Did you know that your eyes are the “Mirror of the soul”

Article no. 018

First time first impression

By Pior Gabby

Your eyes are what people usually first notice about your appearance. Find out how to apply eyeliner, eyeshadow and mascara with these expert makeup tips and tricks.

 Eyes are the “Mirror of the soul” - clichéd but true! You would want your eyes – the main feature of your face to sparkle with good health and happiness.

Dull, lifeless and bloodshot eyes are the result of many factors – illness, fatigue, inadequate diet and dryness. The whites appear pinkish or greenish yellow at times due to lack of sleep, too much alcohol or a weak liver.

Reading in inadequate lighting or keeping the book or paper too close causes the eyes to squint and redden. Reading material should be kept at least 10 inches away from the eyes.

Wearing make-up or lenses will be a stopgap arrangement for sparkling eyes- in fact using too much make up will harm the delicate skin around the eyes.



To be absolutely confident of shining sparkling eyes would be to work on your system internally – begin with the most basic method – drink enough water, a minimum of 2 liters a day.


Eat adequate quantities of vitamin A and vitamin C; fill up on carrots, sweet potatoes, squash and spinach for vitamin A and guavas, bell peppers, citrus fruits and papayas for vitamin C. After a bout of illness or fatigue take supplements till you find a difference.


You can take Omega 3 supplements after consulting your medical practitioner – take 4 capsules a day – 2 after lunch and 2 after dinner.


When your liver is sluggish it will be a good idea to detoxify your system with half a cup of beetroot juice, first thing in the morning.


A very simple method to relax eyes and add sparkle to them is by rubbing the palms of your hands together till they become warm before placing them on closed eyes for a few minutes – the eyes feel rested and fresh.

Rinse your eyes well, after removing make-up with a remover. Wash well and pat the eyes gently with a soft towel to dry them.

Keeping a bowl of hot water ready – first rub a piece of ice gently over eyelids in a circular movement, immediately follow this with applying cotton dipped in hot water or splash it on the eyes, repeat this hot and cold procedure 7-8 times. Not only do the eyes feel rested they definitely sparkle.

Prepare a strong, black tea decoction by adding 1 teaspoonful tea leaves to 1/4^th cup of boiling water and steep it for 5-6 minutes. Keep this tea to cool in the fridge, soak cotton wool pads in the decoction and place on closed eyelids while lying down. Warm tea may be used if you can’t use cold tea. Leave it on for 15 -20 minutes for best results.


Shut your eyes tightly and squeeze them hard, now open them suddenly as wide as possible, Repeat this exercise till eyes begin to water, the eyes look and feel fresh and bright.

Soak a teaspoon full of Indian gooseberry powder in a glass of water overnight, strain the water through a muslin cloth and splash eyes with this – you might find a slight sting but the eyes will sparkle. You can also soak cotton pads in this liquid and add a drop of castor oil on the pad and place on closed eyes.


Apple juice has proved to be beneficial to some people. Grate fresh apples and squeeze the juice through a muslin cloth, soak cotton pads in the juice and place on closed eyes. Relax for 15 – 20 minutes, repeat as required.


The basic and all time favorite remedy of cucumber juice applied on cotton pads will add freshness, as will a splash of organic chilled rose water.

Remember to wear sunglasses to protect eyes from the glare of sunlight or strong, dusty winds.


Always clean off eye makeup before going to bed. Cup handfuls of water and use as an eye cup – wash your eyes by keeping them open.

Try to relax with a bit of meditation, or yoga or deep breathing along with a positive attitude – your eyes will reflect inner peace.

Read more: Sparkling, Beautiful Eyes – Beauty Tips | Medindia http://www.medindia.net/beauty/sparkling-eyes.asp#ixzz36xuCbiMO

Why You Need to Network

Article no. 017

Networking As a Career Advancement Tool

By Pior Gabby

What is Networking?

Networking involves individuals forming mutually supportive relationships. People form networks for a variety of purposes, including career advancement. Networking can help you you in a variety of ways as you begin and grow your career.

How Networking Can Help You With Career Advancement

Networking is not merely a way to get jobs, as commonly believed. While networking may eventually lead you to job opportunities, there are other ways your career can benefit from it.

• Learn about an occupation by conducting information interviews with members of your network.
• Get recommendations when you are looking for new employees to hire.
• Research an area or subject with which you are unfamiliar for a work project.
• Get information about a potential employer before you go on an interview.
• Get information about a client.

Who Should Be In Your Network?

Your network can be made up of almost anyone you've ever met. Of course not everyone is part of your active network, but each person can be welcomed into your network at some point. In turn, each person in your network has the potential of leading you to other contacts who may then become part of your network. The relations within your network are bi-directional. In other words, one hand washes the other. Don't hesitate to offer support as well as ask for it.

How to Make The Most of Your Professional Contacts

Experts have long stressed the importance of maintaining a strong career network. Through networking we can learn about job opportunities particularly those we wouldn't have had access to otherwise. However job searching should not be the primary focus of your efforts. Your network can prove to be a very useful tool when it comes to other aspects of your career. Your contacts can give you advice and provide information. Follow these rules to help you maximize the benefits of networking.

Everyone You Know is a Potential Member of Your Network

When it comes to networking everyone you know can be a useful contact. While someone may not be directly involved in your field, he or she may know another person who is.

Be Willing to Ask for Help

In order to get help you have to ask for it. Don't be shy. If you need advice call someone in your network.

Be Willing to Give Help

Your network doesn't exist only for your benefit. You should be willing to offer your help to others as well. So, if someone in your network asks you to speak to his nephew about your job, you must be willing to do it. If you hear news that someone in your network can benefit from take the time to share it.

Don't Use Your Network Only for Job Hunting

Many people have the misconception that networking is only for job hunting. They attempt to utilize it only when looking for work. Well, guess what? If you only get in touch with your contacts when you are looking for work, your network may dry up. Not only that — your contacts may come to know you as "that person who's always looking for a job."

Keep in Touch With Your Network Contacts

Check in with your contacts every now and then. Find out what they're up to and let them know what is happening with your career. It will be much easier to track someone down after not talking to them for a couple of months than it will be after being out of touch for a year or longer.

Thank Your Contacts for Their Help

When one of your contacts gives you advice or provides you with a job lead don't forget to send her a thank you note. You can use email to do this.

Do You Have a Dream to Become A fashion Designer?

Article no. 016 

How to Become a Fashion Designer

By Pior Gabby

There is no formal education or certification required to become a successful fashion designer, but that doesn't make the feat any easier. You will need to have a combination of drawing, sewing, and design skills, a knowledge of the fashion industry, and unparalleled perseverance. A few ideas to help you get started are outlined in this article.

Part 1 of 5: Honing Your Fashion Design Skills

1. Develop your skills. Successful fashion designers have a wide array of skills, including drawing, an eye for color and texture, an ability to visualize concepts in three dimensions, and the mechanical skills involved in sewing and cutting all types of fabrics.

• Get excellent sewing tuition if you haven't already learned this skill well. Being able to sew difficult fabric under challenging situations will stand you in excellent stead throughout your career but you need to work at it - it's a skill that doesn't come easily to many people.
• Understand how fabrics move, drape, breathe, react when worn, etc. Your in-depth knowledge of fabric is absolutely essential to using it properly when designing. Also know where to source materials from.
• Learn from existing designers, not just who they are, but their backgrounds, their signature style, the learning that they undertook, where they studied. Knowing this will help you to be a better designer yourself, as you can borrow and build on their ideas.
• Learn how to create storyboards and product ranges. Be good at researching trends through media, comparative shopping and trade shows.
• Start developing these skills at a young age. Be prepared to devote hours of time to perfecting your craft.

2.Learn more. If you can, it makes good sense to get a diploma or degree in fashion design or a related program. You'll learn a great deal, make excellent early contacts and have ample opportunity to show off your skills in a less judgmental environment (although still be prepared to be critiqued!) Do one (or both) of the following:

• Get a degree in fashion design. Most programs are three or four years long. You will study drawing, color and composition, pattern-making, and draping. In addition to learning practical skills like these, you will also be working with industry professionals who may serve as important contacts in the future and who can give you first-hand advice and feedback on your work.
• Apply for an internship or apprenticeship. If school is not for you, or if you simply feel that real-world experience will be of more benefit to you, then find a fashion internship. You will need to have an impressive portfolio to apply and be willing to start at the bottom; interns are often given menial tasks like getting coffee. Again, the connections you make through your internship or apprenticeship will be vital as you pursue your career in fashion, and working with industry professionals will give you an opportunity to pick up important skills first-hand.

Part 2 of 5: Working Out Which Fashion is Your Passion

1. Decide which designing field is your principal interest. You may need to start at the bottom but you do need to have a goal in mind as to the type of designing you want to undertake lifelong. Are you interested most in haute couture, ready-to-wear, fitness/leisure gear, the mass market or niches such as eco wear? Each has advantages and disadvantages that you'll need to explore before reaching your final decision on which pathway to pursue. Within these major fields, you'll also need to decide on a few sub-set areas for your fashion design. You might wish to straddle a few but to begin with, don't over-extend yourself as it's better to perfect your designing within one area and then experiment when you've already got a good foothold in the industry. For example:

• Women's daywear, women's evening wear
• Men's daywear, men's evening wear
• Boys' wear and/or girls' wear; teenage wear
• Sportswear/fitness/leisure wear
• Knitwear
• Outdoor, adventure, outerwear
• Bridalwear
• Accessories
• Costume design for theater, movies, the advertising industry and retailers.

2. Plan some key pieces. What is your absolute strength in designing? Perhaps you're a whizz at accesories or a genius with beach pants. Your passion and skill are an important first part of the equation. Of course, the second part is matching this to what the market wants, which in fashion, is part convincing the market and part noticing what the market is demanding. 

 

Part 3 of 5: Deciding if the Fashion Industry is Ready for You

1. Assess your skills and personality honestly before pursuing a career in fashion design. You may love clothes but clothing is only part of the story when undertaking fashion design. You'll also need excellent communication skills, a willingness to work very hard (often 24/7), a tough hide when criticized, an ability to cope with stress, openness to having many different clients and/or bosses, an acceptance that there will be loneliness or isolation on occasion (depending on how you set up your design business or career) and an ability to be a self-disciplined self-starter.

• Being a fashion designer is probably for you if: You want to devote your life to this career (it's your "vocation"), you don't mind uncertainty or insecurity, you are willing to stand up for what you believe in, you have distinct ideas about what is important in fashion, you listen to clients well, you know the fashion industry inside out and you live, eat and breathe fashion.
• Being a fashion designer is probably not for you if: You can't manage stress well, you don't like uncertainty or instability, you want a career without too many highs or lows, you need other people to praise your efforts, you need a lot of guidance, you hate being financially unstable and you have too many other interests in life.

Part 4 of 5: Setting Yourself Up for Success

1. Get educated about the business side of fashion. Being a successful fashion designer not only requires talent and creativity, it also requires a sound knowledge of the business and marketing aspects of the fashion world. Keep yourself updated on the happenings in the fashion industry by regularly reading trade journals like Women's Wear Daily and Daily News Record.

• Many fashion design programs include courses in marketing. Some programs/majors highlight marketing more than others, so be sure to do ample research on the coursework involved in the program you choose. If you've already undertaken a course but missed the marketing/financial side of things, consider doing short courses in these aspects of business.
• Learn beyond design. There is an entire supply chain involved in the fashion industry and you need to understand what each person's job is, so that you can see things from their perspective too, in order to make compromises, meet demands and understand where things get held up. Research what others do, such as buyers, merchandisers, pattern cutters, garment and fabric technologists, quality controllers, graders, sample machinists, sales people, PR and marketing people, fashion journalists, retailers, event organizers, fashion stylists and so forth.
• Know your customer. This skill is basic and essential and it's one a fashion designer must never lose sight of. Know how much your customers spend, what their lifestyles are, where they like to shop, how they like to shop and what they like and dislike. Know what are absolute needs and what are the things that only get bought when disposable incomes are less tight. If you have done marketing, you should have a solid understanding of how to work out customers' needs.
• Know your competitors. Always keep an eye on what other fashion designers in your area of interest are doing. At a minimum, keep up. Better still, surpass them while still meeting your customers' needs.
• Trade fairs are an excellent place to develop deeper understanding of how the fashion industry works and what will work for you in terms of meeting customer needs and staying competitive.

2. Look for fashion design jobs. There are various ways to find work in the fashion industry as a designer and it depends on the type of designing you're interested in. In some cases, being versatile will help you a great deal, just so that you get the experience and then jump across to your real passion later. And in most cases, you'll need to be persistent and apply to many different places to get your foot in the door. For starters, some places to apply to include:

• Existing fashion houses and designers - look for internships, entry-level paid positions, assistants to designers, etc.
• Costume positions with movie studios, theaters, costume stores, etc.
• Online advertisements through various online job agencies
• Word of mouth––use your college or fashion industry contacts to get you through the door. In an industry that values what people who already are well positioned have to say, this is a good way to get started.

3. If running your own design business, be prepared to be financially astute. You may be exceptionally creative but be absolutely certain that if you run your own fashion label, you need to be business savvy. You do need to understand those numbers and the invoices that keep piling up on your table. If you really hate this stuff, there are good options, such as asking your accountant to take care of all things financial but it still pays to keep on top of the whole thing yourself. And if you really, really hate this side of it, look for work as a fashion designer with a fashion house instead of running your own label.

• What type of trader will you be? There are many possibilities, including sole trader, partnership, incorporated company, etc. Each has distinct advantages and disadvantages that you should discuss with your legal and financial advisers before proceeding. Be sure that you are covered for liability in all circumstances, especially if you're in a particularly litigious culture.

4. Be realistic. You may need to be willing to move to match your market but that depends on how you work and sell. Being realistic means recognizing that it's pointless trying to sell a lot of haute couture to people who only want career clothing in a semi-rural town while it's no good trying to sell bikini to the Inuit. You'll need to focus on where your market is most likely to be and either work out whether it's best for you to live and work in that same area or how to get the distribution from your current area to the place where it's most likely to sell.

• Take into consideration the influences around you. As a creative person, part of your creative process is being around like people and sparking off their ideas and suggestions too. It's a lot harder to do this alone or working alongside people who aren't into your fashion approaches.
• Remember too that seasonality impacts fashion designing and may have an impact on the type of clothing you're producing and where you wish to sell it.
• Consider the power of online selling. Provided you use good quality three dimensional images that can be zoomed and turned, selling your fashion online to anywhere in the world is another realistic possibility nowadays. This allows you greater flexibility in where you'll live and design and can reduce the daily commute to zero. This may be ideal if you plan on staying a small fashion label. Even then however, you should still make allowances for traveling to major fashion shows.
• Living in a city with a thriving fashion industry makes good sense for many designers. According to the Global Language Monitor (GLM), the following cities were the top fashion capitals of the world in 2012, in descending order:
• London, England
• New York, US
• Barcelona, Spain
• Paris, France
• Mexico City
• Madrid, Spain
• Rome, Italy
• Sao Palo, Brazil
• Milan, Italy
• Los Angeles, US
• Berlin, Germany.

Part 5 of 5: Creating Your Fashion Portfolio

1. Assemble a portfolio of your work. Your design portfolio will be vital when applying to design jobs and internships, as it is your chance to market yourself and your work. Your portfolio should display your best work, and highlight your skills and creativity. Use a high-quality binder to show that you take yourself seriously as a designer. Include the following in your portfolio:
   • Hand-drawn sketches or photographs of these sketches
   • Computer-drawn designs
   • Resumé
   • Mood or concept pages
   • Color or textile presentation pages
   • Any other pieces that fairly reflect what you're capable of doing and evolving into.

Tips

• Wear your own fashions as much as possible. What better way to promote your clothing than to wear it? When people ask questions about it, be ready to explain everything in short, pithy ways that excite the listener.
• Be able to take insults. Nobody is perfect. Take advice from friends and family. Never give up, you can't quit your passion!
• If you're thinking of showing people your fashion drawings, think how you would look in your fashion drawings.
• It helps to be creative with your designs by adding color.
• Develop a good logo if running your own fashion label. It will define your style from the outset and so it needs to be good from the outset. It is worth getting a professional graphic designer on the job if you're no good at this yourself.
• If you start your own fashion label, you need sound advice on everything from the beginning. Surround yourself by a trusted team of financial, legal and marketing advisers, paid according to what you need rather than having them on staff.
• Learn early on how to pack a decent lunch and snacks. Hours can be very long in fashion design and sometimes leaving your creativity zone may be impossible. Your brain needs good nutrition though, so by remembering to pack healthy lunches and snacks, you can grab something to sustain all that hard intellectual slog and physical running around without starving yourself silly.
• Read widely. Find the biographies and true stories of fashion icons in the area of fashion that you're interested in. Learn all of the ins and outs of their experiences and see how you can use their experience to better your own. For example, if you want to shift into eco fashion, there are plenty of good trailblazer designers whose experiences have been documented, such as Toms founder Blake Mycoskie's book Start Something That Matters or any of Anita Roddick's books about the related but relevant beauty industry.