Monday, February 25, 2013

Complexion problems?


I have been receiving multiple emails asking me my advice on complexion problems. So I thought it would be really helpful to share some of questions from the emails and my recommendations.
The main questions concerned blemishes, breakouts, scarring and uneven skin tones. Everyone wants to know how to clear up their skin and prevent breakouts and scarring from happening in the future. Another question,  what is my recommendation for balancing out hormones?
Here are some of the suggestions that I have for these woman.

1) Drink at least a 1/2 gallon of water a day. You will see your skin change right in front of your eyes.

2) Check and see if your body's PH is in balance. Your body has a PH level just like a swimming pool. Acid and alkaline balance, or pH balance, affects our health and well-being. It also affects the health of your skin.
There is an intimate relationship between digestive health and glowing beautiful skin.  A highly functioning and healthy digestive tract means fewer skin imbalances and irritations. The opposite is also true. A sluggish, weak or overloaded digestive tract leads to inflammation, and toxic build-up. One or more of these problems can easily and rapidly lead to skin conditions like dehydration, premature wrinkling, loss of elasticity, rash and acne breakouts. The link between digestive health and acne is especially substantial.
You can buy PH strips from Amazon and determine if you are out of balance. If your PH is off, your digestive tract will be off too. If you find out that you are too acidic you can google foods that are acidic and find out what they are-the list is long. The way to balance a body that is too acidic is to take in more alkaline supplements and foods. One of my favorite ways to alkaline my body is by taking chlorella tablets. I take them every morning with 8oz of water before I have any tea or coffee.

3) Detoxing is essential for beautiful skin and health. Here are a few of my detox suggestions that have proven to be so helpful for giving me clear skin. If your body is full of toxins it will show up on your skin. It is impossible not to pick up toxins from the food we eat and the air we breathe.

Diatomceous Earth, food grade- I have written about this product in the past and recommend it to everyone.
It is not only a great supplement for hair growth but an incredible way to detox. I put 2 TBL a day in my smoothie or in water. If you haven't read the post about it, look it up in my archives.

Health Force ZeoForce Daily Detox is a deeply detoxing earth clay that can be taken internally to help rid the body of toxins, such as heavy metals, ammonia, and harmful environmental chemicals. It is a light powder that you can mix up in water and it has virtually no taste. I also take their supplement called Intestinal Movement along with it just to enhance the detox. All of their products are mild and I have never experienced any type of nausea or cramping. Like I said a clean digestive track is reflective on our skin.

4) For hormone balance I swear by Maca Root! I have also written about it in prior posts. I told someone the other day that you probably wouldn't want to be around me if I didn't take maca root!!. It balances your hormones whether you are 20 or 80. It helps manage PMS and menopause symptoms.  Maca stimulates and nourishes the hypothalamus and pituitary glands which are the "master glands" of the body. These glands actually regulate the other glands, so when in balance they can bring balance to the adrenal, thyroid, pancreas, ovarian and testicular glands.
Instead of providing hormones to the body, maca works as an adaptogen which means that it responds to different bodies' needs individually. If you're producing too much of a particular hormone, maca will regulate the production downward. However, if you're producing too little, it'll regulate the production upward.

5) Diet-This is critical to healthy skin. I presume that if you are reading my blog posts you are some what conscientious about what foods go into your body. We all need to be incorporating more plant based foods into our diets.

6) Last but not least. What products are you using on top of your skin? Of course I recommend my line of chemical free products Real Raw Beauty to everyone because they WORK! If you have problem skin they will help clear up your skin. If you have blemish free skin they will only enhance and improve your skin. I get emails every week from people using the products that tell me how the products are transforming their skin. I had a mom write me the other day and tell me that her teenage daughter started using her Radiant Skin face wash and it totally cleared her daughters complexion. She was so happy! If you have tried product after product like I did and you are still looking for the right one, give Real Raw Beauty a try. www.realrawbeauty.com

There are so many factors to a beautiful complexion. But if you begin to incorporate the things that I have addressed, you can't help but start seeing an improvement in your complexion. I will have to say that my complexion looks better at 58 than it did at 28. When you know better you do better!

Until next time,
Jan













Sunday, February 17, 2013

Chia Seeds


I used to laugh at the commercials about Chia pets, never realizing that one day I would actually be eating Chia seeds!! They go into my smoothie every morning, and here is why.

They have the most vegeitarian omega-3 fatty acids of any foods, even more than flax, hemp seed or walnuts. They also have a high calcium and mineral content. But what makes them so great is their high antioxidant levels. Most seeds don't have anywhere near the antioxidant levels as Chia seeds, and that is what keeps them from spoiling. Flax seed is one of the worst seeds to go rancid very quickly. It spoils so fast from what I have read that it is usually already spoiled by the time you buy it in the store. But Chia can be stored for many years because of it's high antioxidant levels preserve it.

The word "Chia" originating from the Mayan language means strength. They earned their reputation from the long lasting energy they provide. Chia seeds have 5 times the calcium of milk. They are easily broken down and digested in the stomach. 1 oz of chia has appoximately 5 grams of Omega 3, which help fight inflamation and many diseases. 1 oz also has 9 grams of soluble fiber which helps to lower cholesterol.

Chia seeds absorb 12 times their weight in water if you leave them in water long enough. There are atheletes that like to do this and drink the "chia gel" before they exercise because it's a slow release of water into your system and helps to keep you hydrated over a longer period of time. They also help lower the glycemic index of anything you just ate.

Check it out and start out slowly and see how your body likes them. Eating foods like Chia seeds that are high in ALA-omega 3's helps with cellular energy and protects against imflamation and fights cancer.

You can get them from Whole Foods or off the internet on Amazon. I buy mine from www.wildernesspoets.com because I totally trust the quality of their products!!

So if you want more antioxidants in your diet and more energy try out chia seeds.

Until next time,
Jan




Sunday, February 10, 2013

A Beautiful Story


Last week I wrote about my husband and the burn he received from picking up a spoon off of a hot skillet. I put a mixture of my oils on his hand within seconds and his hand stopped throbbing and never blistered. I also mentioned that the mixture of oils that I put on him were made for a girl named Morgan who had ordered from Real Raw Beauty and then emailed me to ask for some help and advise for healing a scar she had received from a recent surgery. I asked Morgan if I could share her emails with you on my blog and she graciously agreed.



                          This is Morgan and here are the emails that she sent me.
 
My name is Morgan. I live in Memphis, TN and had the honor of practicing yoga with Hannah when she had Give. I have also tried her amazing raw food and she had put a sample of your radiant skin.
I was so grateful because I was having an operation on my neck the very next week and I would not be able to get water anywhere near my incision. I have been following your blog and then ordered some radiant body which I have loved to...as I have been extremely dry since my operation well really this entire winter.
 So thank you for the wonderful work you are doing! I was wondering if you had any product or what you could recommend? I had my salivary gland and a branchial cleft cyst a little larger than a ping pong ball removed from my neck on December 20. I would like some kind of oil to rub on the scar. It is still a little bit tender but I really want something that might aid in the puffiness around my scar...it is still swollen. When I began this journey I was worried about the scar...now I realize I will have a scar I just want to make sure I am taking care of it. Your oils have been very calming and nurturing for me during this process so I wanted to reach out and get your advice.
Thank you for taking the time to read this email.
 Gratefully,
  Morgan
  
Of course I was sorry to hear that Morgan had been through surgery and that now she had quite a large scar that was going to take some time to heal. But I was so happy that she reached out and I was able to help in the healing process. I sent her a mixture of oils that I knew had strong healing properties for cuts, burns, scraps, blisters and scarring. It also promotes the formation of new tissue and works at a cellular level to improve the skin's appearance. After 2 weeks she wrote me back and sent pictures to show me how well the oils had worked.

Hello Jan!
 
First, I wanted to say thank you for sharing the gift of your oils with me. I am grateful for you! I wanted to update you on how it is going after two weeks of use. Please see the pictures below. The one on the left is after my surgery two weeks ago before I started your oils. The one on the right was taken today. I have seen and most importantly FELT a difference in only 2 weeks. Many of the benefits are  noticeable in the pictures. First, you will notice the swelling in my neck has gone down a LOT!!! I have a jaw bone in the right photograph!!! This makes me so happy!!! Before surgery (because of the mass) I was so swollen...but I didn't remain as swollen after surgery... The dr. Said this could last a while but after only 2 weeks I'm starting to feel more like myself! The second is the thickness and color of the scar! I have olive skin and scar VERY easily. Every small cut or injury never fades on my skin!! So I was just going to accept my scar... I am so shocked at how much it had already faded! From a previous surgery I had used mederma, bio oil, cocoa butter and numerous other products... And those scars are still more visible than my scar treated with your oil!!  
And finally the most wonderful benefit to me is not visible on a photograph. It is peaceful, healing feeling I have felt each time I rub your oil onto my scar. This is a little harder to explain... But trust me.... It's beautiful and blissful!!!:):) Since surgery my incision has been very painful and I've been trying to protect it from any touch, even my own. But now I look forward to putting your oil on! Not only has the pain faded but so has the feeling of the need to overprotect my neck.
My healing process, thanks to you, has been beautiful!
I also want to order something from you for my mother. (Ill send you another email with details)
Thank you for taking your time to read this email. I am typically concise... And have never written a review on any product ... ( I don't even rate my apps:)) 
But I wanted to share all these happy details with you.

Gratefully,
Morgan


 
Thank you Morgan for allowing me to share your story and pictures. The oils that Morgan is using will soon be available at www.realrawbeauty.com
 
Until next time,
Jan
 


Sunday, February 3, 2013

Windex




 
 
Remember the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"?
 
One of the most memorable parts of this movie was Toula's father walking around with a bottle of Windex. No matter whether you had a cut or a burn or a mosquito bite, his cure was a squirt of Windex.
 
 
 
 
 
I am starting to feel like her father. The other night my husband placed a stainless steel spoon on the side of an extremely hot frying pan. He was making taco meat and walked away for about 5 minutes and then when he came back to stir it, without thinking reached down and picked up this spoon  and literally burned the imprint of the spoon handle into his hand. He started screaming, "what can I put on this, my whole hand is burned?"
 
I ran to the bathroom and grabbed some oils that I had made up for a client to put on a scar she had received from a surgical incision.  I poured the oils all over his hand and within 45 sec his hand stopped throbbing and the pain left. We kept a close eye on it that night and you could see the imprint of the handle of the spoon on the inside of his hand but he didn't feel any pain and he never had any blisters. He said "what is in this stuff, it's like a magic potion". That's when I told him I feel like my oils work for everything!! I said maybe I should get a Windex bottle and fill it up with these oils and just spray it on anything and everything!! The next morning all you could see was a little red area on the bottom part of his middle finger, but no pain and no blisters.
 

 
 
If you have ever been burned you know how painful it can be, not just at the time you burn yourself, but for hours afterward. And the normal course of action is that blisters pop up.  The combination of these oils not only stopped the pain but made his hand blister free.
In the month of February you will see two new products on the Real Raw Beauty website. Radiant A, which I posted about a few weeks ago in a blog Retin A the natural way, and Radiant Rescue.
Radiant Rescue is a mixture of organic oils that help heal scars, burns cuts and scrapes. It will be a great remedy to have around the house for adults as well as children. I haven't tried it on mosquito bites or poison ivy yet, but when spring comes I will let you know!!!
 
Until next time,
Jan