Powder

My first memory of baking soda ("shake it till you can't shake it no mo'") is that my grandmother used it in the refrigerator so that the fish she bought each week wouldn't make her house smell like low tide. My brother and I were grateful for this because we spent much of our time in the fridge searching for delicious things and did not want to be impeded by horrible smells.
Then my boyfriend told me he used to drink baking soda and water to settle an upset stomach. I suffer from some pretty bad stomach pains - but none that would ever make me turn to that tip. I tastes too awful!
I blogged three weeks ago about one good thing baking soda can do for you - especially when you're in dire need of a cure like I was then - but this week I want to share even more tips because this ingredient is a gem and I can't keep secrets like this to myself.

Hair

Chlorine Cure: I've talked about the chlorine content of the water here and of my fear of green locks. So here's a tip that I've been using as regularly as a if I were a pro swimmer. 1 tsp to a bottle of shampoo adds extra cleaning and helps prevent dull or discolored hair.
Dry Shampoo: Many like the effect of dry shampoo because it helps with oily roots but also can add volume to the finer hairs in life. Sprinkle a little on, massage in and use a hair dryer to restyle if necessary.

Body

Anti dry: For some reason the skin on my elbows and knees are dryer than they normally are in the summer. All I do to get rid of this is to make a paste of baking soda and water and apply. Rinse off when dry.
Hands: I also like to soften my cuticles with a toothbrush dipped in baking soda and water.

Face

White mask: Exfoliating, cleansing and anti-acne, this mask (made of just water and baking soda) is one of the best DIY tips of all time. Women have used it for centuries. If you don't feel like you have the energy to indulge in a whole mask, you can make just enough to cover one blemish. Rinse when dry.
There are many more tips like these! Check them out.

Green

I love kiwis - the fruit, the animal and the people. But the fruit in particular is  delicious and packed with vitamin C, which, as I've mentioned in other posts, is best used straight from its natural source.
There are a lot of great tips for using kiwi for skin care and there's a good reason for it. Aside from being one of the biggest sources of vitamin C, the kiwi fruit is full ofalpha-hydroxy acid, acids which exfoliate and brighten skin as well as control shine. Here are some tips that are especially great if your skin is tired and dull from a long work week.

Body

Green scrub: Make a scrub using raw or brown sugar (I personally prefer brown sugar because it makes a better paste) and the pulp of as many kiwis as it takes. This mix contains three exfoliators: the seeds from the kiwi, the AHAs and the sugar. And is smells so fresh - kind of like this.

Hands

Manicure prep: Use 1 kiwi pulp and 1 tbsp olive oil. Leave on for up to 20 minutes - this is exfoliating and moisturizing.

Face

Mashed: Just mashing the pulp of a kiwi and letting it sit on your face makes for a perfect mask. But adding extra ingredients depending on your skin type can heighten the experience. Add olive oil for dry skin and honey for combination skin. If you have oily skin, I would stick to just kiwi because it already has everything you need!

Cubism

Today it's supposed to get close to 100 degrees F and there is no beach or pool in sight. I will be correcting papers and generally doing tasks that allow me to sit very still.
Lately my skin has been suffering from the heat. I can't seem to get my creams and lotions applied before I begin to perspire so it's causing a bit of disruption on the skin's surface. I'm also so sick of running around campus in the beating sun. So today, I will relax with a few of the easiest tips I know!
Use ice! Not just to cool down, ice helps tighten the pores and can be good in this heat because your skin needs a break! These tips are very simple and will make you feel so much cooler.

Face

Before you go freezing regular ice cubes and running them over your face (which is an ok idea) try these more creative tips.
Rose cubes: Make an infusion of rose water - as easy as boiling rose petals in water and letting it cool- and make ice cubes from the infusion. Rose water is a light astringent so it gives the skin a healthy look.
Cucumber cubes: This one is my favorite. Cucumbers have a naturally high water content so just freezing cucumber slices on their own would be sufficient. They are also so great on puffy eyes, so make sure to use these cubes early every morning when you haven't had enough sleep. I would keep cucumber cubes available all year long if I remembered to do it! To do: let sliced cucumbers sit in water for as long as desired. Then pour the mixture into an ice cube tray. You can choose to remove the pieces of cucumber from the cubes or even leave them in. These cubes are also delicious in a glass of water!
Orange cubes: I cannot stress enough the benefits of vitamin C from its original source. However, try not to get lazy and use orange juice. A lot of times the juice is concentrated and just not as fresh. To do: Juice an orange and mix with water. Pour the mixture into an ice cube tray. Voilà - Orange juice for you and your skin in the morning.

Hair

Shiny Hair: Ice cold water is a great way to seal hair's cuticle and make it shiny. Use any of the  water recipes (except the orange cubes), chilled in the freezer but not quite frozen, and pour all over hair.

Body

Ice bath: Of course you could pour any one of the ice recipes into a bath but I'm not sure I would want to get quite that cold...

Sugar

It's Friday and I really couldn't be happier about that. This Sunday will mark my third week at this job, which means only five weeks left! And next week I actually begin teaching, so I'll be needing some time to relax at the end of the day. Here's how I'll make my bathroom feel like a spa using sugar.
There is nothing better than a good scrub* to remove the top layer of dead skin cells on the face, body, feet and hands. It smoothes skin and makes everything seem brighter and cleaner. The best part is that you can make your own and they're better than the ones you can buy because a) they're all natural (and you have the option of making them organic) and b) they're much cheaper this way. The best thing about these scrubs is that they last for a long time,  so make a batch and store it in a mason jar in the shower for weeks!

Hands

New Hands Honey Scrub: I use this every time I give friends a manicure and they can attest to how incredibly soft their hands feel afterward. It's like getting new skin! I mix 1 tsp honey with just enough sugar to make a paste and apply it with small, massaging circles. It rinses off easily!

Body

Brown Sugar Body Scrub: Unlike this, the homemade one doesn't cost $65 and it' customizable. I make mine with honey, vanilla extract (for an even sweeter smell) and of course, some brown sugar.

Face

Olive Oil & sugar: I usually use the honey scrub on my face in the summer, but days that are dry call for this recipe. 1 tspolive oil and as much sugar as needed to make a paste with. This scrub is very moisturizing so it is best for dry/aging skin.

*You may have heard that crushing almonds makes a good scrub, but this is not true - especially for the skin on your face. The uneven edges can make tears in your skin that take a long time to heal. Don't do it!

BLUE

[My Independence Day series is a three-day event where the posts will revolve around a red, a blue, and a white ingredient. All of these ingredients will in some way help sunburned skin but will also be good for other things. Happy Fourth!]

Come on. You knew it would be the blueberry. And truly, I can't believe it's taken me this long to get to it. Blueberries are ranked at the top for antioxidant power which means more benefits for your skin. It's also loaded with vitamin C. Really, you can't complain when it's that good.
I'm not the biggest fan of eating them (they're always a little too tart for my taste) but I think they're beautiful, and aesthetics are important to me. I also love the simplicity of the recipes that have blueberry in them. Because when the ingredient has so much power, you don't want too much else in it.

Body

Leaves: I've heard that blueberry leaves can relieve eczema symptoms. Steeping the leaves in hot water and using them in creams is said to work wonders and many believe in this treatment. I have not tried it myself, but it's good to throw out there, in case someone want to.

Face

Blue facial: 1/4 cup blueberries and 1tsp each olive oil and honey. Mix in a blender, apply and leave on for 20 minutes.
Blue and white: 1/4 cup blueberries and 1/4 yogurt in a blender will do great things if you spent your weekend outside.

WHITE

[My Independence Day series is a three-day event where the posts will revolve around a red, a blue, and a white ingredient. All of these ingredients will in some way help sunburned skin but will also be good for other things. Happy Fourth!]

Yogurt is crazy. It's bacteria. Bacteria that's good for you. It helps your teeth, your bones, your immune system... it's just crazy.
It's also full to the brim with zinc which is a powerful healer. The high lactic acid content helps to exfoliate sensitive skin or cool and heal a sunburn. I've used so many yogurt tips because they are easy and they work. These are my favorites.*

Body

Hand healer: Mix some yogurt with 1 tsp lemon juice. Keep refrigerated and use everyday on the hands. It's exfoliating, rejuvenating and healing.

Hair

Scalp soother: Massage yogurt into your scalp to ward off dandruff and de-tangle hair. Really, do it. This is also great if your scalp was sunburned during the day's festivities. Rinse out when it dries!

Face

Sunburn savior: Just spreading yogurt on sunburned or sensitive skin does wonders. Exfoliating, cleansing and brightening, it's a really powerful weapon.
Acne help: Use yogurt as a spot treatment. Dab a bit on and wipe off when it dries.

*REMEMBER: I'm talking about using yogurt here. Not the sugary, dyed kind for kids. I mean plain, active cultures yogurt. And greek is best because it has a higher protein count.

RED

[My Independence Day series is a three-day event where the posts will revolve around a red, a blue, and a white ingredient. All of these ingredients will in some way helpsunburned skin but will also be good for other things. Happy Fourth!]

The people who predict the skies tell me it's supposed to be a nice this July 4th weekend. If that's true, I plan to be outside all. day. long. July 4th weekend is a mini-summer vacation for me and I'm going to enjoy it.
So I'll either tan gracefully if I remember SPF or burn horribly. Either way, I tend to make it up to my skin with these red tips.
Body
Sunburn relief moisturizer: Crush an equal amount of tomato and yogurt. Blend well and apply.

Hair

De-green: My hair is very light blond and the chlorine content is so high in the water here (at my job) it's like I spend my mornings in a pool, only less enjoyable. So tomato will help for two reasons: it is incredibly cleansing and acts as an astringent, and it is full of lycopene which is what gives it the red color. Red is the opposite of green on the color wheel, so the red of the tomato help remove the green my blond hair gets when it meets too much chlorine. Use tomato paste (it has a higher tomato content) for this.
Face
Blackhead remover: use the inside of a tomato like an eraser. Cut a tomato in two and rub the inside all over the face, concentrating on the areas with the most blackheads. Leave on for 20 minutes and rinse.
Acne eliminator: mash a tomato and leave on for as close to an hour as possible. Use frequently for best results.

bed bug blues

[UPDATE: I am at my new job at a prestigious, private university. It is famous for many things, one important thing being the fact that 90% of their graduates find a job immediately after graduation. As a school of technology and engineering, the student body is large and includes many international students. I am here for the international students. I will teach them all they need to know about the campus, as well as getting their English skills ready for American University life.]

I was placed in a typical college dorm which is as clean as... a dorm. After only the first night I woke up with three large bites on my legs. The Maine State Bird must have followed me here, I guessed. I found one, killed it and moved on. Day two brought two more bites and I found and killed a few enormous spiders. After a while I stopped seeing bugs but continued to see bites (11 bites by the end of the workweek)... which, my doctor advised me, meant there was a good chance I had bed bugs.

Imagine: You're in bed, staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep because a)you're trying hard not to scratch the bites that cover your legs and b) you know that soon, there will be bugs crawling all over you...

After packing some of my belongings in plastic bags and leaving them in my room, and washing whatever I wanted to bring with me, I relocated to the spare room in the office I'm working in. Which is awkward but there are no new bites.
Only now I'm itching like CRAZY and have no way to go to a store to buy antihistamines. So what do I do? Why did this happen to me? Why do these things always happen to me?
In the midst of my whining, my mother suggested that I blog about some remedies. Oh yeah. I'm the girl with the home remedies blog and I can't seem to get it together and live without chemically enhanced creams? Get ahold of yourself!
So, how to relieve the itchy madness of insect bites (bed bug, mosquito or other) without being able to go to a store or pharmacy etc:

Salt

Salt has been used to treat wounds for a very long time, which I first learned from this game. Make a paste with salt and water, or just make salt water and dab a soaked cotton ball on the bite.

Lime juice

Squirt some lime juice (diluted with water) on the bites! The acid helps relieve itch and can speed the healing process.

Soap

Yes I know this is not from the kitchen. And, yes, you should clean the area before you treat it anyway. This is something you should know if you're over the age of naive. But you can also rub dry soap over the bites to relieve the itch AND the swelling. I owe you one, Dove.

Bananas, Olive oil, and Vinegar  

The inside of banana peels can be rubbed over the affected area to relieve itch. Olive oil and vinegar can be mixed and applied for the same effect.

SUMMER!

Happy Midsummer Day! I wish I was celebrating this beautiful holiday with my family in Sweden. Instead I'm in Massachusetts, writing this blog for you, with no pool or beach or summer activities in site. Basically I'm using this blog update to remind me that it issummer.
There is no other fruit that screams summer the way that watermelondoes. It is the ultimate outdoor* food - no one wants to clean it up so you always get thrown outside with your watermelon slices in hand.
But it doesn't matter that you're banished outside to eat it. Watermelon is nature's freeze pop and it has lycopene, which is a natural red pigmentation that has been shown to help prevent skin cancer. So eat up this summer!
While you're slicing that thing up, take advantage of its skin care benefits. The fresh, watery consistency of the fruit is a great mask or exfoliator. Don't believe me? Try it yourself.

Body

Watermelon cubes: After a long hot day in the sun it is crucial to relieve the burn you have procured (if you forgot sunscreen). Slice some watermelon into cubes and freeze them for 30 minutes at most. Dump them into a pitcher of cool water and let sit until they have softened and melted. Get into the bath and pour the mixture over the sunburned areas. This also works with cucumbers too; because of their high water content and their silica and lycopene ingredients, they work wonders on damaged skin.

Face

Pink Exfoliator: Just mashing the watermelon pulp and scrubbing it all over your face is one of my simplest tricks. Because of the high water content you don't need to mix with water. You will, however, need to rinse.
Sunny sun burn trick: Mixing some mashed watermelon with 2 tsps of yogurt gives you two powerful ingredients to help relieve the sunburn on your face.

*Enjoy your summer days safely. The beautiful sun is the number one reason for skin damage, skin cancer and wrinkles. A little prevention goes a long way.