Beauty

Archive for July, 2009

Therapeutic use of natural and organic essential oils for medicinal purposes is just now on the verge of being recognized as a valid tool to compliment the diverse tools of natural healing. A significant amount of resistance is still apparent, perhaps due to the pervasive image of Aromatherapy being ‘feeling nice from smelling something pleasant’. Most degreed aromatherapists do not even consider this the most important function of healing with essential oils! There use in treating infectious illness is considered the realm of medicine of where they may be of greatest importance – and the fight of their image may be one ‘behind the scenes’. Big pharmaceutical companies are under pressure to continually develop and market new drugs – many with questionable safety and efficacy – to meet the demands of stockholders. At the same time, many bacteria and viruses are becoming resistant to these companies products, with alarming results.

Essential oils offer inexpensive, effective treatments to which microbes do not apparently easily develop resistance to. Whether the very limited and somewhat skewed presentation of Aromatherapy in the mainstream media is related to the pharmaceutical company’s demands remains to be clarified; in the meantime, you have the ways and means to include essential oils in your own natural health and wellness program.

Aromatherapy is the branch of botanical (plant-based) medicine using a particular class of compounds – no more, no less. It just so happens these compounds smell exceptionally nice – does medicine have to be nasty to work? And do drugs made by high-tech means always result in the best of these medicines? This seems unreasonable, given the fact that a very high percentage of today’s modern ‘drugs’ are extracts of wild plants, though they have been encapsulated and manipulated so that ownership may be granted under patent law.

This doesn’t mean a natural preparation of the plant can be any less effective! And what, physically, are essential oils? If you boil or send steam through plant matter, collect the steam and allow it to cool, an oil-like liquid will float atop the water. Essential oil. That’s it! The chemicals made by the plant that do not dissolve in water. Interestingly enough, this ‘lipophillic’ nature of essential oils makes them even more compatible and absorbable with our physiology than many other plant compounds. No reason to turn our backs on them as medicines, eh?

A backlash may be coming; more people are getting fed up with the high cost of healthcare and the soaring cost of prescription drugs. They are willing to investigate natural, inexpensive alternatives, particularly when ‘proven’ effective in the same arena as are modern pharmaceuticals. An important example is the use of Peppermint essential oil in treating irritable bowel syndrome. A study of 50 children comparing the effects of a common chemical preparation and peppermint oil capsules on alleviating their symptoms showed the peppermint oil to be drastically more effective, with fewer side effects, than the pharmaceutical drug. The nature of the essential oil is that it will eliminate bacteria causing disease symptoms, while leaving much-needed natural intestinal flora unharmed. This is the beauty of aromatherapy, and properly utilized natural medicines in general.

Another widely published effect of a particular essential oil is that of the powerful anti-viral (and anti-depressant) Melissa oil. Melissa herb has long been used in natural medicine, often for it’s stress relieving effects and nervous system support. Now, many university studies in Europe have confirmed it’s effect on treating Herpes outbreaks, the result of a viral infection that has, until now, been considered incurable by the modern medical establishment. Outbreaks tend to occur when an individual is under particularly stressful conditions – and although the aroma of Melissa is thought to relieve stress, one of it’s chemical components has been shown in the laboratory to eradicate certain virus types. Topical application of Melissa oil to Herpes legions has reduced the pain, duration, and frequency of the outbreaks in a significant number of study participants. Some have even experienced complete remission of the disease! A definite seal of approval for efficacy of essential oils as natural health and wellness medicine.

Then, of course, there is the ‘aroma’ therapeutic aspect of essential oil use. The hard facts show the olfactory sense of the brain is wired directly to vital control centers of the gray matter – particularly those governing emotions, stress levels and, well we’re not sure how this relates to your health, but sexual arousal as well. And with acceptance of the importance of one’s mental health relating to their physical well being continuing to grow, Aromatherapy may eventually find it’s place in hospitals and doctor’s offices alongside stethoscopes, syringes and cotton swabs. Many, many studies have shown the self-evaluated improvements in mood and stress levels when inhaling particular essential oils – and because stress is considered by many health professionals as THE number one cause of disease, it’s a short leap to believe the inhalation of spirit-lifting aromas can result in improved states of health.

Aromatherapy is certainly not a cure all, but like any medical specialty, should be used when appropriate by knowledgeable patients and practitioners. How do you learn to use Aromatherapy most effectively for yourself? Education is the way! There are many wonderful, well-written books on the subject of medicinal usage of essential oils; of particular note are those by Dr. Kurt Schnaubelt: Advanced Aromatherapy and Medical Aromatherapy; also Jane Buckle’s Clinical Aromatherapy, and any publication by Robert Tisserand. These books can open a whole new world of alternative health and wellness, giving you more options to control your health care decisions than ever before. If in need, find a qualified, degreed practitioner – and remember, always consult a medical professional for any serious injury or illness. In some cases, aromatherapy can be used to as an adjunct to other treatments – discuss this with your doctor. Finally, there’s little harm in simply getting started with essential oils – learn, buy yourself some nice oils, and have fun!

Misty Rae Cech, Nd
http://www.articlesbase.com/medicine-articles/a-new-age-for-aromatherapy-88366.html

Our Cypress Airboat tour was the ride of a lifetime. We took the whole family on this Everglade adventure, and it was a great experience for all of us. The special child pricing made it an affordable family outing during our Florida vacation, and I’m sure the kids will remember their airboat ride in the Everglades for a lifetime. We have wonderful memories and photos of our airboat ride in the Everglades to take home and share with friends.

Before our trip, I wasn’t even sure what an airboat was, but I’d heard it was the best way to see the Everglades! Many areas of the Everglades are only accessible by airboat, so I certainly recommend an airboat tour, if you’re interested in the ecology and wildlife of the Everglades. I was pleasantly surprised to find the airboat ride both smooth enough to be comfortable in the shallow waters of the Everglades and fast enough to be a lot of fun for all of us. For anyone who doesn’t know, airboats are light, small boats powered by a rear-mounted airplane propeller. While our group was small, Cypress Airboats can handle groups of up to 14 on their larger airboats. We took a two-hour tour, but both shorter and longer tours are available. They’ll even schedule night tours! We ruled that out because of the kids, but I imagine it would be wonderful for adults. While I didn’t expect the airboat to be fast, it can move quickly through the swampy waters of the Everglades. The kids in particular liked this part of our Everglades airboat adventure.

We chose Cypress Airboats over other companies in the area for several reasons. First and foremost, they are experienced and knowledgeable about the area, so we felt that they would provide us with a safe and fun airboat experience in the Everglades. Our primary reason for choosing Cypress Airboats over their competitors was the depth of the tour. Many airboat tours go just a few miles into the Everglades and do not offer a substantial amount of information, or a real chance to experience the beauty of the Everglades. Cypress Airboats does offer shorter airboat rides, geared toward speed and excitement, and we’d love to come back and give an adventurous airboat ride a try!

While I was a bit nervous about venturing deep into the backwoods of the Florida Everglades, our professional and knowledgeable captain made me completely comfortable for our airboat ride in the Everglades. The captain was, like all the captains for Cypress Airboats, US Coast Guard certified, and grew up piloting airboats in the Everglades. We had no worries at all about our safety on our airboat tour of the Everglades. The boat was equipped with floatation devices and first- aid supplies, as well, so we felt like we were well prepared if something did occur. Not only did our captain ensure our safety, but also he was also a great tour guide and shared many details about the ecology, animals, plants, and history of the Everglades.

Our two-hour airboat tour with Cypress Airboat was an approximate 40-mile ride through the River of Grass. The River of Grass is a shallow wide span of water, ranging from as shallow as six inches deep to as much as three feet deep. The waters of the River of Grass are home to many different plant and animal species, from alligators to orchids. Our captain was a knowledgeable and experienced guide and he freely shared his knowledge of the area. His skills as a guide and as a pilot of the airboat thoroughly enhanced our trip and made it fun and educational for the whole family.

Our airboat ride through the Everglades was a great way to experience this amazing, natural environment. We traveled through the River of Grass on our airboat tour and saw a huge variety of wetland plants and trees. We saw sawgrass, water lilies, bladderwort, and other marshland plants, as well as cypress trees, orchids, and ferns. We found the mangrove trees in the Everglades particularly interesting. Our captain was very familiar with the many interesting plants on the airboat tour.

We’re all interested in bird watching, and this was definitely a highlight of our airboat trip in the Florida Everglades. We were lucky enough to spot a white ibis and a great blue heron, but a number of other birds also inhabit the Everglades. We’d hoped to see a roseate spoonbill or one of the varieties of egrets in the region, but didn’t get quite that lucky.

We did see a number of alligators during our visit to the Everglades, including one big one! That was very exciting for all of us. It was interesting to learn more about the role of alligators, not only as a top predator in the area, but also the importance of alligators to the overall ecology of the Everglades. Alligators burrow out gator holes that provide homes for many aquatic species during the dry season. Manatees and dolphins also live in the open waters of the Everglades, but are obviously not seen in the shallow waters of the backcountry.

Our captain told us of a number of other interesting animal species in the area. We had hoped to spot the endangered Florida panthers, but didn’t get to see them this time. However, we did catch a glimpse of a white tailed deer, and our captain told us to watch for bobcats, opossums, skunks, raccoons, and other small mammals, which are common in the area, as well.

Our airboat ride in the Everglades was an experience none of us will ever forget. We all can’t wait to go back and definitely plan on taking another ride with Cypress Airboats on our next trip to the area. We’re even considering arranging a special full day tour to really explore and experience the beauty and wonder of the Everglades. Fortunately, Cypress Airboats operates 365 days a year, assuming the weather is safe for airboating, so we’re sure to be able to find time for another exciting adventure with the great folks at Cypress Airboats.

Cynthia Waldin
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/florida-everglades-airboat-ride-62048.html

Hair brush is one of the most essential tools every person, man or woman, should have. Hair brush helps dealing with tangles and bed hair look; to some extend it even solves the problem of hair styling.

But the greatest thing that can be done with a hair brush is keeping our hair naturally moisturized as you transfer natural skin oil from the roots to the tips of the hair when brushing.

To help your hair grow healthy and shiny, you should brush your hair every day with careful gentle strokes that decrease the friction and smooth the hair scales. Harsh and rough brushing will only increase the damage to your hair. Moreover, such brushing increases the amount of pulled out hairs in two times.

The use of proper hair brush is essential for sedu hairstyles as it helps to avoid unnecessary damage, eliminates static electricity, and adds shine and smoothness to the hair. There are several hair brushes that should be at hand when creating and maintaining your sedu hairstyles:

1.Wide-toothed comb for detangling hair after and before washing. Every time you are preparing to wash your hair you should make a detangling first. This will help you lessen the risk of mechanical damage during washing and make the after-washing detangling easier, thus eliminating more mechanical damage. Such combs should be of antistatic material, so read labels carefully and make sure you won’t harm your hair with poor quality product.

2.Fine-toothed tailed comb for styling. You should use this comb when making heat straightening using a flat iron. Just follow the flat iron with fine-toothed comb to make sure that there are no tangles and frizz left in your hair after straightening. The tail of the comb will be handy in creating prom hair styles and dividing hair in separate tresses for straightening;

3.Massaging wooden hair brush that will help you to massage scalp after you detangled the hair and are preparing to sleep. Usage of this brush at least twice a week will help you increase the blood circulation in the scalp and improve the state of the hair cuticle after a couple of months of usage;

4.Boar bristle round brush for styling. This hair brush is a must for short to medium hair styles. It helps to obtain neat and sleek hairstyle. Boar bristles eliminate frizz and add shine to your hair;

5.Ceramic styling hair brush is good for medium to long hair styles because it helps to manage long hair and eliminate static electricity. You will be even able to create soft waves that will frame your face and make it look gorgeous.

The above mentioned hair combs and brushes should be of high quality so that your hair won’t suffer from the harmful materials and faulty workmanship. It is also recommended to wash combs with warm water at least once in two months in order to eliminate product built up.

To make correct brushing, follow these simple rules:

1.Before washing the hair, use a wide-toothed comb. If you have a long hair, start from the tips and move gently to the top of the hair. Do not pull the hair or comb too energetically, or you will lose healthy and mature hairs that hold firmly in your scalp. If your hair style is short just move brush through the hair from roots to the tips to eliminate frizz and arrange your hair before washing;

2.After washing DO NOT brush the hair while it is still wet. The hair should be at least dump when you start to detangle it, or you are sure to lose more healthy hairs. Do not be afraid to see hairs on the brush as long as you don’t feel any pain from their pulling off. It is a natural process of hair growth when up to 100 hairs are falling out every day to spare the place for new and young hair.

3.If you are using blow dryer quite often, you should use round brushes of 100 per cent boar bristle for styling of the short hair, and ceramic round brushes for styling of the long hair. Such brushes will make it easier for you to style the hair, add shine to your hair, and help you to arrange the hair into any style from spikes to soft sedu waves.

4.If you are using a flat iron, you should start straightening from the bottom of the hair. Separate the bottom layer of the hair from the top layers, and pin up the top layers using tail of the fine-toothed comb. Straighten the bottom layer of the hair, and proceed with the upper layers until you are finished. Every time you apply flat iron to the separate tresses follow the flat iron with the comb to make sure that there are no tangles left.

5.Before going to bed, apply massaging brush. Detangle the hair first, and then gently brush the hair, especially the root area to improve blood circulation and allow your head to relax after the long day of styled hair. You will see positive results of such technique just after a couple of months. Your hair will look healthier and shinier, your scalp will receive more nourishment through improved blood circulation, and if you have problems with hair falling out, they will be diminished.

So, hair brushing is the separate science, and knowledge of its rules will help you decrease the amount of money you spend on hair care products. Moreover, the state of your hair health will improve dramatically and your hairstyle will receive the status of the Sedu hairstyle because of the natural shine and smoothness of your hair.

Mary Anne Lionel
http://www.articlesbase.com/women’s-issues-articles/sedu-beauty-tips-the-dos-and-donts-of-hair-brushing-51620.html

Physical appearance usually becomes the innermost reflection of people, their lifestyles, and their personalities today. In a world where physical beauty matters, it’s not surprising that more and more people look for products that would maintain or even enhance their beauty.

One of the worst physical flaws people especially women consider is the occurrence of wrinkles and other visible signs of aging. And since they are more concerned about their physical appearances, women are more enthusiastic in trying different sorts anti-aging skin care treatments and products.

Causes of Aging

But despite all that has been discovered to help curb the aging process, no procedure or product has ever been discovered that is capable of completely stopping the aging process. This is not possible. The only thing that most procedures can do is to slow down the process or lessen the visible signs of aging.

The aging of the skin is actually caused by too much exposure to the sun as well as the loss of hormones such as testosterone and estrogen. These two processes lead to the oxidation of collagen and the elastin fibers of the skin. The loss of these two substances in the skin will result to dimples on the skin and of course the sagging.

Prevention the natural way

There are of course natural ways that you can do to help prevent aging. One of which is the cliched combo of eating well and physical activity. However often you cringe at hearing this advice will not change the fact that these two are the primary things that can help you save those skins from sagging.

Eating fruits and vegetables especially those that are rich in Vitamin C and D will help in keeping the skin supple and moisturized. Foods with anti-oxidants are also helpful as this directly prevents oxidation.

Physical activity, on the other hand, helps by toning the muscles and keeping blood circulation going. This means that nutrients and minerals are distributed throughout the body.

They are more into using products and availing of treatments that would protect their skin against the aging effects of the environment.

MINIMIZING THE EFFECTS OF AGING

Studies show that the first thing you need to do if you think your skin is being damage by aging is to provide the it with the essential nutrients it needs and take care of it by using proper anti-aging skin care treatments.

Most dermatologists also agree that a person can help minimize skin aging and damage caused by years of being exposed to chemicals, free radicals in the body, and several environmental factors by discovering anti-aging skin care treatment or wrinkle free skin care that can give them younger looking and healthier skin.

With the help of modern science and technology, having a flawless skin is still possible today despite the environment damages the skin endures. Most experts agree that people can minimize premature aging of skin by arming themselves with knowledge about the aging process, its causes, and look for possible natural solutions like going back to healthy living by doing regular exercise, having balanced diet and developing a healthy lifestyle.

But if these natural options can no longer work, various anti-aging skin care treatments and programs are available in the market today. Here are some anti-aging skin care treatments and products that can help you regain that youthful look:

1. Anti-wrinkle creams. The use of anti-wrinkle creams is probably the best anti-aging skin care treatment there is. Various anti-wrinkle creams that have powerful antioxidants prevent premature aging and wrinkling of the skin.

The use of such creams also help protect the skin against harmful free radicals in the body, the harmful effects of cosmetics, environmental damages. By using high-grade herbs and ingredients as major components, anti-wrinkle creams can minimize the spread of existing wrinkles and age spots by tightening the skin.

2. Anti-aging moisturizers. Since the ingredients of moisturizers penetrate deeply into the skin, the use of anti-aging moisturizers will help lessen the visible signs of aging like fine lines, wrinkles and sun spots. These moisturizers also all to the skins hydration level depending on the person’s skin.

3. Anti-aging sunscreens. With today’s global warming, it is a must that people wear sunscreen or sun block to avoid the harsh rays of the sun. If you want to maintain a younger looking skin, look for anti-aging sunscreens that are suited for your skin type.

4. Antioxidants. Antioxidants through the use of vitamins or by eating foods that have high anti-oxidant content can help your skin cells bind the free radicals that usually cause aging or death of skin cells.

5. Exfoliants. When you reach the age of 30, the capability of your skin to exfoliate decreases. This is why it is quite important to avail of an external form of exfoliation to keep skin renewing itself.

Low Jeremy
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/antiaging-skin-care-what-you-should-know-108740.html