5 Biggest Skin Care Mistakes

1. Using the Wrong Cleanser for your Skin Type

Your skin produces oil (sebum) to maintain its pH balance and to keep you looking young! So stripping your face of too much sebum while cleansing will only cause the skin to become unbalanced and overcompensate by replacing it with even more sebum. People with combination or oily skin tend to make this mistake the most, without realizing they’re actually making the problem worse. Those with dry skin will also suffer from using the wrong kind of skin cleanser. The solution? No matter your skin type, choose a non-foaming cleanser. Foaming cleansers are notoriously harsh on the skin, whereas soap-based cleansers will gently remove sebum from the skin (but not excessively so).

Jessy recommends: Nature's Way Body Care Facial Milk Cleanser

2. Skipping the Toner

I often hear from clients who simply cleanse and moisturize their skin, and complain of experiencing redness or unevenness. This is easily corrected by the daily use of a toner! This is because your skin needs to cleansed with an alkaline cleanser AND re-balanced afterwards with an acidic toner. Toners containing apple cider vinegar are great for any skin type, and toners with lemon juice are perfect for oily skin. Also, toners are NOT meant to be used as cleansers! Avoid the temptation to continuously reapply toner to remove residues still left behind after washing with a cleanser.

Jessy recommends: Nature's Way Body Care Rose & Grapefruit Toner; Nature's Way Body Care Lemon Toner

3. Using Products Containing Alcohol

Alcohol dries your skin from the inside out! Your skin will react to alcohol-based products the same way as it will to the wrong cleanser for your skin type: it’ll overcompensate by producing too much sebum and clogging your pores, creating pimples and blackheads. Avoid the temptation to apply an alcohol-based toner or treatment if you are prone to oily skin or acne breakouts.

Jessy recommends: A complimentary skin care consultation to determine your skin type & the appropriate products for your needs

4. Not Moisturizing After Cleansing & Toning

Moisturizing does two amazing things to your skin: it feeds it some great nutrients and it tells it not to produce something that is already there (oil). Yes, even those with acne-prone skin need to use a moisturizer! The trick is to find one with a Jojoba Oil base. This oil has the closest molecular structure to sebum, so it will be absorbed without leaving a greasy film and your skin will get the memo that it doesn’t need to produce any more oil.

Jessy recommends: Nature's Way Body Care Lemon Facial Moisturizer; Nature's Way Body Care Rose Facial Moisturizer

5. Applying Makeup Too Soon After Moisturizing

So you just started feeding your skin a nourishing snack with a good moisturizer; don’t apply makeup right away or your pores will absorb the makeup along with the moisturizer! Also, allowing the moisturizer to be fully absorbed will cause your skin to become more even and the makeup will blend better. For best results, wait at least ten minutes before applying your makeup.

Also important to note: skipping the moisturizing step is an ABSOLUTE NO-NO! After cleansing, your skin needs a helping hand to return to its natural pH balance. Moisturizer is your skin’s friend, no matter your skin type.

Jessy recommends: Cleanse-Tone-Moisturize, then go have breakfast or brush your teeth before applying makeup

6 Essential Steps to Healthier Hair - Part 3 of 3

This month, we bring you the final part of our series on hair care! Below are our final two tips to achieving beautiful, healthy hair:

5. Introduce Other Vitamins, Foods, and Herbs

Fo-ti, nettle, biotin, clove, rosemary, sage, peppermint, cayenne, apple cider vinegar, and beer? 

Yes, all of these contribute to better hair; some topically, while others work best internally. If you do ask for a customized shampoo and conditioner from us, you may find that we include some of these ingredients. For example, hibiscus is great for red-colored hair, organic beer for more volume, sage for growth, and so on.

6. Last but not Least: Select the Right Shampoo & Conditioner

At Nature’s Way Body Care, you can request a custom hair treatment. Unlike our skin, each and everyone's hair is unique and cannot be simply categorized; hair may be dry, greasy, coloured, curly, chemically treated, etc.

When you ask for a formulation, we will want to know about your specific hair condition; is it dry? Does it tangle easily? Is it colored? What is your nationality? (For example, our Product Artisan, Jessy, has black, afro hair, which predetermines her hair type)

Nature’s Way will formulate a shampoo and conditioner that will quench your hairs’ need for proper pH (usually a determining factor), protein and fat, along with a few herbals specific to your needs. We strongly believe in aromatherapy, and, we may recommend essential oils to be added to your custom-made hair treatment. In combination with following the above steps, Nature’s Way hair formulations will ensure that you have the best results for healthy hair -- Nature’s Way.

Do you have any other tips for optimum hair health that you'd like to share? Leave a comment below... we'd love to hear it!

6 Essential Steps to Healthier Hair - Part 2 of 3

Spring is Nearly Here!

Although it may not feel like it in some places, Spring is right around the corner and that means the weather will finally start warming up again. It also means that our hair might be tired and dry, so it's the perfect time to give it some TLC! Last month we introduced our series on Healthy Hair Care and today we continue with a couple more steps:

3. Silica

This mineral is responsible for helping your body create collagen, which is the basis of your hair, skin, nail and joint health. You may wish to supplement your diet with silica, or, food-grade diatomaceous earth. Yes, that powder that you use on your pets, and in your garden, also aids in cleansing the colon and relieving parasites. Most importantly, this inexpensive fossil is 80-90% silicon dioxide! Herbs such as horsetail are also high in natural silica and can be taken internally, or applied to your hair and skin. Our Rose Moisturizer also contains horsetail for that reason!

4. B Vitamins

Did you know that your B's metabolize fats, carbohydrates and proteins? Unfortunately, Vit. B is one of the vitamins that we lack the most of. Vitamin B can be found in most greens, fruits and vegetables, yet cooking them destroys this mineral. Smoking, birth control pills, pollution and stress will also destroy B vitamins. Supplementing with a B complex may be a good idea. Brewer's yeast is a good source which you can also 

supplement with. In our experience, brewer's yeast works wonders for hair and nail growth!

Know that all B's (B1, B2, B5, B6.... B12, etc), work synergically, which is why we suggest taking a daily Vitamin B complex, rather than simply just one type (unless suggested otherwise by a health practitioner due to deficiency. For example, vegans and vegetarians tend to need more B12). If you do find yourself stressed often, you can also resort to herbal adaptogens such as maca, tulsi, and, ashwagandha (more on those in another blog post). These herbal treatments will help your body to adapt to stressors and therefore prevent those stressor's repercussions on your hair health. Jessy's personal favorite is tulsi, which you may find her sipping in a tea form throughout the day!

Have you been implementing these steps in your hair care regimen? Let us know in the comments below!

6 Essential Steps to Healthier Hair - Part 1 of 3

We’re back!

After a winter full of demos, personal training, orders and more, we are now back to our blog. We want to inspire you to optimize your health, one step at the time!

Lately, we have been asked a lot of questions about hair and how to keep it soft, moisturized, and healthy. This has inspired our new series of articles, designed to teach you how to maintain your hair. This month we bring you the first two necessary steps. Please leave us a comment below to let us know your progress after implementing these steps!

Essential Steps to Healthier Hair

1. H2O

This should be the #1 rule for everything: DRINK MORE WATER!!! Your body, skin and hair thrive on hydration! Furthermore, it will help clean your liver, and flush out toxins that may affect your your health, including your hair. Most of us don't drink as nearly as much water as we should, so, go ahead and drink up!

2. Daily Multivitamins

A daily multivitamin isn't for everyone. However, most of us do not eat nearly the recommended amount of vitamins and minerals. Beauty starts from the inside out. Your hair cells require nourishment to grow healthy hair. Taking a daily multivitamin is a good way to cover most of the nutritional deficiencies that may be the source for hair loss, thinning, and, so on. For example, a vitamin C deficiency can lead to scurvy (yes, it still 

occurs to this day), and, one of the first symptoms would be hair loss. So, if you are noticing that your hair is not as healthy as usual, and, you can’t find a cause, make sure that you are getting your RDA for vitamins & minerals by taking a daily multivitamin.

If you would like advice on how to choose the right supplements for you, book a consultation with Jessy!

Recipe: Cookies

Yes, cookies.

Cookies are often a combination of unheatlhy ingredients (refined flour, butter, eggs, sugar, chocolate, etc.). Yet, if you do think of your cookie as a protein, fiber laden circular bar, you have a breakfast and snack winner that you can even serve your guests or post-workout boost. Even my bacon loving sister agreed: the chocolate cookies using the recipe bellow are delicious!

The secret as I try to do with anything I cook is to replace unhealthy ingredients with their healthier counter part. Of course, this takes quite a bit of research on my end -which also happens to be my favourite hobby.

Flour 
How white wheat flour is processed is a topic I could go on and on about. You could use a local organic soft (or pastry) whole wheat flour  flour to increase nutrition and fiber. There is however, several whole grain options to experiment with: Rye, Kamut, Quinoa (think protein). Of course, the gluten contents of each may vary and give you a dryer texture which you can adjust with mixing it with another flour or add a bit more of the wet ingredients.
For the recipe bellow I have grounded rolled oats and flaxseeds together -again, even my grain hating sister did not notice.
Did you know flaxseeds were a complete protein?

Sugar
Another refine good that will end up straight to your waist line and increase your chances of type 2 diabetes.
Thank fully enough, there is quite a few sweeteners substitute on the market, from date sugar to agave nectar.
Most will still affect your blood sugar level however expet for one: Stevia. It also has virtually NO CALORIES and is up to 30x sweeter than sugar -therefore a little goes a long way. Do try to get a powdered all natural stevia as some brands can mix this sweet herb wtih glycerin and other chemicals that will defy its purpose.
DO STAY AWAY from artificial sweetners as they do cause neurological damage!

The recipe bellow also uses dates for both sweetness, texture and fiber.
Dates are a great sweet addition to sweet tomato sauces, chutneys, without the need to add sugar.

Eggs
In our household, we now buy organic eggs yet I have also bought organic eggs whites which are rich in protein and very low calories.
I often make those cookies without the eggs yet if you cannot bring yourself to bake cookies without them, removing the yolk will reduce the calories and fat intake.

Butter
The possibilities are endless! A healthy high fat that add taste? I call for any natural nut butter you can find: Tahini, peanut, almond butter... you name it! Great protein intake as well.
Those of you with allergies can subsitute with seed butters (sunflower, tahini) or coconut butter. Coconut butter, despite the fact that it is a saturated fat is however a healthier one and contributes to lowering bad cholesterol.

Flavoring
One thing that will enhance the taste of your healthy cookies from yummy to heavenly decadence -flavor! Vanilla extract, grated ginger, cinnamon, coffee beans, nutmeg, anise, lemon rind, etc.
Cayenne will take your chocolate recipes up a notch and so will grounded coffee beans. I do try to use organic free-trade coffee beans and again, a little goes a long way.
You can do your own vanilla extract by grinding vanilla beans with rhum and letting it sit for a few weeks time.
Did you also know that cinnamon reduces blood sugar levels?
And how about some chai spices? Cardamon, cinnamon, clove, ginger and pepper cloves grounded into a fine powder makes delicious spiced cookies!

So there you have it, now for the recipe:

1/4 cup of Oatmeal
1/4 cup of  Flax seed (you may omit the flax seed and use 1/2 cup of oatmeal or whole grain flour all together)
1/4 cup Soy or Almond milk
1 tablespoon of Natural organic peanut butter
4 Dried dates
1 teaspoon of Baking powder (or separately add 1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar and 1/4 of baking soda,  commercial baking powders often have aluminium which can be toxic to the human body).
Stevia to taste (I recommended adding 1/16 of a teaspoon and progressively add more)
1/8 Sea salt -if you do buy coarse sea salt, you may need to grind it with your whole grain flour to refine it's texture.
Optional: The white of 1-2 eggs
Optional: Sesame seeds,raw cocoa nibs, raisins, cranberries, pumpkin seeds or nuts.
Optional: For a chocolate cookie version add 1-2 teaspoon raw cocoa powder


Step 1: Ground all dry ingredients in the blender, including sea salt, until it all become a soft flour
Step 2: Combine, all wet ingredients (including dates, eggs white) and blend thereafter the dry ingredients -doing so before will have the dry ingredients wet before its time.
Step 3: Fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients.
Step 4: Using a spoon or ice cream scooper, make balls and flatten each of them with a wet spatula, or hands onto a parchemin sheet.
*If you are adding egg white, the texture may just already be quite wet and therefore you can scoop the mixture directly on the sheet until you get the desired size -cooking it will flattened the cookie and give it a perfectly round shape.
Step 5: Bake at 350 degrees for 20 mins or until golden and let cool. You can also place the parchemin sheet in the dehydrator for until  desired texture.

Yields 5-6 small size cookies.

Adding 1 teaspoon of raw cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon coconut butter and 1 small banana to the mix above will create decadent chocolate version of these cookies!

Variation 2:  Put the whole mix into a squared bake dish and cut in small squares to serve to guest!

Enjoy!

Fitness: How to get a Ballet Bod

A few dance moves that will tone your body for the summer!











Steven and Chris | How to Get a Ballet Bod

Recipe: Shake it up!

Greetings to all !

I hope that the new year has so far been good to all of you who are working towards a better health and well-being. Through this blog, perhaps I can help you by suggesting a few simple food ideas to motivate you towards reaching your goals.

For many of us, ingesting our daily recommended value of fruits and vegetables is seemingly difficult because of the time constraints that are imposed by our busy lifestyles. Without having to ingest all sorts of vitamins tablets and supplements, an easy solution to the problem is to routinely of make a homemade fruit shake in the morning. It is a great and light breakfast that will provide you with basic sugars to meet your energy requirements early on in the day without overburdening your digestive system. The vitamins and enzymes will be better assimilated by your body as well.

With a blender and a few different kinds of fruit on hand, you can have your shake ready in just a few minutes. It is up to you to be creative and vary according to the mood of the day by trying new mixtures. Of course you may also replace an afternoon snack with one of these...try it out and discover how well will feel afterwards!

Here are a few recipes to get you started...

Anti-oxydant shake:

1/4 cup of cranberries

1/4 cup of organic mixed or each berries: raspberries, cherry, blueberries

1/2 cup unpasteurised organic apple cider (no sugar added)

1 banana (if you are concerned about the amount of calories you can always split it in half)

*Optional: 1 teaspoon of matcha green tea. I also personally add the remanding leaves of my green or Oolong tea to ingest the non water soluble properties

Purchase tip: Check your grocery stores around Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter time (technically, the times when people make cranberry sauce) for fresh cranberries. Buy a large quantity as you will be able to freeze them for up to a year and add them to your shakes all year long. Cranberries are not only a great source of anti-oxidants but they also contain anti-bacterial properties that can prevent urinary tract infections.

Protein shake:

1 banana

1/2 cup Almond or Organic soy beverage

1/4 cup strawberries

A few spoonful of hemp seeds or chia seeds

1 tablespoon of all natural nut butter

Chocolate shake

You can add the cocoa to the recipe above or follow this similar recipe:

1 banana

1 tablespoon of fair trade raw cocoa powder

1 tablespoon of all natural nut butter

1/2 cup Almond or Organic soy beverage.

2-3 dates

*Optional: Chia seeds

*For an additional spicy kick, try adding a small piece of ginger - which is a digestive aid

Green shake

A delicious way to eat your greens ! You will truly forget this had any vegetables in it thanks to the sweet taste of mango and banana.

Parsley is known for purifying the blood.

1 banana

1/2 cup Mango juice

1/2 cup of baby spinach

A hand full of fresh parsley

1 string of Kale, celery and/or cucumber

*Optional: 1 small carrot (cutting or grating the carrot prior to will make it easier to blend)

Gut friendly

If you do have trouble staying regular, this shake contains fiber laden ingredients.

2-3 Dried prunes

1/4 cup of raspberries

1 piece of aloe

1/2 cup unpasteurised organic apple cider

1 banana

*Optional: Ground flax seeds

Put it in a bottle and go!

Please remember:
If your goal is to get leaner, be careful however not to top off fruits after fruits into your blender as this can easily cause you to load up on the calories. Remember that too much of a good thing can be bad, this rule applies even for fruits !

Likewise, beware of the quantity of juice that you put into your shake. Have you ever pressed an orange? If so, you may have noticed that a single one will give you no more than 1/2 cup of juice. Therefore, a full glass of juice contains quite a bit of oranges, way more than your body would ingest by eating raw fruit alone. Not to mention that, many juices have added sugar which we would all be wise to stay away from !

By making the ingestion of fruit shakes a regular habit, you can be certain that it will contribute to the improvement of your health. I hope that you will enjoy experimenting with your own recipes !