Health & Beauty Challenge

As we get older, we are supposed to get wiser, as well as healthier. Now the word here is 'SUPPOSED', howbeit, we find out that it is necessarily not the case. This is due to several genuine factors competing for our time and attention, and trust me they all are important.
Well for me, its a determination. There are good days/periods when the healthy routine is strictly followed as well as bad days/periods when I just cant be bothered but the key to success is starting, and not beating myself too much when I fail but quickly getting on track.

Now I will share with you, the various health/beauty secrets, I am indulged in at the moment. I tagged it health/beauty challenge cos I am determined to see the results if any and live by them.

1. LEMON WATER;  I actually have a dad, who has been termed diabetic and ever so often, I am always researching to know what really works for him and all the time, there I am giving him a list of dos and donts like an old school teacher hahahaha. Anyways I stumbled on the importance of lemons especially including it in warm water and I was so impressed at all the nutrients and health benefits of lemons. And as I advised him to have, I said to myself, why not try your own pill?



(photocredit; coconutmagic.com)

The benefits which range from having a high vit C content and thereby boosting immunity, helping in weight loss, detoxifying, freshening the breath, aiding digestion, improving the skin, fighting viral infection as well as being an excellent source of potassium.
Most mornings, I go jogging and when I get back, I have my glass of warm water and lemons, and the feel is so refreshing and there is this instant surge of energy. Initially it wasnt easy and I added a bit of Ribena to it. Now however, I am so loving the plain taste on its own. I had people home for dinner the other day and the jug of water had lemon slices in it, and they all loved it.



GREEN TEA
  Any one who knows me, knows my love for green tea. It wasnt  easy at
(photocredit fdin.org.uk)               the start, I literally had to shut my eyes and quickly gulp it down before I
                                                    quickly go brush my teeth or put a different flavour in my mouth. However
                                                    over time, I have come to really love it and twinings has really done a
                                                     good job of adding this fantastic flavours, which I stock on. I will
                                                      recommend it any day and any time. Green tea also known for its                                                                detoxifying properties, prevention of diabetes, protection from food                                                              poisoning, fat burning properties, lowering of  high blood pressure
                                                      and hunger elimination for me personally, etc is a must have for
                                                     all health conscious people.




SHEA BUTTER, COCONUT OIL, VIT E OIL MIX

For a while, I have been researching on the benefits of coconut oil. I also have a couple people who use original coconut oil for their hair, skin and cooking and they all swear by its efficacy for what ever you intend it for. I therefor purchased this from my favourite health store, holland and barrett.  This is the exact one I got. I equally use shea butter for my hair and the benefits I observed are amazing though it was processed as I bought it from the hair shop. I however started buying shea butter balm from the body shop and I have been quite impressed, but I wanted to source for the original raw/unadulterated  shea butter and I was told, I could get it from most countries in Africa especially Ghana. I have friends from Ghana who make trips quite often, and then I asked to have some bought for me right from the source. This is what it looks like;  yea quite raw...

Because I am a bit extra, I also just added vitamin E oil from the same favourite store holland and barrett. Yea I just love that store any day, and anytime. They really got my loyalty hahaha! and if you ask me rather than vitamin E oil, you might rather add the amazing Moroccan Argan oil. Since the shea butter and coconut oil are in solid form due to the temperature of my environment, I added a bit of heat to ensure the mix is uniform and I came out with my home made organic body lotion. You could add a bit of fragrance too, so that you dont smell too raw, even though the coconut oil smells so beautiful and its just right. Now lets see the effect on the skin for the next couple months. Perfect I hope.Why not try out yours and lets share our feedback on this.



 ALOE VERA GEL 
 I also want to share a new addition to my daily routine. Its the amazing Aloe Vera Gel. I went into Holland and Barrett, about 2  months ago, to stock up on my vitamins and on my way to the check out I saw that the gel was on offer! Yea offer! hahaha and I stopped in my tracks. I have never been a big fan of aloe vera before then, so I read all through from the ingredients to directions and to its usefulness. Because it was on offer and quite affordable, I decided to get it and try it. I however used it just on my thighs, butt and sometimes my legs. In just 2 months I can tell you the effect has been amazing. I wont be cut wearing a bikini, but I must say that,part of my body is  perfect for a bikini wear collection hahaha. For all those stretch marks, it just works its way at smoothing them out. If you are in the UK at the moment, its actually on offer at Holland and Barrett; Buy One, Get One Free(BOGOF) at 6.99.



MILK  CLEANSER; 

I am not one to really use heavy make up, but for the past couple years, I always use my cream to powder foundation before leaving the house most mornings. As a rule,  99% of the time, I have a night bath. But it is wrong to jump into the bath-shower with make up on. The normal routine is wipe it off before getting into the bath/shower. I usually use facial wipes for this. But some day, as I got back tired, I opened the fridge and poured myself a glass of milk and as I proceeded to wipe my face, I say to myself but these manufacturers make milk cleansers, so why dont I just use the milk directly? At that I took a dab of cotton wool and cleaned my face, and trust me it cleaned my face so well and I felt so fresh in comparison to the wipes.I now decided to google the benefits of milk on the face and the information I got was amazing.Thank God for the internet. Unfortunately  I cant bring you before and after pics but I sure look fresh and beautiful! Yep!

Sometimes I also use yogurts, which is essentially helpful if you have got acne and skin discolourations. Just leave on the yogurt, but this time thick yoghurt not the runny ones on the face for about 20-30mins before washing off and if you want to be a bit extra like me some of the time, you can add a bit of honey and lemon. Be careful with the lemon though as its got natural bleaching agent, so should not be used frequently.






I hope this helps both the ladies and gents who view this page as this article is not really gender specific.
Bring on your feedbacks, questions, disputes and together lets begin a journey to a healthy and beautiful life.


Do have a great week guys and I will leave you with this inspiration which I got from Henry Miller " The only thing we never get enough of is love, and the only thing we never give enough of is love".

This week, dare to be different..........EllyEleanor