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Published 14 May, 2016 06:24am

Story Times: The weekly weird

Salad cakes, the latest weird craze!

These immaculately decorated cakes might look like the height of decadence, but looks can be deceiving. Instead of being loaded with wonderful sugar and butter, these seemingly sweet treats are actually made from salad.

They are the work of Japanese food stylist and designer, Misuki Moriyasu, who sells them from her new cafe Vegedeco, in Nagoya.

Moriyasu invented the cakes in a bid to make vegetables more appetising and opened a new eatery dedicated to them. The peculiar creations are made by blending whole vegetables, roots and all, with soybean flour to create a spongy feel.

For the icing she mixes vegetables with cream cheese or tofu. The result is a low-carbohydrate, gluten-free cake which counts as one of your five a day.

But even though they look exquisite and are wonderfully good for you, nothing will make them taste like chocolate cake. Agreed!


No need of painted toenails!

Yes, this newest fashion trend in Japan says that you can wear tights with sandals — because they have painted toenails.

Printed onto the toe portion of the tights, are invented by maker Belle Maison , the stockings will suit any occasion with pre-painted colours and designs to match any outfit.

They even feature intricate designs which probably put them beyond what most toenail painters consider doable on a daily basis. Although they’re touted as cheaper than a pedicure and longer-lasting, it may be a style step too far for some fashionistas.


Bees’ sting for beauty?

Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow has revealed her latest unusual beauty regime: letting herself be stung by bees.

She said, the treatment, apitherapy — had been used for thousands of years but had fallen out of fashion in recent times.

In an interview she shared beauty advice, she described herself as being “generally open to anything”. The 43-year-old said that apitherapy is used to “get rid of inflammation and scarring” and that it was “actually pretty incredible if you research it” and added, “But, man, it’s painful.”

Apitherapy also covers the use of honey for medicinal purposes as well as being stung — bee venom therapy.

It involves angering the bees so that they sting a person on the affected area of the body.

Any benefits have not been scientifically proven but it has been used to treat arthritis and multiple sclerosis.


Woman turns horse hair into art

Melody Hames, owns and operates JMC Equestrian Custom Clipping in Bury, England where she offers a variety of clipping services including transforming horses’ coats into works of art.

“I offer a friendly, non-judgemental and approachable service for equestrians of all disciplines including ride and drive horses, hunt, competition, hack and show horses,” her Facebook page states. “I can cater to every breed and coat type and every request can be met.”

Her page also states that she specialises in working with young and nervous horses and seeks to “build horses confidence, for fuss-free clipping, for life,” according to her mission statement.

Hames told that she developed her clipping skills from trimming her own pony, which suffered from a condition that caused it to have an unusually thick coat even in warmer weather. She began to shift her focus to custom clippings after receiving a number of requests, including a detailed castle design that took her several days to complete.

Published in Dawn, Young World, May 14th, 2015

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