Green Beauty & Skincare

Honey - Not only is it a tasty and healthy sweetener, it is good for your skin. Honey is great for skin rashes and dry spots. It is especially yummy to use in lip balms for dry and chapped lips. Honey can even be use on wounds because of its natural anti-bacterial qualities so it can aid in healing your skin as well. It makes a great healing, facial mask that you can apply as is or add to a homemade cream.

Baking Soda - This versatile ingredient can be used to make ant-bacterial facial scrubs. It is safe and mildly abrasive making it a good clean cleanser for all skin types including acne prone skin. Baking soda is also great for brushing your teeth.

Ginger - This flavorful staple of Chinese cuisine has analgesic and anti-bacterial properties. It promotes good circulation and is a good ingredient in creams and shampoos. It also smells heavenly.

Lavender - This herb is wonderfully soothing to inflamed and acne prone skin because it is antiseptic and anti-inflammatory. It is commonly diluted in rose water or witch hazel to make an astringent for the face. It also repels bug and soothes insect bites and even helps you get to sleep.

Milk - This ingredient is commonly used in baths to soothe and exfoliate. The lactic acid in milk helps to slough off dead skin cells so that new ones can emerge. Milk can also be used to make facial masks as well.

Carrots - Carrots are very high in vitamin A and are a source of vitamin C, folacin and potassium. Just cook them lightly and blend with a bit of honey to make a great facial mask.

Oats - They are more than just breakfast food. Oats can be very soothing and anti-inflammatory and make great additions to a baths perhaps after a bad sunburn.

Beets - Beetroots contain powerful anti-oxidants and they have a red pigment that makes them a great ingredient for making liquid blushes and lip color. You can't get make-up more natural than that!

Green Tea - This powerful tea has long been held in high esteem for its healing properties. It has a soothing and calming affect on skin and is a wonderful ingredient for sunscreens, moisturizers, and toners. It is especially helpful for rosacea and acne.

As you can see, nature has already provided a wondrous array of natural beauty products. Mother Nature is indeed ALL woman!

The beauty industry is a huge multi-billion dollar industry. We are bombarded with ads in magazines on the television that tell us these companies have succeeded in creating beauty in a bottle. They make money hand over fist selling products to us that are "supposed" to make us look more youthful, give us softer looking skin, hide our imperfections, and make us look like a supermodel. But they are not so forthright in telling us that their products are full of chemical ingredients that can do more harm to us than good. Looking younger in the moment is just not worth it though when you may eventually get cancer because the skincare products you were using contained carcinogenic chemicals. For beautiful skin and good health on the inside as well we need to rediscover natural skincare ingredients and products. Your skin is your biggest organ and it needs to be treated with care.

If you really care about your health from the inside out, then you must make a resolve to get rid of conventional products and start using organic and natural ingredients in your beauty routines. Here are some easy ways to go natural:

1. Keep your skin healthy from the inside with a healthy diet. Also drink plenty of water to flush out toxins and impurities. Water is an internal shower for your body so make sure to drink your eight to ten glasses a day.

2. Use natural oils and natural moisturizers that won't clog pores like olive oil or coconut oil. You usually only need a small bit around the nose and under their eyes.

3. Use coconut oil as a moisturizer for your driest spots like lips, heels and elbows.

4. Skip washing your hair everyday as the soap can dry your skin. When you do wash your hair use a shampoo bar with natural ingredients and healthy oils.

5. To wash make-up off just rub some olive oil onto your face and wipe off with a soft, dry rag that will exfoliate your face as well. Microfiber cloths are particularly nice for cleansing the face.

6. Use a natural sea sponge to apply facial toner.

7. Try your hand at making your own skin care products with easy ingredients like salt, sugar, oatmeal, milk, honey, olive oil, or avocado oil. They are cost effective and you know exactly what you are putting on your skin. You don't need a chemistry degree to create beauty products of your own.

8. Dry brush your body to exfoliate your skin and slough off dead skin cells. This is a centuries old practice that is still used by many today.

9. When purchasing products read the labels carefully and only buy products with recognizable ingredients, organic if possible, without parabens or fragrance.

10. Get some sun every day but not too much. Your skin needs sunlight for optimum health but staying out to long and damaging your skin isn't good either so strike a balance and wear protective clothes and a big sun hat if you can instead of using chemical sunscreens.

Many women today use a wide range of skincare products. These products might include cleansers, moisturizers, toners, and shampoos and they might be used several times a day throughout most of their adult life. Women have come to rely on these products and spending on them has reached unbelievable levels. But do most women ever take the time to read the ingredients listings on these beauty products? Do they know what they are using and if they might be putting potentially dangerous ingredients on their bodies? Most women probably do not. It may never occurs to them that ingredients considered unsafe might even be used in the products offered to consumers.

Unfortunately, there are many skincare products on the market that have questionable and dangerous ingredients. Some of these ingredients include synthetic fragrances, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate or SLS, Phthalates, and Parabens.

But what are they and why should they be avoided?

Parabens are preservatives put into beauty products to extend their shelf life. They have no benefit to us%u2026only the manufacturing company. They do in fact have adverse effects for us though, including estrogenic qualities. They have produced abnormal hormonal effects following application on laboratory animals, particularly males, that resulted in decreased testosterone levels and other varied abnormalities. They have also been found to accumulate in the breast tissue of women with breast cancer.

Phthalates are a group of chemical compounds that are basically used as plasticizers (substances added to plastics to increase their flexibility). It is hard to imagine that we need plasticizers in our skincare products but you can find them in cosmetics, soaps, and various lotions. High Phthalates doses have shown hormonal activity in animal studies and have resulted in damage to the liver, the kidneys, the lungs, and the developing testes.

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate or SLS for short is an ingredient that gives a product like a shampoo or facial cleanser its foaming ability. Most people equate cleaning ability with the amount of suds or bubbles created, so companies use SLS to give us the impression that it is an effective cleanser. SLS is a known skin irritant and when companies test new healing ointments or crèmes, SLS is the irritant they first rub on the skin to irritate it so they can then see how well their new product works to heal the inflammation. SLS can infiltrate the eyes, brain, heart, and liver with potentially harmful effects according to the journal of the American College of Toxicology. SLS can cause rashes, eczema and other skin irritations. Even more shocking is the fact that some products containing this ingredient are labeled as "natural" or organic because SLS is a detergent derived from coconut oil.

Synthetic perfumes or fragrances can contain hundreds of chemicals. Some, such as methylene chloride are carcinogenic and others might cause headaches, dizziness, coughing, vomiting and skin irritation.

These ingredients hardly sound beneficial or even appropriate for our skin care needs. So what can you do to avoid these dangerous ingredients? First, read the ingredients labels carefully and search for them online to do some research into negative effects. Find out exactly what they are and what they do before you put them on your skin. Second, find reputable companies that offer organic and 100% natural products. This may be a tall order since there is no regulation for organic bath and body products in most countries. Ask around and you will be able to isolate ethical companies using safe ingredients. Third, try making some of your own skincare products. When you make your own you know exactly what is in them and you can feel comfortable that they are safe.

Have you ever heard of dry brushing? It is a centuries old practice of massaging and exfoliating the skin to improve its health and appearance. Your skin is the biggest organ you have and it constantly regenerates itself by eliminating toxic and dead skin cells. Your skin can eliminate as much as two pounds of this waste material each day. Your skin needs to renew itself and breath for it to look its best and dry brushing can help. When your skin is clogged with dead skin cells and toxins that cannot be eliminated by perspiration, then your skin will suffer. Your skin needs air and sunlight so getting rid of excess waste through exfoliation is vital. Most people already know that they need to exfoliate their faces but in reality your whole body can benefit from exfoliation.

Dry brushing involves talking a soft bristled brush, similar to what you use on your hair except with a long handle, and brushing it across your whole body in a massage like fashion. Some people also use special gloves to dry brush. Your skin is dry when you do this and the best time is usually before you shower. Our bodies form a new top layer of skin every 24 hours or so. Dry brushing helps to slough off that topmost layer allowing the softer, smoother, skin below to surface and breath.

In addition to exfoliating your dead skin cells and removing barriers to toxin excretion, dry brushing is also wonderful for lymph vessels and capillaries. Dry brushing should be done using strokes that go towards the heart, aiding in the body's blood circulation. This is why many dry brushing enthusiasts feel so refreshed and invigorated after a brushing session, because their circulation improves. Starting out gently is advised and then as you get used to the practice you can brush more vigorously. Dry brushing also massages the lymph nodes and gets them functioning as well. Our lymph nodes are responsible for filtering and removing invading organisms and abnormal cells as part of our immune system. Massaging them to encourage better functionality can have a big impact on our health and our ability to keep from getting sick.

When starting a dry brushing routine it is good to keep in mind the following tips:

- Start our softly at first to avoid soreness and gradually apply more pressure over time.

- Be careful not to brush over open wounds and cuts or rashes.

- Use brush strokes that go towards the heart. The exception to this is when you are brushing over the stomach, when you should brush in a clockwise fashion to aid digestion.

- Wash your dry brush after every use to wash off dead skin cells.

- Brush when the skin is dry and then shower afterwards to wash off any remaining dead skin cells.

- Use natural bristles if possible and brushes made with sustainable materials such as ethically harvested wood or bamboo.

- If your skin is dry, rub in natural oils like Jojoba afterwards. It will soften the skin and it won't clog pores.

Love to dye your hair but not so happy about the chemicals involved and the possible harm to your hair, health and the environment? Henna may be exactly what you've been looking for.

What Is Henna?

Henna is a flowering shrub native to Africa, southern Asia, and northern Australasia. Henna (Lawsonia inermis), an element found in the leaves, produces a burgundy dye molecule, which bonds with protein quite well and makes a great hair and skin dye.

There are many myths surrounding henna, including the fact that it comes in a variety of colors. Any pure henna hair dye will result in some level of reddish tinge. If the dye says it will give your hair a black or brown color then it most certainly has other chemicals or products in it. Pure henna can only change your hair to red.

Benefits of Henna

While pure henna can only change your hair to red, henna-based hair color can give you the hair color choices you're looking for.

Henna is a natural hair dye and most henna-based hair dye products are also all natural and vegetable or plant based. For example, some other henna products are really mixes of amla, indigo, walnut and rhubarb, with other plant dyes added. Take great care to read the package to ensure it is 100% natural. If the product has a developer then you know it has chemical ingredients.

Henna isn't permanent. No hair color is truly permanent and Henna is no different. However, it fades much more naturally and gradually. Chemical dyes can actually change color as they degrade. Typically, henna dye simply fades.

Henna contains other properties, which are said to thicken and strengthen hair as well as add gloss and shine.

Tips for Using Henna

Plan ahead and know what color you're going to get. Henna cannot be striped out of your hair and the results are there for a good long time. They'll fade over time but to get rid of the color you'll have to cut it out.

Even if you don't technically know what cellulite is or why it develops, you most likely do know what it looks like. Cellulite is a collection of lumps that many say resemble cottage cheese, that form underneath the skin giving it an uneven appearance. Cellulite usually collects around the thighs, stomach, and butt and concern over its mysterious appearance has boosted sales of miracle cure products the world over. Unfortunately it seems most of these products have been declared relatively useless in the fight against cellulite and since many contain harsh and unnatural chemical ingredients they should be avoided anyway.

So what is cellulite? These lumps are actually just collections of fat that push against the connective tissue underneath the skin, which causes the surface of the skin to dimple or pucker. Whatever it is, most women would be happy to ban the cellulite for life if they only knew how. The battle against cellulite can not be won with a bottle of cream though. It needs to be fought from the inside of the body out. Here are some green and natural ways to fight the lumps.

Exercise and burn fat - Slimming and toning is the most important step to getting rid of cellulite. Eliminating excess fat and flushing your body with lots of water to remove toxins will help to reduce the appearance of cellulite. Exercise also helps to encourage circulation and lymph flow which will help with the removal of toxic buildup and cellular health. If you are already slim, then concentrate on toning and muscle strength, which will help burn away fatty deposits that even thin skinny people have.

Dry Brushing and Massage - These two practices help improve lymph flow and propel fluid in cellulite affected areas. You need to get the bad stuff mobilized and moving out of the body and as your body becomes congested. Massaging and dry brushing help to get your body systems working more effectively and get rid of the build-up. You can try home massagers, have your spouse be your personal masseur, and even regular visits to a massage parlor. Dry brushing is usually done in the morning before showering. Just spend 5-10 minutes using a soft bristled brush all over your body, using upward strokes towards the heart. Afterwards you can take a shower to wash off exfoliated skin%u2026another benefit of dry brushing.

Get regular - It is not uncommon for women who have cellulite issues to also have issues with irregular bowels. In general they seem to struggle with releasing waste matter the way they should be. Start eating a balanced, organic diet with lots of fiber. Green smoothies in particular are wonderful for regularity. Just add a couple handfuls of spinach or kale and a couple frozen bananas to a blender with a few cups of water and enjoy! Many natural living enthusiasts also swear by using Colema boards, which are basically fancy home enema systems. Also drink lots of water and perhaps do a juice fast one weekend a month to help regulate your bowels.

Try these techniques for a few months and marvel at the results. Nothing in a bottle can even come close.

Photo Credit:
berthovanrhee

Did you know stress can actually show up in our feet? Our feet are in need of some major pampering on a regular basis. This natural regime is the perfect remedy for removing some of those toxins, and giving your feet the attention they so much deserve.

Honey is used as an ingredient in each of the following steps. Be sure to look for honey that is locally produced and organic. (If you are vegan, you can leave out the honey or go for some organic agave nectar.)

All-natural detox:

2 bags of black tea (look for fair-trade brands in stores)
Teaspoon of honey
Teaspoon of lemon
Bucket of warm/hot water

Soak your feet in the mixture for at least ten minutes. Be sure to use a pumice stone to remove dead skin. Proceed to the next step.

Foot scrub:

½ cup of Hawaiian sea salt (or any sea salt will do)
Teaspoon of honey
Three tablespoons of coconut oil (or any oil)

After combining these ingredients, massage onto your feet, paying extra attention to achy spots. While you're at it, massage into your hands as well. Rinse off with warm water.

Moisturizing salve:
A tablespoon or two of honey (look at the farmers markets for the best deals)
A teaspoon or two of coconut oil (sweet almond oil would as well)

Stir together the above ingredients in a bowl. Place the bowl in a larger vat of warm water to heat the honey/oil mixture as you detox and scrub. Slather onto your feet and read a magazine for 10-15 minutes. You can wrap those puppies up in saran wrap or old socks for an extra touch. When the time is up, rinse off thoroughly with warm water and your favorite gentle organic soap.

Moisturize those deserving feet with shea butter and slip into some fuzzy slippers. Enjoy!

If you're one of the three percent of adults that has to deal with eczema, you know what frustration feels like. You've probably tried all kinds of pills, creams, and seemingly ridiculous regimens with very little luck. Well, all these chemicals you're adding may just be part of the cause of your problem.

As we go through our day, toxic chemicals are continually entering our body; they're in the food we eat, the chemicals we put on our skin, and even in the air we breathe. While a little bit of these chemicals is fine, after a few years, they build up in our bodies, slow us down and can even lead to negative health effects. Eczema is one of the negative effects many people believe is caused by these chemicals.

The good news? This means that if you periodically flush these chemicals out of your body through detox, you may see your symptoms decrease almost immediately. Plus, you'll probably feel better and lose some weight, too.

So, you know why to detox and what to detox - the next step is the how. The truth is, there's no one way that has been proven best for detoxing. A juice fast is often recommended, but a cleanse that can work great for eczema is an apple diet. Simply eat fresh, organic apples for several days. Any variety works, in fact, you'll probably prefer getting a few different kinds to liven it up a bit. There are also various fruit and vegetable juice cleanses you can try. Just remember to use freshly squeezed juice and not bottled to ensure you get all the vitamins and active enzymes.

There are many companies that will sell herbal complexes you can take to help cleanse your system. While this is a great way to detox, always take great care when using these products. You always want to research what products you try and consult an expert and a doctor before taking anything, as many herbs can have interactions and side effects. Also, there is no regulating body like the FDA to regulate what goes into these products.

Once you've detoxed your body and seem symptoms improve, don't stop there. While periodically detoxifying your system will flush the chemicals out of your body, it's best if they never get there in the first place. Try eating less processed and more fresh organic food and using natural skin, hair, and other personal products. Many people have benefitted from increasing their fatty acid intake as well. This will keep you looking and feeling better between cleansings.

If you try a detox and see results, but they immediately return when you return to a normal diet, your symptoms may be from a food allergy. Try recording what foods you eat with symptoms. Review your records every so often to see if a specific food is triggering your symptoms. You may need to avoid certain types of food like dairy or gluten.

For many people, a detox diet alone is still not enough. For full treatment, you will likely need to use the topical treatments provided to you by your doctor. You should also let them know of any herbs or special diets you use in case it interacts with your other medication.

Nature is the newest trend in skin and hair care. For years, we've been putting toxic chemicals into our bodies that build up and make us feel tired and sick, regardless of whether we eat them or if they seep though our pores. And people are finally catching on that natural is better.

Most stores now have a line of "natural" beauty products. Unfortunately, they often come with a big price tag attached too. Often times many of these products are not actually "natural" so it does pay to do your homework to ensure you are getting what you pay for.

Fortunately actually making beauty products yourself isn't too difficult. So if you want beauty products that you know are natural and are also inexpensive, just make them yourself. Here are 5 quick and easy recipes you can make at yourself.

Face Mask
Eating good food helps give you the right nutrients you need to look good. You can get more of these vitamins and minerals by putting the good stuff right on the skin.

Combining a mashed carrot, mashed avocado, and a beaten egg with a half cup a few tablespoons of honey creates a great face mask that provides vitamins, and improves the tone and texture of your skin. Just stir well, apply, let sit for about 15 minutes, and then wash off with cool water.

After you're washed and nourished your skin, you can use grated cucumber or diluted lemon juice as a toner to help tighten your skin and close up your pores to close your pores and keep your skin looking great.

Hair Conditioner
Many people pay a lot of money for a conditioner that actually makes your hair look and feel good. Here's a great natural recipe to save you money and help your hair.

Just mix an egg yolk with a tablespoon of castor oil and apply to hair. Let sit for about ten minutes and rinse out. You can use this every so often as a conditioning treatment for healthy shiny hair. If you like being experimental, you can try mixing other kitchen items, herbs, and natural items with eggs for healthy, shiny hair.

Hand and Foot Cream
A quick face mask will help make you look great in not a lot of time, but hands and feet require extra care.

Use ½ cup of olive oil mixed with natural sea salt and massage into your hands and feet. Leave a few minutes to soak and then rinse off with warm water.

When it comes to natural beauty products, these recipes are just the start. You can find hundreds of different combinations in natural beauty books, magazines, and on the internet. Or you can go to your kitchen cabinet and make your own special creations.