Nine Homemade Beauty Masks for Healthy Skin

Glowing and clear skin does naturally what makeup tries to simulate artificially. Natural homemade masks can help bring a permanent glow and clarity to your skin. For acquiring beautiful and healthy skin you can apply any of the following easy, homemade masks.

Note: Make sure that before you apply any of the following masks, your hands are clean and the dish in which you are going to prepare the mixture is washed and dried properly. Wash your face before and after you apply any of the homemade skin products. Wash your face gently with a little bit more water and pat dry.

Egg Whites

Egg white has shown miraculous effects on many people’s skin. Apply an egg white over your face. Then let it dry for 15-18 minutes and wash your face with warm water for an instant glow to your skin.

Powdered Orange Peels

Do not throw orange peels. Dry them in shade and then grind them in a mixer to make powder. Take two spoonfuls of this powder and make a smooth paste with rose water, honey and milk. Apply this and wash off with cold after 20 minutes.

Almond Paste

Almonds are high in vitamin E content, which is very good for your skin and can eliminate facial blemishes. Soak 4-6 almonds overnight so that peel comes off. Grind their white flesh and add few drops of lemon juice and honey to make a smooth paste. Apply this on your face and wash after 30 minutes.

Chickpea Mask

Make a smooth paste with a tablespoon of Chickpea flour, a pinch of turmeric, 2 tablespoons of milk and a few drops of rose water. Apply this paste to your face and massage in a circular motion. Wash your face with water after 2-3 minutes. This brings shine to your face and eliminates dead skin tissue.

Rose Lime Tonic

Make a mixture of equal amount of lime juice and rose water, apply on your neck and face, keep it for 10 minutes and wash off with fresh water.

Autumn Fruits Mask

Take a small piece of pumpkin and puree it. To this, add a grated apple and a little olive oil. Apply this paste for 15-20 minutes followed by rinsing the face. This mask is particularly good for dry skin.

Quick and Easy Milk and Sugar Mask

Mix 1/4 cup of milk and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Apply this mixture on your face using a cotton swab. Leave it for 5 minutes; then wash the face. This provides a glow to the face.

Turmeric Oat Mask

Prepare a paste by mixing a tablespoon of oatmeal with turmeric and sugar. Then slowly massage the paste on your face. Leave it for 2 to 3 minutes and rinse it off. The skin acquires a soft and refreshing appearance.

Cucumber Sour Cream Mask

Apply a mask made from I tablespoon of grated cucumber with some sour cream for 12-15 minutes followed by washing with cold water. Use this mask twice a week for best results.

The Finishing Touch

Use ice cubes. Yes! Ice cubes. Massage your cheeks with an ice cube for an instant glow without rouge

Source:http://www.greendivamom.com/author/savneet/

Recycling Myths

Recycling has become an important part of our lives, with the faithful assumption that disposing is bad and recycling is always good by definition. Pause to consider the science and the economics of every proposition, including segregating plastic containers, bottles, newspapers and metal cans and then placing them in colorful boxes at curbside. Without even questioning either the cost or the outcomes of the process that starts at the curb, or if recycling is economically or environmentally sound.


Saving Trees with Paper Recycling
People recycle paper to save trees. However, most paper comes from trees that are planted with the intention of eventually harvesting them to make things like paper. This means that if we all use less paper, there would be fewer trees planted. Maybe some people ought to use less paper anyway, but no one assume that the people who are in the business of growing and harvesting trees are going to continue to do so even if we don’t buy their products. For every 13 trees “saved” by recycling, 87 will never get planted. It is because of the demand of the paper that number of trees have been increasing in the world. Moreover, recycling newsprint creates more water pollution than making new paper. De-inking old news papers produces a lot of toxic sludge that requires special disposal.

Polystyrene Food Containers

Similarly, several cities, including New Jersey, and Portland, Oregon, have essentially banned polystyrene food packages, like the ones McDonald’s used to put burgers in until it was pressured into switching to paperboard container, because the paper used by McDonald’s is recyclable and polystyrene is not. But the truth is complicated.

Polystyrene is completely recyclable, which is not always true for the paper used in, for example drinking cups, especially if the paper has been wax coated or soiled with food residue. These paper cups cost the consumer about two and half times as much as polystyrene. Studies carried out by NCPA show that production of polystyrene hamburger shells used by McDonald’s actually used 30% less energy than paperboard and resulted in 46% less air pollution and 42% less water pollution. The average 10-gram paper cup consumes 33-grams of wood and uses 28% more petroleum in its manufacture than the entire input of the polystyrene cup.

Recycling is very useful when it is approached from perspective of sound economics, good science and voluntary cooperation, but unfortunately it is promoted as an end in itself without regard to whether it is worth the time and expense. Quite often, recycling expends more energy and resources than it saves or reclaims. Recycling however, doesn’t really happen unless all that plastic, glass, paper and metal from the sorted bins is turned into new, useful products that are generally in demand in the marketplace. Some of what we put out at curbside actually ends in a landfill or piled to the ceiling in warehouses with no place to go.

Source:http://www.greendivamom.com/author/savneet/

The Essentials of Vitamin D

Studies have shown that vitamin D intake reduces the chances of colon, breast and prostate cancer. In addition vitamin D helps maintain strong bones. Older adults can reduce their risks of falls by more than 20% by ensuring that they get enough vitamin D. A study recently reported in Journal of the American Medical Association noted that vitamin D may also improve muscle strength, thereby reducing fracture risk from falls.


Scientist are finding that when we avoid sunlight all the time by slathering ourselves with sunscreen to avoid the increased skin cancer risk from sun overexposure, or avoiding the outdoors altogether through an indoor sedentary lifestyle, we lose our most effective source of vitamin D. Our bodies make vitamin D when skin is exposed to sunlight. This does not mean that you have to be out in sun all the time, or lying out in the beach tanning. All you have to do is to expose your skin to sun for 10 minutes in summer and 15 minutes in winter.

Blood levels of vitamin D are low in one in five women living in America and North Europe. Post-menopausal women also get too little dietary calcium. But the former deficiency may be more important that the latter. In fact the recent studies suggest that higher than RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowances) of vitamin D may be more important than RDA intake of calcium to bone health.
There is actually a tightly intertwined connection between vitamin D, calcium and lesser known substance called parathyroid (PTH). PTH regulates the amount of calcium in the bloodstream. When the level of calcium is low in blood , the thyroid gland secrets more PTH, which raises the level of calcium by taking it from the bone. If the pattern continues, bones will eventually become brittle and prone to more breakage.
High level of Vitamin D in blood inhibits the secretion of PTH, thereby preventing the loss of calcium from the bones. Conversely, low vitamin D level prompts loss of calcium from the bones and raises the risks of osteoporosis and fractures. This is one reason why most experts say the RDA for Vitamin D, which is 400 international units per day, is too low and should be increased to 600 to 800 international units per day.
The Food and Nutrition Board of Institute of Medicine of US National Academy of Science has recommended the following adequate daily intakes (AI) for vitamin D.


Infants, children and adults up to 50 years of age (includes pregnant and nursing women): 5.0 micrograms (200IU)
Men and women 51-70 years: 10.0 micrograms (400 IU)
Men and women older than 70 years: 15.0 micrograms (600 IU)
Studies have also shown that consumption of more than 800 milligrams of calcium per day may be unnecessary for bone health if there is enough vitamin D. Sufficient vitamin D levels an can ensure an ideal level of PTH, even when calcium intake is lower.

A few sources Vitamin D are cod liver oil, cheese, egg yolks, cream, fortified milk, margarine, oysters, fish, and butter. Get it from sunlight. A good solution is to spend fifteen minutes in the sun and then apply your sunscreen.