How to start loving “ME”

May2

What do you or should you do to start?  It’ll probably depend on how much you’ve been loving yourself in the past.  What have you done for you lately?  Bought a new dress,  those new shoes that weren’t on sale, that new body shaper?   When was the last time you exfoliated your body?   Had a facial?   Soaked your feet for no reason?  Or just took a good old afternoon nap?

Chilax

Chilax

 

Think About It:  Do you know how much you weigh?  Call a jeweler or bank and ask how much your weight is worth in gold.  There is no way you can not value YOU with gold costing approximately $1320.00 per ounce.  There are 16 ounces in one pound!  

Inner Self

Apr22

Take a snapshot inventory of your life. Where do you need to start making changes to live a healthier lifestyle? What is your emotional barometer telling you about how you see others and yourself? Do you know of any area in your life where you are not living in obedience to the call of holy living?  These questions by Adrian Rogers, Pastor, are asking about all of the human experience that make us who we are or pretend to be, spiritually, physically, mentally and emotionally.  That’s a lot to address and think about.  How to address each one of these parts?  I suggest, one at a time.   May this week not be so busy that you get lost.  But, if you are already there, please share with us who are trying to get where you are and how you got there.

We all know what the truth is for us.  We know within ourselves what we need to do to be right and to live healthy clean lives, inside and out.  Why do we not do it?  Why is it so hard to believe Nike?  ‘Just Do It.’  We know what that is to us.  Do we need to cut relationship ties with certain people, be it lover, friend or family ?  go to bed earlier?  stop eating to be full instead of satisfied?  began some real parenting?   start saying NO?

We have good intentions when we start those new exercises, that new diet, that new cleanse, that new idea.  The intentions are always good. 

You owe it to yourself to finish one thing begun with enthusiasm.  Whatever that thing is, ‘Just Do It’.

 

Think About It:   “…dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves….” 2 Corinthians 7:1

Dry, Brittle and Breaking Nails

Apr8

ImageThere are many reasons fingernails break.  The reasons I find at Dew Drop Nails are:  nails are used as tools(that’s number one), wearing the nails too long, age, cold and dry weather, and over-exposure to chemicals.  Therefore, these nails cannot stand the harsh treatment and when the nails can’t take any more, they break!

Almost daily, I’m asked by the guests that come to Dew Drop Nails what can they do about their dry, brittle nails and how to keep them from breaking?  First of all, you would want your nails to break?  If not, the pain could be unbearable because of the nail bed involvement.

THE PROBLEM:

Your nails dry out as you age, losing their natural oils which act as a glue to hold the nail layers together.  If you have thin fingernails and dry skin to begin with you can expect this to happen to you ‘sooner rather than later’.  Exposing your hands to harsh soaps, cleaning products, solvents and rough work makes things worse.  At first your nails begin to ‘fray’ on the edges, becoming brittle. Eventually the layers split.  Nail hardeners make this worse because the alcohols, formaldehyde and other chemicals in the nail hardeners really dry out your natural oils. (Crazy fact: Nail hardeners actually contain more of these chemicals than nail polishes!  It’s these chemicals that make the nails feel harder at first, but- whammo– after a few weeks the splitting is worse than ever.) —Dr. C. Bailey

There may also be underlining health factors which may affect the nails, hair and skin not just the above factors.

THE CURE

Regular manicures, moisturize(water, not oils or vaseline), and use oils to keep the cuticles and nail beds supple and pliable.  Some of my favorite hydrating ingredients for nails are Shea Butter, Jojoba oil, avocado oil, or other rich natural oils that come from plants.  These natural oils have a tendency not to rub off but to penetrate the skin to lock in the moisture.  These oils are applied after the skin has been wet.

If you file these brittle and dry nails, use a high grit file(240 grit) to keep the nails from breaking, fraying and/or cracking any further.

Finally, use a nail-strengthener not a nail hardener, Nailtiques in a great strengthener.  This particular strengthener binds with the proteins in the nail plate.  This will not happen over night, 3-6 months of daily use.  The results will depend upon how fast your nails grow and if you honor the regimen.  One could easily see positive results in 30 days.   It will work!  If used.

Think About It:   Give yourself time to achieve your goal.  Good things take effort and time.

 

 

 

Spring is Here!

Mar31

White flowers

I don’t know why,  but to me April is the official start of Spring.  What an awesome time of year.  I love, love, love it!  Not only is it an awaking of “Mother Earth” but also a time to renew or awaken something in us that has been dormant for the Winter.  It is “SELF.”  Where is your “SELF?”  I am trying to get my “SELF” together through life-style changes and exercise.  Do you know where you left you the last time you thought of you?   Don’t think about April Fool’s Day.  That’s childish and it has nothing to do with grown women and men.  It has to do with pranksters that just might get their feelings hurt.  If you know what I mean?

Renew or revisit a promise to you that you might have made earlier this year.  You are worth the visit.

 

Just Think About It:  Try to be better than the “SELF” of 2013.

Where do we begin?

Mar26

Is it Spring yet?dew drops on purple flowers

 

 

 

It’s now time for color and  showing off the skin of the arms, legs and feet.  What cha’ doing to get your Cute self ready?  Well, don’t say it,  “I ain’t don a thang!” or “I’m waiting for it to warm up a little first.”  Whaaaat!?  Don’t do that Cutie.  Start with a good and professional manicure and pedicure.   Then . . .Cuties are you willing to take the time to learn of yourselves?  Or,  you just want to continue pretending?  You don’t really want to continue in this charade?  Aren’t you tired?  Remove the masks of self-denial.  The mask of not fully caring for our minds and bodies?  This is a new day and a fresh new time of year, Spring is in the air.   Let’s begin anew with the newness of this season.   Who are you really?  How do you care about yourself when you are alone with yourself?  Are you good to yourself?

What is your daily regimen just for you?  In all things about the skin, start with a good cleanser, and then moisture, moisture, moisturize.  The next step is to lock that moisture in.   Not only for the face but what about the hands and feet?  That would also apply to our hair!!  I know, shocker, right?  Since the almighty perm, we(Sisters) have been afeared of water or moisture or whatever you call it.  We didn’t and don’t want it coming anywhere near our hair.  We now can make moisture work even with the straight or the natural styles.  We just have to find out what works for “OUR” hair.  Just because we like a style on someone or saw a style in a  magazine, it doesn’t mean we can achieve that same style, swing or shine.  And please, please you shouldn’t get upset with the stylist when he or she couldn’t pull it off.

On my quest to cuteness, I henndigo-ed my hair last night, for the Spring and Summer.   I’m never really sure if spring and summer should be capitalized.  Yeh, they should.

Hopefully, the information will become more informative with your help, of course.

 

Think About It:   What has happened to your resolutions?  Start now!  with a promise to you.    “I will love and honor  ‘YOUR  NAME’   this year.”

 

Skin and Nail Care in Winter

Mar25

Hello Cutie:

How are you protecting those cuticles and natural nails?  The answer is warmth and oil, not vaseline.  Oils are and should be an essential part of your daily regimen.  It’s a quick lubricant that seals in moisture to keep the cuticles and nail plate soft and flexible.  Therefore, it will help eliminate dry, cracked and split cuticles and dry, brittle and breaking nails.   Cuticle oil promotes healthy nail growth and preserves resilience to the skin and nails while wearing your natural nails or nail enhancements:  gels or acrylic overlay or just plain polish(considered an overlay) in the nail care industry.