Focus On : Peppermint

Thought it was about time I did the next installment of my "Focus On" series - this time I went for mint. Peppermint is such a refreshing scent and has a bunch of benefits both for the skin and for your insides if you use it in your diet.

Mint is great for pepping you up - using a shower gel or soap with mint in it in the morning is a lovely way to get yourself going without a coffee the size of a small keg first thing. An old favourite of mine is Dirty shower gel from Lush - it's bright blue, super fresh and leaves you feeling squeaky clean. Lovely post-workout if you're a morning gym bunny too (or just a "slow-riser" like myself...)

Mint is also great for problematic skin, it soothes redness and spots and is mildly antiseptic due to the menthol content. A favourite mask of mine is Mask of Magnaminty, I prefer the self-preserving version as it's a little more gentle on sensitive skin. It's very refreshing and leaves a lovely cooling feeling on your skin even when you wash it off with hot water.

I've always found minty products to be great for brightening dull skin as well - again I feel like it might have to do with the menthol encouraging blood flow but a particularly wonderful product for this that incorporates mint is of course Peppermint Frank (I'll stop raving about this product one day but today is not that day). Wonderfully invigorating and cooling, like Dirty shower gel it's great post-work out to soothe muscles and makes you feel super clean (bit like that post-tooth brush clean feeling except on your whole body). I love to follow up post-workout with Fair Trade Foot Lotion too - this combination is soothing and restorative for tired muscles and feet.

Because mint encourages circulation and blood-flow it can act as a lip-plumper when used in lip products. A lovely one for this is Burt's Bees beeswax lip balm. Scrubbed smooth lips with a generous layer of balm is a must for me - great during makeup application too to get the best lipstick application and wear possible.

As for your insides, mint is great for digestion - there's a reason "After 8 mints" are a thing. I personally prefer my post-dinner mint in tea form. Steeped for a few minutes it's a nice way to wind down for the evening and if you suffer from travel sickness a great way to alleviate some of those problems too. If tea is a pain there's always good old Extra Spearmint gum (sugar free of course...) - I chewed my way through a lot during the windy parts of a recent South Island road trip.

Claire x

About: Oil Pulling

I mentioned a few products I particularly love with coconut recently in this post, I thought coconut oil in particular deserved a little more focus and much like the oil itself, oil pulling is becoming quite a "thing." I recently started doing it a few months ago and thought I'd shed some light on the method and benefits behind it.

What is oil pulling? 
Oil pulling is essentially a similar concept to using mouth wash. The main exception being you substitute mouth wash for coconut oil and you're swishing it around for longer than you would with mouth wash too.

How do you do it? 
It's a little unpleasant the first time you do it, and using a mild flavoured oil will definitely help - coconut is great because it tastes mild and is naturally slightly anti-bacterial. I take a teaspoon sized amount (shown above) and you chew it up until it's a liquid. If you're in a very hot climate your oil may already be in its liquid state. Once you're chewing it up and gently swishing it around (you don't need to do it quite as vigorously as you would with Listerine...) check the time - you ideally want to be oil pulling for 10 - 20 minutes. I do this process every third day usually - I like to clean my teeth first, floss and then oil pull. I feel like the oil gets to do the best job and have greater access to your teeth when they're already clean. Afterwards, brush again to get any excess oil off your teeth.

A few things to note - don't spit the oil down the drain, once it cools again it'll solidify can block the drain. Either spit it into the garden or a paper towel and bin it. Also, don't swallow the oil - by the time it's been doing its thing for 20 minutes there's a lot of gunk in there you don't want in your stomach.

What are the benefits? 
The benefits are numerous - for a start it helps remove bacteria in your mouth. You know when you cook with oil and the oil absorbs the colour/essence of whatever you're cooking in it? It's the same when you oil pull - the coconut will absorb toxins and bacteria in your mouth (which, as mentioned above is why you shouldn't swallow it!). This results in a cleaner feeling mouth and fresher breath - I never have a dry feeling mouth in the mornings when I do this regularly and my teeth keep that "smooth" feel post-brush for longer. You'll notice the colour of the oil has changed when you spit it out - quite revolting but you can see it's working.
Another huge benefit is it very gently whitens your teeth - because it removes surface stains (like coffee and red wine...). It won't whiten them drastically like bleaching would but this is a good option for those of you with sensitive teeth, thin enamel or don't want to splash out on an expensive treatment. I've found my teeth feel less sensitive too and my gums feel a lot healthier and less sensitive too.

Do you oil pull? Is it something you'd try?

Claire x

5 Ways: Dealing With Stress

I consider myself quite the expert on this topic after years of exams, assignments and now a full year of work with no leave taken. Sometimes things can pile up and wear you down to the extent that it's hard to even enjoy the things that used to make you happy. I've found a few things really help me and I love reading posts like this myself so here are my top five ways to calm my shit.

One: Exercise. Yes, it's that boring one everyone suggests which is why it's my number one so we can get it out of the way. Even though it's sometimes really tough to make yourself get up and go to the gym or even out for a walk it really does help. Often at the end of the day you may be mentally tired, but your body is still perfectly able to use some physical energy. As you probably know, exercise does release endorphins which help perk you up.

Two: Getting outside. Similarly to exercise, I think there's something about being outdoors that helps refresh your brain a wee bit. Sometimes being in the same environment can feel a bit stifling, getting some fresh air and going to a local park or reserve if you live near one can be a great way to let your mind process what's going on and in the very least, forget about what's bothering you for a bit.

Three: Shopping. Now, by this I don't mean max out your debit card or whatever. However I do know that if I've had a particularly horrid week or am feeling really worn out buying myself a few "treats" can really help my state of mind and gives me something to look forward to. Whether that's buying something online (who doesn't like getting "presents" in the post?!) or going to your favourite local strip of shops can be great. Me personally, I love going to Lush. Buying a few bath bombs or something new for my skin or to use in the shower always makes me feel lovely. Then, aside from the shopping you have an excuse to have a night in, which brings me to my next tip.

Four: A night in. I've made a post about a night-in treatment here and have another one on the cards soon - so keep an eye out for that. Having a night in with a face mask, bath or lovely shower if you prefer can make you feel like a new person. Using products that make you feel happy is a sure way to relax both your stressy brain and your body as well. Even if it's just painting your nails, putting effort into yourself is fantastic for boosting your mood overall.

Five: Spending time with other people. This one is a bit of a no-brainer really. Calling or seeing my boyfriend, best friend or mum when I'm feeling a bit shit always makes me feel good. Going out for coffee or whatever you prefer is a perfect excuse to get away from home for a bit, have a chat about what's going on and often helps put things into perspective.

Claire x

A Note on Body Positivity

I know this is a very current topic at the moment and I feel the need to put my two cents in. I'm sure not everyone will agree with what I have to say but I've tried to word myself as best I can. It all started to me when songs in the media at the moment like Anaconda and All About That Bass ripping into skinny girls have caused quite the stir. I myself am very little and have been a size six jeans and size 8 top half for some time. I find several problems with this kind of message - it might not be important to everyone but it's certainly important to me.

I do have a problem with these songs but not entirely for the reason most people think. On forums, facebook etc. I see a lot of girls saying skinny girls never get bullied for their size and get all the modelling jobs etc. For a start, that is entirely not true. Being called too skinny, being asked if you're anorexic and the like is incredibly insulting - not only are you making mock of a debilitating mental and physical illness you're having a dig at someone purely because of how they look. How is that any different from calling someone fat? Aside from this, the idea of it being being "curvy" vs. skinny is absurd. Pitting one "body type" against any the other isn't a solution - it's not mutually beneficial and will bring one down whilst boosting the other which is exactly what people with a larger t-shirt size have been fighting against this whole time. I mean really, is this the most important issue at hand? Aside from this the ideal "curvy" figure is often more unobtainable than the typical small figure is - imagine Barbie tits, a tiny waist, big hips and bum and relatively slender legs. So much of your body comes down to metabolism and genetics - you can't dictate where your body fat goes. Ultimately this image can be just as harmful as the incredibly thin models we see on billboards and cat walks.

People's bodies come in different sizes - of course there is a healthy variance - some people will be more an "extreme" than others and still be healthy physically. Your body fat percentage can be anywhere between 17% and 28% and still be in the "healthy" range which is a far better measure of health than BMI. There's nothing wrong with being closer to one end than the other - trying to force your body to be bigger when it's naturally small, or smaller when it's naturally bigger isn't helping anyone, least of all yourself. What people need to accept is health is most important - I am by no means discriminating as I think different shapes can be beautiful in different ways. What I do have a problem with is the kinds of bodies that that ultimately debilitate your own health and the body's ability to function as it should. I am pro-body love but what I don't condone is bodies that are more of a hindrance to the person inhabiting it than they are a home. Having bodies at the extreme ends of the spectrum isn't a positive or healthy thing - and promoting that every kind of body is beautiful when it's potentially harming the person with that kind of body in my mind is not a good thing to do.

Finally, my issue with this whole thing is - why does everyone need other people to think they're beautiful? I was reading an article in one of the UK papers recently about an actress who was that typically gorgeous kind of figure and face when she was younger. She made an incredibly valid point that really struck with me, in her era people weren't driven to be "hot." These days we have a mania about being beautiful to everyone, what happened to being caring, intelligent, anything more substantial than just how we look? I'd rather be remember for who I was than for being a face in a million.

Personally, when I get dressed in the morning, I do it for myself. I'm not thinking what other people will think, whether they'll like my makeup, I do it because I like it. The thing I think is most important is not comparing yourself with someone else, or competing to be "the most attractive" - be the person you want to be and look how you want to look. Ultimately, how other people perceive you accounts for a very small amount of how you experience life. How you perceive yourself accounts for a huge amount of how you'll experience things - if you're thinking "she's skinnier" "she's prettier" whatever the case may be rather than enjoying the here and now as it were how much are you going to be missing out on? Enjoy your body - it lets you move, experience life and there's always going to be someone who loves what you have, one of those people should be you. No ones opinion of you is more important than your own, and please remember that you are more than just your body.

Claire x

3 Ways to Drink More Water

1) Buy a nice glass to drink out of - I always think beer tastes best straight from the bottle but water tastes best coming from a lovely glass.

2) Put something tasty in the water - I like to squeeze a lemon or a tangelo into my bottle to flavour it a little. Frozen raspberries are another refreshing option. If you get bored of the "nothing" flavour this is quite a good way to do it!

3) Buy yourself a nice 1 litre bottle to put it in - drinking more water is easy when you can see how much you've had. I easily polish off a full litre if not more now purely because the bottle is pretty and I can tell "that only looks like one glass worth of water" in my bottle. If there's water near you - you'll drink it without even thinking about it!

Claire x