Beauty Blog
Positive Thinking: Weathering the Storms of Life
Is Your Hair Falling Out? This May Be Why:
How many times have you been combing your hair, only to pull out more than a "few" strands of hair? It's common to start noticing hair loss a bit more as you begin to age, and it can be from a variety of reasons. Sometimes losing hair can cause for concern, like signs of Alopecia or health related issues, but typically there are explainable reasons to why your hair is falling out. If you've been searching for a few possible reasons why you have hair fallout, here are some possibilities:
Potential Reasons Why You Are Experiencing Hair Loss
Human hair goes through a normal shedding process.
Animals aren't the only ones that shed and lose their hair. Humans go through a shedding process as well. There are three main stages of hair growth that every hair follicle on your head goes through. They are the anagen, catagen and telogen phases. Once your hair starts the telogen phase, your hair is released from your head and falls off. Then, the hair growth area remains bare for three months, until the hair growth cycle starts all over again. Hard to believe that process happens for each and every hair on your head! No wonder it seems like you are losing hair every day...you are!Vitamin deficiency can lead to hair loss.
If you are lacking the proper amount of Vitamin B or D, it can result in hair loss. The good news is that there are certain foods that you can eat that can actually help to reverse your vitamin deficiency. Orange juice, egg yolks, mushrooms, and salmon are all excellent sources of Vitamin D. For Vitamin B, consider eating red meats and plenty of broccoli and spinach. It's possible to help slow or reverse your hair loss if you start eating healthier.Stress levels contribute hair loss.
Hard to believe that your own stress level could be causing your hair to slowly shed, as well. If you've been feeling overly stressed lately, it may be time to take a step back and give yourself a bit of a rest. When your hair starts to fall out because of stress, that means that your body is trying to tell you that it needs you to take a break!Dry hair leads to increased breakage
This can happen more in the winter than other seasons due to the lack of moisture in the air. Make sure you are using a protein-rich shampoo and conditioner to strengthen your hair. Cut back on the hot tools (or at least use a thermal protecting hair product) and use a wide tooth comb or finger raking versus brushing.Hormones Can Contribute to Hair Loss
If you've just had a baby and you're noticing what seems to be an abnormal amount of hair loss, this is completely normal. When you are pregnant, your hair cycle remains in the catagen (resting) phase due to increased levels of estrogen. You won't lose hair and therefore your hair appears to be much longer throughout the nine and a half months.
About 3 months postpartum, you'll begin to notice your hair begin to shed with it really picking up by the 6th month postpartum when your hair has resumed its natural hair cycle.
It's important to remember that the human body is quite amazing. When you start to notice something like your hair falling out, more times than not there is an explanation that can be fixed with just a little bit of processing and digging around. Of course, if your hair fall out seems excessive, consider talking to your doctor.
Ole Henriksen Cold Plunge Pore Mask Review
Positive Thinking: Stop the Battle within Your Mind
Positive Thinking is a weekly series of inspirational articles to empower and encourage you.
Too tall, too short, too skinny, too heavy, too smart, not smart enough... quiet the conversations that do battle in your head. When can we look at and within ourselves and be satisfied? Now, don't get me wrong, I am all on board for growth, that's always a positive, but we don't need to beat ourselves up verbally to grow. Do we? How many times have you had someone retake pictures of you because you weren't happy with how you looked? How many times have you stopped yourself from applying for that job you're a perfect fit for, out of fear that the interviewer won't think you're so perfect after all? How often have you told yourself that you're just not loveable? I have. I've done all of those things. But if it were a good friend talking negatively about themselves? We'd interject and lift them up and encourage them. We'd tell them all of the reasons they are wrong to think that way. So why don't we befriend ourselves? Starting today I want to to find something about yourself that you are proud of and flaunt it because you're perfect just the way you are. Subscribe to A Girl’s Gotta Spa! beauty blog. Watch our reviews on YouTube, see our pins on Pinterest and check us out on Instagram. Got a Kindle? We’re on Kindle too! Or check out our natural bath and body line!How to Get Your Energy Back
Healthy Snacks = Energy
If you work in an office, avoid the vending machine at all costs. That chocolate bar may be calling your name, but it's pure trickery I tell you. Refined or high fructose sugar-laden snacks may give you an initial boost, but that energy runs out faster, making that energy dive feel even worse. Fruit's mixture of natural sugars work at an even keel helping you to avoid the ups and downs energy. Eating a protein-packed lunch will also help you to avoid that afternoon crash as protein takes longer to break down in the body. Check out post regarding lowering your A1c, which is chock full of info on the right way to eat.Beauty Sleep is Essential
OK, this is a no-brainer. If you don't get enough sleep, you will just be plain tired. Maybe you are a creative like I am, and your brain is running full speed late into the night preventing you from slumber. I've had to learn that less sleep will mean my creative brain will work sluggishly the next day and less than 7 hours of rest also packs on the pounds. It's just not worth that extra hour or two of staying awake. Put down the phone, stay away from your computer, turn down the lights in your living room and get cozy on the couch. I guarantee you'll relax a lot faster and thank yourself in the morning. (Follow these sleep tips, too.)Get a Move On
If you work at a sedentary job, make sure you are getting up and moving around regularly throughout the day. Park further away in the lot to add more steps to your walk. Walk the parking lot at lunch. Use a standing desk (they make kits that fit right on your regular desk without any installation needed.) You don’t have to do a full-blown Jillian Michaels Style workout each day, but you need to get up and get your circulation going.Light It Up
Ditch the blinds in your home and opt for black out curtains that you can slide open each morning, allowing for more natural light to come through. Sunlight naturally energizes you. If you work in an office, try to take breaks and lunch outdoors or in an area of the building with more windows. This is even more important during the Fall and Winter when Season Affective Disorder occurs due to the reduced amount of daylight.Elevate with Music
Pop in your earbuds or, if you work from your home office, put Alexa on full blast. Create a playlist full of heart pumping songs that is sure to get you tapping your feet and lights that fire back up in your mind. So you don't need energy drinks or candy to give yourself an afternoon boost, instead try to make some adjustments with a little planning and healthy eating and you'll feel immediate results. Subscribe to A Girl’s Gotta Spa! beauty blog. Watch our reviews on YouTube, see our pins on Pinterest and check us out on Instagram. Got a Kindle? We’re on Kindle too! Or check out our natural bath and body line!Positive Thinking: Step Out in Faith
Positive Thinking is a weekly series of inspirational articles to empower and encourage you.
In the summer of 2018 I turned 44. I always hear people complain about getting older, but I like to look at how far I've come. OK, OK, I may sometimes throw out a comment here or there about feeling old and falling apart, but for the most part, my birthday is my "new year" and when I reflect on the past, present and future. In this photo, I am almost 4 years old. It was my very first recital and I would be going out on stage dancing to "Me and my Teddy Bear." As much as any Leo loves the spotlight, I was scared. What if I forget the steps? What if I mess up the tempo? What if everyone laughs at me? Much like when I first stepped out on stage that day, deciding to expand my beauty blog into a bath and body line several years ago, was scary. What if no one buys my products? What if I make our family go broke? What if I am a complete and total failure? But I faced my fears. I pushed through. Deciding to take a leap and step out in faith is hard. Like, really, really hard. Your mind will play tricks on you and fill you with fear. It'll create every what-if scenario. It'll even take something positive and try to find the negative. You'll also encounter people who seem to only reconfirm those thoughts and scare you more. This happened to me when "friends" would privately message me to say, "So many beauty brands fail in the first few years," and "I hate to say this, but you really aren't going to make it," and "I don't like how you chose to start your company and I will never support you or buy from you." All of the above were real things said to me. I would sit here and silently cry at my desk...and sometimes sob to my husband. Maybe I'm not smart enough? I mean, I've never done something like this before. Maybe I'm naive in thinking I can be successful. Every fearful thought multiplied in my head as more people offered their opinions. And we all know the saying about opinions. ;) Eventually I looked in the mirror and realized that I was allowing fear to hold me back. That's when I decided I would push forward and give it my best shot and here I am, still going strong. I'm telling you all of this because each day is an opportunity to face something you are afraid of and grow from it. Is today the day you need to look in the mirror and tell fear you won't be held back any longer? Is today the day you will step out in faith and believe in yourself? One day you'll look back and be thankful you did. Subscribe to A Girl’s Gotta Spa! beauty blog. Watch our reviews on YouTube, see our pins on Pinterest and check us out on Instagram. Got a Kindle? We’re on Kindle too! Or check out our natural bath and body line!How to Prevent Dry, Chapped Skin
Cold weather is known to be harsh to our skin. If there is any truth to the combination of things to make the "perfect storm," the colder months seem to know how to brew that recipe perfectly.
Freezing temps, gusty winds, and dry air can do damage to our skin in an instant. All that hard work that you've done throughout the warmer months can easily go right out the window once colder weather hits.
The good news? There are things you can be proactive with in order to help prevent dry, chapped skin.
How to Prevent Dry, Chapped Skin
Shea Butter
Any type of lotion with the word "butter" in its name has to be good, right? Shea butter has some amazing benefits, such as restoring skin's elasticity and being a fnatastic emollient. Not only does it help to moisturize already dry skin, but it can also be used to help create a nice barrier for your already chapped skin (in case you are reading this after the fact!)
Many people tend to use shea butter at night and lather up the areas of their body that need a bit of extra care. This is mainly because shea butter alone tends to be greasy. But any A Girl's Gotta Spa! reader knows, our body lotion with shea butter (and cocoa butter) is non-greasy and can be used day or night without worry.
Cocoa Butter
Cocoa butter is known as a healthy fat since the main component of it is coconut oil. Since it's high in fat, it can help to create a barrier for your skin, much like shea butter, that can keep it feeling baby smooth all winter long.
One cocoa butter tip? If the heels of your feet are dry and cracking, exfoliate them first (we make a great body scrub) and then apply lotion. Sloughing off the dead skin preps the affected area to better absorb the nourishing ingredients from the lotion.
After just a few times of doing this, your heels will be totally transformed! While there may be many cocoa butter lotions available to help bring back the moisture and glow to your skin, don't forget that there are things that you can also do in your everyday life that can also help to prevent your skin from becoming dry and chapped as well.
What Can You Do In Your Daily Life To Help Keep Your Skin Moisturized?
Believe it or not, there are some things within your control to keeping your skin happy and healthy! Take a step back and implement some of these suggestions on how you can treat your skin and your body better during the harsh, colder months.- Turn down the temperature when taking a shower.
- Try to limit lotions and body washes that have a million "fillers."
When reading the label on your lotion, do you need a PhD and magnifying glass to read the extensive list of ingredients? Keep it simple and look for a lotion and body wash with ingredients you understand. Always look at those first two lines of ingredients - that's what your product contains the most of.
I hope these tips will help you with your dry skin woes this season!
10 Little Habits to Relieve Stress
There are so many stressors in our daily lives. From work, life at home, to even daily life, we are constantly bombarded with stress. Over time, all these little stressors can start to add up!
10 little habits to help relieve stress:
Read a book
Sometimes it can be nice to step outside of all the things going on in our lives and get lost in a good book. When choosing a book, look for something that is fiction or a book you can envelop your entire attention.Get moving
Exercising at least 30 minutes every day can not only help reduce stress, but help release endorphins to boost your mood. Take a fitness class or go for a run, if you don’t have time to leave the house, look on YouTube for a good workout you can do from home. (I personally love Rebecca Louise.) Another great way to move your body, but also reduce stress is with yoga. I attend a Yin Yoga class once a week and this has made such a difference in my life. (It also helped with reducing pain.)