May 6, 2016 | Seasonal
Wondering what to do for Mother’s Day? Well, if you’re a procrastinator or are just stuck for good ideas, I want to share some really good ones you can use even last minute. If you don’t have all that you need, you might want to give her a photo or hint and deliver later.
6 DIY Gifts to Give Mom this Mother’s Day
1. Breakfast in Bed. Now please, with this one, don’t wake her up. Keep it personalized to HER needs. She may not want pancakes. She might want fresh juice, a cup of tea, and her favorite book. Absolutely make sure she has a flower or a few sprigs of lavender and rosemary to bring a fresh and relaxing aroma to the morning.
2. Make an entire day just for her: She’s given years. So give her a day. This day should push her out of her normal day (sans kids) and into the world. Be generous and stock her wallet with some funds so she can have a pampering adventure meant just for her.
3. Spoil her with plants: This is a tried and true way to celebrate most women, but you’re going to go above and beyond by keeping it easy and fresh. Very popular and loved options right now are varieties of air plants and succulents. They don’t require much and make a beautiful accent wherever they are placed.
4. Create a digital album of her photos: Odds are, somewhere in your mom’s house, there are stacks of faded old photographs or negatives stuffed into envelopes. They might be pictures of her as a child, or her mother, or her mother’s mother, and they deserve to be appreciated once again. Put a smile on your mother’s face by unearthing these family gems and bringing them into the 21st century. Scan and upload a bunch of images so that there are digital copies of them that can easily be shared and printed.
5. List the reasons you love her: Among the DIY Mother’s Day gifts suggested by Today.com is a decorated mason jar stuffed full of adorable and funny messages about why mom is the greatest. For example: “You give the best hugs,” or “You don’t snore as loud as dad.” The idea is that mom can open up the jar each day or whenever she needs a pick-me-up, and get a reminder about how amazing she is, and how much all of you appreciate her.
6. Make a home spa basket: Another spoil-her-silly option, this one is a hit. Get a box or a basket and fill it with her favorite ways to relax as well as throwing in some new things. Some ideas could include: a bottle of red wine, some lavender or chamomile tea, bath salts, Pure Eucalyptus Oil ShowerMist, an eye pillow and maybe even a good book!
As you can see, it’s not so hard. So go ahead, dote on her like never before. We’re proud to honor her with you!
What other ways do you spoil Mom? We want to hear about it in the comments, and don’t forget to share this with the buttons below!
Apr 3, 2016 | Health & Wellness, Seasonal
It’s too familiar. It feels like the flu is coming: slight headache, sinus pressure, tiredness, and then sneezing. The good news: there’s a good chance you’re not sick. The bad news: it’s likely you’ve got seasonal allergies.
Why is this bad news? Well, a cold will go away. Allergies like to hang on to you like your clingy friend for months on end. You can’t work or function like that—much less enjoy the beauty of the season.
So rather than buy out the local drug store’s stock of anti-histamines, we’d like to suggest you take a more natural, yet just as effective route.
Here are 4 of the best tips for relieving seasonal allergies:
1. Eat the right foods
Choose to eat a clean and balanced diet, full of high-quality protein, fruits, and vegetables. This may reduce season allergy symptoms and also strengthens the immune system. Drink a lot of water only, and do your best to avoid grains, dairy, excess salt, sugar, alcohol, and any other highly-processed foods. Foods that help get rid of seasonal allergies are garlic, ginger, onions, and honey. Steep them in a tea for best results.
2. Herbs with superpowers
Several herbs may be used to calm the sneezing and congestion symptoms associated with seasonal allergies. They work mainly by strengthening and supporting the allergen-fighting immune system. Some of these herbs are stinging nettle, gingko, and quercetin.
3. Drink a lot of water
Drinking adequate water will dilute your system as well as keep the mucous flowing, so it doesn’t stagnate in your sinus cavities. The more dehydrated you are, the more pressure and burning you’re likely to feel.
4. Steam with Eucalyptus
This is an easy and relaxing option for relieving seasonal allergies. Start a hot shower or bath and breathe in the steam. The steam will break up the mucous and relax the tense muscles. Also, adding essential oils like our Pure Eucalyptus Oil ShowerMist to the steam will give you peak relief.
Other helpful tips
There will be days where the pollen count is high, and your safest choice will be to stay indoors. (Enter your zip code here and find out your local pollen count!) Avoid going outside during windy days or after thunderstorms. And as needed throughout the day, rinse your face and blow your nose to keep yourself clear from any pollen collecting there. And if you suffer from extremely severe season allergies, you may want to forego a lawn, and instead have bricks, rocks, or stone for a landscape.
How do you avoid the symptoms of seasonal allergies? Let us know and share these tips with social media!
Mar 21, 2016 | Body & Beauty, Health & Wellness
As we get older, our bodies change. But as a woman, that shouldn’t feel like a punishment or force you to slow you down. We want to bring you some comforting tips for dealing with your hormones in a way that supports you and helps you feel good.
Here are the 6 tips you need to take back control of your changing hormones:
Tip #1: Food for Hormones
The best medicine is preventative, and the most preventative medicine is found in the food that you eat. Eating good fats, complex carbohydrates, and protein will provide your body with the nutrients it needs and will keep your hormone levels under control. Also, have plenty of fruits and vegetables at every meal. It’s best to eat three meals a day and two or more snacks to keep your blood sugar stable. And reduce carbohydrates, especially refined carbohydrates and sugars.
Tip #2: Spirulina
This blue-green algae comes from lakes and ponds and contains large amounts of calcium, magnesium, and potassium. These essential hormone-balancing nutrients will reduce cramps, mood problems, breast tenderness, and overall inflammation.
Tip#3: Herbs
Supplement with herbs. Herbs are miraculous because they share a similar molecular structure to our hormones, allowing them to support our hormone production by slowing them down. Some herbs that can help reduce menopause symptoms include St. John’s Wort, Black Cohosh, Passionflower, Chasteberry, Wild Yam, Ashwagandha, and Vitex. Vitex has been shown to help myriad PMS symptoms including irritability, depressed mood, anger, headache, bloating, breast fullness, skin disorder, fatigue, drowsiness, and sleeplessness. Vitex is most effective taken as a tincture, but is also useful when included in medicinal herbal teas.
Tip #4: Stay Active
Be active. Because of your fluctuating estrogen levels, your body will tend to hold on to fat. Additionally, fat actually produces estrogen, which can create even more fat. So it’s easy to get stuck in a frustrating cycle if you’re not active. Moving your body has a major impact on your weight, other menopausal symptoms, and your overall health. Gentle exercise can be helpful too, especially if your adrenal glands are overworked and you constantly feel fatigued. Movement is also medicine so find an activity you enjoy, and then be consistent.
Tip #5: For the Hot Flashes
Keep the hot flashes at bay. Those up and down hormones cause you to feel hot out of nowhere, so be prepared. Be sure to drink a lot of water, so the heat doesn’t tax your system. Also be sure to stock up on our Pure Eucalyptus Oil ShowerMist that you can either spray into the steam of the shower to invigorate you or for you to spray around your body as the hot flashes hit. Eucalyptus is cooling and calming; the perfect helper to this crazy season.
Tip #6: Maca
Maca is a tuber plant native to South America. It’s an excellent superfood for hormonal imbalances like menopause and PMS. Maca is extremely high in calcium, potassium, iron, fiber, and protein. Maca creates balance by regulating the hormones via the hypothalamus and pituitary glands in the brain. This can help with symptoms like hot flashes, low libido, and PMS.
(Note: Maca should not be consumed by women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), as it may have a subtle androgenic (testosterone-boosting) effect.)
You don’t have to suffer through the changes. Just learn to support them.
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Feb 23, 2016 | Health & Wellness
The sun is shining, wind blowing, and the weather is warming up, and your skin is cracked and thirsty. Not the most complimenting look to your cute new spring outfit, right? Well worry not your dry soul, we have some incredibly useful tips to help you not only moisturize but protect your skin during this crazy changing weather.
Having dry skin means experiencing tightness due to lack of moisture and a need for a proper lubricant to rehydrate it. Many home remedies can help improve your dry, flaky skin on the face.
Here is a 3-step process to moisturize dry skin:
- Exfoliate
To really moisturize your skin, you’ve got to get the layer of dead skin cells out of the way. There are a few ways to do this.
- Dry brush: This is good practice for the whole body and also flushes your lymph nodes, so that’s a double bonus.
- Lemon juice and sugar: This leaves your skin soft and glowing. With a circular massage of the skin with this beauty scrub, rough spots on the skin become even. However, sugar is more abrasive, and it’s best to avoid the face when using the sugar option. So for the face, you’ll want to substitute baking soda for the sugar; the granules are finer and will be more gentle. But obviously, still avoid the eye area. The vitamin C in lemon is a good astringent that lightens skin tone, removes patches on the skin, and encourages cell growth. Mix a teaspoon of sugar and mix it with the juice of half a lemon. Use cotton balls to scrub it over your face. Put a jar of it on your nightstand and apply it regularly.
- Use a peel: We prefer natural brands to chemical formulations, but a natural peel will use the same concept as vitamin C, but with stronger formulations. It relies on the fruit acids for exfoliation rather than friction.
- Add Water.
Whether you want to use a humidifier or steam, you’ll want to infuse your freshly exfoliated skin with good old H2O. Regardless of what you choose, you can enhance the benefits by adding a few sprays of our Pure Eucalyptus Oil ShowerMist to either the humidifier or whatever steam source you are using. If you opt for steam, a quick, home method is to heat water in a pot on the stove and place a towel over your head with your face near the pot for the day spa effect. Just spray the eucalyptus once into the pot.
- Lubricate.
Moisture forms a protective layer on the skin keeping it safe by keeping it hydrated. Oils that are easily absorbed by the skin, such as coconut, jojoba, and almond, tend to be better at keeping the real moisture in. Coconut oil makes the skin feel softer and removes its previous scaly characteristic by moistening it naturally. Coconut oil has sufficient amounts of fatty acid that make up for any loss of moisture from the skin. It works best when left on for an entire night. Apply the proper amount before going to sleep and wash it off in the morning; do this every night. Over the counter creams work well in the beginning but only leave a surface layer of hydration.
Healthy skin isn’t just healthy, it’s a confidence booster and helps you feel better about your appearance. Feel good about yourself, and get ready to tackle life head on.
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Jan 25, 2016 | Health & Wellness
We’ve all been there for whatever reason be it an intense activity, standing all day at work or walking around an amusement park, but foot pain can be really intense. Of course, the best remedy for this is to get off your feet, but aside from kicking back and relaxing, we want to share some easy relief giving tips you can use to ease those tired and sore feet.
5 Quick Tips to Heal Foot Pain Naturally
Steam and Soak
Sometimes aching feet are simply the result of bearing too much stress on the muscles or connective tissues. The best remedy for this is a Eucalyptus foot bath. Just soak your feet in a small tub or in a store-bought foot spa with warm to hot water for 5-10 minutes. Before adding the water, add a couple sprays of our Eucalyptus Oil ShowerMist to the water for a cooling effect as well as anti-inflammatory benefits. If your feet are swollen, hot, or tired, use cool water instead of warm and elevate your feet for a half hour or more after the soak.
Stretch Well
Muscles contracting or spasming are from being overworked or stressed. Stretch your feet, calves, legs, and hips to counteract this tightness. The best time to stretch is after intense activity and a warm soak when the muscles will be most relaxed.
Massage
This is always your preferred method, right? Best done after the soak and stretch, simply apply oil or lotion to your soles and massage, placing gentle thumb pressure to any sore areas of the feet. Focus on the length of the arch, from the ball of the foot to the heel. You can best feel it on the sole of your foot when you flex your toes upward.
Wear Arch Supports
For the best maintenance, be sure to use a daily arch support in your shoes. These will help decrease the shock that your feet experience with every step. The heel and ball of the foot are especially prone to soreness, and full-length arch supports will help cushion these areas. Custom-made supports are also available, offering specialized support and accommodating specific foot problems.
The arch of your foot is important to take care of since it gives form and support to the foot, which helps absorb shock when your feet hit the ground. Tightness of the inner arch can often be a root cause of heel soreness.
Check Your Shoes
Check if your shoes are a large contributor to your pain. It’s important that you choose functionality over function. These days it’s easy to find good shoes that not only support your feet but look fashionable as well, so don’t compromise. If you do have proper shoes, but they have excess wear and tear, they’re likely contributing to your sore feet. Also be sure to have your feet measured before your next shoe purchase; you’d be surprised to find out how many people are wearing the wrong sizes.
Use these tips and find relief today. There’s no reason to live with excessive foot pain anymore.
Do you have any helpful foot pain relief tips? If so, comment below and share this on social!
