A Thing of Beauty is a Joy with Photoshop



by: Granny’s Mettle
Human nature always seems to have this predilection with beauty and what society believes is beautiful. When we are fat, we want to be slim or thin. When we have the so-called “love handles”, we decide we do not love them anymore, so we go to the gym and exercise until our tongues fall out from fatigue. We are blessed with dark colored skin, so we try all the new bleaching products available in the market to lighten our color. We have white skin so we go to tanning salons to get olive skin, and the out-in-the-sun color to your skin. We are naturally brunette but we go to the nearest salon to get our hair done and died to blonde because they said “blondes always have such fun”.
And digital technology is also banking on the partiality of people to not have fun with what the Lord has blessed them with originally.
I have been in the digital business for quite some time now, and what I regularly encounter are numerous questions on how to remove blemishes from photos so that their faces would look great and give that “fashion-magazine look” that the media is glamorizing so much nowadays. Here are a few suggestions then from a photographer on beauty retouching.
(Now, if I could just do it in real life, I would be a millionaire by now.)
Beauty Retouching with Photoshop
1 – Try to improve the colors on the face in your photo as far as you can go. To edit, it is better to do it in RGB rather than CMYK. With RGB, editing is more flexible and easy. And explore all the selections in the various feathers. Do not be afraid to experiment. After all, being creative is all about using all the choices available.
2 – After editing your color, it’s now time to create a new layer. This is also a tool for you to be able to control your work. Begin your retouch using a heeling brush and cloning stamp to remove the things you want removed. Start with the bigger imperfections and move your way to the littlest blemish. You could also use the heeling brush to remove the lines under the eyes to create that young look to the face.
3 - To adjust the size of any part of the face (e.g. big nose), adjust to your liking with the Liquify filter. Click the Filters menu and choose Liquify. This tool allows you to smudge, move, squish, and even distort your image according to your satisfaction. For best results and easy navigation, turn the grid on. This will let you view the changes you’ve made.
For increasing or reducing the size of the area, you can also use the Warp, although the Pucker and Bloat are most effective with this type of retouch. Remember to be careful and again, do not be afraid to experiment. Use the appropriate brush size and go slowly, moving bits at a time.
4 –To smoothen the skin, use the cloning stamp and carefully apply to the skin. The best would be to use multiple clicks rather than strokes to even out the skin tone. This is the part where you need to be patient. Be careful with your patterns and do not repeat. Also, try to be creative. Don’t worry if you make mistakes along the way. Just go back to the history palette every time you create something you don’t like and start again.
5 – For overdoing the smoothing process, just use the history palette to restore the specific area. If this does not work, try to select and add the noise filter to simulate the texture of the skin.
Finally, after a little adjustments and a little nip and tuck here and there, you are ready to view your final image.
According to the photographer, beauty retouching needs patience and a lot of perseverance. Many methods are available, but there are only a few tricks to help others retouch their photos. Even for professionals, this job takes time to finish. However, with time, one can get faster.
About The Author
Granny's Mettle is a 30-something, professional web content writer. She has created various web content on a diverse range of topics, which includes digital printing topics, medical news, as well as legal issues. Her articles are composed of reviews, suggestions, tips and more for the printing and designing industry.
Her thoughts on writing: "Writing gives me pleasure… pleasure and excitement that you have created something to share with others. And with the wide world of the Internet, it gives me great satisfaction that my articles reach more people in the quickest time you could imagine."
On her spare time, she loves to stay at home, reading books on just about any topic she fancies, cooking a great meal, and taking care of her husband and kids.


19:34 | Labels: , | 0 Comments  

A thing of beauty is a joy forever! And that can be You!




by: Mike Yeager

It is said that a thing of beauty is a joy forever. That probably explains why possessing beauty and being beautiful is one of the foremost preoccupations of human beings. Over the years, consumerism has transformed such preoccupations into frank obsession. Inner beauty is no longer in – skin-deep beauty certainly is! But what is wrong with that? Cosmetology and the beauty industry have come of age, aided steadily by advances in cosmetic surgery. Daily workouts, gym sessions, visits to beauty parlors and keeping in sync with beauty and fashion tips has certainly become trendy.

Enhancing your beauty.

Beauty is in the eye of its beholder. Perfect beauty is but an illusion, but if you can feel good about yourself by enhancing your looks, you may find more joy in your life. And it is not too difficult to achieve. The media is full of beauty tips and beauty products. Beauty supplies are always at hand – be it at the Shopping Mall or on the Net. However, it is beautiful to be simple and yet simple to be beautiful. One can surely start from ones home itself. Maintain a regulated lifestyle. Six to eight hours of sleep with fixed times for fixed quantity meals, avoidance of "junk" food and high calorie stuff, lots of fluid intake, high priority for vitamin-rich fruits and a rigid regime of self-discipline, would certainly make a good start in ones quest for beauty.





Mike Yeager




18:24 | Labels: , | 0 Comments  

A Beauty Salon Will Help You Look Your Best!



by: Mike Yeager


A beauty salon will help you look your very best with a price that will fit in almost any budget. A beauty salon will be able to make your hair, skin, toes, and fingernails look marvelous. In addition, most beauty salons offer their services for a fairly reasonable price. However, sometimes it may be difficult to choose what service you want. If that is the case, simply be on the lookout for any fashion style that you like. Look through magazines and cut out photos of styles and colors that you find pleasing. Take notes so that when you do go to a beauty salon, you will know exactly what you want. However, be aware that some beauty salons are better than others. To make sure that you are in high-quality beauty salon, check to see if it has clean beauty salon equipment and a clean work area. Also, be aware that in most states, beauty salons are required to publicly display their establishment license. If the salon or barbershop won’t show you an establishment license, you don’t know whether the shop’s health and safety procedures have been approved by the state.

Time saving Beauty Salon Tips.

A beauty salon visit can be time consuming. To get the most from your visit and still have time left in your day, try these time-trimming tips. Before you leave your beauty salon, schedule your next appointment. Call ahead on your appointment day to see if your stylist is running on time. If not, you won’t have to waste time sitting at the beauty salon when you could be home. If you want to be quickly in and out for your beauty salon appointment, try to schedule the first appointment for the day.





Mike Yeager



18:23 | Labels: | 0 Comments  

Gold Jewelry: The Ultimate Adornment For Style, Beauty And C





by: Angela Davis
Gold jewelry can never go out of style. It can look good on almost everyone. It is the ultimate amalgamation of classic beauty, wealth and style.

The value of gold jewelry depends not only upon the style or the designer who has designed it, but most importantly it is dependent upon the quality of gold used to make the gold jewelry. The quality of gold in the gold jewelry is determined by its percentage or by the karat. The higher the karat number, the higher the percentage of gold in your gold jewelry. The various karat numbers are 24K, 18K, 14K, 12K and 10K - 24K is pure gold.

Gold jewelry is also available in various forms. In some cases it is plated with gold, in some it is filled with gold and in some others the gold jewelry is made of pure gold. Gold by itself is very soft and isn't practical for daily wear which is why it has to be mixed with other additional metals to give it tensile strength such that it can be molded into various designs. Other metals are mixed with it to make it more durable (and to lower its cost).

Adding other metals to the mix also allows metallurgists to change the color of gold. Palladium or nickel can be added to create white gold. Adding copper produces a rose or pink tint, while silver gives gold a greenish cast. If you want jewelry which can be worn regularly then it is wise to get it made out of solid gold (Solid gold is a term that can be used to describe an item that's at least 10K (in the US) gold all the way through. Even though it's a gold alloy--18K, 14K, or anything down to 10K--it can be called solid gold.).

Gold has in a way always stood as a symbol for wealth, prestige and power. Through times immemorial gold jewelry has been the ultimate ornamentation for kings, queens and noblemen. At one point of time, gold jewelry was also seen as a status symbol and was not meant for the common man. It still is looked upon as a status symbol since not every one can afford gold jewelry. However because of the numerous forms in which gold jewelry is available to day (such as plated gold, gold filled, gold coated jewelry or gold jewelry of a lower karat), it can now be easily bought by anyone.

Gold jewelry does not entail very big or intricate designs, it can even be quite small simple and delicate. How so ever a piece of jewelry maybe, it immediately stands out. There is a timeless classic appeal surrounding it which can never go out of fashion. Gold jewelry is not only something which you can buy for yourself or as a gift to someone you love; you can also buy gold jewelry to keep as an asset. The value of gold jewelry does not depreciate, it only appreciates with time. It can prove to be a very valuable investment.

18:03 | Labels: , | 0 Comments  

All about necklaces: fit, types, sizes and fashion

Visit a local shopping mall and take a look at the shoppers who pass by. Chances are a majority of them are sporting a necklace of one kind or another. Men and women, the elderly and the young, sophisticates and the simple and everyone in between wear a variety of necklace-type jewelry.
Some might wear a necklace for its own value, like an heirloom pendant or a locket containing valued photographs. Or a necklacemight serve as part of an overall look, like a rope necklace for a casual outfit or a diamond choker for a formal event.
Chances are that several types of necklaces, from playful to professional, have graced your neck over the past several years. Here are some of the more common or popular types of neck jewelry:

1. Chokers. These short pieces fit snugly around the neck to blazon a simple or ornate design. The band may be a basic strip of velvet fabric or a silver piece studded with diamonds. It may contain a filigree design or boast a Gothic style. Even a slender strip of hemp rope can encircle the throat, perhaps dotted with one or several beads of varied colors, to convey a casual look.

2. Dangling chains. Made of silver, stainless steel, gold, or other substances, longer versions may encompass as much as eighteen to twenty-four inches of decoration, with or without additional ornamentation like beads or stones. Shorter necklaces are suspended up to that length, each incorporating an individual style of its own that will appeal to the one who purchases and wears it. Chains can be worn with virtually any type of apparel, from casual to formal, suit or slacks. White or yellow gold are perhaps the most popular styles, with earrings to match.

3. Precious stones. Diamonds, pearls, rubies, emeralds, and garnets are among the valuables used to adorn expensive jewelry. Bought to commemorate special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, or even weddings, these items convey a strong sense of value and affection, and often are kept as keepsakes or passed down to subsequent generations. Matching bracelets and earrings may be purchased simultaneously or separately.

4. Religious emblems. Many people of all faiths or none at all enjoy wearing religious necklaces. The most popular is the Christian cross, which is made in a variety of styles and forms. For example, there is a Byzantine cross, a Gothic cross, and an Orthodox cross, or crucifix. Some display the body of Jesus while others are empty, symbolizing the risen Lord. The crosses can come in a delicate style, made of gold, or they may be large and cumbersome, hammered from heavy metals like bronze or iron. Other popular religious jewelry includes the Jewish Star of David or Islamic Arabic inscriptions.

5. Colorful crafts. Some artsy types enjoy making their own jewelry from beads, glass ornaments, pebbles, or tiny designs that are strung onto a wire or rope. A letter of the person's name suspended from a chain or a loved one's photograph encircled by supportive designs provide alternative styles. You can buy craft kits to experiment with or browse craft-style necklaces at an arts and craft store.

Whatever your jewelry tastes, there are plenty of necklace designs to capture the essence of your style or to enhance a particular look. Shop garage sales, jewelry stores, or department stores to find the best selection.

09:05 | Labels: , , | 0 Comments  

Heart Necklace

Heart Necklace

By Isobel Paolini

Why would you buy somebody a heart necklace? Does the heart symbol only signify love and affection? The significance of the heart symbol has always been regarded as being at the center of things. This is whether we are thinking about love and affection, morality and intellectualism, religion and spiritualism, or just as the physical organ that pumps blood around your body and keep you alive.
The human heart is an essential to survival. It allows the blood to flow around your body, bringing with it the life-giving elements that you need for survival. Healthy heart is essential to the survival of any mammal. Much of the time we eat unhealthy diets, we always increase our risk of having heart attacks.
But these are not the only broken hearts that we are at risk of. The heart has always been an emblem that symbolizes love. When we buy a gift of a heart necklace for the person that we love, it symbolizes an unbreakable connection. But of course we know that this love can be broken and will lead to psychological and physical pain. A gift of heart jewelry is meant to symbolize the flawless and unbreakable nature of love.
Heart jewelry also characterizes a very spiritual meaning. You might think of Jesus and the Sacred Heart. Many religions use the heart symbol to emphasize the center of being. Heart jewelry has also been used as a symbol for certain charities.
When you are thinking of purchasing some heart jewelry you should make sure that you find the right piece for the right purpose.
You can use the Internet to your advantage here. Shopping online for heart jewelry will give you the biggest rewards. You should be able to find heart jewelry of all sorts, heart necklace, heart brooch, heart pins, heart bracelets, heart badges, etc. You must be very careful about shopping online, make sure that you go to the site of reputable dealer or that you have a full guarantee of money back if you are not satisfied with your purchase.

08:57 | Labels: | 0 Comments  

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