EVERY YOUNG LADIES' DREAM*

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A wedding is a door to happiness,
When two decide to share their lives as one.
Your marriage is an adventure bright and new;
The pleasures and delights have just begun.
I/We wish for you a lifetime full of love;
May you always keep that magical attraction.
Let your bond and your commitment grow with time,
So that all your days are filled with satisfaction.

JEWELLERY: These gems have life in them: their colors speak

JEWELLERY: These gems have life in them: their colors speak

Can a daily dose of chocolate keep the wrinkles away?

Here comes the perfect excuse for buying that extra bar of chocolate - it might ward off wrinkles.

A daily portion of dark chocolate could protect the skin against the aging effects of the sun, according to research.

The study shows that nibbling on just a couple of squares every day helps to prevent wrinkles caused by ultraviolet light in the sun's rays.

Scientists who carried out the study at European Dermatology London, a private Harley Street skin clinic, say it might also lower the risk of skin cancer.

But it only works with dark chocolate that is very high in flavanols, the antioxidants that occur naturally in cocoa beans - the main ingredient in chocolate.

The study found volunteer who ate flavanol-rich chocolate could tolerate more wrinkle-causing UV light on their skin than those who ate a lower-flavanol chocolate.

But before you rush to buy that extra bar, chocolate with such high levels of flavanols is not generally available at present.

The researchers said: 'The main mechanism is likely to be the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. But conventional chocolate had no such effect.'

Four Gemstones Rarer and More Beautiful Than Your Average Diamond

Gemstone. But, there are stones out there that aren't as tough as diamond, they aren't as famous as diamonds. Yet their beauty rivals that of even the most famous diamonds, the Hope Diamond.

Here's a few of these precious gifts from mother Earth

Demantoid Garnet

This green variation of all you January babies birthstone is the rarest of all garnets. I had to dub this one The Prince. I couldn't stop thinking that if a beautiful princess gemstone kissed a frog gemstone, it would turn into this Prince of a gem. First, discovered in Russia, this brilliant stone got its name because of its diamond-like luster. Bank Accounts beware, at the top retail end, this Ural Mountain dweller can reach as much as US$10,000 per carat.

Alexandrite


Good luck finding this extremely rare stone at you local jewelers. This is one of my favorites because it possesses a quality that only a hand full of other natural stones can stake claim to, color change. Alexandrite is a variety of Chrysoberyl, same family of gemstones that Emerald fall in, that displays a change -of-color from green to blue-green in daylight, and purple to purplish-red in incandescent light. It gets its name from a mineralogist who coined the term in honor of the Russian Czar that was coming of age at the time of its discovery, Alexander II.


Paraiba Tourmaline



I can picture myself floating adrift on a raft in the center of this stone, just off shore a deserted island. Relaxing with this crystal clear blue ocean beneath me. Paraiba is one of the most magnificent natural gemstones in the world. First found in Paraiba, Brazil, it's color varies from intense blue to green. It gets this beautiful color from copper being added to its composition. As the rarest and most expensive of all Tourmalines, this bad boy can easily reach tens of thousands per carat.


Padparadscha Sapphire



And last but definitely not least at all, we have this pink rose of a gem. the Padparadscha Sapphire. Padparadscha is a variety of corundum, the sapphire and ruby family. It's color is a pinkish orange, and it gets its name from the Sanskrit/Sinhalese padmaraga, a color similar to that of the lotus flower. Now-a-days, some define the gem's color as a blend of lotus and sunset shown below.



This stone set as a solitaire ring is sure to melt the heart of your special little lady.
Gemstones really are the flowers of the mineral world. I've been considering using one of these stones as a replacement for the traditional diamond ring, only problem is they can get up to 10x more expensive and even harder to find. But, I guarantee that the look on your Queen's face will be very well worth it.

Unhealthy Beauty Practices

Gargling With (Portuguese) Urine



Dental care was a little lax throughout most of history, but Romans in the time of Jupiter appreciated white teeth nearly as much as we do today. To improve the color of their teeth and freshen their breath, Romans imported Portuguese urine (believed to be stronger than their own) to rinse their mouths. While obviously unpleasant, urine contains several compounds like ammonia and urea that actually kill germs and help fight the gum disease gingivitis.




Dyeing Hair With Cow’s Blood

Hair dye has long been a staple of modern women, but ancient Iranian women also enjoyed a good dye-job. They compounded a nasty mix of henna, tadpoles, and the blood of black cows, which they applied liberally to darken and condition their hair. It was thought that the blood gave the cows their dark coloring and would do the same for human hair. Although henna is used as a natural dye to this day, the inclusion of tadpoles still confounds me.




Bathing in Crocodile Excrement



For some reason, the ancient Greeks thought crocodile excrement had restorative and beautifying properties. It was mixed into natural mud holes or baths full of warmed mud, and Grecian lovelies hung about in it until they felt restored and beautiful (I’m guessing that took quite a while.) We don’t know how they collected it (or why they decided it was a good idea in the first place) but it was all the rage in the wealthy and youth-seeking circles. Thankfully, bathing with water was also in vogue and there are no official reports of reptile-poo poisoning.





Wearing Wigs That Caused Nosebleeds


The women of England have been famous throughout history for their elaborate and strange beauty routines. In the era of Queen Elizabeth, when red hair was in fashion, women used a powder made of sulfur and safflower petals to color their hair and wigs. The blend caused headaches, nausea, and frequent nosebleeds.






Wearing Poisonous Eye Makeup

When it comes to heavy metal poisoning, no one trumps the ancient Egyptians. Men and women painted their eyes almost daily with a mixture called mesdemet, made from a dark gray lead, among other things. Also, a green paint called udju was used, made from a copper ore. Although neither product could be considered healthy, the eyepaint that Egyptians wore is credited with repelling insects and preventing infections due to the high antimicrobial activity of copper ore.



Liberally Applying Arsenic Powder

In a medieval version of today’s CoverGirl compact, European women used a powder (pressed into cakes or small jars) to whiten their skin. The fashionable pallor was created by using white lead ore and arsenic, among other unhealthy-but-white ingredients.



Sticking Bird Droppings Up Your Nose

In the early days of the geisha, Japanese women used a whitening paste on their faces made mostly of rice flour and bird droppings. It was applied over the entire face, including the ears, inside the nostrils, on the eyelids and lips.

India - Colorful Marriage

India - Colorful Marriage