My top 5 favourite Natural Products - For a beautiful you inside and out.

I'm a huge fan of natural products as I'm sure most would agree, we're now more aware than ever about the added preservatives and chemicals to our everyday foods and products. I believe if we look after ourselves on the inside it really does show on the outside. I've listed 5 of my favourite natural products that boost our moods, skin, hair, nails, general health and wellbeing.

1) Manuka Honey

I've been using Manuka Honey for around 5 years now, a tip from my mum. I add Manuka honey to anything and everything from my daily green tea for extra sweetness or a glass of warm almond milk before bed to aid a good nights sleep, to applying all over my face as a nourishing face mask! The health benefits of Manuka Honey are endless. Honey is now known to have antibacterial properties and helps protect against infection and inflamation - a natural remedy used for centuries. Manuka Honey has been proven to help clear acne, cuts, scrapes and small wounds when directly applied to the effected area, the antibacterial properties and potency of Manuka honey is measured by the UMF factor (unique Manuka factor) the higher the factor number, the higher the antibacterial properties and potency.

2) Lemon Water 

Again another tip taken from my mother (she has amazing skin, hair and nails) My mum would wake up every morning, boil the kettle, slice a whole lemon, add it to a pint glass, add the boiling water, wait for the water to go cold and then drink the lemon water. Although this is a great way of consuming the the lemon water, I didn't like the taste, I found it too bitter and the luke warm water didn't help! I decided to try a different way and purchased a filtered water jug, I would slice a whole lemon, put it into the jug, add the filtered water and leave the jug in the fridge to go cold. The cold lemon infused water tastes amazing with the added bonus of having a large amount available in my fridge at all times! Drinking just one glass each day not only helps detox your body, it keeps you hydrated too, when your body is dehydrated it also dehydrates you skin and can leave you feeling tired and fatigued. I also like to keep a mint plant in my kitchen and add a few mint leaves to the lemon water for extra taste.

3) Carrot Oil

I make my own carrot oil and the benefits are amazing for my skin and hair, I always have the jars as seen in the above picture placed on my kitchen windowsill. The oil is made from a method using organic carrots and organic olive oil. Carrots contain antioxidants and vitamins that help promote hair growth, treat damaged skin and improve blood circulation. I apply the oil directly on my hair and skin.

4) Milled Flaxseed

I use a teaspoon of milled flaxseed every morning. I add it either to my nutribullet smoothie or to porridge/oats/granola. Faxseed is a source of healthy fats that contains Omega 3 and is high in fibre and protien, vital nutrients needed to help stimulate healthy hair and skin production and helps aid digestion. I also feel a boost of energy after my morning dose of flaxseed!

5) Coconut Oil/Water 

One of the great things about living in Bangkok is the huge accessibility to coconuts and coconut products! As soon as I leave my building each day I'm surrounded by street food with local Thai people selling fresh coconut water that I love to buy each day, just like lemon water coconut water keeps you hydrated. I use coconut oil to cook almost everything, from spaghetti bolengnaise to sweet potato! Coconut oil has been found to help boost concentration, lower cholesterol, fight bacteria and infection - the list goes on. It also boosts blood circulation which leaves our skin with a beautiful healthy glow.

All of the products listed I have used for many years and love using most each day. I'm always looking out for new natural products and will definitely be reviewing 'natural cosmetics' in the near future! 

DIY dry hair extension fix - Olive Oil!

After years of wearing hair extensions I finally found a brand that I absolutely love! The hair is 100% human hair, the condition of the hair was amazing and the longevity was the best part, not only did the hair stay soft month after month of continuous wear, It didn't break, matt together or dry out like I've found with other brands. I have continued to purchase the same hair brand now for 2 years and will continue too do so for the foreseeable future  - now to the sad part! I recently purchased a new set of my favourite hair extensions and decided to dye them myself as I felt I wanted to go a little darker than what I was at the time (silly mistake) the colour I wanted to achieve was a medium to dark brown and to cut a long story short, my extensions turned black - lesson learned.

I went ahead anyway and had my extensions fitted to my own hair, at the time my own hair colour was not so much lighter than the hair extensions, my own hair was a dark brown shade and blended well with the extensions using micro bead LA weave method as my extensions are on a weft.

I thought that the hair extension colour would fade as my natural hair usually does and after only a few washes the extensions stayed the same colour and my natural hair went so much lighter, which obviously looked ridiculous. I then found that it's not so easy to remove the colour from human hair extensions, I tried numerous things to remove the black colour and finally got my extensions to a dark brown. I was happy with the colour but my poor hair extensions had became dry after all the colour dying/stripping. 

As I had only just purchased the new extensions, I didn't want to purchase a new pack so I decided to try out a few treatments, all of which seemed to help for a day or two but then the hair would become dry again. I researched online for some tips on how to regain the softness to dried out hair extensions and came across an amazing tip, best part being I could do this all in the comfort of my own home! This is also a method my mum uses once a month on her own hair.

Here is a picture of my hair extensions before I tried the DIY olive oil treatment, still in great condition even after all of the dying and colour stripping, but as you can see, the ends look dry. 

Step One - Find the Olive oil! 

This is the brand of olive oil I used on my extensions, but I'm sure you can use any.

Step Two - Dampen your hair extensions and apply a generous amount of olive oil from the top of your extensions to the bottom. Be sure to apply a lot of oil to the ends! I found this easier to do over a sink.

Step Three - Using a disposable shower cap, place the extensions inside and tie with a bobble or band (you can also use a plastic bag)

Step Four - Apply heat to the hair to help absorb the oil, as you can see I'm currently living in a hotel and have acces to a built in mini hair dryer next to my bathroom sink, but you can use your own hair dryer for this, be careful not to apply too much heat as this will melt the plastic! Now leave your hair for around an hour or two, even better to sleep like this over night!

Step 5 - finished result! After only 2 hours of letting the hair absorb the oil I decided to wash it out with shampoo and conditioner and blow dry the same as I did on the before picture, as you can see the hair has completely restored back to its original condition, I noticed that the hair extensions absorbed quite a lot of the oil and I only had to wash and rinse once to remove the excess, but you may need to do this a few times. It's now been one week later and the hair is still in  perfect condition like it was when I originally purchased. I found this inexpensive DIY treatment so much better than any treatment Ive paid for in a hair salon, I will be definitely doing this treatment again and would highly recommend for anyone with or without hair extensions if your hair is feeling dry.

Hair extensions purchased from @me_myselfandhair - Instagram