How to look better in this year's holiday pictures

By Sarah www.total beauty.com

Holidays are coming and you know what that means -- lots of photos. While we can't help if someone takes a shot of you mid-bite or chugging egg nog, here are a few tips for those slightly more planned photos:


1. Wear foundation that's slightly darker than your skin. It'll keep you from looking pale. Just be sure to blend it onto your neck to avoid that horrible mask look.


2. Don't use powder; it looks cakey and ghost-like on camera. Use oil blotting sheets instead.


3. Stuck at the end of a group shot? Lift your shoulder slightly and roll it forward for a skinnier-looking arm.


4. Totally cheesy, but to look slimmer try the celebrity 3/4 shot. Turn your body so 3/4 of it is facing the camera, put one foot slightly behind the other and hands behind your back or on your hip. Smile naturally to avoid looking like Paris Hilton.


5. Don't let anyone photograph you from below eye level; it gives you shadows under your eyes. Be a diva and insist they stand on a chair; it's worth it.

Six Green Hangover Remedies

By Marissa Moss

Some might say if you have a hangover, you might already be green (not the environmental kind of green, ahem). But if you want to cure that throbbing headache from last night’s Christmas party or holiday get-together, take a few suggestions from Tree Hugger’s list of the top green hangover remedies. Because if you are going to be green in the face, you might as well be green all the way. ‘Tis the season…


1. Yoga
Athletic activity might sound a)exhausting and b)nauseating, but yoga is actually one of the quickest way to rid the toxins from your body. Try a routine of a couple of sun salutations followed by a series or moderate twists – literally “wring” the remaining alcohol from your body. Check out tips from Planet Green on how to make your yoga greener.

2. Wheatgrass
While a thick green juice might seem less than appetizing, take a shot of this curing beverage to balance all the not-so-curing ones you downed last night. Found at your local natural foods shop, wheatgrass’ chlorophyll content and detoxifying effects are a surefire cure.

3. Rescue Remedy
This product (which is made 100% naturally from spring water infused with wild flowers), which celebrities use for its calming effects (red carpet=nerve overload) is also known to help soothe a hungover system. A couple of drops in your water before bed and a pastille in the morning is the natural technique some swear by.

4. Coconut Water
Gatorade or other electrolyte-enhanced beverages are a common antidote. But since you’ve already been taxing the liver, why continue with the artificial colors and flavorings found in these sugary drinks? Young coconut water boasts electrolytes and more potassium than a banana, and is usually not packaged in polluting plastic.

5. Play in the Snow
A cold shower is a time honored remedy. But why waste the water? Lay your sad little head in the snow for the same effects. And make the snow look pretty while you are at it, with a nice imprint of your misbehaved body! If you must shower, read TH's tips on saving water.

6. Hair of the dog
If all else fails, have another cocktail. My favorite? A nice Dubonnet aperitif, which has just enough alcohol (but not too much) to take the edge off. I like to mix a little in a glass with organic orange juice, home squeezed from the farmer’s market for a little vitamin C.

Green your bubbly: From eco-champers to a cork chair competition

by greenlagirl

I'm serious about starting off the new year greenly -- which is why I saved not just one, but two guides to eco-friendly bubblies: Grist's guide to distinctive, affordable, eco-friendly sparkling wines and Low Impact Living's guide to 9 domestic sparkling wines.

I printed those out -- on one-side-used paper, of course -- and headed to Co-opportunity, my neighborhood co-op grocer, then to Whole Foods. Sadly, neither eco-conscious store had any of the bubblies in stock! I did, however, find a Vida Organica sparkling chardonnay (right) at Whole Foods and decided to give it a try. The bottle cost $12.99, but only $12.94 for me because I got my 5 cent refund for taking my own bag --

Theoretically, one should save the bubbly for New Year's Eve -- but for the sake of the blog that'd help everyone else prep for the last day of 2008, I went ahead and popped the cork (hihi!).

This sparkling chardonnay tasted like -- chardonnay with bubbles. I recommend this bottle from Vida Organica if 1) you always thought chardonnay might taste even better carbonated, 2) you generally find champagne and sparkling wine too dry for your taste, or 2) you're not picky. Otherwise, I recommend that you look harder for the sparklers on the Grist or Low Impact Living lists.

Post-drinking, the bottle went in the recycling bin, but the cork, foil and wire cage remained, ready for the DWR Champagne Chair Contest! Yep, those seeking to make their New Year's Eve celebrations zero waste can upcycle their champers detritus into a lilliputian chair. The lucky winner gets a $1,330 eco-friendly Morgans Chair in polished aluminum; two other winners will be awarded less costly but still pricy chairs (Anyone else wonder why DWR stands for Design WITHIN Reach? Anyway...).

You do have to get that chair entry in before Friday, Jan. 9 -- which means you'll want to get to work right away when you wake up on New Year's Day. To help you out, Treehugger's put together a list of the Top Green Hangover Remedies. In my experience, the only cure that actually works reasonably quickly is the hair of the dog, though most might consider that more a delay tactic than an actual cure. Still, if you can delay the hangover for 9 days....

Top photo by Siel
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BlogHer Contributing Editor Siel sometimes drinks while blogging at greenLAgirl.com.