Skin Care Tips

We spend so much money in order to maintain a healthy and radiant skin. It is because we want to be beautiful inside and out and presentable to everyone. To be beautiful doesn’t mean spending so much; rather knowing how to care for our skin. Below are some of the basic skin care tips which we could try to achieve young looking skin.

1. Use the right cleanser. Wash your face not more than twice daily. Use body washes with vitamin E to keep skin soft.

2. Exfoliate 2-3 times weekly. Gently scrubbing off dead skin helps fresh cells shine through (making skin more radiant). You can use Spa salt available in stores.

3. Moisturize regularly. After showering, lather on moisturizer with hydrating ingredients like shea butter, milk or jojoba oil. Also look for the antioxidant vitamins A, C and E, which help protect skin from environmental pollutants

4. Get sea worthy. Packed with vitamins, minerals and proteins, seaweed, sea mud and sea salt can do everything to help clear up acne and add luster to the hair. Products containing sea ingredients have the ability to exfoliate and smooth the skin. It also contains vitamins and antioxidants that may help quell skin-damaging free radicals.
For dry skin, rub the salts in gentle circular strokes, avoiding the face and any open sores or cuts (salt stings wounds). And since sea salts can be abrasive, also avoid them if you have sensitive skin.
To fight breakouts caused by clogged pores use a cleanser and toner a.m. and p.m. that contains sea ingredients, followed by a light moisturizer with marine-sourced collagen and elastin.  Sea-mud mask can also help; use it two to three times weekly.

5. Never use the same product year-round. Skin is a living organ that's constantly affected by everything from hormones to humidity. Opt for a moisturizing cleanser in the winter when skin is drier and normal-to-oily formulations in the summer.

6. Always wash your face before calling it a day. To avoid blemishes, remove makeup before you go to bed.  Use cleansers formulated with pore-purging benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid.

7. Get enough sleep. Sleep deprivation can result in bulging eyes, pale skin and breakouts.

8. Hydrate your skin. If you don't drink enough water, it's not possible to achieve good skin. When you're dehydrated, your skin is one of the first organs to show it. That is why it is very important to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.

9. Be sun protected. Always apply a sunscreen with SPF 15 every day.

10. Exercise. It boosts blood circulation and keeps oxygen and nutrients flowing to the skin, giving it a fresh, radiant look.

11. Don't smoke. Don't just not smoke but also avoid smoky areas. Smoking constricts the capillaries, depriving the skin of much-needed oxygen.  

12. Apply moisturizer after washing hands. Dry, indoor air, cold weather and frequent washing can suck the moisture out of the skin on your hands. 

If your attempts aren’t working, try to visit a dermatologist to make sure of the condition of your skin and to prevent adverse reactions.

Why Itchy Scalp Happens?

Do you have itchy scalp? Why it happens? It usually occurs when the skin is dry, it has lice or it has a yeast buildup called Pityrosporum which always on the skin and loves to feed on dead scalp cells commonly called as dandruff. Dandruff can be cured by using anti-dandruff shampoo. It is suggested that when shampooing, leave the suds on your scalp for 5 minutes. It’s better to lather up once in order to remove any build up of dead skin, then rinse and repeat so that the shampoo can kill the excess yeast. If you are using gel try not to use for a few days, it might be the cause of the problem. If it is, then use the goop less often, dilute it with water or look for an allergen-free brand. If you have lice especially for children, use OTC remedies which are available at the chemists to get rid of them. It takes several applications may be needed before you can achieve a complete wipe out as the eggs are difficult to remove. Have a clean and healthy scalp everyday.

Hair Care Tips

Hair is made up of layers. It has the outer layer or the cuticle. It is consists of dead cells lying on top of one another like tiles on a roof. It is responsible for the protection of the middle layer or the cortex. The middle layer or cortex is composed of long, coiled proteins that make up the bulk of the hair. Most common problem of women is the occurrence of split ends. It happens when the protective cuticle is worn away on the tip of a strand allowing the fibers of the cortex to untangle and the hair to split lengthwise. Split ends are easy to spot but there is also other hair problem that needs of additional care. A healthy hair lies flat, but when hair is damaged the individual scales of the cuticles stand up and separate, making some of the strands flying away and look coarse. Another hair problem is, when you regularly heat-style your hair. If you regularly use blow-dryer, a curling iron or a flat iron for hair drying and hair styling, it can make the hair strands dry and brittle especially if you have fine hair.
How to improve and solve the condition of your hair? Beauty experts suggested the following tips:

1.      Avoid vent brushes with plastic bristles. These can cause further damage by ripping through the hair. On dry hair, use a wide brush with foam pad. For wet hair, try to use a wide-tooth comb, since it is more susceptible to tearing.

2.      Try not to shampoo everyday if you have dry hair. You can do this during off days, simply scrub your scalp with your fingers in the shower and condition the ends.

3.      Protect hair when heat-styling. Keep the blow dryer at least 4 inches from your hair and apply also a leave-on conditioner to make it smooth.

4.      Trim your hair every 6 to 8 weeks to remove damaged ends. Important reminder, never allow the stylist to use a razor in trimming because it could damage the ends of the hair.

Remember, be kind with your hair – use a deep conditioner every twice a week. This is to prevent hair damage, but if you do have split ends, the only solution to that is to cut it off. If you want to pull back your hair use a fabrkc or 3tretchable elastic instead o)plact)c or metal clip which can break the strands of the hair. If you caf folmow these simple techniques, you will begin to notice a change in your hair. So start caring your hair now.

Body Massage

Touch is a very important part of human contact. It gives comfort and relaxation of the body. That is why massage uses touch through rubbing or kneading the parts of the body.  This is to aid circulation, relax the muscles and provide sensual stimulation. Just a week ago I had a full body massage sponsored by my aunt in one of the massage spa in our city. It was a right timing then wherein I already felt numbness and aches on my back. I had a full body massage and it was a relaxing experienced. After the one hour session I felt that my body was so light and relaxed.

Massage is one of the simplest forms of therapy. Its goal is to help the body heal itself and to increase health and well-being.

There are many health benefits to receiving massage therapy on a regular basis:

Relieves stress
Encourages relaxation
Improves circulation
Improves posture
Lowers blood pressure
Helps manage pain
Relaxes muscles
Improves flexibility
Improves breathing
Relieves tension headaches
Strengthens immune system
Decreases depression

Where is Aga going?? #nasaansiaga

Where is Aga going?? #nasaansiaga

Papaya Leaves Cure for Dengue

I already posted this in my other blog but I want to share it again because it might help to the people infected with dengue.

I would like to share this interesting discovery from a classmate's son who has just recovered from dengue fever. Apparently, his son was in the critical stage at the SJMC ICU when his pallet counts drops to 15 after 15 liters of blood transfusion.
His father was so worried that he seeks another friend's recommendation and his son was saved. He confessed to me that he give his son raw juice of the papaya leaves. From a pallet count of 45 after 20 liters of blood transfusion, and after drinking the raw papaya leaf juice, his pallet count jumps instantly to 135. Even the doctors and nurses were surprised. After the second day he was discharged. So he asks me to pass this good news around.
Accordingly it is raw papaya leaves, 2pcs just cleaned and pound and squeeze with filter cloth. You will only get one tablespoon per leaf. So two tablespoon per serving once a day. Do not boil or cook or rinse with hot water, it will loose its strength. Only the leafy part and no stem or sap. It is very bitter and you have to swallow it like Won Low Kat. But it works.
Papaya Juice - Cure for Dengue
You may have heard this elsewhere but if not I am glad to inform you that papaya juice is a natural cure for dengue fever. As dengue fever is rampant now, I think it's good to share this with all.
A friend of mine had dengue last year. It was a very serious situation for her as her platelet count had dropped to 28,000 after 3 days in hospital and water has started to fill up her lung. She had difficulty in breathing. She was only 32-year old. Doctor says there's no cure for dengue. We just have to wait for her body immune system to build up resistance against dengue and fight its own battle. She already had 2 blood transfusion and all of us were praying very hard as her platelet continued to drop since the first day she was admitted.
Fortunately her mother-in-law heard that papaya juice would help to reduce the fever and got some papaya leaves, pounded them and squeeze the juice out for her. The next day, her platelet count started to increase, her fever subside. We continued to feed her with papaya juice and she recovered after 3 days!!! Amazing but it's true. It's believed one's body would be overheated when one is down with dengue and that also caused the patient to have fever papaya juice has cooling effect. Thus, it helps to reduce the level of heat in one's body, thus the fever will go away. I found that it’s also good when one is having sore throat or suffering from heat.
Please spread the news about this as lately there are many dengue cases. It's great if such natural cure could help to ease the sufferings of dengue patients. Furthermore it's so easily available. Blend them and squeeze the juice! It's simple and miraculously effective!!

What is a Dengue Mosquito?

The dengue mosquito looks like any other mosquitoes. That is why it is hard to identify them unless you use a microscope. So it is important to know the characteristics of a dengue mosquito.
The Signs

• It likes to live indoors and bite people indoors
• It is hard to catch; it moves very quickly, darting back and forth
• It likes to hide under furniture and bite people around the feet and ankles
• Its bite is often relatively painless, so people may not notice they are being bitten or they may think they are being bitten by sandflies/biting midges.

Where they live?

Adult mosquito likes to stay in dark areas inside and under houses and buildings. Their favorite resting spots are under beds, tables and chairs, wardrobes and closets, piles of dirty laundry and shoes, inside open containers, dark and quiet rooms, and even on dark objects such as clothing or furniture. They prefer to bite during daytime. It is very careful when biting, flying away so quickly at the slightest disturbance. The best way to kill this mosquito is to apply a residual insecticide spray to the areas where they stay.

The Breeding Sites
The dengue mosquito frequents backyards in search of containers holding water inside and outside the home, such as:

• cans
• buckets
• jars
• vases
• pot plant dishes
• birdbaths
• boats
• tyres – discarded with no rims
• roof gutters blocked by leaves
• striking containers (used to strike plants) 
• tarpaulins and black plastic.

It can also breed in natural containers like:

• bromeliads
• fallen palm fronds.

In drier conditions it also breeds in water in subterranean sites such as:

• wells
• telecommunication pits
• sump pits
• gully traps.

The dengue mosquito does not fly very far, so if you get rid of mosquito breeding sites around your home, you will significantly reduce your risk of being bitten by dengue mosquitoes.

How do dengue mosquitoes transmit dengue?

Only female mosquito can be infected with dengue after biting an infected human who is viraemic with dengue. Viraemic means when there are enough virus particles in the person’s blood to infect a mosquito. So in 8-10 days the infected mosquito is able to transmit the virus to other people.  Thus the cycle of transmission takes only 14 days. An infected person can transmit dengue to mosquitoes at home, at work or anywhere they visit

What is Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever?

                                                                     (dengue rashes)

A week ago my son was admitted to the hospital and was diagnosed with dengue hemorrhagic fever. What is dengue hemorrhagic fever? It is a serious complication of dengue infection, a viral infection transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. It is characterized by a fever that lasts from two days to 1 week and is accompanied by symptoms seen in the milder dengue infection known as dengue fever.
The Symptoms
It includes headache, eye pain, musculoskeletal pain, and easy bleeding or bruising. Later symptoms include rash, restlessness, sweating, red to reddish-purple spots or patches on the skin, and cold clammy skin. When fever goes away, fluid begins to leak from the tiny blood vessels known as capillaries. The fluid can collect in the abdominal cavity or around the lungs.
The Treatment
That is why it is necessary to admit the patient in order for the patient to be given an Intravenous fluid to support the circulatory system. Since dengue has no specific treatment other than relieving symptoms and replacing fluids and blood as needed.

Constant fluid intake really help my son for his fast recovery from dengue fever. I let him drink 350ml water every 30 minutes interval and it was successful. We only stayed for two days in the hospital because his platelet count went back to its normal range. Above all thanks to GOD. He answered my prayer.