Green Acne Recipe: How to Make an Aspirin Mask

One of the first homemade beauty products I’ve ever made was an aspirin mask. I think it’s the most powerful non-prescription and totally green solution you can find for problem skin.

Aspirin for acne? Why not? It’s the cleanest and most concentrated form of salicylic acid. It is made of acetylsalicylic acid. Since its market introduction under the trademark Aspirin® in the year 1899, acetylsalicylic acid has attained a strong reputation in the prescription-free therapy of pain and inflammations.

Aspirin works to inhibit the body’s production of prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are extremely effective, hormone-like substances that are produced by the body in miniscule quantities and are involved in the regulation of pain, fever and inflammation. Additional bonus: active ingredient in aspirin prevents infections and damage to blood vessels! That’s exactly what we are looking for – killing the inflammation and keeping blood vessels stable to avoid swelling and spreading the germs to nearby skin tissue.

When we use plain uncoated aspirin, we are completely sure that it doesn’t contain any additives, preservatives, colors, and other unnecessary fillers. Any chemical addition to salicylic acid reduces the effectiveness of this substance. When we use aspirin for a very short time and diluted with water, we are capable to avoid irritation and reduce chances of over-drying the skin.

Why buy 2% solution and pay for water and preservatives, if you can get 100% and use it sparingly and dilute it with something even more healing? Aspirin might be the cheapest treatment you ever put on your face, with a tube of generic Aspiring for a dollar or so!

Even though we plan to use aspirin topically, as a mask and a lotion, it’s necessary to read the leaflet carefully. As with all drugs, people who have asthma, persisting or recurring stomach problems (such as heartburn, upset stomach or stomach pain), ulcers or bleeding problems should not take acetylsalicylic acid unless directed by a doctor. Anyone taking a drug for anticoagulation (thinning of the blood), diabetes, gout or arthritis should not take acetylsalicylic acid unless directed by a doctor.

As with any drug, if you are pregnant or nursing a baby, seek the advice of a health care professional before using aspirin to fight your acne.

Drum roll…. Here’s my completely green acne buster recipe:

Aspirin Mask Recipe Step by Step

1) Get the uncoated tablet of aspirin out of the shell or bottle.

2) Soak the cotton disk with lukewarm water. Put the tablet on a wet cotton disk. Wait till it dissolves and disappears in moist cotton wool.

3) Wet skin of the acne-affected area thoroughly with warm water. If you plan to treat several acne areas, deal with each of them one by one. Pat skin dry with a clean towel.

4) Using circular motion, cover the affected area with aspirin solution. Make sure that you cover the entire area affected by acne, even if there are not red inflamed pimples. Prevention is the best weapon.

5) Repeat the process on other areas of your skin. Prepare the new cotton disk soaked in aspirin once the first one is dry. Disregard the sand-like particles – they act as a mild scrub, and the active ingredient remains on the skin anyway.

6) Leave the aspirin on your face for at least three minutes. The thin whitish crust will form.

7) Rinse the aspirin mask with lukewarm water and pat your face dry with clean paper napkin.

This mask will remove sebum clogging in your pores and calm down the inflammation. Acne-affected pores will be less swollen and ready to absorb the next treatment - why not try well-diluted tea tree oil?

Another tip: when you have a hideous pimple ripening, and you have an extra-important event coming up, cut a tablet of aspirin in half, so to release the white contents of the pill, wet an inner side, and locate it on the pimple. Then fix it on the face with a Band-Aid. Hold it in place for at least half an hour, to see the pimple reduced greatly.

You may also try mixing Aspirin with witch hazel gel, honey, plain yoghurt, egg whites or your favorite clay mask – they will all add their own good thing to fabulous action of aspirin. You may even add Aloe Vera juice or puree to the mix for added benefits. Plus, Aloe Vera helps Aspirin not to flake so easily off your face.

from thegreenbeautyguide.com

How Men Really Feel About Their Bodies

By Ted Spiker from O, The Oprah Magazine

Oprah.com

Dressed only in my underwear, I'm eight years old and sitting on the pediatrician's exam table, waiting for my checkup. My mother points to the two mounds of fatty flesh between my chest and belly. She asks the doctor, "Could they be tumors?" "No," he says, "it's just fat." Since that day, my fat has absorbed more darts than the back wall of a bar.

At six feet two and 215 pounds, I'm not huge. I just carry my weight where women do—in my hips, butt and thighs. And I hate it. I hate the way clothes fit. I hate that friends say I use the "big-butt defense" in basketball.

I'm not the only man who wishes his body looked more like Michael Jordan's and less like a vat of pudding. A recent survey showed that only 18 percent of men are happy enough with their physiques that they wouldn't change them.

While women get there first, they don't have a monopoly on stressing over looks.

One: We have more body angst than you realize…

…but we'll never have a serious conversation with you about it. Look at the standards we have to measure up to: If we're fat, we're labeled as beer-guzzling couch potatoes. Too thin, and we're deemed wimpy. We can have too little hair on our heads or too much on our backs. And maybe worst of all, we can be too big in the backside of our pants yet too small in the front.

Now add the fact that our mental struggle has two layers.

"A man thinks, 'Not only does it bother me that I'm fat and my hair is thinning. It bothers me that it bothers me, because I'm not supposed to feel this way,'" says Thomas Cash, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. "The thinking is that it's like a woman to worry about looks."

Two: Instead, we'll joke about our bodies

We make fun of ourselves to cover up what we're really feeling—frustration, embarrassment and anger that we're not perfect.

But other people's jokes sting. Mark Meador, 37, of Westerville, Ohio, returned from a trip to Disney World with photos of himself.

"Man, you look like Big Pun," Meador's friend said, referring to the obese rapper who died of a heart attack. Meador laughed off the comment, not letting on that it hurt. That same weekend, his daughter said, "Dad, you look like you're having a baby." Fortunately for Meador, the gentle pokes inspired him to change. He dropped junk food, started Tae Bo, and lost more than 40 pounds.

Three: We're worried about our bodies because we're competing for you—and against you.

With more people both marrying later and getting divorced, it's a competitive environment for finding mates. And since this generation of women can support themselves, they're freer to pick a man for his cute butt. Lynne Luciano, Ph.D., who has researched body-image issues at California State University at Dominguez Hills, says women are tired of being objectified and have turned the tables on men. "They don't like a man to be overly vain," she says. "He shouldn't care too much about the way he looks, but on the other hand, he should look good."

At the same time, men are also shaping up because they're seeing that people who are fit are more successful at work. "Women are very good at using their looks for competition," Cash says. "So men think, 'I'd better clean up my act.'"

Four: We're not just checking you out

We're a visual gender. We like the way you look. A lot. But that doesn't mean we don't compare ourselves to other men the way women compare themselves to other women. I notice the way men look on the beach, at work, or simply walking by. Maybe it's male competitiveness or primal instincts, but we don't just want to have better bodies to attract you. We want better bodies to improve our position among ourselves.

A scary thought that proves the point: When Luciano interviewed doctors who perform penis enlargements, they reported that the main reason men undergo the surgery isn't to improve their relationships, but to be more impressive in the locker room.

Five: We want to look like we're 25

It used to be that our mythical heroes had wisdom, experience and maturity. Think Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones. Now our heroes are baby-faced with six-pack abs. Think Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man.

"The youth movement has been cruel to men," says Luciano. "The Cary Grants have fallen through the cracks. Today's ideal is younger, buffer, more muscular. A lot of men in their 40s and 50s have trouble trying to emulate that." So men, like women, are swimming against the age current. That might explain why from 1997 to 2001, the number of men who had cosmetic surgery increased 256 percent.

Six: Desperation makes us do desperate things

Delusion makes us do nothing. I can't remember the last pair of pants that fit me well. If I buy size 38s, they fit around the waist but suffocate my hips and butt. If I go to a 40, they're roomy where I need it but gaping in the waist.

Several years ago, I tried on my wife's post-pregnancy size-20 jeans to see if they were cut differently. The jeans fit me perfectly. I wore those jeans for six months, and I felt leaner every day I wore them. My wife asked me why I didn't just buy a big pair of men's jeans and have a tailor alter them. My answer: Why pay for alterations when I know that tomorrow I'm going to start an exercise routine that will change my body shape forever? It's been my mantra for two decades.

Seven: Men's body image problems can be just as dangerous as women's

For some men, poor body image can lead to anger, anxiety, depression, sexual dysfunction and steroid abuse. Doctors may fail to recognize eating disorders or muscle dysmorphia (the need to constantly bulk up), even though it's estimated that eating disorders affect one million men.

Roberto Olivardia, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist at Harvard Medical School and coauthor of The Adonis Complex, says secrecy reinforces the patients' sense of shame. "I've treated men who would tell people they were alcoholics, but they'd never admit they were bulimic," he says.

Eight: We Don't Blame Anyone

(Except maybe Tiger Woods and Taco Bell.) But we'll be grateful to anyone who makes us feel good about shaping up. We know what it's like to be bombarded with images of perfect bodies. We see the men in commercials and on magazine covers, the bigger-stronger-better mentality that dominates our culture.

"Look at Tiger Woods. The best golfer in the world has an outstanding physique. Golfers used to be everyday men," says J. Kevin Thompson, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of South Florida. "Basketball players used to be skinny. They're all muscular now." Hell, even our president runs sub-seven-minute miles.

Muscle strengthening with free weights

Content provided by Healthwise

In the following exercises, soup cans, water bottles, or books can be used in place of weights. Try to use a weight that makes your muscle feel tired when you have repeated the exercise 8 to 12 times.

Bench fly

Illustrations copyright 2002 Nucleus Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.nucleusinc.com

1. Lie on a bench and hold the weights straight up over your chest. Do not lock your elbows. You can keep them slightly bent if that is comfortable for you.
2. Slowly lower your arms, keeping them extended, until the weights are level with your chest, or slightly lower.
3. Slowly raise your arms until you are in the original position.
4. Repeat 8 to 12 times.
5. Rest for a minute and repeat the exercise.

Lateral raise

Illustrations copyright 2002 Nucleus Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.nucleusinc.com

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your knees slightly bent.
2. Hold the weights at your sides at thigh level.
3. Slowly lift the weights out to the sides to shoulder level, keeping your elbows slightly bent. Keep your shoulders down and relaxed as you lift. If you find you are shrugging your shoulders up toward your ears, your weights may be too heavy.
4. Slowly lower the weights back to your sides.
5. Repeat 8 to 12 times.
6. Rest for a minute and repeat the exercise.

Upright row

Illustrations copyright 2002 Nucleus Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.nucleusinc.com

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your knees slightly bent.
2. Hold the weights side by side at thigh level, keeping your palms toward your thighs.
3. Slowly bring the weights up to your collarbone, until your elbows are about shoulder height. Keep your shoulders down and relaxed as you lift. If you find you are shrugging your shoulders up toward your ears, your weights may be too heavy.
4. Slowly lower the weights to the original position.
5. Repeat 8 to 12 times.
6. Rest for a minute and repeat the exercise.

Curls

Illustrations copyright 2002 Nucleus Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.nucleusinc.com

1. Sit leaning forward with your legs slightly spread and your left hand on your left thigh.
2. Hold the weight in your right hand and place your right elbow on your right thigh.
3. Slowly curl the weight up and toward your chest.
4. Repeat 8 to 12 times.
5. Rest for a minute and repeat the exercise.
6. Do the same exercise with your other arm.

Wacky beauty tips that work

Really, they do!

Toothpaste on a zit? Vinegar in your hair? Some of that ridiculous-sounding advice you’ve heard in passing is really right on.

You’ve been told this line before: “Okay, I know it’s weird but…” What follows is a surprising piece of advice- about anything from clearing up a zit to taming a flyaway- that totally does the trick. Call it word-of-mouth beauty. Sure, these tips might sound strange at first (“You put diaper cream where?!), but there’s a logic to them. We rounded up tons of such pointers (from pros as well as real girls) and tested them at Cosmo. Though a few clunkers had to be kicked to the curb, all the rest, presented here, are real gems.

1. Powder Your Roots
If your hairline starts to look greasy, dig up a big, fluffy makeup brush, and dip into a pot of loose powder. Tap it once on the back of your hand to remove excess, then dust it over your roots. It mops up oil and blends into your strands, so no one will know you didn’t shower.

2. Scent Strands With Perfume
Spray a light shot fragrance into the bristles. Run it through strands from roots to ends and your hair will smell amazing throughout the day.

3. Cure Calluses With Vaseline
Slather on the petroleum jelly, and put on socks before bed to dissolve tough calluses overnight.

4. Spot-Treat Smudges
Dip a cotton swab in eye-makeup remover, and trace it along your lids to erase any slip-ups or goofs when there’s not time to redo your whole look.

5. Fix a Flushed Face
If you turn red and stay that way after exercising (like seriously red for hours, even though you’re healthy and hydrated), take an antihistamine like Benadryl when you leave the gym to reduce redness.

6. Soften Your Bod With Avocado
Take a ripe avocado, remove the pit and skin, and mash it up in a bowl. Slather it all over your body, let it sit for 20 minutes, then rinse off. Your skin will be sooo soft- avocado is a natural moisturizer.

7. Super-Glue a Nail
Instead of tearing off your nail when it breaks, put a tiny dab of Super Glue over the split, and paint a generous layer of your favourite nail-polish shade over it. Go for an opaque option (like red, purple, or coral) to camouflage and seal the crack.

8. Use Makeup Remover on Stubborn Lipstick
Don’t try to rub red lipstick (which makes it smear across your mouth-not so sexy). Instead, take a cotton ball or tissue, dip it in makeup remover, and just dab to erase the dark stain fast.

9. Tame Brows With Eye Cream
Pat any kind of rich eye cream over brows to help keep them hydrated and banish those icky white specks that looks like dandruff.

10. Buff With Baking Soda
If you find yourself streaking (not glowing) after applying self-tanner, put some baking soda on a loofah, and scrub away the stripes.

11. Brush On Hair Spray
For the final step of your blow-dry, spray hair spray onto your brush, and run it through strands from roots to tips. This way, your do isn’t so plastered and stiff but still holds volume and shine.

12. Boost Body Lotion With Baby Oil
If you’re craving shiny legs that aren’t greasy, blend a drop of baby oil into your normal body lotion for extra luster.

13. Dab essential Oil on a Hangnail
Put apricot oil, the kind found in health-food stores, to protect cuticles from turning rough and raggedy.

14. Quell a Cold Sore With Cream
When a cold sore is coming on, dab a bit of thick moisturizer, like Aquaphor, over it to prevent it from getting worse.

15. Freeze Your Eyeliner
If the tip of your eyeliner pencil crumbles and smears on your lids, store the liner in the freezer for 15 minutes before use so the tip is firm and goes across your skin smoothly.

16. Use Toothpaste on a Zit
Use just a pea-size amount. Let sit for 15 minutes to absorb the oil so the pimple won’t get more clogged, then wash off.

17. Heat Up Your Curler
If you have stick-straight lashes, try blasting your metal eyelash curler with a hairdryer for a couple of seconds to heat it up so your lashes bend more easily. And use waterproof mascara. The formula dries faster than other mascaras, so it sets the curl more effectively.

18. Use Soap Without Water
You know those fancy bars that are actually too pretty to use? Toss them in your underwear or tee-shirt drawers to make skin smell delicious.

19. Groom Brows With a Toothbrush
Mist an (unused!) toothbrush or eyebrow comb with hair spray to help flatten and tame unruly brows.

20. Put Diaper-Rash Cream on Dry Spots
Slather on a thick layer of diaper-rash cream to heal cracked elbows and feet.

21. Lubricate Your Lashes
An easy way to draw attention to your eyes without putting on a pile of makeup is to comb petroleum jelly lightly through the tips of eyelashes to get sexy, subtle sparkle.

22. Steamroll Flyaways
Spray on hair spray, then roll the can over your strands. The round bottle fits the curved shape of your head, locks in the spray, and flattens out frizz.

23. Spike Lotion With Bronzer
If you don’t have time to book a self-tanning session, mix a few pumps of body bronzer with regular hand lotion and pat it on your legs for a gradual dose of sexy, beachy colour.

24. Air-Dry Your Curls
Let your hair dry indoors before going out in the cold. The curls will be really bouncy and piecey-perfect.

25. Press a Tea Bag on Splotches
If your skin is sensitive or just looking irritated and puffy for some reason, steep a bag of green tea for a minute or two, let it cool down, and dab it over your face. The antioxidants in the tea take down inflammation.

26. Shave With Conditioner
Ran out of shaving cream? Do double duty by coating your stems with a thick hair conditioner. It softens the hair so it’s easier to shave off and makes legs feel amazingly silky.

27. Amp Shine With Vinegar
Mix one part vinegar with four parts carbonated water and soak dry hair. Leave on for 15 minutes before you shampoo to lock in shine and combat dullness.

28. Exfoliate Your Pits
If your underarms start to look dry and flaky, an easy trick is to exfoliate them with a gentle face scrub to keep that skin pretty when going sleeveless.

29.Customize Your Body Lotion
Instead of shelling out for an expensive perfumed body product, you can make your own by pouring a few drops of fragrance into any scent-free lotion. Rub it on- the scent will last for hours.

30. “Brush” With Mouthwash
If you’re too wiped out after a late night of partying to clean your teeth, rinse with water and mouthwash, then use a dry toothbrush on the area where your teeth hit your gums.
31. Make an Egg White Mask
To revive tired, dull skin without hitting the spa table, try this: Crack open an egg in a bowl, separate the yolk, and use the egg whites to make a face mask. The proteins help to heal and restore skin’s moisture. Leave it on for five minutes, and rinse off.

32. Dry Sensitive Skin With T.P.
Instead of drying your face with a scratchy towel, pat with toilet paper- it’s ultra-soft on delicate skin (and bums!).

From: www.cosmopolitan.com.au

Flatten Your Abs Without Hurting Your Back

Which exercise can help without hurting?
By Martica Heaner, M.A., M.Ed., for MSN Health & Fitness
Martica

Q. I have a herniated disc. What is the best way to flatten and strengthen my upper and lower abdomen, but avoid straining my lower back?

A. A common misconception is that specific exercises will “flatten” the abdomen. Another common misconception is that different abdominal muscles need to be worked—upper vs. lower, for example. Here’s the truth:

If you wish to flatten your abdomen, this suggests that you have extra fat in the area. You can lie on your back and do zillions of ab crunches, V-sits, bicycle moves, reverse curls, curls on the ball, and so on—and not make a dent in the fat on your belly. Why? Because lying on your back and contracting your abdominal muscles burns very few calories. It burns about as many as lying on your back and watching TV (OK, maybe half a calorie per minute more).

To reduce body fat, you need to burn more calories—and a lot of them. This is best accomplished through a combination of eating fewer calories than you normally do, and burning up more calories with greater-than-normal amounts of exercise. The best calorie-burning activities are cardio or highly vigorous workouts such as walking, running, cycling, cardio machines, dancing, and vigorous, quick-paced heavy-weight-lifting circuit routines.

What’s deceptive about ab exercises is that they feel like something is happening. The more you lie on your back and pummel away at those muscles, the bigger the burn. But, don’t be fooled—that burn is not burning fat. It’s simply the result of the occlusion of blood flow and muscle fatigue from the repeated muscle contractions.

You can’t feel fat burning. When you walk for an hour, even at a slow pace, you are burning extra fat, but you can’t feel it being sizzled off your thighs or arms. When you eat less, you also burn extra fat. But again, you can’t feel this happening. What you might think is happening to your abs as you pound away at them with core exercise, is not. So what is happening? You’re strengthening the muscles, or developing increased muscle endurance. This is beneficial, as long as the type of ab training you do is not stressful to your back—especially if your back is already vulnerable from a previous injury or weakness.

To reduce your waistline, do more cardio. You can improve the strength and endurance of your core muscles by making sure that you have good posture during any cardio that you do. Stand up tall, lengthen your spine, and engage your abs—but don’t suck them in too deeply, because then you flex the lower back and increase the pressure on it.

I’ve written extensively about the best exercises for strengthening your lower back. Ab muscles work synergistically: When you work one, you work them all. Also, there are no separate upper and lower muscles. The rectus abdominis (your six-pack muscle), for example, is one long muscle that spans from your ribs to your pubis. When you do a reverse curl that targets the “lower” area, the upper area still contracts. When you do a curl and feel it more in the upper area, the lower area still contracts.

But these moves may not be the best way to help your spine. Instead, concentrate on exercises that stabilize, rather than mobilize (or move) your spine. Pushups, planks, and hands-and-knee ab-tightening exercises are best. Check out my columns Six-Pack Abs, As Seen On TV and Are Crunches The Wrong Move? And try these exercises in MSN’s Fit Zone: Build a Better Back Now and Flat, Sexy Abs in Five Moves.