I am always on the look out for all natural and effective beauty product, so I was looking forward to giving Lina Hanson Global Face Serum a try.

I’ve used many interesting facial oils in the past, including Sea Buckthorn, Rose hip oil and argan oil. But this face serum made by Lina Hanson includes all the best orgainc oils combined into one package.

Some oils include Neroli, Camellia seed, Ylang Ylang, Marula, and Baobad. The product is 100% natural, free of parabens, silicone, petrochemicals, synthetic fragrances or other chemical ingredients.

This is the sample they’ve sent me.  I’ve been using it mostly as a nighttime face serum. Although I have used it occasionally in the morning. I love that it absorbs and sinks into the skin so well.

I especially like the Camellia seed which helps brightens skin and lightens spots. And Marula oil is rich in antioxidants and a great source of Vitamin C.

After using this face serum I’ve noticed my skin is much more hydrated.  It has also made my skin appear bright, soft and looks absolutely healthy.

Another nice thing about Lina Hanson Global Face Serum is that it’s fair trade and supports sustainable harvesting. Several ingredients are harvested by women around the world to help promote their economic growth and to give them a sense of empowerment.

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Given a choice between green tea or black tea, I always go with green. Yet there are also health benefits to drinking black tea.

A small German study found drinking black tea significantly improved the ability of arteries to relax and expand to keep blood pressure healthy.

Another study at The University College London also found that black tea helps cut levels of the stress hormone cortisol circulating in the blood.

Professor Steptoe said, “This has important health implications because slow recovery following acute stress has been associated with a greater risk of chronic illnesses such as coronary heart disease.”

Once I had my first cup of St. Dalfour organic Earl Grey tea I just love it. It took me a while to find black tea this good.

The bergamont in this black tea makes it that much better. Made with pure organic Ceylon tea. Selected and blended under the direction of the tea experts of St. Dalfour France. Enhanced by the all natural flavor of bergamot.

St. Dalfour tea come from the Himalayas of India and the highlands of Ceylon. St. Dalfour describes this about their tea:

“Since tea is made directly from tea leaves plucked on a continuous basis during harvest (and these tea leaves are not washed), it is vitally important to make certain these leaves are free of any chemicals. Be confident of having pure, wholesome tea when buying St. Dalfour.”

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After I used up all my skin cream I’m ready to try another brand. And lately I’ve been using Life Flo Health’s “Radiant Skin - Revitalizing Skin Cream with Hyaluronic Acid (HA).”

It was the Hyaluronic Acid (HA) that got me interested and the fact that it was third on the list of ingredients is a good sign. Since many other skin cream has HA listed on the very end. Meaning it doesn’t contain much of HA, just marketing hype.

HA is a key component of collagen that is normally produce in the skin and joints of the body. Collagen is what gives skin it’s volume and fullness. But as we age, collagen production decreases.

Here are the first four ingredients are: Purified water, aloe, hyaluronic acid, sunflower seed oil.

The texture of the cream is a bit clumpy, almost like it wasn’t mixed well. Despite how it looks it does absorb fine into the skin.

After applying the cream, my skin immediately felt a little warm. Maybe it’s the HA doing it’s thing? But after using it for a while my skin must have adapted to it and I it feels fine. Not sure if it’s “radiant” looking, but does look healthy and not as dry anymore.

The smell is very fruity, reminds me of ripe pineapple. I actually prefer this scent over any floral scent. But fragrance free would be best.

The cream comes in a light plastic jar, but a glass container would be better. Preferably a pump so it’s easy to apply. Plus the life of the cream is extended with it’s pumped out rather than dipped out. Less contamination and less exposure to air.

Description
Organic Living
Powerful Skin Nutrient Complex in a High Quality Face Cream Base
Not Tested on Animals

“Radiant Skin cream helps replenish the hyaluronic acid (HA) which is naturally lost with age, and leaves skin feeling renewed, smoother, and younger-looking.” - iHerb.com at $12.24 for 1.7 oz.

There’s been a recall of radioactive metal tissue boxes sold at Bed Bath & Beyond. The “Dual Ridge Metal Boutique Tissue Holder” were sold at select stores from California to New York. Wonder how many were bought as Christmas gifts?

The company reports many were sold at the southern California locations and some were sold at four stores in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The OC Register reports that the metallic-blue tissue boxes sold in Orange County may get their color from radioactive cobalt 60.

The Cobalt 60 is suspected to have been fused into the covers during the smelting process, said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The products allegedly arrived on Dec. 27 in a shipment from India.

A radioactivity detector operated by the California Highway Patrol went off when a truck containing a shipment of “Dual Ridge Metal Boutique tissue boxes” went through a weigh station.

Here’s what the EPA has to say about Cobalt 60:

“How can cobalt-60 affect people’s health?

All ionizing radiation, including that of cobalt-60, is known to cause cancer. Therefore, exposures to gamma radiation from cobalt-60 result in an increased risk of cancer.

Because it emits such strong gamma rays, external exposure to cobalt-60 is also considered a significant threat. The magnitude of the health risk depends on the quantity of cobalt-60 involved and on exposure conditions:

* length of exposure
* distance from the source (for external exposure)
* whether the cobalt-60 was ingested or inhaled.”

Instead of fabric softeners, I was using the blue plastic dryer balls with rounded spikes for a while. I practically grew up with Bounce, but after realizing how much chemicals was in that stuff I’ve switch to dryer balls.

I used the blue ones for a few years until they started to fall apart. The noise factor was also very loud. It sounded just like tennis balls being thrown around the dryer.

So I switched to these from Joanne’s sold at $4.99 for two. This one doesn’t make any noise. But it also doesn’t remove the static cling too well.

And the folks at Treehuger had this to say, “(PVC) material the supposedly “nontoxic” dryer balls are made of is one of the most poisonous plastics ever created, posing great environmental and health hazards in its manufacture, product life, and disposal.” They were talking mainly about the blue ones made by Nellie’s.

There are also these PCV-free dryer balls but a bit costly at $25 and not to mention the fragrance stick is additional $10. I know I am not going to spend $35 on dryer balls.

After looking at this for a while I came upon people talking about wool dryer balls which are more budget and eco-friendly.

The wool dryer balls absorb moisture from the clothes and separate them to make drying time faster. It’s also suppose to remove static too. And very eco-friendly since it’s from natural wool fibers.

Photo from Amazon. EveryDay Willow Set of 3 Organic Wool Dryer Ball Gift available for $19.95. Still a bit too expensive! The best way is to make it yourself. Spinning Alpaca Yarns has a DYI and it came out looking very nice. I will have to make some of these soon with some 100% wool leftover yarn.

I’m also thinking of using wool from some sweaters I’ve felted and wrapping them with the wool yarn. Hopefully will get to do it soon and post my review later. As for fragrance, I’m thinking of adding a few drops of essential oils in the wool dryer balls before putting them in the dryer.

Since knitting isn’t exactly much of a work-out, I am starting the new year by getting more exercise into my life.  So I’m hoping the Wii Fit Plus is my virtual answer to get moving.

The Wii was actually an early Xmas gift.  I was using it consistently but got a little busy during the holidays.

My Mii in the pink shirt, bright eyed and ready for training! And M’s Mii is falling asleep.  There is also Kitty, my pet mii.

Working out with the Wii Fit games for just 30 minutes a day is easy and it doesn’t feel like work at all. I can already tell how much stronger I’m getting already.

And when it’s too cold to go outside for a walk, just play Wii Fit and you’ll be warm in no time.

So far I really like Yoga and aerobic games. My favorites Yoga poses are Half-Moon,  Warrior and Tree.

These activities really does bring out the kid in you! Running is also neat because the scenes remind me of all the best outdoor parks in California without having to go there. Just remember to stay hydrated.

On a side note, I also love that I can stream Netflix ($7.99 per month) on my Wii. Still the movie choices are not as great and the video quality is not consistent.  Probably due to the Wii console as Netflix streams fine on my computer and mobile devices.

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Cranberries come around for a short period this time of year. People like making cranberry sauce to eat with their turkey for Thanksgiving. A good thing since cranberries are one of the most healthiest fruits available.

I like to eat them this way, mixed with salt, sugar, and pepper. I also tossed in some dried cranberries because the fresh cranberries are very tangy.

Dried cranberries are a favorite with trail mixes. I also like them in granola. It keeps the granola from being too boring.

In 2005, researchers found that cranberries are also good for your teeth and gum. This is from the University of Rochester press release on November 23, 2005.

“Koo’s team also found evidence that cranberry juice disrupts the formation of the building block of plaque, known as a glucan.

Like a mason using cement to build a wall brick by brick, bacteria use enzymes known as glucosyltransferases to build dental plaque piece by piece, quickly forming a gunky fortress that covers the tooth and gives bacteria a safe haven to munch on sugar, thrive, and churn out acid.

Koo’s team found that cranberry juice prevents bacteria from forming plaque by inhibiting those enzymes and by stopping additional bacteria from glomming on to the ever-growing goo.”

Happy Thanksgiving!

I used to get my chaga from a health food supplier out of Florida, but they have been out of stock for some time now. So I did a search for “wildcrafted chaga mushroom” and found many on Ebay. I chose the chaga from Maine.

Chaga (scientific name: Inonotus obliquus) also known as cinder cork. It’s a unique fungus that grows especially on the wounds of birch trees. But it can also be found growing on ironwood, elm, alder, beech and other hardwood species.

To prepare chaga, it has to be dried. Some advise simmering the dried chaga for a few hours. Just to be on the safe side, I let mine simmer on high in the crock pot for 10 hours. I used 2 small pieces along with 3 quart of water. The color was very intense, looked very much like coffee. The smell was pleasant, very fresh and woodsy.

This is 1/2 chaga extract with 1/2 water. It taste very pleasant and no bitterness at all.

Chaga has the highest antioxidant concentration of any known natural food. When made into tea (and no sweetener added), the taste is suppose to be slightly bitter. Like many herbal medicines, the bitterness seems to be a common factor.

Due to chaga’s health benefits, it’s been referred to as “King of Herbs” and “Nature’s Silver Bullet”. Chaga has been researched as an antiviral, anti-tumor for breast and uterine and other cancers, and diabetes.

Cheers to Chaga!

Note: Survival Topics has a neat post on how to harvest and prepare wild chaga.

Some advise to boil while others say to simmer for hours. For best result, take 30 minutes on empty stomach before a meal.

For some time now, I had switched from drinking coffee to mostly tea, especially green tea. But I never could cut myself totally off coffee. The smell is just too pleasant to pass up.

One of my favorite coffee was Cafe Du Monde made with chicory. But my new favorite is World Market’s Moka Java Blend Coffee.

It’s a combination of coffee beans from Indonesia and Ethiopia. It’s medium roast, full body coffee beans. Smells like chocolate but still taste like coffee. I’ve also been drinking it without sugar, just milk and it’s still really good.

For coffee drinkers, it seem that over the years coffee had some bad news and now it’s back to good news again. Of course with these coffee studies it’s difficult to conclude since they can’t control all the variables and every body’s different.

But in the meantime, here’s some good news for coffee drinkers to consider when enjoying their coffee.

Coffee drinkers may be at lower risk of liver and colon cancer, type 2 diabetes, and Parkinson’s disease.

A 2008 study found that women who drank coffee regularly — up to six cups a day — were less likely to die of various causes during the study than their non-coffee-drinking counterparts. The study was also done with decaf coffee, so researchers don’t think its because of the caffeine.

In 2009, another coffee study suggested more benefits for moderate (3-5 cups) coffee drinkers. Middle aged people benefited the most and had the lowest risk for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease later in life compared to less frequent drinkers.

And my favorite is that coffee has antioxidants. Polyphenols or flavonoids, is the type of antioxidants found in coffee. They have been proven to moderately help brain function.

On the downside, for women trying to conceive, two or more cups of regular coffee (or five 12-ounce cans of caffeinated soda) during pregnancy may increase the risk of miscarriage.

So for everyone else, enjoy your cup of coffee!

Info from Health Magazine 2011.

It’s finally starting to feel colder out here in California. And the cold weather means indoor heat. Indoor heat also means dry skin and dry scalp for me.

Then I came upon this “Ginger Scalp Care” shampoo by The Body Shop. It seems to be working well so far.

Natural and botanical ingredients include ginger root extract, birch bark, white willow, and oak moss. The astringent properties of these ingredients help promote a healthy and clean scalp.

Description from The Body Shop:

“Organic honey moisturizes and helps condition the skin. Helps protect and preserve the forest as well as providing necessary income for beekeepers, an increasing number of which are now women.

The honey that we use comes from communities living in and around the Ba’le Forest in Ethiopia, in the south Oromia state. This area forms part of the East African Montaine Eco-Region, which has been identified by the UN as a global hotspot for biodiversity and has several endemic species within the region that are classified as endangered.” - The Body Shop.

It’s a great shampoo for soothing that irritated scalp. I also like the spicy, sharp and warm scent of ginger oil. This scent is also more pleasant than most other dry scalp shampoo.

On the downside it does contain a number of ingredients they could leave out, such as SLS and parabens. Then again, maybe it’s time I start making my own shampoo bar with honey and ginger oil extract.

The shampoo retails for $10 for 8.4 fl oz. Smaller bottle than most other shampoo. But you can use this once a week and switch between a regular shampoo.

Note: Taking fish oil (supplement) is another great way to increase moisture and prevent dry skin or scalp. You’ll notice the difference in your skin and have healthy heart and joint too.