Avocado's Aren't Just Good For Taco Night

Using Avocado's for skin and hair beautification date back to the Aztec civilization.  Avocados are similar to our skin's oil.  It has a great ability to heal and soothe dry irritated skin.  Expressed oil from the seed improves skin tone, and increases hair growth.

Benefits

• Aid in weight loss
• Provide a good source of Vitamin B,C,E,K,A, Niacin, Biotin,Folate, Riboflavin.
• Contains 14 minerals such as iron, copper, magnesium, zinc,calcium, and selenium.

How To Use
- Remember that avocado treatments are a one time use and should be made fresh for each treatment.

•  Mask For Sun Burn - Mashed half of an avocado with a 1tsp of honey, and 1/2 tsp of lime juice.
• Mask For Everyone- Mashing half of an avocado and apply to freshly clean skin or hair for five min will add luster and shine.
• Oily Skin Mask- egg white from one egg, 1 tsp of lemon juice, half of an avocado in blender, and leave on the skin for 20 min. Remove with tepid water.
• Dry Skin Mask- half avocado, and two tbsp of honey, leave on for 10 min.
• Dehydrated Skin- half avocado and 3 med chunks of fresh pineapple, leave on for 20 min.
• Eye Treatment- Place thin slices of avocado under your eyes for 20 min. (This really does work well!)

Do you like Pina Coladas? Coconut Oil

Well, this post isn't about how Pina Coladas are good for your skin, but I  really wish they were. My number three all time natural ingredient for the skin is coconut oil.  This year I went to a big spa trade show and all people kept talking about was coconut oil, so of course I had to try it.  I have rid my cosmetic closet of a lot of things because I simply did not need them anymore after using the oil.  I use it for leave in conditioner, shaving creme, body lotion, lip treatments, I even use it in my green tea that I drink.


It's better than the average drug store facial moisturizer, hair serum, and body lotion.  If you look at a lot of products on the market the first ingredient is water, water is the universal solvent in products and is very important.  When it comes to having water in moisturizers and lotions though, water makes the skin feel like it is being moisturized but as soon as the water dries, your skin becomes dry again.  Some commercial lotions and moisturizers also contain petroleum-based ingredients that suffocate the skin.  Coconut oil has been used in many countries for thousands of years.

What to look for when buying:  Look for extra virgin, that has not been bleaches, refined, or deodorized.  And just so you are not surprised it is not in liquid form, it is solid. When you manipulate it in your hand it turns to liquid. Warning! A little goes a long way, it takes a little getting use to how much you need to use. A spoon full is enough to moisturize your whole body, the tip of your pinky will provide enough for deep conditioning treatment, and half of that is good for your face and leave in conditioner.

Uses

- Hair-  It is wonderful for hair for giving it a  shiny complexion.  Regular massage of the head with the oil ensures your scalp will be fee of dandruff and even lice.

- Skin- It helps in treating various skin problems including, psoriasis, eczema, and dermatitis.  Coconut oil is wonder for people that have chronic dry skin.  Warning- If you have sensitive facial skin and are prone to acne it is probably not a good idea to use.  People say it is fine for acne prone people, but I was not able to use it on my face.  If you want to try, you should do a patch test on one area of your face for a few days. Also, the oil is great for hydrating your cuticles.

-  Bruises- Works great as it speeds up the healing process by repairing damaged tissue.

- Fungi-  Coconut oil is effective on fungi and yeast that cause candidiasis, ringworm, athlete's foot, thrush, and diaper rash.

- Weight Loss- It is easy to digest and it helps in healthy functioning of the thyroid and enzymes.  It increases metabolism by removing stress on the pancreas. Warning- You don't eat the coconut oil buy the spoon full, you cook with it.

- Kidneys-  Coconut oils helps in preventing kidney and gall bladder diseases, also helps to control blood sugar and improves the secretions of insulin.

-Chronic Chapped Lips-  Use a old toothbrush and exfoliate your lips with it, then apply a tiny bit of coconut oil onto your lips and massage it in.

Benefits of Egg Whites

Health Properties of Eggs

• High in Protein, Vitamins, and Minerals.
• Eggs contain selenium and B complex.  Selenium helps prevent the hardening of the arteries, and B complex helps in the development of red blood cells.

How to Use on The Skin

• Egg whites can be used as a mask to tighten the skin.
• To make, just separate two eggs into a bowl, whip the egg whites with a fork for 10 seconds.  Apply with fingers, and leave on the skin for 30 minutes, or until they dry completely.
• Hydrate The Skin- 2 egg white, olive oil, and honey.  Mix two egg whites with a teaspoon of honey and 1/2 a teaspoon of olive oil.  Apply and leave on for 10-15 minutes.
• Puffy Eyes- Apply one egg white under the eye and leave for 10 minutes.
• Skin Irritation- One full egg whipped for 10 seconds and apply to the face for red irritated skin.  Eggs contain amino acids that help to reduce inflammation.
• Hair Moisturizer- Take 1 teaspoon of honey, 1/2 teaspoon almond oil or olive oil, 1 tablespoon of plain no sugar yogurt, and 2 egg whites.  Apply to hair and leave on for one hour.
• Blackhead Remover-  THIS IS AWESOME!!!!    All you need is one egg white, fan brush, and tissue paper.  Take one egg white and beat for 10 seconds.  Paint the egg whites on your face in a thin layer.  Take one piece of tissue paper and cut holes for your eyes,lips, and nose.  You can also just cut pieces and place them in certain areas on your face.  When you apply the tissue paper do it gently so the paper doesn't come apart. Take the fan brush and paint another layer of egg whites over the tissue paper.  Let dry and peel off, rinse with luke warm water. Then look in amazement at all the blackheads.  Gross, but very cool.

Warnings & Considerations
Make sure you use organic eggs if possible.  Eggs that are not organically produced contain traces of hormones, pesticides or herbicides.  Eggs can sometimes cause skin irritations on some people so always do a patch test.

Oatmeal For Irritated Skin
Oats have anti-inflammatory properties.  I recommend using colloidal (finely ground) oatmeal.  Oats are thought to have an antihistamine effect to the skin.  By lowering levels of histamine, which triggers inflammation as part of the immune systems recovery response.

Works Great On

• Acne - it clams the irritation, dries out the excess oil.  When someone has acne they have a lot of bacterial in and on top of the skin.  The bacteria causes irritation because our immune system is trying to kill the bacteria.  Studies have shown that by calming the irritation associated acne it will reduce breakouts.  When people have acne they try to put everything under the sun on their skin to dry it out, they scrub it to death thinking that will stop the breakouts, and that is not the right approach.  All the products for acne on the market today have acids, peroxide,alcohols in them.  All this does is cause more irritation and that is not good.
• Eczema & Psoriasis- Oatmeal has anti-itch properties in it.  It returns the skins pH to normal, and if you have either one of these you know that your skin operates at a high pH.  Oatmeal also provides your skin with a natural moisturizing barrier.
• Skin irritation from wrong product use, chemical peel burns, after extractions.

Everyone can benefit from using oatmeal on their skin.  Our skin is always being bombarded with pollutants, free radicals, and chemicals that our body can't understand and handle. Our body systems are stressed, over worked, over processed, which leads to inflammation.  It is a fact that inflammation ages the skin almost as fast as sun exposure.

How To Use- If you buy whole oatmeal you can put it in a food processor to grind it into a powder form for easier use. I do prefer organic oatmeal, some companies add a bleaching additive to make the oat whiter.

• Mask- You can add two tbsp of ground oatmeal, and slowly add water to turn into a paste.  You can also do 1tbsp of oatmeal and 1 tbsp of plain yogurt for a wonder mask.  The oatmeal calms the skin and provides a protective barrier, the lactic milk lightly exfoliates and adds probiotics to the skin that will control yeast which is great for people with rosacea.
• Add to cleanser
• Make a poultice- You can use cheese cloth.  Do not use ground oats, just put the whole oats in cheese cloth, soak in warm water for a min, ring out the water, and massage into your skin.