Well, we’re glad you’ve landed on this page because MD will let you in on a few of our own tried and tested tips to get ready for the summer and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere it brings.

Wardrobe overhaul

Yup, one of the first places we would ask you to head to is your clothes. Whether they’re stacked in a wardrobe, folded in a cabinet or kept under your bed in a storage box, you’ll need to work through what’s summer-proof and what’s not. It’s your choice, whichever way your sense of fashion is swaying because you own your creativity. If you’re doing this for your baby model or child model, it’ll be the same process. If they’re old enough, they can help you by picking their outfit or helping you with yours!

Don’t forget good footwear for longer walks, and accessories – UV sun hats and caps, and UV protected sunglasses, or glasses and a sun umbrella.

Take care of your skin

Whether it’s you, your baby, your child, your teen, your family, or even your pet, take care of your skin! Whether the sun is peeping out from behind the clouds or set high up in the cloudless sky, ensure you’re wearing SPF 50 cream along with a sun hat. We know your pet can’t wear the same cream but you can purchase specialist pet sun cream to protect theirs too. Stay in the shade and out of the sun during peak hours.

Hair care

The summer heat can sizzle your hair. Maybe you might want a haircut (don’t forget to include an ePortfolio snap for your updated look) just so that it’s manageable. If not, that’s cool too. Tie your hair up, out of your face, wear a hat or cap, or even cover it with a scarf or use a thick headband to keep it away and tucked in. You can use a hair mask to treat it and show your hair some TLC in the evenings.

Keep hydrated

Do you find that you lose your appetite when the temperature rises and all you want is ice-cold drinks on repeat? Yup, sounds like us on a hot day too! This often happens due to sweating, loose motions (you know what we mean!), and vomiting – all natural things that happen to our bodies. So, we get thirsty hence why we flock to the freezer to top up on ice cubes. Just remember to keep the sugary drinks down and limit the caffeine. You might feel more dehydrated and at higher risk of tooth decay and teeth stains.

Have light and nutritious food

There might be points you don’t want to eat at all and just top up with fluids but having light foods might be better than opting for an empty belly. Fruits, yogurts, vegetables, and other lean proteins such as fish, chicken, egg whites and lentils are beneficial options to choose from. 

While there’s so much to do and much to get on with this summer; there’s also much to look forward to over the next few months! Enjoy the summer because it’ll pass by and you’ll be wishing for it to come around sooner next time! Don’t forget to timeline your sun-drenched days for the benefit of your luminous portfolio. Keep smiling and keep shining!

Radiate this summer and glow up!

Love Team MD x

A great way to help keep calm and reduce anxiety is through practicing meditation. It doesn’t have to be about burning incense, chanting or staying in one place for great lengths of time. Meditation is about focusing on training the mind to observe thoughts, focus and redirect attention in a positive way. It offers many incredible health benefits and is often used by models or talent before a big shoot or filming project…here are some of the ways it can help your mind, body and soul…

1. Reduces stress and anxiety

Research reveals that meditation can lower the stress hormone otherwise known as cortisol. This helps ease stress and anxiety helping you feel more positive and confident and, to be honest, who wouldn’t want that? 

2. Improves your sleep

Meditation can help to regulate sleep patterns which is important to your mental health as well as your physical. Improving the quality of your sleep will in turn help improve the quality of your life too. Getting a good night’s sleep in will help heal and repair your heart and blood vessels and can reduce major health ailments such as high blood pressure and diabetes. 

3. It can make you smarter

Yes, really! Studies have shown the positive effects that meditating has on the brain and yes, improving memory is one of them.

4. Acts as a natural painkiller

Forget over the counter medication to treat your headaches. Meditating brings it’s own natural approach to combatting them helping you get pain relief through effective management techniques. What’s not to love? 

5. Slows down the ageing process

We know that this point will most certainly get your attention! Meditation has been found to have positive effects on the ageing brain helping to slow down age-related memory decline. 

How to get started

This technique doesn’t have to be time-consuming nor do you require skill, experience or equipment. All you need is:

· A couple of minutes of me-time

· Concentration 

· Some deep breaths

To kick-start your meditation journey, follow our oh-so-simple two-step guide. You can thank us later! 

Step 1: Choose a space for meditation  

The choice is entirely yours as to where you’d like to meditate. Any area in your home setting that you deem as being calm and peaceful is a good idea to retreat and begin your meditation journey. A quiet setting that helps you to zone out the eternal noises (be it, traffic outside or your creaking floorboards) will help you block out distractions so that you can concentrate better on your inner self. 

Accessorise your journey 

To help elevate your experience, you can add in fragrance to your atmosphere using candle and reed diffusers to help give your experience an all-round relaxing vibe. 

Adding soothing music to the mix can also help you to further your relaxation as music tends to evoke different emotions in you. Listening to the sound of waves or the breeze can help you connect with nature and feel at peace with your surroundings helping to further your meditation journey. 

Step 2: Begin meditating

A great way to start is to sit down (grab a cushion to get comfier if you need to) and close your eyes. Take in slow breaths through your nose, hold for a few seconds and then release slowly through your mouth. Aim to fill your lungs with as much oxygen to help circulate your blood flow more efficiently. If it feels like a struggle to do, take baby steps and do shorter inhaling and exhaling. It’s a really simple method but very effective once you get the hang of it.

Try it out and let Models Direct know how you get on our social media pages!

The Models Direct team definitely are! The winter in the UK can seem endless, with numerous cold, grey days our bodies are crying out for some sunshine, warmth and that much needed boost of vitamin D.

Possibly you have been lucky enough to jet off somewhere exotic for some winter sun, but if like many of us you have been in the UK throughout winter, you may have noticed symptoms of your body not getting enough vitamin D which is incredibly important to keep our bones, teeth and muscles healthy.

Some symptons you are not getting enough vitamin D are:

• Bone & muscle pain
• Back pain
• Hair Loss
• Fatigue

The above symptoms can also be related to many other health conditions, but may also be a sign of a vitamin D deficiency.

Our bodies create vitamin D from direct sunlight on the skin when we are outdoors, however in the winter months we are not able to get enough vitamin D due to the lack of sunlight, there are alternative ways to help increase the amount of vitamin D your body produces.

Vitamin D can be found in a small number of foods:

• oily fish – such as salmon, sardines, herring and mackerel
• red meat
• liver
• egg yolks
• fortified foods – such as most fat spreads and some breakfast cereals

Diet is such an important factor in the way we look and feel, what we choose to eat and drink makes a huge difference to the health and the condition of our skin, teeth, nails, hair etc. At Models Direct we try and give our models as much advice as possible to help them be at their best, you never know when that next big assignment is going to come your way!

Spring is just around the corner and there are brighter days coming, so ideally try and grab a few spare minutes in the day where you can be in the sunshine, not only will it boost your mood to move and be outdoors, but your skin will also be soaking up those all important rays which will increase your vitamin D levels!

Always remember to protect your skin if you are outdoors in the sunshine for long periods of time.

For more hints and tips on looking after yourself and modelling advice click here.

Modelling opens up the opportunity for positive and negative judgments about  your appearance and body, for experienced models this is part of the course and something they have grown used to, but for others it can take it’s toll!

Models Direct have put together a few helpful hints to help stay healthy and look your best while reaching your modelling goals:

• Eat a healthy and balanced diet – We have all heard of fad diets, food supplements and even starving yourself before an important audition, casting or modelling assignment, but this is a mistake. Modelling is tiring, to be in the spotlight takes up a lot of nervous energy as well as the physical pressures, from travelling, rushing around, posing and taking direction, don’t try to do this on an empty stomach or reach for the sugar and caffeine. Instead eat a sensible dinner the night before, with protein and good carbs, a healthy breakfast and take snacks with you to eat little and often throughout the shoot. Nuts, cereal bar, fruit, dark chocolate are all good snack options.
• Stay Hydrated – We hear this all the time about drinking litres of water a day, but staying hydrated is so important. Coffee and tea are not an alternative to water when hydrating yourself, it’s water all the way! Get into a habit of having a sports bottle with you everyday, fill it up before you leave home and aim to drink at least two of these per day, more if you can. Drinking plenty of water doesn’t just help with your skin and appearance, it also give you energy. One of the first symptoms of dehydration is tiredness.
• Look after you skin and hair – At the end of the day it’s easy to not bother removing your make up and the general grime of the day, just getting into bed is super appealing! However, you will notice how much better your skin is if you have a good skincare routine, most importantly in the evening. While you sleep your will breathe and renew itself, so by taking your make up off your skin can breath and good products will combat any skin issue you may have. Hair too needs a bit of TLC, especially if it has been over styled for a shoot, so treat it to a hair mask over night so its shiny and glossy the next day.
• Exercise – Exercise is very important physically and mentally, we are very aware of the physical benefits, but the mental benefits are very important to, especially if you are having confidence struggles or are anxious about an up and coming shoot you have then the endorphins released when you exercise can really help these emotions. If you are not into the gym then try an outdoor activity or start with long walks or a quick run round the block, make it work for you and you’ll see the benefits.

To be a success in the model and talent industry you need energy and buckets of it, so look after yourself and be the best version of you!

To find out more about modelling visit Model Direct