The Essence of Beauty...

The essence of beauty lies in the cultivation of true health-healthy eating, exercise, natural skin care, healthy stress management, and nurturing the spirit. When all these elements come together and find harmony and balance within our life's, our true and inner beauty will inevitably radiate forth, for the world to admire. Now, don't get it twisted, I know this is no easy task, I fall off track here and there, at times more here than there. Life's twist and turns can sure diverge our focus but we MUST re-gain it and move forward. Life is not a bout getting it right all the time, how boring and predictable would that be, but it's about what we learn from every bump and how we apply it to our tomorrow. Health is beauty, Happiness is beauty, Kindness is beauty!
Yoga Journal (a great site) has a fantastic article on True Beauty, I found it very insightful and helpful, I took notes on this one. Click here to check out the article, I encourage you to do so and please leave me your thoughts/tips...God bless.

Kitchen Beauty: Yogurt anyone?...

So, I needed a little mood/beauty lift yesterday, life's been very challenging 'round these parks, but I was not sure how to go about it. Then, it dawned on me (while preparing my baby and myself a snack), I haven't done a yogurt mask in quite a while. Yogurt is awesome!; not only does it serve as a yummy healthy snack or meal (my son and I had bananas w/yogurt and agave for breakfast, hmm good!) but it does wonders for your skin.

Did you know? that the lactic acid tightens, soothes, and soften your skin. It also refines pores as well as gets rid of germs and other bacteria, this is due to its natural antibacterial and anti-fungal properties. Little ol' yogurt packs quite a punch. My skin looked great afterwards and most importantly I felt great!

Yogurt Mask (if possible, use all organic ingredients)

1 Tablespoon of Plain Yogurt

1 Teaspoon of honey (use an extra tsp of honey if your skin is a bit dry or a squirt of lemon if it's oily)

If the honey's hard, warm it up a bit until the consistency is slightly runny. In a small cup mix both yogurt and honey well. Apply all over your face (and neck if you are up for it), except for your eyes, and let it sit for about 20 minutes. Rinse off with a warm cotton or muslin cloth (I like to splash w/cold water afterwards just to close up my pores).

You will feel fabulous, the results are almost immediate, your skin will look radiant, really!

Please, let me know how feel about this beauty tip and share some of your own kitchen beauty tips w/us. Also, check out this link, the site has great natural beauty recipes/tips-http://www.totalbeauty.com/content/flash/c_natural_homemade_beauty?lc=nw1131-2

God bless my friends...

Kitchen Beauty...

I love feeling beautiful, who doesn't, but I don't have the funds for all the "conventional" ways of going about it. However, I do have (most of the time) a kitchen full of healthy and fresh food options. As some of you might know, I volunteer at one of the food co-ops in the city and as a bonus I receive 20% off everything I purchase. I decide to volunteer mainly so I can feed my family healthy food and so that I can have some time to myself (even if it means lifting heavy loads of rolled oats,never thought i'd say that ;-)) You stay-at-home moms know where i'm coming from. Well, I never thought the secret to my beauty (wink, wink) would be born out of this endeavor as well, but it has. And this is coming from a girl who once bought a $100 jar of some ineffective european clay mask, little did I know I could have made it all by myself...

This is soo easy, saves money, eco-friendly, and taste yummy. Here are two of my favorite at home beauty treatments: *I strongly recommend using organic ingredients all around if possible, if not make do with you have, no worries.


Avocado Mask (as a superfood it will not only nourish you internally but externally as well)

1/2 an avocado
1 tablespoon of honey (raw unfiltered if available) , eyeball the honey if it feels to gooey then use less

Add the honey to the avocado (I usually use one of my son's snack containers, double duty) and mash away. Apply to face in circular upward strokes (except for eyes) and leave for 15 to 20 minutes. If you have any leftover apply it your hair, this works as a great hair mask as well.



Sugar Scrub-(delicious!) If you have sensitive skin try an oatmeal scrub instead.

2 Tablespoons of sugar (I use evaporated cane juice- very minimally processed form of sugar)
2 Teaspoons of whole milk (raw unpasteurized if available)

Mix and scrub your face in gentle circular strokes. If you want to scrub your whole body just mix a larger batch, eyeball it.



Also, I really recommend taking the time, if you can, to moist and soften up your skin and pores by applying a hot towel on your face or steam, this will help get a deeper cleanse with the scrub.

I will be posting kitchen beauty tips regularly, keep stopping by for more ;-)...

For more info.,check out these links:

this!

this!


Sweet dreams...

Allow me To Introduce Myself...

My names is...just kidding, i'm obviously a hova fan...Hello and WELCOME to my blog! I am a proud mama, fiancee, entrepreneur, social worker, dreamer, wisher, epicurean... I will be sharing with you my thoughts, ideas, interests, anything and everything that inspires me to be a better human being each and every day. I hope to inspire some of you even in the slightest way. Please, leave me your thoughts/suggestions. Check back with me often...God bless!