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Facts You May Not Know About Frangipanis (plumeria)

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According to Mexican myth the gods were born from Frangipani flowers.

Frangipani (Plumeria) is very rare in China, and even more precious than orchids. So, when a person gives frangipani flowers to a sweetheart, it is the closest thing to saying you’re special, I love you in a culture where expression of personal feelings is frowned upon.

The colorful caterpillar of Pseudosphinx tetrio feeds predominantly on the leaves of Plumeria rubra (frangipani).

“Warming” oils — such as those from frangipani are said to have a calming influence on those suffering from fear, anxiety, insomnia or tremors, according to the principles of Ayurveda, a 5,000-year-old Indian holistic science that seeks to balance mind, body and spirit.

Frangipanis are good hosts for dendrobium orchids.

According to Vietnamese myth, ghosts live in trees with white and fragrant flowers including the frangipani. In Vietnam and China the colour white is associated with death and funerals.

In Hindu culture, the flower means loyalty. Hindu women put a flower in their hair on their wedding days to show their loyalty to their husbands.

There is a theory that Catholic missionary priests spread frangipanis around the world as they travelled. This may explain why the frangipani is so popular and common in the Philippines and Thailand but very rare in China and Vietnam. Thailand and the Philippines welcomed the Christian missionaries while, in China and Vietnam, they were persecuted until around the 1850s.

The frangipani is regarded as a sacred tree in Laos and every Buddhist temple in that country has them planted in their courtyards.

Frangipanis wont burn except in extreme temperatures (over 500 degrees).

In Caribbean cultures the leaves are used as poultices (a healing wrap) for bruises and ulcers and the latex (sap) is used as a liniment for rheumatism.

The frangipani is also associated with love in feng shui.

In India the frangipani is a symbol of immortality because of its ability to produce leaves and flowers even after it has been lifted out of the soil. It is often planted near temples and graveyards, where the fresh flowers fall daily upon the tombs.

In Vietnam the frangipani is used for its healing qualities: the bark, mashed in alcohol, prevents skin inflammation. It is also used to treat indigestion and high blood pressure, while the roots have purgative effects on animals and the milk-like sap serves as a balm for skin diseases. The white flowers are used in traditional medicine to cure high blood pressure, haemophilia, cough, dysentery and fever.

In Malay folklore the scent of the frangipani is associated with a vampire, the pontianak.

In modern Polynesian culture, the frangipani can be worn by women to indicate their relationship status – over the right ear if seeking a relationship, and over the left if taken.

Frangipani trees were once considered taboo in Thai homes because of superstitious associations with the plant’s Thai name, lantom, which is similar to ratom, the Thai word for sorrow. As a result, frangipanis were thought to bring unhappiness. Today, however, the blossoms are presented as fragrant offerings to Buddha and Thai people wear them on special festival days like Songkran (Thai New Year).

The frangipani is the national flower of Nicaragua and it features on some of their bank notes.

The name, frangipani, comes from the Italian nobleman, Marquis Frangipani, who created a perfume used to scent gloves in the 16th century. When the frangipani flower was discovered its natural perfume reminded people of the scented gloves, and so the flower was called frangipani. Another version has it that the name, frangipani, is from the French frangipanier which is a type of coagulated milk that the Plumeria milk resembles.

The name, Plumeria, is attributed to Charles Plumier, a 17th Century French botanist who travelled to the New World documenting many plant and animal species, although according to author Peter Loewer (The Evening Garden: Flowers and Fragrance from Dusk Till Dawn; Timber Press, 2002) Plumier was not the first to describe Plumeria. That honour goes to Francisco de Mendoza, a spanish priest who did so in 1522.

Wind Chime Understanding Its Relationship With Feng Shui

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A lot of people these days buy wind chimes as decors. However, there are also a number who do in order to comply with the rules of feng shui. In fact, the interesting and mutual relationship between wind chimes and feng shui has been around for several years.

The Power of Wind Chimes in Relation to Feng Shui
For you to understand the role of wind chimes in feng shui, you need to know what the latter is. Feng shui is the Chinese tradition that focuses on proper placement of objects.

According to feng shui, energy is everywhere, and it can be either good or bad. Depending on where you place the objects, they have the ability to control the flow of energy or chi. It can make a supposed-to-be dark energy into something light, or vice versa.

Sound also has something to do with attracting good luck or getting rid of the bad one. You can liken it to fireworks. Many do light their fireworks, hoping the thunderous sound would remove the bad energy or spirit from entering into the house. Sound is regarded as one of the most effective cures in feng shui.

Where to Place the Wind Chimes
Since we are talking about feng shui, it is very important you know where to place your wind chimes. Usually, wind chimes are found in entrances, perhaps as a way of preventing bad chi from getting into the home (a very good example is it alerts you if there are people who are trying to break in to your house). But this is broad.

When you want to be specific, you have to take note of several directions. For example, if your entry is at the north, you can hang a metal wind chime to bring vitality into the entrance. North-facing entrances are often regarded as desolate or unattractive.

If you want to have a lot of kids or establish a harmonious relationship in the family, locate the western part of your house and attach a hollow metal wind chime. The purpose of this is to increase the flow of good vibes.

If another building or house is directly in front of your property, this may prevent good fortune from going straight into your house. Thus, you may feel certain aspects of your life stagnating. To counter that, you can add a wind chime to bring in better vibes into your house.

Nevertheless, never forget to use your common sense. Hanging wind chimes right inside an office may be considered bad luck. After all, it will distract not only you but also your co-workers and worst, your possible clients.

Why Use Metal Wind Chimes?
Most wind chimes today are made from a variety of materials. You have ceramics, wood, bamboo, and metal, to name a few. However, if you want to practice or apply feng shui, then you will most likely use the metal wind chime. Metals on earth are getting depleted. The act of depletion creates negative energy. Adding a metal wind chime at your house, garden, and / or office will counter this and bring positive chi at your place.

Some people dont really believe in feng shui. Regardless, theres no harm in trying it, right?

Great Tips To Activate Your Career Luck

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Having serious ambitions? Desiring to make it big in your career? Or simply just want to find a suitable and good job to start your career right now? You can definitely use Feng Shui to give your ambitions a boost. Good career feng shui usually manifests in the form of increased opportunities.

Be prepared to become a much busier person. It is important to realize this, otherwise you could well feel hassled by the sudden new scope your working life now takes. If you are a passionate about your work and are driven to push yourself further in your career, you will benefit tremendously when you activate your career luck.

Your hard work will start to reap dividends. Powerful bosses will notice you within your work space, and extra responsibilities will be heaped upon your shoulders. You will start to operate in a different league.

I remembered back in the days when I energized my career luck. It took off like a cheetah that I did not know if I was coming or going. That was the year when I made so many quantum leaps in my career, it scared me. So when you start energizing your career luck, do be prepared to be surprised.

Nonetheless, everyone wants to have prosperity in their career and by tapping on the wisdom of feng shui, it can really enhance your career luck and brings you to the next higher level of your career.

The CAREER CORNER is the NORTH of any residential building or personal space. Thus to get the most out of career feng shui, you should use feng shui methods to energize the NORTH corner of both your home, as well as your office.

Remember that at home, if the north corner is your bedroom, do not do anything inside the bedroom. Instead you should focus on activating the north corner of your living room.

However, if the north corner of your home is where you have the toilet, the consequences are inauspicious for the careers of residents. Try your best to close the toilet, and if you can, do not use it. If you were to ask me what should you do if you really cannot demolish or close the toilet, my best solution to you is to place a big boulder inside to press down the bad chi caused by the toilet.

One sure effective way to activate your career luck is to have a small aquarium filled with guppies in the NORTH wall or corner of both your living room at home, and in your office. Your aquarium should not be two feet lengthwise or less. I strongly recommend guppies because these small fishes are hard little creatures with stunning tail fins. They create very good yang energy because they swim vigorously. Simply get a whole school of guppies or other lively active fish and watch them swim strongly, creating strong career luck for you and your family!

On the other hand, you can also place turtles at the North corner of your home. A turtle is considered one of the most powerful symbols of good luck under the study of Feng Shui. My best advise is that a terrapin turtle should be placed in an aquarium in the northern corner of the house or office. The turtle is also considered as a protector and symbol of good luck and the happier and more active your turtle is the more your career luck will be activated.

However other considerations need to be kept in mind while placing any water body in your space and therefore Feng Shui also considers the general layout of the house and your personal kua number before suggesting any Feng Shui career tips.

The use of wind chimes can also increase your career luck tremendously. It is especially beneficial to a personw ho is running his own business. The business owner will benefit froma metal wind chime in the Western direction while an eight rod metal wind chime in the Southeast can represent wealth for the home and work place.

One important thing that you should take note when using wind chime is the material of the wind chime and the number of rods that is used. The direction to place the wind chime should also be chosen with great care.

Feng Shui career tips or even other aspects of implementing Feng Shui for any area of our lives should be carefully studied and only then applied to our lives. It is best to understand the principles and rules of applying Feng Shui before you start to activate your own career luck with feng shui.

If Feng Shui can be the key that unlocks the door to success, why wouldn’t you grasp this kind of opportunity?

Pink Hair – It’s A Love Affair

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Ever wanted to dye your hair pink? As a professional hair stylist I would say THE most popular alternative hair colour request is for pink hair, so you’re not alone. Pink hair is like the blonde hair of the alternative world. Why? Because they both got binga-banga-bing-bong sex appeal! Lets look at the whys and wherefores of pink hair and what pink hair dye says about you…

Pink hair – Meaning and Symbolism

Pink is traditionally a girl’s colour, and as a result pink is associated with youthfulness, love and femininity. Pink is a softer, less violent red. Both colors denote love, but while red is direct, hot and passionate, pink is playful, flirtatious and romantic. “Dressed in Pink Makes The Boys Wink” is an old expression suggesting that men find pink attractive. In Japan, the sex appeal of pink is well known. Japanese adult movies are known as ‘pink films’ due to pink’s sexual connotations. In feng shui, the colour pink is connected to love and marriage and is believed to soothe the heart.

Pink Hair – Fame and Celebrity

Pink is probably the most famous alternative hair colour. P!nk, the singer, made her name from her iconic pink hair. Lily Allen also made an entrance with flamingo pink hair at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards. Avril Lavigne’s blonde and pink streaks are famous in her music video “Girlfriend”. Gwen Stefani had memorable pink hair back in 2000. Kelly Osbourne (daughter of Ozzy Osbourne) not only likes pink hair on herself but has also dyed her dog’s fur bright pink. In 2006, actress Rachel McAdams sparked the question “Is pink the new blonde?” with her punkish fuschia streaks.

Teen singer Joss Stone dyed her hair pink to annoy her record label bosses after they begged her to become a blonde. MySpace models Audrey Kitching and super drag queen Jeffrey Star both made a reputation with their iconic pink hair. Britney Spears even has her pink wig. Tarina Tarantino the jewelry designer is also famous for her pink hair, and even teamed up with Barbie to produce the limited edition Tarina Tarantino Barbie doll – with, of course, bright pink hair. Lastly, let’s not forget My Little Pony with its original bright pink mane. Having so many celebrities – usually alternative celebrities to some degree – adopt pink hair at one time or another only increases the popularity of having pink hair.

Pink Hair – Psychology

Pink is the ‘sweet’ colour that makes things taste ‘better’

As it happens, pink has an interesting physiological on effect people. It’s actually known to makes us crave sugar. This is partially why pink dye is added to cotton candy (or “fairy floss, although it would be a brave fairy – or a little runty one that’s been bullied by the tooth fairy – who’d floss their teeth with pure pink sugar”) since processed sugar is white. Psychological studies have also shown that sweet pastries are thought to taste better when they come out of pink boxes or are served on pink plates.

Calming pink could sap Samson’s strength better than a haircut

Pink has also been found to have a tranquilizing effect. Some studies of the colour pink suggest that male weightlifters seem to lose strength in pink rooms. Prison holding cells have been painted pink as an experiment and have effectively reduced erratic behavior. The tranquilizing effect of the colour pink was made use of at Iowa State University in the 1970s: Football coach Hayden Fry had the visiting team’s locker room painted pink as a much-debated attempt to, erm, relax the players more than they would have liked!

Back to Hair – What Colours Work With Pink Streaks?

Pink streaks in your hair can look really stunning when you match them with complementary colours. Pink’s opposite colour in the colour wheel is light green, so this combination will give a great contrast. Pink fortunately works well with almost all the other colours. One good combination would be pink and blue streaks. The only two that it will clash with is red and orange.

If you just want pink streaks and an all-over natural colour, I would suggest using black if you like hot pink, and light blonde if you want candy pink streaks. Brown bases can look OK, but to really get those pink streaks standing out I’d suggest blonde of black for the natural all-over colour. Red heads with pink streaks usually don’t work unless you’re specifically looking for a colour clash. For any combinations, you’ll need to put the colour in foil packets to stop them mixing.

Thing to Watch Out for When You Dye Your Hair Pink

If you have had a previous alternative colour in your hair and it has washed out but you still have residue, you need to consider how this may effect the the result of the new shade of pink you wish to dye your hair…

For example: If I have recently had blue in my hair, my hair will still have a pale blue residue. If I then want to put pink over it the result will be more of a purplish-pink colour. (BLUE + PINK = PURPLE)

Another example: If I previously had yellow in my hair last time, I will have a pale yellow residue left. If I then want to put pink over it, the result will be more of a light orange colour. (YELLOW + PINK = LIGHT ORANGE)

Another thing to consider with dyeing your hair pink is which shade of pink you want to go for. How long do you want the colour to last? The darker the shade of pink dye, the longer it lasts, and the lighter the shade, the quicker it fades. For example, Special Effects Atomic Pink Dye can last for a month (or more if you know how to maintain) but FUDGE Paintbox Pink Moon may only last two weeks.

Finally… Is Pink Truly the New Blonde?

I’ll let you decide. But one thing’s for sure – pink hair is here to stay.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I feel a deep and unnatural urge to eat some candy floss…

The trick of losing extra kgs fast

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Many individuals all over the world desire to drop their added kgs quickly. They’re annoyed why they can’t look like models once they exercise and consume modestly. In fact, your metabolism of the body functions in wondering ways. It varies tremendously from individual to a new. One could not fine tune our body so it would take in all the power and food items that you simply throw at it and due to this your body can replenish its power in form of excess fat that is saved about your organs and then on outside the body under the skin layers.

Folks have experimented with losing weight throughout the years but haven’t truly discovered an common solution that will fit everybody. Everybody is effective by exercising seriously. They lose their pounds by working out everyday and this helps them remain healthy and low fat. However , few people is aided by working out. You can find people that exercise a great deal and don’t really have any results. Many people find that sustaining a healthy diet plan helps them shed those kilograms. They consume less food plus they consume much healthier meals. After some time of practicing this types of diets the individuals get slimmer.

However , you will find another kind of folks – those that aren’t actually assisted both by work out and by the diet programs. These individuals have already tried every thing however they can’t lose their added body fat. These people haven’t tried Herbalife though. The well analyzed Afslanken program of Herbalife has already assisted huge numbers of people all over the world regain their normal fat and guide a wholesome existence. Despite completing this great system, individuals that tried it still stay lean and wholesome. The special natural ingredients employed by the professionals of the organization do wonders on those people who are daring enough to test.

The official distributor of Herbalife within Belgium is welcoming that you try their remarkable fresh solutions for losing excess weight. It is possible you can eat sensibly when they are exercising modestly and get stunning final results. You’ll clearly notice how you’re dropping that extra fat. The results are obvious in just a few weeks. All you want do is take the healthy food supplements to eat and that is all. The beverages that are contained in the Herbalife plan are incredibly tasty and they’re going to help you on your way to being slender and sexy.

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