Teeth Beauty Tips

Catherine Zeta Jones brushes her teeth with mashed strawberries every day. They contain Malic Acid, which acts as a mild astringent when mixed with baking soda.

If you have some Hydrogen Peroxide around the house, add 3 drops of it to some baking soda and brush with it like you would with toothpaste. This is similar to some of the whitening formulas you can buy in the pharmacy.

For a more natural solution, try making a paste of one of the following recipes:
1. Lemon juice and salt.
2. Apple cider vinegar and baking soda.
3. Orange peel and bay leaves.

Keep in mind that overusing any home remedy, especially salt and lemon juice, can strip away your tooth enamel, so be sure to only use it as a short term solution.

Hair Beauty Tips

Dull Hair
Four solutions to make your hair shiny, just like after leaving the hairdresser!
1. Heat half a cup of olive oil, leave it on your hair for 15 minutes, then rinse.
2. Mix baking soda in with your shampoo.
3. Shampoo, then rinse your hair with beer. It really works!
4. Brew some coffee and let it cool, then apply to dry hair and leave for 20 mins. Rinse with warm water.


Oily Hair
Two ideas for making your hair less oily.
1. Boil and mash up some carrots, leave on your hair for 15 minutes.
2. Here's an old favorite - dishwasher detergent.

Dry HairMassaging your hair with mayonnaise, olive oil or almond oil will add moisture back. Leave it on for 10 minutes then wash it as usual.

Home Beauty Tips

You don't always need to buy expensive products at the department store to keep yourself looking young and beautiful - sometimes the best natural products can be found right in your own fridge!

Models have to spend a lot of time and money on their appearance, and the bills can quickly add up, so these home beauty tips are a vital tool.

Skin Beauty Tips
Many models and celebrities abandon the most expensive professional products altogether and instead rely on home beauty tips passed on from colleagues and make-up artists. Here are some great ideas.


Acne Remedies
Garlic is known for its anti bacterial properties and makes an excellent acne treatment. Press some garlic into a paste and leave it on your acne and pimples for 15 minutes then rinse off. Another solution is mashed-up honey and apple, applied individually to pimples. Also, try dabbing some tea tree oil on the pimple to dry it out and kill any bacteria.

There are some excellent natural facemask treatments for acne. Try applying a layer of ripe tomato pulp, cooked oatmeal or egg yolk to your face and letting it dry.

Finally, fruits are natural acid exfoliants and can help to get rid of your acne scars. Applying a puree of pineapple for 15 minutes will both freshen you up and reduce the impact of acne marks. Another great solution is lemon juice, but be careful as it can make your skin more sensitive to sunlight.

Dry Skin Remedies
- Dry skin on feet and hands
Apply Vaseline, baby oil or olive oil to the affected area before bedtime, then wear socks or gloves all night.

- Dry face
1. Almond oil makes a great primer before foundation because it's quickly absorbed. I use it as a night moisturizer.
2. Make a mash of banana and leave on your face for 20 minutes.
3. Mayonnaise is not only a great hydration treatment for your hair, it works wonders as a face mask too.


Facemask Tips
A good facemask will firm and tone your skin, minimizing pores and exfoliating off dead skin so the fresh skin beneath is revealed. Here's a natural and effective facemask recipe:

1 mashed avocado
1 cooked and mashed carrot
1/2 cup cream
1 beaten egg
3 tablespoons of honey


Exfoliating TipsGround coffee is just as good an exfoliant as many expensive products. All you need is a quarter cup of ground coffee mixed with a tablespoon of salt.

To make the coffee even more effective, brew a cup first, then use the brewed coffee! Remember to use it within 20 minutes though, because oxidisation after that point will make the coffee less effective.

Undernourished Skin
The Egyptian Queen Cleopatra was renowned as the most beautiful woman in the world. One of her favorite tips was to soak in a beer bath. Beer is very good for the skin because of the vitamins and yeast it contains. In Central Europe there are now many spas offering just this treatment.

Beyond Conspiracy: Contradiction, boring and blank

Try this story line for a start. A lone prince fell in love with the daughter of a palm wine seller, but his royal parents disagree vehemently. The palm wine seller’s daughter was banished, the prince was forced to marry his parents’ choice. End of story.

This is the storyline of Beyond Conspiracy, produced by Chijioke Nneji and directed by Ugezu J. Ugezu, it features such movie stars as VanVicker (the man many says is taking over from Ramsey), Tonto Dikeh, Ini Edo, Amaechi Muonagor and a couple of other fringe stars.

We won’t go into details, as there is little to write about this movie, it is a flick fit for kids who have little sense of reasoning.

Storyline
The story line is too familiar to hold the interest of an intelligent viewer. One could accurately tell the end at the beginning. The storywriter Ugezu J. Ugezu and producers should go back to school and learn the art of story writing. Anyway, story writing is not what you learn; it is something you have to have.

A lone prince of a supposedly traditional kingdom knows nothing about its tradition and it is so funny that the play ignorantly mixed modern set with traditional one. Check this out, a movie where everybody is going about in jeans, jerry curl hair and driving the latest cars. People still go about addressing the prince as my prince. That is equal to any of us meeting a prince and start addressing him as ‘my prince’. That is contradiction. And the fact that they want us to believe that the kingdom is so entrenched in its tradition and that the king would not respect that tradition is a big contraction.

Acting
This is one area you should not go into. Even Ini and Muonagor who have been known to deliver did not live up to expectations. Tonto Dike was so artificial and the queen was so plain. It was only fringe actors like Ini’s sister that delivered. For instance, when Van was supposed to be angry, his face keeps saying something else, Ini’s heart seems to be far away, and Tonto went through the flow like a green horn. Her laughter was plastic and costumes were ordinary of a girl the royal family spoke highly of.

Locations
The locations used are very ordinary. The palace was not grand, and there is this constant contrast between modern and traditional sets. This is clear evidence that the crew is confused.

Costumes
We reserve our comment.
Dialogue
If Van Vicker did this movie before he went to film school, he would have been forgiven with his delivery but if it was done after, he needs to retool his delivery skill. Ini was not convincing and Tonto was simply plastic.

Did we see anything good in the movie? Maybe when the Part Three is out. But if the Parts one and two are tastes of what is to come, we better keep our money.

Ugo- Tonto Dike
Michael- Van Vicker
Munari- Ini Edo
Location Manager, Emma Onyemezie

Mariah Carey Wants a Piece of Woody Allen

Before casting his next film, Woody Allen may want to check out Precious. (But not Glitter!)

Why?

Mariah Carey tells me that the legendary filmmaker is her dream director.

"I've never met him, but Bullets Over Broadway is one of my favorite movies ever," Carey told me at the Oscars. "I can quote every word. I think it's amazing."

Sounds like Carey has learned a lesson or two from her glittery flop. "I'm going to try to be careful about what I do," she said. "You've got to work with people who bring you to another level, and you have to surround yourself with people you can fully give yourself to."

Another Hollywood introduction that needs to be made pronto? Zac Efron and James Cameron.

"It would be great to shake his hand," Efron told me. "Avatar was a breakthrough in so many ways. You walked away and just wanted to live in that world. It's like the first time you saw Jurassic Park."

PHOTO OF THE DAY

KEL

LESBIANISM IN NOLLYWOOD

UCHE jombo.
Nobody has publicly admitted to be a lesbian. But if a female artiste acts as a lesbian in a movie does not suggest she is a lesbian in reality. For instance because of my roles in movies that depict me as a lesbian I receive numerous calls from ladies asking me out. Unfortunately, a lot of movie viewers cannot differentiate between movie production and reality.

Nigerian Lesbians Lock Lips At A Club

There are lesbians around us and that’s not being questioned as it’s gone beyond closet affairs with rumours of celebrities [Asa and her manager, Janet Nwose been lesbians] to Obaru Ibru – Kin to embattled and sacked Oceanic Bank MD, Cecilia Ibru as being gays. What’s your take on gays – lesbian and homosexual behaviours?

Why Oscar didn't embrace 'Avatar'

By the time "The Hurt Locker" won best picture Sunday night, it seemed almost a foregone conclusion since it previously earned honors from the Producer's Guild, BAFTA, Broadcast Critics, the National Society and critics groups in New York, L.A. and elsewhere.

But "Hurt Locker" was anything but a sure thing. In a historical context, its win is surprising.

After all, it is the lowest-grossing best picture winner of all time; it was never on more than 535 movie screens; and it beat the highest-grossing movie in modern history, one that has continued to play on thousands of screens for nearly three months. In the era of blockbusters, "Locker" cost a mere $11 million to make compared with the more than $230 million cost of "Avatar."

To earn its gold, "Hurt Locker" had to break what producer Greg Shapiro called "The Iraq War Curse," referring to all the movies touching on that conflict that had failed to find an audience. It had to weather attacks in the media and from some in the military who questioned the realism of how it portrayed the bomb removal unit.

The film also drew censure for the behavior of one of its producers, the first to be banned from attending the Academy Awards. And it had to win with backing from Summit Entertainment, a relatively new and small distributor that had never before won an Oscar.

There also is the parallel question of whether "Avatar" and distributor Fox contributed to their own demise in the best picture race.

The sci-fi epic had been critically acclaimed, far more widely seen and was widely heralded for its breakthrough technology. And it boasted the deep pocket backing of a major Hollywood studio.

Could it be explained as the ultimate example of the split personality in Hollywood, where movie choices are mostly driven by the need to make large amounts of money but where the people behind the camera still want to be seen as making art? And was it hurt by attacks from the political right on the movie's plot, which was seen as a dig on America's Iraq incursion?

Or was "Avatar's" Oscar hopes doomed because it was sci-fi, a genre that rarely has been rewarded by Oscar? After all, there are precedents.

In 1977, when " Star Wars " was the breakthrough movie, it lost best picture to Woody Allen 's low-budget comedy "Annie Hall." And in 1982, when "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" was rewriting boxoffice records, it was beaten for best picture by the biopic "Gandhi."

The path that "Hurt Locker" took was anything but standard. After Summit picked up domestic distribution in September 2008, it put the movie on the shelf because its release schedule was crowded. Then Summit opened "Hurt Locker" in the summer as counter programming instead of in the fall, when most serious dramas get a showcase launch.

Summit turned the Oscar campaign strategy over to PR firm 42 West, where veteran campaigner Cynthia Swartz called the shots. Swartz was criticized for waiting until early December to send out the DVDs, even though the whole strategy revolved around getting the movie seen by as many voters as possible.

She also had to get attention from Academy voters and guild members for a movie without any marquee names and a subject that put off many people already weary of a war that never seemed to end.

What Swartz did right was to center the campaign around Bigelow, a woman who directed with as much glory and guts as any man, and to feature writer/producer Mark Boal for his screenplay and real-life story as a journalist who was embedded with a bomb disposal unit in Iraq .

She had bound copies of the "Hurt Locker" script sent to every member of the WGA, earning guild honors for the original screenplay and the same award at the Oscars.

Meanwhile, Fox seemed to downplay awards campaigning, letting Cameron take the lead. And what Cameron wanted to talk about was how frustrated he was that his actors, whose performances were captured by CGI technology, were not taken as seriously as live-action actors.

While his righteousness was sincere, that didn't go over well with many real-life actors who feel threatened by the possibility that they might be replaced by synthetic performers. That backlash might have mattered, because actors are by far the largest bloc of voters in the Academy.

At first, Summit's marketing tried to hide the Iraq war theme of "Hurt Locker," just as "Avatar" tried to sidestep the science-fiction label. In the end, both movies tried to position themselves as important parts of screen history. That worked for "Hurt Locker" but not for "Avatar," which will have to settle for being the biggest-grossing movie, even though it didn't gain the respect that comes with the best picture trophy.

Style Showdown: Amanda Seyfried vs. Jennifer Lopez

Amanda Seyfried and Jennifer Lopez may not have the honor of being nominated, but dayum, if they don't know how to rock the red runway!

Both Mandy and J.Lo grace the 2010 Academy Awards in stunning, sparkly Armani Privé gowns. So who's the better belle of the ball?



Read more: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/fashion/index.html#ixzz0hbSZ47Jo

Fashion Police: Sandra Bullock Is Oscar Gold

Talk about the Best. Timing. Ever.

On the biggest red carpet of her life, Sandra Bullock finally pulls her style together to accept the Best Actress Oscar. (What a relief—after a not-so-stellar season at the kudosfests, we weren't sure if she'd get it right.)

But here she is, glowing and gorgeous in a beaded Marchesa column gown with an embroidered bodice and a pop of bright color on her lips. We're so glad she finally settled on this nonfussy style. It really suits her best.

And Sandy isn't the only one who rocked it. Zoe Saldana's colorful confection was the most daring of the night. And Miley Cyrus killed it with her soft and youthful look.

See all the fabulously dressed stars; plus, all the looks that fell flat (ahem, J.Lo and Charlize Theron), in our special Oscars



Read more: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/fashion/index.html#ixzz0hbQtG8oN

Best & Worst of the Oscars: "What's Up With All the Hitler Memorabilia?"

Ten Best Picture nominees! Two hosts! One kudosfest.

It's Oscar night, and we've got the bests, the worsts and the most talked about moment of the night right here:

Most Awkward! We hope they never again get the idea to trot the nominees out onstage so the audience can stare at them like they are very expensive mannequins. They have feelings, people. Pretend feelings, but still.

Best Host: Steve Martin. No, wait, Alec Baldwin...Hey, Neil Patrick Harris is doing this one, too? Um, can we choose Jeff Probst?

Best Opening Jokes: There were so many—some of them were even good! (Not to mention all those lingering looks at George Clooney...)

"Meryl Streep holds the most nominations as an actress. Or, as I like to think of it, most losses," said Steve Martin.

"I know you loved Invictus," said Baldwin to Martin. "Because it combines two of your favorite passions: rugby and tensions between blacks and whites."

"Anyone who has ever worked with Meryl Streep," said Martin, returning to a favorite target, "always ends up saying the exact same thing: 'Can that woman act?' And, 'What's up with all the Hitler memorabilia?' "

Best Aside: Matt Damon, watching the clip of his own nominated performance and mumbling to his wife, "So bad." (Well, that's what it looked like anyway.)

Most Rehearsed: Christoph Waltz, who gave his umpteenth speech thanking Quentin Tarantino for putting him in Inglourious Basterds.

Most Competitive Category: Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart vs. Zac Efron and Anna Kendrick: Who presented the best?

Least Upset: Mo'Nique surprised no one by winning Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Precious. But when you think about it, that's pretty amazing, right?

Worst Way to Begin an Acceptance Speech: The Young Victoria's Sandy Powell began with, "Wow. Well, I already have two of these."

Best Tribute: Reuniting the Brat Pack to celebrate the works of the late John Hughes was a fine idea, but giving the filmmaker's family good seats to see it was even better.

Best Introduction: Tina Fey and Robert Downey Jr. gave funny, character-driven performances just introducing one of the writing awards. Said RDJ: "Actors want scripts with social relevance, warm-weather locations, phone-call scenes that can be shot separately from that insane actress that I hate and long, dense columns of uninterrupted monologue."

How Do You Say Noble in Na'vi? After doing his damnedest to crack up James Cameron with his Avatar-cum-Vulcan impersonation, blue-faced presenter Ben Stiller then promised, "After I announce the winner, I will try to stand as far away from them as possible so as not to demean their moment of triumph." That was totally nawm, Ben.

Worst In Memoriam Snub: Not sure why the Academy decided to leave out Farrah Fawcett, Bea Arthur and Ed McMahon, recently departed actors who appeared in film as well as on television. That stunk. TV is good enough to air your awards show, right? Should have included them.

Biggest Question: Do live dance sequences belong on Oscar telecasts?

Best Reactions: Some of the stars look like they're far, far away when the camera finds them in the audience, so it's wonderful when celebs look like they are having a ball. Take a bow, Penélope Cruz and Maggie Gyllenhaal; you make the Oscars look like a blast.

Most Contentious: Was the decision to put Gerard Butler and Bradley Cooper together the sexiest pairing—or so not?

Best Advice: "Do it."
—Winner Michael Giacchino, thanking his parents, teachers and colleagues for supporting him, and telling kids out there if they want to become artists they can

Most Family-Friendly: Whether it was a winner thanking his parents or a married couple accepting trophies together, Hollywood almost seemed to be one big happy family tonight. (Don't worry, tomorrow is another day.)

Least Effective Kudos: Though Colin Farrell and Tim Robbins managed to find some humor in the exercise, the actor-delivered testimonials to the nominated performers almost veered into parody with the over-the-top praise. Seriously, enough.

Most Effective Kudos: Oprah Winfrey celebrated Gabourey Sidibe, and nobody does that better than Oprah.

Biggest Wha? Sean Penn offered a brief mea culpa during his presentation, which was nice. We have no idea what he was talking about.

Best Man: During his acceptance speech for Best Actor, Jeff Bridges must have ended every other sentence with the word man. Truly, the Dude abides.

Happiest Ending, Part 1: Sandra Bullock gave a warmhearted speech that thanked many and accepted little credit for herself. It was about as gracious a speech as they get.

Happiest Ending, Part 2: Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win the Best Director trophy. Loved that, because it's an excellent film.

Worst Music Cue: As noted by an expert, the Academy chose the 1970s Helen Reddy hit "I Am Woman" to play Bigelow off. Really?

Best Question: Which nominated film will we still be talking about in five years: Avatar or The Hurt Locker? Or something else?

Most Important Opinion: What did you make of this year's telecast? Awesome or awful? Or do you count anything a success simply because it featured Taylor Lautner?

__________

Here! Some of the night's weirder moments, all in our 2010 Oscars: Twitpics! gallery.

40-Plus & Fab-u-lous!

OSCAR WINNERS

The full list of the 2010 Oscar winners

Best Picture
•
The Hurt Locker
Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro

Actor in a Leading Role
•
Jeff Bridges
Crazy Heart

Actor in a Supporting Role
•
Christoph Waltz
Inglourious Basterds

Actress in a Leading Role
•
Sandra Bullock
The Blind Side

Actress in a Supporting Role
•
Mo'Nique
Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire

Animated Feature Film•
UpPete Docter

Art Direction
•
AvatarRick Carter and Robert Stromberg (Art Direction); Kim Sinclair (Set Decoration)

Cinematography
•
AvatarMauro Fiore

Costume Design
•
The Young Victoria
Sandy Powell

Directing•
The Hurt Locker
Kathryn Bigelow

Documentary Feature
•
The Cove
Louie Psihoyos and Fisher Stevens

Documentary Short
•
Music by Prudence
Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett

Film Editing
•
The Hurt Locker
Bob Murawski and Chris Innis

Foreign Language Film
•
The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos)
Argentina
Directed by Juan José Campanella

Makeup •
Star Trek
Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow

Music (Original Score)
•
UpMichael Giacchino

Music (Original Song)•
Crazy Heart
"The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)"
Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Short Film (Animated)
•
Logorama
Nicolas Schmerkin

Short Film (Live Action)
•
The New Tenants
Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Sound Editing•
The Hurt Locker
Paul N.J. Ottosson

Sound Mixing
•
The Hurt Locker
Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett

Visual Effects
•
Avatar
Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
•
Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire
Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher

Writing (Original Screenplay)
•
The Hurt Locker
Written by Mark Boal