bed is comfortable, dark and with the right temperature.

These should be enough.

Diving fans are in for a treat because the 5^th Singapore Diving International will commence. This will be the continuation of the diving action at the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea. Singapore will be the host of the FINA Diving Grand Prix 2014.

The details for this exciting event are as follows:

• Venue: This prestigious event is a first in Asia. The event will be on October 17 to 19, 2014. It will be held at OCBC Aquatic Centre. If you want to see the event, you should secure a ticket. Tickets for the FINA Diving Grand Prix 2014 are worth S$ 20 per day. The selling have started and they are available at the sportshubtix link. This is an event that should not be missed for diving enthusiasts.

• Participating Divers: You will be happy to know that there are many famous diving personalities that you can watch. There will be forty six men and women divers who will represent nine different countries. They will compete in the following events: 3m springboard, 10m platform, 3m synchronized springboard and 10m synchronized springboard. You can see the gold medallist of the recently concluded Asian Games live.

• Singapore Diving Team: The Singapore team will be presented by Timothy and Mark Lee together with Jonathan Chan, Myra Lee, Ashlee Tan and Fong Kay Yian.

This is an excellent platform for divers. If you want to catch the competition, you should head directly to the venue and cheer for the Lion city or any country you want. Do not forget about your tickets. Cheer for your favourite team!