8 Homemade Hair Treatments

Make an all-natural remedy designed especially for your hair type

Eggs, yogurt and honey are, at first glance, all components of a tasty breakfast—but they also happen to be hair treatment ingredients, and affordable, all-natural ones at that. And they're not the only ones. Did you know, for instance, that the oils in avocados more closely resemble our own skin's oils than any product in the beauty aisle does? Or that the mild acidity in lemon is an effective—and gentler—alternative to chemical-laden products? Next time your locks need a lift, save money by using one of these kitchen fixes.

For All Hair Types

To Use: For normal hair, use the entire egg to condition hair; use egg whites only to treat oily hair; use egg yolks only to moisturize dry, brittle hair, Cox says. Use 1/2 cup of whichever egg mixture is appropriate for you and apply to clean, damp hair. If there isn’t enough egg to coat scalp and hair, use more as needed. Leave on for 20 minutes, rinse with cool water (to prevent egg from “cooking”) and shampoo hair. Whole egg and yolks-only treatments can be applied once a month; whites-only treatment can be applied every two weeks.

For Dull Hair

To Use: Massage 1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt into damp hair and let sit for 20 minutes. Rinse with warm water, followed by cool water, then shampoo hair as you normally would. Treatment can be applied every other week.

For Itchy Scalp

To Use: Mix 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, 2 Tbsp olive oil and 2 Tbsp water, and massage into damp scalp. Let mixture sit for 20 minutes, then rinse and shampoo hair. Treatment can be applied every other week.

For Limp or Fine Hair

To Use: Mix 1/2 cup flat beer (pour beer into a container and let it sit out for a couple of hours to deplete carbonation) with 1 tsp light oil (sunflower or canola) and a raw egg. Apply to clean, damp hair, let sit for 15 minutes, then rinse with cool water. Or add flat beer only to a spray bottle and spritz onto dry hair. "When the liquid evaporates, the remaining protein residue (from the wheat, malt or hops) continues to strengthen and structure hair," says Belkin. Treatments can be applied every other week.

For Dry or Sun-Damaged Hair

To Use: Massage approximately 1/2 cup honey into clean, damp hair, let sit for 20 minutes, then rinse with warm water. You can also add 1 to 2 Tbsp olive oil to loosen the honey for easier application. For extremely sun-damaged hair, trying mixing honey with 1 to 2 Tbsp of a protein-rich ingredient, like avocado or egg yolk, which will help replenish the keratin protein bonds that UV rays attack. Treatment can be applied once a month.

For Oily or Greasy Hair

To Use: Pour 1 Tbsp cornmeal or cornstarch into an empty salt or pepper shaker and sprinkle onto dry hair and scalp until you’ve used it all. After 10 minutes, use a paddle hairbrush to completely brush it out. Treatment can be applied every other day.

For Frizzy Hair

To Use: Mash up half an avocado and massage into clean, damp hair. Let sit for 15 minutes before rinsing with water. Amp up moisturizing power by combining mashed avocado with 1 to 2 Tbsp of a hydrating ingredient, like sour cream, egg yolks or mayonnaise. Treatment can be applied every two weeks.

For Residue-Ridden Hair

To Use: Mix 1 to 2 Tbsp baking soda with small amounts of water until a thick paste forms. Massage into damp hair and let sit for 15 minutes. Rinse with water, then shampoo hair. Treatment can be applied every two weeks.

10 Things You Should Know About Mascara !!!

You can never own enough mascara. It’s the finishing touch for the perfect eye makeup and without it, we feel practically naked. To really get the best out of your mascara, take a look at the tips below on how you should be using mascara — even if no one’s ever told you these things before.

1. It doesn’t last forever: This might come as a shock to most, but mascara actually does expire. The average life span is about 3-5 months, so after that, get rid of your old mascara. Otherwise, you’re risking bacterial infections, and no one wants that.

2. Keep the wand: We hate to say goodbye to our mascara, but saving the wand is actually something you should do. Wash the wand and use it as a “spoolie” brush to help groom your brows.

3. Take it off: Sometimes we get too tired to wipe our makeup off before we go to bed, but leaving mascara on your lashes overnight does more harm than you know. When the mascara dries overnight, it can cause your lashes to fall off, and a stiff lash can actually scratch your cornea while you’re sleeping.

4. Turn up the volume: We love a voluminous lash, so to get the best out of your mascara, powder your lashes — using baby powder and a cotton swab — before application to for an extra lush look.

5. Moisturize your lashes: It’s easy to forget that our eyelashes are actually tiny hairs, and should be treated as such. Before bed, moisturize your lashes with olive oil or any moisturizer to keep them hydrated. Just be careful to keep anything out of your eye.

6. Not everyday is a waterproof day: Waterproof mascara is ideal for those teary moments, but using it everyday isn’t advisable. Since it can’t easily be removed, the continuos tugging at the lashes can cause them to become weaker and eventually make them fall out.

7. Keep your eyes open: The key to not blinking (and ruining your mascara) during application? Opening your mouth. When your mouth is open wide, it’s a bit harder to blink.

8. Never smudge again: Hate getting mascara stains on your eyelid? Avoid them by placing an old business card or plastic spoon on your eyelid, right above your lashes. Apply your mascara in this position, and any excess product will go onto the business card or spoon, not your eyelid.

9. Seal the deal: Give your mascara the finishing touch by coating your lashes with clear mascara after application. This will help to solidify your lashes and protect the mascara from smudging or running.

10. The perfect mascara: There are so many types of mascaras out there, you have to figure out what works for you and your lashes. Do you need to lengthen? curl? give volume? Whatever it is you need, there’s a mascara out there waiting for you. If you can’t find it, find a few and make a mascara cocktail!

Love Deborah,

Xoxo

How to Grow Long, Strong Nails

Do you have short, stubby or unhealthy looking nails? Do you have the kind of nails that just won't grow past your fingertips? Do you want those long, gorgeous fingernails that you see people with on TV, without spending tons of money on acrylic and fake nails? Then keep on reading. This article will show you step-by-step how to grow long and strong nails, and keep them as well 

1

Stop biting them. Yes, it's pretty hard. But they have some bitter tasting polishes on the market. Go to the grocery store and pick up one. You can use it on your bare nail, or on top of polish, the only thing is, they may have to be re-applied every few days for the bitter taste to stay.

2

Keep nail files around. Just file once a week. Depending on genes, nails may break easily. Nails often break if they are uneven, and nails naturally grow unevenly. So stash files everywhere, and whenever you see unevenness, file them all to the same length, shape, and size.

3

Know what type of nails you have. There are 5 types of nails. They are dry, brittle, damaged, soft,and normal. If you have normal nails..... you are a pretty lucky gal! Your nails have absolutely no flaws(except for biting if your guilty for that.) If you have dry nails, apply olive oil to the bare nail and cuticle twice a day and massage it in. If you have brittle nails, it means they are too stiff and need moisture. If you have damaged nails, they split, crack, NEVER grow, and DESPERATELY need help. This may be due to a health problem. Then there's soft nails. Surprisingly, this means your nails have too much moisture! The culprit is water, so just remember to wear gloves.

4

Drink water. Your nails will love you for it. You can also take multi vitamins to speed up growth and lotion helps keep the moisture in.

5

Also try to handle more natural items so swap plastic for wood, fabric- leather etc. You can do this by simply buying more natural items, so that means no sweets! It's hard but if you get off the sugar for a while your nails will grow stronger and won't break as easily.

6

Apply more than one coat of nail polish, or a base coat two coats of nail polish, and then a top coat. This simply stops chipping and will make your nails look stronger, but if you don't have time to do this you can buy special anti chip nail varnish but these will not work as well. Another way to stop chipping is to apply some of the nail polish on the tip of your nail. Also add a fresh top coat daily to your manicure. Using nail polish remover when your manicure chips will weaken your nails rather than strengthen them.

Love Deborah,

Xoxo

10 Beauty tips & tricks to make our live easier !!!

We spend a good deal of our day making sure we're primped and preened to perfection, so wouldn't it be nice if there were little life hacks to make the job easier? 

1. Spritz some hair spray on a spoolie brush (which looks like a mascara wand without the mascara), and use it to tame your brows.

2. Position a business card behind your lashes before applying mascara to keep it off your lids.

3. Make your eyelash curler more effective by heating it up with your blow dryer before using it.

4. Smudge some Vaseline around the outside of your nails before applying polish. This will keep the lacquer off the skin around your nails for a clean manicure.

5. You can also wrap a cotton ball around an orange stick (a manicure tool) to clean up wayward polish on your fingers.

6. Save a broken lipstick by heating the damaged ends with a blow dryer, smush the pieces back together, and put it in the fridge overnight to seal.

7. Brush on a thick layer of setting powder around your eyes before you apply your glitter eyeshadow. Once you're done, sweep away the powder to remove any glitter that might have fallen during application.

8. Some tissue paper (or even a toilet seat cover!) can be used as a blotting sheet in a pinch.

9. Pluck your eyebrows after your shower. Your pores will be more open, making it a little less painful.

10. To keep your liquid eyeliner from drying out, store it brush-side down.

                        

LOVE Deborah,

Xoxo

How to Grow Your Hair Out Long

Do you have trouble growing your hair out? Did you cut it short and now you want your precious hair back? You're in luck! This article is going to share a few simple ideas with you that may give your hair an extra growth boost!

Steps 

1.Commit to growing long hair. The biggest problem to growing your hair out is simply getting bored and having it cut into different styles. Understand that growing ultra-long hair from a short cut can take years, and may involve some "in between" phases that are not very exciting for you. If you enjoy changing your cut, you may want to reconsider long hair (try extensions for a temporary long style). If long hair is truly what you want, exercise patience!

2

If you wash your hair every day, stop doing so. Washing your hair every single day will strip it of its natural oils. Instead, wash every other day or every two days. Be sure your wash with both a shampoo and conditioner, and try to buy a shower cap other times so your hair does not get wet when you bathe and wash your skin. This way, all the oils will stay in your hair and around your scalp and not lost in the water. Give your hair some time to "get used to" this schedule of washing. If you find that it looks greasy, try dry shampoo on non-wash days.

3

Do oil treatments one-three times weekly. Oil treatments are simple. You can use anything from olive oil to expensive salon treatments. Here are some easy natural oil treatments: Olive oil: Use one-four tbs. of olive oil and put it in your damp or dry hair (preferably damp but not dripping wet). Leave in between 15-45 minutes then rinse out being sure to shampoo twice and condition once. Almond oil: Almond oil is the best natural hair oil remedy in most opinions. Put again one-four tbs. in your hair. Leave in for one day (the no wash day) and rinse out the next day. Repeat at least once weekly. Hot oil treatment (store bought)

4

Brush your hair finely. This means you will need two-four brushes. A wide toothed brush, and close bristled brush, a wide toothed comb, and a rat tailed comb (not wide). Start brushing your hair in order of appearance above. Be sure to brush everyday in order at least twice. Brush your underneath coat and top coat of hair. Brush starting at the bottom to remove all knotted (grab one piece of hair starting at the middle of your length in all and comb/brush downward.) After removing all knots, start at the roots and move your way down to the ends to carry oil to your roots to help improve damage rates and keep healthy hair. If you start at the roots and move your way down in the beginning you will cause more knots because you are pushing your hair down causing it to intertwine with strands and knot or damage.

5

Massage your scalp too daily one-three times. This will improve circulation around the follicles and increase blood flow that creates hair growth because the blood carries nutrients and vitamins.

6

Don’t trim too often. Many times you will need to cut your hair ends every 6-8 weeks to get rid of your split ends. At minimum, you should be cutting 1/2 and inch off your hair (your split ends) every 3-4 months. Because hair is made of dead tissue, the myth that trimming it will cause it to grow faster is not true. However, trimming is essential to quality long hair because it removes damage from your length and keeps it looking neat.

7

Help control split ends. As stated above, washing your hair too much takes the valuable oils out of your hair necessary for hair growth, but they also cause split ends. You usually wash pretty hard (not super hard but good enough), which is good, but too often can not be so great. Also, control the amount of products you let into your hair. Give you hair a day or two to rest (meaning don’t use any products) this will help your hair rejuvenate and keep it healthy.) The less products the better (excluding natural remedies. But even too many of these can be damaging!)

8

Tie your hair up. Tying your hair up in a pony tail, pigtails, braids, or any other type of elastic required style will pull on the scalp, slightly causing better oxygen flow from the outside and stimulating the follicles (which is good). Be careful when you style your hair and remove the elastic, as you want to minimize the number of hairs broken in the process. Never use an office-style rubber band in your hair; use only elastics specifically designed for the hair.

Love Deborah,

Xoxo

7 Common Mistakes You Make When Washing Your Face

Washing your face seems pretty simple, right? You’ve been doing it your whole life and, well, your face is still attached so what’s the big deal?

The issue is that you can cause more harm than good if you don’t do it right, and that can result in some pretty significant issues, like dryness, irritation and premature sagging and wrinkles. 

Pick the right cleanser: Depending on your skin type, you need to pick a pH-balanced cleanser that’s perfect for your face. 

Make sure your hands are clean:  Dirty hands mean that you’re trying to cleanse your skin with, well, dirty hands. Wash your hands first, then wash your face.

Wash your washcloth: If you’re using a washcloth, make sure that’s clean, too. Either wash the washcloth every single day or use a new one each time you wash your face. Washcloths can redeposit dirt and grime right back to your skin. 

You’re getting warmer: You want lukewarm water to ensure that your skin remains hydrated and unaffected. 

Don’t over-exfoliate: A lot of people go at their skin with a bit too much gusto with scrubs and exfoliant .You also want to avoid using harsh grains and use a gentle scrub or exfoliant so you don’t cause damage to the skin.

Get rid of the cleanser completely: You should make sure to cleanse your face completely. Make sure you rinse any cleanser off completely. Residue can lead to dryness.

Twice a day, no exceptions: Most people don’t wash their face enough. You should wash your face twice a day. Once in the morning when you wake up to remove the dirt and bacteria that gathers on your face while you’re sleeping, then again at night to take off makeup and the grime collected throughout the day.

We got to admit that we do a lot mistakes with our face . Hope this helped you guys 

Love Deborah, 

Xoxo

Let's be more beautiful in 2014 !!

Considering we’re all giving ourselves resolutions for the new year, now’s the time to evaluate what’s going on in your life. As amazing as those resolutions about learning to cook and exercising more can be, it’s equally as important to figure out what you should be ditching for 2014. Do you eat too much sugar? Do you fall asleep with your makeup on every night?

There’s no time like the present to leave bad habits in the past, and we’re guessing that you could ditch at least one or two of the bed beauty habit below.

Biting your nails (and cuticles): Whatever you do, stop biting your fingers. Not only is it unsanitary — you’re putting bacteria from your hands into your mouth, then leaving your fingers more susceptible to infection — it’s also unsightly. Keep your nails short to avoid wanting to bite them and apply cuticle oil to your fingers once a day.

Not moisturizing: Whether it’s your face or your body, not moisturizing your skin (especially in the winter) can cause dry, flaky skin. Get into the routine of applying lotion within 10 minutes of getting out of the shower, when your skin is holding onto moisture, and you’ll notice smoother, softer skin in no time.

Being afraid of color: On your lips, your eyes or your nails, stop being afraid to add a drop of color into your look. To ease yourself into it, try a lip stain instead of lipstick, colored liner instead of eyeshadow, or one accent nail in a bold color instead of a whole manicure.

Over-plucking your eyebrows: We know it’s tempting, but put down the tweezers. 2013 was the year of the bold brows, but they won’t be going anywhere in 2014. Use an eyebrow pencil or gel while you grow in your brows naturally, and only pluck stray hairs where you absolutely need to.

Touching your face: Hands down, people. Touching your face is likely why you’ve got red spots or acne happening, and when you stop touching your face, it’s highly likely all those issues will go away. At first if it’s a huge habit, make sure you’ve always got something in your hands so that you won’t touch your face. In time, you’ll get used to not touching your face anymore and your skin will thank you.

Not using a base coat: If you have yellow nails, not using a base coat is likely the culprit. Not only are you protecting your nails from being stained by polish, you’re also helping to make your manicure last longer and you’ll be making your nails stronger.

Wearing your hair up every day: It’s one thing if you feel like you look your best while your hair is up. It’s another thing entirely if you simply throw your hair up into a ponytail or bun because you don’t want to do your hair. Start with once a week, but make the choice to actually style your hair instead of avoiding it. You’ll feel better about yourself, and your confidence will go through the roof.

Falling asleep with makeup on: This one’s an obvious habit to kick, but that doesn’t make it any less important. Sleeping with makeup on is asking for terrible skin, and no one wants that. Resolve to do it for three weeks straight and after that you’ll be in the habit of taking off your makeup.

Hope all this tips were helpful for you 

Love Deborah ,
Xoxo