Category Archives: Beauty & Personal Care

Where Can I Get Alginate?

Beauty & Personal Care, Food & Drink, Health, Science,

Recent studies have found that a substance that is found in seaweed, called alginate, can have inhibiting effects on the absorption of fat into the body. Here we look into where you can get alginate.

In 2014 research at Newcastle University found that alginate can stop the body absorbing fat. Alginate is found naturally in seaweed and this has also been used in Japan as a weight loss supplement for a few years now.

If the body does not absorb the fat, then the person does not put on the extra weight that would be caused by the fat. Instead the fat is passed straight through the body.

Research is still going on to see if this can be made into a bonafide weight loss supplement but in the meantime people like Jamie Oliver have put down their weight loss to eating seaweed.

So the best way to get hold of alginate is by eating seaweed itself. But obviously this may not be an option for many people so they may be looking for an alginate supplement that can be taken with food.

There are a couple of options at present that contain alginate but are not sold as specifically weight loss supplements. Care should be taken with any kind of supplement and you may wish to consult your doctor before taking them.

In particular seaweed supplements are used to support thyroid function so if you have any issues with your thyroid you should certainly seek advice.

So you can get hold of seaweed (or kelp) supplements online and below are a couple of options (in either tablet or powder form)  which purport to contain alginate so could be options to consider:
 

Another possibility is food grade sodium alginate powder. This is actually used in molecular gastronomy to form things like pseudo caviar.

Obviously this kind of product has not been tested in terms of its possible weight loss properties so there is no guarantee that this will have any kind of effect and it would be interesting to test how you could use it in an every day context!

So as discussed there is a long way to go with more testing and research required to see if alginate can be used as a weight loss supplement. In any case a balanced and varied diet, together with regular exercise is generally the best way to lose weight.

Where to Buy a Home Drugs Test

Beauty & Personal Care, Health, Home & Garden, Lifestyles, Shopping, ,

Buying Home Drug Testing Kits

Are you looking to buy a cheap but effective home drugs test? Is the easiest way to get hold of one for you to order it online and get it delivered to your home rather than having to go to a pharmacy?

There are many reasons why you might want to buy a home drug test, perhaps you want to test that your system is clear of drugs after stopping or perhaps you are worried about a family member.

Whatever your reason, if you are looking to buy one that has accurate results and is very simple to perform, then it is very easy to buy a home drug test kit on the internet and perform the test in the comfort of your own home.

These home drug tests can test for a variety of drugs and most of them use a urine test strip that you need to dip into a sample of urine and it will bring up two lines if any of the tests are positive. There are some tests that are combination tests and will test for Illicit drugs such as marijuana or cocaine and there are also tests that check for prescription drugs such as anti-depressants.

These drug tests vary in price but generally you can get a simple home drug test for around $10 or less. You can buy home drug tests in greater quantities if you want to test on an ongoing or regular basis.

It is easy to buy home drug tests online and they are sold by Amazon, among other retailers. There is a good selection of FDA approved products by various manufacturers.

Check out some of the tests shown below that may be suitable for your needs or else click through to be offered a greater selection of tests.

What We Bought in 2015 – According to Mary Portas

Beauty & Personal Care, Clothes and Fashion, Entertainment, Fun Stuff, Health, Home & Garden, Lifestyles, Shopping

The Big Trends of 2015So as one of the end of year TV programmes on Channel 4 in the UK, Mary Portas went on a mission to find the best selling things of 2015. Here is a summary of what she found that we bought the most of in 2015 and also details of where you can buy it all:

 

At the start of the year we all want to lose weight and the massive big seller of 2015 in terms of fitness DVDs was Charlotte’s 3 minute belly blitz.

Next on the list were 2 kitchen aids whose sales went a bit crazy in the first part of the year. One was the nutribullet and the other was the spiralizer. Both were designed to help you to eat more healthily and sales on both were massive.

On the back of the sale of the spiralizers came the bestselling book by vegan blogger Ella Woodward – Deliciously Ella.

In February came the film of the best selling book 50 Shades of Grey. As the DVD is now out, if you haven’t read the book or seen the film then you can watch the DVD.

In 2015, Mary Portas reports, the beard revolution was upon us. According to the program in some cities over 50% of men are now sporting beards. With celebrities endorsing the fashion came the trend for beard products which went a bit crazy, in particular beard oil.

There are a huge number of people selling beard oil on Amazon and jumping on the bandwagon so we have just chosen one option to show you on the right!

70s fashion was the next item on Mary Portas’ best selling list of 2015 but we will leave you to peruse the high street to choose your favourite 70s clothes options which could include flared trousers, A-line skirts and fake fur jackets!

Another massive bestseller which has been popular with friends of SpikyMouse was the adult colouring book. This trend suddenly hit our shelves in 2015 and was taken on by those needing a bit of relaxation in their lives from the craziness of everyday.

One of the best selling adult colouring books was the Animal Kingdom colouring book by Millie Marotta but there are numerous different books available and they are obviously not only available online but also in your local bookshop by the dozen.

Another trend that we have been promoting at SpikyMouse for a few years is coconut water. But sales of this also really took off in 2015 as well as other coconut based products like coconut oil to cook with.

Next in line is another fashion item that has been dubbed ‘athleisurewear’. Having seen the increase in leisure wear over the last decade or so, with whole shops dedicated to clothing that looks like you should be wearing it for playing sport but it really isn’t suitable, comes clothing that is suitable for both sports and leisure.

Quite a few brands of clothing have been sponsored by celebrities particularly in the music industry and many of the items are sold out online before you even have a chance to look at them.

One big seller in this area was leggings which had been elevated to a major fashion item with the addition of bright colours, patterns and stripes. Rita Ora was one person who had her own range of Adidas clothing which sold really well.

A fun trend which hit the shops and took off in major way was the pastel hair dye – another trend that was endorsed by quite a few young celebrities, including Pixie Lott who brought out her own range of pastel hair dyes.

There were some pastel hair dyes that were suitable for pre-lightened or very light blonde hair or there were chalk hair colours that just gave a temporary effect.

So at the end of the year came Star Wars which sent all fans into a major frenzy and thoughout the year Prosecco was our favourite drink.

How many of these trends did you embrace? And what is going to be the next big thing for 2016? We can only guess!

How Does Tattooing Work?

Beauty & Personal Care

Getting a Tattoo

If you are thinking of getting a tattoo then it is a good idea to know a bit about the theory of how tattooing works and how the ink actually becomes permanently embedded into the skin. There are some basic ways of having tattoos done – for example in Thailand tattoos are sometimes applied using a bamboo cane sharpened into a point, but for this article we are just focusing on the usual manner of applying a tattoo by machine.

Of course the whole process is quite complicated but what we are concentrating on here is the basic process of tattooing and how the ink remains permanently on the skin so that the tattoo does not fade away.

The tattoo is inked on by the tattooist using an electrically powered needle that acts in a manner similar to a dentist’s drill. The electronic drill has a hollow needle at the end that inserts ink underneath the skin. The needle moves up and down at a speed of between 50 and 3,000 times each minute, and on every movement it punctures the skin and leaves the ink in the 2nd layer, the dermis.

Source: Wikimedia Commons
Source: Wikimedia Commons

The top layer of the skin as you probably know is the epidermis and that is the layer that frequently loses skin cells so that they can be continually replenished over time. The dermis is much more stable than the epidermis and so the reason the ink is inserted in that layer is that it will remain in there and not be removed by the continual shedding of the outer skin layer.

So initially the tattooist will mark out the outline of your chosen design on your skin either by using a stencil or by freehand drawing, particularly if it is a custom design. They will then start tattooing in the design with the electronic needle with some black ink (depending on the design) before shading it in with thicker ink of whatever colour or colours you might choose. Once this is done they fill in any blocks of colour in between.

How Painful Is Having a Tattoo?

Inserting a needle into the dermis is to a certain degree going to be painful so you should be prepared for this. People have different pain threshold levels so it may not feel as bad to some people as it does to others. Also some areas of the body are more painful than others and this may depend on a number of factors including the nerves around that area and the amount of fatty or muscular tissue there. However, if you get a tattooist with a gentle hand it should not cause too much pain! I have to say that when I had my tattoo done it was pretty painful (on my lower back) but then maybe I am just a wimp!

Tips for Good Teeth

Beauty & Personal Care, Health

So it’s a bit late for me as I’ve already had a shed load of fillings and even an extraction (and need another) but I have learnt a lot of stuff from the current TV series ‘The Truth About teeth’.

Most notably some of the things that I didn’t realise, that they have been talking about are this – after you eat, for about 40 minutes your tooth enamel is softened by the acid in the food that you have been eating – to the point where if you brush your teeth straight after eating you will be brushing off the enamel – how many people knew that? And to think that I have purposely been brushing my teeth straight after breakfast for years in order to clean off the food from them. In future I will try and do what the recommend and brush my teeth before breakfast.

The next thing which I am totally guilty off is continually snacking throughout the day. This never gives your teeth a chance to recover as they are constantly being attacked by food acid all the time. I need to get that one sorted too as I am a terrible snacker all day long.

They are also recommending that you brush your teeth for 2 minutes each time, twice a day. Now I tried this with a little kitchen timer that I have and 2 minutes feels like a really long time! Particularly when you have a small toddler demanding your attention. So I have allowed myself to only do one minute in the morning (and even that feels long!) and to do 2 minutes at night time. Hopefully that will at least help a bit as it is longer than I had been brushing for!

I noticed when I went to the app store today that a lot of people are taking note of this fact as the second most popular trending search was for a ‘tooth brushing timer’! At least people are taking note although like I say, for many of us it is a bit too late. But if I can get my toddler into the right habits then hopefully he won’t have such bad teeth as myself and his father.

The rpogram also shows some really innovative dental techniques that are starting to become available – like transplanting one tooth to replace a lost front tooth that has been knocked out. There could be many innovations like this in the future which means our children don’t have to live the with horror of bad teeth like we did in the past.

Another interesting thing was the test they did on home teeth whitening kits. I was interested in this as I had been thinking of getting one but the truth was that none of them (and they tested quite a few kits from the cheapest ones to more expensive ones) seemed to make any difference in the testing that they did. Only one kit came out half a shade lighter. Shame 🙁

Although they did a test on home tooth whitening kits and none of them seemed to get any results, I have to say that I am tempted still to try them for myself. There are so many available online for a reasonable price that i can’t help but think maybe there must be at least something to them. The one shown on the left has hundreds of reviews and still ends up with an average of 4 stars. Surely hundreds of people can’t be wrong. Maybe I’ll give these ones a try and come back with my own review. Watch this space!

‘The Truth About Teeth’ is currently showing on Thursdays 9-10pm on BBC1 and will be available on the iPlayer shortly afterwards.