lemon water is the new black (saturday seconds and natural body lovin' combined)

when saturday seconds and natural body lovin' combines, you get health with the added benefits of a bargain! (oh, the dorky humour strikes again!)

i am an avid water drinker. one and a half to two litres a day, no problem. but what goes in, must come out! and let's just say, often. i was talking about this consequence of my love of hydration with a natural foodie friend of mine, and she suggested that i try putting lemon in my water to help my body absorb the water better, as she'd tried this and she had noticed immediate benefits.

so, me being me, i did a bit of research into lemon water, and whether it's worth the benefits.
and this is what i found:

• to begin with, lemon is an antiseptic and an antibacterial (one of the reasons your mum or grandma mixed it with warm water and honey to help relieve a sore throat)
• lemons are full of vitamin c! so consumption boosts your immune system.
• lemons are alkalising: now, this may sound foreign to some people, but the body's ideal pH is just a tiny bit above neutral (in the alkaline direction). however, the majority of people's diets are insanely high in acidic input (think anything high in sugar, or even more specific things like tea and certain fruits) leaving our bodies massively out of balance. this leads to a huge amount of issues because our body can not function properly in an acidic environment.
• lemon relieves heartburn, indigestion and bloating.
• many people say "oh but lemon is acidic". when you first ingest it, yes it is, but as your body processes it, it has an alkaline effect on the inside (where it counts).
• lemon is a detoxifier. drinking lemon water first thing in the morning stimulates the body's natural cleansing process.
• regularly drinking lemon water will help clear your skin. many toxins that build up in your colon find your way out of your body through your skin, resulting in acne breakouts and other allergy skin conditions. lemon water acts as a cleanser for your bowel, washing out toxins before they create any problems.
• lemon water helps with weight loss by acting as a blood sugar stabiliser that keeps your metabolism up (and boosting weight loss).
• lemon water has next to no calories, so it's a no guilt alternative to juice or the evil fizzy drink.
• lemons contain calcium, magnesium and potassium; three essential minerals for your body.
• and lemon juice has been known to relieve the symptoms of asthma.

so, in light of all of that, i went on an op shopping mission to find the following (essential ingredients for making lemon water):

• 1 fruit juicer

• 1 glass pitcher (keep it natural sister, no plastic for me)

• lemons

and what success i had! (i even found a stylised 'good fortune' kanji (japanese character) coaster to put my pitcher on after i've juiced. it was a dollar. i love it)

for one litre of water, juice half a lemon (pick out the seeds, unless you like your juice crunchy) and mix it in. the taste wasn't over powering, but it also wasn't weak enough to put me off (i hate weak drinks, haha).
initially it's a bid odd, but now that i am used to it i really enjoy it!

x

lip service

winter is coming. And so is the need for a sturdy lip balm to protect your luscious pink bits from the wind and the cold! Or if you are like me, you have this need all year round.

As a bit of background, my skin in notoriously sensitive. 

To everything. 

And when I say everything, I mean to the extent that the face cream I use can not have any chemicals in it at all, or my skin dries out, or breaks out, or flakes off. Even if it is an all natural cream, if it’s too oily, the oil will sit on my skin to the point I reflect the moonlight on a cloudy night. If it is too dry, we revert to the flake out situation. Needless to say, my lips are also, shall we say, delicate. I have been through hundreds of dollars worth of lip cosmetics, all to find that each and every one of them turn my lips into swollen, cracked and blistered lumps of misery. It does not matter how expensive, or extensive the list of supposedly brilliant ‘softening’, ‘moisturising’ and ‘conditioning’ ingredients in any of them, the result was the same; me looking like I’d had botox done by Edward scissor hands.

So, I did something that I should have done at the very beginning of my soft-and-smooth seeking journey, and that was to go back to basics. Search out what mother nature has laid out for me, so balanced and perfect for my neurotic skin. And I was rewarded in my search. I have found the most perfect product I could have ever hoped for. It is moisturising, conditioning, protective, and it looks amazing, making my lips look full and lush. It’s not too sticky, yet it doesn’t rub off or absorb too quickly. And the icing on the cake is the fact that it is made from 100% natural ingredients.

Hand on heart, I’m honestly not being paid to say any of this!

I’ve been using it for at least 6 months now, and the larger 80 gram tube (that’s big for lip balm), that it comes in hasn't even come close to running out yet. To be honest, it’s actually labeled ointment but even the tube says it makes a great lip balm, and it also comes in a smaller, 30 gram more lip gloss sized tube. So if you have size restrictions regarding purse space, there’s an option for you. I buy it from my local organic supermarket (I haven’t found it anywhere else). When I bought it, it was under $15 for the large tube, which is a bargain for how much I love it!

So without further ado, here is my new best friend!

natural alternative 'certified organic paw paw ointment'

(Natural Alternative have a beautiful web site with plenty of other fantastic looking products, if you are interested.)

 

After I had realised how amazing this stuff is, I started sharing it with anyone who would listen, trying to turn them onto it, but in return I got some paw paw facts that were really quite interesting. One elderly lady (who turned out to be a lot older than she looked) swore by paw paws. She ate the flesh of a quarter of one every day for breakfast and then rubbed the remaining goo on the inside of the paw paw skin on her hands and face, as a skin treatment. I know that’s sounds a bit home remedy, but if it has worked for someone else (after decades of trial), why not try it? It’s not like you are going to have a reaction to the chemicals in it (haha).  A bit of googling came up with a few websites detailing the medical interests surrounding pawpaw as a medicinal fruit, including documented cases of pawpaw derived cancer treatments! (see here and here and here). I also looked into alternative pawpaw options, and although there is a few out there, watch out as some of the most popular ones are petroleum based. 

I hope that this has been informative and helpful!

x