Now to Love

Ballet dancers are renowned for their grace and beauty and Bodywise, a posture book created by highly respected members of the teaching staff from The Australian Ballet, introduces the reader to some of the ideas that dancers use to help achieve their physical goals. Bodywise presents a fresh program of exercises chosen for their simplicity, […]

Frost-free climates Plants for beauty: alyssum, Californian poppy, calendula, cleome, coleus, gerbera, helichrysum, honesty, marigold, pansy, petunias, phlox, salvia, sunflower, sweet peas, torenia, zinnia. Temperate Plants for beauty: seeds of alyssum, calendula, English daisy (pictured), heartsease, lunaria; seedlings of evening primrose, gazanias, Iceland poppy, love-lies-bleeding, pansies, polyanthus, primulas, sweet peas, viola. Cold Plants for beauty: […]

Question Which part of the lemon grass do you use or do you use all of it? Answer A tall, clumping, sharp-edged aromatic tropical grass that both smells and tastes of lemon, lemon grass comes by its English name naturally. It arrived in our kitchens by way of Southeast Asia, where it is an essential […]

Walking into a cosy Manhattan cafe, Brooke Shields pulls off a huge hooded coat to reveal a dramatic new look. Wearing absolutely no make-up, she nonetheless is striking – particularly because it appears that she has recently been struck. A large bruise, swollen and dark, covers the right side of her face. Yet there is […]

Question: My puppy likes to suck my thumb, sometimes up to six times a day. Is this normal? She seems to get great satisfaction from it. Should I stop her from doing this? I should tell you I’ve had her since she was a day old. Pauline Foster Answer: It sounds like your little puppy […]

Question An english recipe I have calls for crème fraîche, I do not know what this is and where do I buy it? Answer Crème fraîche, a French variation of sour cream, is a mildly acidic, high fat, slightly nutty tasting thick cream. Before dairy products were first pasteurised, crème fraîche developed naturally when the […]

I had always been fairly lucky in love. I would end up with nice guys, ultimately not “the one”, but good guys. My girlfriends warned me that one day I was sure to get burnt, that my winning streak in love couldn’t last. They were right. When I met Tom in April, very quickly I […]

After graduating from university with honours, I decided to head overseas for a year’s break before starting work at a law firm. My choice of destination: New Zealand. I had no idea what I would do when I got there, apart from having fun and letting loose. After several months of travelling around, my savings […]

Question: My dog (my first) turns three soon. What’s the difference between dog and human years? Carolyn Answer: The old saying is that there are about seven dog years to one human year – which means she’d be celebrating her 21st! This is simplistic, but is roughly correct. Dogs grow and change more rapidly than […]

Question: What are the best beauty investments I can make? Is it buying the best skincare? Having regular facials? Going to the hairdresser? Please streamline my beauty budget. Irene, via e-mail. Answer: There are lots of good beauty investments, but I have a few must-have suggestions for you. A compact mirror with a normal mirror […]