Homemade Smoothie Fridays: Strawberries & Banana

This is a classic smoothie that everyone can make at home with your friends or kids. It's so easy!

Servings: 1 to 2

Ingredients:

• 1/2 to 1 organic banana (depending on how you like your consistency)
• Frozen or fresh strawberries
• 1 cup of milk (I chose soymilk)

You can adjust accordingly to your tastes!

Equipment:

• Blender
• Cups

Strawberries are a great source of fiber and vitamin C. It's a low fat and cholesterol food. It's delicious and full of other vitamins and minerals. What's not to love~

How to Get Rid Of Pimples Naturally

Don't you just hate those nasty buggers that pop up on your face. Pimples and acne galore! Those days we absolutely dread and for me it's almost every other day. I still have scars that are pretty bad but it's gotten a lot better since I'm on a better diet, drinking more water, and using tea tree oil and vitamin E oil. I propose natural solutions without using stuff from the drugstore. Those yucky chemicals can do more harm than good.


NATURAL SOLUTIONS OF GETTING RID OF ACNE

• Wash your face and neck on a regular basis

This is really important as this keeps your face clean and free from dirty building up on your skin. Don't overdo as this can be irritating to the skin.

• Baking soda and water

If  you already have pimples then you can use this natural remedy. Make a small paste of baking soda and a little bit of water and apply with a Q-tip over those problem areas and leave on for about 10 to 15 minutes.

• Tea Tree Oil

This is a natural antibacterial that you can apply to prevent and treat. I mix a half a tablespoon of organic coconut oil and 2 drops of tea tree oil and dap with a Q-tip and then rub it all over my face. This is my favorite go to! I do this once a day.

• Sleep

Try to get 7 to 8 hours a sleep a night. This is self-explanatory. Your body needs rest and sleep to heal those pimples as these are infections so take care of yourself!

• De-stress, de-stress, de-stress

Find ways to relax and have fun. Stress can lead to breakouts so find ways to cope with your stress without having to think too much about it. Do what I do and think happy thoughts or keep yourself occupied with activites you love to do.

• Staying Hydrated

This is important in flushing out toxins from your body. Try to drink two liters of water a day. Moisturize with a natural moisturizer every morning and night to keep your skin from drying out.

• Exercise

Try to do a light exercise like jogging three times a week for 30 minutes a day to start off if you're not used to working out.

• Spa/Sauna

This is a natural detox and a way to destress. You can knock two birds with one stone.

• Avoid over the counter products

These products contain chemicals that can be very damaging to the skin especially if you start off having sensitive skin like I do!

• Hot/Cold (Face washing)

Most of us wash our faces with warm or hot water. I suggest adding cold water wash after this for about a few minutes. Even better if you have ice cubes to run over your face. This will help tighten those pores and help prevent those large pores to collect bacteria, oil, dirt, and other things that will get stuck in your pores increasing your chances of getting breakouts.

• Good Foods

This is especially important to keep those nasty pimples away. If you eat a diet full of grease than this would make sense. Eat more raw vegetables and fruits will help keep those pimples away.

• Scar Treatment

Already have those existing acne scars? Mix vitamin E oil in your moisturizer. I've seen a decrease in my scarring pigmentation. It takes time but you'll see it getting lighter over time.

• Exfoliate (Don't Over Do It)

Some say exfoliate three times a week and some say do it once a week. If you're prone to breakouts, exfoliating is not recommended since you can spread the bacteria from the pimples to other parts of your face and this creates more pimples! I have sensitive skin and when I exfoliate my face this caused my face to overreact and break out even more. If you do the facial massage like I do with some coconut oil, vitamin E oil, and tea tree oil that is more than enough to exfoliate and get rid of dead skin cells. Sometimes it's better to do something soothing to the face then to be abrasive even if it's gentle.

Homemade Smoothie Fridays: Beets and Raspberries

Gather your ingredients:

• 1/2 of beet, chopped

• 1/3 cup of frozen or fresh raspberries

• 1 cup of orange juice

• 1 tbsp of goji berries or powder

• 1 tbsp of acai powder

I like frozen fruit since I can keep them in the fridge longer as I tend to get busy throughout the week.

I use the Navitas brand. Looking forward to trying out different ones. :)

The dirt looking stuff on top is the acai powder. 

Goji berries are great anti-oxidants and rich in vitamin A.

 Look at this rich and beautiful color. This is so yummy. It's healthy and nutritious and gives me an energy boost throughout the day! I love beets!

Benefits of beets: detox, vitamins A, B, & C, beta-carotene, beta-cyanine, folic acid, potassium, magnesium, fiber, phosphorus, and iron. Beets are great for everybody and pregnant women as well. (Please consult with your doctor before starting any diet regimen)

Say NO to BOTOX - All Natural Facelift

I got a comment today on how I look like I lost a lot of weight and that my face got a lot thinner. LOLZ.  I don't think I lost that much weight but I am eating healthier of course. My face looks thinner and lifted because I've been doing this lovely face massage that I learned about a year ago. I'll list my tips below and share with you all. <3

DO NOTS:

• sugary and alcoholic drinks
• Ditch the salty foods and snacks!

•  Heavy cosmetics

• Eating late at night. This can give you that bloated look in the mornings. 

DO:

• Drink 2 to 3 liters of water a day.
• Face massage 2x day with natural vitamin E oil. I've been doing it for 15 minutes each time just because I don't have all the time in the world. Sometimes I go longer but that's usually on the weekends or my days off. :) Vitamin E is a natural anti-oxidant and fights those free radicals that cause those wrinkles and saggy skin. This will keep your skin smooth and youthful longer. If you want to know how to do the massage  >Click here for my very popular post<

Here's my all time favorite face product. 11 bucks on amazon.com. 

• Healthy [detox] diet consisting of fruits and vegetables. I like to make fruit and veggie smoothies. All time favorite vegetable right now are beets! nom nom nom~
• Do some walking or just keep moving!!!

• Little makeup so your skin can breathe. Make sure to take off your makeup at night.

Let me know if you want any more tips or need more details by commenting below. Don't be shy, I'll be happy to help! :-)

I'll be doing my next post on how to make your face "look" thinner by using certain makeup products. If you want to stay current with my newest and latest post, please subscribe or add me to your circles. Thank you guys so much for reading my post. See you soon my lovely bonbons. Kisses~ Shon

Thought For The Day

Follow what you love. You can never go wrong.

Have a great weekend! I have to do some errands today so I'll be back for my homemade smoothie Fridays post.

Love you all,
Shon

How To Lose Weight Without Exercising

This may seem like a dream come true for some people or it might sound like a bogos post. Let me tell you something. You don't have to spend butt loads of money to get fit. That's the point. I'm sure Lady Gaga and Beyonce look great because they have personal trainers or what not but they have the money and resources. We don't! Lol, so for most of you guys out there we don't have that kind of money to dish out and spend like crazy. And let me ask you another question, how many of you guys actually go to the gym on a regular basis? It's hard to do if you have kids and work full time. That doesn't mean I haven't seen people do this.

I propose a kind of exercise that seems less like working. I don't go to a gym. I do walk everywhere as I don't own a car. If you try adding simple things like walking or jogging then it makes it easier. I also clean and move things around the house a lot which keeps me active and moving. The key is to keep moving and not to sit at your computer and TV all day.

Another factor into losing weight is my diet. I do eat healthy. This part you cannot cop out on. Now I don't mean to starve yourself because that is not a diet. I still eat the same amount of calories or more sometimes but I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. This causes my metabolism to increase. This doesn't sound yummy to most people I know but it'll get better. Just incorporate a few at a time. I remember my brother starting off and it was hard for him because he never ate fruits or vegetables. He incorporates one fruit and one vegetable a day now and trust me it was hard to even get to that point. This is a great improvement though! Every little bit counts and this is a gradual process and won't happen overnight.

Homemade Smoothie Fridays: Mango & Peach Smoothie

Here are my frozen fruits. I rather get real fresh fruits but sometimes with my busy schedule it's hard to keep up with. This way I can have my fruit any day without worrying about the spoiling! :)

I added banana, frozen mango, and peaches~ Nom, nom, nom

The end~ I used organic orange juice as my base. How easy was that~?!

Making Cement Using Bacteria?

You can't help but to love the fact that people everyday are finding more efficient and eco-friendly ways to create items that we need. Bricks and cement for example require over 4000 degrees F of energy to make and emits billions of tons of CO2 emissions every year.  Biomason is one company that produces bricks with environmentally friendly ways that are grown in ambient temperatures with the help of microorganisms. Bacteria can be proven to be quite effective when using them to our advantage.

They use a few items that include bacteria, urea, sand...and there are a few more

Check out their official website here.

http://www.biomason.com/

I thought I would share this interesting article with you guys. This is really inspirational!


Reference:
http://www.archdaily.com/472905/bricks-grown-from-bacteria/