I haven’t worn a pair of trousers in over a year. The last time I distinctly remember wearing a pair of jeans is when I sensibly decided to forego wearing my floral empire waist dress when I moved house last spring. Hauling boxes and heavy lifting has never been my forte and doing it in a dress and ballet flats is just ridiculous, right?

The fact is, I haven’t regularly had a rotation of trousers that fit me and that I could just throw on in about six years. I used to have an impressive collection of designer jeans and trousers – I still cringe when I remember how much money I used to spend on jeans that I thought would “last forever”. I really thought I would be buried in those Citizens of Humanity jeans that cost me $300 a pair. Sob.

It’s not to say that I eschew wearing trousers because I don’t appreciate them. Katharine Hepburn wore them in the 1930s with a certain panache, Coco Chanel, Halston, and Yves Saint Laurent all designed pantsuits that could rival any dress in sex appeal. In the 1980s, career women wore trousers in the boardroom and beyond. There is something to be said about a woman who can style up a pair of dressy trousers with a soft romantic blouse, a gold pendant necklace and a pair of heels with confidence. Unfortunately I am not one of those women.

As much as I drooled over Riccardo Tisci’s sleek pantsuits for Givenchy AW10, especially a bright tomato red number, and Hannah MacGibbon’s romantic draped blouses and soft wide leg pants for the Chloe AW10 collection – try as I might, I just cannot imagine wearing them myself. I always admire the street style shots of the women who just know how to rock a trouser or pantsuit – they have this effortlessly cool way of dressing that blows any old-fashioned “feminine ideals” out of the water. One of the first people that comes to my mind is Kate Lanphear, Senior Style Editor at ELLE US magazine. Every season I see her at London Fashion Week tottering around in impossible to walk in high heels and usually an amazing pair of trousers.

Sometimes I think I’m in a major style rut that I need to snap out of. I mean how long can someone live in dresses and playsuits? Surely there needs to be a bit of variety mixed in somewhere. Maybe I’m just stuck in the past, my love of all things vintage and vintage-inspired naturally leading me to things like pillbox hats, fur stoles, dresses and leather gloves. Sure, movie stars like Katharine Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich wore pantsuits in the 1930s and 1940s and no one could forget the Yves Saint Laurent’s iconic Le Smoking Tuxedo, but regular women from that era were usually found in a nice frock.

Blogs like A Dress a Day are no help to my reliance on this particular item of clothing. I’ve lost count of how many dresses I own and I am naturally drawn to the dress section of any boutique. There is just something so effortless about sliding on a dress in the morning. And I can’t deny the fact of the matter. If I wear the right dress, a buffet lunch and my expanding belly don’t feel the same strain it would if I was in a pair of jeans. Ok I said it – one of the reasons I live in dresses is because I hate the feeling of the tight waistband after a big lunch or dinner. I could choose moderation at the dinner table but what fun is that? I’d like the half-chicken dinner please.

Throwing on a dress is minimal effort, especially if you’re tired and can’t be bothered to accessorize tops and the right shoes. With dresses, it’s easy to just throw on an old cardigan, boots or flats and you’re ready to run out the door. With pants you have to plan the top, the right belt and the right shoes. You can’t really wear a peg leg trouser with a pair of ballet flats can you? I don’t want to find out..

The fact of the matter is I love my dresses. But maybe it’s time to give my black opaque tights a break for a change, buy those navy silk peg leg trousers and master my fear of wearing pants.

Over the years, I’ve gone to great lengths to improve the appearance of my skin, hair and nails – but of all the things I’ve tried, namely expensive products and treatments, it has been the inclusion of a number of ‘superfoods’ to my diet that has made a real difference.

Some of these foods are nutrition powerhouses – that is, ounce for ounce they contain more vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals than other foods, or they bring hard-to-get nutrients to the table. Because of their taste and texture, others are a great substitute for less nutritious choices. A few of them are even foods you may have written off as unhealthy and will be surprised to find can be part of a nutritious diet – but all pack a real punch when it comes to beauty-boosting properties.

Fish:The best source of omega-3 fatty acids we have is fish. In fact, eating two servings of fatty fish a week can lower your risk of heart disease. But don’t let the word “fatty” put you off. Very little of the fat in fish is saturated and the rest of it is healthy. Mackerel, bluefish, sardines, herring, tuna, and salmon have the highest concentrations of omega-3s, although other fish contain them, too.

Olive oil: Olive oil has significant health benefits. It’s been shown to lower total blood cholesterol levels without lowering HDL (good cholesterol) levels; it may even raise them. And it’s a good source of carotenoids and antioxidants, including vitamin E, an elusive antioxidant that appears to help prevent heart disease.

Soy: Tofu – soybean curd – is the most commonly eaten form of soy. Though a lot of people think it’s too bland, that’s exactly what can be great about it. Tofu takes on the taste of anything you cook it with. Studies have shown that an ingredient in soy called isoflavones decreases the risk of heart disease, and there’s ongoing research looking at the link between soy and cancer reduction.

Mushrooms: Mushrooms are a good source of the antioxidant selenium as well as potassium and B vitamins. So, no, they’re not, as many people think, nutritionally empty and, while they’re low in calories, they’re exceptionally filling.

Walnuts, Almonds and Nut Butters: Nuts provide a healthy and satisfying form of protein and fat. When you eat a small handful of walnuts or almonds, the fat and the intensity of their natural flavour will probably make your hunger vanish. Nuts – almonds in particular – are a good source of fibre and protein.

Eggs: They’re great little packages of nutrients and provide exceptionally high-quality protein. If you’re prone to high blood cholesterol levels, you may want to stick more to egg whites than to whole eggs, but don’t worry, you’re not being short changed: egg whites contain a good deal of protein.

Leafy greens: The days when salads were primarily made from iceberg lettuce are gone. Or at least they should be gone. Iceberg doesn’t have much to offer in the way of vitamins and minerals, but darker greens do. Make your salads from mixes of romaine, watercress, spinach, rocket and other dark greens. Strong-flavoured greens like kale, Swiss chard, broccoli, and mustard, collard and beet greens are rich in beta-carotene and one of the few good vegetarian sources of calcium.

Berries: Gram for gram, berries have more antioxidants than any other type of fruit. You can toss berries – blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, strawberries and raspberries – on top of cereal or nibble on them for a snack. They also make the perfect ending to a nice meal.

Chinese Herbs for Hair Loss Using Chinese Herbs for Hair Loss F or many people, all natural is the best solution which is why Chinese herbs can be quite effective. Today, many people are looking for alternative approaches to improving their health either because more modern medicine and treatments have failed them, or because the process is simply too costly. Nevertheless, one of the most commonly used treatments that are all natural include a number of Chinese herbs. You can use these treatments as an option for improving your hair condition, but be sure that you address the underlying problem too. In Chinese medicine, the body is treated based on the flow of the blood, or Qi through it.

When there is an illness or a problem, such as hair loss, the condition generally is caused by a stoppage or an uneven flow of blood to a specific area of the body. To cure this condition, several methods are used. Often to relieve the constraint, which causes the hair loss, Chinese treatments will involve the use of ancient herbs and remedies. Chinese herbs can be many, depending on who you ask and what other symptoms you have. One option is to include He Shou Wu in your diet. This is also more commonly known as Fo Ti. Other Chinese herbs for hair loss including fleece flower root and multiflori. You can find additional options by talking to a professional at the local health food store.

Or, look for a quality health food supplier online. There are other herbs that are more commonly known to help with hair loss. Some of these are Chinese herbs.

The options include:

• Aloe
• Stinging nettle
• ArnicaCatmint
• Horsetail
• Southernwood
• Sage
• Birch
• Licorice
• Marigold
• Rosemary
• Parsley
• Nettles

Those that you will see promoted as Chinese hair loss herbs include:

• Oyster
• Mulberries
• Psoralea Seeds

When you decide to go with Chinese herbs for hair loss, be sure to look for quality products. You always want to have the purest and the highest quality products available. In addition, you will need to follow the requirements of your alternative products provider to be sure that you take in the right amount of the product.

Back before the internet existed, the road to achieve notoriety in the music business was very hard for all those people who have ever had the dream of becoming musicians and making a living out of their art. You needed to get signed by a record label that would take the risk of investing in your talent to pay for your studio recording, your marketing and publicity and also make sure that you would get booked for gigs to travel the world to get more exposure.

Since the arrival of the internet there have been some huge changes in the way this industry works. Buying a CD from a record store is no longer something that people are doing so much and you can listen to virtually anything online for free. This has forced the industry and the artist to adapt in order to survive and it given birth to places such as iTunes, that allow artists to sell their music on the most popular mp3 online store around and we are going to guide you through the process of getting your music onto iTunes.

First of all you need to find out if you actually want to deal directly with iTunes. iTunes requires that you have 20 albums in your catalog at the very least. You also need to have your UPCs/EANs/JANs for everything that you are going to be distributing. These are barcodes that are used in different regions. Last but not least, you have to provide your international standard recording code (ISRC) for all of the audio tracks that you plan on selling. These are very difficult demands for most independent artists, but this is no reason to give up because you can still work sell your music with them by using what is known as an aggregator. This means that there are some companies that work with iTunes to help smooth out the process for you. Their requirements are usually quite simple and you keep all your rights, you usually get 100% of the royalties and sales reports for trends and streaming of your music for sampling.

There are two places that can be recommended in particular: one is called CDBaby and the other is TuneCore. They both offer very similar features for indie artists and signing up is very easy. CDBaby will charge you $59 for each album that you upload to the store. This is a one-time fee and if you only upload singles you have to pay $14.95 for each one. If you really want to take advantage of this kind of store we suggest that you upload an entire album and save money in the process. TuneCore charges you $9.99 a year per single and $49.99 a year. You retain your rights in both of them and you also get $91 percent of the iTunes generated sales.

When you decide on which aggregator you will use you should encode your files properly for the best results. There are usually options for mp3 and wav files and you will get detailed instructions on bit rates and sample sizes. There are no demands for the quality of the music to be professional either. There are thousands of indie artists who are making their music with small home studios that are nothing but a laptop and a decent sound card. Technology now makes it way easier if you really want to give the music business a shot.

The music business will continue to evolve with the internet and if you really want to get some sales going you need to learn about internet marketing and promoting just as much as you learn about the music business.

A real life example is a song that Jay Golden (a PGA golf professional) who made a song as a tribute to his friend Moe Norman, who is a professional golfer known for his miraculous ability to hit dead straight shots consistently. You can listen to a sample or download the song on the link below from iTunes:

I interviewed Jay Golden about his song and his responses to my questions are below:

What made you want to do a tribute song to Moe?

“I heard about MOE NORMAN for many years prior to meeting him and was intrigued by his ability and personality. When I met him, watched his clinics and spent time with him, it only added to my appreciation of his dedication to hit PURE GOLF SHOTS time after time.”

How did you find the process of getting the song published on iTunes?

“Having written many golf poems – including “EVERY GOLFERS DREAM” which was included in the best seller “CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE GOLFERS SOUL” – as well as many golf songs, I felt this was a ‘natural’. I sent Barry Morrow – who wrote the screen play for the movie “RAINMAN” starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman as well as a screen play about MOE NORMAN – a copy of MOE KNOWS and he liked it! The movie is currently on ‘hold’.

To answer your question more directly, I knew about iTunes and a good friend of mine with computer skills (a tour hopeful who I have coached, Stuart Drahota) formatted it to be placed on iTunes.”

In conclusion, producing and selling your own song is no longer a monopoly held by an elite few. Indie music producers now have the ability to market their talent. Who knows as to where it will take you? Just look at Justin Beiber’s success by appearing on YouTube. And songs like ‘Gamnam Style’

& ‘What Did The Fox Say?’ which are not technically brilliant songs, just took off and became popular worldwide.