Enhance your color

Do you have lackluster hair? Bring a burst of life to your color by using things from your garden.

Create your own color enhancing hair rinse, just right for your hair color.

► Brunettes: Fresh rosemary sprigs,
► Redheads (with orange tones): chopped carrots
► Redheads (deeper tones/berry tones): chopped beets
► Blondes: dried chamomile

Tie the appropriate ingredient in cheesecloth and add to boiling water. Remove from heat and let soak for 10 minutes. Remove cheesecloth and let cool a bit. Shampoo and rinse hair. While your color enhancing rinse is still warm (not hot), pour over hair and let sit for a minute or 2, then rinse thoroughly with clear cold water and style as usual. Do this when every your color needs a boost.

Tip 1: For blondes who hair turns a greenish after swimming, add lemon juice to your rinse water. Brassy brunettes, add apple cider vinegar to your rinse water.

Tip 2: To get natural highlights, add lemon juice to hair and go out in the sun.

Gaining Strength from a Stone

Today, it called to me. My body and soul needed it’s comfort, and reassurance. It’s warmth and glow called out to me, but I couldn’t find it anywhere, so I tried to replace it with something else. It looked ok and in the eyes of others, it would do fine, but it just felt wrong. So I continued my search, and after moving things here and there, and looking in the place where it should have been, I found it. It slide down into a spot that was now covered with sketches and tools, but I found it and my soul rejoiced as I put it around my neck and it connected with my heart charka. Peace was found in my Amber necklace.

For those of you that know the power of “Crystal Healing” will know what I’m talking about, and for those of you who don’t, let me enlighten you.

The “thing” I was in search for was a necklace that I made some time ago. It’s a beautiful and simple necklace that I have repeatedly received compliments on, but it was not the necklace that called out to me, but the Amber piece that’s apart of the necklace that called to me (or my heart to it).

Crystals (or gem stones) have a way of healing and balancing. Through out time, there have been evidence of how different cultures used the power of crystals to cleanse, heal and bring balance. From Egyptians, Africans, Indians, Mayan Indians, Asians and more are all noted to have used the power of crystals in healing.

When I woke up this morning, my mind was clouded with thoughts racing through my head (I went to sleep the same way). As I sort through the confusion of what to wear today, only one thing was certain. I needed to wear my amber necklace. Why you ask?

Amber (is not a crystal at all, but a tree resin) is a powerful healer and cleanser. It has strong connections to the earth and is a grounding stone for higher energies. It cleanses the charkas by absorbing negative energies and transmuting them into positive forces.

So as I put the necklace around my neck, a calm sense of being immediately came over me and every thing felt right. All my doubts and negative thoughts were washed away, and reassurance of the right decisions lay in it’s wake. I’m confident the choice I make today will be the right choices, starting with, wearing my Amber necklace.

Color me Naturally

Looking to change the color of your hair this summer? Why not use Henna.

Henna is an herb (from the leaves and shoots of the henna shrub) native to the subtropical regions of Africa, Middle East and India. Henna is a natural dye that, when applied to the hair, coats the hair with a transparent red coloring (the shade varies depending on your hair color). While adding color to your hair, henna conditions and strengthens the hair as well. It also has anti-fungal properties that help in the reduction of dandruff. Henna leaves the hair easier to detangle, soft and more manageable.

Don’t be fooled by the henna sold in hair supply stores. Natural henna can be found in health food and herbal stores, Indian markets and natural herb suppliers online. In Indian Markets, you may find packets of henna combined with other herbs to promote hair growth and strengthening of the hair or buy the Henna (powdered) by itself and mix it with your own herbs and essential oils to meet the needs of your hair. Add eggs, floral water or other natural dyes to customize your color and condition your hair.

Henna will not lighten your hair. On dark (black or brown) hair, henna provides auburn to burgundy color with red highlights that will be visible in the sunlight. For Blond hair, henna will give a natural red color. White or silver hair will have a natural to deep red color, and red hair will have a deeper, richer red color. So, if your looking for a safer way to add color to your hair, Henna is the way to go.


Henna’s history:

o Henna was also used as a healing plant and for cleansing and cooling the skin
o Ancient Egyptians would dye their hair red using henna to cover their gray
o Ancient Egyptians stained the fingers and toes of the Pharaohs and nobles before mummification
o Henna is used to create temporary body art called Mehndi. It is practiced in Pakistan, India, Morocco, Africa and currently in the western cultures(tattoos)

Having their say

Industry Standards for Natural Body Care Products.



Last week, an annoucement was made by Whole Foods and OASIS (Organic and Sustainable Industry Standards) about their plans to help shoppers select the highest level of natural and organic products. Another organization called The Natural Standard, led by Burt's Bee executive Mike Indursky and the National Products Association (NPA) has also been working for over a year to come up with their standard for the industry.

Each organization serves different purposes and segments of the marketplace.

For Whole Foods, "Premium" products are their goal and to reach this goal, they have a list of roughly 250 ingredients banned from use in products from companies that would want to use the "Premium Beauty Care" Label. They plan to use a third party certifier to make these determination on products.

OASIS will use a third party certifier as well to judge a product's organic content before that product can bear the OASIS seal. For now, ingredients that are non-organic such as "Citric Acid and conventional ingredients used to maintain shelf life like Phenxythanol", will be allowed in products with an OASIS seal.

The Natural Standard will require products defined as "natural" to have 95 % of all ingredients be natural ("ingredients that come from a purposeful, renewable and plentiful source found in nature adn don't use synthetic/harsh chemicals"). This standard will be determined by using a third party certifier as well.

What will this mean for small natural body care manufacturers? It's not mentioned if these standards will apply to small manufacturers or not, but it will mean stepping up to the plate and demanding only high quality ingredients in products. Know your suppliers and ask questions about the ingredients. Be informed.

To read the complete article on this subject, click this link