Shake it Baby

Wine is the only perishable drink that actually gets better with age. However, getting it to its peak age can be tricky if you don’t have the right storage area for it.

There are three main things that all wine needs to insure its life. The correct temperature, humidity and amount of light to receive.

Things to Know

Whether you are a collector of fine wine or just someone who likes to have a few bottles on hand for guests, you need a place to keep them. It is important to know what the perfect storage conditions are, what temperatures they should be kept at and how the bottles should lay.

• Temperature is an important part of wine storage. First off it should be constant, changing by very little. Also, wine should be kept at about 50 to 55 degrees. The temperature can increase and decrease by slight amounts if the change is a gradual one over a few months verses in a single week.
• Wine stored at cooler temperatures will mature slower and become more complex. All wines have an age at which they peak in taste. If it is kept cool, it will be able to hit that peak. On the other hand, if the bottle is stored to warm then it will age quickly and will not have the complex flavours.
• Humidity is also a factor. A wine cellar should be equipped with a humidity control systems. Having moisture in the air will help the corks keep their life. This is important because the cork is what keeps the wine in and all the foreign bodies out. If the corks become dry and brittle it will let air in.
• A cellar should have limited light and be, for the most part, dark. Light will age the wine. This is why a lot of wines are in dark bottles.
• A ventilation system is a great thing to have. It will filter the air in the storage area keeping it free of moulds and dust.
• The bottles of wine should be placed on their sides at a slight angle. The wine should be stored with the corked top a bit lower than the bottom of the bottle. This is to insure that the cork stays moist.

Where to Have Your Cellar

If you are looking at building a cellar in your home, you will want it somewhere quiet and calm. Wine should be kept very still and undisturbed. You will also want it in an area of the home that doesn’t have windows, like a basement. Also, keep in mind that the temperature needs to be on the cooler side without much change. By keeping these things in mind you will insure the life of your wine.

No Comments » Posted by April / Food and Drink

Thrush is typically a yeast infection of the mouth. This type of yeast infection is very common in infants, toddlers, adults of advanced age and people who have weakened immune systems. Thrush can also be found on the breast of nursing mothers.

Yeast infections are caused by the Candida fungus. Candida is commonly found on the body but is usually kept at bay by the body’s natural defences. An infection only occurs when the natural balance of an area is changed by antibiotics, hormonal changes or a medical condition.

Causes of Thrush

Infants can contract thrush from their mother during delivery. If the mother has a Candida infection, it can be passed to the infant as the baby pushes through the vagina. This is a common way for babies to get thrush since yeast infections are commonly found in pregnant woman.

Nursing is another way to pass the infection. In this case, a baby who is infected with thrush during delivery can pass the virus to mom’s breast. If both baby and mum have the infection, they need to be treated at the same time.

Symptoms

Thrush can appear very suddenly. Lesions will form in the mouth and will be creamy white in colour and slightly raised. The lesions will usually be found on the tongue, inner check, and roof of the mouth. A “cottage cheese” like discharge may also be present. A good way to tell if baby has thrush and it’s not just something else in the mouth is by taking a clean towel, slightly dampened, with warm water and wipe the inside of the mouth, gently. If the white coating comes off, it is not thrush. If it hangs on and refuses to be come off, chances are the baby has an infection.

If mum gets thrush on her breast from nursing, the nipples may become red and sore. Pain might be felt in the breast itself.

Thrush is pretty harmless but it can be very irritating. If thrush is not treated early, the infection can spread to the esophagus. In more extreme cases, thrush can infect the lungs, liver and skin.

Ways to Treat and Prevent

If you find that baby has thrush and you are nursing, you will both need to be treated. If you chose a natural remedy, make sure that it is suitable for the age of the infant. There are also prescriptions and over the counter creams for yeast infections.

Mystatin is commonly prescribed by doctors to treat thrush in babies. For mum an anti-fungal cream such as Monistat or Lotrimin can be used on the breast.

For babies that are old enough to eat solids, yoghurt is a good way to introduce “good” bacteria into the mouth. This will help rid the mouth of the yeast colony. If a child has allergies then adding acidophilus to the bottle will introduce “good’ bacteria into their system.

Another natural remedy is an apple cider vinegar mouthwash. This, of course, should not be used on infants. Tea tree oil is great for treating the breasts but should be wipe off before nursing.

No Comments » Posted by April / Health

Perfume is a mixture of alcohol, a fixative, essential oils, and in modern day, chemically created scent. Cologne is simply a diluted version of perfume. Where perfume can contain up to 30% essential oils, colognes often contain only 1 – 2% of these oils.

Perfumes can be single scents such as jasmine, but most perfumes have a high note, the first scent that reaches you, middle notes, sometimes called heart notes, which is the personality of the perfume and finally the base note which lingers on. A great perfume can seem to be a grand symphony of fragrance.

A person’s own body scent and skin oils mix with the essential oils in the perfume to create a unique scent. That’s why the same cologne can smell so differently on different people. And why it’s important to always test a perfume before purchasing. A good rule of thumb is to never test more than three perfumes at a time.

Fragrance falls into six basic groups:

• Floral: rose, jasmine, lilac, gardenia
• Wood: cedar, pine, sandalwood
• Fruit: lemon, orange, peach
• Herbal: lavender, sage, bay
• Exotic: musk, ylang-ylang, vanilla
• Spice: cinnamon, ginger, cloves

The perfume can have top, heart, and base notes all from one category or mix the notes from different categories.

Commercially perfume was often fixed with for a longer shelf life with civet oil, or musk. Today chemical replacements have been found. Home made perfume can be fixed with glycerine or castor oil.

For example Channel No. 5 (named because it was in a bottle labelled “5″ during the testing period, has

• Top Notes: Aldehydes, Grasse Jasmine
• Heart Notes: Rose, Ylang-Ylang, Iris
• Base Notes: Amber, Patchouli

Modern perfume making has been taken over by Classic Designer houses such as Christian Dior which offers several perfumes including : J’adore, Diorella, Diorissimo, Dolce Vita fragrance, Miss Dior, and Diorissimo. While celebrities have always endorsed perfumes, they’re now lending their name to perfumes like “Lovely,” by Sara Jessica Parker.

How to Store Your Perfume

Perfume should be kept away from light and heat. Air can also cause the components of the perfume to start to disintegrate and turn sour. Perfume should be kept in the smallest glass bottle possible. The scent should be applied either through a spray or through the use of a glass stopper. The oil from your fingers can contaminate the perfume so never turn the bottle opening against your finger to apply the perfume.

The cost of perfume ranges from the least expensive colognes around $25 a bottle to $215,000 a bottle for Imperial Majesty, a Clive Christian signature scent. The fragrance is $2,150 per ounce. To warrant a price tag of $215,000, a Baccarat crystal bottle was filled with 16.9 ounces of perfume and a five carat diamond and gold collar.

No Comments » Posted by April / Beauty