Skin Care Regime For Women of Color

Black skin is unique in itself and is one of the most dominant features that portrays ethnic beauty. It is for this reason that it is important to maintain a skin care regime to keep your skin looking smooth and cleansed. Black skin tends to be very sensitive and prone to develop issues such as severe dryness and acne so here are some top tips on how to avoid them. Once every three to six months it is advisable to go to a beauty specialist for some special treatment so you'll be able to tell the difference in the long run when your skin begins to show the normal signs of work, stress, sun, alcohol, long working-hours and age. Then again, let's face it, there's nothing more relaxing than getting pampered by a beauty specialist and leaving his/her shop feeling fresh and new with a baby-soft skin. 

If you don't feel like moving from your home you can always check for professionals online that will deliver their services in the comfort of your home whether you're in the US, Canada, Turkey or Nigeria. If you have friends that have already asked for this kind of service you can always call the same person that visits them to make sure you will be happy with the results. But we can't always rely on a beauty specialist. Most of the work must be done by ourselves on a daily basis applying the right skin techniques.

Here are a few tips on how to proceed to always have a young and healthy skin:

1.     It is no secret that no matter what type of ethnic background you have, maintaining a healthy and balanced diet with plenty of water, fruit and vegetables is a simple and effective way into keeping your skin healthy and glowing. Avoid fatty foods that will result in your skin becoming oily and blocking pores.

2.     Cleansing and moisturizing your skin daily is an important factor that will save you a lot of trouble in the long run. If you have dry skin, use a cleanser that will add moisture, hydrate and add a healthy glow.

3.     Although African skin is not as affected by the sun like other skin types such as Caucasian, it is still important to wear moisturizers and sun creams to prevent your skin from drying up. Black skin is very sensitive, especially on the face. The sun cream won’t prevent you from developing darker skin tones, but will just be sure to prevent any burning.

4.     Removing make up at the end of the day is an important tip when it comes to maintaining healthy skin. Any remaining make-up can block pores resulting in acne and spots. Cleansers, especially for make-up removal, should be added to your regimen and  can be purchased at drug stores.

10 Foods That Burns off Your Fat

List of 10 Foods That Burns off your excessive Fat: 

1. Oats : Its not only tastes great but also reduces your hunger. Oats contains fiber which helps and stabilizes the levels of cholesterol.

2. Eggs : Eggs are the rich sources of proteins and low in calories. Eggs helps us to build the muscles and develops the good cholesterol. Hope you didn't roll off your seat seeing my crazy artistic eggs...hehehe

3. Apples : Apples are enriched with powerful antioxidants and other supplements. Most importantly it contains Pectin which helps to reduce the fat cells in the body. 

4. Green Chillies : Green chillies contains Capsaicin which helps to develop the body growth cells and burns the calories in quick time.

5. Garlic : Garlic contains Allicin which has anti-bacterial properties helps us to reduce the fat and removes the bad cholesterol.

6. Honey : Honey is the best one to burn fat. Add honey in warm water and take it daily in the early morning.

7. Green Tea : Green Tea is the most effective one which helps you to lose weight. It contains Antioxidants which helps and stabilizes our body weight.Take daily 2 cups of tea for a better results.

Stay tuned for more info about the green tea... Indeed they are essential to help our immune system.

8. Wheat Grass : It boosts our metabolism and helps to reduce the fat.

9. Tomatoes : Tomatoes helps us to burn the fat in quick time. It also helps us to stay away from cancer. So Take tomatoes in your diet regularly.

10. Dark Chocolate : Dark chocolate contains Flavonoids, anti-inflammatory properties which helps to reduce the cholesterol levels in the blood. It boost the growth of serotonin in the blood and also burns the fat." Though I rarely take Choclate, reading this really has indeed added the needed knowledge to know what kinda of chocolate to eat and look out for....hehehe!

Hope you enjoy, feel free to Comment, share and Like!

-Bosyde 

Photo credit: Internet materials aside my own egg artistic customized...:)

10 Food Resolutions For THe Start of The Year

Food, like love, is best enjoyed when shared and that explains the concept of potluck. If you have never arranged a food party, 2014 is your year to bring on the yummy-ness.  

Here are a few tips to take note;

1. Thou shall go on a Kitchen Detox

Take a good look at your kitchen, wear a pair of cleaning gloves and start the detox. Get help to assist you in the process and clear out the cobwebs. Throw away (things) that have crossed the expiration date, or anything that smells like it has, check if you need more storage (we always do), and it’s best to discard anything with stubborn stains and cracks. Place some potpourri and allow good culinary chi to flow in.

2. Thou shall colour the menu

One of the best ways to eat healthy and nourish your love for food is by adding more colour. Paint your plate with red, yellow and green capsicum, beetroot, carrots, peas, beans, sprouts chillies…got the drift? The menu is your script and you own the vocabulary of the ingredients.

3. Thou shall host food parties

But if you can’t host one, attend one. Food, like love, is best enjoyed when shared and that explains the concept of potluck. If you have never arranged a food party, 2014 is your year to bring on the yummy-ness. You don’t even have to cook; just tell the ladies who lunch to get some food while your arrange your home like a picnic spot and prepare the drinks.

4. Thou shall choose smoothies over coffee

A coffee a day…erm, keeps sleepiness away!  That’s a bad rhyme, and too much coffee isn’t good for you. We won’t wax eloquent about its many demerits, especially when we have to focus on something as healthy and filling as smoothies. Smoothies and shakes make the best use of the season’s freshest fruits. Replace the sugar with honey, or jaggery, and drink away.

5. Thou shall be food social

Parties aside, we have the razzmatazz of Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter. Make sure you know who to follow to add to the repertoire of your menu. Of late, we have been a little more than obsessed with Rachel Khoo http://www.rachelkhoo.com/, and websites like Cooking Light and Oh My Veggies. Then, there’s iFood too!

6. Thou shall never judge food

Didn’t mamma tell you to not complain at the dining table? It’s impolite to look at the menu in a restaurant or a party and go on a calorie critique. At such a place, be as mindful of your words as you will be of your weight and health. We have vowed to maintain this decorum just to respect all things we eat and the people who put food on our plate.

7. Thou shall be calculative about restaurant numbers

Will you check out the hottest restaurant in town? Yes, ma’am! Will you try most things a la cart? Oh yes, ma’am! Will you pay attention to the bill? We need a triple ‘yes’ for this one. Most times we are unaware of the taxes and all the extras that we have to pay on our bill. It’s good to be aware so that we know whether we are getting our money’s worth.

8. Thou shall be Miss Cook Imperfect

It’s not so much about the recipe or the freshness of the ingredients, or even the correct measurements, per say. Because, cooking is all about you, you and you. Allow your eyes to feast on the colours and textures, take in the aromas and watch how the curry unravels itself. Make a commitment to enjoying cooking and not so much on sweating the small stuff or learning new recipes.

9. Thou shall watch out for the Sugar Patrol

They were right when they said to limit the intake of sugar, refined and processed foods. What you eat should make your skin glow, turn your hair lustrous and take your soul to a happy place. Why don’t you literally harvest your energies and plan a mini kitchen garden? It would be lovely to watch your plants and health grow.

10. Thou shall maintain a food calendar

While cooking is mostly spontaneous, a food calendar should be part of your support system. It just takes the pressure of last-minute distress, not having enough groceries and unannounced guests. A well stocked refrigerator is a good indicator of a happy home.

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Ladies: 20 things EVERY WOMAN should know about her vagina

The vagina doesn’t need to be douched….It smells good already. Don’t try to decorate. Don’t believe him when he tells you it smells like rose petals when it’s supposed to smell like….

It’s amazing how much misinformation is out there about the vagina. Given how fascinated our society is with the female body, you’d think we’d be a little more informed. But from what I discovered while soliciting questions for my book What’s Up Down There? Questions You’d Only Ask Your Gynecologist If She Was Your Best Friend, many of us still have a lot to learn. To help out, I’ve compiled a list of 20 things I believe everyone should know about the vagina.

1. While men do pee out of the penis, women do not pee out of the vagina. There are three holes and countless other sexy structures. Learn to know your anatomy.  Get a hand mirror and go to town.  From front to back, the urethra is the first hole, the vagina is the second, and the anus is the third. Don’t laugh! You’d be amazed how many people don’t know this.

2. The vagina doesn’t connect to your lung. If you lose something in there, don’t worry. Reach in all the way and pull it out. Do not–I repeat, do not–go hunting for whatever you’ve lost with a pair of pliers. If you think you put something in there and you can’t find it, chances are good that it’s simply not there. Think of your vagina as being like a sock. If you lose a banana in a sock…it stays in the sock.

3. Yes, it’s true–your vagina can fall out. Not to belabor the sock metaphor, but it can turn inside out just like a worn out sweat sock and hang between your legs as you get older. But don’t fret; this condition–called pelvic prolapse– can be fixed.

4. Contrary to popular mythology, there’s no such thing as being revirginized. Once you lose it, it’s gone. Just so you know.

5. You can catch sexually transmitted diseases even if you use a condom. Sorry to break it to you, but the skin of the vulva can still touch infectious skin of the scrotum–and BAM! Warts. Herpes. Molluscum contagiosum. Pubic lice. So pick your partners carefully.

6. The vagina is like a bicep. Use it or lose it. If you don’t have a partner, pick up a battery-operated boyfriend to help keep things healthy as you age. But don’t worry–it’s usually not an issue until after menopause, when fragile vaginal tissue can scar and shrink. If properly tended, your vagina will be able to pleasure you until the day you leave this life.

7. Every vulva is different and special. Some lips hang down. Some are tucked up neatly inside. Some are long. Some are short. Some are even. Some aren’t. All are beautiful. You’re perfect just the way you are.

8. Most women don’t have orgasms from intercourse alone. The clitoris is where the action is. Most women who do orgasm during sex have figured out how to hit their sweet spot, either from positioning or from direct stimulation of the clitoris with fingers.

9. If you’re hunting for your G Spot, be patient. Stimulating this area usually requires more time and deeper stimulation than most people think. Try using a finger in a “come hither” motion to stimulate the front wall of the vagina, where the G spot lives. If you can’t find it, don’t worry. You’re not alone. Many can’t–and it’s definitely not critical to having a fulfilling romp in the hay.

10. How you choose to decorate is completely personal. Waxing, shaving, tattooing, piercing, or simply going au natural. It’s your choice, and don’t let anyone else pressure you into doing something that doesn’t resonate with you.

11. The vagina doesn’t need to be douched. As Eve Ensler says, ““My vagina doesn’t need to be cleaned up. It smells good already. Don’t try to decorate. Don’t believe him when he tells you it smells like rose petals when it’s supposed to smell like pussy. That’s what they’re doing – trying to clean it up, make it smell like bathroom spray or a garden. All those douche sprays–floral, berry, rain. I don’t want my pussy to smell like rain. All cleaned up like washing a fish after you cook it. I want to taste the fish. That’s why I ordered it.” Amen, sister. I second that.

 12. The only cancer a Pap smear screens for is cervical cancer. It doesn’t check your ovaries, your uterus, or your colon, so even if you don’t need yearly Paps, you still need to have a yearly pelvic exam.

13. How much vaginal discharge you make varies widely. Some normal, healthy women spew loads of discharge and need to wear panty liners every day. Others are bone dry. As long as you are not at risk of STD’s and you have no itching, burning, or odor, you’re probably just fine. If in doubt, see your gynecologist.

14. Menstrual blood is supposed to clot, so don’t freak out. Usually, what you think are clots are just pieces of uterine lining. As long as you’re not losing too much blood, small clots during your period need not concern you. Clots are just nature’s way of keeping you from bleeding too much. Blood is supposed to clot. It’s when the clots are large or you start to hemorrhage that we start to worry.

15. Lots of vaginas need help lubing up during sex, especially as you get older. Don’t be afraid to slick on some lubricant like K-Y Jelly or Astroglide. Or try coconut oil, which is a great natural lubricant- but don’t blame me if you find yourself hankering for a post-coital macaroon.

16. Vaginal farts (some call them “queefs” or “varts”) happen to almost all women at one time or another, especially during sex or other forms of exercise. Don’t be embarrassed. You’re perfectly normal.

17. Vaginas stretch out when you have babies vaginally. It’s natural but it can leave you feeling a bit loosey goosey. Kegel exercises that contract the muscles of the vagina really do help. To do them, practice stopping the stream of urine when you pee. There–that’s the muscle! Now contract and relax it 10 X for three or more sets several times per day.

18. Some women do ejaculate during orgasm, but you’re normal if you don’t. The controversial “female ejaculation” most likely represents two different phenomena. If it’s a small amount of milky fluid, it likely comes from the paraurethral glands inside the urethra. If it’s a cup, it’s probably pee. Many times, it may be a little bit of both. But don’t stress out about peeing on yourself. Put a towel under you and surrender to the experience.

19. Sex shouldn’t hurt, but it does for many women. If you’re one of those women, see your doctor. So many women are too embarrassed to say anything, so they suffer in silence. There are things we docs can do to help you.

20. Safe sex (or even just orgasm alone) is good for you. Benefits include lowering your risk of heart disease and stroke, reducing your risk of breast cancer, bolstering your immune system, helping you sleep, making you appear more youthful, improving your fitness, regulating menstrual cycles, relieving menstrual cramps, helping with chronic pain, reducing the risk of depression, lowering stress levels, and improving self esteem. So go at it, girlfriends!

So there you go. There you have it.  It’s important to know this kind of stuff, because you can’t truly love all of yourself until you love your girly parts.  Your vagina is the portal to all things magical in your life. Once you own and accept this part of yourself, you can do and be anything you choose.  The more you know, the more you’re empowered to live life out loud, love fully, and really rock this life.

Culled From: Quick and Dirty Tips