Pole dancing is a lot more strenuous than it looks: a good session on the pole can burn more calories than a good session in the gym, and will certainly provide more muscle tone.

Some moves are trickier than others. Imagine having to support your entire weight with one arm, or supporting your upper body weight with your stomach muscles to get an idea of the level of effort involved. You'll get increased muscle definition and toning all over especially in the arms, thighs, and buttocks.

You can expect to burn about 250 calories per session.

You will need to wear trainers for the warm up session but, after that, you will need to feel the part to get maximum benefits from the class. You need to be able to grip the pole effectively, have freedom of movement and feel a bit sexy while doing the class.

Bare legs are essential if you want to grip on to the pole (you will slip with tights or trousers on). The ideal outfit is a pair of fairly short shorts or hot-pants, and something comfortable and attractive, but not restrictive on your top half.

High heels are also an advantage to give you that strut. The ideal shoes have high heels and a plastic strap across the top of the foot.

The standard pole-dancing class involves a 10-minute warm-up, a 40-minute cardiac workout on the pole and a 10-minute cool down. Probably the biggest thing for most women to overcome is the shyness factor.

Most people quickly overcome that hurdle because they work hard all day and are looking for a new way to unwind. Pole dancing is often compared to belly dancing, in the sense that as soon as women start to move in a rhythmic fashion sexual expression just takes over. The pole acts like a dance partner for them.

And a very demanding one. Pole dancing is one of the most effective ways to build upper-body strength, which many women lack. Suspending your entire body weight on one arm accounts for a great deal of the time spent on a pole during class workouts.

But it's not just the physical side-effects that get most women hooked, it's also the psychological benefits. Many women are not used to showing off their bodies, but after three weeks of pole dancing the physical transformation is amazing. Shoulders are pulled back, waists are elongated, their butts are more perky and their physical self-confidence has doubled. Pole dancing works out the whole body, increasing flexibility and improving posture because all those hip circles really loosen up the joints.

One of the best aspects of pole dancing is that it's very social. You really get involved with the other women in the class. They cheer each other on as they do basic floor exercises such as the leg splay and the peekaboo.
Not surprisingly, in the US and Britain, and now Australia, women are signing up for a single pole-dancing class for hens' nights and girls' nights out.

Pole dancing is no longer about men, it's about getting together for fitness and fun!

Beautiful skin is never just skin deep. What you massage into your skin is likely to be absorbed into your bloodstream, and what you subject your body to shows up on your skin. Clear, radiant skin is a mark of vitality while good skin contributes, in turn, to good health.

That's because your skin is more than a body wrapper. It's your body's largest organ, and the trillions of cells that compose it serve as your first line of defense against microbial invasion and help regulate your body temperature. Skin covers an astonishing 19 square feet of area, weighs in around seven pounds and is teeming with sweat glands, sebaceous glands, hair follicles, blood vessels, heat and cold sensors and nerves.

How smoothly, easily and flexibly your skin performs its many duties and how well it looks has a lot to do with your health.

Those in search of the per-feet complexion will be delighted to know that nature turns out an entirely new epidermis every 28 days, but generally, it takes longer than that to clear up all your skin problems. In addition to the time it takes for skin to manifest bodily dysfunction--a stage in which your skin might look worse--it takes time to bring your body systems into balance.

Take It Off
The big cosmetic companies don't want you to know it, but those who use no products at all often boast better skin than those who buy every wonder cream that hits the market. The reason is that the average consumer is coating her face with petroleum--or worse.

Propylene glycol, for instance, is commonly used in cosmetics to hold moisture and promote skin elasticity. "But in high concentrations, it can be irritating to people with sensitive skin," says Mike Helman, who is in charge of product testing at Revlon and Almay.

Mineral oil, another prevalent component, is attractive to cosmetic manufacturers because it is cheaper and more stable than vegetable oils, but it clogs the pores, causing allergic reactions such as hives and rashes. Isopropyl alcohol, isopropyl myristate, sodium lauryl sulfate and triethanolamine can also cause problems.

"People come to me with severe allergic skin reactions caused by cosmetic chemicals that strip the skin and cause breakouts," says Zia Wesley-Hosford, an esthetician and cosmetologist.

The picture is a lot prettier with products labeled "natural," but these cosmetics may contain binders, emulsifiers, artificial colors and fragrances that irritate the skin. For more on this subject, refer to A Consumer's Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients, by Ruth Winter (Crown, 1994).

Department store "natural" skincare products, such as Clarins, contain artificial colors, fragrances and mineral oil. Many natural food store brands do not, but you might want to scan the label for multisyllabic ingredients that sound chemical in origin. When in doubt, contact the manufacturer.

If you suffer from sensitive skin, acne or other persistent problems, don't hide under a blanket of foundation and concealer--you might worsen your condition. Your best bet is to go au naturel and lead a healthy lifestyle. You don't want to go without makeup? Then buy or make natural products that don't contain any of the previously mentioned culprit chemicals and monitor the results very carefully.

Herbalist Rosemary Gladstar of East Barre, Vt., makes her own skincare products to guarantee the quality of what she puts on her face. According to Gladstar, the cosmetics on store shelves can damage our skin because they often sit around for months, dry out and become rancid.

Put It On
Many women with beautiful skin use remedies as simple as sesame oil for cleanser and apple cider vinegar mixed in olive oil for a moisturizer.

Don't care to walk around smelling like a Caesar salad? Add one drop each of the essential oils of lavender, rose and/or myrrh to a generous teaspoon of almond or olive oil in the palm of your hand and massage it in.

"My favorite skincare product in the world is raw honey," says Gladstar. "There's nothing better to make dry skin look lively. Add a few drops of essential oil of lavender or rose to it and gently massage into temples, cheeks and chin. This concoction wakes the face up by stimulating blood circulation."

For oily or acne-prone skin, Gladstar recommends a mask of volcanic green clay, available in most natural food stores. "It has minerals that draw out toxins," she says. If you have very sensitive, fair skin, she recommends white kaelin clay.

Try to create the first impression by using the dressed, shoes, hills for emphasizing legs, length. The fact that you would use a shoe with a good heel helps to reinforce the effect (softens the leg muscle features).

The second attribute which can impact is effective and moody facial expression. With the right mood creation, mouth and eyes could really be used to your advantage, work on your expressions in from of the mirror and remember how it feels.

This way it is easier for you to picture your face in certain environment.
Bust shape plays a crucial role. You must select the right clothing to enhance the positive effect that bust line may have.


Last, but not least, the eyes. Most of the communication with the camera has to get you deeply involved. You have to FEEL something special when you are communicating with the camera. Remember, the camera is your audience.

Mood:

You need to create a special mood with each shot in your portfolio. If each shot doesn't SAY something about you, then you are wasting your time. Eliminate all shots which are a duplication. Practice at home toward developing expressions and body positions which reinforce a certain mood before you go on a shoot. Never be satisfied - until you can show the picture to 10 people and at least 7 of them will identify the mood you were trying to create.

Expression:

The expression, or lack of it, will make or break a shot. If you are not feeling what you want to communicate....it's not going to work. The camera has an ability to tell an audience when a model is sincere. So, if you can't FEEL it, don't bother. You will have to practice more on mood and expression than any other aspect of the modeling profession

Clothes:

Clothes can make a portfolio stand out. Every shot should entail a different wardrobe (not just adding or changing accessories). As you change your wardrobe or costuming for each shot, your surroundings should also change. Your backdrop should reinforce whatever the choices of costume.

Watch out for bad (for you) clothing choices and the repetition which can result in monotonous, boring pictures and makes the viewer want to quit looking. After all, if the next shot is the same as the last....why look more? Try to use your wardrobe selection to your advantage emphasize your strong features and attributes.

Once your agency has launched your promotion to the clients, you will then be asked to attend castings. A casting is basically a situation where you meet a client either at the agency or at a studio. You will always need to take your portfolio and a couple of index cards. There are different types of casting, as follows:

1. Agency

The amount of models attending an agency casting varies depending on the client and his requirement, there may be only a few models but there can be as many as 30 models. There may be a long wait before your turn to meet the client, but this is normal and the casting could take up to 2 hours - although your actual time spent with the client is only 5 minutes max!

2. Studio

If invited to a studio casting, be prepared for a photographer to take a Polaroid or even put you on video. It is important that you appear confident and willing to help at all times. Always dress according to the look required and if it is a figure job, it is best to take a bikini or nice underwear (they may even supply this if they are interested in you and you will have to wear it in front of the client!). A Casting is always treated as a booking and MUST NEVER be missed. If you have a problem getting to a casting, always speak to your booker immediately.

Do I want to be a model
Despite the glamour and hype you have seen about the modeling profession, it's hard work. It's boring (sometimes) and it can be tedious. Prepared to be constantly rejected, get ready for some major ups and downs. Modelling is a lifestyle, not an 9-5 job. Not all jobs pay well. Unless you are seriously committed about modeling, willing to work at it on your own time, live a healthy life style, etc., you will not succeed as a model.
You have to understand that there are lots of other people who want to be models, it's a very competitive business. Are you willing to put the time and energy into competing with pretty much everyone you meet, 24 hrs a day?

Where do I start
You'll need a modeling portfolio, I'm sure you'll all know what one of those is but for those that don't it's basically a selection of pictures showing yourself in different outfits and poses. The standard size for the photos is 9 by 12 inches and you'll need around 10 - 12 photos. Make sure you focus on quality rather than quantity, remember, you're only as good as your worst photo. Make sure your portfolio has a selection of both head shots and full body shots. Make sure you get a variety of different looks such as swimwear, catalogue and lingerie, you get the idea, also get a couple of black and white shots in there. Avoid using pictures of the same shot.

It can be very advantageous to have photographs from different photographers in a portfolio. This will show the versatility in terms of styles and it will prove that a model can work with a variety of different people. Obviously, the cost of hiring different photographers for a portfolio is prohibitive, but there are many excellent photographers out there who will do prints for time - and of course many more bad ones. If you research what's on offer well, it can be an excellent alternative.
Before going ahead with a photo session ask to look at the photographers portfolio to see if you like his style of photography. No doubt if you go to the photographers studio to book the appointment he will have examples of his work on display anyway. If you've never done modelling before this will also be an excellent practice run for you. Avoid photographers wanting to take nude shots, if possible take a friend with you to the shoot.

The Comp Card
You'll definately need one of these. A comp card is what your modelling agency will use to market you.
What is a comp card? A composite card (sometimes called a ZED) is a model's business card. In most cases, your comp card is your one and only opportunity to make a good first impression. With that in mind it is important that the images on your card are your absolute best and nothing less. Additionally, the printing and reproduction quality is extremely important. Poor reproduction makes your images look bad and as a result - makes you look bad. Besides a great head-shot, the comp card will have other photos that show your experience, your versatility, range, and what type of work you are seeking. For best results all of the photos should be the highest quality you can obtain at your stage in your modeling career. Make sure the you have them printed on rigid card that will withstand a bit of wear and tear.

Be careful! Do NOT have a modeling agency print your comp card. If you do - they will put their logo on it. You are going to want to sign with as many agencies as possible if you are serious about getting work. Comp card printing can get expensive - print them yourself and give each agency copies - they have stickers that they can put on them with their contact information and you will save money.

The Agency
An agency or co-ordinator should represent models. The model must have a portfolio, and comp cards. The agency/coordinator provides you with work (That is their main purpose. It is safe to say that they work for you!) They make a commission on your fee.

GOLDEN RULE - Don't go with an agency who asks for money up front! You'll probably never hear from them again and I ceratainly doubt you'll ever get any work from them.

Also check to see if they are reputable and genuine. The agency/coordinator provides you with a safe working environment and looks after legalities of the paper work for the job. They provide their clients with "Professional" models. Keep copies of all-important papers, such as contracts etc. You may need these if you have a dispute with the agency/coordinator. It is wise to choose the agency/coordinator carefully so you can stay with that them.

Of all the styles of photography in the industry, perhaps the most misunderstood one out there is glamour.

By modern definitions, the word glamour means: alluring beauty or charm (often with sex-appeal). In photographic or modelling terms, glamour, concentrates on a models appearance and presentation rather than the clothes she may or may not be wearing. It is about creating sexually provocative images, with the model often appearing to be in a constant state of near-orgasm! It is about the attitude, the eroticism, the mood, and sometimes nothing more than a particular look in a models eyes.

It is also the most popular market where the majority of models can earn a relatively profitable living. There are no height or age restrictions (though you have to be at least 18-years-old before a photographer will even consider working with you on a glamour shoot), nor are there any size issues. All those pesky rules that are associated with the world of fashion simply dont apply, which accounts for the sheer number of glamour models out there. In a sense, it is perhaps the most democratic form of modelling in the industry that exists everyone can give it a go! Those models that do succeed in this field reach the top not necessarily by their good looks or stunning figures alone (although both help), but often by the sheer force of their personality and the professional attitude they bring to their work.

In recent years, the glamour industry once the undisputed province of the Page 3 Model has been accepted more by the mainstream media due to the rise of the lads mags (or mid-shelf magazines), such as FHM and Zoo, to name but a few. Every industry has its stars, & the undisputed queen of glamour has to be Jordan (Katie Price), who probably has the most cannily planned career of any model out there. Men want to be with her; women want to be just like her! Jordan has tried just about every entertainment outlet available to any self-respecting celebrity, and like Madonna has marketed herself as a brand to be reckoned with. Unlike other glamour models however who outstay their welcome, Jordan has also wisely seen that her days in this field are numbered, and has moved into fashion with consummate ease recently working with top fashion photographer, David Bailey.

It has to be stressed however, that Jordans career is very much the exception, rather than the rule. One has to think long and hard to find a similar success story Sam Fox springs to mind, though the years have proved that she has had none of the enduring appeal or longevity of Ms. Prices.

The irony of the glamour industry, however, is that for many models, it is anything but glamorous! For the majority, it is about the inevitable travelling (be prepared for a lot of it!) to and from shoots in cold, inhospitable studios and locations as well as the inevitable dangers present for impressionable young women on the road to fame and fortune. It doesnt help, of course, that the term for glamour has been hijacked by the more extreme ends of the industry to make porn sound more palatable as a product for both photographers and models alike. This lazy and convenient categorisation of the industry itself to label everything that is neither fashion nor wholesome, as glamour, leads to inevitable confusion.

We cant tell you the number of first-time models weve worked with, whove either assumed that glamour meant porn, or that it involved some kind of nudity. On the other hand, weve also encountered models whove assumed that glamour simply meant nothing more than wearing lingerie (nope, thats modelling lingerie, which isnt the same thing at all). So the long and the short of it is this: glamour modelling can range from lingerie to nude work, but it does NOT insist on nudity of any kind implied or otherwise. What a model is prepared to reveal is based sole on the requirements of a photographer offering work, but more importantly, it is dictated exclusively by what is agreed between both parties beforehand.

Modeling can be a fun and profitable career for just about anyone but especially pretty young women but it’s also a dangerous occupation which can be made a lot safer using common sense and following a few simple safety tips
Remain Anonymous
When it comes to the Internet, the less people know about you the better. Never give out your full name and use a backup email account unless you know the person you’re dealing with and are 100% sure you want them knowing where you live. If you need to put your details out there, use an agency or post office box.
Ask Around
If you’re going to work with a new photographer, ask other models in town about them. Never be afraid to ask the photographer for references, as my old flight instructor used to say that it was better to be on the ground wishing you were flying than in the air wishing you were on the ground.
Bring a Buddy
Take somebody you trust along on your photo shoot, it can be a man or a woman but generally boyfriends/girlfriends are a bad idea. It’ll give you somebody to talk to while the photographer fiddles with the lights as well as a way out if you grow uncomfortable.
Trust Yourself
At the end of the day, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. Never get yourself into a vulnerable situation, drive yourself to outdoor locations and always have a backup plan if things don’t work out but most of all … trust yourself, if you don’t like the situation you’re in, leave.
Preplan Your Shoot
Photography may look spontaneous but it’s not. The simple fact is that a good photo takes preparation and planning. Communicate with your photographer what types of photographs you are comfortable making together, and make sure you have a clear understanding of the type of work they’re looking for.
And remember … if you’re ever passing through Fredericton, drop me a line and we can see what types of photos we can make together. You can find me on OMP

A recent survey of 2,000 15-19-year-old girls found that 67% considered “glamour model” their ideal profession.

Well, leaving aside that it was 63%, and the survey, run by “mobile entertainment provider” www.thelab.tv in June, asked 1000 young women not 2000, and they picked from a list of occupations rather than choosing them unprompted, that’s still pretty shocking. (Although the term “glamour model” seems pretty quaint and archaic to me - surely that’s not still what it’s called?) How did we create a society where this is the highest calling to which young women aspire?

One of the things that we’ve been working on the last few months is a new web project model option for Visual Studio 2005 that we are tentatively calling “ASP.NET Web Projects”. Our plan is to have an initial preview web-download version of it available for people to install on top of VS 2005 sometime in the next few weeks.
The goal with this new project-option is to address some of the feedback we’ve heard from people who are finding migrating existing apps to the new web-site project model in VS 2005 more work than they’d like to-do (especially because of the new web site build semantics of compiling a web project into multiple assemblies). The new project-type will also help enable some scenarios that web-site projects don’t handle as well today (for example: around sub-web projects where the sub-project isn’t an app in the ASP.NET/IIS sense, but rather feeds its generated assembly to a parent app’s bin directory to run). It also provides a model that will feel very familiar/identical for people who don’t want to change how they structure their web projects from VS 2003 today (for example: using a project file, etc).
This new option does not replace the web-site project option introduced in VS 2005, which provides a lot of new features and flexibility for web apps. Instead we see it as a companion project-type that you can optionally choose to use instead depending upon the specific requirements of your particular scenarios and your preferred development workflow. Some developers will find the web-site project model more natural/easy and choose that. Other developers will prefer a more explicit model and tighter control over their project and choose this new project model option. Rather than force people into one or the other approaches, we are going to support both workflows and allow developers to choose whichever web project model works best for them, their app scenarios, and their code-base.
Some technical information on the new project option
The new project model’s project, build, and compilation semantics will be pretty much the same as with the VS 2003 web project model. Specifically:
1) All code within the project will compile into a single assembly (that gets built and persisted in the bin directory on each compile).
2) All files contained within the project are defined within a project file (as well as the assembly references and other project meta-data settings). Files under the web’s file-system root that are not defined in the project file will not be logically considered part of the web project. You will also now be able to define classes and types anywhere in the project structure (there is no longer a need to define them under app_code).
3) The compilation system uses a standard MSBuild based compilation process. This can be extended and customized using standard MSBuild extensibility rules.
Two of the big changes/improvements we are making over the VS 2003 model are:
1) We will not use/require FrontPage Server Extensions (FPSE) in order to open and edit these web projects. There also will not be any requirement to store your web projects under inetpubwwwroot. Instead, you can just define a standard project file for your web project anywhere on disk and add/open/manage it directly (this also means no more .webinfo files and hard-coded http:// paths in the solution file). This should make organizing and managing your projects much easier.
2) We are adding the ability to optionally use the Cassini-based built-in web-server with these projects (alternatively you can obviously also use IIS). You will be able to create a new web project using this model, add a few pages, hit F5 to compile the code-behinds and other classes into a single assembly, and automatically launch Cassini to run and debug it. All of this will also work in a non-admin user account (so you can login to Windows and develop as a normal user).
The new model will fully support all of the new VS 2005 WYSIWYG designer changes (no more html reformatting, master page/theme designer support, etc), as well as all the improvements made in the html source editor
Migrating VS 2003 Projects
One of the big reasons we are introducing this new project option is to help make upgrades from VS 2003 based web projects much easier. Because the compile-semantics between the VS 2003 and this new project model are identical (single assembly and project file based), developers should be able to upgrade their VS 2003 projects to this new project-type, do a clean compile, and have everything build without making code modifications or file-changes to their project (the file-layout and code structure stay exactly the same).
This will make it much easier to get started with ASP.NET 2.0 and migrate large code-bases quickly.
What about code already written for VS 2005?
One nice thing about the new project model is that it will also support easily moving individual pages back and forth between it and the built-in VS 2005 web site model.
The code authored in code-behind files can be the same – except that in this new project model the control field declarations are persisted and updated by the tool in an associated partial class file in the project instead of being generated automatically from the .aspx file itself at compile-time. The approach we are taking with the tool-generated partial class approach is similar to the way Windows Forms persists designer-generated code-spit in VS 2005 (inside an associated .designer.cs/vb file – so you don’t have to worry about the tool clobbering your code). The good news is that this means that from a developer perspective, you learn one way to author pages and their code-behinds -- and can easily use both web project model approaches with it.
What is different is that all code in your web project with this new project model is compiled together into a single assembly – so you can directly reference any classes or types in it. For example: a standalone class file could directly reference a page or user-control, like in VS2003 (note: this often isn’t a good practice – but now you will be able to-do it).
What is the release plan?
Our goal with the new project model option is to make it available quickly for people to take advantage of. It will be available as a free web-download that installs on top of VS 2005.
Our plan is to have an initial public preview available for people to download and start using in the next few weeks. This will be an early build that isn’t feature-complete. Specifically control field generation in the code-behind class and event-wire-up will need to be done manually in this first release (like you do today with VS 2003 if you don’t switch to design-mode to generate these fields/events) – although the core project system, build/compilation environment, debugging, and WYSIWYG page designer support will be there. We’ll then do refreshes of it as we finish fleshing it out and adding all features.
I’ll post more info about the download on my blog once it is available, but I wanted to give people a heads-up now about it coming.
Hope this helps,
Scott