Having fresh flowers in the house is said to be one of the most uplifting and yet simple ways to cheer the senses. The gift of flowers is commonly understood to lift the spirits in any event, which is why we send flowers as a sympathy gift or to cheer someone up when they're unwell. Few people understand exactly why flowers have such a positive impact, but in addition to bringing happiness via a gift of colour and beauty, the gift of flowers allegedly has a secret scientific formula in its fragrance that can intoxicate and bring a little sunshine into the house.

How is all this possible?

Well, scientists have measured the effects of having fresh flowers in your living space and concluded that a substance called phenyl ethylamine (which is present in flowers such as roses) has the effect of slowing the breakdown of Beta Endorphins. These are the happiest of hormones and the ones that are also found in chocolate. Prolonging the feelings of love and happiness in the brain, cut flowers can then enhance the feelings associated with being in love.

In addition to this it has long been noted that scents such as lavender have a relaxing effect on the recipient and thus help to ward off stress and aid sleep. The scent of a flower is as important as the bloom or colour itself. Ultimately it is the combination of all these aspects that make the flower such a healing gift. There are many other ways in which we use “flower power” to help make our world a better place. Flower essences are put together in tincture form drawing on the ancient associations with each bloom for healing purpose; most famous of these are the Bach Flower Remedies.

These remedies and others like them include acute combinations of flowers such as the wild rose and the star of Bethlehem blossoms to create a positive effect on the emotions. Said to aid and stabilise the feelings of the person taking such a remedy; these infusions have been popular with those who do not like to take chemicals to realign their emotions. Whether you choose to observe the beauty of a flower or ingest its healing properties, there is little doubt that they have a positive effect even if you consider having a brighter room full of the wonderful scent of flowers to be enough of a boon. Why not consider giving your own household an additional gift when you next invest time in a bouquet of flowers? It seems strange that while we acknowledge the positive traits of fresh flowers it's unusual for people to buy fresh flowers for themselves.

Treat yourself to an unusual bouquet of flowers from a leading supplier like Interflora and let the sunshine into your life too.

 

Are you considering trying contact lenses for the very first time? If you’ve been happy wearing glasses up until now you may wonder what wearing contacts can do for you. After all, your frames are a reliable way to correct your vision that’s worked up until now.

There are many benefits to wearing contacts including the many cosmetic advantages associated with lenses. For example, if you have very bad eyesight it is likely that you will have deep lenses in your glasses. Contacts are all the same thickness and you will lose that magnified effect that others see through your glasses – you can even change your eye colour if you wish!

Most suppliers of contact lenses, including those online such as Vision Direct, keep a wide range of colour enhancing contact lenses to choose from check out what’s available in your prescription type and let rip.

Wearing contacts means that not only will you get an instant make over, but that your ability to play with people’s expectations of the “old you” opens up a wealth of opportunity. Soft contact lens ranges include disposable lenses such as solid colour (red, black, white) lenses as well as patterned and pictured ones. Imagine your friends’ surprise as you arrive to meet them with no glasses and they exclaim, “I always thought you had blue eyes!”

Glasses are a practical way to correct imperfect vision but they also have a high incidence of breakages compared to contacts. Simply removing them will not only change the way you look it will also improve your peripheral vision immediately too! Contacts do not require cleaning as often as glasses either. Most lenses are cleaned at the end of the day, but a slight drizzle or a steamy crowded room will no longer have any bearing on what you can see as you travel through your day.

There could be many reasons why you haven’t looked into contact lenses previously - if you suffer from astigmatism or aging of the eye, you’re likely to have been told at some point that there is no lens to suit your problem. All this has changed in recent years.

Developments in the structure of the silicone hydrogels, that make up every lens mean that not only can they help you to see, but they can help with the problem too. For example the problem of astigmatism is unevenness in the cornea. This irregularity has previously meant that a contact would revolve on the eye, resulting in the wearer passing through moments of blurry vision until the lens corrected itself again.

New toric lenses now come with an inbuilt mechanism to stabilise this movement on the eye so that the lens would stay in place no matter what the wearer was doing. Causing a revolution in eyewear, these developments are just the tip of the iceberg and demonstrate how far technology and lenses themselves have come in recent years. Look online for the cheapest options for your individual contact lenses and remember, bigger stores such as ASDA Contact Lenses may sell their contact lenses cheaper than traditional opticians.

You can find out more about the latest advances in contact lenses at Contactlenses.co.uk or visit your local Opticians.

If you aren’t a proper football fan, but like to dabble in the glamour and excitement of the winners and losers, or at least like the idea of indulging in a team away from home, then picking an English premiership team is a fine idea. Some of the best footballers from around the world flock to the English premiership, which is renowned for producing some of the most exciting games you’ll see.

If you’re venturing to England to check out some of the main attractions, then the historical football stadiums can certainly offer a spectacle.

The Emirates houses Arsenal, or ‘The Gunners’. The club actually started in Woolwich Arsenal when a group of workers at the Woolwich Arsenal Armament Factory formed a squad way back in 1886. In 1913, it moved to Highbury before changing names and venues again in 2006 from Highbury to The Emirates. Affectionately known as ‘The Home of Football’ by players and fans, it can hold up to 60,355 supporters (or haters if you’re a rival Tottenham fan spitting blood at the mention of this club - oh yes football is THAT tribal). The royal family of Arsenal players is rich and long: Ian Wright, Tony Adams, Thierry Henry, and Cesc Fabregas are a handful of famous names that have played, or play for Arsenal. They have a reputation for playing some of the ‘prettiest’ and most poetic football in the premiership so if you want to witness some great action and aren’t aligned to a special team, then Arsenal make an attractive choice.

 

Check out the Arsenal website for details of matches and how to get there.

 

 

Old Trafford - a Mecca of the North - has its nickname too after Bobby Charlton (a United legend) called it the ‘Theatre of Dreams’. Built in 1909, it is the largest stadium in the world, ever, and can house up to 80,000 fans. It’s a loud and epic experience, full of chants and thrills as football legends take to the Trafford stage. Modern players include Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, and over the years Eric Cantona and David Beckham and the late, great George Best have perfomed football-pitch magic. If you wander through the Old Trafford museum, you’ll get a backlog of history, and a profile of past legends, like the stars of Matt Busby’s team. Tickets aren’t cheap, but it’s a real day out and you’ll be entertained by the expert and super-human skills of Cristiano Ronaldo - considered by many to be one of the best modern players in the world. 

 

Football can be just about as dramatic as it gets. It can be messy, ferocious and thrilling and certainly a spectacle worth seeing, just once.  

 

 

 

You can fly on one of many direct and cheap flights to Manchester with Fly Monarch to spend a weekend touring the city and checking out Old Trafford. Look at Manchester United’s website to view fixtures for games and information on how to book tickets.

 

                                

I’m a girl who loves football. And no, it isn’t because of some WAG aspiration - I love it because for 90 minutes old-school honour and gladiatorial bravery prevail. It’s a world of high-emotion, where grown men have hearts that break at the final whistle, or shed tears of untold joy as they lift their Carling Cup Trophy (nice one Spurs).

The game hardly needs the spicing up, but I have to confess that I also like football because it makes a fine betting ground and a gamble gives it an extra-kick. Girls, take note – you don’t have to know the game inside-out to gamble.

Pick a player you like the look of if you want – you’re lucky, a lot of the top strikers are pretty-boys, but don’t let it cloud your judgement and stop you investing in the slightly ‘plainer-looking’ players. I’d never bet on my own team - Tottenham’s performance this season has been too wobbly for my wallet and it’s just too stressful willing someone, anyone, to score. Actually Tottenham do alright with the scoring part...it’s just that they let a fair few in as well...

Believe me - it’s far, far kinder on your nerves to bet for another team. If your betting career is just off the bench then picking a player to score is a good and simple way to start - strikers are usually given the shortest odds, then the defensive midfielders, and lastly centre-backs and full-backs. Remember though, that this can change according to the team you’re betting on. Case in point is Cristiano - 38 goals and can’t stop scoring - Ronaldo, who is technically a right-wing midfielder. However, because he keeps putting them in the back of the net, the bookies have wised-up and done their adjustments. Now he ends up sharing the shorter odds of a straight-up striker like Wayne Rooney, so although it’s likely he’ll score, you probably won’t make your millions betting on this Manchester United protégé.

Liverpool’s goldielocks striker Fernando Torres has put away 28 fine-looking goals this season and appears to be on top form, so with a few hat-tricks under his belt he’s statistically quite safe. And, if you don’t support Spurs and won’t come out in a cold-sweat vying for a win, betting on the steely-eyed, Byronic Berbatov, isn’t a bad idea – the troubled Bulgarian striker has scored 22 goals so far...

The top strikers won’t have amazing odds – primarily because the bookies expect them to score, and it’s their job. Recent odds on Ronaldo to score were at 5/6. To get better odds and bigger rewards, maybe check out a centre-back – you’ll strike it lucky if a defender grabs a goal. If it’s possible, remember to check that your player isn’t injured or on the bench, if they’re not playing, then they sure ain’t scoring. Don’t also forget to check your odds –it’s recommended you don’t bet blindly. I use Blue Square to do my online betting, and they show all the odds and do my calculations for me. Keep your bets small, and keep your attitude light - remember that it’s just fun and games.

I’ll be spicing the beautiful game with some football betting next week and putting a couple of lucky pounds on the reliable Torres, who I’m hoping will be up for one - or indeed three – against Chelsea, after his epic twisting shot in the semi-finals of UEFA cup. However, while I’m hopeful Fernando brings me riches, I’d trade all my pennies for the glory of a few end-of-season wins down at White Hart Lane...

By the way, don't you just love the players who don headbands? Tres chic...

 

 

       

 

Men have always dabbled in wearing fragrances; from the suited Hollywood cad to the modern-day footballer, wearing a scent is a sign of sophistication. This doesn’t mean that buying a bottle of Old Spice or spraying on Lynx is the same thing. If you’re going to wear cologne, you should try and do it with a little old-school panache. Rudolph Valentino, one of the biggest Hollywood heartthrobs of all time, wore cologne that was said to turn female fans wild, and started a trend amongst young men, and James Bond wore his Floris No. 89 on the neckline of his white tuxedo, and was all the more dashing for it.

More recently, David Beckham launched his own scent and rapper P Diddy has unveiled a couple of bottles of his own brand of perfume. There are a couple of swanky brands that have launched men's perfume, like Dunhill, the British company that sells luxury goods for the quintessential English country-gent. On the other side of the pond, Hugo Boss has a fresh designer fragrance that comes with a pick and mix selection of beauty products; face scrub, aftershave balm and a skin serum are all on offer, while a handy skincare specialist advises you on what you might need.

You may be surprised by just how many scents have been created for men and it’s worth looking at these designer perfumes online, to get a taste of what you’re getting. The Hugo Boss perfume has a detailed website that shows what it’s about, and of course, has an online skincare specialist. Dunhill has a host of goods on its website, including its men's perfume and gives you a nice sense of the product. How to wear your Dunhill or Boss perfume is easy –don’t drown yourself in it, just place it at the back of each ear in what’s known as a ‘whisper’ and allow women to lean and pick up the fragrance.

Or if you want it to really blend in with your natural masculine aroma, apply it to your chest. The perk from this is that after you get dressed, the scent will gradually rise to your collar and the women will – in true Bond style – fall at your feet.