Slipcovers are Indispensable

If you have kids, having slipcovers for your furniture is practically mandatory.  There is no easier way to protect your fine furniture until they have all grown up and gone away to University.  

The four biggest trends in slipcovers have to do with color. Solid darker colors are huge.   Perhaps most surprising new color schemes are purple and you can find slipcovers in every fabric from light lavender to a rich royal hue.

A not so surprising trend is desaturated colors that are reminiscent of the 70s and 80s.  You are also more likely to find slipcovers in a bright neon color such as Happy Face Yellow or Bubblegum.   Leopard prints are also still around to suit the sexy minded. Some of the patterns that are out are also kind of wild.  Zebra stripes, big floating bubbles and strange geometric patterns from the seventies are very hip and in.  So are stripes and patterns that look like sixties psychedelic.  You can also just get slipcovers that cheer your children up in general that have pictures of cartoon characters on them or child like themes such as lollipops or goldfish. 

If you like a more formal and adult look and just want to protect your furnitre the one trend in slipcovers that is a hangover from last year is towards the naturals such as taupe, cream and brown.  A good example of a store that is sticking to this trend is the Pottery Barn, which sells classic styles of all types of slipcovers in twill. Target also sells twill and cotton slipcovers in these basic colors. This year slipcovers have also gone from looking less like a cotton drop sheet to fabrics such as tapestry and chenille. 

Chenille looks great in more old-fashioned decors.  They are also good for kids who are little as the softness of the chenille is very easy on their soft skin.  A chenille bedspread makes a great nubbly soft surface for afternoon naps. 

Another trend is for slipcovers to be less fitted than they were in previous years so that they can different styles of sofas. If you think that your contemporary sofa can't be fitted with a slipcover then think again.  Search hard because slipcovers with tie ons that are practically one-size fits all are now on the market. If that fails then you can always have them custom made or sew them yourself. 

If you want your slipcovers to perform a dual function some big designers such as Martha Stewart and Ikea are selling reversible versions so that you can change the look of your furniture from season to season.  Usually these are sold in a two solid color version or with a solid color on one side and a print on the other. This is a great development because you never get bored with your furniture.  These reversible slipcovers for furniture are also quite great because if your kid spills something on them all you have to do is flip it over and voila your furniture is clean again! 

Here is a good store to buy slip covers

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About Sun Spot Lighteners

It's definitely the time of year when you might start to see sun spots. Some people call them age spots, which is silly because they don't really have much to do with age. They are an autoimmune response to the rays of the sun.  They are also called liver spots or brown spots.  They are caused by hyperpigmentation of the skin.  

Do you need age spot lightening cream or 'age spot corrector?' This may be dependent on how dark your age spots are. If they just look like freckles they might be attractive and give you a kind of outdoorsy sun-kissed look.  If they are irregularly shaped or very dark  then it might be time to put some kind of correcting cream on it. Usually find them in the sun-exposed areas of your body such as on your face and hands. Extra melanin, (the technical term for the pigment in skin) causes the discoloration. Age spot corrector creams and lotions  target these areas. 

However the best solution when it comes to developing sun spots is to practice prevention. To aovid skin discoloration, wear sunscreen and avoid direct sunlight especially between noon and 2 pm when the sun is at its strongest. This way your body will not be triggered to produce the melanin that discolors the skin in the first place.  Prevention is practical in this case as sunscreen is less expensive then the creams that are used to lighten the color of sun spots. Usually a  sun spot lightening cream  contains hydroquinone. This is the most effective of chemicals for bleaching the skin. However it can also caused irritations and scarring. 

One of the newer ingredients that is found in sun spot corrector creams and lotions is Kojic Acid. It is made from a rare type of fungi. Although it is slower acting it gentler on the skin that an application of hydroquinione. You will also find alpha-hydroxy acids in a high quality age spot corrector or age spot lightening cream. These acids are derived from milk or fruit that help gently remove your outer skin cells. Alpha-hydroxy acids also remove dead skin cells so that the other ingredients in the cream can penetrate more effectively. 

Creams and correctors can actually  make your sun spots worse if you decide to apply them and then go out in the sun. If you are in an active program of using these lotions and creams then you need to make sure that you are making use of sunscreen products at the same time.  This is because the alpha-hydroxy acids traumatize your skin and it may stimulate the immune system to produce more melanin. This can result in darker, more intense pigmentation that can only be removed by expensive dermabrasion or chemical peels that are done in a dermatologist's office. Keep in mind too that using spot lightening cream and age spot corrector is a temporary fix for these problems. Once you stop using these creams the problem comes back.

However continual use of these products along with a light but effective moisturizer with a high SPF level should help you against the UVB and UVA rays that cause these sometimes unattractive brown spots in the first place.

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