Tag Archives: hair

D is for Dry Hair? Don’t Despair! Do It Yourself Care!

Posted on September 11, 2012 | Leave a comment

Dry Hair?  Don’t Despair.  Your hair — your “crowning glory” – is the first thing people see when they look at you (I believe your shoes are the second thing – but that’s a whole ‘nother post!).  You want your hair to reflect all the good things about you – your natural health, your natural beauty, your radiance, your elegance.

First things first – Cut it!  Get your hair back into healthy condition by getting it trimmed and rid of the split and dead ends.  That will get you going on the right track.  To keep on the right path to a beautiful head of hair, don’t use your brush when your hair’s wet.  Invest in a good wide-toothed comb and start at the bottom of your hair no matter what length it is and don’t get stuck in the knots and pull – just gently use your fingers to unravel the clumps.  Also invest in a good soft bristle brush, maybe a baby brush, and use it gently to distribute natural oils through your hair without causing any breakage.

Cut down on the frequency of washing your hair – if it’s dry, no more than twice a week!  Check the ingredients in your shampoo and eliminate the ones that have harsh ingredients like alcohols or sodium laurel sulfates.  A soft and gentle shampoo made out of some healthy oils like almond or jojoba mixed a little bit of pure castile soap (Dr. Bronner’s is great) will keep your hair clean and shiny and healthy. Just say NO to harsh chemicals that can harm your hair!

Mayonnaise and avocados have lots of natural oils that nourish your hair from the outside.  Skip the California sandwich of avocados and mayonnaise (with sprouts in LA!) and instead, put those ingredients on your head.  Cover and sit for 15 minutes, then rinse it out with warm water.  Shiny!

Healthy fats equal healthy hair.  Deficiencies of essential fatty acids (EFAs)  can result in unhealthy hair (and body)!  Polyunsaturated, omega-3 fatty acids are the best healthy fats for ensuring your internal health and protecting against the damages caused by free radicals which not only lead to heart disease and cancer, arthritis and asthma — they also result in dry, damaged, lifeless, brittle hair!  Fish oils such as salmon and cod liver, and nuts and seeds are essential to your diet for your hair and for your health.

Drinking water is a key to natural health (see Previous Post – D is for Drinking Water).  Water will help you to get rid of unwanted fat and flab, and will help to flush toxins from your body.  Think about moisture when you want healthy hair and drink a good amount of water daily! 

Here’s a great recipe to restore the shine and moisture to your hair:

YOGURT HAIR MASK -

1/2 c plain yogurt
1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 egg
Blend all ingredients in a bowl until smooth.  Shampoo as usual and apply the yogurt mixture to your hair and scalp. Leave it on for about 15 minutes.  You can cover your hair in a hot towel (put  a moist towel in the microwave to heat it up) to help it be absorbed and keep it from dripping all over. Rinse your hair out completely with warm water, and follow this with a gentle conditioner.

 

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Posted in Diet, homemade beauty products, natural beauty

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H is for a Head of Healthy Hair

Posted on July 17, 2012 | Leave a comment

Hair – for some of you, it’s your crowning glory.  It moves and shimmers and shakes and shines.  And then there’s the rest of us.  Hair problems are among the most common for many of us naturally beautiful women.

Do you have spiky, perky short hair?  A long and silky mane?  Is your hair curly, straight?  Oily or Dry?  Turning gray by the minute?  No matter what you’ve got on top of your head (unless you’re bald, of course!), you’ve got to take care of it.  And we can do it naturally and frugally.

First things first – You’ve got to get your hair trimmed to get rid of the split ends.  Don’t brush your hair when it’s wet; instead use a wide tooth comb.  Use the softest bristle brush – it can help distribute natural oils through the hair without breaking it.  If you’ve got dry hair, washing less often, once or twice a week, will keep it healthier longer.  Look for products without Ammonium Laureth Sulfate or Sodium Lauryl Sulfate which dry hair.  Cut back on blow-drying and straightening – let your hair go natural every so often.  Drink lots of water to keep your whole body hydrated and amp up your consumption of healthy foods, especially the good fats.

You don’t have to look any farther than your kitchen for great products to make your hair healthy.  Avocados are full of natural oils that nourish and revitalize your hair.  Mayonnaise will make your mane manageable.  Take these two ingredients, avocado and mayonnaise, and mix them up and slather them on your hair!  Cover your hair with a shower cap.  Keep this homemade mask on for 15 minutes (or sleep all night), then rinse with warm water.   See A is for Avocado – All About Hair! Rinsing your hair with Apple Cider Vinegar will add luster and shine.

Naturally beautiful and healthy hair begins inside with nutrition – the water we drink and the food we eat. Like everything else connected with your natural beauty and your natural health, taking care of yourself will make you shine, inside, outside, and on top of your head.

 

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M is for Mayonnaise – Magic for your Mane

Posted on June 9, 2012 | Leave a comment

Hold the Chicken!

Remember the scene in “Five Easy Pieces” where Jack Nicholson wants an omelet and toast and the waitress tells him, “No substitutions!”  And he says, “Hold the Chicken!” 

Well, I say “Hold the Chicken and pass the MAYO!”

Mayonnaise is one of those natural beauty gems that is always in your kitchen.  It’s great for a sandwich, and it’s also great for moisturizing your skin and your hair.  The egg and the oil in your mayo are two great ingredients for making homemade hair conditioner to get rid of the frizzies.  You can use your mayo on your elbows and heels to moisturize them after a walk in the hot, dusty streets.  Or you can do a daily massage of your face with a small amount of mayo (remember to always massage your face with circular, upward motions and don’t forget to rinse the mayo off!).  And now that it’s summer, keep some mayo handy to take the sting out of sunburn (but all you naturally beautiful women should know that too much sun is not a good thing – for natural health or for natural beauty!).
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Dry Hair perks up with a do-it-yourself hair conditioner made out of mayo.  So if you’re like me and you have dry, dull hair, grab that jar of mayo and slather it on!  Take a handful of mayonnaise and apply it to the hair shaft, taking care not to rub it too hard into your hair roots.  Too much mayo or too frequent conditioning will leave you with an oily, greasy head of hair.  Leave the mayo on your hair for 15 minutes.  If your hair is really, really dry and thick and frizzy, you might leave it on for a bit longer.  Put a shower cap on your head to prevent dripping.  When you’re done, rinse your hair with warm water to get all the mayo out and you will have a head of lustrous, luminous locks (oops, L was yesterday!)
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In case you don’t remember — Here’s that most famous (or infamous) scene with Jack Nicholson in  FIVE EASY PIECES (1970):

“Dupea: OK, I’ll make it as easy for you as I can. I’d like an omelet, plain, and a chicken salad sandwich on wheat toast, no mayonnaise, no butter, no lettuce. And a cup of coffee.
Waitress: A number two, chicken sal san, hold the butter, the lettuce and the mayonnaise. And a cup of coffee. Anything else?
Dupea: Yeah. Now all you have to do is hold the chicken, bring me the toast, give me a check for the chicken salad sandwich, and you haven’t broken any rules.
Waitress (spitefully): You want me to hold the chicken, huh?”

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Posted in frugal beauty, homemade beauty products, natural beauty, Recipes

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H is for Homemade Hair Products for a Healthy Head, Part 1

Posted on October 8, 2011 | 1 Comment

Healthy Hair - Naturally Beautiful

For beautiful, naturally healthy hair, look no farther than your kitchen.  In my kitchen, I usually have avocado, mayonnaise, lemons or limes, bananas, yogurt, extra virgin olive oil – sometimes eggs and honey.  Every single one of those items are not only healthy for your insides, but they are also fabulous for giving your hair that extra boost that will make it look gorgeous!

Banana avocado mask

For beautiful locks like those in the picture, don’t eat this!  (Well, that does help!)  Slather your hair in this rich mask to bring back its luster.

A word about bananas in your hair – Bananas add richness and luster, but you have to (I repeat, absolutely have to) blend and puree them before you put them in – otherwise, there will be little bits and pieces of bananas left in your hair – trust me, I’ve had that happen!

Ingredients

  • 1 medium banana
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 avocado
  • 2 Tbsp honey
  • 3 Tbsp yogurt
  • 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Directions

  1. Blend banana, egg and avocado in blender.
  2. Add remaining ingredients and blend until well combined.
  3. Apply to hair from roots to tips.
  4. Leave in for 30 minutes and then wash out with a moisturizing shampoo.
  5. Double the recipe for long hair.
  6. Use twice a month to maintain healthy hair.

Healthy hair rinses -

To give your hair a great shine and help remove soap build up, instead of reaching for that extra expensive hair product, use these common household ingredients.
If you are a blonde, add a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice to your rinse water.   For brunettes and redheads, apple cider vinegar in your rinse water.  For everyone, stir 1 tsp. of honey into 4 C. (1 quart) warm water. After shampooing, pour mixture through hair. Do not rinse out. Dry as normal.

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D is for Dry Hair – Drink Water, Eat Fats for Natural Beauty

Posted on September 7, 2011 | 3 Comments

Drink Water for Natural Beauty

Eat Healthy Fats for Natural Beauty

For beautiful, shiny hair instead of dull, dry and lifeless hair – you’ve got to concentrate on getting liquids into your body – liquids in the form of plenty of fresh, natural water and good healthy fats.  Healthy senior women who want to lose weight often make the mistake of mistaking eating fat for getting fat.  Quite the contrary!  A lack of essential fatty acids can show up as a lack of healthy hair and an overall lack of health.

Polyunsaturated, omega-3 fatty acids are healthy fats that promote health and protect against damages caused by free radicals that can lead to heart disease and cancer, arthritis and asthma — and dry, damaged, lifeless, brittle hair!  Fish oils like cod liver and salmon are essential to your diet for your hair and for your health.  Nuts and sunflower seeds are great snacks that add essential fatty acids to your body and nourishment to your hair.

Drinking water will not make you fat or bloated.  Drinking water will flush out toxins from your body and get rid of excess fat.  To lose weight, you must eat right, exercise and drink plenty of water.  Think moisture when you think a healthy head of hair and reach for lots of glasses of water daily!  See D is for Drink Water – the #1 Key to Natural Health.

 

 

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Posted in Healthy Senior Women, natural beauty, Natural Health

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