Natural Ways to Support Healthy Skin

Your skin is the largest organ in your body, and believe it or not, most adults have roughly 8 lbs of skin stretched across their outer layer. Your skin is your first and most important line of defense against cancer, disease, and infection. This means that supporting healthy skin should top your list of important beauty and self-care items. The best way to support your skin’s health is by regularly using natural lotions and SPF products to keep it hydrated and free from sun damage. Additionally, mind what you put in your body as your skin will reflect the water and nutrients you consume.

Keep reading for 6 natural ways to support healthy skin and by doing so protect your entire body from whatever the world throws at you.

Keep It Clean

It’s hard to overstress the importance of washing your face every night. As you move throughout your day, your face comes in contact with dirt, germs, and pollutants – many of which contain damaging free radicals. By washing your face you rinse away the sweat and grime of the day, giving the delicate skin on your face an opportunity to repair itself as you sleep. Additionally, washing your pillow cases regularly can help keep your skin clean and minimize facial breakouts.

Use All Natural Moisturizers

Know what you’re putting on your face and keep it natural. Many skin creams and lotions, even pricey ones, contain parabens and other harmful chemicals that may irritate your skin and cause breakouts. While hydration is essential to healthy skin, you want to get it without harmful additives and unwanted ingredients. Brands like Naked Bee believe that fabulous skin care should contain “all of the good stuff and none of the bad stuff.”

Prioritize Chemical-Free Sunscreens

Any time you plan to spend extended time outdoors, you should apply a natural sunscreen to protect your skin from cancer causing sun damage and free radicals. In fact, in the warm summer months, start your day with a natural, all-over body lotion and tinted facial moisturizer that contain SPF.

Nourish Your Skin From Within

Drinking enough water and eating daily doses of a rainbow of fruits and veggies is one of the best ways to care for your skin. The nutrients in fresh produce can be used to brighten and nourish your skin, while adequate hydration can keep your skin supple and healthy.

Understand Your Skin Type

The best skin care in the world is a natural produce that you understand and that matches your unique needs. Do you have oily skin around your nose? Do you hands get chapped in the winter? Understanding your skin and how to care for it is one of the most important steps you can take to support healthy skin.

Make Time for SkinCare

Do you rush out of the shower or jump into bed without making time to apply natural lotion or wash your face? Over time, this in attention to skin care can lead to easily avoidable wrinkles and damage. The more work you put into your skin care, the more beautiful and better equipped your outer layer is to protect you from the grime and sun damage of your everyday life.

What are your favorite natural ways to support healthy skin? Share them with us in the comments section below.

###

Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash

8 Ways to Live a Green Lifestyle

We all care about our planet and are willing to make the changes needed to preserve the globe for future generations. But let’s be honest, sometimes it can seem overwhelming and even impossible to make a dent in the problem. The good news is; if we all work together to make a change, it adds up to big benefits for planet Earth. To get you started, here are 8 ways you can begin living a green lifestyle today.

Your Green Lifestyle Starts Here

Flip Those Switches

This one seems basic, but it’s sad how many of us neglect to turn off lights and appliances when we’re not using them. Experts estimate that Americans could slash their energy use by at least 30% by switching off what they don’t need. Additionally, you might want to consider air drying your laundry or investing in solar energy for your home.

Switch to Green Cleaning Products

Although companies like Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day and Method make fantastic natural cleaning products, you can easily keep your household clean and fresh using inexpensive items like baking soda and vinegar. Vinegar is extremely versatile throughout the home, cleaning glass and disinfecting toilets for pennies per use. 

Start a Backyard Garden

One way to reduce the global impact of your household is by growing produce in your backyard and preserving it for the colder, winter months. The average grocery item consumed by Americans has travelled more than 1,000 miles to reach their tables. By growing your own food, you can reduce that distance to 0.

Stop Buying Bottled Water

One easy way to live a green lifestyle is to bring your own, reusable bottle of water. Last year Americans used more than 50 billion plastic bottles, many of which wound up in landfills never to decompose. You can help stop both the production and pollution of plastic bottles by always bringing your own, refillable water both with you to work or wherever you may go.

Bring Your Own Bag

Through simply remembering to bring your reusable bags to the grocery story, you could play a part in it reducing massive amounts of plastic waste annually. Need a case in point? When the city of San Jose, California, outlawed plastic bags, the water systems and sewer systems saw an 89% reduction in plastic bag pollution.

Start Composting

Did you know that you can live a green lifestyle and cut the waste in your bin by 30% through composting at home? Not only does composting lessen what you’re sending to the landfills, it gives you rich fertilizer to encourage your garden and landscaping to grow and flourish.

Take A Walk

If you can walk or bike to your destination, do it! Not only will you be doing something good for your planet but your body will thank you for it as well. If you can’t walk, consider carpooling, anything to get less cars on the road emitting fossil fuel pollution.

Use Less Water

If you leave the water running while you brush your teeth or if you take long showers, then you have an easy way to live a greener lifestyle – use less water! By using less water throughout your home and choosing water efficient shower heads and toilets, you can conserve water and do your part to save the planet.

How you do live a green lifestyle? Tell us about it in the comments section below!

###

Photo by Ashes Sitoula on Unsplash

DIY Summer Craft Projects

Summer is a time for lounging by the pool and basking in the sun, but it’s also the season to get busy tackling creative, DIY craft projects. With this in mind, we’ve collected a fabulous list of DIY summer craft projects designed to enhance your summer living and entertaining. Our list includes projects that will inspire and entice both beginning and expert crafters alike! Keep reading for some creative ideas you’ll want to put to use this season.

Try These 5 Summer Craft Projects

Bohemian Inspired Vases

Summer is the season for colorful blossoms and who doesn’t love to place a vase of hand cut flowers in the center of the table? Use this craft project from HGTV.com to add a little style to your plain vases with a few simple geometric shapes and an oil-based paint marker. Simply draw your designs on your vase and jar and allow time for it to fully cure before filling it with water and flowers from your garden and neighborhood.

Tea Towel Table Runners

Even if sewing intimidates you, this craft project from MarthaStewart.com is one that you can pull off and feel great about. Start by purchasing or gathering some of your favorite tea towels in colorful, coordinating prints or solids. Press your towels flat before sewing to ensure your stitches are even and lay flat. Next, line your tea towels up and overlap them by an inch, sewing on the overlaps until you reach the right length. Hint: You can lay them across your table in one long stip lengthwise or multiple smaller runners across the width of your table. 

Wood and Neon Lanyard Jewelry

Add some color and bling to your summer wardrobe by designing your own wood and neon jewelry. All you’ll need for this Martha Stewart-curated project are brightly colored lanyards, unfinished wooden beads, and scissors. Start by selecting a desired length for your necklaces and then thread the beads with an alternating backstitch to secure them. Finish your necklace with a basic double knot and you have a versatile summer accessory you’ll reach for again and again.

Foliage Wall Art

With this HGTV-curated craft project you can preserve summer and hang it on your wall to keep you hopeful when the weather turns nasty. For this project you’ll need three 12x12 frames with mats, three 8x8 canvases, spray paint, a drop cloth, and some leaves and foliage with interesting textures. Place your canvases on a drop cloth and arrange your leaves until you’re happy with the look. Spray paint in layers until your canvases are covered. Once they are fully dried, place them in a frame and hang as desired.

Shadow Box Bird Feeder

Transform a simple shadow box into a rustic bird feeder with this simple summer craft project from CountryLiving.com. For this project, you’ll need a 15” solid wood shadow box, epoxy, 4 inches of ¾ inch diameter dowel rod, a terra cotta planter dish, several feet of twine, and a metal screw hook. Start by screwing your hook into the center, top portion of your box. Next, epoxy your dowel rod to the center, bottom portion of your box so that it sticks up and allow the epoxy to dry for at least 24 hours. Finally, use the same epoxy to center your dish on the top of your dowel, allowing it to dry according to package instructions. Once your new bird feeder is dry, use your twine to hang it and fill the dish with seed for your feathery neighbors. 

What summer craft projects are you working on? Tell us all about it in the comments section below!

###

Photo by Victoria Bilsborough on Unsplash