We're happy to announce that we've moved to a new home at loveleafbeauty.com! Thanks for being our readers and we hope to produce more content for you all.
See you at our new blog,
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Cold Remedy: Lemon Ginger Tea
A couple of days ago, I felt the clammy grasp of a cold threatening to take over. At the first symptoms, I immediately whipped up a steaming batch of my trusty cold remedy: lemon ginger tea. I have a love-hate relationship with this tea. The thing is, I absolutely hate ginger. When I was a child, my mom would force me drink a bowl of ginger soup whenever I had the slightest hint of a cough or runny nose. I would pinch my nose and whimper as I drank it, all the while throwing pitiful looks at her. Despite my theatrics, I finished every last drop because it really does work!
Over the years, I altered my mom's original ginger soup recipe into something a little more palatable. I added lemon for a vitamin C boost and some honey for a sweeter taste.
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Ingredients:
- 1 large wedge of lemon
- 1/2 cup ginger, grated
- honey, to taste
Directions:
Grate fresh ginger into a pot of boiling water. Let simmer for 3-5 minutes, or until the liquid becomes pale yellow and smells spicy. Remove from heat and squeeze in the lemon juice. Pour the tea into a strainer/cheesecloth to remove the ginger pieces or leave them if you're a fan of ginger. Stir in honey right before you drink the tea.
Fresh ginger is a lot more effective than the packaged ginger teas. The taste is a lot stronger too! If you find yourself heating up after th
is drink, it's working. Drink it several times a day and you'll feel a lot better. If you catch your cold early enough, you can completely ward if off with this tea. Try it and see how it works.
Over the years, I altered my mom's original ginger soup recipe into something a little more palatable. I added lemon for a vitamin C boost and some honey for a sweeter taste.
- 1 large wedge of lemon
- 1/2 cup ginger, grated
- honey, to taste
Directions:
Grate fresh ginger into a pot of boiling water. Let simmer for 3-5 minutes, or until the liquid becomes pale yellow and smells spicy. Remove from heat and squeeze in the lemon juice. Pour the tea into a strainer/cheesecloth to remove the ginger pieces or leave them if you're a fan of ginger. Stir in honey right before you drink the tea.
Fresh ginger is a lot more effective than the packaged ginger teas. The taste is a lot stronger too! If you find yourself heating up after th
is drink, it's working. Drink it several times a day and you'll feel a lot better. If you catch your cold early enough, you can completely ward if off with this tea. Try it and see how it works.
Stay Warm,
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Parabens
Hi everyone!
As an ongoing part of my series, I decided to do my first article on parabens, since they are probably one of the most widespread chemicals in a lot of the things we use today.
So what exactly are parabens and what do they do?
They are chemicals that manufacturers use in order to prevent microbial growth and prolong the shelf-life of the product. Parabens can be found in a lot of personal care products and cosmetics people use on a daily basis, such as lotion, eyeliner, deodorant, etc.
Why are they bad?
There have been research articles published that show how parabens are linked with tumor growth, endocrine disruption, and reproductive toxicity. Parabens have been found in numbers of breast cancer cells, and they have also been found to change the ways hormones are supposed to work in your body. Hormones are important for many bodily functions, such as metabolism regulation and also maintenance of the reproductive system.
How can I avoid this chemical?
While you probably can't completely avoid this chemical, there are ways you can minimize exposure to parabens. When you go shopping for new personal care products or cosmetics, check the label before purchasing them. Common parabens that are used include: methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben. Basically, pay attention to anything that ends in -paraben.
Another option is to make your own personal care products and makeup. It may sound time-consuming or difficult, but you actually probably have most of the ingredients sitting somewhere in your kitchen right now! We've posted a couple of DIY personal care products and will be posting more in the future, so watch out for our new posts! A lot of recipes can be found on Pinterest as well.
As always, please let us know if there is anything we can do more of on our blog! If there are any recipes or subjects you would like us to expand on please don't hesitate to email us at loveleaf.beauty@gmail.com. Thanks so much for reading this!
As an ongoing part of my series, I decided to do my first article on parabens, since they are probably one of the most widespread chemicals in a lot of the things we use today.
So what exactly are parabens and what do they do?
They are chemicals that manufacturers use in order to prevent microbial growth and prolong the shelf-life of the product. Parabens can be found in a lot of personal care products and cosmetics people use on a daily basis, such as lotion, eyeliner, deodorant, etc.
Why are they bad?
There have been research articles published that show how parabens are linked with tumor growth, endocrine disruption, and reproductive toxicity. Parabens have been found in numbers of breast cancer cells, and they have also been found to change the ways hormones are supposed to work in your body. Hormones are important for many bodily functions, such as metabolism regulation and also maintenance of the reproductive system.
How can I avoid this chemical?
While you probably can't completely avoid this chemical, there are ways you can minimize exposure to parabens. When you go shopping for new personal care products or cosmetics, check the label before purchasing them. Common parabens that are used include: methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben. Basically, pay attention to anything that ends in -paraben.
Another option is to make your own personal care products and makeup. It may sound time-consuming or difficult, but you actually probably have most of the ingredients sitting somewhere in your kitchen right now! We've posted a couple of DIY personal care products and will be posting more in the future, so watch out for our new posts! A lot of recipes can be found on Pinterest as well.
As always, please let us know if there is anything we can do more of on our blog! If there are any recipes or subjects you would like us to expand on please don't hesitate to email us at loveleaf.beauty@gmail.com. Thanks so much for reading this!
DIY Christmas Ornament
Happy holidays! Here's a quick decorating tip that's both eco and budget-friendly. You can make festive ornaments with three materials and in two steps!
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- Pine cones
- Glitter glue
- String
Squeeze glitter glue onto the scales of each pine cone. Once it dries, tie a piece of string around the top. Ta-dah! Your Christmas ornament is ready to hang up.
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Wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
Much Love,
Friday, November 1, 2013
Hey everyone!
Hope you all had a great and awesome Halloween! I just wanted to announce an upcoming series I'm doing on common chemicals in our toiletries, such as toothpaste, soap, lotion... things of that type that are more harmful than they seem. Not only will these chemicals be identified, there will be reasons given for why one should avoid them, and ways one can be able to do that. So yea! Please continue checking our Facebook page and blog regularly. Thank you so much everyone for all the views we've been getting! Your support and willingness to read our posts are greatly appreciated :)
Much love,
Hope you all had a great and awesome Halloween! I just wanted to announce an upcoming series I'm doing on common chemicals in our toiletries, such as toothpaste, soap, lotion... things of that type that are more harmful than they seem. Not only will these chemicals be identified, there will be reasons given for why one should avoid them, and ways one can be able to do that. So yea! Please continue checking our Facebook page and blog regularly. Thank you so much everyone for all the views we've been getting! Your support and willingness to read our posts are greatly appreciated :)
Much love,
Monday, September 30, 2013
DIY Cucumber Eye Mask
It is often said the eyes are windows to the soul... Whether you had a late night, bad case of allergies, or bout of stress, puffy eyes betray it all. There are some remedies people use such as cold spoons and fresh cucumber slices for puffy eyes. The coldness of the spoon reduces the amount of fluids that flow to the eye and induce puffiness, as does the coolness of the cucumber. Cucumbers also contain antioxidants that relieve irritation, and its high water content also help to moisturize the eye area. Unfortunately, I don't always have fresh cucumbers on hand being a college student with limited time and lack of transportation.. so I like to make my own cucumber eye masks which can be stored for a long time, and are always fresh and on hand :) Here's how I make them!
Ingredients: cucumbers, cotton pads, plastic baggies
Recipe:
1. Chop up some cucumbers.
2. Throw them in a blender or juicer.
3. Pour cucumber pulp into a bowl or pan.
4. Take some cotton pads and soak them in the cucumber pulp until the cotton is fully saturated.
5. Pop the cotton pads in a plastic bag. Store in the freezer.
6. De-puff away :)
To use:
Take out two cucumber eye masks and let it thaw for a minute. Please please thaw! Remember that scene from A Christmas Story where Ralphie gets his tongue stuck to a frozen pole? It would suck to have it get stuck to your skin...which happened to me once with a frozen spoon... never again!
I like to use these cucumber eye masks in the morning to wake me up..as does having a block of ice on your face would probably do... That way I walk out the door having no sign of late-night cramming and a fresh eye for learning :)
Hope this helps!
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Top 3 Best Healthy Eating Apps
When it comes to healthy eating, my phone is my BFFFFF times infinity. Seriously, who else can break down my daily nutrients, rate my grocery items, and suggest recipes based on my cravings? Thanks to apps, my phone has transformed into my 24/7 healthy eating sidekick!
1. Fooducate
This app is a savior for those of us who don't want to spend forever trying to decipher ingredients lists and nutrition charts. Fooducate rates food items on a A to D scale. Yes, it literally grades your food. If you're curious about a food product's rating, just use the app's bar code scanner or search it up in the database. It quickly sums up the food's good and bad points so you can instantly find out how healthy (or not) the food is.
2. MyFitnessPal
This app works as a daily journal to track your health and fitness. You can use it to log in your meals and exercise. MyFitnessPal is great for those who are starting a healthy lifestyle as it keeps your accountable for your diet and exercise goals. What I love the most about this app is that it breaks down your daily nutrient intake so you can see if you're lacking in a vitamins, minerals, protein, carbs, etc.
*My reservation with MyFitnessPal is that this app can be abused as a calorie tracker. My recommendation is that you don't use this as a calorie tracker but as nutrient tracker. Make sure you meet the daily nutrient requirements. If you're prone to counting and restricting calories, please skip this app as it may trigger those behaviors.
3. SparkRecipes
With this app, you can browse through hundreds of healthy recipes filtered by ingredients or dietary needs. Got a bunch of asparagus sitting in the fridge that you don't know what to do with? Simply search up asparagus and choose from a wide selection of user-rated recipes. I admit, I often browse through the recipes when I'm bored. It's helped me find ways to use up all sorts of random things in my fridge. You don't have to be a gourmet cook to use this app since most of the recipes are fairly simple!
All of these apps are available on iPhone, Android, and online.
Healthy eating is super easy once you have your phone as an ally. With these apps, you can easily see how you're doing nutrition-wise.
Stay beautiful,
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