Top 5 Fruit Market
Skin Restoratives

Posted October 21st, 2008 By: admin

Your Natural Beauty Market

Cheaper Than a Spa

What’s cheaper than a spa, tastes good, doesn’t smell too bad and can rejuvenate your skin in less than 10 minutes? Fruits are natural and effective skin restoratives. The best thing you could ever do to keep looking good, is to understand the healing properties of fruits.

Most fruits are low in calories, sweet, and a good source of vitamins, fiber and antioxidants. Used as a face pack or mask, they hydrate your skin, smooth away wrinkles, lighten it, and even heal various skin conditions.

• Banana mask:

  Bananas have lots of magnesium, potassium, iron, zinc, iodine, and vitamins A, B, E, and F. Their anti-aging powers make them a great skin restorative for anyone over 35. If you make this banana mask at home, you could store it in the refrigerator for about 5 days and use it at least twice in a week.

  Mash a banana and add to it milk or cream, honey, and oat flour. Apply it to your face, arms, and neck, and rinse it off after ten minutes (longer, if you can stand the smell). If you have oily skin, add a few drops of lemon juice to the banana and milk mixture.

• Mixed fruit pack I:

  The enzyme papain in papayas is a natural exfoliator and is especially good for those with damaged skin. Papaya juice can also lighten freckles and brown spots, and soften the skin.

  Don’t throw away the peel; it has antibacterial and wound healing abilities. Cucumbers act as a toner and strawberries condition and tone the skin.

  Blend strawberries, cucumber or papaya with a little yogurt and clay. Apply it to your face and leave it on for a while. This face mask moisturizes the skin, lightens it, and removes dead skin.

• Mixed fruit pack II:

  The fruits in this pack are excellent for hydrating tanned and dry skin. It’ll also nourish and protect the delicate skin around the eyes. You could also add clay to the pack since it absorbs oil from oily skin.

  Apply a thin film of honey on your face and then apply a mixture of strawberries, pear, grapes, apples and oranges. Wash it off with warm water after 10-15 minutes.

• Apricot mask:

  Apricots are best for extremely dry skin. The Vitamin A in the fruit rejuvenates the skin instantly, it smooths wrinkles and tightens the skin.

  The oils in the fruit and especially in the kernel, are utilized by the skin to make enriched sebum that protects your skin.

  Take two apricots and some yogurt; blend them and apply it to your face. Wash it off after 10 minutes.

  Add a tablespoon of honey to apricot pulp for an invigorating mask that clears the skin and moisturizes.

• Orange and yogurt mask:

  Oranges aren’t just for eating. The Vitamin C in them also works wonders when applied to the skin. Sunburned or extremely dry skin will benefit from this face mask.

  Take orange pulp, or the rind and blend it with some yogurt. Apply it to the face and massage it in. Wash it off after 10 minutes with lukewarm water.

7 More Tips for Naturally Healthy Skin

• Aloe Vera gel: It soothes, moisturizes and protects the skin from extreme weather

• Tea tree oil: Its antiseptic and antifungal properties make it invaluable for those with sensitive acne-prone skin

• Rose hip oil: Revitalizes the skin, halts the formation of wrinkles, and nourishes the tender skin under your eyes

• Yogurt: A natural cleanser… and if you don’t happen to like its smell, use it in combination with fresh fruits. Wash it off with warm water and the skin will be soft for a long time

• Honey: Undoubtedly the best moisturizer. For oily skin, use it with egg white. And if you have dry skin, add it to milk or cream.

• Tomato: Lightens and softens the skin. Cut off a slice and apply it all over your face and neck.

• For Soft, Blemish-free Skin Forever… Add fruits to your diet to remove toxins from your body. Try it for 7 days by eliminating caffeine, alcohol, junk food and sweets from your diet and eating only fruits and vegetables. This will clear up your blood making your skin glow like a fresh peach.

Photo credit: tuey

Posted in Food & Diet, Skin Care | No Comments »

7 Natural Ways to Keep Your Hair On

Posted October 7th, 2008 By: admin

Healthy Hair for Life

Do You Love Your Hair?

Nearly every time I go in for a haircut, the stylist says, “I love your hair. What kind of products (hair stylist lingo for shampoos and conditioners) do you use on it?” I always smile, thank them, and tell them I don’t use any special products, just water and shampoo.

Contrary to popular belief, the health of your hair does not solely depend on the shampoos and conditioners you use. Your diet can literally make or break your hair.

Tortures and Stressors

Women especially, tend to subject their hair and scalp to voluntary tortures such as – perms, dyes, hot iron rods and hot air driers. Little wonder then that these days, hair fall, discoloration, and baldness can affect anyone at anytime in their life.

Stress, an under-active thyroid gland, hormonal changes and environmental factors can all negatively affect your hair.

How to Fight Back & Win

A nourishing and balanced diet can bring about a dramatic turnaround in the health of your crowning glory. Here’s how:

1. Your hair needs Vitamin A, so incorporate fish, eggs and liver in your diet. Vegetarians could benefit from apricots, rock melon (cantaloupe), green leafy vegetables and beetroot.

2. Beta Carotene can bring lustre back to your hair. Yellow, orange, red and green fruits and vegetables including carrots, broccoli and sweet potatoes can boost the beta carotene content in your diet.

3. Zinc promotes health of the hair as well as of the scalp. It improves thinning and brittle hair by increasing the function of the thyroid gland. .It can be found in seafood, meat, wheat germ, nuts, beans, and pumpkin seeds.

4. Copper supplements help reverse the discoloration or graying process since the coloring pigment melanin requires this mineral. Seafood, liver, legumes, pasta, nuts, seeds, peas, avocados, garlic, mushrooms and bananas are a good source of copper.

5. Essential fatty acids such as flax seed oil or evening primrose oil resurrect dry and lifeless hair. Flax seed oil can also treat dandruff and eczema or psoriasis of the scalp.

6. Massage your scalp with warm oil to increase blood circulation to the scalp. Olive oil helps rejuvenate and nourish the hair and scalp. For an added treat add 5 drops of frankincense essential oil to a half cup of olive oil (enough for a couple treatments). Leave the oil on for about 30 minutes covered with a shower cap. Then rinse thoroughly and shampoo.

7. Studies have found that smokers tend to suffer from premature graying and early hair loss. So, kicking the habit will (in time) lead to a better head of hair.

Begin using these tips for healthy hair, and soon, your hair stylist could be telling you, “I love your hair.”

Photo credit:pronatali

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3 Natural Skin Care Recipes for Younger Wrinkle-Free Skin

Posted July 10th, 2008 By: Leon

Use these skin care recipes to make your skin smoother and younger

Aging is a natural process and no one can stop it (yet) but we can definitely slow down the aging process and age gracefully. This post shares some do-it-yourself (DIY) recipes that can help you get rid of Wrinkles, Saggy and Dull Skin.

Benefit of these DIY Skin Care Recipes

• They are tried and tested and work very well
• They are safe and natural
• And most importantly, they’ll save you a lot of money

Recipe 1: Milk Cream, Sandalwood and Turmeric Face Pack

This face pack nourishes and tightens skin, heals adult acne, lightens age spots, cools skin and brings glow to your face.

• Sandalwood has cooling and skin tightening properties
• Milk cream nourishes your skin
• Turmeric is known for its anti-bacterial and skin brightening properties

Preparation

Take one tablespoon sandalwood powder, a pinch of turmeric powder and one tablespoon milk cream. (Boil some milk for about ten minutes and let it cool for sometime, you will be able to see a thick layer of cream on the top). Mix it together and apply on your face. Rinse off after fifteen minutes

Note: Turmeric can stain your cloth so make sure you don’t wear any light colored cloth while applying this mask.

Recipe 2: Coffee and Plum Exfoliator

• Coffee exfoliates and revitalizes your skin and has anti aging properties
• Plum is another effective antioxidant

So this combination of coffee and plum works great in getting rid of the oldest dead skin cells and makes a wonderful anti aging exfoliator.

Preparation

Take one tablespoon fine ground coffee and mix it with 3 mashed plums and one teaspoon honey. Apply it on your face and gently scrub off after ten minutes.

Recipe 3: Green Tea and Chamomile Toner

Green Tea and Chamomile is a very effective anti aging toner. This toner not only takes care of signs of aging but also soothes puffy eyes and lightens your complexion.

Preparation

Boil one cup water and steep one green tea bag and one Chamomile tea bag. Let it cool for sometime. Apply it on your face with the help of a cotton ball. Do NOT rinse.

If you follow these recipes religiously it can easily take 10-15 years off your face!

This is a guest post by Leon. If you want to read more DIY anti aging skin care recipes, visit her website.

Picture Credit: Laurafries

Posted in Skin Care | 5 Comments »