How to Avoid Cracked and Dry Lips

It is a pretty common phenomenon to have cracked lips or dry lips in the season of winter or any other conditions in which the humidity in the ambient air reduces considerably. This is generally a seasonal occurrence and can be treated in simple and effective ways. However there might be chronic cracked lips which might lead to some other grave diseases but that is a very rare case. Here we will only discuss about the common dry lip causes, care and solutions to the problem.

Problems relating to cracked lips

Cracked dry lips may lead some other problems like:

  • Bleeding from the lips and adjacent soft skin areas
  • Canker sores in the affected areas
  • Dry mouth
  • Cold sores
  • A hoarse and dry voice
  • Redness of the face
  • Swelling of the lip region
  • Excessive thirst
  • Rashes in the upper and lower lip
  • Mild or severe headache mostly as a side effect of the pain
  • Light fever
  • Heavy nasal conditions or stuffy nose.

Causes of cracked lips

Cracked lips or dry lips can be caused by various reasons. Most of the reasons are natural and environmental. The most common reasons to cause cracked lips are:

  1. Cold weather

Generally cold weathers are pretty dry. As a result of the dryness of the ambience, the lips lose their natural fluid and that leads to the appearance of the cracks. The cold wind and the pretty low temperature further assist in increasing the gaps in the cracks already formed.

  1. Dry weather

For similar reason, dry weather causes cracked lips. This is the reason why people complain of having cracked lips in deserts and in extremely hot and non humid regions. The lips lose the humidity rapidly and can’t get enough fluid in due time.

  1. Sun damage

Sun is another reason behind dry lips as the excessive heat damages the soft tissues of the lips and lets them get dry and crack. Sun also burns and destroys the skin tissues of the lips inflicting further damages.

Prevention of dry and cracked lips

If your dry lip condition is not chronic, then there is a good chance that you will get rid of the problem pretty easily by means of some very basic home remedies. Other then these, you can also take the help of any professional physician who might help you overcome the problems of dry lips and cracked lips by using some medicated ointments. A few of the most popular remedies to tackle the problems regarding cracked lips are:

  • Drink a lot of fluids. This will help you body get hydrated and the fluid will also get transferred to your lips along with other body parts. This will eventually help you lips getting the necessary fluid to tackle the dryness.
  • Avoid licking your lips as this covers your lips with saliva and the saliva actually dries on your lips leaving the surface drier than ever and leading it to crack.
  • Always remove the dead skin of your lips before applying any ointment or lip balms.
  • Apply a lip balm or petroleum jelly whenever you go outside, especially if the environment is dry or cold. Apply the lip balm even when getting out in the sun.
  • You can also apply oils like coconut oil, almond oil, olive oil. They will not hamper the skin of your lips and keep them hydrated for a long time.
  • Soothe your lips with a cube of ice or a slice of cucumber if the lips start to pain. You can also give them a light massage by your fingers.
  • Don’t apply commercial chemical makeup over your lips. Restrain from applying overly chemical lipsticks.
  • Don’t use fluoride based toothpaste as they tend to damage your lips in adverse conditions.
  • If you work or live in a hot and dry environment then keep a humidifier in your room. If you can’t get access to such devices, then simply place a bucket of fresh water in the room. That will do the trick and keep your room humidified to prevent the chances of your lips cracking.

Conclusion

Take necessary precautions and try to avoid conditions which cause the cracking and dryness of the lips. And if the problem arises, try to follow the points mentioned above and if the situation becomes grave don’t wait and see a physician immediately.

How to Treat Facial Redness

One might think that facial redness is equal to flushing, which is not true. Flushing is the process when our skin gets red for a shorter period due to a certain irritant, for example, bad cosmetics, alcohol or most frequently when we’re ashamed. Unfortunately, when we speak about red complexion or facial redness, we mean that the skin is continuously red and looking bad actually, which is why the owner might want to hide ‘bad’ skin under tons of cosmetics.

What causes red complexion?

Of course, many people have innate reddish skin tone. Nevertheless, the majority of those who suffer from spotty red patches or red background all over the face are typically dealing with acne or rosacea.

Besides, red skin means that your skin is more sensiface-dry-and-redtive and may be stimulated by the bad stimulus, such as cosmetics. Therefore, if you have noticed that your skin gets red once you use a certain cream, creamy powder, flush, etc., stop using it immediately as it may contain ingredients that you are allergic to. In this case, redness of the skin may mean allergic contact dermatitis.

Have you been sunbathing for a while? It may be then that you have sunburned the skin. Be careful and do not overdose sunbathing unless you think that bronzer tone along with redness is sexy.

Lastly, facial redness may also be the reason of dehydration. It might be that the skin is lacking humidity, which is why it gets dry and feature red patches, dandruff, and other unhealthy skin’s symptoms.

How can I get rid of red skin?

Red skin is not beautiful, is it? However, that’s not the worst part. People who have red facial skin also complain that it is itchy, burning-like and dry. Besides, usually, red skin becomes even redder when an ordinary moisturizing day/night cream is applied. Thus, it is crucial to treat red skin carefully and use as natural remedies as possible. Specialists recommend using natural face masks, healing teas, and stick to a proper diet.

What natural remedies can help to treat red facial skin?drinking-water

First of all, you should keep your skin dry. As you probably already know, our skin doesn’t let us lose water, thus protecting us from dehydration. Therefore, when our body lacks liquids, the skin may get dry causing redness later on. Thus, you should prevent red skin by consuming a sufficient amount of water (approx. 8oz. or 2l) every day.

When speaking about masks and other products offered on the market, don’t rush to use them because the majority of products contain chemicals. Therefore, if you chose the wrong product, your facial skin may even get worse. Various dermatologist, including Dr. Cook-Bolden, recommend using such natural remedies as a cucumber, honey, aloe vera, chamomile tea, and oatmeal.

  • One of the best natural remedies to soothe irritated skin is a cucumber mask to apply which is as easy as taking candy from a baby. You can either put slices of cucumber on the places where the skin is red or blend the cucumber with a food processor and apply it all over your face. For the best results, use the vegetable taken straight from the refrigerator.
  • To get rid of the red skin and red spots, it‘s advisable to apply honey. It would be perfect if you would find Manuka honey (produced in New Zealand). Why? Because it‘s the richest in antioxidants if compared to the honey produced anywhere else in the world. Anyway, if you can‘t find Manuka honey, use the one that you can find. This natural product soothes the skin and reduces inflammation. Therefore, to at least reduce facial redness, rinse your skin with water,  apply honey, put a plastic bag on your face and leave at least for a half of an hour. Repeat the procedure several times a week.
  • Oatmeal also works as an inflammation reducer. It contains antioxidants and avenanthramide, which help to fight against the irritated, itchy, and red skin. There are lots of recipes on the Internet suggesting how to make oatmeal masks. Nevertheless, in this particular case, we would recommend using milk, banana, and oatmeal mask. This combination will nourish the skin, reduce inflammation, and heal blemishes. For that you will need:
  • 1/2 banana
  • Ground oatmeal (1 tbs)
  • Milk (1 tbs)

Mix all the ingredients and apply the mixture on your skin. It is recommended to put cucumber or chamomile tea bag on the area around your eyes and leave for about 30min.

  • To soothe the skin, which is extremely dry and avocado-maskred due to that, specialists also recommend using an avocado mask.
  • 1/2 soft avocado
  • 2 tbs hot water
  • 1 tbs honey

Mash avocado, melt the honey in the water and mix it with the fruit. Apply the mass on your skin and keep 10min.

  • Last, but not least, we would recommend drinking and using teas, like green and chamomile, externally. It is known for ages that the types of tea mentioned above have rejuvenating and soothing properties. To use the teas topically, make a compress. For that, pour boiling w   ater over several bags of tea and leave for at least 10min to brew. Soak a clean cloth in it and put it on your face. Leave the compress for several minutes. It’s safe and recommended to repeat this procedure several times a day.

If you have already tried various natural remedies, including the ones that we’ve just mentioned, but facial redness persist, we strongly recommend you to visit a professional dermatologist who will determine the cause and help to weed out the redness.

How to Grow Thick Eyebrows? The Best Natural Remedies

Each of us wants to look beautiful and attractive, so naturally we pay much attention to our facial skin, lips, eyes, cheeks, etc. It’s quite easy to take care of your lips to make them look healthy or naturally puffier. Or it’s quite simple to make your eyes look bigger and sexier by applying a considerable amount of mascara. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple when we speak about eyebrows.

Some of us have naturally thick and perfectly-shaped eyebrows, but probably only a minority of women can enjoy that. Well, if we would remember the late 90s, brushy eyebrows would have been condemned because a thin line was a trend. But not these days.

Therefore, if you have been shaping your brows at home and removed a bit too much of the hair, you may have some trouble. A thin line instead of thick symmetric brows may make you look older and the face non-symmetric. Moreover, eyebrows often refuse to grow back, so it might be that you have damaged the shape permanently.

Usually, eyebrows become thick and slowly growing back due to the following reasons:

  • poor diet;eyebrows-thining
  • aging processes;
  • improper cosmetics;
  • various diseases like eczema,
  • plucking;
  • waxing;
  • threading, etc.

Natural Remedies That Can Help To Grow Thick Eyebrows Naturally

Your eyebrows are the hair just like the ones that grow on your head or other body parts. It means that they are affected by various internal and external factors as well. In fact, to help brows grow faster, you may try to consume drugs that help hair grow faster. However, we doubt if that’s going to help. The best way to get thick eyebrows back is to trust natural remedies that are usually found in every
kitchen or bathroom.castor-oil

You might have already heard about Castor oil and its magical properties that stimulate the growth of eyebrows and eyelashes. This already tested treatment is very simple to try, so don’t wait any longer. Take a cotton swab, dip it into castor oil, put it on your eyebrows, apply a patch and leave overnight. You may also try doing the same procedure with the Coconut oil, which is also a brilliant natural remedy that works as a moisturizer and hair growth accelerator.

You may be a little surprised by hearing that Onion juice may also do the trick. According to specialists, onion juice is full of sulfur that stimulates the production of collagen and, therefore, the growth of eyebrows. For making an onion juice mask, you have to extract the juice out of one small onion and massage it into your eyebrows for several minutes.

A mixture of olive oil and honey can boost the growth of eyebrows too. To thicken brows faster, you can try to use a mix that consists of ½ tbsp of olive oil and a little bit of honey. Apply this natural remedy on your eyebrows and leave for several minutes. Repeat the procedure 2-3 times a week.

apply-oilMilk. A strange remedy for getting your eyebrows thicker, isn’t it? Nevertheless, it may help. As you know, milk contains lots of Vitamin D, which is a crucial nutrient helping our hair to grow faster.

Finally, you can also try egg yolk. Eyebrows are made up of keratin protein, and it is well known that the source of protein is an egg. Therefore, to help your eyebrows grow faster and forget about that thick line on your forehead, take one egg, whip the yolk until it turns into a creamy consistency and the apply on your brows.

If, unfortunately, you have some deep problems like a serious disease, natural remedies that we have just mentioned might not help. Nevertheless, if you have damaged eyebrows by using wrong cosmetics, plucking/waxing the hair off, and similar you should try at least some of the aforementioned natural remedies.

Lastly, we would highly recommend you to stop shaping eyebrows at home because by doing so you risk ending up with non-symmetric distorted eyebrows that may seriously spoil your look.

How to Treat and Prevent Split Ends?

Split ends is a problem, isn’t it? Even if you get your hair trimmed, after a short period you start noticing that the period of neat and healthy looking hair has come to an end. Unfortunately, split ends are inevitable, especially if you are brushing, coloring, straightening, etc. your hair.

Of course, the easiest way to repair split ends is to visit your hairdresser and snip the hair off. Nevertheless, there are some tricks that can help you prevent split ends from occurring soon after cuts. Proper hair shampooing, drying, and moisturizing can close split ends up, which is why your hair will look much healthier.

To start with, it’s significant to indicate what causes split ends. So, what causes split ends?

  1. BruAvoid-split-endsshing. If you brush your hair moderately when needed, it’s OK. But, if, however, you do that too often, you mess up
    epidermis. NOTE: avoid combing of the hair when wet because tugging on the strands can lead to breakage.
  2. Coloring. Often hair coloring causes hair dryness, which leads to split ends, breakage, disheveling hair, and other problems. Avoid frequent bleaching especially.
  3. Straighteners, blow dryers, curling tongs, etc. If you want to keep your hair split-ends-free, you should use the tools above as rare as possible.prevent-split-ends2
  4. Hair’s drying with a towel. When trying to prevent split ends or make them less visible, DO NOT rub wet hair with a towel. The best you can do is to drain the hair gently with a
    towel and then let them dry naturally (without blow dryer).
  5. Nutrition. If you are living in an unhealthy way, smoking, eating fast food, your hair reflects that. Thus, you should supply your body with proper nutrients. Specialists recommend consuming olive oil or fish oil to because low-fat diet can make hair dull.
  6. Nature. Of course, not only chemicals and the things you do with your hair induce split ends and other issues. UV rays, wind, dry air and similar factors also affect hair condition; that’s why split ends are inevitable.
    hair-trimming

As we have already mentioned, there is no remedy to close split ends up totally. Therefore, it’s vital to visit hairdresser regularly and get your hair trimmed. It does not mean that instead of long hair you must wear short. No. You just need to remove split ends to make your hair look neat. Of course, if you haven’t been trimming your hair for ages, for the first time you need to cut a little bit more, but if you are going to do that regularly, you just need to cut less than one inch.

  • To prevent split ends from appearing, you have to start treating your hair properly. For example, you should use a little shampoo to save healthy oils, which protect your hair from damage. By saying ‘little shampoo,’ we mean that you should not wash your hair every day. It’s enough to wash your hair with a shampoo tree times a week. Besides, another important thing to remember is NOT to wash all hair. Shampooing your scalp is sufficient.

Also, do not rinse dry hair with a towel. Instead of doing so, squeeze hair with a towel and let the excess water sop into a towel. That’s it. If you can’t let your hair get dry naturally, you can use a blow dryer, but do not use it on a maximum setting because hot air causes hair dryness that leads to split ends.

  • Select a brush or comb that fits your hair type and make sure that you brush your hair only when neenatural-bristle-brushded. For most of the people, especially those who can boast having thick hair should use a wide toothed wooden comb or a brush made of natural bristle.

Avoid sleeping with the hair loose. Instead of that, braid your hair to prevent breakage caused by fiction to a pillowcase.

  • DO NOT straighten or curling your hair often. Heat makes hairs prone to split ends by damaging proteins residing deep in the hair. It is advisable to use hot tools like a blow dryer, curling irons, straightening irons, steam, and otstraighteningher hot hair styling tools unless you necessarily need them. If, nevertheless, you decide to use a hot tool, set it not more than 356ºF (180ºC) and always use a protective cream, lotion or spray.

Don’t forget to control what you eat. Fatty acids are vital for the look of your hair, so if you seek to have split-ends-free hair, consume olive or fish oil regularly. Vitamin E is also very important, so try eating nuts, green vegetables, seeds, avocado, and so on.

  • Last, but not least, use some remedies that help prevent split ends and make the existing damage look less visible. You can found hundreds of masks, conditioners, and other products for damaged hair treatment at the stores. However, we would like to encourage you to use natural remedies because most frequently they appear to be more efficient. Down below we will provide three recipes how to prepare the best split end treatments.

1. COCONUT OIL

Probably you have already heard about this magical oil that exhibits coconut-oil-maskvarious useful traits regarding health and beauty. In this particular case, coconut oil may work as a hair mask for which you just need to shampoo your hair, take a handful of coconut oil and apply it to your hair starting from the roots. Then, wrap your hair in a towel, shower cap or plastic bag and wait for at least 30min. Finally, shampoo your hair twice. NOTE: don’t do this procedure often. It’s enough to repeat it twice a month.

2. HONEY AND OLIVE OIL

For this natural mask, take 3tbs of olive oil and mix them with 2tbs raw honey. Shampoo your hair first and then applHoney Photo/Big Stock photo ((stock photo purhcased from BigStockPhoto www.bigstockphoto.com))y this natural remedy to your hair. Leave it to sit for 30min. Once your hair gets dry, you will see that split ends are less visible, how shiny the hair became, and how fresh the scalp feels.

3. AVOCADO MASK

Take an avocado, two spoons of olive oil and egg. Avocad
o should be well ripped so that you could crush it up and mix with an egg. The mask will be quwhipped-avocado-maskite thick, but still applicable to the hair. Thus, shampoo your hair first, apply this mask from roots to ends and leave for 30min. Rinse with warm water and let the hair get dry naturally.

10 Foods That Help to Burn Belly Fat Faster

Obesity is a serious problem these days. Of course, we can blame the enormous supply of foods for being the reason people are getting more and more ‘chubby,’ but shouldn’t we take the responsibility ourselves? Wouldn’t you agree that nobody forces us to eat hamburgers, pizzas, chips, and other pre-cooked food, drink cola and other soft drinks?

Of course, excessive fat on your body may be the reason of some disease (e.g. diabetes), hormones, or genetics too. Nevertheless, in the majority of the cases, people start gaining weight due to the lack of motion and unbalanced nutrition.

Unfortunately, even people who don’t eat junk food and can be called slim might have belly fat (so-called visceral fat). But if your nutrition is not balanced correctly, your body cannot deal with excess nutrients, which is why the body may start storing the fat in such unusual places as the belly, thigh, and dewlap.

The best way to burn belly fat is, of course, exercising and a proper diet. If, however, you don’t have enough time to plan what you are going to eat for breakfast, lunch, and supper, specialists are in a hurry to help you. Down below, we will list the products eating of which can help you reduce belly fat

ripe avocado cut in half on a wooden table

AVOCADOS. This exotic fruit hasn’t been very popular since now. However, the scientists is reporting about this amazing fruit and the miracles that it can cause. It seems that avocados are full of fiber (one avocado may contain up to 17grams of fiber). This product is great for sandwiches, salad, creams, green cocktails, and so on.

  • What do you think about EGGS? If you are not a fan of eggs, you should start being. Actually, eggs contain lots of vitamins, including B12 and B6, which is essential for fat burning. Many ears ago, researchers proved that eggs for breakfast help to lose weight. NOTE: if you have some problems with your cholesterol level, consult with your doctor about how eggs would be safe for you to eat.

GREEN VEGETABLES. Cabbage, broccoli, spinacLeafy-Green-Vegetablesh, Brussels sprouts, etc. are the source of fibers. On top of that, they are calories free. Thus, before having a big portion of the heavy meal
, take a portion of lightweight green vegetables and you will see how satisfied your belly is going to be.

DAIRY PRODUCTS. Calcium stuffed products, such as yogurt, Swiss cheese, and buttermilk helps to burn belly fat and prevent it from getting back. Therefore, we highly recommend you to eat yogurt for brunch or an afternoon snack.

OATMEAL – fiber rich food causes satiety that lasts for hours, but at the same time. Besides, it’s full of nutrients. Nevertheless, oatmeal is non-caloric, which is why after a portion of oatmeal porridge you will feel full, but not swollen. In comparison to rice, oatmeal doesn’t raise blood sugar. Nevertheless, you should avoid a sugary flavored variety of oatmeal.

NUTS. If you feel hungry, eat a handful of almond, walnuts, cashew or another nuts and you will see how your hunger is retreating. It is walnutsadvisable to eat a handful of walnuts, which is deemed as a non-fish source of omega-3 and you will see how your belly is getting flatter.

 

  • OIL. It’s a must to control hunger, which is not possible without using some fat. Thus, you should include a little bit of olive or canola oil in your daily nutrition. However, stay away from vegetable oils as they contain unhealthy trans fat.

BERRIES… berries… berries… Eat all kinds of berries, including raspberries, cranberries, strawberries, blueberries, cherries, and so on.
salmonHow about FISH? Say YES to salmon, tuna, and other fish because it is rich in proteins and Omega-3 fatty acids. These nutrients not only help to lose belly fat, but also improve brain and heart functions, as well as helps to maintain mental health.

  • No coffee. Drink GREEN TEA instead because it is full of antioxidants and proteins, which is why metabolism is accelerated and your body starts burning the fat more quickly.

Of course, without doing sports, going for a walk, minimizing food portions, the products that we have listed above will not reduce your belly fat. Thus, if you want to have a flat tummy, do sports daily and be careful what you eat.

Leg Shaving. Common Mistakes You Must Be Aware Of

Along with the first signs of spring and the mood of upcoming summer usually prompt women to think about the things that are not so actual in winter. For example, we often gain weight in winter, and we don’t care about that as we can cover additional kilos with tons of winter clothes. Nevertheless, bloomed spring snowflakes encourage women to loose weight.

Or we forget to remove leg hair, which starts piercing the eye once you take off the pants and start wearing short skirts that are sooo missed during the cold winter period. Of course, you may be a type of women who care about such things all the time, but that’s not the core thing that we want to discuss here.

In this article, we would like to discuss the way you remove leg hair. What methods do you prefer? Waxing? Shaving? Sugaring? Threading? Depilatory Cream? Electrolysis? These are the main methods that can be applied. Nevertheless, if you are practicing the simplest methods – shaving, we would like to enumerate the biggest mistakes that can lead to skin’s dryness, chicken skins, and other unpleasant outcomes.

First of all, what does it mean ‘Leg Shaving?’ Leg shaving is the way of weeding out leg hair using a razor or electric shaver.beautiful-legs Thus, in comparison to sugaring, depilatories, epilators, lasers, and other devices for removing leg hair, shaving remains the cheapest way of getting rid of unwanted hair. On top of that, shaving is probably the quickest method of hair removal. That’s why statistically the majority of women practice this leg hair removal method at home.

Unfortunately, despite being cheap and fast, leg hair shaving is a rather nasty way of getting the hair out since it may lead to bumpy, irritated, and itchy legs. Therefore, if you prefer this method and seek to avoid unpleasant consequences, you must beware of the major mistakes that can cause them.

  • NEVER ever save your money for a razor. Old razor’s blades are dull, which is why it can hardly shave hair close to the skin. Besides, ‘outdated’ razor is more likely to root out the hair than to shave. On top of that, by using an old tool you risk catching the infection. That’s because old razor accumulates bacteria razorand is covered in germs, which is why a small cut may end up with an infection.
  • Besides, don’t use single-blade disposable razor too often. It dries the skin and is not comfortable when shaving areas like knees and ankles. Instead of that, choose four/five-blade razor for smoother and softer skin.
  • Your boyfriend’s or husband’s razor for shaving beard is not the right choice too because it is used for tougher hair.
  • Don’t rush. Even if you are late for the date or if you received an unexpected invitation to spend time at the seaside, please take your time and don’t start shaving your legs as soon as you begin your bath. The longer you stay in the warm water, the more pores are open. Thus, lay in a bath for at least 15min and only then start shaving.
  • Dry shaving? NO NO NO! No matter how hurry you are, you’d better not try to shave your legs without shaving cream. Otherwise, you are going to risk cutting and nicking the skin. If you don’t have the cream, you may use hair conditioner or shower cream instead, but please DO NOT use bar soap. no-bar-soapAccording to dermatologists, bar soap makes the skin even more dry and does not allow razor blades to slide against the skin. Consequently, the skin can get cut easily.
  • Upwards or downwards??? Think carefully about the right shaving direction. It’s advisable to shave leg hair downwards or, in other words, in the direction of the hair growth especially if your skin is sensitive. Otherwise, you may end up with razor burns and ingrown hair. Slide upwards only when it’s necessary to shave closer.
  • If it happened that leg shaving has ended up with razor burns, do not ignore that because damaged skin can also lead to unwanted infections. So, once the skin gets burned soothe it with ice or petroleum jelly.
  • Always shave your legs using warm water. Cold water clothes the pores and prompts the skin to shrivel, which is why shaving legs may be not that effective.
  • Don’t forget to moisturize your skin after leg shaving. No matter how good is your razor and the qualimoisturize-legsty of your shaving cream, leg shaving cause skin’s dryness and requires the usage of additional moisturizers. Therefore, it’s a must to use cream, lotion or oil after shaving unless you prefer dry, itchy, chicken skin legs.
  • To end up, experts recommend to wash and exfoliate the skin before shaving in order to prevent razor burn.

If you perform leg shaving in a proper manner and take care of your legs’ skin, you’ll be prepared for summer and will be proud of the perfectly maintained skin! So, good luck ladies!