6 Natural Beauty Tips for Gorgeous Skin and Hair At Home

Discover 6 effective natural skin and hair care method at home

  1. For dull, oily and combination skin

 Massage the skin with iced yoghurt and sprinkle some sugar along with it. Now take and scrub gently until the granules melt. Wash the face with iced water and see the difference

Image Source: www.iwowdskincare.com

I'm a big believer in that if you focus on good skin care, you really won't need a lot of makeup. Demi Moore

  2. For dull, tired and dry skin

Massage the skin with papaya. Then make a scrub by mixing oats and honey along with a little cold milk and scrub the skin. Wash off with ice cold milk and water and pat dry.

Image Source: www.itmlab.com

  3. Suffering from frizzy hair?

 Try this simple, quick and easy-to-make spray. Take slices of two lemon and simmer in two cups of water until it reduces to half the amount. Pour the liquid into a spritz bottle and spray on your hair. Not only will there be a wonderful natural sheen but static and fly away hair will be gone!

Girls will go out and spend $200 or $300 dollars on a pair of shoes, but you should also be taking care of your skin. That's the first thing people see. I think it's an investment. It's a lot cheaper to use really great products now, rather than trying to fix problematic skin later on in life. That's always been my motto. Keshia Knight Pulliam

  4. For natural hair colour

 If you have a brownish tinge in your hair and don't have the time to henna or colour it, then take a few sprigs of rosemary from the kitchen shelf and simmer them in 2 cups of water along with 2 tsp black tea until it reduces to half the quantity Mix with 1/4cup of shampoo and every time you shampoo, use this mixture. Leave the shampoo in your hair for about 15 minutes and see the difference it makes.

Image  Source: www.homeremediesayurveda.com

  5. For a smooth back

Planning to wear a low back blouse, backless dress or choli, but have no time to go in for a body scrub to show off a smooth back? Here's a quick home remedy. Take 1 cup of sea salt and mix it with half a cup of olive oil. Add 5 drops of sandalwood oil and mix well. Store in a jar and scrub the areas of your body you want to flaunt. Wipe off with a wet towel

. 6. Dealing with under eye bags and dark circles

Take used chamomile tea bags and store them in the freezer. Grate half a cucumber and massage around eye area and then lie down with the tea bags on your eyes for 10 minutes. You will find an instant difference in the way your eyes look and feel.

Image Source: 7beautytips.com

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5 Surprising Natural Health Tips For Winter

By Mark A. Moyad for Maria's Farm Country Kitchen

Here are my favorite tips for staying physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy during the winter months. (Vacation not included!) These five simple suggestions are things anyone can do easily and inexpensively to stave off the winter blues and sniffles.

Raise your vitamin D levels naturally (without pills or sunlight). We’ve all heard about the marvels of vitamin D: heart health, skin health, immune health, mental health….But, you don’t need to supplement or risk skin cancer to get high vitamin D levels. The big secret is making healthy lifestyle changes. For example, if you lose just 5% or more of your body weight, your vitamin D blood levels will shoot up. Other ways to increase vitamin D naturally are to lower your cholesterol, exercise, and eat more fatty fish, such as wild salmon (farmed salmon contains only a quarter of the D that wild salmon contains, 250 IU per 3.5 ounces versus 1,000 IU).  

Protect your skin! Sunscreen is more important in the winter. There are two types of ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun that damage your skin: ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB) light. UVB light penetrates the superficial layers of the skin and causes skin to redden; it’s responsible for sunburn and can also lead to skin cancer over time. But UVB rays are at least blocked by window glass from the house and car and are less intense in the winter months. UVA light, on the other hand, penetrates top and deeper layers of skin, causing cell damage that can lead to cancer. UVA light is tough to avoid because it passes through window glass and stays the same strength all year—so keep up your sunscreen routine.

Get a flu shot—if only to be a good citizen. I think we doctors make a big mistake by telling people to get a flu shot because it can protect them from getting the flu. Most people are less freaked out about getting the flu than they are about the shot. But when 36,000 people in the U.S. die from complications from the flu and 200,000 are hospitalized, doctors should be telling people to get a flu shot because it’s a random act of kindness and a selfless act. I get the flu shot to promote the concept of “herd immunity,” which means I’m protecting my parents, my kids, their teachers, and librarians, too. 

Take a class—with a friend. Winter can be a tough time for many of us. All that darkness can take a toll on our mental health. Plus, humans are social animals that don’t do well in isolation, and the winter months can be very isolating for many people. My suggestion is that you and a close friend sign up for a yoga, cooking, sewing, or scrapbooking class. Not only do these kinds of classes improve your mental and physical fitness, but they help fill that social craving that we have as human beings, too.

Eat more plants—the ones that are sources of omega-3 fatty acids. I have nothing against fish and fish oil, but plant sources of omega-3s have as much to offer, and my prediction is that in the future they may be found to be more beneficial than fish sources of omega-3. One of the primary omega-3 fatty acids, called alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), is found in many plants and plant-based cooking oils, but flaxseed (powder or oil), chia seed, and walnuts are especially good sources of ALA. Recent research is suggesting omega-3s have anti-inflammatory effects, protect the skin, and perhaps even have some impact on mental health.

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5 Simple Ayurvedic Tips That Helps To Keep Healthy Life

Here are 5 simple and effective practices that can help you and your family line up to Fall's rhythms: 

1. Drink warm water with lemon first thing in the morning. The acidic qualities of lemon encourage regularity, which is crucial in keeping your digestive track free of toxic build-up. Ayurveda likes to keep things moving through the channels of the body. Lemons also hold vitamins and minerals that help release toxins in the digestive tract. Squeeze the juice of 1/2 a lemon into a cup of warm water.

2. Scrape your tongue. If you've never taken a peek at your tongue in the morning, check it out! Ayurveda teaches us that we can learn a lot about what's going on in our bodies by simply noticing the characteristics of our tongue. In fact, it can inform us on how we want to start our day. A body with healthy organs and a clear digestive tract will show up pretty pink. A body with clogged organs or undigested food from the night before will show up with a layer of fuzz, film, the quivers, indentations from teeth, and/ or bumps (other than your taste buds). If your tongue has any of the latter qualities you know that there are toxins lingering in your body. To clear them out you can try drinking detoxifying juice, opt into a full on cleanse, or consult an Ayurvedic practitioner for an individualized plan. But first you want to scrape off these toxins from your tongue so you don't re-ingest them into your system. Use a tongue scraper or the edge of a stainless steel spoon. You can find the tongue scrapers at most health food stores or online. Stainless steel ones are great because they don't rust. Scrape the tongue gently, working from back to front. It will usually take between seven and 14 strokes to get it clean and clear (be sure not to scrape it raw though!).

3. Treat yourself to a green smoothie for breakfast. There a many different recipes for green smoothies out there, but Ayurveda encourages a seasonal diet and ingredients that balance out the qualities already occurring in nature. Since it's fall, nature brings out the dry, rough, light, cold, subtle & mobile qualities of life. This means for optimal health we want to steer away from foods and activities that have these same qualities (the idea is that too much of a good thing leads to sickness and disease).

Here's a green smoothie recipe to balance you out in the fall:

Ingredients:
1 banana
1 cup romaine lettuce
1/2 apple
1 tbsp chia seeds
2 tsp ginger root
1 tbsp goji berries
3 dates, pitted
2 tbsp almonds, soaked
3 cups water (use more or less, depending on desired thickness)

Directions:
Put all ingredients into a blender and mix.
Add stevia for more sweetness or spice for more pep.

4. Add more sweet, sour and salty foods into your diet. Fall (vata season) carries with it dry, rough, light, cold, subtle & mobile qualities. This means that to maintain a balance in our system we want to steer away from foods that also hold these same qualities.One way we can achieve balance in the Fall is by eating foods that ground, moisten, nurture and warm the body. Sweet, sour and salty tastes are the ideal candidates for the job. Here are some examples of foods to include in your meals:

• fresh sweet fruits like mango, coconut, berries and peaches
• fresh sour fruits like cherries, plums, green grapes, lemon and limes
• sweet veggies like corn and peas

5. Give yourself an oil massage. It nourishes the skin, relaxes the nervous system, removes impurities from the plasma blood & feeds the inner tissues of the body. 

In the same way that a machine needs greasing, the body loves to be oiled for sheer pleasure as well as to protect it against the ravages of the environment & time. Here's a list of oil that are best for each Dosha: 

• Vata: sesame oil, almond oil
• Pitta: coconut oil, olive oil
• Kapha: sunflower oil, grapeseed oil 

note: always use organic and cold-pressed oils when rubbing them directly onto your skin 

You'll want to set yourself up in the bathroom. I usually get in the tub and fill it up with just a few inches of water (enough to keep me warm while I'm doing the massage). This prevents a mess from being made elsewhere in the house. Some people stand on a towel. Whatever works for you.   

You'll also want to gently heat the oil before starting. Here's how:

• Put 1/8 - 1/4 cup of oil in a clear plastic squeeze bottle.
• Put bottle in a cup of very hot water.
• Let it sit for about 5 minutes or until warm.

Meanwhile, make sure you have a clean towel for drying off after your shower or bath, one that you don't mind getting oily.  

Ayurvedic massage is performed with the balls palms of the hands, as well as with the fingers. I'll break it down for you:

• Use circular strokes over the joints and abdomen
• Use up-and-down strokes over the limbs

When finished, leave the oil on for 15-30 minutes and follow with a hot shower or bath. The hot water opens up the pours of the skin and brings the oil into the deeper tissues of the body (this is why oil trumps the use of lotion -- lotion doesn't nourish the deeper tissues, only the outer skin). 
Source: http://www.mindbodygreen.com/

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5 Ayurvedic Tips For Skin Care For Healthy & Glowing Skin

Here are some Ayurvedic tips that will slow down Vata accumulation in the body and will help you stay young and keep your skin beautiful.

1. Don't Skip the Veggies - Stick to high-water content vegetables that are easier to digest, such as lettuce, carrot, cucumber, daikon radish (which is revered by Ayurvedic healers for its purifying properties), fennel, and tender asparagus tips. These vegetables are tridoshic: they are good for all types of skin. Combine at least 3 and enjoy with a simple olive oil-lemon juice dressing.

2. Eat Like a Bird - Both traditional and Ayurvedic medicine agree that adding seeds and nuts into your diet will improve the condition of your skin. Vata is drying by nature so all foods that have natural healthy fats in them will prevent this imbalance. Nuts and seeds are a perfect food -- they contain Omega-3s, healthy fats, and fiber to help a weakened Vata digestion. My favorite snack is GoRaw Sunflower Flax Snax. You can also try adding almonds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, and other nuts to your oatmeal (or having them as your afternoon snack, when Vata naturally predominates).   
 
3. Sip Some Tea - Vata is dry and cold by nature so your skin will stay younger looking longer, if your keep these two qualities at bay. Stay hydrated throughout the day and give preference to warm liquids, such as herbal tea. Making some spicy tea with fresh ginger and lemon will wake you up in the afternoon and keep your digestion healthy, which is important for glowing skin. 
 
4. Pump It Up - Exercising is necessary in preventing cold Vata from accumulating. Modern doctors advise exercising to keep your muscles and joints healthy and toned, while helping you sweat out toxins. Exercise will also improve blood circulation, digestion, and give you a healthy blush! Choose the type of exercise that makes you feel good and gives you energy without exhausting you. Whether it is walking, jogging, dancing, yoga, or boxing -- you should enjoy it and have fun moving your body.  

5. Breathe In and Release - High levels of emotional and mental stress is one of the major reasons why Vata gets aggravated (Not good!). It literally sucks out all the vital juices from your skin making it dehydrated. Meditationand breathing can be very effective stress busters that you might want to consider. To get started with yogic breathing, lie on your back or seat comfortably, place one palm on your belly, and another one on your chest. Start inhaling into your belly, letting it slightly rise, then keep inhaling into your ribs, expanding the ribcage up and out, letting the air completely fill up your lungs by inhaling all the way up into your chest. Mentally keep track of your breathing -- your belly, ribs, and chest. On your exhales, let the air move in the opposite order -- chest, ribs,and  belly sinking in. Do this simple yet very effective breathing technique for 5-10 minutes when you need to calm down whether it is before an important meeting or right before you fall asleep.  

Source: http://www.mindbodygreen.com/
 

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