Why Your Spice Cabinet May Be Your Best Kept Beauty Secret

If you want to shake up your beauty routine—and revive your skin to a state of absolute gorgeousness—look no further than your very own pantry.

A number of spices you already have right in your home are untapped resources for unlocking supple, clear, and glowing skin, according to Heather Scholten of Spiceologist. Here, she shares some of her favorite seasonings that work on your skin just as well as your skillet—plus, some amazing home remedies you can try tonight!

Saffron

Full of anti-bacterial qualities, saffron’s unique color, flavor and other properties give it culinary and medicinal characteristics that make it renowned all over the world. Rich in vitamin A, B1, B2, B3, Vitamin C, iron, potassium, zinc, selenium, folate and many other nutrients, saffron brightens up your complexion and even works a great home remedy for clearing up acne. Try this saffron face mask: Add 3-4 strands of high quality saffron to ½ cup whole milk and allow them to soften in the milk for an hour or so. Apply to face and neck, then, after 10-15 minutes, wash off.

Clove

The oil of this fragrant spice can make a fragrant facial cleanser, since it also has antimicrobial properties. Cloves or clove oil can also be used to prevent hair loss and for thickening the hair as well.

Turmeric

This antiseptic and antibacterial spice is not only a delicious anti-inflammatory addition to smoothies, but its properties can make your skin glow when used as a face mask. Try this recipe: Mix 1 tablespoon each of ground oatmeal, turmeric and honey, then stir to blend.  Apply to face with a soft brush or fingertips (you can thin with water if needed) and leave on for 10-15 minutes. Remove with cold water—hot water will make you turn orange!—then wash your face with your usual cleanser.

Cinnamon

Get plump lips naturally with this skin-warming spice. Wet a cinnamon stick and rub on your lips. Cinnamon is a natural exfoliator and can also boost circulation while plumping your lips (temporarily, of course).

Fennel

Great for sensitive skin—and spaghetti sauce—this spice decreases redness and irritation and it can help minimize sensitivity caused by sun exposure. To feel its effects, soak ½ teaspoon of the seeds in a cup purified water and spritz your face and neck to cool your skin.

Ginger

Circulation-boosting ginger calms puffiness and ups blood flow, giving you a natural healthy glow. It can also help minimize cellulite dimples, which is a nice bonus, to say the least. To make a ginger scrub, pulverize ½ cup of white rice in a blender. Add ¼ cup brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of minced fresh ginger and a teaspoon of coconut milk, then blend until combined. Apply to areas of cellulite by rubbing it in, then rinse it off.

Source: dailymakeover

 

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How your sex life affects your salary

According to a new study, men and women who have sex twice a week earn more than people whose sex lives have gone south.

Researchers in the U.K. surveyed 7,500 Greek participants to find out what effect sexual activity has on salaries and found that more sexually active people have higher income levels.

Study author Nick Drydakis says men in particular who clock less time between the sheets earn 1.3 per cent less than men with more active sex lives

The findings proves correlation, not causation—but it makes sense that sex, which can also make you a healthier and happier person, could help make you more successful at work.

“Physical and mental health, as well as personality characteristics, are important factors that affect wages,” said Drydakis. “The patterns found in this study strengthen this reasoning.”

We reckon if you make more moolah, you’re sure to be less stressed—and more open to a sex sesh with your significant other.

Source: Life Style

Other Related Posts:

How to Have the Best Sex of Your Life with Someone New

Orgasm Much?

Want to improve your sex life? These simple ideas and techniques could help both you and your lover enjoy better sex.

Does Having Rebound Sex Actually Help You Get Over Your Ex?

 

 

 

5 Health Tips for the Holiday Season

December is usually synonymous with an abundance of eating and a lack of exercise. We want to encourage you to start this New Year on the right foot. The holidays are a time for celebration and family, not to put on weight. It's almost as if we've come to accept that we are going to put on 10 pounds during each holiday season.

Celebration doesn't have to mean gluttonous eating, or deprivation for that matter. It's time to bring the focus back to the purpose of the holiday. Enjoy your friends and family, the time off and the traditions of the holidays.

The holiday season might not be a time to lose weight, but it doesn't have to be a time to lose your health. The key is to go into the holidays with a plan. Here are five ways to keep your health over the holidays. 

Tip #1: Shop Well For Yourself

It is more important then ever to stock your kitchen with healthy foods. Have healthy snacks handy. The more convenient they are, the more likely you are to eat them. Instead of thinking about what you shouldn't eat, promise to eat your 3 to 5 servings of vegetables each day. 

Tips #2: Schedule Your Exercise

Your schedule will be very hectic this holiday season. Schedule your workouts just as you would any other appointment. It's ok if you can't make it to class, but make sure that you get some activity in at least three days per week. 

Tip #3: Just Say No

You probably aren't aware how much extra food you consume just from people offering it to you. A sample at the market here, an extra cookie at an office party there and it all adds up. Just think twice before you take that food and decide if you really want it. 

Tip #4: Skip the Baking

Do you make baked goods for giving? Chances are you eat much of what you bake. Who wouldn't? Instead make non-food gifts, or prepare ingredients for baked goods and put them in pretty jars--let your gift recipient bake it up. That way, they can eat it when they want it and you don't have to be tempted in the kitchen.

Tip #5: Hydrate

Keep your water bottle with you at all times. You should be drinking eight, 8-oz glasses of water each day. One handy trick is to buy a 64 ounce water jug. Fill it up in the morning and know that you need to finish it by the end of the day.

Source: Active

How to Have the Best Sex of Your Life with Someone New

That first roll in the hay with a new guy can be mind-blowingly hot...if you're in a movie. But in reality, there's usually something that doesn't quite click and you're left wondering what you could have done to minimize the fumbling.

"You can be nervous, and you don't know what the other person will be into," says sex therapist Ian Kerner, Ph.D. Which is why, although you might have great conversation and kissing chemistry, taking the next step can get a little awkward. Here are a few ways you can make that first night as steamy as possible:

Start Setting the Stage Before You Strip
If you're together during the day, do a lot of touching and kissing to prime your bodies for more touch and to create anticipation (in a good way). Wear whatever you feel most sexy in, and you may even want to experiment with masturbating or touching yourself to get semi-aroused beforehand. 

Choose the Right Location
You want to be somewhere you'll feel at ease—so if the guy has five roommates who are constantly coming and going, you're probably better off at your place. If you know you'll be hosting the night's festivities, think about turning your room into a love nest when it comes to sight, sound, touch, taste, smell, says Kerner. Play sexy music or ambient sound, dim the lights, put fresh sheets on the bed, put out flowers that smell great or an aromatherapy candle. And do a sweep for clutter, as well as photos of exes or childhood pics of you and your parents. If you enjoy a glass of wine, have a drink together when you get to your place  to lower your inhibitions and relax.

Foreplay, Foreplay, Foreplay
"When you're connecting with the partner for that first time, take it slow," says Kerner. "Really try to linger in that initial stage for a while to build arousal and relaxation." The slower the buildup and the more time you spend focusing on your pre-penetration pleasure, the more likely you'll be to enjoy things when the real action starts.

Get Out of Your Head
You know that feeling of watching yourself perform, rather than experiencing what's going on? In the 1960s, sex pioneers William Masters and Virginia Johnson actually coined the term "spectatoring" to describe it (the sensation is that universal). Unfortunately, spectatoring can increase performance anxiety. To get more in the moment (and let the parts of your brain associated with stress and anxiety deactivate, which is key for orgasming), Kerner suggests redirecting your thoughts to what's going on: How do his lips feel on your body? How amazing does his butt look? Tuning into these sensory experiences will prevent the overthinking that can keep you from loving that first time.

Keep in Mind, Though...
While all of these tips can help you maximize your first-time pleasure, you should still keep your expectations in check, says Kerner. People sometimes set their sights way too high when, statistically, most women don't have orgasms when they're with a new partner.

"When you're having sex with someone for the first time, it's a new experience," he says. "Any time you do something new, you have to learn how to do it."

Thankfully, an awkward encounter doesn't mean your sex life is doomed. "It just means you're learning how to do it with this particular person," says Kerner.

Source: Women's Health Magazine

Orgasm Much?

As far as scientists can tell, we are one of the few female species that experience some form of orgasm. Why do women orgasm? No one knows. Maybe the spasms help move sperm through the reproductive tract; maybe it helps bond women more closely to their partners. But as any woman who has ever had an orgasm can tell you: Who cares?

The point is that an orgasm is sheer pleasure. And what modern woman couldn't use a bit more pleasure in her life?

Beyond the bliss, there appear to be some unexpected health benefits to orgasm thanks to the release of the oxytocin and endorphins it triggers. These feel-good hormones contribute to relaxation, warmth and closeness, as well as helping reduce stress and fight pain and depression.

The problem comes when orgasm becomes the be all and end all of sex; when "getting there" becomes the goal rather than the bonus to an already pleasurable event.

Figures vary in terms of how many women are unable to reach orgasm on a regular basis. One study from the father of sexual research, Alfred Kinsey, found that one in four women are unable to reach orgasm during their first year of marriage, while up to 47 percent of women married 20 years are nearly always orgasmic (keep in mind this study was done in the early 1960s when sex meant marriage). Kinsey's research suggested that, luckily, the majority of women (approximately 90 percent) are able to experience orgasm by some method at some point in their lives. Other surveys and studies, including a Redbook magazine survey of 100,000 women, concluded that between 53 and 63 percent of women reach orgasm all or most of the time, although not necessarily through intercourse.

After menopause, the same drop in estrogen responsible for vaginal changes can affect your ability to orgasm because anything that affects the nerves or blood supply to the clitoris can affect the ability to orgasm. If this sounds like you, talk to your health care professional about options below that could improve vaginal lubrication, blood flow and sensation.

Source: Healthy Women

Pregnant? Diet Changes to Make Right Now

You're pregnant. Congratulations…and don't panic! If healthy eating hasn't been a habit, don't worry. Now is the perfect time to make a change you (and your family) will benefit from for decades.

And because the first trimester is one of the most important periods of your baby's development, now really means now.

But it doesn't have to be hard or overwhelming. Here are some simple diet changes that will help make pregnancy a happy and healthy time for both of you!

Source: Health

Lighter South Indian fish curry

 BY BBC GOOD FOOD

 Ingredients

• 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• 1 medium onion, halved lengthways and thinly sliced into wedges
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp finely chopped ginger (about a 2½ cm/1in piece)
• 12 dried curry leaves
• 1 tsp black mustard seeds
• 2 small green chillies, halved lengthways, deseeded (or leave a few seeds in if you want a bit of heat)
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp garam masala
• ¼ tsp turmeric
• 400g can reduced-fat coconut milk
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper
• 500g skinned, firm white fish fillets, such as cod or haddock
• 100g fine green beans, trimmed and halved lengthways
• 1 ripe mango
• generous handful roughly chopped coriander, leaves only
• 200g basmati rice, cooked, to serve
• lime wedges, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying or sauté pan. Add the cumin seeds and fry for 1 min, then tip in the onion, garlic and ginger, and fry for 1 min more. Stir in the curry leaves and mustard seeds, and fry about 3-4 mins on a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are turning brown. Stir in the chillies, coriander, garam masala and turmeric, and fry for 30 secs.
2. Stir the coconut milk in the can, then pour half into the pan. It should start to bubble and thicken, so let it simmer until quite thick, about 3 mins, stirring occasionally. Pour in the rest of the coconut milk, add the pepper and a pinch of salt, and lower the heat.
3. Sit the fish in the coconut milk and press it down to half submerge it. Cover the pan and simmer gently for 4-5 mins (depending on the thickness of your fillets) until the fish is almost cooked. Do not stir or the fish will break up – just spoon some of the sauce over the top of the fish halfway through, then remove the pan from the heat and let the fish sit for another 3-4 mins to finish cooking slowly. When done, it should feel firm and no longer be opaque. If you want a thinner sauce, pour in a spoonful or two of water.
4. Meanwhile, steam the green beans for about 4 mins until just tender. De-stone the mango and slice the flesh into thin wedges (see tip below left), then scatter over the fish to warm through.
5. To serve, break the fish into big chunks by removing it to serving bowls with a slotted spoon, then pour the sauce over and around it. Serve with the beans, a scattering of coriander and the rice, with lime wedges on the side to squeeze over.