Body and Beauty and Living-Naturally

Haiti Text Campaign

http://www.unicef.ie/GetInvolved/Haiti-Text-Campaign-35-21.aspx

Tags: The Gist by admin
No Comments »

I know its the the time for failed diets but why is it thatonce you decide to stay away from a particular food, it becomes so much yummier. Sad to say my veg  on meatless diet has gone woefully. I’ve had Duck…from Aldi…delicious… it was a trap, honest. I’ve had chicken -fried with pepper and onion…oooohhh, …Need I say more??

On the plus side, I am doing okay with the fruits and I’ve been doing a good walk , thanks to Sergeant K!!!

Tags: Food, Recipes, The Gist by Claudia
No Comments »

Apply all masks to already cleansed skin.

Egg on it’s own makes a great mask…especially good for tightening and is supposed to “improve the appearance of

There is what’s known as the 2stage egg mask…(I think that’s what it was called!)
You use the egg in two stages-seperate the egg white from the yolk
beat the egg white till frothy and then apply to your face and leave to dry,
Once it’s dried, it will feel quite taut, then rinse off, and apply the yolk. Again leave till it’s dry , rinse off.
Pat your face dry…rather than rubbing. Apply a light oil moisturiser.

PS: You can add a few drops of lemon juice to either stage of the above….prefer stage 2
2TBS natural yoghurt
1TBS ground almonds
1TBSspoon
1 TBS honey
2TBS jojoba oil or any other oil
Mix all the ingredients together.
Rub the paste on to your cleansed skin and leave for a few mins-about 10 to 20mins, and then rinse off. Apply moisturiser

last one especially good for oilier skintypes
1 tomato
2TBS yogurt
egg white or/and honey
Beat together and apply to your face, leave on for about 10-20mins and rinse off. Apply moisturiser.

Tags: Recipes,Tricks,Tips by Claudia
No Comments »

I am no hair expert, but I have had natural Hair for about 7years. I also have two kids with natural hair. 

I suppose it would be useful to describe our hair so you can compare our routines to yours.

For ease of description, I’m using the Andre Walker system:

My own hair is somewhere around a type 4b…or z, my daughter has maybe 3b-ish type hair and my son has something similar to type 4a .

1a Straight (Fine/Thin) Very Soft and Shiny, Hard to hold a curl, hair tends to be oily, hard to damage.

1b Straight (Medium) Has lots of body. (i.e. more volume, more full)

1c Straight (Coarse) Hard to curl. (i.e. bone straight) Most Asian women fall into this category.

2a Wavy (Fine/Thin) Can accomplish various styles. Definite “S” pattern. Hair sticks close to the head.

2b Wavy (Medium) A bit resistant to styling. Hair tends to be frizzy.

2c Wavy (Coarse) Hair has thicker waves. Also resistant to styling. Hair tends to be frizzy.

3a Curly (Loose Curls) Thick & full with lots of body. Definite “S” pattern. Hair tends to be frizzy. Can have a combination texture.

3b Curly (Tight Curls) Medium amount of curl. Can have a combination texture.

4a Kinky (Soft) Tightly coiled. Very Fragile. Has a more defined curly pattern

4b Kinky (Wiry) Tightly coiled. Very Fragile. Less defined curly pattern. Has more of a “Z” shaped pattern.

We all do not use shampoo, instead, we wash with conditioner, this is popularly known as no-pooing.  You just wash as you normally would  using just your regular conditioner. Sometimes when the hair is very dry, we would do a deep conditioning treatment or hot oil treatment using virgin coconut oil, or even extra-virgin olive oil  or other Conditioning hair treatment:

 While washing, I’d comb thru with the wide toothed comb as this means there aren’t as manytangles later. After washing, IF i am not leaving hair loose, I’d immediately make it into a plait. At night, we also tend to have our hair in plaits if it isn’t in a weave or braided already.

After washing hair we use a hair oil, or butter to seal in moisture and keep hair moisturised….My favourite hair treaments include sheabutter, Virgin coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil. I mix these with a my preferred essential oil. Essential oils I use include any combination of lavender, teatree, rosemary, ylangylang, peppermint. This butter or oil is also used on the scalp  as a moisturiser.

Once in a while, we do a clarifying rinse using diluted acv. You can also use soda-bicarbonate in water.

To be continued…

If you have any questions in the meantime, please ask in the comments section of this post.(ie below)

Tags: The Gist by Claudia
1 Comment »

I’ve not been able to do much without thinking of the disaster in Haiti. It took a while to find out where I could send money here, even though I got US contacts quick enough.

Anyway here are those that I’d suggest using. As I come across any, I’ll update this post. Remember , any little helps.  For all or most you can specifically donate for the Haiti- Appeal.

 GOAL: http://www.goalireland.com/donations/request1.php

CONCERN: https://www.concern.net/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=42

I really like the concept of http://www.cleantheworld.org but they don’t cover Europe…at least not yet.

REDCROSS: http://www.redcross.ie/help/donate_now.php?appeal=98

UNICEF:https://www.unicef.ie/Content.aspx?pid=75&emId=22

If you cannot afford to make a donation, please pray for the people of and in Haiti, and that the humanitarian aid so badly needed gets through.

Tags: The Gist by Claudia
No Comments »

Built by Mr. NiEriu and the kids…with me supervising from the warmth of the kitchen!
My friend who I’ll refer to as Lady S said yesterday that because of the winter it’s been with all the snow, and cold, the summer this year is gonna be fantastic!

With that in mind, I suggest you start minding your skin and what better way than to get some products from us…all you need to pamper and nuture your skin, or sign up for our soapmaking parties, soapmaking classes or workshops: GO shopping

Tags: The Gist by admin
No Comments »

Seeing as I was house bound anyway,I decided to play around with some of the ingredients in the press. I needed to make some face and body butters for personal use anyway.

I recently got some seabuckthorn berry oil It is an orange coloured liquid with a sweet scent and is supposed to be good for anti-aging. I particularly like this because it means I get a scent without even adding any essential oils.

Facebutter

Sheabutter
Seabuckthorn oil
Jojoba oil
Raspberry seed oil
rosa mosqueta
carrotseed oil
avocado oil

And for my body butter:

Sheabutter
Cocoabutter
virgin coconut oil
Seabuckthorn oil
Jojoba  oil
Avocado oil
pinch of frangipiani
Vanilla eo

Will post the pictures later …they are on my old phone. In the meantime posting one of our snow people out in the garden in next post.

Tags: Recipes,Tricks,Tips by admin
No Comments »

It’s pelting snow outside, I can hear it on the roof. And even a bit of thunder…

I am still on a buzz about an interesting new collaboration with a girl I met recently and I am not going to give too much away here but watch this space. Let’s just say it a great start to the year!

Back to the snow though, I am wondering if I am the only one who is loving the snow…even though it gets cold …at least there is a point to the cold…rather than the damp dreary days we have normally.

First time in my memory I have held succh tiny snow balls…and formed by nature no less:

Tags: The Gist by admin
No Comments »

Now, although it isn’t something I particularly harp on, I do mind what I eat, and for a while now, I’ve not been eating meat that easily. It just seems stodgy and I am just not feeling it,so maybe it’s my body telling me to change. I have no doubt that once I decide not to eat meat, I’ll be craving it so instead I’m gonna take it day by day…or as  my friend said to me I am becoming a convenient vegetarian.

 I generally eat healthy meals and cook from scratch but haven never been vege, I am gonna be challenged I reckon in finding meals other than salads and bread( and I don’t like bread) that are tasty enough for me.  I am also hoping that this new vege-option does something to help relieve my migraines. Skinwise, I’ll be delighted if it does something for the blasted excema!

As it happens I love vegetables anyway so it shouldn’t be a pain, here’s to my new adventure in vegetarianism!

To this end, I’ve also added a category for vege-meals…I’ll add to this as I go along.

Tags: The Gist by Claudia
No Comments »

It’s  the new year, If you’ve been like me, you have indulged yourself enough over the holiday period, and now, the weather outside is frightful, your heating has been on full blast….

And with whatever else is going on …your skin is probably showing a bit too much evidence of all of the above mentioned. It’s definitely time for some skin-TLC. More  so that you are ready to uncover yourself in the spring or summer when it’s time for the layers of  winter clothing to be peeled.

Starting from top to toe. Here are some posts that cover what you need:

Use an exfoliator for your body

After your shower, do use a moisturiser-simple body oil -make your own if you wish…extra vigin oil/almond oil/ etc+drops of essential oil or get some natural sheabutter from us.

Take off your makeup with your own cleansing oil and /or clean your skin with same

Give yourself a facial

Remember our sheabutter? Use it as lipbalm or as general moisturiser as a body butter.

Protect your skin

Keep wearing sunscreen

Don’t forget your hair:
Shedding hair, try our recipe here.

OR Try our Conditioning hair treatment:

If you want to shop, the following products from us here at NiEriu:
sheabutter, face butter, body oil, facial serum .
Mix a drop or two of the face serum with your  foundation for added moisturising effects. YOu can also use it underneath your sunscreen.

The body oil
can also be used on your hair:  Rub a drop between your hands and run through the ends of your hair.

Tags: Recipes,Tricks,Tips, The Gist by Claudia
No Comments »