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Summer (fashion) is in the air

Trinny and Suzannah

Before you start buying your Christmas decorations and planning the school holidays, take a moment (or two) to have a think about your summer wardrobe. Summer is a great time to get creative with colour and show off your favourite style.

If you’re bewildered by brights or mesmerised by metallics, we’ve tracked down some superstar stylists who might be able to point you in the right direction. Trinny and Suzannah are back in Australia and here to answer some tricky questions.

**For black devotee’s – what are some key tips to “ease” them into the idea of incorporating a bit of colour without scaring them?

** Trinny: Black isn’t a colour; it is an absence of colour, which makes it the hardest to wear. To escape wearing black try other dark colours, work out which one suits your skin tone best by holding them up to your face and seeing which one make your complexion look best. Try wearing different hues and textures of the colour together.

**What are the rules when it comes to exposing knees or various skirt lengths for women over 40? Is the rule only on the knee or longer apply?

** Suzannah: It really depends on how good their legs are and how confident of them they are. If you want to wear shorter skirts but don’t feel confident about your legs, then leggings are a great way to cover them up. The Knees area is a part of the body that are a sure way of telling your age and over the last few months Trinny and I have both started to realise that.

**Are we too old for thongs ? What footwear should we look towards for summer?

** T: Flip flops are great for a beach holiday and relaxing at the weekend, but to make your outfit that bit more special, giving you a more elegant walk and a bit of height, what about wearing a pair of wedges? They are more stable than high heels, so much more comfortable and easier to walk on, plus they lengthen the legs tenfold.

**Blue is a big trend this summer – electric blue, indigo, royal and navy, are there any rules to what blue suits different skin tones?

** S: Blue is like any other colour, you need work out which shade or hue suit you. Get a selection of different blue clothes together, stand in front of a full length mirror and go through the check list.

What shades make your eyes look brighter? Do they make your dark circles look worse? Does it make your skin look radiant?

For example, for Trinny pale blue and navy are bad choices as they don’t flatter her complexion and they highlight the black circles under her eyes. Sea green blue on the other hand is one of her best colours; it lifts her complexion, brightens her eyes and complements her hair colour.

In terms of body shape, dos and don’ts, what tips do you have for Australian women with the trends this summer?

S: The rule with patterns, geometrics included are always the same. Wear the pattern; don’t let the pattern wear you. Larger chested ladies should still to smaller prints and beware of bolder prints.

S: With metallics, make sure they suit your skin tone; the last thing you want to look like is washed out. One shoulder dresses are a nightmare for bigger busted ladies as they need the support.

T: I feel that shoulder pads and the broad shoulder look is very one season and I don’t think it is worth investing in. If you are tall and very skinny you could pull it off, but it certainly isn’t a trend that will suit most body shapes, if you are quite short for example it may make you look a bit larger.

Trinny and Suzzanah (of What Not To Wear fame) are descending down under once again to give woman all over the country a pre-summer make over. Kicking off their tour in Melbourne on Friday October 9th and travelling to SA, WA, NSW and QLD until Sunday 18th October, Trinny & Susannah will invite the Australian public, free of charge, to join them at key Westfield shopping centres.

Through live styling public events Trinny & Susannah will weave their magic into your new season look making it very wow and very now!

For further details please visit www.westfield.com.au

Your say: What summer trends are you looking forward to? Will you go and see Trinny and Suzannah? What style questions would you like answered? Tell us below…

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Guy Ritchie’s verbal attack on Madonna

Madonna has spent the last year keeping herself busy with a successful international tour and a 22-year-old boyfriend, but it seems like her ex-husband has had a tougher time getting over their divorce.

Guy Ritchie recently lashed out at his superstar former wife in an interview with Esquire Magazine, even stooping so low as to call Madonna “retarded”.

His rant included mixed messages of frustration and a mysterious back-handed compliment.

“Madonna makes things happen. Put Madonna up against any twenty-three-year-old, she’ll outwork them, out-dance them, outperform them. The woman is broad,” he said, before adding: “I still love her. But she’s retarded, too.”

Guy’s nasty attack prompted some Hollywood insiders to speculate he’s still harbouring some hope for his wife of nearly ten years.

Meanwhile Madonna seems more than comfortable with her new lover Jesus Luz, and has recently agreed to buy him multi-million dollar apartment within walking distance of her New York home.

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Brad and Jen’s secret encounter

New reports reveal the steamy love triangle between Brad Pitt, ex-wife Jennifer Aniston and new love Angelina Jolie is anything but over.

Brad has reportedly been calling Jen and meeting her in secret, with the latest encounter taking place at a New York hotel.

According to the US version of Grazia Magazine, Jen accepted an invite to Brad’s hotel suite, where her ex spent more than an hour pouring his heart out over his current marital woes – but Jen was less than impressed.

“She arrived at his hotel suite a matter of hours after they had spoken [on the phone]. Brad was unloading his emotional baggage on Jen, which isn’t exactly fair considering their history,” a source revealed.

Jen’s response to Brad was frosty, with the 44-year-old actress telling the Benjamin Button star he was being selfish.

Meanwhile Angelina has also voiced her concern over her relationship, and is reportedly desperate to work things out with the father of her children, but the source claims Brad thinks they are “all but over”.

Could Hollywood’s hottest actor be finally without a date?

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Katie confesses: Tom plays fashion police!

She could get away with wearing a paper bag, but Katie Holmes has revealed husband Tom Cruise is not always a fan of her clothes.

The brunette actress, 30, recently told Elle Magazine Tom will critique her fashion choices before they leave the house.

“He usually likes everything, but sometimes I’ll walk out and he’ll say, ‘I think that dress might be wearing you. You don’t need that,'” she says.

But Katie, who has previously admitted to having a teenage crush on Cruise when she was growing up in Ohio, says she doesn’t mind at all.

“Tom has great taste,” she admits.

She recently hit Australian shores to shoot thriller movie ‘Don’t be afraid of the dark’, but Katie admits she feels most comfortable just being a mum.

“In my own life, my whole world really revolves around family,” she says.

“I do what I need to do, but it’s like, ‘How is everybody else doing?’ And it’s wonderful for me as an actress to put some of that into a character.”

There’s no word as to whether Tom’s discerning eye extends to little Suri’s wardrobe. The couple’s three-year-old daughter was recently spotted stepping out in Boston wearing lipstick and kitten heels!

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Sit up straight, stop slumping, head off your chin…

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Remember being told those things by your mother or teacher? Well, according to new research from the US, they were doing more than just looking out for your back. Psychologists suggest that maintaining an upright posture can make us think more confidently.

Researchers at Ohio State University conducted an experiment asking subjects to either sit or slump over their desks and then write three positive or negative personal traits relating to their careers, the UK’s Daily Mail reported.

The subjects then completed a survey in which they were asked to rate themselves about their futures as professionals. The results showed that those who sat in the upright position were more likely to answer the survey closely in line with their original statements. This led psychologists to the conclusion that sitting up straight reinforces positive thoughts.

“It turns out that our posture can also affect how we think about ourselves,” co-author of the study, Professor Richard Petty said. “Sitting up straight is something you can train yourself to do, and it has psychological benefits.”

However, an earlier Canadian and Scottish study found that sitting up straight is not good for your back, the BBC reported in 2006.

Conducting their research at Woodend Hospital in Aberdeen, Scotland, the researchers found that sitting up straight strains your back unnecessarily and that ideally, we should lean slightly back, at an angle of about 135 degrees.

Your say: Do you sit up straight at your desk? Do you have any tips to stay sitting straight at your desk? Which position is the most comfortable for you? Tell us what you think.

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Being active for the mind

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Being physically active has long been known to be a management strategy for those suffering from depression. Celebrities like Raelene Boyle and Gary McDonald have been championing physical activity as an essential component of diminishing their “black dog” for a few years now.

Scientists have been trying to find out the basis for this insidious illness and its link with the sedentary lifestyle in modern society. Researchers from the University of British Columbia in Canada suggest that they have found a measurable link to physical activity and mental health.

The researchers studied an area of the brain known as the hippocampus. This is a region is associated with emotion, and the researchers’ clinical trials on animals have revealed that exercise leads to a regeneration of nerve connectors in this area of the grey matter. It has also been shown through autopsy that depressed humans have a smaller hippocampus and that stress causes atrophy (tissue loss) to this part of the brain.

This is not to say that all depression can be cured through physical activity as it is a much more complicated issue than that, however, the rise of cases in the clinical setting may well coincide with an increase in the sedentary lifestyles of Australians.

Try some of the assessment tools at LifestyleMedicine.net.au to assess your emotional and psychological health and think about how much physical activity you achieved over the past seven days.

This is yet another reason to keep your body moving; it can keep your mind healthy, too!

Your say: how do you keep your mind healthy? Share with us below…

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Suffer from snoring?

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A button sized sticker is the latest snore reducing device that is set to revolutionise bedrooms around the world.

A button-sized sticker is the latest snore-reducing device that is set to revolutionise bedrooms around the world.

The Provent filter is essentially a valve that does not affect breathing in but slightly inhibits breathing out through the nose. This increases pressure in the rest of the airway, helping to keep it from closing. Snoring caused by sleep apnoea is therefore reduced.

Snoring is relatively common, one-third of adults snore and one in 15 is affected by sleep apnoea, one of the main causes of snoring, the UK’s Daily Mail reported.

Sleep apnoea occurs when the upper airway becomes blocked — muscles that normally hold the airway open relax during sleep, allowing the soft tissue to collapse. In some cases, patients can have this occur up to 100 times per night, making sleep not as pleasant as it should be.

Risk factors for sleep apnoea include being overweight or obese, because when lying down the excess weight around the neck place more pressure on the airway.

A range of treatments are often recommended including lifestyle changes (losing weight and cutting out alcohol), surgery and mouthpieces however it is this new treatment that has snorers (and their partners) excited.

Trials at the California Centre for Sleep Disorders and the University of Texas had positive results to share. Wearing the disposable filters cut snoring by 65 percent and subjects felt less sleepy the next day, the Daily Mail reported.

But it must be noted that there are restrictions to using the device. Manufacturers warn that Provent should not be used by patients who suffer from severe breathing disorders, severe heart disease, low blood pressure or acute upper respiratory inflammation or infection.

And there are other factors to bear in mind if you think you might want to try this device — patients must have Provent prescribed by a doctor and it’s not cheap at around $125 for a 30-day supply.

Your say: Do you suffer from sleeping disorders? Would you try this product out? Do you or your partner snore? Share your thoughts with us below.

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When to start your child on solids

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Up until around six months of age, your baby will thrive solely on your breast milk, or an appropriate infant formula. At this time, solids are now needed to supplement your baby’s diet to provide iron and other nutrients and to encourage chewing.

Some signs that your baby is ready for solid foods include:

  • Your baby is able to sit with support and hold their head up. 

  • Your baby is watching you eat and is reaching for food. 

  • You will notice that milk may no longer seem to satisfy your baby, who seems unsettled and may want more feeds. 

  • Your baby can move their tongue from the front to the back of the mouth.

It’s always a good idea to introduce solids when both you and your baby are feeling relaxed and you have plenty of time.

Other helpful tips to make this exciting time a smooth and enjoyable transition include:

  • Don’t rush it: Try one food at a time, every two or three days. If a food is refused try again a few days later unless there has been a reaction (eg vomiting or a rash). New foods may be rejected at first. A food may need to be offered more than 10 times before it is accepted. 

  • From about age seven or eight months, start offering solids first before a breast or formula feed. And remember, never put solid foods in your baby’s bottle. 

  • Utensils: Use a small shallow rubber or plastic spoon with smooth edges. 

  • Don’t overheat: Your baby will accept food better at room temperature or only slightly warmer. Always test the temperature on the back of your hand or wrist before giving to your baby — no heat should be felt. And remember, microwaves heat unevenly. Always mix the food thoroughly after heating in a microwave to ensure even distribution of heat, and wait a few minutes before offering. 

  • Never leave your baby alone while they are eating.

If you have any questions on introducing solids feel free to e-mail one of our dieticians at [email protected] or download our infant nutritionfact sheet.

Introducing solids can be a time of fun and discovery for both you and your baby.

This information is provided by the Sanitarium Nutrition Service.

Your say: Do you have any stories or tips on introducing solids that you’d like to share with us? If so, we’d love to hear from you! Share with us below…

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Cheap holiday ideas: vacation on a budget

The Weekly lists the best budget holiday ideas
Couple on a beach

Other encouraging factors include that our economy did not go into recession (unlike much of the rest of the world), with the International Monetary Fund predicting modest growth of 0.7 percent in Australia this year. Petrol prices have also come down and discount wars between the airlines have caused very cheap prices, both on airfares and package holidays.

The airlines, hotels and travel companies all around the world want business and fast. And a really good way for them to target customers looking for a good deal is to advertise their special offers on Twitter.

You can follow Wotif (last-minute hotels discounted online), Virgin, Qantas, and most travel companies on Twitter for “Twitter only” specials. Also, if you simply browse newspapers or search online there are amazing offers available to the US, Thailand, Fiji and many other wonderful locations.

You deserve a break and now is as good a time as any to look out for something fun. Just think, once the airfare and accommodation package is paid, living costs are cheaper in many overseas countries than they are here.

Read more from Virginia Graham at www.modelmortgages.com.au.

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André’s birthday surprise

Although he’s turning 60 this week, virtuoso violinist André Rieu is showing no signs of slowing down his intense schedule — with a Down Under tour just around the corner.

And despite his thousands of excited Aussie fans, the lowdown is that he has just one person to thank for all his success as he hits his landmark birthday: his wife.

“I was in an orchestra full of people who didn’t care about music and Marjorie could see I was very unhappy, so she told me to follow my dream to have my own orchestra and travel all over the world, which is what I do now,” André tells us of his journey to success.

“If she had not been there I would have probably ended up in the gutter.”

After years of supporting her husband, loyal Marjorie is happy to remain in the shadows while he takes centre stage across the world, and the loving couple rely on trust to get them through long periods of separation.

“We trust each other completely,” André says. “Marjorie herself avoids the publicity.

“The consequence, however, is that if I am seen with the same woman more than twice, they immediately say that we are having an affair.

“Marjorie can really only smile about that. She knows that it goes with my profession.

“That is the basis of our love, and the basis of my success.”

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