7 natural remedies to lighten dark lips

There are many factors that can cause your lips to go darker. One of the main causes of dark lips is sun exposure, other causes like UV rays, allergies, smoking, caffeine intake and hormonal imbalances can result in dark looking lips.

Rosy lips are most important element of a woman and man’s charm which add to their appeal. There is no doubt, naturally rosy and pink lips look visually appealing. There is no time to wear lipstick or lip balms at all times. Many of us shy from public appearances. There are a number of reasons but darker lips are one of the common problems affecting people of all ages. Dark lips can tarnish personal image and can cause embarrassment. However, there are many ways to lighten dark lips. Here are some natural remedies to help and treat lighten dark lips.

1. Honey is a natural ingredient to treat lips that have turned dark with age and other external factors. Honey has many beauty benefits, one of the benefits is that it can soften lips and give your lips a pink glow. Apply honey over night, every day. Apply it all over your lips and let it dry. Don’t wash off.
2. Lemon is used commonly to treat darker patches and spots of skin. But did you know you can also use lemon to naturally lighten dark lips. While, nights are the best to apply lemon juice on your lips. Massage freshly squeezed lemon juice on your lips overnight before you go to sleep.
3. For naturally smooth and pink lips, use one tablespoon of strawberry juice with two tablespoons of petroleum jelly on your lips. Use this mixture as lip balm daily on your lips.
4. There are many berries like strawberries and raspberries that can solve your problems of dark lips. You need to make a paste by mixing raspberries along with pure honey and aloe Vera juice. Apply and leave it for at least five minutes. Rinse it off and apply a home made lip balm. Raspberries contain vital minerals and vitamins, needed for your lips to remain healthy and vibrant.
5. Some oils can be good for the lips, like olive oil, mustard oil, tea tree oil. Clove oil is also used who have dark and patchy lips. Olive oil is the best among the others because it does not have any harmful effects. Apply one of these oils onto your lips before going to sleep.
6. Massage your lips with ice cubes. It will keep the lips nourished, moisturized and fresh.
7. Apply the mixture of castor oil and almond oil to massage your lips to make them pinkish naturally.
8. Follow any of these tips regularly until you are fully satisfied with your result. 

Personally, below are my weekly routine to lighten my face hand, lips and armpit.
i mix a blend of 50% citric acid with 50% honey until it form a gel-like substance and then i keep it refrigerated and rub it on my face, lips, hands and armpit ones a week in form of body scrub.when applying the one for my hands i add a bit of castor oil on my palm and rub it all over my hands i do this only to soften my hands. However, I prefer to do this routine at night just for 30mins this is because the use of honey is sticky also NOTE that the use of citric acid helps tone the skin area you apply it on this is because citric acid is an astringent derived from citric fruits such as lemon, orange and so on. However, the only Con to this solvent is the burning sensation it has on the skin. For example it feels like sprinkling salt on open wound, that is how citric acid feels on the skin but the use of honey in the mix ease the burn. This concoction works well like magic.

BLUE JEAN + STRIPE TOP can create a slim look

HOW TO CARE FOR YOUR HAIR IN BRAIDS AND WEAVES

Hello my lovely readers, to day we would discuss few tips on how to care for our hair while in braids or weaves.

Firstly lets talk on weaves, before you hit the salon for your weave fix, make sure you deep condition your hair with a good deep conditioning treatment in order to strengthen your hair for any tension caused by fixing . The second step will be to moisturize your hair with a water based moisturizer or oil based moisturizer then move on to fix your weave,  make sure your stylist do not fix your weave too tight because this can not only cause pain but can also break your hair strands.

 Make sure you moisturize your hair often if not daily for the period of wearing the weave.

 How to moisturize your hair when wearing weaves

1. lift up your weave tracks one after the other 
2.  
3. moisturize your hair line by line as shown below, the objective is to moisturize your own hair not the weave so you need to lift up the weaves one at a time in other to get your moisturizer directly on your own hair. if you are using cream or oil, rub it in with your finger tip or an alternative to this is using a spray bottle to spray each tracks line by line.

 

personally  below is what i do.

first i get my spray bottle fill it with 50% water then mix any of my available hair oil [castor, avocado, olive or any other type of oil]  40%, and 10% of essential oil preferably rosemary  or tea tree oil then shake the bottle and spray  daily on your hair. this will help moisturize your hair and combat dryness, itchiness and breakage. 

On the other hand we do almost the same thing for braids 

the only difference would be the application of water.

1. the first thing to do is to wet your hair with a damp towel/clothe [that is a clothe that is a little wet but not dripping] make sure the clothe is damp with warm or hot water
2. put this round your head you do not have to cover the whole braid, you only need the water on your own hair not the whole braid then leave on for 5mins let the water steam your hair then remove the towel and moisturize your scalp with oil. Next, rub in your hair cream, oil or  spray the water bottle mix on your braided hair not the whole braid. Please Note when i say braided hair i mean from the root of your hair to the end of your hair this means you only moisturize your root to the tip of your own hair where your hair ends in the braids.
3. Personally when i wear medium braids after steaming my hair with a damp towel,  i lift up ten '10' to twenty 20 strands of braids as seen above and i oil it from the root to the end of my hair 'where my own hair ends not the braid end' but when i do big braids i oil my strands one by one.
4. Finally on take down day, [the day you loosen your weave or braid] make sure you loosen it with care and exercise enough patience to detangle your hair before washing.
5. A very good and easy way to detangle your hair is to add a bit of wash out conditioner while detangling, this will ease the stress of having to combat knots and breakage and by so doing you will have less to know shedding.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF RED PALM OIL AND ITS USES

 

Palm oil has been used as both a food and a medicine for thousands of years. 

Palm oil is obtained from the fruit of the oil palm tree.

Palm oil is used for preventing vitamin A deficiencies, cancer, brain disease, aging; and treating malaria, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and cyanide poisoning. Palm oil is used for increasing the body’s metabolism.

As food, palm oil is used for frying.

Industrially, palm oil is used for manufacturing cosmetics, soaps, toothpaste, waxes, lubricants, and ink.

How it works?

Palm oil contains saturated and unsaturated fats, vitamin E, and beta-carotene. It might have antioxidant effects.

In tropical Africa and Southeast Asia palm oil is an integral part of a healthy diet just as olive oil is in the Mediterranean.

Palm oil possesses excellent cooking properties. It is more heat stable than other vegetable oils and imparts in foods and baked goods superior taste, texture, and quality.

Palm oil is one of the world’s healthiest oils. As a natural vegetable oil, it contains no trans fatty acids or cholesterol. It is currently being used by doctors and government agencies to treat specific illnesses and improve nutritional status. Recent medical studies have shown that red palm oil can protect against many common health problems, including Alzheimer's. Some of the health benefits include: 

• Improves blood circulation
• Protects against heart disease
• Protects against cancer
• Boosts immunity
• Improves blood sugar control
• Improves nutrient absorption and vitamin and mineral status
• Aids in the prevention and treatment of malnutrition
• Supports healthy lung function
• Supports healthy liver function
• Helps strengthen bones and teeth
• Supports eye health
• Highest natural source of health promoting tocotrienols
• Helps protect against mental deterioration, including Alzheimer’s disease
• Richest dietary source of vitamin E and beta-carotene
  
  
  

  1. Moisture

     • The moisture content in palm oil is very beneficial for hair and skin. This oil contains lipids and saturated fats that feed the hair shaft, eliminating dryness. Palm oil can be a deep hair-conditioning treatment. Simply apply palm oil to wet hair and put on a shower cap. Rinse after 30 minutes PLEASE NOTE when using this oil as a deep conditioning treatment remember it might leave your hair looking a bit reddish for few hours and always rinse out with hot or warm water do not use cold water or else it would solidify the oil and make your hair feel sticky so in other to rinse it all out make sure you use hot water.
       The moisture beads in palm oil will improve the texture and quality of your hair by making your locks soft and manageable. Palm oil can also be a moisturizer for your skin. Your skin absorbs everything you put on it, and palm oil is a natural substitute for a chemical-based moisturizer.Although it can be a little messy. Alternatively you can take it internally by cooking with the all by doing this you are rest assured of taking advantage of all the benefits in the oil which will benefit all parts of your body.
       personally what i do is this, rather than rubbing the oil all over my body or hair  i input palm oil into my diet by cooking with the oil so i ingest the oil this way it allow me take 100 percent advantage of all the vital nutrient embodied in the oil. in other words ingesting the oil enables you to take more advantage of all the necessary nutrient in the oil.

     Antibacterial

     • Palm oil contains natural antibacterials that fight acne bacteria. Using palm oil on your skin can help maintain moisturized, yet clear skin. Dryness can actually cause the skin to become irritated and sensitive, which can lead to acne. Palm oil is beneficial if you have a cut or scrape on your skin, because the oil will kill germs. This antibacterial oil is also good for your hair and scalp because it can prevent scalp acne and dry scalp.

     Nutrients

     • Palm oil is rich in vital nutrients. These vitamins are essential for healthy hair and skin. Vitamins A and E are free radical neutralizers. Free radicals are unpaired molecules in the body that cause destruction of your cells. These vitamins fight free radicals, helping to protect and preserve your cells, resulting in healthier hair and skin. When hair is lacking nutrition, you will have dry, brittle hair.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  

The Meaning of Love

The Meaning of Love adopted from

Rog Walker 

To all my readers please note this is not my personal write up, the original piece was written by ROG WALKER as pictured above and  i already seek his permission to share this and he granted so enjoy.

 

Broken promises surround those who look for love in the wrong places. When the person who promised to be there forever is not around anymore, when the pursuit of happiness loses its appeal, or when the passion that fueled your commitment cools, what then? Where is the meaning of love in those moments? Instead of looking for love, let's have and possess love; let's claim the love we've been shown and the love we've known. Claim the greatest, highest sense of love as your own, and then show that love to others.
As humans, we consistently take the infinite and subject it to our finite understanding. We try to know familial love, romantic love, infatuation, lust, passion, and desire, with the hope that true love lives around the corner. We try to divorce love from people by loving jobs, money, status, objects, and appearances. We try the opposite and look for love in people through relationships, friendships, socializing, and sex. We fail, spectacularly and repeatedly, to realize that none of those things are love. Even following your dreams, your heart, and your calling are merely noble ideas compared to love's great, uncontainable force. Sooner or later, the things we mistakenly call by love's name will reveal themselves to be incapable of holding that value.
Love is everlasting and seeks expression. Love is deep and incomprehensible. True love has eternal, unfailing depth and worth. Love with and through your art, your relationships, and your dreams, rather than seeking meaning in those things alone. To know love and to show love is to believe in eternal value.
Seek that which is enduring and everlasting.
 









The Meaning of Love: A Speaking Pixels Story, by Rog Walker and Bianca Pandit

jail prosecution for domestic violence

 
 Dear men, beat your woman in Lagos and go to jail: There's a new Domestic Violence Law in Lagos State, and it states that if you beat your wife, you will go to Jail. It is now an offense for any man to hit his wife
According to the deputy governor of Lagos State, Hon Joke Orelope-Adefulire, the Domestic Violence Law is made not only to protect women who are most times the target of violence in the home but also to safeguard the interest of men, children, servants, maids and everyone who may be a victim of domestic violence.

In case of man/woman abuse issues, it does not matter whether there's a valid contracted marriage between the victim and the perpetrator of the act as long as they are living together in a home setting.


Here's what happens when there's a case of domestic violence. 
1. Remove the abuser from the home pending when the abuse is corrected
2. Or remove the complainant from the residence and put in a protective home
3. Provision of financial assistance by the state via the Office of the Public Defender/Legal Aid Council to victims of abuse who maybe financially unable to seek redress in court.
4. The court can issue warrant of arrest and remand order

FULL VERSION OF THE DEBATE ON AFRO HAIR (from Kickin' it with the Kinks)

Woman's four-and-a-half-foot afro is the world's largest... and takes he...

HOW TO CARE FOR AFRICAN RELAXED HAIR

PROLONG YOUR RELAXER DAYS to EVERY 12 WEEKS OR MORE DEPENDING on your hair's needs. Do not relax your hair every time new growth appears, since relaxing too often causes damage to the hair. For one week following your relaxer, use a reconstructor instead of your regular conditioner when you wash your hair.

Wash and condition your hair every once or twice a week. Try to use mild and gentle shampoo and conditioner designed for chemically-treated hair. If you have sensitive skin, consider using shampoos that do not contain Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate or Sodium Lauryl Sulfate or better still, use a conditioner to wash your hair instead of shampoo, this method is called  co-washing "meaning washing your hair with a conditioner". Using a deep conditioner that contains both protein and moisture once per week is ideal, try  mixing one or two raw eggs into your conditioner leave it on your hair for 20 minuites then rinse it off. Chemically-treated hair must always be treated with a leave-in conditioner after every wash. Comb the wet hair with a wide tooth comb or shower/detangling comb as the wet hair is in its most vulnerable state and is more likely to break.

For those who need to wash more frequently than every once or twice a week, "CO-washing" (Conditioner Only washing) is an excellent alternative to the wash/condition. Cowashing is washing your hair with a lightweight (preferably)moisturizing conditioner, eliminating the shampoo step which can be very drying to chemically treated/damaged hair when done relatively too frequently. Many with relaxed hair cowash daily. For best results, simply rinse the hair well with warm water, and apply conditioner to the hair, starting about 2 inches away from the scalp, and smooth it through to the ends.

 It is best to avoid using heat to dry your hair, especially if the relaxed hair is somewhat damaged. Hair should be left to air dry at least partially before using a blowdryer on a low to medium temperature setting. However, if your hair is healthy and you prefer heat, you can either blow dry the hair on medium heat or use a hood dryer with magnetic rollers. The hair should be completely dry before you use a curling or flat iron on it. Make sure to use a heat protection product prior to any heat use.

 When using a curling iron to style your hair, do not allow the barrel cover to clamp down on your hair. Hold the barrel cover slightly open and allow the hair to move over the curling iron barrel without the tugging and pulling caused by pressure from the barrel cover. Whenever the barrel cover clamps down on your hair it creates a weak point at which breakage is inevitable.

 An ionic, ceramic curling iron or flat iron works well and is easy to find. You can also invest in heat appliances utilising tourmaline, ionic technology having temperature controls. Relaxed hair can be easily styled at 300-370 degrees depending on hair's thickness. Do not repeatedly run the heat appliance over each section of hair. Instead pass the iron over the hair once at this temperature, no more than twice. Try to use heat protective products (serums or creams, not oils) prior to any and all heat styling.

 Never use petrolatum and mineral oil hair oil on relaxed hair as a moisturizer. These ingredients do NOT moisturize the hair but rather functions as a sealant (meaning it protects the cuticle layer from damage and moisture loss). Depending on your hair type, you may need to use daily hair conditioner, but use products that actually oil the scalp. For best results, choose a lightweight oil (such as jojoba, coconut, almond, or olive oil) rub a small amount (1-2 drops) in the palms and spread lightly through the scalp of the hair. Comb your hair evenly to moisturize the tips of the hair. Applying a small amount of oil to wet hair can also act as a leave-in conditioner and provides excellent conditioning.

 Use as little heat as possible with your hair as heat can only do more damage to relaxed hair. It's ok to style your hair with a curling iron occasionally, however a rollerset is the best method. If you want to maintain a curly look over a few days, pincurling is a healthy option. Be sure to use hair-friendly pins and a satin bonnet to prevent dryness and breakage over night.

Water based moisturizers are best for all hair types, although leave-in conditioners can double as moisturizer for the hair. Avoid moisturizers with petrolatum and mineral oil unless you wash/condition and/or cowash regularly. preferably use moisturizers and conditioners that are made of natural oils and herbs.


 Deep condition the hair weekly  to maintain strength and moisture in the hair. Do not overwash your hair by washing relaxed hair more than once a week. To do this take a creamy deep conditioning treatment that contains both moisturizing and mild protein ingredients to clean damp hair. another alternative to this is to make your own deep conditioning hair treatment by smoothly blending a pud of avocado, 1 banana and 3 tea spoon of  olive oil and mask your hair with it. For best results, apply a plastic shower cap and let hair sit for up to 30-45 min. To save time, sitting under a hooded dryer on medium heat for 15-20 min is equally effective. Deep conditioning regularly and consistently can help maintain the hair's integrity, allowing it to withstand regular manipulation and styling, as well as preventing damage. Invest more money in a deep conditioner rather than any other product, as this will be the best tool for preventing hair damage and should contain quality ingredients.


 Try to avoid brushing your hair with harsh bristles or broken mouthed combs


Drink plenty of water daily, get enough of rest, eat well, alleviate stress, and exercise regularly (at least 2-3 days per week) to produce the healthiest hair possible. Take a multivitamin, Biotin, Omega-3 Oil, and other supplements as needed.       kindly subscribe, share and comment "your comments are highly appreciated" this is an interactive blog we urge you to drop your comments and share your opinions thank you