Cultured Views

Athena is a 7 minute Con

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As I write this millions of women are frantically googling the six letter word Athena in the hope it will be the answer to their dreams. Athena has become the most wanted facial product in the cosmetic world and even Ebay is getting into the act.

Athena  7-minute miracle cream promises to wipe away all traces of age and any damning proof of how old a woman is. In 7 minutes. And you are supposed to be able to get away with lying about your age for 24 hours afterwards. This conjours up frightening images to me: 70 year old women with baby smooth faces and peachy skin held aloft by wrinkled and crinkled necks walking around convinced that they now look 20 whilst tottering around in mini skirts and stilettos. Too scary to dwell on.

While it would be fantastic to be able to turn back the clock on our faces for a few hours a day I don’t see Athena as being the ‘girl’ to do it. Firstly you have to smear it on with a brush and wait, entirely motionless, for 7 minutes. Your skin starts to tingle after one minute - this is where you hopes start to rise. Then you look in the mirror; instead of seeing the face you had 10 or 20years ago you see the face had 10 or 20 minutes ago. The only difference is it is covered in an egg-white like film that is just waiting for you to smile so it can crack and flake all over your shoulders. Like facial dandruff.

So what do you do…NOT smile?. And walk around as if you have lockjaw?. Botox already promises that!.

Here’s my advice: grow a fringe, wear a tight ponytail, buy some nice makeup and make do with what you’ve got. That’s what I will do when the time comes. Athena is just a 7-minute disappointment.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Custom designed number plates

I remember when the trend was for people to get those personalised number plates for their car; the type where you could get your initials on your plate. Up until then the standard car number plate was govt issued and rather boring with just the basic registration number on it. Then it was possible to get your own name on it and then things got interesting. My cousin opted for her own initials a few years back and then had to tolerate people giggling and pointing at her car all the time because her initials were VD. Well, Australians find that kind of thing funny anyway. If you go to Switzerland though you see those initals on certain car plates.

Now though you can actually go beyond just the initials-thing and actually design your number plate and it can be as interesting or wacky as you like!. Novelty and funny number plates are definately all the rage now and it has mean’t that many people are getting into the act and making humorous statements via their cars.  4Plates allow you design your number plate and have a wide range of designs and ideas for what you’d like to do.  Personally we are big Dr Who fans in this house so I would design my number plate around the doctor. It would be in 3D and with an eerie dark-ish coloured background…a dalek would feature too of course. I’m still wondering what to put on for text and slogan but I reckon it would be a mistake to say ‘exterminate!’ .

My kids are keen Simpson’s fans and I reckon a Simpson’s design would be a popular choice. I suppose you could put on the plate as your slogan…’eat my exhaust pipe’ or something like that. Maybe that one requires some thought. The only thing is making sure the guy driving behind you dosen’t spend too much time reading your plate than watching the road!.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Basement Waterproofing Services for New York Residents

 One of the most damaging things that can strike your home’s structure is the occurrence of mold and damp. This is a problem that can set in, develop and cause damage for quite a while before you are even aware of the problem.

The problems associated with mold and damp are obvious; damage to walls, floors and foundations plus the longer reaching disadvantage of completely devaluing your house. The only solution to avoid these problems is to be aware and when you notice the signs of mold and damp act straight away to remedy the situation. American Water Proofing is a company that specializes in mold remediation and have a reputation gleened from 20 years of experience in this field.

They service the citizens of New York City and it’s five boroughs; if you are in the process of purchasing a property you should also enlist their services in inspecting potential properties for the presence of mold.

Popularity: 4% [?]