Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a substance found within almost all of the cells of the human
body, most abundantly in the joints and the skin. In the joints, HA is found in the
synovial fluid, which provides lubrication and acts as a shock absorber. In the skin,
HA may help to retain optimal levels of water in the dermis of the skin.
A study reported in the International Journal of Dermatology, showed that as subjects
aged, levels of HA in the skin decreased. In fact, in those aged 60 and above, there
were minimal traces of HA in their skin. It is thought that this age-related loss of HA
may be a contributing factor to wrinkling in ageing.
Studies also suggest a role for hyaluronic acid in joint health and it may even offer pain
relief to arthritis sufferers.
Hyaluronic acid can be taken alone or combined with other natural supplements, such
as vitamin C, collagen and chondroitin sulphate to enhance its benefits.

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Healthy Fat

This includes coconut oil, olive oil, flax seed, chia seeds, and more. They contain high levels of omega 3 fatty acids known for delivering moisture to your tresses. Basically, anything that is high in omega 3 fatty acids is a good choice, such as deep-sea fishes and the like. With enough of this in your diet, your hair will grow strong and shiny through proper lubrication. You will notice that the same ingredients are often added in shampoo products, but the benefits are infinitely better when the said mineral is ingested.

Zinc

Zinc is found in spinach, oysters, and pumpkin seeds. They contribute mostly to stronger hair strands and faster growth. The beauty of zinc is that it also contributes to skin and nail health so you will get triple benefits in just one serving.

Protein

If you are a vegetarian, then you might not be getting sufficient protein to help with hair growth. See, hair derives most of its growth power in protein, which means that sufficient amounts in your diet are essential. Note though that your protein should come from healthy sources such as boiled eggs, grass-fed pasture, and fish. Chicken and meat are some of the most obvious sources of protein but there are also few vegetables, which can offer marginal amounts of protein. This includes green peas, nuts, beans, etc.

Iron

Often found in green leafy vegetables, iron is also noted as an excellent ingredient for continuing hair growth and health. Other food types high in iron include: dried fruits, berries, cashew, dried apricots, baked potatoes, and more.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is often credited for collagen regeneration. Since the scalp is basically part of the skin, it makes sense that vitamin c contributes to the general well being of your tresses. You will find that there are several vitamin C supplements in the market today, but it is usually better to get this from fruit sources such as: orange, lemon, strawberries, lime, and essentially all types of citrus fruits.

Vitamin E

Vitamin works with the hair in two ways: it helps nourish the strands and prevent breakage. The vitamin stimulates the production of keratin used to build stronger, longer, and healthier hair. Eating food items high in vitamin E is recommended such as: avocado, shellfish, sunflower seeds, nuts, and spinach.

Biotin

Biotin is also another powerful ingredient attributed with healthy hair and nails. Fortunately, many of the food we eat are high in biotin, but it is still possible to suddenly suffer from a deficiency. For preventive purposes, make sure that some of these biotin-rich food items are in your diet at least once every day: mushroom, tuna, avocado, eggs, salmon, liver, Swiss chard, and berries.

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This is body-focused repetitive behaviour with continuous compulsion to pick at one’s own skin, often to the extent that damages are caused.

Episodes of skin picking are often preceded or accompanied by tension, anxiety, or stress. During these moments, there is commonly a compulsive urge to pick, squeeze, or scratch at a surface or region of the body, often at the location of a perceived skin defect.

Skin picking often occurs as a result of some other triggering cause. Some common triggers are feeling or examining irregularities on the skin and feeling anxious or other negative feelings.

The two main strategies for treating this condition are pharmacological treatment ((SSRIs; opioid antagonists; and glutamatergic agents) and psychotherapy (habit reversal training, cognitive-behavioral therapy, acceptance-enhanced behavior therapy[and acceptance and commitment therapy).

Look at the video bellow:

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Raspberry Banana Smoothie

The things you would need are a cup of newly picked fresh raspberries, any kind of ripe banana, a heaping tablespoon of ground flaxseed and a cup full of rice milk. If you cannot find rice milk, any kind of milk would be okay as long as it did not come from a cow. Put all the ingredients together in a blender until you achieve the smooth texture. From this recipe, you will get a lot of antioxidants, phytochemicals and anti-inflammatory Omega 3.

Apple with Cinnamon

The recipe is as easy as the name. Simply bring out some fresh apples from the fridge, dab on some cinnamon on it and poof! You have your own go-away-eczema dessert. You will get antioxidants, anti-histamine and anti-inflammatory agents from it.

Buckwheat Pancakes with Bananas

Don’t you just love pancakes for breakfast? You will love them even more if they can help you achieve a healthier skin. This time, you have to remove eggs from the usual recipe and then add a little twist on it. For this quick and easy breakfast recipe, you will need brown sugar, a cup of buckwheat flour, 2 tablespoons of potato starch, half a teaspoon of table salt, a teaspoon full of baking powder, 2 pieces of ripe bananas, 2 tablespoons of oil and brown rice syrup for serving. Mix in all of the ingredients in a bowl (except the brown rice syrup and sliced bananas) and proceed to the usual pancake making process. All the ingredients will not cause allergy and this kind of pancake is a better choice than the usual one you eat.

Carrot Muffins

Is baking one of your most favorite things to do? Get your baking tools and try this recipe! It can help your body fight chronic inflammation. Prepare a medium sized egg, a cupful of rice milk, a teaspoon of guar gum, a tablespoon of flaxseed, four tablespoons of oil, 2 cupfuls of quinoa flour, a teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/4 cup of brown sugar, a cup of fresh grated carrots, 1/4 cup of raisins, 31/2 teaspoons of baking powder and half a teaspoon of salt. Mix in all the liquid ingredients first then add the solid ones. Do not overmix the batter. Pour them in a dozen of muffin cups. Bake them for 20 minutes in a preheated oven (400 degress Fahrenheit).

Chocolate Pudding

Having to avoid eating chocolates would be a big disappointment for people with eczema. Why do you have to resist the urge to eat it when you can taste it without having to eat the actual one? Here are the magic ingredients: 3/4 cup water, half a teaspoon of vanilla, 1/3 cup of chopped dates, 11/3 cup cooked millet salt and carob powder. You need a food processor to make this pudding. Smoothen the dates by putting it in a food processor together with the water. Boil it until you achieve the desired texture. Remove it from the fire, add in the other ingredients and chill it until it is cold enough to be eaten.

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Since I love all things fizzy, bath bombs are my personal favorite beauty treat. Drop one in your bath for a delightful sparkling treat. It’s like pink champagne for the body!

Basic Batli Bomb

1          cup citric acid

2          cups baking soda

3          tablespoons kaolin clay

3 tablespoons sweet almond oil Witch hazel

10-20 drops body friendly essential oil Herbs

Place the dry ingredients in a glass bowl and work with gloved hands until there are no lumps. Add the sweet almond oil and the essential oil of choice to the mixture. Blend with a whisk. Test the consistency with your hands. The mixture should hold together when squeezed. If it feels crumbly, spritz in some witch hazel to bind.

For round bombs: Use stainless steel, round molds. Make sure the mixture’s consistency is on the damp side. Pack each side, then press the molds together very firmly. Remove the top mold leaving the ball in the bottom mold. Set aside for ten minutes. Then set bomb-side do in your hand and gently tap on the mold to release. You may have to wiggle them to keep the bomb from separating. Allow them to sit for 48 hours before packaging.

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Collectively, these elements help boost the production of collagen. This effectively benefits the skin renewal process by enhancing elasticity, as well as supporting and restoring the outer layer of your skin. For this reason, pomegranate seed oil is extensively used in cosmetics products including, anti-ageing serums and moisturizing creams that help rejuvenate dry skin.

Breaking Down How Punicic Acid Benefits Your Skin:

Punicic acid is mixture of fatty acids that are known to provide a number of benefits to your skin. Firstly, it is exceedingly good at repelling the harmful effects of free radicalization, for example, aging and tissue damage on your skin.

When applied through pomegranate seed oil, punicic acid helps to promote and stimulate the production of particular kinds of skins cells, called keratinocyte.

Keratinocyte, which is associated with strengthening your skin, aids in the regeneration process and prevents premature aging. Punicic acid also slows down inflammation, one of the main reasons behind collagen degradation in aging skin^.

Ellagic Acid – A powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory:

Ellagic Acid has been credited with providing many benefi to the skin. This includes protecting it from cellular damage caused by ultraviolet rays and chemical exposure^[6]. More notably though, various studies into ellagic acid’s therapeutic effects shows that together with tannic acid (another component of pomegranate), it ^[7‘^8]:

•  Reduces the breakdown of elastin – which prevents sagging;
•  Increases the creation of the elastic fibre, which helps form the connective tissue that holds your skin together.

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Shea Butter is known for its outstanding moisturising and therapeutic properties, and considered to be beneficial in helping heal skin and ease inflammation. Moreover, it is widely used in the cosmeceutical industry for moisturizers, salve, balms and lotions.

Refilled Versus Unrefined Sliea Butter:

A distinction should be made, at this point, between refined and unrefined Shea butter. When used as an active ingredient in commercial skin care products, the Shea butter will often be refined.

This refinement is used to remove things such as smell, colour and any other bits left by the extraction process. Unfortunately, refining also results in stripping out a lot of the butter’s inherent and most valuable therapeutic properties.

Conversely, unrefined Shea butter has been largely unaltered from its original organic state. And in so doing, preserves more of its natural remedial attributes. In order for it to be a truly effective solution if you have dry, very dry or mature skin, it is suggested that unrefined Shea butter be used rather than refined.

A Potent Source of Organic Vitamin A: Great News for Mature Skins!

Shea Butter is an incredibly rich source of completely natural vitamin A; a vitamin known to be a potent defence

against drying and premature aging. Organic butters enhanced with vitamin A have been revealed to be remarkably effective, especially so where skin conditions are dry, itching, pigmented or sunburned.

A Powerful Healer for Troubled Skin Sufferers:

Shea butter’s impressive ability to heal cannot be understated. Many seed oils contain two important components. One part is the moisturizer and the other is the healer. According to the American Shea Butter Institute, what makes Shea butter stand out from other seed oils is that its healing component is far larger than most.

In reality, Shea butter’s healing element has been shown to be anywhere from 5% to 17%! That’s compared to other seed oils, where their healing component can be 1% or less ^[24l Little wonder then that Shea Butter excels at combating eczema, irritated, sun damaged, dry and other skin conditions.

And Nilotica Shea Butter and Shea Oil.

A brief mention about two other seed oils in the Shea butter family. Nilotica Shea butter is derived from a sub-species of the Shea butter tree, and differs from the more commercially available Shea Butter in a several ways.

Firstly, it has a softer creamier texture, plus, it is more easily absorbed into the skin and has a lighter aroma. Nevertheless, both Shea butters deliver many of the same benefits to dry, mature and troubled skin.

Essentially, Shea Oil is produced by separating the solid part of the Shea butter, leaving only the liquid. Obtaining the oil in this manner, however, does not diminish any of its moisturising or curative properties.

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Rich in many essential fatty acids (EFAs), cucumber seed oil contains tocopherols — collectively known as Vitamin E — as well as various minerals, including potassium and silica. The oil is derived from pressed, cleaned dried seeds, from which yellow oil is produced.

Widely acknowledged for its regenerative, cooling and soothing properties, cucumber seed oil has many cosmetic applications, especially in the realm of dry skin care.

Why Phytosterols Are Excellent If Yon Have Dry and Irritated Skin:

One component of cucumber seed oil that makes it particularly suitable for mature or dry skin is its extraordinary quantities of phytosterols. This vegetable compound is extensively used as active ingredient (i.e. has a direct effect in treating a condition) in cosmetic products for number of reasons.

Firstly, phytosterols help boost a protective layer of your skin, called the lipid barrier. This barrier not only works as a necessary protective seal against infections, but also helps your

Phytosterols also act to restore the right balance of moisture, helping to soften your skin’s surface, as well as improve its suppleness. What is more, they have the capacity to promote and stimulate the restoration of healthy skin cells.

Studies into the use of phytosterols showed clear evidence that they do help to repair your skin, and significantly aid in the healing of your skin’s barrier function^.

How Oleic and Linoleic Acids Help Dry, Rough, Itchy, Sensitive and Sunburned Skin:

Cucumber Seed Oil has a considerable amount of oleic acid and linoleic acid. Oleic and linoleic acids are EFAs extensively found in a variety of vegetable oils. While oleic acid is naturally secreted from your skin to help destroy bacteria, linoleic acid cannot be produced by the body and therefore needs to be ingested.

Both EFAs play an important role in treating dry skin conditions, such as rough, itchy, irritated and sun damaged skin, when applied though cosmetic preparations. For example, it’s known that a lack of one or more of the EFAs from your diet can lead to various symptoms, in particular, skin disorders.

Your skin is made up of a complex chain of layers, containing of variety of biological compounds (including fatty acids). Together, they form a vital water barrier to help retain hydration in your skin.

In fact, the outermost layer of your skin (the stratum corneum) is remarkably enriched in linoleic acid. It is the presence of this EFA that plays an essential role in ensuring that the protective barrier of your skin functions properly.

By applying ingredients composed of similar elements found in your skin’s innate water barrier, and incorporating them into various cosmetic products, they can lend added protection and be an effective treatment in combating dry skin conditions^.

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Shelf Life

1 year if stored in a cool, dark place. Aroma

Light, slightly nutty scent. When mixed with essential oils the scent is all but undetectable.

Viscosity

Somewhat oily. Leaves a slight residue.

 Benefits

Sweet almond oil has the following benefits:

– Anti-inflammatory.

– Cold and cough relief.

– High in linoleic and oleic fatty acids.

– Moisturizes skin.

– Nourishes skin.

– Pain relief.

– Relieves dry, itchy skin.

– Relieves heartburn.

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Full of A, B, C and E vitamins, carrot seed oil has been used for many centuries as an all-purpose solution to alleviate skin ailments, such as dermatitis, eczema, chilblains, scars and as a cleanser for removing toxins.

As an emollient, it is regarded as being particularly effective in helping to soften and soothe your skin. But it’s carrot oil’s ability to invigorate and tone your skin, which makes it a popular ingredient for many commercially prepared products — especially those combating sun damaged, aging or irritated skin problems.

How Beta Carotene Helps Shield Your Skin From Free Radicals Scavengers:

Carrot Seed oil is also rich in beta carotene, a powerful phytonutrient that performs a potent anti-oxidant function. Anti-oxidants are mixture of vitamins, minerals and proteins, known to help counteract the effects of various cancers and other diseases of aging.

Beta carotene provides a potent form of protection against harmful free radicals, produced by various physiological and biological factors, caused by everyday contact with pollutants and toxins, etc.

The Power of Petroselinic Acid and How It Can Free radicals are considered to be chiefly responsible for causing the skin ageing process, and linked to the development of disorders, for example, skin cancer and psoriasis.

Help Dry and Sensitive Skin:

Carrot Seed Oil is also rich in petroselinic acid. This fatty acid component is known to have several useful applications including, use as a hair conditioning agent and helping to relieve swelling and pain  Moreover, petroselinic acid has been shown to be an effective moisturising agent, which helps to improve skin texture and lessen skin irritation.

Petroselinic acid serves a number of other beneficial applications, which includes helping to strengthen the barrier of your skin and reduce moisture loss skin to retain hydration.

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