Itchy scalp and tell-tale flakes on your shoulders? That’s dandruff and you don’t want that on your head! It is extremely itchy and it is quite annoying to scratch your head over and over especially when you’re with company or even somewhere public.

Though shedding of dead skin on your scalp is pretty normal, an unusual amount is quite worrying. A person may experience this when they use the wrong shampoo or conditioner, irritation from various hair products or even from exposure to extreme and varying temperature. Dandruff can be a symptom of a fungal infection as well, so it’s best to get it checked and find the cause of it.

Not only is dandruff very itchy and an inconvenience, but it is also embarrassing! It makes a person self-conscious if the flakes drop from the scalp to the shoulders or are all over your hair. The dandruff flakes are gray to white and it becomes more pronounced on dark clothing.

Common cases of dandruff reveal that it doesn’t go away by itself or disappear eventually, so that’s why dandruff treatment is essential. There are shampoo and leave-on treatments for it. Though it is very rare to have a serious disease from dandruff alone, and it’s not really contagious, it is something that we’d rather not have in our hair if we can help it.

WHY DO WE HAVE DANDRUFF?
Our skin changes constantly, without us even knowing. It is only when our skin peels off that we do. This is the same for the scalp as well, as it is part of our skin only covered with a full head of hair. The skin has an epidermal layer that replaces itself over time and the scalp usually does this periodically. However, there are certain triggers and conditions that can cause a more rapid development and shedding. This is what people with dandruff are experiencing.

As mentioned before, it can be a fungal infection, an inflammatory response and results in dandruff. But more and more cases have shown that dandruff is also caused by chemicals that we put in our hair that doesn’t sit well on the skin. As people use lots of hair products, the higher the chances of product chemicals settling on the scalp and on the roots of the hair.

When a person has dandruff, they mostly tend to buy whatever available anti-dandruff shampoo that’s currently popular in the market. There are a whole lot of brands offering relief from dandruff, but most of them take too long to take effect, usually after 2-3 months of usage. There are also medicated creams and gels but you still should be careful of what you put into your own scalp as it might just trigger it more and you are left with more flakes than before.

THE WAY TO NATURAL DANDRUFF TREATMENT
Strategies for dandruff control are vast and expensive. Some products do remove the flakes but do not get to the root of the problem. The total removal of the fungal infection is even more difficult. Here are tried-and-tested natural ways to help you alleviate dandruff problems:

1. Tea Tree Oil – a simple oil that has been regarded as very useful when trying to revitalize the skin. It is also found to be very useful when zoning in on the fungal infection without affecting and damaging the hair and roots around it like what most fungal creams would do. The application is very simple. Just wipe a generous amount on the infected area after washing your hair or before going to sleep.

2. Virgin Olive Oil – a home remedy that has been passed down from generations. Olive oil is a popular home treatment all over the world because it has been proven to cure dandruff. Not only is this very affordable since you can find olive oil in your kitchen, the application is as easy as the tea tree oil as well.

3. Apple Cider Vinegar – This supposed “cure-all” also helps people with dandruff. A half cup of ACV is all you need, diluted in water to wash your hair in. Some people swear by ACV and they also practice swiping a cottonball dipped in vinegar and leaving it on the scalp overnight to be rinsed out in the morning bath.

4. Beer – Rich in Vitamin B, beer is a great cure for dandruff because it helps clear up the dry, scaly patch. Normal usage is a bottle of ordinary beer, drizzled all over your head. Massage the scalp and rinse off with water. Beer is also a hair revitalizer, so don’t be surprised if your hair feels softer and shinier after rinsing!

Dandruff is one of the most common hair problems and you shouldn’t stress over it too much. With the right treatment, even the most stubborn dandruff will go away! So remember to not overdo it with styling products you love so much. Take it easy on the hairsprays and gels, use mild and cleansing shampoos to get rid of the build up in hair and when necessary visit a doctor or a specialist.

More and more people are having trouble sleeping due to terrible sleeping habits. They just can’t get a wink of sleep or go to bed at night but feel that they aren’t getting enough of it. They stay awake until ungodly hours, most of them trying to get just a few ZZZ’s in before they have to get up in the morning. Feeling restless, feeling annoyed and helpless; tossing and turning in bed doesn’t seem to help at all.

They are not alone.

In just the United States, there are about 64 million sleep deprived people tossing and turning in bed, drinking milk to get at least a few hours of light sleep in, or at the worst they have stopped fighting back and are staying up whole night. These people are suffering from insomnia, which according to Wikipedia, “is a symptom of several sleep disorders, characterized by persistent difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep despite the opportunity.” This means that insomnia is just a symptom of something more. It’s not a disease or an illness but it is a red flag.

CAUSES OF INSOMNIA
The lives that we lead today pass us by both extremely fast and excruciatingly slow. We work hard and push ourselves to the limit, sometimes even at the expense of our health. People are putting off eating and taking rests in order to finish projects, meet deadlines, process papers and more. As this unhealthy cycle goes on, our bodies get accustomed to it. But this doesn’t mean that our bodies gets used to it and adapt. Sleep deprivation is one of the worst things to happen when a person is already tired and not feeling very well. Not getting enough sleep is detrimental to our brains and body function.

More and more people are developing various forms of sleep disorders. And insomnia could just very well be a sign or an onset of a disorder. Here are several reasons for insomnia:

1. Alcohol Intake – Studies have shown that alcohol and insomnia go together. A common misconception is that alcohol helps people sleep because it is a depressant. Alcohol may help people sleep when consumed in large quantities. But when alcohol is a constant presence in a person’s system, the negative effects it has on the body may very well be the cause of sleep disorders and insomnia as too much consumption speeds up the development of gastrointestinal diseases, induce high blood pressure and kidney failure.

2. Depression and Anxiety – Depression and anxiety make a person becomes severely less functional as all he/she can do is worry, feel fear, feel constantly sad, or even suffer random anxiety attacks. These feelings are not easily erased and are the source of physical and mental strain on a person.

3. Stress – Living in a busy, workaholic world has affected us both physically and mentally… sometimes even emotionally! Its not only work that is giving us stress, but personal problems as well. Stress is now something real that all of us have to face. There are stress-related illnesses that people are experiencing now without even knowing it. Because of stress, some people lose their taste for food; some lose precious hours of sleep. There are already studies on how stress and insomnia almost always go hand in hand.

SIMPLE AND NATURAL REMEDIES
One of the best ways to cure insomnia is not to take medication. Yes, there are a lot of sleep-inducing pills and syrups in the market today, but there are simple remedies that help people with insomnia get their natural sleeping habits back without having to ingest chemicals or medicine. Here are some tips to get more sleep at night:

1. Watch What You Eat and Drink – It’s true that after a full meal we feel kind of drowsy. Especially at night where feel the tendency to eat a large meal and add some midnight snack into the mix. Sometimes what we eat and drink may just be the reason why we’re up until the wee hours of the evening. It’s a standard to avoid caffeine-rich food like coffee and soda, or chocolates and fatty foods. A good way to speed up sleep is to drink warm milk or hot tea. If you’re feeling hungry, munch on snacks that are low on sugar and protein, but make sure that you’re going to eat them at least an hour before going to sleep.

2. Get A Massage – Nothing like a good stretching and kneading of muscles to relax! Whether you’re getting it from a professional or just a family member, it still soothes and calms you down. Getting a massage is a time to unwind and let go of your problems and stress for a while. Playing soft music can also help to create a soothing atmosphere, most especially if it is background music playing that reminds you of nature, like sounds of birds, flowing water, rusting leaves and the like.

3. Warm Bath Method – Taking a warm bath is one of the best ways to relax, cleanse, and feel fresh before going to sleep. Keep your water lukewarm, neither hot or cold, and let your body sink in. Don’t use bubble soap, instead you can opt to put scented salts as aromatherapy can also help relax the senses.

4. Stay away from too much activity – The brain registers activities and it will keep running due to outside stimuli despite the body feeling tired. So even if you feel sleepy but you can’t seem to doze and sleep, turn off your television, stop walking around so much, or stop any activity you’re doing and just lie in bed. Light reading is okay, as well as listening to soothing music. To get into sleep-mode, your body and brain should be in sync, so lie down in bed and observe your breathing. Little by little you will feel relaxed.

5. Early Morning Exercise / Strenuous Activity – Strenuous activity all throughout the day can help in decreasing activity levels at night, so we feel a lot more ready to sleep. Regular exercise can keep the body healthy.

6. Consult a specialist – If push comes to shove and lack of sleep is taking a toll on you physically, mentally, and emotionally, it’s time to consult a specialist about your sleep problems. Only a doctor specialized in this field can help you with your specific needs.

Do your body and mind a favor and get a good night’s rest as much as you can. Sleep is vital to human beings as it is only in sleep that the body does its “maintenance” for every organ inside your body. A good night’s sleep is more than just that, it helps you in your productivity at work, affects how you deal with tasks and other people, and gets you thinking clearly, which allows you to move through life with ease.

In this day and age, we have to be careful about what we eat. It’s ironic to think how the food that nourishes us may just be our ticket to a whole range of illnesses, diseases and even death.

We can’t deny the fact that in recent years, even what we consider as fresh and natural food aren’t even safe anymore – Mad Cow Disease found in some meat, artificially-fattened chickens, fruits and vegetables that are filled with fertilizers, and red tide.

Seafood, especially in fish, has now been found to be contaminated with dangerous levels of mercury. A study of this alarming occurrence was done by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This thoroughly-researched study has revealed that more than two-thirds of freshwater fish exceed the levels of mercury concentration that humans are able to digest inside their bodies.

MERCURY POLLUTION

Pollution in the seas has contributed to this greatly. The seas and oceans, the rivers and the lakes are huge sources from which we get our food from. What the EPA has found in their study is that garbage was thrown out improperly (plastics, paper, wood, etc) damaging the water ecosystem. Even more disheartening is the level of toxic chemicals, coal, and other damaging substances present in it as well.

According to several researches, the biggest source of mercury is the pollution from coal power plants and it accounts for about 30%-50% of mercury found in the environment today. What starts as smoke from these powerplants is deposited into the clouds during condensation and then when it rains or snows, it enters the ecosystem.

OUR MERCURY INTAKE

Mercury pollution is everywhere: in the air, on land, and in bodies of water. The US Geological Survey has found out exactly how extensive the damage of mercury pollution is in one of their studies. From almost 300 freshwater rivers in the United States, indicate mercury contamination in every fish taken from each of the rivers. Several of those fish contained high enough levels of mercury that they were deemed too dangerous for human consumption.

It is also disheartening to know that the most damaged fish are the most popular kinds. Favorites such as swordfish and shark contain the most alarming levels of methyl-mercury. Though it might seem that only the large kinds of fish are the only ones that should be avoided, it’s not. Fresh water fish are also affected and have tested positive for high levels of mercury.

Mercury poisoning is as grave as anything else. That’s why consumers should also be aware of the fish they buy at their local markets. For those extra cautious people that still need a steady dose of fish in their diet, a better option would be to stick with canned seafood. A lot of canned fish are thought to have very low mercury content, especially tuna, king mackerel, cod, herring, salmon and trout. A temporary alternative to other seafood products are the canned and dried versions of it.

EFFECTS OF MERCURY ON OUR BODIES

Mercury in any form is always to be avoided. A high level of mercury in the body could cause it to deteriorate fast and it affects the most important parts of the body.

Mercury causes brain damage both in children and adults, spreading its negative effects to the nerves. When we expose ourselves to mercury-laden fishes, it also brings about a terrible effect to the stomach and small intestines. A deeper study into mercury and its effects to the body has revealed that it causes reproductive problems both in males and females, as well as learning disabilities and memory deficiency in children. Pregnant women are always advised to be mindful of what they are eating, even more so for seafood that is reported to have come from watersheds and rivers.

According to GotMercury.org, there is a proper way to be able to include fish in the diet without risking our health. Remember to eat fish sparingly; making sure beforehand that it is not one of those with very high levels. The serving sizes: 6 to 9 ounces is the recommended serving of cooked fish, while in raw fish, you should tend to avoid it at all costs, and at most, stop at 4 ounces.

It is true that seafood have one of the most concentrated minerals and good oils, but all of those simply overshadow the risk that you take if you become exposed to mercury.

Do you give enough attention to your nails? Or are you one of those who pay only the smallest attention to them, only caring to cut them once a month or if they grow too long?

When it comes to taking care of our body, we all should never forget even the smallest parts, not even the nails! They take very little space on our hands, but these little things are what protects the sensitive part within where the nerves are located.

Nail Damage and Breakage
Men and women alike have to give importance to avoiding scratches on the surface of the nails, chips on the tips and most especially, the breakage of the nail and other more severe damages.

Day after day, our nails get worn out because of wear and tear. We use our hands for almost everything and it leaves our nails vulnerable and usually unprotected from the activities we do that might damage it.

More often than not, whether we admit it or not, our own nails get taken for granted. The problem with our own inability to give proper care will result in unhealthy nails that are not in the pristine condition that we like.

Healthy Beautiful Nails
Did you know that your nails can also contribute to the overall appearance you give to other people? Keeping your fingers and nails in tip top shape will give the impression of impeccable grooming. Men should keep their nails trimmed, and give proper attention to the dirt and grime that might get stuck in between. Women, especially for those who prefer their nails long and elegant, should always maintain them by keeping them in perfect shape, with no chip to their nail polish.

Keeping the nails clean enhances the beauty of your hands. Most people will say that dirty, unkempt nails make the hands look older and unsightly. It is important to know proper nail care to keep them strong, clean and healthy all the time.

Proper Nail Care Routine
Taking the time to give your nails inspection will go a long way in determining the problems and what you need to do to take care of them. Examine the texture of your nails and the color, notice if there are any scratches to be treated or chips that need to be trimmed.

Most especially for women who wear colored polishes, it is very important to take off the polish at least a week or more and let the nails sit bare for a while. Speaking of nail polishes, it is a must that you only use nail polishes that does not make your nails a sickly yellow.

Make it a habit to drop by the nearest nail parlor once in a while, for your monthly nail maintenance. If you don’t frequent nail salons, then make it a point to learn the basics of nail grooming. Do a manicure at home if you know how to do it. What’s important is you put a little effort into maintaining the health of your nails

Always keep a hand and nail kit in your drawer, with at least the basic equipments and nail care products. Stash your clippers, nail files, nail balms and ointments, anti-bacterial or sanitizing hand gels, as well as your favorite nail colors and top coats.

More than maintenance, it is also wise to stop bad habits from ruining our fingernails. One common example is chewing nails. Without even thinking, certain people do this by force of habit and it is one of the main causes of chipped, uneven nails.

Caring for your nails mean reducing the dangers against possible damage. Refrain from using your nails to scratch stains off from anything, even from scratch-off cards, use a coin or a flat metal item instead. Always use gloves whenever doing the dishes, cleaning or washing clothes because the harsh cleaning soap or detergents may damage the nails.

Finally, it’s important to never forget your diet. The healthier you feed the body, every bit and part will be, too. Eating healthy food, taking vitamins and regular intake of fluids will reflect on your nails, keeping it stronger and healthier.

There’s a valid reason why each and every household cleaning product is branded “Keep Away from Children.” However, research has shown that children aren’t the only ones susceptible – animals, plants, infants, the sick and the elderly, and even to healthy members of the household are also effected.

There are thousands of different types of cleaners being bought all over the country everyday. Even though we all know they are made from chemicals and potential toxic substances, we don’t recognize the threat that it poses as a major health hazard inside the home. From floor polish to detergents to window wipe solutions, they come in many form, uses and brands. But they all have one thing in common: the toxins from chemicals are poisonous to virtually every living being.

THE THREAT
More often than not, consumers of the cleaning products do not know what they have in their hands. It’s not that they don’t check the ingredients, because some do, but the fact that there are chemicals and toxic mixtures that they are not familiar with and thus may use it despite the bad thing it poses. Whether it is wiping cleaners to make their furniture glossy and shiny, spraying the room with odor-absorbent aerosol, or use it on their dishes to clean the utensils, all of the members of the household are at risk.

The mid to late 1990’s was the time where an astounding number of children ages 3-6 years old were prone to poisoning, where all of these cases were due to household chemicals that had been ingested by the child. The sad thing about these occurrences is that it does not simply cause temporary hospitalization, but resulted in more complications inside the child’s body.

WHAT TO AVOID
It was around the same time that studies proved the ill effects of bleach. Then and now, bleach is a very common household cleaner used daily, weekly, or monthly in all and every part of the house. This study directly proved that bleach usage heightened the risk for women to develop breast cancer, as well as other malignant diseases. Bleach has also a negative impact on children, causing behavior disabilities and illnesses.

In all common cleaning products, there are chemical mixtures like EGBE or 2-Butoxyethanol that upon frequent one can suffer from extreme headaches and irritation of the nose and eyes. A deeper look into these kinds of hidden chemical in household products reveals that it causes major damage in the organs and more. Lab animals exposed to this mixture have indicated a potential high-risk for testicular damage and defects in fertility.

One of the experts when it comes to hazardous air pollutants is Mr. William Nazaroff of UC Berkley’s Energy and Resources Group. He has conducted a thorough study of EGBE and has stated that people using products with this chemical have 12 times the exposure than what they should, which is obviously not good.
Another ingredient common to household cleaners is glycol. The colorless substance with the sweet smell seems like a favorite for manufacturers for their cleaning products. From aerosols, to room fragrance and even to fruity-smelling all purpose cleaners. Again, this product has been proven to be harmful to animals and humans upon frequent exposure.

WHAT YOU CAN DO
Here are a few things you can to limit the toxins in your household:

1. Check labels! There’s no going around this one. Aside from that, do research about specific manufacturers and their stand on wholesome cleaners with lesser toxic chemical substances in their products. Checking to see if they are complying with the department standards helps a lot, too.

2. Use only those labeled (and those which are truly) environmentally-friendly products. Green and earth-friendly products may include, but are not limited to, fragrance-free cleaners, plant oil-based ingredients.

3. Rely on your D-I-Y! Nothing wrong with making cleaners on your own. Using available ingredients right in your kitchen will help you in the assurance that you know what you’re putting in your own cleaners!

Tanning is an obsession for all avid followers. The perfect, sun-kissed glow is the standard of what’s beautiful and sexy, and that healthy, fresh-out-of-vacation look is what people are striving for. That’s why millions of people are doing all they can to replicate the look without going to the beach and basking in the sun.

This is why the idea of sunless tanning is a billion-dollar hit. All over the country we see hundreds of tanning salons, and in the market, self-tanning products are shooting right off the shelves. Fake tan it might be, but people are spending thousands of dollars for these products. Tan skin makes you look younger and more active, plus the dark blemishes you might have around your face and body is ‘camouflaged’ as the skin tone is evened out.

Several products in the market have put out great self-tanning lotions, creams, spray-ons, etc. Most of these ‘fake tanning’ products are truly effective in their promise to darken the skin temporarily to re-create the gone-to-the-beach look. The problem is that there are always instances inexperienced or first-time users of these products make a mess out of it. We’ve heard too many tales of tanning gone wrong that a person ends up with their skin in horrible orange hue instead of the perfect golden glow.

You know you’ve gone wrong when somehow you turn orange in the process of doing self-tanning or if you have orange pigmentation on your palms, your feet, or around your nails. Bad tans also include uneven color on the darker spots on your neck, elbow area, knees and a lot more.

The reason behind this is that you might just be using a low-end self-tanning product which contains color pigments and other bad ingredients for the skin, so make sure that you get only the quality brands recommended by most tanning experts, like Solerra Self-Tanners. When new to self-tanning, a high-end brand is an investment.

Another reason might be is you are applying a tad too much of the cream. Sunless tanning lotions more often that not come with instructions to gradually apply the cream to get the color you want. There are a lot of tanning veterans and experts alike often use the 1-tablespoon rule for those new to these tanning products. The more you carelessly slather on the incorrect amount, the more intense it’s going to get and you’re left with a bad orangey hue. It’s really, really important you avoid this at all cost, not unless you want to get stuck hiding from people from the bad tanning job you did. It’s hard to get rid of the orange color, as it only fades away in 3 days to a week.

To get the perfect sun-kissed glow, only use high quality self-tanners like Solerra. One of the products regarded by tanning addicts, because it is healthy for the skin because it contains the FDA-approved ingredients like Dihydroxyacetone (DHA) and it provides the most even tanning results. Some tanner creams are so runny that it doesn’t set properly on the skin or some have a rather cracked finish. Solerra is moisturizing without the greasy feel and the best thing about it is that it dries faster for less waiting time.

Self-tanning products are a great alternative to basking in the sun and running the risk of too much exposure to UV rays. Why not try your hand at self-tanning today? Get that instant bronzed glow in a bottle!

Recent trends have put sugar on the chopping block and it’s not looking good. We’ve all been reared to stay away from sugar, but we keep coming back for it anyway because it’s an important ingredient to the food that we eat. Over the years, we’ve learned how sugar affects the body in several negative ways; these include obesity and decay of tooth enamel, as well as more severe illnesses like diabetes and premature aging. In the US alone, we consume around 150 – 200 pounds of sugar each year. From milkshakes to doughnuts, cakes, candies, soda, and even to the most basic items like bread, milk, and the like, sugar seems out to get all of us.

Sugar Alternatives
There are many “sugar alternatives” in the market today, and most are produced with a lower calorie count than sugar. As a substitute, they do provide almost the same function as a normal sugar. The only downside is that these sugar alternatives remain “artificial”. These sugar alternatives simply aren’t the wholesome sweeteners that the health-conscious people are looking for, as these products are highly-processed and contain aspartame and are high in fructose content.

There’s one alternative that health buffs have been buzzing about recently. Finally, a natural alternative to sugar AND those artificial substitutes has been named. “Stevia” is an herb that is native to South and Central America, and most of the related literature point specifically to both Brazil and Paraguay. There are even those that reveal Japan is also using this herb for their food preparation. Though this is a recent discovery in our shores, it has been used as a sweetening agent for a long time, especially for the people where the herb originates.

Low-Carb, Low-Sugar, No Calories!
Stevia is an extremely sweet substance and it boast being 300 times sweeter than sugar itself. It’s no wonder that the natives refer it as “sweet-leaf” or “sugar-leaf”! Because of its quality, Stevia is rising in popularity, and is being propelled even more into fame spearheaded by companies and groups who want a low-carb, low-sugar, no-calorie sugar substitute for their health products.

Research has shown benefits of using Stevia instead of sugar or other artificial sweeteners in the market. It may just be the solution to anti-obesity, blood glucose problems, and most of all is heaven-sent to people on a calorie and carbohydrate controlled diet. There are also recent studies that display result on how using stevia can help people who have Type 2 Diabetes.

What’s In It
This truly natural and healthy sugar substitute owes its extreme sweetness to its stevioside molecular composition where you can find both glucose and steviol, along with rebaudioside compounds. The natural taste of stevia has a different flavor to normal sugar, or artifical sweeteners for that matter. It’s “almost-sugary” because though it’s sweeter than sugar, there’s a slight aftertaste which you may have to acquire to truly appreciate. In other countries, stevia extracts are currently being used to sweeten food: used in sweet soy sauce, diet Coke or Coke Zero-Sugar, Vitamin Water, as well as other products. Morning cups of coffees are being made using stevia as sweetners, or used to sweeten a particular low-calorie snack.

It is not hard to incorporate stevia, especially knowing its natural, healthy benefits compared to using other sweeteners. Stevia might be the very thing that will help us stop denying ourselves of our sweet-food cravings soon!

Frizzy hair is something women avoid like the plague! Most of what is known as a “bad hair day” usually consists of a frizzy, untamable hair. The reason behind frizzy hair is the breakage in the hair and severe damage on hair strands that causes it to feel coarse.

Major frizz most often occurs to those people who have wavy and curly hair, naturally or otherwise, as well as for those people whose hair have undergone a little too much styling and treatment. Frizziness can also be attributed to the none-too-gentle way of daily handling like using of harsh ingredients in your shampoo, combing harshly, blow drying daily, etc.

What can you do to prevent frizzy hair, then? Well, if your hair has had a few bad hair days and tends to be frizzy, then you must review your hair care routine and check:

1. Your shampoo – Shampoo products are made specifically for different hair types. For those with oily hair, there’s a shampoo that absorbs and lessens the oil produced by the hair strands; for those with color-treated hair, there’s a shampoo designed to help your hair maintain its brilliant color; for dry and frizzy hair, there are lots of moisturizing and repairing shampoos. Always check what kind of hair the shampoo is made for.

2. Your conditioner – With the proper conditioner, bad hair days can be lessened. Hair experts recommend deep conditioning once a week to help give life to coarse, frizzy hair. Most of the instructions at the back of conditioner bottles recommend users to leave the product on the hair for 1 minute, but you can actually leave it on for 3 minutes for the best results. Another trick is to condition your hair and wrap a hot towel around it.

3. Your hair tools – Are you using hair-friendly combs? Wood-based combs or even those that come in soft plastic can do wonders rather than the metal-based ones. If you have frizzy hair, it’s really important that you stay away from fine-toothed combs and use those that have wide gaps. Since frizzy hair has a tendency to tangle a lot, wide gaps will help in detangling without stressing the hair too much like what a fine comb would usually do. Avoid scrunchies and ponytail barrettes with rubber, as the friction could only cause disaster, and it’s much better to use scrunchies in stretchable cotton or soft silk.

Keep in mind you should refrain from scrubbing your hair too hard with a towel. Instead of rubbing it vigorously, simply squeeze the excess water out or keep your hair twisted in a towel to absorb the water. The more you find ways of preventing breakage, the less chance for frizziness!

How about for those with seriously frizzy hair?

1. Hair spa – opposed to having your hair styled, blowdried, colored, straightened, bleached in a salon, taking your hair to a “hair spa” is more on letting your hair down to be pampered and stripped off harsh chemicals. Hair spas have become a clinic or a center for problematic hair. You can pamper your hair at least twice a month to get some mild treatments like deep moisturizing and revitalizing, as well as getting treatments for the healthiest hair possible.

2. Deep conditioning, repairing serums, and leave-on hair creams – all these serve as ‘medicine’ and ‘vitamins’ to your hair. Deep conditioning brings back the softness of frizzy hair, making it more manageable and less prone to excessive frizziness. It’s important that you visit a hair expert before using any kind of serums for the hair. There are too many instances that people buy hair repair serums only to make the damage even worse. Serums are concentrated in hair repair ingredients, too. It is used sparingly and conditionally. When serums are used properly, they provide instant boost to the health of your hair. When it comes to leave-on hair creams, pick one that’s light and one that doesn’t have an overpowering fragrance.

Whatever skin type or skin color, everybody is prone to sunburn from spending too much time under the sun. When exposed to UV rays, it doesn’t take long for the skin to begin to “burn”. It can be as mild as a slight itch to actual peeling.

There are a lot of different treatments for sunburns – both medical and natural. The most important thing you can do with either a medical or natural treatment is to act fast. You do not want to wait and damage your skin more. It’s important that you put some salve onto it as soon as possible.

Below are some great natural do-it-yourself treatments to alleviate itchy and painful sunburns:

Apricot Anti-Itch Salve:
1. Get an apricot or two, depending on how wide the sunburned area is. Soften the apricots by letting it sit in warm water for 5 minutes.
2. As it gets soft, peel the skin gently. Then mash the apricots in a bowl.
3. Add a little bit of honey, just a teaspoon will do. Mix well with the mashed apricots.
4. Apply the salve on the sunburned area. Rinse off with warm water after 15 minutes.

Yogurt-and-Cucumber Moisturizing Treatment
This home remedy is really great for those lighter burns. Yogurt has wonderful enzymes and acids that are great to treat dry, irritated skin. Cucumber can nourish the sunburned skin, and has that cooling effect you will love.
1. Simply clean the sunburned area with lukewarm water, pat very gently with cotton to dry.
2. Get half a cucumber and peel the skin out. Take the seeds out and mash the cucumber in a blender until it’s a paste.
3. In a small bowl, pour the cucumber paste and add plain yogurt. Mix well.
4. Spread it evenly across the damaged skin. Let it sit for 20 minutes or until the cucumber’s cooling effect fades.

For Inflamed Sunburned Skin:
If you’re having trouble with heavy redness on your sunburn, you can simply take a cool shower to help the outer layer of the skin cool down a bit. Be sure not to use ice on sunburned skin, as ice has an extremely cold temperature that could also shock the skin. A slight, cooling bag would suffice.

Gentle Skin Peeling Treatment:
When it comes to helping the skin peel naturally, there’s nothing that works as well as Tea Tree Oil. Imagine a sunburned area of skin where you see little dry, flaky patches of peeing skin that doesn’t seem to go away. With the use of a Tea Tree Oil solution, you can speed up the peeling progress.

1. Get a small container ready, tea tree oil, a bottle, a tablespoon of extravirgin olive oil and square cotton swabs.
2. In the container, mix in the two oils 1:2, tea tree oil and olive oil respectively
3. Moisten the cotton and apply it to the peeling oil

When it comes to caring for your sunburned skin, cooling and lessening the irritation of the skin is your outmost priority. The best thing is to keep the area moisturized and hydrated! That means drink lots of water.

As long as you avoid putting strong, acidic ointments on the skin you should be fine. Some advice I’ve seen is kind of scary, involving toothpaste too supposedly cool the skin, which is wrong. The mint in the toothpaste does not cool the skin, but burns it even more. Don’t use apple cider vinegar, either. ACV is considered a cure-all but in this case it will do more harm than good. The worse kind of sunburn would be one where the skin looks oddly shiny and blistering, so if it gets to this point, I suggest bandaging it up and going to your dermatologist and have your doctor take a look at the skin.

Salt is one of the most important ingredients ever discovered. It’s uses are so wide and extremely significant that even historic wars and battles have been fought for it. Salt has a wide use when it comes to food preparation. Salt not only gives food flavoring, providing a much-needed flavor to what otherwise would be bland food, provides nutritional benefits, but it also is used for food preservation.

Salt is absolutely indispensable, but there’s something we should all know about salt. Most of the time, the salt that we are using is unhealthy and we don’t even know it. Another thing that we don’t know is that there is a pure salt that we can replace the not-so-healthy salt that we’re using everyday. Let’s weigh in on the three kinds:

1. Table Salt or Sodium Chloride – This is the most common type of salt that we see in the kitchen and it comes in coarse or very fine form. Some countries still use the coarser version of table salt, but in the US, coarse table salt has been done away, replacing it with the finest grains of salt. Most often this kind of salt is one that has to be bleached and stripped of minerals. We can see from here that the table salt has some very bad “cons” to it, as the salt undergoes too much processing for it to be called natural or organic, or at the very least ‘healthy’.

Sodium Chloride is harmful to the body as it introduces toxins that the body will have trouble expelling. It is a well known fact that pure Sodium Chloride causes dehydration. It occurs when the body tries to extract water from cells as a way to recuperate the damage the toxins from the salt have wrecked havoc on. Some have countered that table salt isn’t pure Sodium Chloride. To a length, it is right, but the fact remains that table salt is around 98% Sodium Chloride and just around 2% of good minerals like iodine.

2. Sea Salt – Commonly known as the healthier, organic alternative to processed table salt. But a closer look under a high-powered microscope would reveal that sea salt has irregular structures that separates the minerals. The body will have very little to gain as the minerals in the isolated structure is something that’s not easy to absorb.

When it comes to harvesting sea salt, there are additional issues. The seas have become more polluted; the oceans have been exposed to all kinds of things, such as human-produced garbage, and to even more deadly chemicals like factory wastes, oil sludge, mercury, dioxins and all other pollutants that harm us. A huge amount of the toxins are being absorbed in the salt, which makes the sea salts in the market today not a very good alternative to table salt.

3. Himalayan Salt – A relatively new discovery has led experts to believe that this might just be the only toxin-free salt in the world. Though it’s something new for most of us, it has been around for 250 million years. It is produced by the earth and it has been found to be one of the purely natural food item in the world and is entirely toxin-free and full of minerals that have been lost in other salt forms.

Compared to the Sea Salt, the crystalline structure in the Himalayan Salt has a more abundant mineral content – 84 mineral elements to be exact. Additionally is has a structure that is easily absorbed by the body unlike sea salt. Himalayan salt can come in a solid form or in granulated form. Gourmet chefs who use Himalayan salt use blocks of the salt formed into bowls and pots and cook directly from it. In everyday use, a finely grained Himalayan salt is more appropriate.

The only con of Himalayan Salt is its price. It’s not something you can easily find in the market as the salt source itself is very limited. This precious salt is mined from the government-controlled land of the Himalayan Mountains. However, there are many great websites on the internet where you can purchase Himalayan salt as a good price if you’re looking to live healthier.