Quick and easy Pore scrub

I just tried this. It literally took 2 minutes and my pores are immaculate!

This is the recipe I used, but it made way more than enough for one cleansing so I saved the rest in a small tupperware for later.

1Tablespoon Baking Soda and 1/4 cup milk (the fattier the better.)
Mix together then rub on problem areas (either with a soft makeup pad or fingers) of skin where you make have clogged, dirty pores!
Rinse and repeat if needed. You'll see instantly clean pores!
The lactic acid in milk gets rid of dead cells and cleans the pores while the baking soda creates a scrub that sucks dirt and oils out!


My face felt a little dry afterward so I just put some Vitamin E oil on there. You can do the same with Oliver Oil.

If you have around 15 minutes go ahead and make this mask to really moisturize your pores!

Two Tsp. of Honey
1Tsp of Extra Virgin Olive oil.
Mix honey and olive oil in a small clean container.
Leave on for 10 minutes then rinse! VOILA!

A lesson on listening

Today I'm gonna talk about something that has been really prominent in my life lately, and something that I think everyone needs to bring awareness too, even if you are good at it... LISTENING.

I had a Life Coaching class this past weekend, and the people I worked with as coaches actually left me feeling unheard. One session with me as the client actually brought up some deep abandonment issues.. then left me feeling abandoned. When I went home, surrounded by friends, I tried to communicate my feelings, but no one would listen to me. I felt really abandoned still. I felt like I needed to do something in order to be heard... Then last night I had another class and this class was centered and focused around developing listening skills! This got me thinking... Most people are never heard, so they repeat their stories over and over until they get someone to help by giving them what they are searching for. This may be assurance, advice, just being HEARD, understanding, relation, etc...

So next time you run into an issue where someone keeps telling that same story over and over again try listening. One amazing phrase (that is now my favorite) that I learned in Life Coaching is the phrase "What in that story did you want me to hear?" This helps the person to step back and really analyze what you were meant to hear, and maybe even what they are trying to get out of it. By really working with people on this even you could get something huge out of it.

There are people in your life that you avoid talking to simply because they are a repeater, or maybe even because they dont let YOU get what you want to say out. It may even be because they call YOU out on being a repeater. Either way, here are some information on listening:

"The most basic of all human needs is the need to be understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them." -Ralph Nichols

Listening is receiving and perceiving information. In order to listen you need to have a clear mind, good intention, come from a place without judgement, interest, and to not assume you already know the information. Even if 5 people come up to you in the same day to talk about the same thing, like the presidential debates, or the weather, They may all have something different to share. They may have a new angle, different information, and it may be the same subject but different intention. Be open to anyone that needs your ear. This is what being a good friend is!

93% of communication is non verbal, so only 7 percent is actually what you say. The rest is the tone in your voice, body language, facial expressions, and energy. Be mindful of how you say things because they can be perceived in hundreds of ways.

Someone in my class brought up a great example. The sentence 'I Didnt say I slept with your wife" Can have dozens of meanings depending on where the emphasis is.

"I didn't say I slept with your wife."

"I didnt say I slept with your wife."

"I didn't say I slept with your wife."

"I didn't say I slept with your wife."

"I didn't say I slept with your wife."

"I didn't say I slept with your wife."

Those are all completely different sentences! Crazy, huh?

Try these tips out to improve your listening skills, let me know how it works out;

• Allow pauses, and breathe before responding. Make sure the other person is done talking.
• When you speak incorporate in what you just heard the other person say in order to make sure what you are saying is relevent.
• Focus on the facts. If they are a worrier and say "Im gonna get fired and this person hates me and blah blah blah" make sure you ask questions or comment only on the part of it that is concrete, not assumed or made up by the person. 
• Try not to focus on the dramatic part of the story, so again - facts!
• Make summarizing statements - "so what I hear you saying is..."
• Don't contradict them or take away from how they feel about the situation.
• Understand and THEN be understood.
• Be present and engaged.
• Ask clarifying questions.
• Use phrases like "Im wondering..." or "Im noticing" especially when their tone doesnt reflect their body language or their words.
• Dont be uncomfortable with silence. Filler is just that - filler. Really reflect and appreciate the person you are listening to.
• Stay open minded and don't take things personally.

And remember, think "What in this story do they want me to hear? People are social beings and need interaction. Someone if telling you something for a reason. Stay conscious and blessings!

Use your Arua/Rainbow shield

Here is Brianna showing us how she energetically protects herself, and generate positive vibes! This is a fun task to help you emit positivity while helping you stay grounded or protect yourself from other people being jerks.


It may seem a little "hippie" or "out there" but mind over matter is everything. Give it a shot!

Dragon cake!

I did it again! Amazing cake! Refer to Here On how to make it!

 

Just an FYI, when I made this one it cooked a little more brown than usual on the top simply because I double the recipe for more cake, and it had to cook longer.

Faze out Shampoo!

Shampoo isnt good for your hair, anyways. Most shampoos contain harsh, drying sulfates that are extremely damaging for curly hair and your body (ammonium laureth sulfate, ammonium lauryl sulfate, sodium laureth sulfate, sodium lauryl sulfate, etc.). They are only  foaming agents that can make hair frizzy and uncooperative.Sulfates are dangerous but unfortunately in almost everything we use daily (Even baby washes and shampoos) so be careful. The strip your hair of the oils that it creates in order to naturally HEAL and STRENGTHEN your hair - Once again your body already knew better than you do! ;)

As usual the winners of the "safe cleaning products" resides in Vinegar and Baking soda. (Remember this entry, Things to keep around?) These don't strip your hair of natural oils. Companies sell you conditioner WITH their shampoo because after you use shampoo (I'm sure you noticed) your hair is dry and unmanageable. Traditional soaps are very harmful because of how rough they are, and (another "unfortunate) we are becoming conditioned to need to feel that harshness on our skin and hair (Squeaky clean) in order to actually trust that it is clean!



Organic and safe shampoos are either just a ruse OR are very expensive.

Vinegar actually balances the PH level of your scalp, too! This alleviates dry AND oily skin! Not only will your scalp feel nice but your hair will be shiny, manageable, and alleviate your need for many other products (like defrizzers and such)

In order to recycle I suggest saving those shampoo and conditioner bottles youre currently using when they are empty and applying these new tactics, see how they feel (Stick with it for about a week and see what you notice) and then enjoy how much money you saved in the process.

Here's a quote from http://mamammalia.blogspot.com:
 "After about 6 weeks (!!!) of using baking soda and vinegar, my hair magically transformed. The change from icky to beautiful hair happened quite suddenly. I was relieved because, like I said, I almost gave up a few times. Maybe my hair took that long to adjust or maybe I finally hit the right concoction. Or both."

This recipe I got from http://nourishedandnurtured.blogspot.com and its almost exactly what I have been doing for years.
Make the baking soda and apple cider vinegar mixtures:

1. Thoroughly clean out an old shampoo bottle and and an old conditioner bottle. 
2. In the shampoo bottle, add 1 Tb baking soda for each 8 oz (one cup) of water.  In the conditioner bottle, add 1 Tb raw apple cider vinegar for each 8 oz (one cup) water.   A funnel is very handy for preventing a mess if your bottles have small openings.  
3. Add water and fill to the top of each bottle. Put the lids on and shake well.  

 Let me know how it works out for you!

Dia De Los Muertos! CAKE AWESOME

I threw an awesome Dia De Los Muertos party the other day!

I got some rave reviews about the cake I made for it (And it was so delicious it didnt even require frosting! There were barely crumbs left toward he end of the night!) so I decided Id show you guys how its done!

 
This is the first time Ive ever actually drawn into cake with the cakes own batter.

 Im not going to go into the actually cake process because you have a lot of choices here - Either make your own favorite WHITE CAKE recipe or buy a boxed one. Make sure you know how much the recipe makes so that you know the right size of the pan!

*Just a side note* I was actually short an egg for the recipe, but never fear! Half of a banana and 1/4Tsp of baking powder can be substituted! I LOVE CHEMISTRY!

You'll also need:

• 6 bowls (one for each color)
• 6 spoons (So each color can be mixed separately)

• Food coloring (I combine NEON colors with the regular ones, or you can just buy a basic pack and combine colors to make Orange and purple.) Here's a kit you can buy online with a LOT of colors, if you wanna get really serious!

• A cake decorating kit. There are the bag ones or the plastic ones: Mine was the syringe type. a bag seems like it would be way too hard to switch back and forth between colors.

Line up your bowls and dyes! Mine happen to be rainbow Ikea bowls (I ended up not using the small square bowls) so I color coordinate.
Make the cake batter, divide it evenly between the bowls, and then add the food coloring to each. Mix em up! Dont make them too dark, we are going to darken them later!

 


Here's the fun part! Drizzle the colors either randomly like I did - I pretended the cake was an 80's party coming to life - Or in some pattern if you prefer. Alternate between colors and it builds up. DON'T USE ALL OF THE BATTER YET. (The hard part is knowing how much batter you're going to need at the end - decide how much of each color you may need for your planned design in the end and reserve that amount of that color) I reserved probably about 1/4th of each color simply because I had NEVER done this before and have never heard of it being done so I had no idea where my right-brained random creative ingenious was about to take me!) But you should end up with this, and a little left over:





Here's kind of the hard/messy part. Fill up the cake decorator you have with whatever color comes first in your design. Mine was purple for the outline of the skull, eyes, nose, teeth, etc. I did one color at a time and tried to do EVERYTHING in my picture that needed to be that color so I didn't waste cake or have to refill the syringe later with that color again. As you can see here There are extra squiggle lines around the skull - this is what I did with the batter that was left over after I knew I had done everything I could in my picture with that color.



After that bake it according to your recipe instructions!

There it is! My famous cake! A beautiful lady at this party actually called me "The Michelangelo of cakes!" What an amazing compliment! I'm pretty sure fireworks came out of my ears when she said it.

If you make this recipe (no matter what your design is) Please send me a picture! Id LOVE to see your creativity!

Heal your skin from your pantry! Nutmeg!

Quiz time. Whats been used for hundreds of year to help with skin diseases, scars, aging, and can most likely be found in your pantry? (Especially in Autumn)
 Nutmeg!
 Frontier Nutmeg Ground ORGANIC Fair Trade Certified 1.90 oz Bottle

Nutmeg has anti-inflammatory properties and can help to heal scars and minimize their appearance. Nutmeg has been shown to help increase the volume of adipose (fat) tissue found underneath the skin.
This can fill in wrinkles. 

As an aromatherapy ingredient, nutmeg oil has protective, clearing and immunity boosting properties.

"Due to its strong tonic, stimulant and anti-bacterial properties, nutmeg had been present in natural healing and medicine. In small doses it is calming and soothing for stressed nerves. It supports digestive system, strengthens immunity and resistance to colds, enhances healthy skin and hair, alleviates arthritis pain, heals varicose veins." -  From http://delicious-skin.com/

Its also an Anti-inflammatory and has been used in history for Ringworm and Eczema (Which I will try if for next time I get an outbreak from washing the dishes too long!) It ALSO has chemicals in it that can act as a cellular protector!
So it can also can reduce and eliminate acme scars on your skin.

Remember this isnt a miracle cure so it may take a while. Its all natural, and may not show immediate obvious results depending on your skin types and sensitivity.

Try this:
Wash your face first!
Mix about half a teaspoon of nutmeg with about a quarter teaspoon of honey into a paste.
Apply some of it to acne marks or areas of infection.
Leave it on for at least 30 minutes (If you have super sensitive skin I would start at 20 and see how it feels from there.)

It shouldnt sting (the honey helps with this) but it should have some great results!


I also found this lovely recipe (which I havent tried) From http://blog.myskin.com
"Honey+ Cinnamon n’ Nutmeg mask:  Just mix one teaspoon each of grounded cinnamon, grounded nutmeg and honey together into a thick paste. Apply on your face for 20-30 minutes and then rinse off with warm water. Apply your moisturizer thereon.  The Cinnamon in this mask is a known antiseptic, astringent, anti-fungal and anti-viral agent. With its exfoliating action, cinnamon opens up your skin pores helping the other ingredients to work better. Nutmeg is recommended for its anti-inflammatory properties. Use this mask daily when ridden with an acne flare-up. Once your acne has calmed down you could use it 2 or 3 times in a week. If you have sensitive skin, this mask is not meant for you! Apply this mask gently. No rubbing and scrubbing recommended as the ingredients could hurt your skin."