Health & Beauty, Vol. 3, September 2015

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Health Beauty Vol.3 September 2015

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10 COMMANDMENTS TO STAY YOUNG FOREVER SPA CAPSULE - A DIVINE INDULGENCE TATTOO MEDICAL ISSUES

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DISCLAIMER The publisher assumes no responsibility for the content of the materials supplied by advertisers, including texts, representations and illustrations.

Information contained in the articles is of general nature only and is not intended to constitute any advice for any specific situation. Readers concerned about the reliability of the information should consult directly with the source or seek legal counsel.

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10 Commandments

to stay young forever

1. Love yourself the way you are!

Have you ever watched little kids looking at the mirror? They are so excited about their physical appearance; they consider themselves just perfect.

Do the same with their simple and naïve believing.

You might be fat or skinny, short or tall but neverever criticize yourself; you are unique and special!

Also, take every opportunity to tell people you care about, that you love them.

2. Don’t overeat!

Eat everything you like but always measure the amount of food you ingest. Overdoing it will make you feel tired and sleepy. Remember that the best diet is the diet of positive thinking. Very often we eat only because we feel unhappy.

3. Love your job!

Do what you love with joy and passion. If you don’t like your occupation – change it! If for any reason you can not, change your attitude towards it and do your best to find the positive aspects of your work.

4. Move!

Walk, dance, exercise or swim. Movements stimulate our metabolism, strengthen our muscles and raise our mood.

5. Laugh!

Laugh often, long and loud. “Laugh, and the world laughs with you.” If you have friends that make you happy, spend lots of time with them.

6. Don’t carry offences!

Offences need punishment. That is why you may cut your finger or (touching wood) get into something much more serious like a traffic accident or an unexpected ailment if you do not forgive yourself and others.

7. Sleep enough!

Sleeping in a cool room is much better for our health.

Sleep as many hours as you need to feel full of energy: for some 6 hours are enough, for others – 9.

But, if you sleep more than that and feel weak, you need to look into the matter.

8. Don’t envy!

If you envy somebody, who is suffering? Undoubtedly you are! Don’t let negative emotions destroy yourself.

9. Release your anger!

Cry, shout, hit a pillow, listen to the music, watch a movie, talk to a friend, do some shopping; whatever works for you. But never carry that feeling for a long period of time; it might “eat” you from inside.

10. Train your brain!

“An idle mind is the devil’s workshop……And the devil’s name is Alzheimer’s!” Keep on learning! Never let the brain get idle. Do crosswords, learn another language, become skilled at computers, gain knowledge of crafts and so forth.

And live young and happy ever after!

SPA CAPSULE a divine indulgence

It was a heavenly delightful experience that I’ve never had before. Those rare moments in life when you can say nothing but “Ah”. Actually, you are not able to talk at all: you are just relaxing and melting away. The heat is soothing your muscles and purifying your skin. Ah – so that’s the way it is!

SPA Capsule It’s three-in-one SPA treatment: acupuncture massage, infrared and steam sauna in one SPA Capsule. The Spa Capsule is the ultimate wellbeing innovative technology featuring massage, aroma, sound and visual therapy. This non-invasive experience has become popular worldwide and the health, fitness, and beauty industries have embraced it.

A futuristic, ergonomically designed Spa Capsule, giving you the full benefits of a massage. Spa Capsule uses technology that simulates the therapeutic hand strokes of a massage therapist with automated water jets. You can stay dry and fully clothed as you lie inside it. The pressure, temperature, and pulse frequency are adjustable, allowing clients to customize each treatment according to their individual needs. Spa Capsule further cultivates tranquility via aromatherapy and audio-visual components.

Light therapy has been proven to deliver powerful therapeutic benefits to living tissues and organisms.

Infrared therapy utilizes light energy that is beyond the visible red range of the spectrum. It increases blood circulation and oxygen supply to damaged tissues (reduction of chronic joint or muscle pain or sport injuries). It is much more effective at detoxifying heavy metals and even cholesterol’s, nicotine, alcohol and other toxins than conventional heat or steam saunas.

SPA Capsule Health Benefits: • Relaxes and rejuvenates the body • Stimulates the immune system • Relieves pain / tension / aching muscles • Increases oxygenation of tissues and cells • Increases circulation and nutrient delivery within the body • Detoxifies toxins • Promotes a weight loss and increases body tone • Purifies the skin • Reduces cellulite • Solves the wide range of human health problems including allergies, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, repetitive stress syndromes, circulatory disturbances, nerve-related disorders and other.

• Reduces stress and energizes the organism

• • • •

Individual attention by registered therapists and aestheticians ensure that you are professionally pampered. The extensive spa menu consists of whole body treatments, facials, massage therapy, body treatment, hot stone therapy, manicures, pedicures, footcials, scrubs, wraps and waxing. Each treatment is designed to promote total relaxation and restore your inner peace.

Take some time to relax and pamper yourself in a SPA. Whether you just need an express manicure or more time to unwind with one of the spa packages, the welcoming atmosphere guarantees that you will get what you expected and far beyond.

After your workout or before your “party for two”, preparing for your wedding or simply at the end of your day, revive your body and soul in the SPA Capsule. It’s time to do something good for yourself and get tranquility you were looking for. To my view, SPA Capsule is an affordable luxury in every sense of the word. Honestly, I’ve experienced a soothing getaway for body, mind and soul.

By Natasha Peters

•

Where you can find SPA Capsule in Ontario: The Ontario Colon Hydrotherapy and Wellness Centre in Mississauga: 416-521-9419.

The Royal Aesthetic Club in Concord: 905-597-6822 SPA Capsule World in Windsor: 1-877-883-8433 Seaora & Spa Capsule Canada in Fournier: 613- 524-4004 Oxygen MediSpa in Ottawa: 613-317-7572

Toronto life insurance broker shares information about

TATTOO MEDICAL ISSUES As a Life Insurance Broker, Olga Ryjkova wants you to know about medical issues connected with tattoos and permanent makeup. She prepared this information especially for you. Why? First of all, because life and health insurance is her profession; and secondly, because SHE CARES. Olga is a modern business lady who is never tired of learning something new and useful to share with her friends and clients. Just check her website www.insurancestoronto.ca and you’ll see that we are not praising her for nothing, but simply telling the truth. So, let’s start: Nowadays, tattoos have become very popular and turned from a “trademark” of sailors and tough guys to body art and form of personal expression.

Tattoos can be safely acquired, as long as the tattooist follows proper precautions: working with disposal items and sterilizing their equipment after each use. Because tattooing requires breaking the skin barrier, it may carry health risks, including infection and allergic reactions.

Many jurisdictions require that tattooists have bloodborne pathogen training. A blood-borne disease is one that can be spread through contamination by blood and other body fluids. The most common examples are HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and viral hemorrhagic fevers.

The wide range of pigments currently used in tattoo inks may create unforeseen health problems.

Dermatologists have observed rare but severe medical complications from tattoo pigments in the body, and have noted that people acquiring tattoos rarely assess health risks prior to receiving their tattoos.

Tattoos, actually, some pigments used in tattooing, could be a burden on lymphatic system. They can migrate from a tattoo site to lymph nodes, where large particles may accumulate and cause inflammation.

Smaller particles are small enough to be carried away by the lymphatic system.

Tattoos can mask a melanoma But tats can actually pose a bit of an increased risk when it comes to skin cancer, experts say.

“The key point is that it’s harder to do the surveillance on moles that are covered by tattoos,” says a “star” dermatologist Dr. Hooman Khorasani, director of the skin cancer institute at New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital.

Melanoma is less common than other skin cancers.

However, it is much more dangerous if it is not found in the early stages. Tattoos can mask a melanoma, making it difficult to track changes in an existing mole or spot a new one as it forms. It’s obvious: a man cannot observe a tattoo on his back easily.

Dermatologists have seen melanomas on old tattoos, especially on those parts of a human body where you have to use a mirror to take a look at. Most melanomas, if found early, are curable. But any delay in diagnosis and excision of the cancer increases the risk treatment will not succeed.

Melanoma is a malignant tumor of the melanocyte cells of the skin. Melanocytes produce the dark pigment, melanin, which is responsible for the color of skin.

These cells predominantly occur in skin, but are also found in other parts of the body, including the bowel and the eye. Melanoma can originate in any part of the body that contains melanocytes. It is the deadliest form of skin cancer, and is in fact one of the worst forms of the disease period, one of the most deadly kinds of cancer.

According to the World Health Organization’s statistics, doctors diagnose about 160,000 new cases of melanoma and about 48,000 melanoma-related deaths worldwide yearly.

Tattoo removal costs more money and pain There are costs and pain associated with applying tattoos, but the costs and pain associated with removing them are greater. Permanent tattoos can last lifetime however, sometimes it is possible to remove them, fully or partially, by laser removal treatment.

Critical Illness Insurance

Permanent makeup Today, tattooing is often used as a cosmetic technique for permanent makeup: to enhance eyebrows, lips, and eyelids, to hide or neutralize skin discolorations, to disguise scars and white spots in the skin such as in vitiligo.

Tattooing used as permanent makeup gives immediate and long lasting results, which could imitate topically applied cosmetics or can be quite unnoticeable.

Cosmetic tattooing salons are generally regulated by local health authorities for skin penetration procedures, which is a separate category from general beauty services.

As with tattoos, permanent makeup may have complications, such as allergies to the pigments, formation of scars, granulomas and keloids, skin cracking, peeling, blistering and local infection. It is essential that tattooists use appropriate personal protective equipment to prevent the transmission of blood borne pathogens.

Permanent makeup dates back at least to the start of the 20th century, though its nature was often concealed in its early days. The tattooist George Burchett, a major developer of the technique when it became fashionable in the 1930s, described in his memoirs how beauty salons tattooed many women without their knowledge, offering it as a “complexion treatment … of injecting vegetable dyes under the top layer of the skin.”

“Sickness comes on horseback but departs on foot” (Dutch Proverb) Critical illness insurance is a relatively new type of health insurance in Canada. Typically, it offers a lump sum cash payment if the policyholder is diagnosed with one of the critical illnesses listed in the insurance policy.

Benefits of Critical Illness Insurance: • Provides a tax-free lump sum of money usually 30 days after a person is diagnosed with an insured illness • Helps the person maintain their financial standing, while getting the best treatments possible • Doesn’t affect person’s ability to still work • If the person dies, all premiums are refunded to his or her beneficiary • Available to people ages from 18 to 65 • Available as an independent insurance plan or as an additional feature within another life insurance policy There are no any conditions as to how you use the funds: get the latest treatments and best medical services available or allow your partner to spend time taking care of you instead of going to work. The money unconditionally belongs to you. It’s up to you how it will be spent.

Critical illness insurance offers help paying costs associated with life-altering illnesses. The coverage ranges from $25,000 up to $2,000,000 and can be for 10 years, to age 65, to age 75, or to age 100 (permanent coverage). The premium will be returned to you if you do not claim after 10 years or by age 75.

However, coverage cannot be purchased for a preexisting condition or illness.

References: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Planning+getting+camouflage+mela nomas+experts+warn/9654832/story.html http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/best-hospitals-mt-sinai-article1.1389670 http://life.nationalpost.com/2014/03/24/tattoos-may-mask-skincancer-signs-making-it-harder-to-treat-melanoma-experts/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tattoo_medical_issues http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanoma http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tattoo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permanent_makeup http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood-borne_disease

Contact Toronto Life Insurance Broker Olga Ryjkova!

She can help you find critical illness insurance which is tailored to suit your budget and needs.

416-822-2698 olga.ryjkova@gmail.com www.insurancestoronto.ca

www.insurancestoronto.ca

416-822-2698

Life Insurance Critical Illness Group Plans Family Plans Visitors Super Visa Disability for self-employed Free plans for kids RRSP RESP TFSA

Health hazard of home

AIR FRESHENERS Just bought your home but don’t like the smell inside it? Or already have been living in your condo for a few years and want to refresh the air inside? Or preparing your house for sale perfectly knowing that bad smells are the real estate deal killers?

Do not use air purifiers that release ozone to clean the air!!!

Health Canada advises against using air purifiers that release ozone to clean the air.

An air freshener or purifier seems like the instant answer to household odors. Since antiquity, natural scents of flowers have been used to improve the odor of home air. Today, there are a diversity of air fresheners, plug-in electric and spray aerosols on the market. People worldwide are embracing aerosol dispersion of chemicals as an intense, refreshing experience.

What are the ingredients? Secret!

Actually, ingredients are legally considered trade secrets, protected by law.

What are the ingredients? Toxic!

Many air fresheners employ carcinogens, volatile organic compounds and known toxins such as phthalate esters in their formulas. A Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) study of 13 common household air fresheners found that most of the surveyed products contain chemicals that can aggravate asthma and affect reproductive development. The NRDC called for more rigorous supervision of the manufacturers and their products, which are widely assumed to be safe.

In this article we’d like to pay special attention to air purifiers that release ozone to clean the air.

An air purifier is a device which removes contaminants from the air. These devices are commonly marketed as being beneficial to allergy sufferers and asthmatics, and at reducing or eliminating second-hand tobacco smoke.

Ozone is a gas that can irritate your eyes, nose, throat, and lungs and is itself a major air pollutant.

Ozone can damage the lungs, causing chest pain, coughing, shortness of breath and throat irritation.

It can also worsen chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma and compromise the ability of the body to fight respiratory infections – even in healthy people. People who have asthma and allergy are most prone to the adverse effects of high levels of ozone. For example, increasing ozone concentrations to unsafe levels can increase the risk of asthma attacks.

Due to the below average performance and potential health risks, Consumer Reports has advised against using ozone producing air purifiers. IQAir, the educational partner of the American Lung Association, has been a leading industry voice against ozone-producing air cleaning technology.

The only safe use of ozone generators is in unoccupied rooms, utilizing “shock treatment” commercial ozone generators that produce over 3000 mg of ozone per hour.

Restoration contractors use these types of ozone generators to remove smoke odors after fire damage, musty smells after flooding, mold (including toxic molds), and the stench caused by decaying flesh which cannot be removed by bleach or anything else except for ozone.

However, there is a growing body of evidence that these machines can produce undesirable byproducts.

In September 2007, the California Air Resources Board announced a ban of in-home ozone producing air purifiers. This law, which took effect in 2009, will require testing and certification of all types of air purifiers to verify that they do not generate excessive ozone. This ban does not affect shock treatment ozone generators for commercial and industrial use.

References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_purifier http://www.davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/queen-ofgreen/faqs/cleaning/whats-in-air-fresheners http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_freshener http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/05/060524123900.htm http://www.care2.com/greenliving/air-fresheners-easy-greening.html http://www.air-purifier-power.com/ozone-air-purification-danger.html http://www.environmentalhealth.ca/fall07AirFreshener.html

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Empress Elisabeth of Austria BEAUTY and

TRAGEDY

Empress Elisabeth of Austria

by Franz Xaver Winterhalter

Ever since you first see the magnificent portraits of Empress Elisabeth of Austria by Franz Xavier Winterhalter, how incredibly beautiful she was, you’ve become fascinated with her life.

Emperor Franz Joseph I was the man who made Princess Elisabeth (Sisi) an Empress. She got married young (at 16 years old) and naive, was saddled with domineering mothers-in-law, and grew into a glamorous and tragic figure. The marriage catapulted her into the formal Habsburg court life, which she distained and was ill-prepared for.

She was very proud of her unbelievably beautiful and long hair. It was almost the only sign of vanity she ever displayed. She was one of the first modern women who did exercises and gymnastics to maintain her physical shape. She never looked older than thirty – ever.

Elisabeth was gifted with beauty, sweetness, grace, dignity, intelligence and wit. But all these qualities were turned against her and brought her no happiness. Her personal life was filled with disappointments and tragedies. Sisi gave birth to 4 children, and was not allowed to breastfeed or otherwise care for three of them: the babies were taken away from her. One of her daughters died in infancy. The sudden and violent death of her only son, the Crown Prince Rudolf, brought enormous grief into her life, from which she never recovered.

While travelling in Geneva in 1898, she was stabbed to death by an Italian anarchist.

Although Elisabeth was the longest serving Empress-consort of Austria, at 44 years, she is remembered as a stunning beauty of the 19th century rather than an important political figure.

Bavaria

Elisabeth shortly after becoming Austrian Empress (by Amanda Bergstedt, 1855)

Marriage to Franz Joseph I

Young emperor Franz Joseph in 1853

by Miklós Barabás

Youth Born Her Royal Highness Duchess Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie on 24 December 1837 in Munich, Bavaria, she was a member of the ruling family of Bavaria, though not from the branch that actually sat on the throne. Sisi was the fourth child of Duke Maximilian Joseph of Bavaria and Princess Ludovika of Bavaria. Her home was Possenhofen Castle, far from the protocols of court associated with her royal status. Princess Elisabeth and her seven siblings grew up in a very unrestrained and unstructured environment. She was a carefree, impulsive and nature-loving child.

The family had a longstanding reputation for kookiness in their Wittelsbach lineage. Sisi’s favourite cousin, the eccentric King Ludwig II of Bavaria, would later fritter away much of their dynastic fortune building castles like Neuschwanstein (that is said to have inspired Cinderella's castle at Disney Land), an enormous homage to Richard Wagner.

Although in public life 23-year-old Emperor Franz Joseph I was the unquestioned director of affairs, in his private life his domineering mother, Archduchess Sophie, still had a crucial influence. She preferred to kill two birds with one stone: to have her niece as a daughter-in-law rather than a stranger, and strengthen the relationship between the Houses of Habsburg and Wittelsbach. So she arranged a marriage between her son and her sister Ludovika's eldest daughter, Helene ("Nené"), four years the Emperor's junior.

Although the couple had never met, Franz Joseph's obedience was taken for granted by the Archduchess, who once was described as "the only man in the Hofburg" for her authoritarian manner.

Helene was a pious, quiet young woman, and she and Franz Joseph felt ill at ease in each other's company, but he was instantly infatuated with her younger sister. He informed his mother that if he could not have Elisabeth, he would not marry at all.

The Archduchess Sophie was not pleased with her son's choice. Sophie wrote: "He told me, his expression beaming, that he found Sisi charming. I begged him not to act rashly, to think the matter over carefully, but he felt that it would not be right to delay."

According to her diary, he praised her "soft, lovely eyes," her "lips like strawberries," calling her "fresh as a budding almond." Apparently, Sisi burst out to Sophie: "I love the Emperor so much! If only he were not the Emperor!"

The couple got married on 24 April 1854 in Vienna.

Sisi was 16 years old. The marriage was consummated three days later, paving the way for Franz Joseph to present Sisi with her "morning gift" of $240,000 in today's U.S. currency to compensate her for the loss of her virginity.

Hofburg Palace

"Wien - Neue Hofburg" by Bwag - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 at via Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wien_-_Neue_Hofburg.JPG#/media/File:Wien_-_Neue_Hofburg.JPG

Empress The marriage catapulted Sisi into the formal Habsburg court life. It was obvious from the beginning that she was ill-prepared for the job, but Franz Joseph wanted her, and that was that.

Despite the lengthy teachings Elisabeth had received for her new role as Empress of Austria, nothing could prepare her for the rigidity of the court or the disapproval of her mother-in-law. She was still a child strongly attached to her parents. Shy to a degree that was nearly paralyzing and introverted by nature, Sisi had difficulty adapting to the Hofburg and tried to spend as much time as she could far from Vienna.

In 1857 Elisabeth visited Hungary for the first time with her husband and two daughters, and it left a lasting impression upon her. Having health issues, Elisabeth often visited Hungary for its more relaxed environment. She came to develop a deep kinship with Hungary and took up the cause of the Hungarian people. Elisabeth felt such an affinity for Hungary that she began to learn Hungarian. It was partly due to her influence that the dual monarchy of Austria–Hungary was established in 1867.

Sophie, of course, saw it as Franz Josef being unduly guided by his wife. In Hungary, however, Elisabeth became much loved, and the couple was crowned as King and Queen of Hungary on June 8, 1867. As a coronation gift, Hungary presented the royal couple with a country residence twenty miles east of Buda-Pest.

As loved as she was by the Hungarian people, she was disliked by the Austrians, who felt that she neglected her duties as Empress.

After the coronation she played little role in politics.

Elisabeth was the longest serving Empress-consort of Austria, at 44 years.

A photograph of Elisabeth on the day of her coronation as Queen of Hungary, 8 June 1867

Continuing education Elisabeth was well educated. She slept very little and spent hours reading and writing at night, and even took up smoking, a shocking habit for women which made her the further subject of already avid gossip. She had a special interest in history, philosophy, and literature, and developed a profound reverence for the German lyric poet and radical political thinker, Heinrich Heine, whose letters she collected.

She tried to make a name for herself by writing Heineinspired poetry.

Elisabeth used long hours of hair care to learn languages; she spoke fluent English and French, and added Greek to her Hungarian studies.

Motherhood Ten months after her wedding, Sisi gave birth to her first child, a daughter, Sophie. Archduchess Sophie, who often referred to Elisabeth as a "silly young mother", not only named the child after herself without consulting the mother, but took complete charge of the baby, refusing to allow Elisabeth to breastfeed or otherwise care for her own child.

When a second daughter, Gisela, was born a year later, the Archduchess took the baby away from Elisabeth as well.

The fact that she had not produced a male heir made Elisabeth increasingly unwanted in the palace. One day she found a pamphlet on her desk with the following words underlined: ...The natural destiny of a Queen is to give an heir to the throne. If the Queen is so fortunate as to provide the State with a Crown-Prince this should be the end of her ambition ‌Her mother-in-law is generally considered to be the source of it.

The trip to Hungary in 1857 turned tragic as both of Elisabeth's daughters became ill with diarrhea. While Gisela recovered quickly, two-year-old Sophie grew steadily weaker and died. It is generally assumed today that she died of typhus. Her death pushed Elisabeth, who was already prone to bouts of melancholy, into periods of heavy depression, which would haunt her for the rest of her life. In deep mourning after her daughter Sophie's death, Elisabeth refused to eat for days; a behavior that would reappear in later periods of depression. She turned away from her living daughter, began neglecting her, and their relationship never recovered.

In December 1857 Sisi became pregnant for the third time.

On 21 August 1858, she finally gave birth to an heir, Rudolf.

The 101-gun salute announcing the welcome news to Vienna also signaled an increase in her influence at court.

When Elisabeth still was blocked from controlling her son's upbringing and education, she openly rebelled.

Franz Joseph hoped for another son to safeguard the succession, but Dr. Fischer claimed that the health of the empress would not permit another pregnancy, and she would regularly have to go to Kissingen for a cure. Elisabeth fell into her old pattern of escaping boredom and dull court protocol through frequent walking and riding, using her health as an excuse to avoid both official obligations and sexual intimacy.

After having used every excuse to avoid pregnancy, Elisabeth later decided that she wanted a fourth child. Her decision was at once a deliberate personal choice and a political negotiation: by returning to the marriage, she ensured that Hungary, with which she felt an intense emotional alliance, would gain an equal footing with Austria.

Ten months after the Hungarian coronation, in 1868, a daughter, Marie Valerie was born in Buda-Pest.

Determined to bring this last child up by herself, Elisabeth finally had her way. She poured all her repressed maternal feelings on her youngest daughter to the point of nearly smothering her. Sophie's influence over Elisabeth's children and the court faded. Archduchess Sophie died in 1872.

Crown Prince Rudolf, by Eugen Felix

Travels

Death of Crown Prince Rudolf In 1881, Rudolf had married Princess Stephanie of Belgium, but the marriage was an unhappy one.

In 1889, Elisabeth's life was shattered by the death of her only thirty-year-old son. He was found dead together with his young lover Countess Mary Vetsera at the imperial hunting lodge at Mayerling. An investigation suggested it was murder-suicide case. Hundreds of different stories have been told about this tragedy, but the real circumstances of the affair are wrapped in impenetrable secrecy.

Elisabeth never recovered from the tragedy; she sank ever deeper into melancholy. After Rudolf's death she was dressed only in black for the rest of her life.

Later years Within a short period, Elisabeth had lost her father in 1888, her son Rudolf in 1889, her sister in 1890 and her mother in 1892.

The marriage of Marie Valerie and Franz Salvator was one of the few happy events of Elizabeth's later life. On that occasion she laid aside her mourning for a pale gray silk gown, and for the first time since Rudolf's death made an effort to smile and appear cheerful.

The only court ceremony at which the Empress appeared after the death of her son was on the occasion of the visit of the present Czar and Czarina of Russia to Vienna. Her presence at the state reception given in their honor excited even more interest and curiosity than did that of the young Czarina herself, and all eyes were fixed upon her as she entered on the arm of the Russian Emperor, smiling and bowing graciously to those about her. She was dressed in black, as usual, but looked twenty years younger than any of her contemporaries. In spite of all her sorrows and sufferings she could still be truthfully called the most beautiful woman at her court. But her thoughts were continually straying from her guests and from the brilliant scene about her. "There often seems to be a thick veil between me and the world, as if I were masquerading in the costume of an Empress," she once remarked.

On her imperial steamer, Miramar, Empress Elisabeth travelled through the Mediterranean.

Her favourite places were Cap Martin on the French Riviera, Lake Geneva in Switzerland, Bad Ischl in Austria, where the imperial couple would spend the summer, and Corfu. She also visited countries not usually visited by European royals at the time: Morocco, Algeria, Malta, Turkey, and Egypt. The endless travels became an escape for the empress from her life and her misery.

Health Elisabeth never had strong health. But due to her nervous attacks, fasting cures, severe exercise regime, and frequent fits of coughing, the state of her health had become so alarming that in October 1860 she was reported to suffer not only from "greensickness" (anemia), but also from physical exhaustion. Tuberculosis was feared by a lung specialist. Some days she was so depressed that she would just stay in her room crying.

Elisabeth always recovered quickly at the spa, far away from her family and court, which supports the theory that her primary complaints were stress-related and psychosomatic.

Assassination While travelling in Geneva in 1898, she was stabbed to death by an Italian anarchist who selected her because he had missed his chance to assassinate Prince Philippe, Duke of OrlĂŠans, and wanted to kill the next member of royalty that he saw.

When Franz Joseph received the telegram informing him of Elisabeth's death, his first fear was that she had committed suicide.

Elisabeth didn't fear death. She was a fatalist, "I am always on the march to meet my fate.

Nothing can prevent me from meeting it on the day on which it is written that I must do so."

The entire Austro-Hungarian Empire was in deep mourning; 82 sovereigns and highranking nobles followed her funeral cortege on the morning of 17 September to the tomb in the Church of the Capuchins.

No matter how reluctant or resentful she was of the title, Elisabeth had been the Empress of Austria for 44 years.

Family life Franz Joseph was passionately in love with his wife. He indulged her wanderings, but constantly and unsuccessfully tried to tempt her into a more domestic life with him. But Elisabeth was too young and too unprepared for what was coming.

She never really adapted to the court life and always had disagreements with the imperial family.

Restless to the point of hyperactivity, naturally introverted, and emotionally distant from her husband, she fled him as well as her duties of life at court, avoiding them both as much as possible.

The couple had four children: Sophie, Gisela, Rudolf, and Elisabeth's favorite, Marie Valerie.

After the birth to their fourth and last child, MarieValerie, the two would live separate lives, only coming together for official functions and trips.

In 1885 Franz Joseph met Katharina Schratt, a leading actress of the Vienna stage, and she became his friend and confidante. To prevent him from becoming lonely during her long absences, Elisabeth encouraged her husband’s close relationship with Katharina.

She even commissioned a portrait of the actress by the court artist as a gift to her husband, putting the royal seal of approval on the affair. After the Crown Prince Rudolf's death, Elisabeth encouraged Katharina to comfort the Emperor in his grief, while she was travelling. Though this relationship lasted the rest of his life, for 34 years, it remained platonic.

Elisabeth spent little time in Vienna with her husband. Their correspondence increased during their last years, however, and their relationship became a warm friendship.

Franz Joseph never fully recovered from the loss.

He usually told his relatives: "You'll never know how important she was to me". The portrait of his beloved wife with her hair down, Franz Josef kept in his study long after she died.

King Franz Joseph and Queen Elisabeth, with their children Rudolf (1858); Marie Valerie (1868) and Gisela (1856).

Franz Joseph in c. 1905

Empress Elizabeth in later years

Beauty "The Empress … is a wonder of beauty - tall, beautifully formed, with a profusion of bright brown hair, a low Greek forehead, gentle eyes, very red lips, a sweet smile, a low musical voice, and a manner partly timid, partly gracious," German-Austrian author and historian Brigitte Hamann quotes an American envoy writing home in 1864.

Hair Her pride and joy was her long auburn hair.

It was almost the only sign of vanity she ever displayed.

A silk cloth was placed beneath her hair while it was brushed, and it was washed with a combination of brandy and egg whites. After her hair was brushed, Elisabeth would check to see how many hairs had fallen out. If it was too many, she had a meltdown.

Daily care of her abundant and extremely long hair took at least three hours. Her hair was so long and heavy that she often complained that the weight of the elaborate double braids and pins gave her headaches.

Her hairdresser was responsible for all of Elisabeth's ornate hairstyles, always accompanied her on her wanderings, was forbidden to wear rings and required to wear white gloves.

When her hair was washed with special "essences" of eggs and cognac every two weeks, all activities and obligations were cancelled for that day.

At the end of her life her hair was described as "abundant, though streaked with silver threads.“ The "wasp waist" The "wasp waist" became Elisabeth’s hallmark. She was proud of her 51cm (20 inches) waist. After three pregnancies in rapid succession, and her losing battle with her mother-in-law for dominance in rearing her children, she reduced her waist to 41cm (16 inches) in circumference. Elisabeth used tight-lacing rigid corsets made in Paris out of leather. Elisabeth's defiant flaunting of this exaggerated dimension angered her motherin-law, who expected her to be pregnant continuously. The Prince of Hesse described her as “almost inhumanly slender.”

Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1864)

by Franz Xaver Winterhalter

Beauty treatments As she grew older, Elisabeth became more obsessed with preserving her beauty. She began to live on a diet of meat juice, fresh milk (she brought her own cows with her whenever she traveled), and egg whites mixed with salt. She slept with hot towels around her waist, and wore a silk mask that contained raw veal. To keep her complexion soft, she would cover her cheeks with purified honey, and then a protective ointment of strawberries crushed in Vaseline. Onions and Peruvian balsam was added to the cognac she washed her hair with. Warm oliveoil baths helped maintain the smoothness of her skin.

To further preserve her skin tone, she took both a cold shower every morning (which in later years aggravated her arthritis) and an olive oil bath in the evening.

Unlike other women of her time, Elisabeth used little cosmetics or perfume, as she wished to showcase her "natural" beauty. Her favorite, "Crème Céleste", was compounded from white wax, spermaceti, sweet almond oil, and rosewater.

Elisabeth slept without a pillow on a metal bedstead, all the better to retain her upright posture.

She was heavily massaged and often slept with cloths soaked in either violet- or cider-vinegar above her hips.

Fashion In her youth Elisabeth followed the fashions of the age, which were cage-crinoline hoop skirts, but when fashion began to change, she was at the forefront of abandoning the hoop skirt for a tighter and leaner silhouette. She disliked both expensive the protocol that dictated constant changes of clothing.

She refused to wear gloves when she ate despite the fact that it had been the fashion. When she was told that her bare hands were a deviation from the rule, she replied, "then let the deviation now be the rule.”

Physical regimen The empress developed extremely disciplined exercise habits. Every castle she lived in was equipped with a gymnasium. Mats and balance beams were installed in her bedchamber so that she could practice on them each morning. The imperial villa at Ischl was fitted with gigantic mirrors so that she could correct every movement and position. She took up fencing in her 50s with equal discipline. A fervent horsewoman, she rode every day for hours on end, becoming probably the world's best, as well as best-known, female equestrian at the time. When, due to sciatica, she could no longer endure long hours in the saddle, she substituted walking and hiking tours in all weather.

Weight At 172cm, Elisabeth was unusually tall. Even after four pregnancies she maintained her weight at approximately 50kg for the rest of her life.

Whenever her weight threatened to exceed it, a "fasting cure" or "hunger cure" would follow. Meat itself often filled her with disgust, so she either had the juice of half-raw beefsteaks squeezed into a thin soup, or else adhered to a diet of milk and eggs.

After bearing four children, she hardly ate at all.

She was determined to keep her figure at all costs.

It appeared to be signs of binge eating. On one occasion in 1878 the Empress astonished her travelling companions when she unexpectedly visited a restaurant incognito, where she drank champagne, ate a broiled chicken and an Italian salad, and finished with a "considerable quantity of cake". She may have satisfied her urge to binge in secret on other occasions; in 1881 she purchased an English country house and had a spiral staircase built from her living room into the kitchen, so that she could reach it in private.

In the last years of her life, Elisabeth became even more restless and obsessive, weighing herself up to three times a day. By 1894 she had wasted away to near emaciation, reaching her lowest point of 43.5kg (95.7lbs).

She regularly took steam baths to prevent weight gain.

Obsessively achievement-oriented and almost compulsively perfectionistic in her attitudes, she became a slave to her own beauty and image.

After age thirty-two, she did not sit for any more portraits, and would not allow any photographs of her to be taken, so that her public image of the eternal beauty would not be challenged. The few photographs that were taken without her knowledge show a woman who was “graceful, but almost too slender”.

SMOKING KILLS! • Tobacco kills up to half of its users.

• Tobacco kills around 6 million people each year. More than 5 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while more than 600 000 are the result of non-smokers Leading cause of death, illness and being exposed to second-hand smoke.

• Nearly 80% of the world's 1 billion smokers impoverishment live in low- and middle-income countries.

The tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced, killing around 6 million people a year. More than 5 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while more than 600 000 are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.

Nearly 80% of the more than 1 billion smokers worldwide live in low- and middle-income countries, where the burden of tobacco-related illness and death is heaviest.

In some countries, children from poor households are frequently employed in tobacco farming to provide family income. These children are especially vulnerable to "green tobacco sickness", which is caused by the nicotine that is absorbed through the skin from the handling of wet tobacco leaves.

Tobacco users need help to quit Studies show that few people understand the specific health risks of tobacco use. For example, a 2009 survey in China revealed that only 38% of smokers knew that smoking causes coronary heart disease and only 27% knew that it causes stroke.

Among smokers who are aware of the dangers of tobacco, most want to quit. Counselling and medication can more than double the chance that a smoker who tries to quit will succeed.

National comprehensive cessation services with full or partial cost-coverage are available to assist tobacco users to quit in only 24 countries, representing 15% of the world's population.

Second-hand smoke kills Second-hand smoke is the smoke that fills restaurants, offices or other enclosed spaces when people burn tobacco products such as cigarettes, bidis and water-pipes. There are more than 4000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, of which at least 250 are known to be harmful and more than 50 are known to cause cancer.

There is no safe level of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke.

• In adults, second-hand smoke causes serious cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, including coronary heart disease and lung cancer. In infants, it causes sudden death. In pregnant women, it causes low birth weight.

• Almost half of children regularly breathe air polluted by tobacco smoke in public places.

• Second-hand smoke causes more than 600 000 premature deaths per year.

• In 2004, children accounted for 28% of the deaths attributable to second-hand smoke.

Every person should be able to breathe tobaccosmoke-free air. Smoke-free laws protect the health of non-smokers, are popular, do not harm business and encourage smokers to quit.

Over 1.3 billion people, or 18% of the world's population, are protected by comprehensive national smoke-free laws. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs339/en/

This article we would like to dedicate to OROGOLD – an exceptional line of cosmetics.

A little bit of history For centuries, pure gold has been used by the privileged and the wealthy as the secret to more youthful, beautiful skin. The ancient Egyptians regarded beauty as a sign of holiness that is why cosmetics were an integral part of their daily lives. It is said that Cleopatra slept with a mask of pure gold for a timeless, flawless and radiant appearance. In ancient Chinese medicine, gold was the key to youth; as the queen of the Ch’ing dynasty used a gold massage roller on her face daily. The concept of gold facial is deemed to be based on “Ayurveda” and acts as a powerful anti-aging treatment.

OROGOLD is perfect for those who desire the utmost luxury in their beauty routines. Pumper your skin with OROGOLD and keep you looking your best in the most glamorous way possible.

A little bit of science Human skin has a low permeability, that is, most foreign substances are unable to penetrate and diffuse through the skin. Skin’s outermost layer is an effective barrier to most inorganic Nano-sized particles. This protects the body from external particles such as toxins by not allowing them to come into contact with internal tissues. However, in skin care it is desirable to allow some particles entry to the deepest skin layers.

OROGOLD contains the colloidal gold, “Elixir of Life”, in its luxurious formula and makes it possible to take advantage of the ancient secrets that for centuries has been used by the privileged and the wealthy as the secret to more youthful and beautiful skin.

Colloidal gold is a suspension of nanoparticles of gold in a fluid, usually water. Due to the unique optical, electronic, and molecular-recognition properties of gold nanoparticles, they are the subject of substantial research, with applications in a wide variety of areas including skin care. Gold nanoparticles 40nm in diameter or smaller are used to penetrate to the epidermis to cure and rejuvenate the skin.

And a lot for a sparkling smooth skin Now you know that wearing gold jewelry is not the only way to glitter. The use of OROGOLD will improve your skin and beauty and make heads turn and keep all eyes glazing on you. Yes, the desirable metal is now ready to work wonders on your skin and makes you look radiant. No kidding!

Give yourself an OROGOLD present!

You worth it!

Ontario Assistive Devices Program The objective of the Assistive Devices Program (ADP) is to provide consumer centered support and funding to Ontario residents who have long-term physical disabilities and to provide access to personalized assistive devices appropriate for the individual’s basic needs.

Equipment Funded by ADP ADP covers over 8,000 separate pieces of equipment or supplies in the following categories: prostheses; wheelchairs/mobility aids and specialized seating systems; enteral feeding supplies; monitors and test strips for insulindependent diabetics (through an agreement with the Canadian Diabetes Association); hearing aids; insulin pumps and supplies for children; respiratory equipment; orthoses (braces, garments and pumps); visual and communication aids; oxygen and oxygen delivery equipment, such as concentrators, cylinders, liquid systems and related supplies, such as masks and tubing.

Grants are provided for ostomy supplies, breast prostheses and for needles and syringes for insulin-dependent seniors.

Authorizer Most devices must be authorized by a qualified health care professional registered with the program.

Registered authorizers work in hospitals, home care agencies or private practice.

Vendor The program will only help pay for equipment that is purchased from vendors registered with the Assistive Devices Program.

Financial Assistance

Accessing ADP

ADP pays up to 75% of the cost of equipment, such as artificial limbs, orthopedic braces, wheelchairs and breathing aids. For others, such as hearing aids, the ADP contributes a fixed amount. With regard to ostomy supplies, breast prostheses and needles and syringes for seniors, the ADP pays a grant directly to the person. The Home Oxygen Program under ADP, pays 100% of the ADP price for oxygen and related equipment for seniors 65 years of age or older and for individuals 64 years of age or younger who are on social assistance, residing in a long-term care facility or who are receiving professional services through a Community Care and Access Centre, and 75% of the ADP price for all others.

In most cases, the client pays a share of the cost at time of purchase and the vendor bills ADP the balance.

Initial access is often through a medical specialist or general practitioner who provides a diagnosis. In most device categories, an authorizer assesses the specific needs of the person and prescribes appropriate equipment or supplies. Finally, a vendor sells the equipment or supplies to the client.

In some device categories, such as adult hearing aids or prosthetic devices, the assessor is also the vendor.

Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Assistive Devices Program 7th Floor, 5700 Yonge Street Toronto, ON M2M 4K5 416-327-8804 Toll-free 1-800-268-6021 TDD/TTY 416-327-4282 TDD/TTY 1-800-387-5559 Fax 416-327-8192 e-mail: adp@ontario.ca

Eligibility Eligibility includes any Ontario resident who has a valid Ontario Health card issued in their name and has a physical disability of six months or longer.

Equipment cannot be required exclusively for sports, work or school. ADP does not pay for equipment available under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board or to Group “A� veterans for their pensioned benefits. There are specific eligibility criteria which apply to each device category.

An individual who has a chronic illness or dysfunction that requires long-term oxygen therapy may be eligible for home oxygen funding.

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