Sunday, March 8, 2009

Minerals and Vitamins...

Taking care of skin and hair also needs proper intake of vitamins and minerals. But at the same time one should know which vitamins, minerals, compounds are helpful and the sources to get them.

Vitamin C: Gives glow, elasticity to your skin. Deficiency of vitamin c can cause discoloration of the skin, wrinkles, and rashes on the skin. Natural sources to get the vitamin c are orange, grapefruit, strawberries, carrots, melons, lime, lemon, green peppers, yellow peppers, tomato, broccoli, cabbage, cantaloupe etc.

Vitamin E: Restores, moistures the skin. Slows the aging process of skin, best antioxidant, prevent stretch marks. Natural sources to get the vitamin e are apple, almonds, almond oil, corn oil, hazelnuts, olives, olive oil, wheat germ oil, peanuts, mango etc.

Vitamin A: Also prevents skin from dryness, wrinkles, aging of skin and pimples. Vitamin A is also good for eye sight. Deficiency of vitamin a can cause flakiness, freckles, itchiness. Natural sources to get the vitamin a are chicken liver and legs, salmon, swiss cheese, cheddar cheese, skim milk, yogurt, apricots, peach, cooked kale, watermelon, corn, beet root etc.

Zinc: One of the important minerals which prevents skin from sagging and wrinkles. It has a natural healing ability. Natural sources to get zinc are roasted almonds, black beans, roasted cashew-nuts, cheddar cheese, chicken breast, chickpeas, kidney beans, oatmeal, oysters, peanut butter etc.

Essential vitamins and minerals for hair: Vitamin A prevents hair from dandruff, psoriasis, dry and brittle hair. Zinc stimulates hair growth. Vitamin E improves blood circulation to the scalp. Vitamin C prevents scalp from boils, pimples.

Iron is the most important mineral for healthy hair. Iron prevents hair loss, makes hair strong.
Natural sources to get iron are almonds, broccoli, chicken liver, pecans, raisins, peanut butter, barley, black beans, potato, spinach, fenugreek, tomato, walnuts, pomegranate etc.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Soothing Solutions...

In this topic I am writing some quick remedies for after sun care.

1. Minty mist:
1 cup fresh mint leaves
1 cup distilled water

Bring the distilled water to boil. Add the mint leaves. Cover the pot and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Strain the mint leaves and store this infused water in a clean spray bottle. Spray it on sun exposed skin. Keep the bottle in a fridge.

2. Effective soak:
2 cups apple cider vinegar
10 drops peppermint essential oil

Mix the ingredients together. Store it in a clean glass bottle. Add 2 tablespoons to your tub bath/hand soak/foot soak or apply with the cotton ball to sun exposed skin.

3. Soothing mist:
4 cups distilled water
1 tablespoon vodka
10 drops lavender essential oil
5 drops chamomile essential oil

Mix the essential oils and vodka together. Cover and keep it for one hour. Add the distilled water to vodka mixture. Store it in a blue or cobalt glass bottle. Apply with the cotton ball or soft cotton cloth to sunburned skin.

4. Green tea rinse:
1/2 cup witch hazel extract
1/2 cup green tea
5 drops lavender essential oil
5 drops lemon essential oil

Heat water and bring it to boil. Add two tea bags to the hot water and remove from heat. Let it steep for one hour. Discard the tea bags from water. Add witch hazel extract to the infused water. Add the essential oils. Store it in the clean glass bottle. Apply with a damp sponge or cotton ball on a sunburned skin. Store the bottle in refrigerator. Don't use this solution more than 5 days.

5. Ultimate cooling aloe gel:
1/2 cup aloe vera gel
5 drops lavender essential oil
3 drops chamomile essential oil

Mix the gel and essential oils together. Apply this cooling gel on affected areas.

6. Chamomile rinse:
1/2 dried dried chamomile flowers
2 cups water
3 drops calendula essential oil

Bring the water to a boil. Add the the chamomile flowers and simmer it for half an hour. Discard the flowers and allow the infused water to cool. Add the essential oil to the infusion. Store it in a clean glass bottle. Apply with a cotton ball to affected areas. Keep the infusion on the refrigerator up to 5days.

Precautions:
To avoid sunburns, tanning use sun block creams which has at least SPF 20. Don't expose the sunburned skin more to sun. Do not have bath with hot water. Do not apply oils to the sunburned skin. Use good quality sunglasses. Wear good quality cotton cloths in summers.

Clinique ,Bioderma, Shiseido has wide range of sun protection creams for various skin types. Super city block oil-free face protector from Clinique is one of my favorite.

Check out the following links for more details and reviews of products: http://www.clinique.com/templates/products/multiproduct.tmpl?CATEGORY_ID=CATEGORY20551
http://www.bioderma.com/en/the-products/what-s-new/category/93.html
http://reviews.sephora.com/8723/P173669/reviews.htm
http://reviews.sephora.com/8723/218985/category.htm