Shower your skin with happiness

Turn the next time you shower into a skin refreshing experience using the method I'll be telling you about in this post. This is partially a Moroccan bath with extra nourishment that you can do at home. You can create your own atmosphere by lighting candles and playing your favorite music while doing this routine but all you really need is about an hour or a little more, your bath tub, 2 loofahs and these ingredients:

5 1/2 tbsp baking soda

3 tbsp salt

4 tbsp epsom salt

2 tbsp coconut oil 

I won't specify amounts for these because it depends on your body size

Olive oil

Ground coffee

(turkish coffee powder works perfect, but don't use nescafe or similar grain-coffee)

Moroccan soap

Sandal soap bar

Moroccan loofah (black color)

Loofah glove

Now we have all the ingredients, let's see what are we gonna do with'em...

1. Stage 1: Bathing
   - What for? Opening pores, moisturizing and purifying - Bonus: Relaxing
   Fill up your bath tub with water that is the highest temperature you can endure ( to create steam), but do not torture yourself it should just be a little hotter than warm. 
   While the tub is half filled and the water is still running put in 5 tbsp of the baking soda so it mixes with the water, leave the last half tbsp on the side and pour in the coconut oil. (The pure coconut oil will usually be solid as it freezes at room temperature, so u'll see it melting as you put it in the water.) After the tub fills, put the salt mixing it with your hands, get in the tub and relax for about 20-30 minutes. 
   I sometimes add a glass of fresh orange juice to the water to supply my skin directly with vitamin C, but that is not a must.
   While you're in there, you'll start feeling your face a little sweaty because of the vapor, right at this point take some water and wet your face with it. With your finger tips, take some of the baking soda you left on the side and start scrubbing your face in circular motions with it for two minutes, don't press too hard. This will clean your face off the dead cells. Also while in the tub, you can massage your body while you're in there in circular motions so it absorbs coconut oil.
   TIP : Take advantage of the steam by applying a hair mask or oil treatment while waiting.
2. Stage 2: Scrubbing and Exfoliating
   -What for? Removing the dead skin cells, evening out the texture and softening skin
   Stand up slowly and start draining the water. Now to create our own steam room, you'll need to close the shower curtain firmly and turn on the shower at the highest temperature and stand away from it, you just need the steam coming off the hot water.
   Cover your body and face with Moroccan soap and keep it for 10-15 minutes. Then take the Moroccan loofah and start scrubbing the soap for 5 minutes but don't rinse it yet. Turn the shower temperature to lukewarm and rinse it. After the soap is off your body, using just the Moroccan loofah scrub again all over to remove soap residues and dead skin.
3. Stage 3: Coffee scrub and sandal finishing touch
   -What for? Extra hydration and skin shine
   Rinse your body after stage 2. Take the olive oil and mix it with the coffee. Don't pour in the entire amount, just an amount that forms a paste. Using your fingers take from this paste and start scrubbing you body in circular movements for about 6 minutes. Some research suggests that coffee releases toxins and extra water trapped in the body, I don't know about that I just know that it is SO moisturizing that I sometimes don't need to put cream after I shower! After you're done scrubbing, rinse.
   Now get the regular loofah and put some sandal soap on it. Lightly scrub your body for just 1 minute or 2 to give it a shine and remove the coffee residues.
4. We're done! you can now just shampoo you hair and use your favorite shower gel to give your body fragrance. After drying your body, don't forget to use apply body lotion or body butter to maintain the moisture and softness, body moisturizes are best applied right after the shower.

Hope this is of benefit to you as it is to me, I feel my skin softer and fresher after every time I do this. You can also choose to to do just the first two stages and not the third, or just add the third by itself to your regular shower.

Much Love xx

Heba

Get a healthier body with praying!

This article may not be of interest to everybody, but it could VERY helpful to those who give attention to their muscle toning or fitness, especially moms or individuals with a tight schedule. Being all covered up when going out never means forgetting about toning. Working out yes does a lot to one's figure, but it's also very important to both your body internally and your psychological well-being and that is why I wanted to share this with you.   

For two-three years before this one, I used to be a workout freak doing different types of exercising such as aerobics, Pilates and weight training. Then came the senior year in college to simply take so much time and energy away, and my schedule became too tight to give time to my fitness. I just wanted to at least maintain what I've got! About a month ago, I thought that I don't have to necessarily dedicate a full complete hour or so, and maybe divide my workout along the day. I related it to my 5 prayers, where after every prayer I do 10-20 times of at least 1 workout after every prayer. This yields 50-100 repetitions of every workout by the end of the day, and as I say any workout is better than no workout.

I'll give you a list and you can look up the details, as each one has different types and intensities. Some workouts that are very easy and could be done without needing training shoes, just you and your muscles could be:

• For the tummy (lay down on the praying carpet so you don't hurt your back): 
• Crunches 
• Sit-ups
• Bicycle Crunches
• For your legs and glutes:
• Squats
• Lunges
• Kick-backs
• Bridge
• Arms + Chest:
• Bicep curls
• Arm presses
• Wall pushups
• Stretches

Other times that I try to do 5-10 minutes of stretches or light exercising are one I wake up, or before going to bed. The former really makes a difference in your whole day and in your energy level. You can also do stretches all the time while sitting in class or your office by bending your knees and stretching, or for mothers while cooking you can stand on the tips of your toes for 5 counts go down on your heels and then stand on the tips of your toes again. 

Just involve motion in your day in one way or another, and as I said earlier, any workout is better than no workout.

Love xx

My Exfoliators from the Kitchen!

Aside to my obsession with clothes, one of my hobbies is heading to the kitchen and start mixing stuff here and there for my skin care. I really love using natural ingredients to exfoliate, moisturize and refresh both my face and body skin. I've tried so so many things, some that worked, other that didn't but the best thing is that natural ingredients never harm you unless you use them in an absolutely wrong way. In this post I'll show you, not all, but my favorite natural exfoliators and explain to you how I use them. Just before I start, my skin is combination to normal. Another thing you should always remember that works on others might not work for you, or maybe what others swear by could be of no benefit to your skin type.

Other notes on Exfoliation:

•   Don't do it too frequently, a MAXIMUM of 3-4 times a week is enough
•   Avoid going out in the sun for an at least 45 minutes after exfoliating
•  Use a toner after your done, as a fan of ingredients from the kitchen, rosewater is my all-time favorite!

So let's get goin' !

My Favorite: Baking Soda

Baking soda is a LOVELY exfoliator! All you need to do is get a small cup and put 1 tablespoon of baking soda and 1 tablespoon of water, or an amount that makes a paste. After having your paste using the tips of your fingers take some and put it on your face. Start scrubbing your face in circular motion* but don't press too hard so you don't harm yourself. Do that for about 3-5 minutes than rinse your face with lukewarm-cold water, don't use hot water since your pores are very sensitive after scrubbing and you don't want to open them so they do not collect dirt. Dry your face and notice the softer texture of your skin!

*Circular motion must always be used when exfoliating or applying moisturizers. Move your fingers in upward directions and never down, in other words make the circles towards the outside of the face not to towards your nose. 

Honey:

Honey is usually not an exfoliator by itself, it is basically a pre-exfoliation agent . It is very good when you're trying to exfoliate for blackheads removal, but make sure the honey is very dense and sticky so it really collects dirt off your pores. Simple take the honey and again move in small circles for 5 minutes, you can press a little hard with honey as it is soft and wont harm you. After wiping it off or rinsing it, proceed to any of the other methods on this post.

Olive Oil & Brown Sugar

Get a small plate and put one tablespoon of brown sugar and another of olive oil and you're ready to go in circles again around your face. Again don't press too hard and do it for 3-5 minutes. Rinse of with lukewarm water.

Lemon and Salt:

1.5 tablespoon of lemon + 1 tablespoon of salt. Or depending on the type of salt, just make sure that the salt doesn't dissolve. You will do the same but since this mixture is very acidic, 2 minutes of scrubbing is enough. Again, rinse with lukewarm-cold water.