How To Keep Your Skin Healthy

Ever wondered why a woman’s bathroom cabinet is spilling over with a zillion lotions and potions and gels and tubes and jars, all containing colorful magic substances and having names that are all a vital part of her hour-long beauty regime? Well, if she can end up looking good even after using all of that, then she must be doing something right and is not merely acting like a product-consuming maniac.



Skin problems are not unique to females. The difference is that they take care of their skin while we men are just too darn lazy to bother with our own. So, unless you’re happy with your zit-ridden or blackhead-speckled skin, follow this Xpert daily regime for skincare to attain skin that not only looks healthy but feels healthy too.

Cleanse




Keep your soap bar strictly for your body which needs all the harshness of the detergents to get rid of dirt and germs. When it comes to your face, you need to go gentle and that’s what a facial cleanser does. It is specifically designed for the skin on your face, thus making it free of harmful substances such as detergents, soaps and fragrances. A good cleanser foams and washes away dirt without ridding the skin of its natural oils. Use twice a day - before shaving and before sleeping at night. Cleansing your face before going to bed is essential as the skin goes into restoration mode in the night. There are two types of cleansers - foaming cleansers and cream cleansers. Foaming cleansers are great for removing excess oils while cream ones get rid of only dirt and are good for dry skin.

Exfoliate
It’s not over yet. If you think that by getting rid of the dirt on your face you’ll be beaming with natural radiance, you couldn’t be more mistaken. The skin’s surface builds-up a superficial layer of dead skin cells that make your skin look dull and lifeless. With exfoliation, the dead cells are gently removed and it helps the skin to absorb external nutrients that leads to healthy-looking skin. For sensitive skin, use non-abrasive formulas. Do not use your body scrub on your face and never exfoliate the immediate area surrounding your eye as a scrub is too harsh for the delicate skin around the eyes. An exfoliating scrub with fine grains used once a week is going to give your face a vibrant look.

Rejuvenate
Free radicals. Heard of them? Nope there’s nothing political about them, but scientifically speaking, a free radical is an atom that’s lost an electron and tries to balance itself by stealing electrons from other cells. Canning the particle-physics jargon, what too many of these free radicals will do to our skin is cause a host of damaging effects, one of them being the visible signs of aging. We can’t avoid them as they come from our environment, but we can fight them with antioxidants such as vitamins A, C and E. Eating well is a sure way of counteracting free radicals but if you have a poor diet then take a vitamin supplement and find a moisturizer containing antioxidants and an SPF of 15.

Moisturize
Lotions and creams are great moisturizers which impart antioxidants to your skin. While a lotion is good for normal skin, dry skin would need more of oils that are contained in creams. One of the best advantages of moisturizing your face is preventing the signs of aging. If you have particularly sensitive skin, then choose a moisturizer that is free of fragrance and hypoallergenic.

Awareness




Skin-care products such as facial cleansers, exfoliants and moisturizers can be picked up from any up-market department store, spas or at a dermatologist’s. However, each of them has several products that are specific for certain skin types for maximum results. So choose carefully and combat bad skin with the right ones. Be aware of exactly what your skin requires before starting any regimen.

Normal: If you don’t have any particular skin issues, then this is the skin type you have. You might have slightly dry skin in places and slightly oily elsewhere. All you need is a good cleanser (a foaming one), a toner and a moisturizer with antioxidant protection.

Oily: Oily skin has big, open pores and the characteristic greasy T-zone. This causes lots of blackheads, whiteheads and general pore congestion. You need to use a foaming cleanser, toner and an oil-free moisturizer.

Dry: There is excessive tightness and dryness which can get physically uncomfortable. There are signs of aging such as line and wrinkles. You need to use a cream cleanser and a rich cream moisturizer. Cleanse your face only in the night and rinse with water in the morning.

Combination: You have the worse of both dry and oily skin so you need to pay extra attention here. Use a gentle foaming cleanser. Then treat the dry areas with a cream moisturizer if skin is very dry or a lotion if mildly dry.

How To Get Rid Of Man Boobs

Yes it makes you feel uncomfortable, conscious, and humiliated in public. It’s not something that a man would wanna have but unfortunately a number of Indian men are facing this problem. Of course we are addressing to a problem wherein, instead of a lean and solid chest, few men develop loose and hanging piece of fat around their chests, which to say the least looks like breasts.

There are basically two ways through which a man can suffer from this problem. First one being very simple, the person is overweight. Secondly, he could be suffering from a medical problem called Gynecomastia. For the latter you will have to resort to a medical treatment but to deal with the first one, here are few exercises that you can try to win over your boob battle.


Interval Training
These types of exercises have been specifically designed to give your metabolism an excellent lift, and really start burning body fat fast. Interval training can be fairly intense, and this is an outstanding way for burning massive amounts of calories quickly. The best part here is that it also makes your body burn more calories even after your workout is finished, because the body is busy repairing and rebuilding your muscles.

Interval training workouts usually involve about 30 seconds to one minute of intense exercise, followed by two to three minutes of easy exercise. A very common and highly efficient way of burning fat and getting rid of the man boobs - is to sprint really fast for 30-60 seconds, then walking briskly for a another few minutes. Repeat this whole process for about 8-10 times minimum a day and for few weeks & you will surely find your metabolism increased. This procedure will cut down on your overall body fat and also assist in getting your chest back in shape!


Push Ups
Push ups tend to be excellent exercise for building your upper chest area. This won't entirely get rid of your man boobs, but it will certainly make them less noticeable while you're working on your other fat burning exercises.


Cardio Exercises
In order to get rid of your man boobs you will have to burn actual fat from your body. Since you can't burn fat from just one area, you will need to choose exercises which burn fat generally, from your whole body. Cardio is an excellent fat burning activity.

Exercises like Running, Bike Riding, Rowing, and more are all excellent cardio workout examples that will assist you in burning the extra fat from your body and getting rid of your man boobs.


Elliptical Trainer machines
These machines have proven to be beneficial for various people. It is another excellent cardio exercise option, as these machines tend to workout both upper and lower body muscle groups at the same time.


Play Sports
This is another outstanding form of both cardio and interval exercising. While playing sports, have you ever noticed the variation from being in a semi-resting state to a huge burst of immense action and vice versa at a moment? That's the real meaning of interval training, and that's the trick for charging your body's metabolism and fat burning capabilities.


These were few straightforward and effective ways of transforming those man boobs in to chest. Don’t wait anymore, just go out there and try few or all of the above procedures, and you might be in for a surprise to find out how rapid it is to look like a man again!

Types Of Openers

Now that I have made you PITs work on your inner game, I guess it’s now time that you should go out in the field and start making a few cold approaches. Now, I know this part can be quite difficult. Hell, when I had first started walking up to pretty looking girls, there were times when I just ended up walking past them because my mind became a complete blank… what the hell am I supposed to say to her?

My inner game tips will have ensured that you are no longer intimidated by women -- you can look straight at them without lowering your gaze, you have started feeling more empowered and confident while interacting with women who are already in your environment etc. etc. If you have to make a cold approach and start a conversation with a girl you know nothing about, you should know exactly what you are going to say to her. The reason being, if you approach a girl completely unprepared, either of these two things might happen:

1. You will just walk past her without saying anything at all.

2. “Umm…. ‘xcuse me…. Do you…..have the TIME?” Mental blocks will result in stupid openers. Once she says its 6:30, then what? Of course you will have to thank her and move on (cursing yourself under your breath)

That’s the reason why it’s important to use a canned opener. A canned opener is like a pitch, quite like the ones that call centre employees are made to memorise and practice before they start taking/making calls. They know exactly what they are supposed to say and this makes interacting with a complete stranger (with a weird accent) easier. Another thing a canned opener does is that it completely neutralises the effects of a negative reaction. So if ever a girl comes across as cold, disinterested or, in extremely rare cases, rude to your approach, you can simply cut short the conversation and move on to a different target.

Got It?

Types of Canned Openers

Direct Openers: In these openers you are directly conveying your sexual/romantic interest. Direct openers work best in pubs, bars and discotheques where girls are tipsy, their guards (and by that I mean their bitch shields) are down and they actually expect guys to approach them. Use direct openers at your own peril in neutral zones like streets, coffee shops, malls, book stores, parks, gyms etc. In such places, direct openers can and should be used to accelerate emotions of attraction once you have built some rapport with the girl and the conversation is flowing smoothly.

How direct should a direct opener be?
That depends entirely upon the environment you find yourself in. There are essentially three types of energy zones. In a high energy zones like clubs and discos you can be very direct. Direct openers work best if they are outrageously funny. So while they will successfully convey your sexual interest, the humour in it will act as a superb ice breaker by making her laugh.

For example: Say this when you see a group with a girl you like. ‘Hey, it looks like the party’s over here.’ Then turn to the girl you want and add, ‘If I wasn’t gay, you’d be so mine.’

In low energy zones like book shops, classrooms or study centres, offices etc., direct openers shouldn’t be used until you are sure that the girl is showing non verbal signs of interest. If she looks in your direction and smiles at you then you can be pretty sure, that she wants you to approach her and start a conversation. GAME ON.

However, in most circumstances it would be best to start the conversation with an indirect canned opener. Indirect openers are for all situations. They can be safely and effectively used in every imaginable place infested by women.

Before I give you an example of an indirect opener, there are a few things you need to ensure in order to derive maximum value from your approaches:

3-2-1-GO –Approach a girl within three seconds of spotting her. If you wait any longer, your inner (approach) anxieties will psyche you out. Moreover, if the girl has already seen you looking at her, then it’s absolutely necessary that you walk up to her immediately or not do it at all. Women appreciate confidence, they like spontaneity. If you wander around her, keep looking at her while wondering what to do next, you will come across as a stalker, and creep her out. So get in the habit of seeing a girl and approaching her straight away.

Approach at an angle –Neverapproach a woman from behind. Never walk straight up to a group. Come in from the front, but always at a slight angle so it’s not too direct and confrontational. You should speak to her over your shoulder, so it looks like you might walk away at any minute.

Smile on the approach – By smiling I am not talking about that idiotic, sickly grin that you greeted your school principal with when he caught you smoking in the playground. You should smile while walking up to a girl and keep smiling during the first few seconds of the interaction. Learn to smile with the eyes in addition to smiling with your mouth.

Be loud enough -You should be loud enough and clear enough, making sure that girl is able to hear and comprehend what you are saying. If you are a habitually fast talker, practice talking slowly. Practice your openers by standing in front of the mirror, record your voice and listen to your rate of speech. You don’t have to shout, but just make it socially awkward for them not to pay attention and respond to your opener.
Now the player will explain what an indirect canned opener is with the help of an example. This is one of the Player’s favorite openers and is very effective to build some initial rapport and get the girl to participate in the conversation. If the player happens to be in a mall or a shopping complex and sees a girl or a group of girls, he just walks up to them walking tall, with the slightest hint of a smile playing lightly on his lips and says:

The Player: Hey Guys, I need a female opinion on a particular issue. Can you help me out?
The girl/girls: oh…k. What?
The Player: I have a cousin sister who is going abroad to Switzerland. Now I wanted to buy her a really nice Cashmere cardigan. But the problem is that she’s in between sizes, so I don’t know which size to get her….
The great thing with such an opener is that its gets the girl to respond.

The Player’s Suggestion:It’s always best to ask open ended questions. Your aim is to make the girl respond and participate in the conversation and this can only be done by asking an opinion-based open ended question.

The Curse Of Being A nice GUY

Perhaps titling this article “The Reasons Why Most Women Feel No Attraction Towards Nice Guys, Even Though They All Claim That Those Are The Kind Of Guys They Want To Meet” would have been more appropriate. While I was tempted to use this as the title, the reason why I refrained from doing so was simply because it would have meant denying the basic right of self expression to the millions of Indian men suffering from the nice guy syndrome. No one should feel compelled to change his inherent nature especially if it’s actually “nice”. But then again, it hardly feels “nice” to see all those beautiful girls with luscious bodies gravitating towards the jerks and the bad boys, while all you draw from them is the LJBF (Let’s just be friends) line.



Nice Guys Get No Booty
If you are into watching stupid American chat shows, you will keep coming across whining women saying things like “But Oprah, There aren’t any nice guys out there... All the men out there are such jerks and losers. I just want to be with a real nice guy.” See the story’s absolutely same in the US as well. As you stand in front of the TV mentally screeching “HEY, OPEN YOUR EYES. I AM THE GUY YOU ARE LOOKING FOR!” you can bet that there are billions of guys all around the world who are shouting the exact same thing.


Even though women mourn the absolute dearth of nice guys, yet every time you try to score with one of them, your attempts, at best, aren’t taken too seriously and, at worst, are met with jeers and scorn. This usually happens with girls who are right on top of the beauty ladder, so most nice guys have no option but to stick with the women who are beautiful inside. And I know that’s NOT what you PITs are looking for. So what the hell is going on here?


Ok, here’s the answer. As usual, women are all talking in code. They always do this.

Cracking the Code
What women imagine when they think of a nice-guy, is a man who’s able to make them feel SAFE, but in a way that doesn’t compromise his inner sexual attractiveness. It’s a wonder that it took me so long to figure out this part of the puzzle. For a woman, a nice safe guy means nothing more than someone who is physically harmless. THAT’S IT. It just means a guy who won’t force himself on her, won’t use date-rape drugs or won’t resort to any such despicable things. However, in terms of what such a guy can actually do to her emotions… that’s a completely different story.

It is this special blend of safe & dangerous, exciting & boring, hot & cold that most women look for in men. It’s what they love for. This is their definition of having that sparkling sexual chemistry with a guy.


Nice Guy = Loser Guy
The biggest problem with acting overly nice or being lap-doggishly friendly around women is that such behavior communicates the worst kind of subliminal message to them. Understand this fact that a major part of the communication that takes place between a man and a woman in the first few stages of a romantic relationship is always non-verbal. Words do play an important role in the seduction process, but it is the vibes and the signals that do most of the talking. So it’s what you don’t communicate with words that will decide whether you get laid or masturbate. (Pardon the poor rhyming.)

Here’s the reason:


Women don’t see the “nice guy” act as something deliberately done in their presence as a well meaning but messed up attempt to impress them. Had that been the case, they would have actually appreciated the gesture. Instead, when you pull off the nice guy act, they actually believe that you have been TRAINED (yes, like a DOG) to act this way by the more powerful and the more domineering men in the world.


So in other words, women think that men do the nice guy act in the presence of stronger, more powerful men in order to protect themselves from harm. (Please don’t hurt me since I am no threat to your status as the leader of the pack…let me kiss your ass and be your harmless lovable sidekick.)


For attractive and desirable women, this niceness is nothing less than a huge billboard with the words “LOW STATUS MALE” written in red and therefore …It’s an enormous turnoff for them.


So the point to remember is that for women, their Prince “nice-guy” charming is one with whom they: a) will feel safe to be with b) won’t feel embarrassed to show off to their (judgmental) friends and family. There is a huge difference between being a completely chauvinistic psycho and an ass kissing wimp. What you have to do is find that safe middle ground.

So what are some of the effective ways in which this theory can be put into practice? Though it’s rather difficult to describe exactly how one should go about being the PERFECT nice guy, I will give it my best shot.

So here goes:

Never broadcast your Niceness

You should never act like a nice guy around a woman, but…

You should always want them to think of the “nice-guy” being a better facet of you. So making an occasional “nice-guy” gesture will just add to the charm and make you more appealing.

Are you able to make sense of what I am trying to explain here? The problem with being a nice guy is that you consciously try to come across as nice, rather than just naturally letting it happen. You should never try to deliberately act “nice” around women. The only thing you need to do is drop a hint here and there, so that your woman thinks that it’s also a part (but just a PART) of your personality. Never EVER broadcast your nice guy appeal to women as if it’s something you are actually proud off. It’s simply not done.

Here are a few examples of what I mean:


Non-verbal Communication: When you first interact with a woman, you should quickly open up several lines of non-verbal communication in a way that should send a variety of subliminal messages to her subconscious brain. You must be able tap her instinctual mating desires by making her see you as a potential sexual partner without saying anything to that effect. Sounds really tricky, doesn’t it? It’s actually very easy. Two ways of doing this is by maintaining extended, meaningful eye contact with her and by briefly and inoffensively touching her on the parts of her body that she deems to be non-sexual (like her arms and elbows). Both are casual and innocent and yet send powerful signals to the deepest part of her brain.

Nice-Guy Hints: Drop little hints about the “nice guy” side of your personality, but do nothing to actually demonstrate it. You can do this by a) slipping in hints that you have strong social and familial relationships - an obvious sign to her that you are normal & connected and b) that you have a number of exciting things going on in your life like a successful career, a fulfilling hobby, several recent adventures that you had. (If you don’t have any, just make up convincing stories.)

Be Wicked: Be playful and unpredictable. Make fun of her. Have double-meaning conversations with her. One of the easiest ways of doing this is by challenging her beliefs through humor mixed with a dash of cockiness. More often guys are so afraid that they might say or do something that would freak the girl out, that they end up playing it extra safe and come across as super NICE and super BORING. Don’t be that guy. Even though you might feel terrified at the prospect of losing her, you have to ensure that she doesn’t get a whiff of this. So always be relaxed around her. Your aim is to make her feel that you are the catch. If she even gets a hint of your desperation, you’ll be out before you even know it.

See how easy it is? You neither have to purchase a Harley, grow a stubble, get into bar fights, drive dead drunk or do anything even remotely similar (and stupid) to power your inner bad boy. All you have to do is not apologize for being a man, not act needy around women and understand and study the dynamics of male-female attraction. Read the Pickup/Relationships section of MensXpert on a daily basis and soon you too will able to master the subtle science of seduction.