When we think of super food, we usually think of blueberries or even exotic fruits such as acai berries coming from Brazil.
Dr. Zhimin Xu of Louisiana State University Agricultural Center in Baton Rouge has new promising research on the health benefits of black rice.
He stated, “Just a spoonful of black rice bran contains more health promoting anthocyanin antioxidants than are found in a spoonful of blueberries, but with less sugar and more fiber and vitamin E antioxidants.”
Anthocyanin antioxidants are commonly found in such foods that are red, purple, or blue in color. Such as strawberries, grapes, red onion, and more.
These antioxidants have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer.
The only black rice I’m familiar with is Japonica Black rice and Chinese Black rice. We usually refer to them as purple rice. And it’s best cooked as rice pudding or other desserts.
Photo from The Prepared Pantry.
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These are my new “Seabuckthorn & Green Tea Handmade Soaps”. Since I was having so much fun with hot process soaping, I decided to make these the same way.
You can usually tell if it’s hp soap by the little bubbles around the surface. This is noticeable even when I made sure to fill the mold all the way with soap. Hot process soap is tricky in that sense.
Ingredients: Olive oil, soybean oil, coconut oil, palm oil, distilled water, seabuckthorn oil, rice bran oil, green tea powder, and green tea melon fragrance. Because they are half circle bars, they fit well in the palm of my hands.
The last Seabuckthorn soap I made was was nice and I added lots of good ingredients. Including red palm oil, which gave it the deep golden color.
For this version, I just kept it simple. Except I also added green tea powder. Green tea is making it’s mark in many cosmetic products due to it’s benefits to skincare.
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In addition to the Peppermint Poppy soap, I also made another batch of hot process soap. It’s made with fresh goat milk and scented with a sweet floral scent of Bali jasmine blossoms.
This batch was much easier to work because there are no sea salt or other extra ingredients. It’s also a much smoother bar too.
Sometimes exfoliating soaps are nice, but some days you just want a smooth bar of soap. But each type of soap has their own benefits. And most of all, handmade soaps leave your skin well moisturized and clean.
Once the soap was done cooking, I poured them into my empty (clean) goat milk carton. After letting it cool down for 24 hours, I sliced them into medium sized bars.
The bars are pretty and a good size too. With fragrance, there are variations and difficult to describe. So I went with a lighter jasmine scent that is not overpowering. But it’s a nice sweet scent that reminds me of someplace tropical and breezy.
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Here is my latest handmade soap: Peppermint Poppy. Because I wanted to use it within a couple of days, I went with hot process soap making. With traditional cold process, the cure time would have been at least three weeks or longer.
When I was pouring hemp milk into my cereal, I immediately thought about making hemp milk soap. Hemp oil seem to be more common for soap making then with hemp milk. To make sure I didn’t mess up, I also added equal amounts of goat milk.
The hemp milk I got was from a natural health food store. Hemp milk taste a little like soy milk, but creamier and nuttier. It is naturally rich in omega 3, 6 and 9. It also contains minerals, vitamins and antioxidants, high in vitamins A and E.
Besides the hemp milk, I also added other stuff to this batch. There is fine Brazilian sea salt, peppermint essential oil, and poppy seeds. It’s going to be one difficult to name soap. So I just decided on “Peppermint Poppy Soap”.
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My beauty product review today is St. Ives “Warming Scrub”.
I’ve been away from St. Ives for a while now. Mainly it was due to the strong scents.
But this new facial scrub actually has a very light scent. It is also made of good ingredients including sunflower and jojoba oils (the same vegetable oils I used for my soaps!).
I also like how the scrubs heats up just a little once you start applying to your face. It could be scary to those that have never tried such a product before. But don’t worry, it’s safe.
The extra heat is suppose to help relax and mildly cleanse the pores of clogging dirt and oil. I think it just feels like a nice facial, especially with summer skin.
The best part of this particular product:
100% natural exfoliants (sugar & silica or sand)
Formulated without parabens and phthalates
Vegan and not tested on animals
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My latest hair care review is made by Giovanni. It’s an invigorating shampoo and conditioner made with tea tree oil and other great essential oils too. It’s called “Tea Tree Triple Treat” and it’s the perfect summer time shampoo.
Image from Amazon. Available in pack of 3 for about $19.
Tea tree oil is known to be very good for treating troubled skin. In this case, it also helps deal with dry, patchy, or itchy scalp. So it would make sense to add tea tree into a shampoo.
Tea tree oil on it’s own can smell really strong, but in combination with other essential oils, it’s much nicer. I’ve noticed it works well with such oils such as lemongrass or peppermint.
It was really the ingredients used in Giovanni’s that got my attention. Such as organic eucalyptus, rosemary, peppermint, and other good essential oils. It’s even got sea salt and trace minerals.
It’s also vegan (no animal by product), cruelty free (no animal was harmed to make this stuff), and sulfate free (no extra chemicals used to create lather). It’s also made right here in the U.S.A.
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Ever since Açaí (pronounced ah-sigh-ee) berries came into the health market, it’s interest has not slowed down. Native Brazilians have been eating acai berries long before the rest of the world knew about it. And to the natives, it’s just part of their daily diet.
My latest bar of Açaí Berry Superfruit handmade soap. It’s made with acai berry extract. And also other superfruit such as pomegranate juice powder. I also included organic beet powder and grape seed extract.
Acai has also found it’s way to the beauty industry too. Some of Ikove Amazonian beauty products are made using Açaí as it provides a remarkable concentration of antioxidants that help to combat premature aging. It contains essential amino acid complex and valuable trace minerals.
The Acai berry extract or pulp can be added to anti-aging creams, after sun products, body creams and lotions. Science Daily News noted, “Acai berries are packed with antioxidants that are essential to assist our bodies as they help fight illness and reduce the aging process.” It’s just good all around.
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Recently I did a review for Pacifica’s Tahitian Garden solid perfume. In addition to the solid perfume, Pacifica also makes perfume sprays. And if you’re a fan of tropical fruits (or any fruity scents) then you’ll love Pacifica’s Brazilian Mango Grapefruit. It smells very natural, almost like cutting into sweet ripe mangoes.
The Brazilian Mango Grapefruit perfume spray is also very easy to wear. What’s neat is that there is no artificial fruit scent here, just Pacifica’s natural blend of essential and natural oils of grapefruit and orange.
Citrus scents are some of my favorite essential oils, as they are very uplifting and energizing.
Pacifica sent me this bottle of Brazilian Mango Grapefruit perfume spray to try out. I love the design of the bottle. It’s small enough you can bring it with you and just spray a little bit on your wrist for a quick perky scent.
Ingredients: Pacifica’s Brazilian Mango Grapefruit Spray Perfumes contain natural denatured alcohol (from corn) and Pacifica’s own fragrance blend with natural and essential oils including grapefruit and orange. No parabens, animal testing, animal ingredients or artificial colors. 100% VEGAN and Gluten-free.
Other fruit scents in Pacifica’s line include Bali Lime Papaya, Tuscan Blood Orange, Mediterranean Fig, and of course my favorite Hawaiian Ruby Guava.
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Pacifica, a company from California, first started out making beautifully scented natural soaps and soy candles. I remember seeing them for the first time and thought how pretty everything was packaged. The design was a bit vintage, but also very cheerful too.
Most of all, it was their lovely scents that got my attention. Especially the tropical fruity scents like “Hawaiian Ruby Guava“. I have always enjoy having a ripe pink guava around just because it smelled so nice. Much like ripe quince.
So it was exciting to know that these scents can be replicated using only essential and natural oils of pomelo and grapefruit.
Now Pacifica has expanded to include solid perfumes and spray perfumes. Pacifica sent me a sample of their floral Tahitian Garden solid perfume to try out.
I don’t usually wear too much perfume or scent of any kind, as I am very sensitive to certain fragrances. Just coming near strong scents (such as cologne) could trigger an instant headache for me. But one thing I noticed is that essential oils don’t bother me at all.
I was glad to see Pacifica uses only essential and natural oils. It is also made with organic (non-GMO) soy and coconut wax. I also like that it’s in a small tin that’s very portable and convenient.
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Destination spa vacation had been very popular in the past years. But not everyone can afford to go on such vacations these days. A staycation is probably a better idea.
In Asia, such places known for relaxing spas include Thailand and Indonesia. They provide services including massage, facial, body wraps and much more. Thaiways.com noted, “the meaning of spas changed to cover a relaxation in natural surroundings, using water as the main constituent, combining other natural therapeutic methods like massages and aromatherapy together with chemical-free ingredients.”
I like the idea of applying aromatherapy and natural surroundings. It’s easy to make spa day everyday with this Asian Spa handmade soap.
Made with all natural ingredients and essential oils. It’s has a fresh and aromatic scent of lemongrass. I also added a touch of tea tree essential oil, which is beneficial for troubled skin.
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