How are eye wrinkles formed and how can we prevent them?

Some women suffer from wrinkles worse than others and some get them at earlier stages of their lives, however it is safe to say that sadly we all get them! Despite us all having them, we all want to hide them as we want to stay looking young and youthful for as long as possible This article not only talks about how wrinkles are developed but it also talks about how to prevent them once they are there. So, why do we get wrinkles? Wrinkles are normally associated with aging. As we age, the cells in our skin become thin and they lose their elasticity. This is because of the collagen production in our skin cells decreasing which causes our skin to have elasticity in the first place. When there is lack of collagen in our bodies, our skin cells begin to split which delays repair and renewal of the skin. As we age, the fat cells under the outer layer of our skin, get smaller and lose their ability to fill out the gaps within the inner layers of our skin. Our outer fat cells make our skin appear supple so when they get smaller damage occurs in the inner layers. This causes our skin to sag and become dry and develop wrinkles. The suns UV rays can also have a detrimental effect on our skin and cause us to develop wrinkles more quickly. Being unprotected from the suns UV rays can damage your skin as it is vulnerable to ultraviolet radiation. Sunlight causes the outer layer of the skin, which is the epidermis, to become thinner, and encourages the overproduction of melanin, which eventually leads to skin cancer. By spending long amounts of time in the direct sunlight with no sunscreen on can cause cause the collagen in our skin to break down more quickly which as we spoke about above has an affect on wrinkles forming. The way wrinkles form is from something called “free radicals”. Free Radicals are unstable oxygen molecules in the body that lack an electron. The oxygen molecules we have in our skin cells require two electrons to work effectively, when only one is present the oxygen molecules find it difficult to break down the collagen in our skin cells and therefore skin elasticity is reduced. When our skin elasticity is reduced wrinkles will form. Free radicals develop in the skin through continued exposure to ultraviolet rays from the sun, air pollution and cigarette smoking. Although we may try and fight them, getting wrinkles is a natural thing and it will happen eventually, all we can do it try and prevent them! Many women (and some men) will get a facelift or other cosmetic surgery (which can cost a fortune!) to try and hide those dreaded wrinkles and to try and make themselves look and feel younger for longer. For those of us that have not just won the lottery there is thankfully another solution. I mentioned above how the collagen in our skins has an impact on our skins elasticity and the forming of wrinkles. Eye Secrets have developed a product called the Collagen and Q10 patch that works to increase your collagen levels and leaves your eyes and skin looking smoother and tighter. Eye Secrets collagen and Q10 patch gets to work in just 15 minutes and reduces the appearance of under eye wrinkles, those nasty black circles under your eyes and the general puffiness of your skin. In addition to this It can reduce dry skin and leave your skin feeling smooth and tight once again! In each package you will receive 5 applications (10 gel eye patches). The patches should be applied underneath your eyes for 15-20 minutes. Whilst they are placed on your face the patches get hard to work and intensely moisturise, nourish and hydrate your skin. This will restore elasticity and help your skin to look and feel rejuvenated, vibrant and smooth. The hydrating formula also helps relive puffiness and dark circles under the eye - beautiful! Click here to BUY NOW!

Five moves for lovely lean legs

If like me you are battling against a progressively lazy metabolism yet still want to have lovely lean legs, you will know that unfortunately we cannot achieve this through diet alone.   One of the top goals of many women who are entering the gym is to get a lean set of legs that they can feel proud to sport in a pair of shorts or a skirt for the summer. If you want to make sure that you're on the right track to get lean legs, it's going to be vital that you're taking the time to learn the best leg slimming exercises out there and then taking the time to add them to your fitness plan. Let's have a quick look at some of the top moves that you should consider so that you can achieve this goal in record time. Lunges The first move that's great for helping to lengthen the legs and add a more defined appearance is lunges. Lunges are fantastic since not only will they work the glutes, hamstrings, and quads, but they'll also target your core as it contracts to help you maintain balance. Perform these walking all the way across a room and back, doing two sets each workout. Squats Squats are the next movement that will really help you get lean legs in a hurry.  Squats are also a compound movement so will target every single muscle in the lower body and in addition to that, they're also one of the best strength developers. By adding a bit more lean muscle mass to your frame, you'll increase your total daily calorie burn and therefore have a much easier time shedding the fat. Rear Leg Raises Moving over to rear leg raises, these are perfect for any woman who wants to firm up her backside as they'll target the muscles specifically surrounding the bum region. Since you aren't lifting any weights when doing rear leg raises either, you'll get toning benefits without any increase in size. Uphill Walking Uphill walking is another great exercise that you should include in your workout program when doing your cardio training. Not only will uphill walking burn off as many calories as fast paced running would, but it's really going to challenge your lower body muscles as well. For anyone who suffers from back pain these are also a perfect alternative since they'll be much lower impact than running would be. Deadlifts Finally, last but not least, don't overlook deadlifts.  Deadlifts are great for firming your rear side and will also help to strengthen the lower back and core muscles as well. When performing your deadlifts you really want to think of squeezing up from the glutes only, ensuring that you are using the bum muscles to perform the movement rather than using the lower back instead. Also be sure when executing the rising phase of this movement that you do maintain that flat back position as this is what will ensure that you aren't at risk for developing lower back pain. So there you have five great movements that you should consider adding to your lower body workout program. If you can do these three days per week, you are going to be one step closer to that set of lean legs you're looking for.

Don't forget to also pair these exercises with a good diet plan as well as a proper appetite suppressant such as Phen 375, as this will ensure that you're looking at the total picture as far as fat loss is concerned.  Click here to learn more about Phen 375

A little taste of paradise at Coco Bodu Hithi in the Maldives

The Maldives are made up of 1192 islands in the Indian Ocean and they look like something off a screen saver. Rather frighteningly, it is said that they may be gone in our lifetime due to the rising sea level. So if you are looking for a reason to book and go, there you have it!! The pictures don't lie, the sand is white and incredibly soft and the ocean turquoise and so clear you can see to to bottom.

I went a few years ago with my husband for our honeymoon and we flew from Manchester direct to the capital Malé. It's a gruelling 12 hour flight, but believe me it is worht it!!  It's definitely an unusual airport by British standards and when you get there, there are loads of small stands with staff waiting to whisk you off to your paradise island. You can either go by sea plane or speedboat depending on the distance. We stayed at Coco Bodu Hithi (then Coco Palm Bodu Hithi), a truly beautiful resort and had about a 45 minute boat trip to get there.

When you arrive, you are greeted on a pontoon by several staff members and that really sets the scene for the service you will receive throughout your stay. The staff are mostly from Sri Lanka and live on the island and it has to be said they really can't do enough for you.  The island itself is stunning and houses 100 luxury villas, some on land and the majority over water.  We stayed in The Escape Water Residence where you have your own butler and private pool and I can only image the experience was nothing short of what celebrities receive wherever they stay! It has to be said this is a truly luxury island, all villas are beautifully presented and all have private pools.

There are several restaurants to choose from with something for everyone, from Aqua, an overwater al fresco restaurant to Stars with its contemporary offerings and Tsuki where you can sample sushi freshly made by a Japanese chef. I have to warn you and I am sure anyone who has read Trip Advisor will know, the Maldives is a little pricey on food and drink as it all has to be imported. Drinks in particular can be a little eye-watering if you are not prepared (lets just say you can buy a pack of 6 Coronas in the UK for the price of one bottle here!), but as they say, the best things in life aren't free!! People often say they worry they would be bored as they think there is nothing to do, but if like us you have busy jobs, it's quite nice to go into a slower gear. We played tennis (not for the faint hearted in the heat and humidity!!) and had spa treatments. More importantly though, you can't visit the Maldives without snorkelling, the fish are literally every colour of the rainbow and you see some amazing sights! Coming face to face with a lion fish can be a little intimidating, so you have to watch out for them!! We saw lots of small sharks, which luckily were more scared of us than us of them! If you are into your scuba diving this really is one of the most amazing places to be and you can spend hours exploring the deeper depths. When it came to saying farewell to this beautiful island, I have to admit I had a little lump in my throat as we jetted off back in the direction of Malé with a gathering of staffing waving us off. Our two weeks in paradise had sadly come to an end and it was back to reality, one things for sure though, I will definitely be back!!

Click here to find out more about Coco Bodu Hithi

Ryanair flight FR8028 - what an eye-opener!

I've never flown with Ryanair before and after a fiasco booking through eDreams and a heated exchange which followed with a representative of Ryanair through their online chat - lets just say that this set the scene for flying with this no frills (and apparently no customer service) budget airline. Needless to say, they won't be getting my custom again! It has however provided my husband and I much amusement! The flight out to Murcia from Stansted was the equivalent of a human zoo, there was pandemonium when we got on the plane, but I will come back to this. For those of you fortunate enough to have never flown with Ryanair, you don't get any hold luggage when you book your flight, this is a chargeable extra - as is pretty much everything else bar the oxygen! People don't like to pay for bags so take full size suitcases as hand luggage, you will literally see them at the bag checker practically jumping on the bag to squeeze it in to justify carrying it on as hand luggage as they don't want to pay for hold luggage. It's a joke really when we were charged €10 extra for being overweight by 1kg on the way back, but hey ho that's life and with their typical clientele of extras avoiders, Ryanair obviously need to try to squeeze every penny out of those customers who are prepared to pay! It was a very strange set up for actually boarding the plane, after queueing up on the tarmac next to the plane inhaling the fumes (I'm sure from a health and safety point of view this is a little suspect), we eventually got to make our way up into the cabin. Once inside the fun begins, there are people trying to wedge their clearly too large cases into the overhead cabinets, people shouting across the plane to each other as they can't be seated together (again an extra which you have to pay for!). We witnessed one couple who had to be moved as they were sat in seats which someone else had paid for (it reminded me of being at the cinema and watching people hang their heads in shame as they are asked to move from the premium seats as they haven't paid for them!), only this couple seemed miffed that they weren't allowed to stay in these seats - no shame here! There's screaming babies and you're squashed in like sardines, my husband managed to elbow me in the head (not really his fault - these seats are not built for gym-goers with big shoulders!). There were plenty of packed lunches and so much tinfoil the plane resembled a school canteen, it really is an eye-opener! The poor woman next to me foolishly ordered a coffee and it's probably the most unappetising coffee I have ever seen - like mud and with clumps of coffee stuck to the lid and floating about in it, no amount of uht milk and sugar was ever going to make it ok. The air stewardess, who sounded like she was holding her nose while she spoke in comedy style, had to announce that there were no duty free magazines and had to read out their offerings like something off a QVC advert! I would love to say something positive but the best I can do is say that there was a tail wind so luckily we got there quicker!!

Websites made easy with 1&1

I am no computer expert (and that is being rather kind to myself), I can find my way around a Mac quite comfortably but start talking to me about HTML code and you might as well continue the conversation in Spanish for the amount I will understand!

I really wanted to set up my own website and blog, but as I planned it as a hobby I didn't want to spend a fortune on a web designer for something that I knew I would want to make changes to every 5 minutes.

After a bit of digging around on the internet, I found that 1&1 actually have an amazing website builder for people like me. It is a genius idea they have created and so user friendly it has been a dream to work on. They have turned something which was initially a very daunting thought into something fun to work on. I have been so impressed with how easy it is to build my website with 1&1 and to make changes. Features-wise there really isn't much you can't do, you can integrate social media and manage your pages, create newsletters and mailing lists, blogs, etc.

There are SEO tools built in and guides to help make your website visible to the masses, which is a massive help for beginners like me!

I got a 30 day free trial so if it had gone horribly wrong it would have cost me nothing, as it stands it's been so far so good and at only £9.99 a month you really can't complain!

Click here to set up your own website with 1&1

The best macarons in Paris

Macaroons for those you who don't know are sweet meringue based confections.  They come in an array of beautiful colours and flavours and taste simply amazing. You can buy them from many places now due to their growing popularity, Waitrose sells a particularly good version (Didiers Patisserie), but if you want the best you will have to visit Paris! For some, Paris is the city of love or the city of lights, for me, it is the home of the Macaron. My husband whisked me off to Paris for my 30th birthday and top on my list of things to do, in amongst seeing the stunning sights the city has to offer, was a visit to Ladurée and Pierre Hermé.  

First stop was Ladurée on the Champs-Élysées. This is a beautiful place and feels almost like a sweet shop for adults. It is not for people in a rush as the queue was nearly out the door, but all good things come to those who wait as they say and it was worth the wait!!  This shop also has a restaurant, though we didn't try this out unfortunately (maybe next time!).  The presentation really is something with Ladurée, it has a beautifully traditional French antique feel and everything is packaged up like a lovely little present, there is no wonder they have experienced such a high level of success. The macarons themselves are divine and something I don't think I would ever get bored of eating. My husband wasn't won over by the idea (he has more of a savoury tooth) and reluctantly took a nibble, although impressed I think he was distracted by his rumbling stomach and need for actual food after a long morning pounding the streets.

The next day, after learning my lesson and feeding my loyal hubby, it was time for a visit to Pierre Hermé on Rue Cambon. This is the polar opposite in design to Ladurée with it's chic and contemporary styling. After patiently waiting and after a very rude (and clearly very wealthy) French woman tried to make her way in front of me (and failing, much to her annoyance) I carefully selected my macarons. Lined up like jewel coloured sweets, it really is incredibly hard not to just tell them you want them all (but at nearly £2 each this would have been a costly idea).  This time I let (made) Paul pick one as by this point I was on a mission to get him to acknowledge their loveliness. Packaging is not on the same level as Ladurée, but for me they have it on the taste. I couldn't tell you what it was, whether it was the consistency or flavours, but they just won it for me (and Paul - he polished his off with a smile on his face - victory!).  So there you have my opinion, Pierre Herme just had the edge, but I may just have to take a trip back to double check...