Foods that have a cooling effect on your body

Summers are in and with the inset of summers our body automatically demands and likes the foods which have a high water content and have a cooling effect on our bodies. Usually foods which do not grow under the ground have a cooling effect eg lettuce, broccoli, mint,celery, cucumber etc. We can have the following foods at least twice a day to keep our digestive system cool :-

1. Coconut water ( narial paani) is one of the age old food for our bodies which produces a cooling effect.
2. Have salads made of lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, sprinkle a few mint leaves and add lime. Avoid salt as much as possible in your salads, use lime instead.
3. 'Lassi'  again is a tried and tested Indian drink. Make fruit lassi instead of plain. Add fruits like strawberries, mangoes etc to curd , add some water and blend it well in a blender. Avoid adding sugar to it as much as possible or you can have chaas or salted lassi.
4. Melons like water melon , musk melon have high water content in them, instead of having their juice have them as fruit salad. You can snack on them whenever you feel hungry.
5. Tea also has a cooling effect on your body so you can enjoy your cup of tea, try having green tea, mint tea , jasmine tea which are full of antioxidants.
6. Aam ( mango)'panna' is another Indian drink which helps you to keep cool during summers. Following is the recepie of making panna:-

Ingredients:

6 medium sized Green Mango (Aam)
33/4th cup Water
1 tsp dry-roasted and grounded Cumin Seed (Jeera)
1/2 tsp Red chili Powder (Lal Mirchi)
1 tsp Salt (Namak)
3 tblsp Sugar (Cheeni)
3 tblsp chopped Mint Leaves (Pudina Leaves)
12 crushed Ice-cubes

How to make aam panna:

• Place the mangoes with water to cover in a sauce-pan and bring to boil.
• Simmer for 10 minutes.
• Drain off the water and then peel, stone and pulp the mango with a spoon.
• Place the pulp in a deep bowl.
• Add water, sugar, salt, chili and cumin.
• Whisk thoroughly.
• Stir in the mint and whisk again.
• Transfer it to a jug.
• Serve chilled with crushed ice.

Correct application of lipstick

Being women most of us love wearing lipstick. There is no harm in wearing lipstick on daily basis if you choose the product carefully and apply it correctly. Now we also get lipsticks which have a sunscreen base to protect your lips. You should also refresh your lipstick once or twice a day by completely removing it with the help of petroleum jelly and tissue paper and reapplying it if applying for long hours. Here are a few tips for the correct application of lipstick :-

1. Apply thin layer of foundation base on lips before applying lipstick, if your lips are very dry then first apply petroleum jelly on your lips, leave it for a minute, wipe it with a tissue and then apply foundation base.

2. Choose a lip liner/ pencil a shade darker than your lips, it should not be too dark and if wearing nude shades choose the lip liner shade closest to your natural lip color.

3.Apply lip pencil on the outline of your lips, if your lips are thin then apply the outline "just" outside the natural lip line [ remember "just" outside not too outside as it would look too made up and artificial, the natural the better]  and vice versa for thick lips , the outline should be "just" inside the natural lip line.

4. Get into the habbit of applying lipstick with a lipstick brush (lip filler). Fill the lips with the lip color with the help of a lip filler, and mix it with the outline so that the outline is not visible.

5. Apply lip gloss if needed only on the center tip of both the lips.

6. Try to maintain your lipstick while eating and refresh it during mid day and eve if applying for whole day.

7. Shades of pinks and peach make you look younger than deep shades of maroon and brown.

8. Leave your lips bare and let them breath at least once a week.

9. At times you can just apply a colored gloss or a tinted lip balm for a natural day look.

Full length skirts

Summers are in and so are skirts. For those who are hesitant in wearing short or knee- length skirts can feel comfortable by wearing long or full-length skirts. A-line skirts are very useful for Indian women as most of the Indian women have tendency to put on weight on the lower part of their bodies. A-line skirts help in hiding most of the body variations  as well provide ease of movement. Here are a few images of full length, maxi and A-line skirts.