Tag: adaptogens

Natural Tonic for Improved Mental Health

This brain-boosting tonic with adaptogenic herbs will aid in improving your overall mental health by balancing your neurotransmitters to keep you happy, stress-free, focused, and energized.

Mental Health Natural Tonic Ingredient Breakdown

Lemon

Citrus fruits are high in vitamins, and a healthy dose of vitamin C can fight infection, reduce kidney stones, relieve indigestion, decrease headache pain, and help detoxify the body.

Cucumber

Cucumbers help maintain water balance in the body.

Fresh Turmeric Root

Turmeric is known to improve mood and feelings of depression.

Fresh Ginger Root

Ginger fights inflammation and is great for healing and protecting the gut.

Beets

Beets support heart health and liver function by helping our bodies maintain healthy blood sugar levels. While the antioxidant power of beets improves nerve function.

Pears

Pears are a low-sugar fruit. They are excellent for anxiety as they soothe the nervous system with vitamin C, which triggers the production of norepinephrine and serotonin, the happy neurotransmitters. They are also a great source of potassium, an essential electrolyte for the proper function of nerves, muscles, joints, and the heart.

Adaptogens

During cold and flu season, the addition of adaptogens like goldenseal and elderberry extract have both been shown to support a health immune system and are available as herbal tinctures (liqud form) that you can easily add to your tonic just before drinking it. To help alleviate stress, add ashwagandha and astralagus, which are both adaptogens known for their calming effects on our bodies.

Mental Health Natural Tonic

Ingredients

  • One whole lemon with peel cut off
  • One whole cucumber with peel
  • One 2-inch root of ginger (if you’re not a fan of ginger, cut this amount in half)
  • Two 3- to 4-inch roots of turmeric
  • One whole pear
  • One yellow or red beet

adaptogens such as

  • extract of ashwagandha
  • extract of astragalus
  • extract of goldenseal
  • extract of elderberry

Directions

  1. Place all ingredients in a juicer, and add extracts of ashwaghandha and astragalus (for further adaptogenic support) or goldenseal and elderberry during flu season.
  2. Serve immediately.

Cleansing Grains Facial- A Step by Step Guide

Before you invest in putting a mini-fridge in your bathroom to house all of your DIY beauty goodies, maybe you should give this cleansing grains skin care routine a try. Cleansing grains are a gentle powdered mixture of all natural ingredients such as oats, clays, nuts, and adaptogenic herbs. Much like the just-add-water facial masks I told you about, cleansing grains are a powdered no-fuss version that are the building blocks of this gentle skin care routine.

The Good Hippie, a small batch natural skin care company, offers a comprehensive beauty routine with specialized blends that target the concerns of the 3 major skin types: Balance for normal/combination, Repair for oily/acne prone, and Thrive for dry/mature. Each blend consists of the products necessary to achieve the best results in this 5 step beauty ritual.

Cleansing Grains Skin Care Ritual

STEP 1: CLEANSE

Begin with cleansing grains (Balance, Repair, and Thrive), a gentle, soap-free facial wash. Use daily, morning + night for beautifully balanced, clean, and clear skin. Twice a month, indulge in a facial steam (Balance, Repair, and Thrive); a medley of vibrant botanicals that provides a deep cleansing, leaving your skin with a healthy glow.

sTEP 2: Exfoliate

Exfoliate, twice a week with a scrub (Balance, Repair, and Thrive). Gentle exfoliators + aromatic herbs assist in cell rejuvenation, revealing a fresh, vibrant complexion.

sTEP 3: purIFY

Twice a week, treat your skin to a mask treatment (Balance, Repair, and Thrive). Natural clays + healing botanicals provide a deep cleansing while leaving your skin beautifully toned, detoxed, and revitalized. You may also use regularly as a spot treatment on blemishes as needed.

sTEP 4: HYDRATE

Toners and facial mists (Repair and Thrive) should be used daily, morning and night or as needed to re-hydrate and refresh throughout the day. Aloe water, essential oils, and purifying witch hazel remove dirt and impurities that may have been missed during the cleansing process, closes pores, and prepares your skin for optimal hydration and moisture.

sTEP 5: NOURISH

Moisturizing facial oils (Balance, Repair, and Thrive) are a blend of pure botanical oils and healing essential oils that feed your skin vitamins and nutrients, deliver concentrated moisture, and form a protective barrier, shielding your skin from the harsh effects of the environment. Used twice a day, morning + night, these readily-absorbing serums lend a smoothness, and a hydrating glow to your complexion. For your delicate eye area, use the deeply nourishing Thrive eye serum morning + night.

Ayurvedic Beauty Routine Essentials

Rasasara Skinfood is the one skin care line that has all your Ayurvedic beauty routine essentials covered!

Rasasara Skinfood has taken the guess work out of creating your dosha specific Ayurvedic beauty routine. This product line is 100% natural, cruelty free, and vegan. Every product is tailored to  specifically address the skin care concerns associated with each of the three doshas: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. Rasasara unlocks the power of establishing the healing practice of beauty rituals specific to your dosha. Take their quick skin type test to get you started. If you already know your dosha and you’re ready to dive right in, check out these amazing starter kits.

 

VATA (dry/mature): Vata types feel the cold, have fine, delicate skin, tiny pores, tan easily & are cool to touch. Imbalanced Vata skin becomes dry, flaky or rough & prone to fine lines, especially on the forehead & around the eyes.

BALANCE VATA skin with the warming, softening & moisture rich ingredients found in the Rasasara Vata range, which is especially suited to mature and dry skin.

Included in the Starter Kit:

Vata Hydrating Mist
Vata Face Nourishing Oil
Vata Herbal Face Exfoliant
Vata Face Cleansing Bar

PITTA (sensitive/combination): the skin is sensitive, imbalanced and feels the heat. Note their warm glowing cheeks, are often lightly freckled or dotted with beauty marks & burn easily. Imbalanced pitta skin is prone to conditions such as redness, acne, rosacea, an oily t-zone & broken capillaries.

BALANCE PITTA with cooling, calming ingredients found in Rasasara’s Pitta range.

Included in the Starter Kit:

Pitta Hydrating Mist
Pitta Face Nourishing Oil
Pitta Herbal Face Exfoliant / Mask
Pitta Face Cleansing Bar

KAPHA (oily/congested): Kapha skin type is classically pale OR rich olive skin which looks smooth, soft & lustrous. Imbalanced Kapha skin can appear sluggish, may feel damp or a little oily & be prone to blackheads or congestion.
BALANCE KAPHA skin with the application of stimulating & detoxifying ingredients found in Rasasara’s Kapha range.

Included in the Starter Kit:

Kapha Hydrating Aromatic Mist
Kapha Face Nourishing Oil
Kapha Herbal Face Exfoliant / Mask
Kapha Face Cleansing Bar

Tridoshic  (suitable for all skin types):

Hormone Balancing Cinnamon Almond Oat Milk Smoothie

So I’ve been going oat milk crazy. It totally has my vote for the most delicious cow’s milk alternative out there and I’ve literally made dozens of recipes in the last month alone using oat milk. Do yourself a favor and get your hands on some Oatly immediately! This is my go to brand of oat milk. There’s no weird aftertaste like with some other non-dairy milks and it blends into every recipe that calls for milk without changing the taste or texture. I’ve made everything from mashed potatoes to the deliciously redundant, creamy bowl of oat milk oatmeal. This stuff is the real deal. Of course, oat milk really has a chance to shine in a well made smoothie.

This recipe is adapted from the Wallflower Kitchen. It’s totally vegan and is an excellent source of plant based proteins and healthy fats, essential for balancing your hormones and alleviating some of the symptoms you might be experiencing. Best part? It tastes like a snickerdoodle! You must try this!

Cinnamon Almond Oat Milk Smoothie

ingredients

  • 2 tbsp almond butter
  • 2 tbsp ground flaxseed
  • 1 – 2 tsp maca powder
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups oat milk

Directions

  • Simply add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth

Hack Your Skin Care Routine With These 3 Adaptogenic Beauty Product Lines

Adaptogens have been making the rounds in beauty and wellness circles for some time now. Think of them as a botanical arsenal in the battle for restoring your body’s natural balance. Used for centuries in herbal medicine, adaptogens encompass a wide range of herbs and natural substances that are said to have a normalizing effect on the body. Notice the recent spike in kombucha elixirs at your local store? Yeah. That’s part of the trend. So with all this talk of adaptogens, it was only a matter of time before I dipped my face in some adaptogenic potion, because, you know, that’s how I roll. I’ve made some pretty dope homemade skin care recipes featuring adaptogens like matcha and maca, but still…

Sometimes that lazy diva on my shoulder whispers in my ear that she just wants to be pampered without all the fuss of homemade recipes, and without compromising on any of the healing benefits of natural skin care. Finally, the beauty industry has answered the prayers of the lazy diva in all of us by tapping into ancient wisdom and offering up easy to use products that are both natural and effective. I’m seriously crushing on so many products right now, mixing and matching as I go along. The funny thing is that even though I’m dabbing a little of this and a little of that, my sensitive skin is drinking it all up and healing itself. Yay, adaptogens! Here are some of the products I’ve been mental over this week!

Allies of Skin

This product line, with it’s unique blend of adaptogens, helps the healing process along. The products are gentle enough for daily use and treat everything from acne to wrinkles to loss of skin elasticity to sun damage. Best product is by far the Allies of Skin 1A Overnight Mask…um, clear skin while I sleep?! Yes, please!

Snow Fox

Originally designed for hypersensitive skin, the Snow Fox line is organic, plant-based, and suitable for all skin types.Their cooling masks are amazing and they even have a travel kit ready for your next adventure.

Edible Beauty

This line has something for everyone. Whether you suffer from dry skin, oily skin, combination skin, sensitive skin, or ageing skin, Edible Beauty has a range of pure, botanical ingredients to address your concerns. The packaging is amazing and goes super well with this DIY I made a while back. The kit pictured above contains some of the best products I have EVER used! An Australian company, they’ve finally started shipping to the US and Canada.