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Nature-Fruits-451925 (1)
Want that perfect complexion without having to cake on the makeup, or spend half your wages on expensive ‘wonder potions’ that promise to rid you of wrinkles and worries? Start with what does inside your body, rather than outside. New trends and lotions pop up all the time, but if you want a solution rather than a quick fix, try and incorporate these fantastic fruits into your diet.
• Strawberries: A classic fruit, perfect for cooling down in the upcoming summer, my favourite berry is packed full of nutritional goodness. Add them to cereals, dunk them in sour cream – the combinations of food that go with strawberries seem endless. Sweet, with a delicious hint of sourness, they’re relatively low in carbs and calories and are exceptional ‘on the go’ snacks. High in vitamin C, strawberries – like most berries if truth be told – are rich in antioxidants, compounds that neutralize free radicals in the body: nasty loose molecules that can cause damage to our cells and helps us age. I eat these bad boys almost every day, and I don’t think I’ve had a pimple in over a year.
• Papaya: If truth be told, I am not a huge fan of this tropical fruit. Too many memories as a kid being force fed this meaty substance, put off by the shiny black dots that gleamed up at me like the dead eyes of a doll. This being said, it’s staple food back home in Brazil. Mother always said it was kept her skin from sagging, and at fifty plus, it has clearly worked for her. And here’s why. Filled with flavonoids, potassium, magnesium, beta-carotene, and the essential vitamin C, this fruit is a great source of all things linked with maintaining corporal form and shape. Your collagen cells will thank you for this, trust me.
• Avocado: Also known as the best fruit in the world! I used to think they taste like soap, but ever since returning back home to Dubai, I’ve been stuck on them like white on rice. I can’t go a week without incorporating it into my diet. Spread it on some bread, mix it with some lemon or have it plain. The result’s the same: pure satisfaction. Low in carbs (great for anyone on Atkins or protein-heavy diets), they’re more savory than sweet and are high in monounsaturated fat. Fat? Oh no, not fat. Wrong. This is the good fat. If you ever need proof that fat is good for the skin, go look at people with exceedingly low body fat. Most of them have wrinkles, dry skin and appear older than they actually are. Fat, and monounsaturated fat in particular, are great because the moisturize the skin, replace the oil that gets removed when washing, and are also filled with vitamin D  Because they’re more savory than sweet, avocados are often confused as a vegetable. But these green orbs are actually a fruit, one of a tropical nature like papaya. The key to an avocado’s benefit to skin cells are the high levels of monounsaturated fat, considered a “good” fat. Monounsaturated fats help moisturize skin, replace oil that gets removed when washing and is responsible for enhancing intestinal absorption of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphate and zinc.
• Plum: Anything red or purple is an indicator that they are high in antioxidants. The same goes for these delectable fruits.  Like the strawberry, these fruits have been shown to have a high amount of antioxidants per serving, and not only that, are high in fiber. As well as helping rid the body of harmful toxins by assisting them along their way through the digestive tract, fiber helps you feel full longer, and is great for anyone hoping to curb unnecessary hunger pangs.
• Tomatoes: The final fruit on our list comes in a number of shapes and sizes, and for a long time in my book, was thought of as a vegetable! This red fruit is packed with a cartenoid called lycopene. In a study published in the European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, researchers gave twenty-five young adults a lycopene rich diet for four weeks followed by a 25 milligram lycopene supplement for another three months. A the end of the four month period, they looked at the participant’s skin using spectroscopy and found they had higher levels of carotenoids, including lycopene and beta-carotene, in their skin. Carotenoids are strong antioxidants that help to reduce inflammation – which may have a positive impact on skin aging. A previous study published in the same journal found that higher skin lycopene levels were associated with smoother skin. Moreover, when skin levels of lycopenes are higher, it helps to reduce oxidative damage that occurs from daily exposure to the sun and other environmental pollutants. As a study showed, higher levels of skin lycopenes reduces skin roughness. Higher levels of lycopene in the skin also block ultraviolet rays to some degree – although not enough to make a sunscreen unnecessary. [thanks, Tranquil Infusion Skin Care]


Spoilers ahead!

It’s finished! Another HBO series has met its true death, and though I will miss Eric Northman’s cynical charm, Sookie’s rotisserie of supernatural suitors and Pamela’s caustic wit, I’m glad the series has come to a close. Having witnessed my beloved ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ limp towards a lackadaisical seventh season, I was sure True Blood was on the same path after Vampire Bill’s sudden upgrade to God status. When you start employing the pinnacle of fantastical hierarchies, there’s nowhere to go but down. When the sixth season came about, I wasn’t interested. After seeing Bill – bloody and primal with the Association’s HQ burning in the foreground – shoot up into the night sky, a God reborn, I promptly closed my browser and turned on some Anime. Even Japanese cartoons with telepathic teenagers and giant, talking Mole Rats felt more promising than this season.

Disappointment in series is an emotion I’ve come to expect. Shows go on for too long. Sunday evening delights like Supernatural, Angel and Lost decay into desperate-measure solutions when I’m looking for a quick fix of TV drama. Rehashing plots, and relying on viewer nostalgia and attachments to keep them there isn’t a ploy I fall for anymore. Even so, with True Blood I was curious. I was willing to go on a whim after hearing that the seventh season would be their last.

And was I disappointed? Yes. Could it have been worse? Undoubtedly.

The sixth season made my teeth hurt, and the weaknesses in the sixth had severe repercussions in the final season. However, it must be said that the change of scenery and the human versus vampire throw down gave some weight to Bill’s new-found messiah status, and provided viewers with something different to look forward to (although it reminded me too much of their time in the Association, minus the vampire overlords). The war between vampires and humans ‘over with’ – that is, with the vampire concentration camp now a thing of the past – it’s back to Bon Temp to deal with diseased vampires and dying protagonists, courtesy of the Hep. V virus introduced in the previous season.

Now, things start getting a bit haphazard; in part due to the terrible ‘antagonist’ they've embroidered into the plot… but mainly because the script writers seem to be winging it, fumbling around for something emotive and logical to make ends meet. Not that I blame them – after a series goes on for so long, you run out of  refreshing content. So, what goes wrong?

People die


Normally I’d ‘look forward’ to character deaths. Not because I’m a sadist, but because character deaths demonstrate how much you’ve come to care for a series. Game of Thrones has turned it into an art form with far less screen time. With True Blood it should be easy to squeeze some compassion out of viewers, and yet, I felt like the series failed in that respect.

Tara. She died. Again. This time for good. In a panic filled first episode, Tara was killed protecting her estranged mother from a Hep V vampire heist. That’s it. It’s almost unsettling how quickly they did away with someone they bothered to revive only two seasons ago. Even the town seems relatively unperturbed, and though Sookie and Lafayette attribute their lack of grief to the fact that they already mourned her once, what should have been a turning-heads moment was pushed under the carpet and forgotten. That is until they revived her again – this time in spirit for a rather half-arsed, filler episode, which might have been put in place to salvage some empathy for Tara since they failed so hard the first time (or second time?)

Terry. Now that was death done right. Sure, the parameters were a little shady – he gets killed for something I can’t even remember, something completely adverse to the main storyline, but that’s okay. Because he was a father, a loving individual scarred by war, whose death leaves a wake of pain, shock and disappointment behind that is palpable throughout the remainder of the season. Tara’s death provoked nothing. It was just an underdeveloped blip on the radar.

If Alcide was not such a well beloved wolfie, I would say the same of his character death. I could see it coming a mile away. When Sookie revealed she did not love Alcide as much as she should, and Bill looked on with loving eyes, I knew these two would have to get together. Consequently, with only ten episodes to do it, the quickest, most guilt-stricken way for this to happen would be to shoot him in the head. Problem was, I don’t think I was sad for any other reason than not getting to see Alcide shirtless again on set. He was in the way of the plot. You can’t set up Sookie for happiness that early on. Get out of here! It was predictable and hurriedly executed. We’re sad, she’s sad, now let’s see how many episodes it takes for her and Bill to get together.

And last but not least, Bill, who shocked the world by choosing death rather than a cure for his Hep. V troubles.  With a handful of episodes donated to exploring Bill’s memories as a human, I can’t say that I’m surprised. Nevertheless, I am happy they tried to fill the empathy meter before the true death. Flashbacks, caring moments between him and Jessica, him and Sookie. The noble nature of his death… well done, True Blood. You got it right, and not a moment too soon. Having Sookie accept her gifts as a Fairy while still maintaining that she kills Bill herself was a nice touch, and as she walks stiffly from the cemetery and into a year-later panel, you can tell her worries are finally over. Kids, family and friends… sunlight. All’s well that ends well.

Overall, the finale was clunky. Threads of emotion were drawn from killing off characters, and the story met an end with none of the most beloved Bon Tempians dying (Pam, Eric and Lafayette). Sarah Newlin, the scatterbrained antagonist managed to survive her ordeal (although I think she should have been killed off earlier in the series rather than making her existence such a focal point in the story). Hoyt or 'Bubba' as he is affectionately dubbed by Jason Stackhouse, makes an abrupt return - most likely because Jessica has run out of possible lovers to turn to - and rekindles his relationship with his hometown, bringing with him Jason's future love, so post-Bill's death Bon Temps is filled with spoken-for, happy couples. How considerate of him. Like I said, it could have been worse, but compared to the gritty and compelling storylines True Blood once commanded, the season felt tepid and rushed; desperate, as it were, to finish before dug itself into a deeper hole.

Was Bill’s death enough to salvage this finale? I’m undecided. What I do know was that Alan Ball might have saved the show with this clip:




So I’ve recently bought a Marc Jacobs concealer/highlighter/brightener ‘Remedy’ (and the brand’s face sculpting brush) and thought I would give my two cents regarding the product.
I’ve been in search for a good highlighter for months, and Marc Jacobs was not my first choice. Sadly, my adored Bright Light MAC highlighter has been out of stock in the Middle East for over four months. I can’t even find it at the airport. Anyway, desperate for a good liquid highlighter to help with my contouring, I decided to take a little leap of faith with Marc’s new beauty line.
Now, appearance wise the pencil-length, silver cylinder ticks all the right boxes. It’s chic, small enough for me to take anywhere for touch ups, and like the rest of the collection, oozes sophistication. In terms of its design it is flawless… except for one, itsy bitsy thing: the hole for the liquid to come out of. Personally I like to smear my highlighter from container to skin – most of the items I have had in the past have all had bristles or a nozzle in order to do so. With this piece you’ve got to pump the extractor, get the liquid from the tip to a concealer brush, or onto your fingers. Personally, I find it a hassle and having bristles diffuses the liquid into the areas I want to target before I need blending it out with a brush. Instead, I have to awkwardly pump highlighter onto a brush, which for a 38 dollar product, seems like a backwards step considering that highlighters have had bristles for years to solve this unnecessary process.
Although the product comes in seven different hues, for someone with yellow undertones it was hard to select a colour for me. Everything was either too rosy or suddenly too dark for my skin when there was finally any yellow pigment. Fortunately I have the residue of some of my old foundation around to mix into the colour, but it is still disappointing that they haven’t managed to get a suitable yellow pigment into their concealers. I mean, MAC has three choice colours for their new highlighter products, and they manage to cover more color range with only a trio of hues.
The texture of the highlighter itself is adequate; not the best, but certainly not the worst that I’ve tried. It reflects light beautifully and gives a glowing, youthful appearance, however, it is a concealer that I’ve had to cake on rather than smear over a few blemishes and dark spots. I have slight abrasions on my cheeks; spots that aren’t really spots, so with certain foundations or creams it creates an uneven surface. Since this concealer is so delicate, I have to pour it on so that the bumps aren’t so noticeable – something that I don’t have to do with all of my products.
All in all, it is a pretty but someone ineffective device. It works well alongside other products, but as a standalone concealer, it is pretty weak compared to other goods on the market. I’d give it a 6/10.
As for the brush, it is absolutely lush. I feel like I am stroking my face with angel hair.
Has anyone out there had any experiences with this product? How did you find it compared to other concealers you’ve used before?




As promised my next anime review will be on Shin Sekai Yori or, From the New World.

I am in absolute awe of this novel-turned anime and am currently scrabbling to find out when an English translation of the text would be available. For now I’ll have to make do with just having this gem of an anime. Unlike in my KnK review, I will not be fangirling over the clarity and sophistication of the animation – though SSY is beautiful in its own way. While the anime comes second in visual astuteness, it makes up for it through its unique and compelling storyline. Days after I finished the anime I feel like I am walking through a haze, wistfully daydreaming about giant mole rats and telekinetic teenagers while humming the anime’s addictive main theme.

Story:
10/10

Books are the best. In an era dominated by otome romances and standardized supernatural stories – I am looking at you, Diabolik Lovers – you can tell when a story was written with the purpose of being thought provoking. Wedged between reels of mindless shonens and sickly shojos, SSY reminds you that anime can have a plot; that the medium has more to offer than gravity-defying breasts and ridiculous action sequences.

Set 1000 years into the future, the show follows six children, Saki, Satoru, Maria, Mamoru, Shun, and Reiko, who have been raised in one of the tranquil yet antiquated prefectures that resemble rural Japan today. Despite a millennium between modern day and Yusuke Kishi’s future utopia, it appears civilization has digressed back to a pre-industrial state. Their world is now a rural one; engulfed by trees and rivers with only a couple of hundred families (if that!) located in any one village. It’s a setting that would make the Romantics swoon. The big change? All the humans we see today have mad superpowers. Everyone has varying degrees of telekinesis, which is carefully controlled and monitored by the benevolent town’s ethics and security councils.

Despite the idyllic setting there is something amiss. As children, Saki and her friends hear rumors of terrifying cats that steal you away in the night, and while no one has ever confirmed these findings, it doesn’t change the fact that every so often children and adults go missing. As they grow, they encounter more and more discrepancies until one faithful day they encounter an item that allows them to realize the true nature of their world, and the long, bloody history that shadows it.

What unfolds is an incredibly intricate plot that thickens like good gravy. What begins as a tale about the adventures of some psychic children soon develops an adjacent story concerning creatures called, Monster Rats: colonies of Mole Rat humanoids that live beyond the towns in sprawling hoards that are fond of feudal disputes, but live to serve their overpowered neighbors; their ‘psychic’ masters. As the rats rage war against each other around them, the children return to school to resume their training, equipped with the terrible knowledge that their society is founded on secretive and deceptive principles, of which the Monster Rats play a crucial role in.

That’s all I am going to talk about in terms of the overarching plot for now. It’s too deep to try and write about in a review, and part of the fun of this particular anime is that the story leaves you guessing; there are so many aspects at work that you never know what’s going to happen next. What I will say is that my thumbs up goes to the characters and plot creation. The characters are loveable and believable, and their interpersonal chemistry makes what happens in the plot so much more tragic and compelling. Throughout it all there is never any clear distinction of who is in the wrong, and as the children stumble through their adolescence, it becomes obvious that they are living in a world of strife and cannot trust anyone outside their circle. Even the plight of the lowly Monster Rats is compelling. As they wage war on each other, and bicker over territory and expanding their colonies, their bestial natures resonate with that of primitive humans; and as the children develop, so do their embryonic ways and existence. They evolve, much to the horror of their ‘benign’ masters.

Go watch it so I can rave about the show with someone! The first six episodes are bizarre, but it only gets better from there. The last episode left me quite teary for characters I did not think I would come to care for so deeply.

Animation:

7/10

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At times it’s a 9, at others, 7. A-1 Pictures weren't very consistent with the level of detail they displayed in their animation. Overall it was delicious, and Masashi Ishihama did well employing a few beautifully drawn scenes that leave an impression in your mind. It may not be a KnK with animation, but on the whole SSY mastered its limited budget and produced an artful show speckled with memorable shots and scenes.

Music:
8/10
The main theme is addictive. Kage No Denshouka Daiichibu, the main theme, has been stuck in my head for 3 weeks now. There is a lot of repetition in the show, but I think that really adds to the growing tension and ambiance of the anime: the melodic and someone sad New World Symphony by Antonin Dvorak that plays at the end of each school day becomes sinister; the tantalizing Kage No Denshouka Daiichibu intensifies as the anime develops and the sacrifices of the characters become intrinsic to it. It’s nice music. Not on par with Cowboy Bebop, but definitely pleasing to the ear.

Dislikes:

At times the random decrease in animation quality is irritating. (Nitpicking here).
… Yep! That’s it! Go treat yourself by watching this amazing show.

It’s a God send – an absolutely fabulous exfoliant. I haven’t found one better, and exfoliators are a weakness of mine. My cupboards are chockablock with plant-based this a soft scrub that; promising smooth, clear and glowing skin which usually results in a dry, irritated face. Not this. When my friend sung its praises I had to try it out – though I remained the skeptic. I’m an avid consumer of MAC’s makeup products, but their skincare line has never had much interest for me. I had the Lightful Moisture Cream and thought that for 31 quid, it wasn’t worth the price. I had similar speculations about the rest of their skincare products. But this is different.
It’s light, has great grainy texture and comes out a bit like paste, rather than the watered down exfoliaters that are eighty percent gel with some shards of exfoliate floating about. A little dab will do and if you have one, a Clarisonic brush with this makes for the ultimate deep clean scrub. Afterwards there is only moisture and that delightful feeling of cleanliness.
10/10. Would recommend to anyone and all skin types. It’s an absolute gem!


Editorial, fashion and shopping. Oh My! They’ve finally bridged the gap between paper and purchases – the future of retail magazines is here! Net-a-porter, the wonderful, online shopping destination for the rich and travelled has released a ‘menu’ of sorts to accompany their online shopping site. Porter is their digitally interactive paperback. Designed to be released every two months, this magazine boasts a repertoire of brands and items that can be scanned using one’s mobile app and purchased through third parties, or ordered through a concierge network.
  
Not quick to follow the ever-popular Vogue, Porter will only be released in one language across its hefty global market, but like their Conde Nast rival, targets affluent women who travel extensively and have little time to waste scrounging for their next expensive buy.

Nestled happily between the likes of Harper’s Bazaar, Elle (and a crooked Cosmopolitan shoved angrily between the high-fashion giants) Porter’s minimalistic, yet eye-catching front page invites one to think that it has alwaysbeen there and was meant to be among the great fashion magazines; not a newcomer to be shunned in a saturated market, but welcomed as frivolously as one does the latest copy of Vogue. From Gisele Bündchen’s radiant mug to the tasteful, monochrome cover story on Juliana Moore, you can see that Porter has brought guns to a knife fight. There’s some Victoria Beckham for the Brits, Manolo Blahnik for the shoe addicts and some Claudia Schiffer to sate the old model diehards.

With such an expansive collection of celebrities, idols and brands, backed by a new digital application, we wonder how long it is before the other magazine competitors begin to reinvent their image. Slow and steadyVogue hasn’t needed a facelift in years, but with this challenger is it time to step up their game? Though Porterisn’t radically different from the rest of its fashion market – save its new digital backbone – its distinctive character and bucketful of big names has made it the most promising entrée into the market in forever, and leaves one with the impression that this industry might take a turn for the better.  What do you guys think? Net-a-Porter going to start a new interactive magazine decade?

Free! Is back! Pubescent girls everywhere, rejoice! The second season of the immensely popular light novel by Kōji Ōji returns with Kyoto Animation and aired this July, but I am just getting into it presently.

For those of you that are new to the concept (or curious boys that are not willing to test their sexuality against these Adonis-like Bishi swimmers), the anime carries on from Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club, a story concerning four best friends united by their passion for swimming. When Rin – a dazzling red head with pointy teeth and one of the four ‘nakama’– returns after abandoning his friends in Iwatobi for an elite boarding school swim school in Australia, their dreams of a happy reunion are cut short by the fact that Rin is no longer the boy they used to know. The now sixteen year old shows himself to be a somewhat aggressive and immensely competitive swimmer dead set on being the greatest pokemon master swimmer Japan has ever seen, and appears to give very little weight to friendship and the importance of sportsmanship. His main rival – and once upon a time best friend, Nanase – poses a threat to this ideal, being perhaps the ‘epitome’ of the best swimmer and unchallenged in the water, despite his minimal efforts towards training. Rin is determined to beat him, and despite accomplishing this very early in the series, is unable to fill the void by attaining his ultimate goal. Free! goes onto examine the importance of friendship and meaningful motivation, weighing Rin’s ruthless, tunnel-vision ambitions against the pure and modest attempts by the Iwatobi crew, who believe that attaining success as a team is a far more gratifying accomplishment. After watching his old friends training meticulously for the relay race at the Prefectural Tournament, Rin gradually comes to remember what he had lost by becoming a solo swimmer, and eventually remedies his relationship with Nanase and co by the end of the series. Basically there’s a lot of ‘doing your best’, the importance of friendship, and serious sports, which if any of you have seen Prince of Tennis, can probably picture what kind of anime Free! Is like.

Free! Eternal Summer continues on this note, with Nanase and Makoto returning as 3rd year upperclassmen, making this their last chance at making it to regionals as the Iwatobi Highschool team. For progenies like Rin and Nanase, it’s also a crucial time in their swimming career; a chance to be scouted by a university and take their swimming talents to the next level.
To be honest, I was quite surprised they managed introduce something deeper than the turbulent friendship problems which acted as Free!’s overarching theme and plot in the first season. Given that the friendship between Rin and Iwatobi was mended, I thought this anime had run out of viable plotlines. The happy ending killed my ideas for any follow ups. But then I remembered. Final year of high school. What could be better for a slice-of-life anime with super beautiful athletes who have been friends since time immemorial, having to deal with growing up and consequently, growing apart? Perfect.  Bring on the tiny swimming shorts and tears.


You know, just in swim shorts all the time.

Now there have only been 8 episodes so far, but what the anime has shown is that friendship remains centerfold in the show, and rather than focusing on the Iwatobi versus Samezuka rivalry, the series looks inwards into the happenings of each school’s swim club, highlighting the troubles between Samezuka’s friendship group and Iwatobi’s. This is something I prefer. While the anime did go through the trouble of having two different school lives, this season feels a bit more exclusive; like Samezuka doesn’t only exist to cover Rin’s storyline. There’s a lot more depth and intricacy added to the Samezuka plot now that Rin has to handle a new role as captain of the swimming team, alongside the return of his old school friend, Sousuke, who seems to embody all of Rin’s old ideals and beliefs about solo-swimming.  Conversely there’s the Iwatobi crew, whose main ulterior dispute aside from their upcoming bid for nationals, is what to do after high school. While Nanase has it made as a professional swimmer, he’s locked into his ‘free’ mentality where he doesn’t do anything that might go against his laidback principles. 
Similarly, Mokoto has to find a career path that might not involve Nanase, who has been his partner in crime since forever. Aside from all the muscles and tech-swim talk, it makes for an interesting underlying plot.

Overall, the anime is something I don’t really think about. It’s pretty: the boys are pretty, the animation is pretty, the water is pretty, the storyline is basic and the dialogue is eighty percent name-calling: (ie: Nanase: says something deep and meaningful about water. Mokoto: -glittery eyes- Haru…) This is just artwork pornography; a delightful reminder that art is better than reality. Sometimes it’s painful watching the script writers shove in their moments of deep and meaningful dialogue – which always ends up with the aforementioned glittery eyes and characters responding by repeating each other’s names, but I deal with it because there’s muscles and colours, and the drawing style is absolutely appealing. The times I really enjoy the anime is when it retraces its comedic routes and capitalizes on the fact that this is a girl’s show for ladies wanting to watch unbelievably ripped swimmers all day. Gou is a great reminder of that causal motive, and the show repeatedly returns to her fixation with muscles to stress this point, making it appear self-aware which in turn makes the serious moments easier to stomach.


LOL. Alright, the fan-service is pretty good. 

If you’re into bishi-boys (who isn’t?!) and taking serious swim-talk with a pinch of salt, Free! Is a lighthearted, pleasant experience, and this season comes with hotter guys and even more passion-filled discourse over swimming. For anyone who gets a bit soft when they see friends pulling through tough situations, and secretly thinks ganbatte is the best motto ever, Free! Eternal Summer is waiting for you.