Min's Beauty Equipment: January 2015

Friday 23 January 2015

Benefits of Juicing: Eight Reasons to Replace Juice with Fruit for Optimum Health

Juicing health benefits vs fruit
Juice vs fruit - which one is healthier?
Juicing for health and vitality, detoxing, juice benefits and other big words keep popping up when we talk about leading a better lifestyle, but is juice really that great for us or it's just juicing "experts" and companies that are trying to sell Nutri Bullets, other blending and juicing machines, detox, cleansing diets and other stuff that are creating a havoc.

So, we are all going crazy about juice these days - everyone is buying new juicers and trying to be healthier. Off course, it is still January, so a lot of us still stick to our New Year's Resolutions to eat healthier, to exercise, to go to sleep earlier and so on. Well, if one of your resolutions was to start drinking more juice, why not to try and replace that wonderful idea with an even better idea? Eat the fruit and vegetables instead of juicing them! Not having to use a juice machine or a blender will save you time spent on juicing and washing the device, money as you will be wasting less food, but the biggest advantage is that you will be getting a lot more benefit by eating fruit instead of drinking it. What do you think?

There is, actually, quite a lot to think about, because, although the mentioned health drink seems to be super good for you, it has its flaws and replacing juicing machines with eating raw fruit can give you a lot more benefits.

So, why is processing our healthy food is not quite as amazing as it seems to be? What's my advice?

Juicing benefits
Juicing for health? Really?
  1. Eat fruit and vegetables instead of processing them to avoid gut related problems such as bloating, depression, headaches, insomnia, anxiety, lack of mental energy and even premature ageing. First of all, juice has no fibre that is crucially important for our health. Fibre helps avoid constipation by promoting good bacteria in your gut. Why do we care about constipation? Well, if you don't go to the toilet for a big one regularly, the chances are that you have imbalance between good and bad bacteria in your intestines. Bad bacteria produce toxins that leak into your bloodstream. What happens next? All of these are linked to bloating, depression, headaches, insomnia, less mental energy, anxiety, fatigue, predisposition to skin conditions and even premature ageing!!! So, sorting out your lower gastrointestinal tract is worth the effort, right? Some more reasons for keeping gut in good digestive order are as follows: it helps you minimise chances of getting bowel cancer, inflammatory bowel disease and others. Now, let's go back to the point, eating the fruit and vegetables instead of juicing it will give you so much needed fibre to keep your gut in good health and condition - something worth considering! Some people even suggest to put the pulp back into the juice as pulp has all the beneficial fibre, but that sounds quite yucky to me. Using a blender is better than a juice machine, but a blender also has some drawbacks which you will learn about if you carry on reading. 
  2. Avoid sugar crash by eating the whole seedy product instead of juicing it. Juice has lots of sugar. All sugar you take in with it goes right into your blood stream giving you a short peak of energy, then a massive slump. So, another advantage of eating a fruit instead of juicing it is that you will avoid a sudden loss of energy. Fruit and vegetables go through the full digestive cycle and they are not instantly absorbed. 
  3. Dump the juicing machine if you are trying to lose weight. Fibre in fruit and vegetables helps us feel fuller. If you are trying to lose weight, it is crucial to feel full. Fresh plant product takes longer to digest, so it stays longer in your stomach making you feel full whereas liquid bypasses the complex digestive process instantly without activating the satiety mechanism through the process of chewing and alike. Also, the above mentioned sugar crash makes you crave for sugar as soon as it wears off, thus, making you consume more calories than if you ate something else other than the healthy concoction, thus, the juicers are not helpful when trying to lose weight. By eating a fruit you will take in less sweet substance as you will eat less of it than the processed version of it would contain and avoid the sugar crash which results in hunger for more sugary products.
  4. Fibre in fresh produce aids absorption of nutrients, especially minerals such as calcium.
  5. Juicing and blending wastes antioxidants. Antioxidants keep arteries healthy and aid mental health. Even if you use a blender and make a smoothie instead of the juice, it is still not as good as eating the seed-associated structure of a plant itself. Why? Apples, pears and alike lose a lot of nutrients in the process of juicing or blending. As soon as the fruit is cut, it starts to lose it's antioxidant power due to exposure to light and air, so juicers are not an optimum solution. 
  6. Juicers are a breeding ground for bacteria. Most of them are very difficult to wash and, therefore, the drink associated with vitality, durability, energy and vigour turns into a contaminated concoction, if badly handled. If juice is stored, then bacteria multiplies even faster and the drink can become a cause for vomiting, diarrhoea and even worse problems.
  7. Another trivial thing - eating fruit and vegetables instead of juicing it will save you lots of cash. You won't need to spend money on a juicer and there will be no wastage of the valuable product that you have left after juicing. Something really worth considering!
  8. Don't add yogurt or any diary into your juice or a smoothie as milk binds and neutralises antioxidants. Ignore the sources that encourage you to add yogurt to make your juice tastier.
I personally think that drinking juice has it's benefits and if you like it, if it works for you, then there is no need to change your habit, but if you have any of the symptoms mentioned in the post, maybe you should consider dumping the juicer and taking advantage of eating raw fresh fruit and veg instead.

What about you? Do you juice, blend or eat fresh fruit and vegetables to maintain optimum health? What other advantages of eating fruit instead of using juicing machines do you know? Maybe you would like to claim that juicing has more benefits?

Tuesday 20 January 2015

Surya Brasil SAPIEN Women Body Scrub and Shave Gel

Surya Brasil SAPIEN Women Body Exfoliant
The scrub with wonderful smell
Recently I have been spoilt rotten with various scrubs. I received a lovely organic peat face exfoliant from OGRA, then JOE coffee bath and shower body exfoliator and now Surya Brasil SAPIEN body scrub from the online shop called www.yourtonic.com. The best thing is that they are all amazing. I love organic peat products and OGRA offers just that, Joe's coffee scrub leaves body wonderfully moisturised and Surya Brasil's SAPIEN body skin scrub is pure luxury.

When I first opened the giant 300ml tube of Surya Brasil's exfoliant, a totally outstanding smell came out of the bottle and I kept breathing it in. I only wish I could somehow transfer the smell via a blog post! Unfortunately, I can't do it, but it's that good!

Joe's scrub is wonderful, but I know that some people hate the mess that a coffee scrub can leave behind in their bathroom and that puts them off using a scrub all together. Well, SAPIEN women exfoliator is probably the cleanest scrub I have had. It's all transparent with only tiny pieces of Coconut bark and organic Buriti, which like a slime glides on your skin leaving no dirt on your body, nor in your bath tub or shower. It's really non-messy and gives that luxurious spa experience when using it. When I first tried the scrub I knew that it was not a cheap exfoliant that you normally get in Boots or Superdrug. It costs £33.99 and it feels that it is priced right as it's totally worth it.

The non-messy luxurious scrub with amazing smell

Surya Brasil SAPIEN Women Shave Gel
The Shaving Gel
Together with the scrub I received the SAPIEN Women Shave Gel for Razor Shaving, also by Surya Brasil. It's also a brilliant product as it has the same wonderful smell like the scrub and the same slimy and non-messy consistency, which ensures that the tiniest piece of the gel will be enough to shave the whole leg or anything else that you might be shaving.

Surya Brasil's shaving gel comes in a 200ml tube and costs £15.99.

Promotion

YourTonic online shop is running a promo on all their Sapien Women, Sapien Men and Amazonia Preciosa products. The code to receive a 30% discount is as below

SBJan15

and it is valid until 28 February 2015.

Lovely shaving gel














Do you use any body exfoliators? Which body scrub is your favourite and why? Do you shave or you are are an advocate of various heat therapies for unwanted hair removal? C'mon, share with us!


Thursday 15 January 2015

Continuous Giveaway. This Month's Prize: A Set of CHIA DERM+ Lip Balms

The winner of the last month's giveaway prize, ASEA's Renu28, is someone with the e-mail address that looks like this:

jena****yden@yahoo.com

If the e-mail address looks like it could be yours, most likely it is yours then, please get in touch. You can find my e-mail address on the Contact Details tab on my blog. I only need your address so that we can send you the prize. Thank you for being on my subscribers list. Winning now does not preclude you from winning again in the future. You automatically participate in all my future continuous giveaways simply by being on my subscribers list.

This month's prize: A Set of CHIA DERM+ Lip Balms


I am very pleased to announce my cooperation with Chia Derm+. The company is providing a set of their outstanding lip balms (please see the picture with the set of balms below). I have already tried them and reviewed them on my blog here. I am in love with the products and I will definitely buy them myself once I run out of the ones that I already have.

Lips balms come in three sizes and they are all included in the giveaway. The smallest one in the middle of the picture costs US$4, the medium one US$8 and the huge 50ml pot is priced at US$42. Once you get the set, it will last you ages!

Lips balm set by ChiaDerm+
A set of ChiaDerm+ lip balms

Disclaimer


Chia Derm+ is responsible for delivering the lip balms to the winner. Although I totally trust the company to deliver the prize, I cannot be held responsible in case things do not go according to the plan.

How to enter the giveaway


This giveaway is part of my continuous giveaway, which I started two months ago and you can find the details about it here. You only need to join once and you will automatically participate forever without ever having to enrol again provided you stay on my e-mail subscribers list. So, being on my e-mail subscribers list is the only compulsory condition.

If you are not one of my subscribers yet, this is how you can become one:

  1. Find the subscription box on the righthand side of my blog. It says "Join My Email Subscribers!". Make sure you verify your subscription by clicking the link that gets automatically sent to your e-mail address. 
  2. Like my Facebook page here and you are in. Don't worry if you don't have a Facebook account, you can still participate in a giveaway as number 1 is the only compulsory condition to be included. 

Scope of the giveaway


Open internationally to people over the age of 18.


Winner selection


The winner will be selected randomly from the active subscribers list as of 15th February 2015.


End of the giveaway


This month's prize will be announced on the 15th of February 2015.



Final Word


I cannot thank everyone individually, but I would like to say one Huge "THANK YOU" once again to everyone who has participated or will participate in any future giveaways and for staying on my subscribers list.

Saturday 10 January 2015

How Often Should You Do Skin Needling (or Use a Derma Roller)?

How frequently you should do derma rolling?
A needle can be used for targeted wrinkles or lines
reduction/elimination
You must be totally sick of my derma rollers and skin needling posts. I know I have been talking about these beauty devices loads, however, there is one question that I am constantly being asked by my readers and YouTube followers and it's the question that I always struggle to find the right answer for:

How often one should do skin or micro needling?

I will tell you what I did, but it doesn't mean that you should do the same.

When I was in the process of getting rid of my frown lines, I did skin needling a few times a week. It worked wonders for me, however, if you try to search for an answer online or elsewhere, you will see very different opinions, some people saying that it should not be done more frequently than once a month (I did a few times a week!!!). I don't have any medical qualifications, therefore, I should not be giving you an answer, especially the one that contradicts advice given elsewhere - just because skin needling with a certain frequency worked great on my skin, it may have different results on other people.

So, what should you do? I consulted a doctor, Dr David Bank, whose response was as follows:

“It depends on the individual's skin. Those with thicker, more sebaceous skin can use a derma roller once per week. However, those with more sensitive skin might only be able to use a derma roller once per month. For best results, you should always consult your dermatologist first to figure out what works best with your skin type.”

So, looks like you have to either use your own judgement or pay a visit to a dermatologist if you want to get the most out of your skin needling device.

I hope this gives you an idea of what determines the frequency of needling.

Below is my YouTube video where I talk about how frequent a derma roller or any other skin or micro needling device should be used. Nothing new there though - if you have read the post, then you don't have to watch the video. It's for those who prefer listening to reading.


Have you ever tried skin needling? Would you give it a go? Do you have any tricks to a more beautiful younger skin?

Tuesday 6 January 2015

If Colds Are Caused by Virus, Should You Care To Keep Yourself Warm in Winter?

Winter time. Sometimes it gets really cold here in the UK, but it's still laughable in comparison to how cold it can get in Lithuania, the country where I am originally from. I don't mind cold weather itself, but the problem is cold causes illnesses and some winters are so bad that it feels like I simply don't get out of the vicious cycle of being ill - just as I start to feel better, a day or two and I am back to having a runny nose, a cough or something else unpleasant, and all due to cold weather.

Cold weather? But cold is caused by a virus, right? So, why blame the weather? Well, lots of people laugh at the idea that somebody can get a cold as a consequence of getting cold. They say that it's a virus to blame and it's nothing to do to being physically cold.

What causes the common cold?
Staying warm keeps virus at bay
So often I had to fight my husband to keep our kids warm so that they don't catch a cold. Chris would say that I was being silly, but I would say that I came from a cold country and I knew what happened when I got cold. There is an obvious positive correlation between being cold and catching a cold, so how can I deny it being true? At the same time I perfectly know myself that cold is caused by virus, so what's the logic? 

"The key to avoiding a cold could be as simple as keeping your nose warm with a scarf when you venture outside in winter." - says Daily Mail. "Research shows that low temperatures make it harder for the body to fight off the bug that causes half of colds in adults and almost all colds in children.

The finding backs up the popular idea that people are more likely to come down with a cold if they get chilly, perhaps by not putting on a coat in winter. In other words, mother was right when she told you to wrap up warm.

Previously, scientists have said colds are not caused by a drop in temperature but by everyone staying indoors in stuffy rooms.

Now, researchers from Yale University in the US have looked at how well rhinovirus, the bug that is the biggest cause of the common cold, grew and multiplied in cells kept at different temperatures. 

The germ found it easier to breed at 33C (91F) - the sort of temperature typically found inside the nose - than at the 37C (99F) found deep inside the body.

But crucially, the body's initial immune response to the cold does not work as well at 33C, meaning the virus was allowed to wreak havoc, reports the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences journal."

So, next time someone laughs at you for dressing yourself or your little ones warmly, refer them to my blog post or the Daily Mail, today's issue (Tuesday, January 6, 2015).

And, yes, my nose IS always cold, so maybe that's why I keep catching the cold so easily? Stay warm and stay heathy in winter!

How about you? Do you dress yourself warmly in winter or you are one of those who wears a T-shirt regardless of the weather?

Friday 2 January 2015

Ground Coffee Body Scrub by JOE Not Only Removes Dead Skin Cells but Also Leaves Skin Moisturised

Ground coffee body scrub, pic 1
Joe's ground coffee body exfoliant
Why buy a ground coffee body scrub when you can have your own homemade exfoliant for, literally, no cost? Well, if this is what you think, then keep on reading...

Are you getting fed up with lots of various exfoliants? There is another one and one more out there and you have to try them all... To be honest, I have been quite lazy with using any exfoliating stuff recently and when I heard from Joe about his coffee scrub the only thing that intrigued was the fact that it was made of coffee. Sometime in the past I used to make a homemade coffee exfoliant myself. I would have a cup of coffee first and use the leftovers to mix up with an exfoliant bought in a shop. I would rub my body with the mixture to make my skin feel very soft and clean. So, this is why I decided to give joe coffee body scrub a go. I was curious how the social dude Joe put his product together.

At first when I opened the pack it looked like coffee. I laughed: "At least I have a cup of coffee first and only then use the remaining bits in the shower, but this one is just some ground coffee, nothing more!". How wrong I was! It's not just a coffee, it has lots of other ingredients added to it and, although it smells like coffee, the product leaves skin amazingly moisturised. Seriously, I didn't feel like I needed a moisturiser after using joe exfoliant, which I found quite cool as it saved me time and effort after shower.

Joe's ground coffee body scrub, pic 2
Joe's ground coffee body scrub

I realised how very cool this product was when I reached out for it the second time in just a few days. I wanted to use the product as I was enjoying it. Most of the time I feel obliged to use stuff, because I paid for it or it may have some benefits for my skin..

Joe's ground coffee body scrub, pic 3
Joe's ground coffee body scrub
The moisturising benefits come from the botanical and the essential oils. The ground coffee scrub achieves similar effect as the product that I talked about when I was reviewing the Anti-ageing Show in Manchester. The salt scrub by Kedem was amazing, but it cost the whooping £55, which I thought was way too much even though the product was lovely. Joe scrub achieves the same moisturising effect and it has the price tag of $16 Canadian dollars, the British currency equivalent is approximately £8.80. Joe's product is affordable, in addition, it gets rid of dead skin cells, it is 100% natural without any harsh chemicals such as parabens, unnatural fragrances and other nasty stuff, so it's a good deal.

I also like the fact that it exfoliates better than most of the other scrubs that I've had. The other ones are simply too gentle to my liking. This coffee product is perfect.

I feel quite happy to have been introduced this beautiful thing as this is my new favourite scrub now. It is not part of my boring routine, but it's the product that I enjoy using.

Do you exfoliate your skin? What is your favourite body scrub?