Happy Girls are the Pretty Girls

Audrey Hepburn said it best when she said "Happy girls are the prettiest girls." Being content in your own skin.... helping others 

Hair Help

Hair. A woman's crowning glory. . or should be. Have you noticed that when you are in a rut or want a change your hair is the first thing you mess with. Yep me too. Losing weight. Sure but that takes, weeks or months to see a difference. Clothes. eh. Sometimes. But hair. Cut it, curl it, dye it, fry it. So many options and you have a new look (whether that be good or bad) in moments. 

I have had long hair, really short hair, blonde hair, brunette hair, healthy hair, and unhealthy hair. I have had more than my fair share of hair gone wrong moments. So a few tips to improve your hair.

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Lemon Water to Clear Your Skin

While living abroad in Italy my brother was told time and time again by the locals to drink lemon water with a hint of honey to cure a sore throat. Turns out the Italians were on to something. This tried and true method passed down from generation to generation is starting to get some attention here in the good old U. S of A. 

A staple at any restaurant or wedding reception lemon water is quickly becoming the latest health craze. Research has shown that it does more than quench your thirst and freshen your breath.  Drinking lemon water each morning 15 to 30 minutes before you eat breakfast can have some surprising health benefits that your body may want you to take advantage of. So jump on the bandwagon and get to squeezing because this is one health trend you don't want to miss out on.

Lemon water has been shown to:

• Rid the Body of Toxins
• Boost Your Immune System with a kick of Vitamin C
• Fight Blemishes on your skin
• Fight Hunger Cravings thus helping you to lose weight
• Fight Viral Infections
• Calm your nerves
• Help digest food
• Reduces Depression
• Quench Your Thirst without the added calories of many other drinks.
• Increase your Energy
• Promotes healing from stress or injury

How To:

Use real lemons rather than bottled juice. Simply squeeze the juice from half a lemon into a glass of warm water, mix if needed, and enjoy 15 to 30 minutes before eating. Make sure to dilute the lemon in water rather than eating/drinking it plain. The acid in lemon can be very hard on the enamel of your teeth if you are not careful.

After reading up on the benefits of lemon and trying to return to health after 2 weeks of the worst cold I have ever had I'm up for adding lemon water to my mornings. I have been mixing it with honey every other day or so and it seems to help with my uncontrollable coughs. So I can attest to that one. Thank you Italian women for the tip. Here is to making it part of every day.

Boost Hair Growth with Biotin?

Been MIA the past few days. Was finally struck with the flu. Silly me for thinking I could skip by the year without coming down with that. No go.

Anyway. I have been seeing this B vitamin pop up regularly on pinterest and some beauty blogs and after looking at it here and there I found a small bottle at Walmart for about $5 and decided to give it a try. I have only been taking it for 3 days or so but supposedly it helps with hair and nail growth/strength as well as improving your skin, helping with weigh loss (little help there never hurt anyone) and  it lowers cholesterol and helps maintain your blood sugar.

So I'll keep taking that and see if it is worth another purchase.

Love Your Body Challenge with Tone It Up

Tried to do this challenge last year and it was just to hard for me to do with a newborn. So excited to try it again this year. The Tone It Up girls Karena and Katrina are so motivating, give you workouts for each week, and have these challenges several times a year. You can participate through instagram or on their community page on their website. Either way there are thousands of girls that do it and get great results. Here is a picture of them an link to their webpage. Try it.... YOU WILL LOVE THEM!

Love Your Body 2015 Challenge

Baking Soda and Orange Juice Face Mask

The claim is that this mask will help control acne and brighten your skin. I mixed up a few tablespoons of baking soda with a tablespoon or so of orange juice. Added a bit more of each to get a good thick paste. Slathered it on my face, and left it for 15 minutes.

When I washed it off it turned into a nice exfoliator. My skin definitely feels softer. I'll try it a few more times and see if it actually "brightens". I did like that it was quick and easy and did not smell like some of the egg and soy concoctions I have put on my face in the past. It also did not stick to anything like the honey masks I have tried so that was nice.