In Love with Coconut

Lengkuas Island, Belitung Indonesia

Tropical Fruit
Coconut is very common in tropical countries. Growing up in Indonesia, I get used to coconut. Some traditional Indonesian soup use coconut milk as one of the ingredients. Coconut water/juice is common for traditional desserts along with coconut meat. At some restaurants, we can order young coconut for our drinks (with or without extra sugar/ice). It comes with the whole fruit so we can eat its meat as well. I loooove it! The water always feels refreshing especially for hot and tropical weather. One coconut can be used for food/drink/oil, and its fiber (aka cocofiber) can be used at home as door mat/roof, its shell can be used as charcoal and many more.
I think it's amazing that somehow the world is balanced. Tropical and hot weather places are blessed by the existence of this fruit!

The Water
It is believed that drinking coconut water is equal to drinking milk. It has protein, amino acids, antioxidants and anti-toxic agents. Its Vitamin C contents is known for creating bright and clean look on baby's skin when drank during pregnancy. It provides a powerful energy source as if drinking an energy/isotonic drink and of course this also means that coconut water is really good in preventing and treating dehydration. I always look for coconut water whenever I feel tired and weak and when I don't feel good. Its anti-inflammatory property helps me feel better. The sugar content in coconut water is enough to make us feel full for a while which is good for those who are trying to lose weight.
Remember what antioxidant agents do? Yes, they protect us from free radicals. This means that coconut water is good for our body and skin as anti aging source. Yay!

The Meat
Young coconut meat is good for desserts while riped (or "old") coconut is good for grated coconut, coconut milk and coconut oil. Basically what the coconut water offers, the meat will also provide. For example, its fatty acids, antioxidant and anti-toxic agents.

Coconut Oil
Coconut Oil is derived from coconut milk by warming and separating the oil from the water used for pressing. So, it is not hard to make coconut oil from a riped whole coconut. Many people use coconut oil for cooking, baking, and skincare. Even I do too.
I use it for baking and cooking. For baking, I substitute some of the vegetable oil or butter with coconut oil. It makes the baked goods smell good.
I use it on my skin when I have itchy dry skin and to soothe my skin from burn.
I use it on my scalp as natural hair treatment. You can find the simple recipe for hair treatment below.
I use it as make up remover.
I use lotion, face oil, and body butter* that has coconut oil as ingredients.

Coconut Oil works impressively. Not only it costs relatively cheap (as skincare) but it provides more benefits than other skincare products. Moreover, it is natural. The worrisome of putting on harsh chemical ingredients could be eliminated.

I hope you enjoy reading this blog. Please leave any comments if you have any experience with coconut in any forms. Keep our natural beauty!

-dora-
*the products mentioned are handmade by Kiki the founder of Qi Qi Naturals.


DIY Hair Treatment
(Great for breakage, frizzy, conditioner, dandruff, hair growth)

1 tbsp Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (in liquid form, you can always warm it up by putting the closed jar into warm water)
Juice from 1 lemon.
2 drops of Rosemary or Lavender E.O. (optional)
Mix all ingredients. Start putting on the scalp by giving massage. Work on giving 1-inch space in between. Always massage 2-3mins when applying. If you have extra, cover the hair til hair ends. Leave it on hair for at least 30 mins. You may use cap to avoid dripping. After 30 mins, wash your hair with your shampoo. (Note: try to avoid hair dryer as it dries hair and makes hair dull and frizzy).

If you don't have lemon but you have (raw) honey, you can substitute the lemon juice. Use 1 tbsp honey instead.

If you have sweet almond oil, you can mix both in equal parts and they work well together as hair mask.

If you don't have any of the ingredients except the coconut oil. That's fine. You may need at least 2 tbsp of Coconut Oil. You can simply follow the directions above when applying.

Oil as Anti Aging

What are the oils that can be used as Anti Aging ?

Aging is Inevitable
As I have written in the previous blog called "Oil and Our Skin," I believe that some oils do give more benefits to our skin as natural skincare compared to manufactured skincare. We all know that dryness could cause aging, wrinkles, itch, flakiness. We are aware that sunlight could cause aging with its free radicals and leave us dark spots or skin discoloration, not to mention having sunburn after being exposed in the sun for a long time. We also notice that being old may cause having sagging skin because of losing collagen and elastin. Yes, we all know that all those could happen to anyone of us. Sunlight is something inevitable if we like to go outside for a walk, hiking, tanning, playing at the beach, etc. Age is unavoidable as I am writing this blog, I'm aging by seconds, minutes, or maybe an hour or two!

What to do now? We always count on some skincare. But, the only question is are they really dependable to prevent me from aging? I mean, I understand they have dermatologist's approval; they also have some people to try and test their products before launching which is great. The thing is that sometimes some skincare contain harsh chemical ingredients. Every time I looked at the ingredient list on an item, I would frowned and stunned because I'm like "I don't understand what in the world is this, this, this..."
This situation has led me to be more aware of choosing a skincare product. Honestly, I would love to make my own skincare. But, sometimes when I read the recipes, it takes at least ten to twenty ingredients to get a well-balanced and effective skincare. For that reason, I give up. The best thing is that Qi Qi Naturals is owned by my best friend, Kiki. With her passion, she makes wonderful skincare from natural ingredients. Even better that most of them are organics. So, thanks to her, I don't have to make my own skincare, yay!

Oil Checklist
As we know that choosing the right skincare is crucial because we want to have the maximum benefits of each product we use. We want to make sure that we prevent ourselves from sign of aging prematurely. Yes, we, ladies, want to look youthful and radiant no matter how old we are.
A good natural skincare product will always include at least one of the oils below.

I believe many many more can be added to the list. However, for example, knowing that your product contains Jojoba Oil and Almond Oil at the same time might be such a relief. I hope this helps you to find out which products are good for you. So, really. Oil does work as anti aging and it gives you more benefits than a manufactured skincare could give at some point.

Keep our natural beauty! Ciao!
-dora-

Here's the list:

Vitamin E Oil
It helps treating skin from sunburn, scars, acne, and wrinkles by speeding up skin cells regeneration. Vitamin E is also known for its antioxidant properties.

Coconut Oil
If you like to have simple skincare and your skin is not so sensitive, you may consider to use Extra Virgin Coconut Oil as your face oil. In fact, according to my research, a lot of people have been using EVCO alone as night moisturizer. Coconut Oil contains antioxidant agents that help prevent aging and fight free radicals. It's believed to help with wrinkles and flakiness.

Olive Oil 
It is rich in vitamins and antioxidants and highly effective in neutralizing damaging free radicals. It also helps balance your skin's moisture without clogging pores.

Castor Oil
As antioxidant, it nourishes our skin and fights aging signs. In addition, it also has antiviral properties.

Camelina Oil
Rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, it improves skin elasticity. It also has Vitamin E that works as an antioxidant to protect our skin from free radicals.

(Sweet) Almond Oil
This oil helps nourish the skin making it smooth, delay aging, lighten dark complexion, eradicate irritation, inflammation and skin rashes, soothing itchiness and moisturizing. It makes skin supple to touch, glow and look healthy.

Jojoba Oil 
It absorbs easily to our skin without feeling greasy, clogging pores or blackheads or promoting acne. It rejuvenates cell growth and helps dry and damaged skin by improving skin elasticity and suppleness because of its vitamin E content.

Rosehip Seed Oil
Full of vitamins, antioxidants and essential fatty acids to correct dark spots and hydrate dry, itchy skin, reduce scars and fine lines. It rejuvenates the skin and leaves the skin glowing.

Kukui Nut Oil
It could penetrate the skin easily and leaves the skin feeling silky and smooth without greasy feeling in addition to its antioxidant agent that protects the skin from free radicals.

Avocado Oil
It contains vitamin A and antioxidant, nourishes, moisturizes, cleans skin, eliminates wrinkles, condition hair and protect against harsh environment.

Grapeseed Oil 
It helps regulate our natural oil production, assists with skin repair while it has mildly astringent, antioxidant and antiseptic properties packed with skin-brightening vitamin C.

Butter
Kokum Butter
It contains of fatty acids and antioxidant agents which reduce degeneration of the skin cells and restore elasticity of the skin.

Cocoa Butter
It also has antioxidant agents to slow the signs of aging.

Horsetail Butter
It's believed to treat cutaneous dryness, rebuild and regenerate damaged skin cells from rashes, wrinkles, acne, burns because of its anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antioxidant actions.

Raw Shea Butter
It's believed to help improve skin, hair, beauty and health because it renews, repairs and protects the skin against aging/wrinkles and harsh climate.

Essential Oils
Rose stimulates the skin and helps from dry and aging skin.

Sweet Orange (aka Orange Oil) slows down aging process and leaves the skin look radiant and glowing.

Vanilla works as antioxidant and anti-inflammation. It also promotes repairing damaged skin.

Immortelle (Helichrysum) has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits to help skin with acne, allergies, sunburn, ezcema and aging signs.

Sandalwood relieves rashes and itches, eczema and psoriasis, soothes acne and slows skin aging.



Note:
All those ingredients above are used by Qi Qi Naturals.
I didn't write about them in details. The list are genuinely by me, but the contents are from the internet, collected bits and pieces when I did some research. I may have rephrased it with my own words. Thanks.

Loving Our Feet

Hey Lovelies !!

Have you ever think of spoiling your feet at home? Like relaxing on a chair and having your feet soaking in warm water? Oh, to top that off, you put on facial mask. I know, right! That feeling of enjoying the very moment!
Well, I think our feet are important so we need to spoil them every time we have the chance. Especially, now that we are entering spring. During summer time, we want to have our feet looking good in our flip-flops, sandals, gladiator and flat shoes and all those sexy looking shoes!

I don't have perfect feet. Either I have to deal with cracking heels or hard skin and ingrown toenails. I know, as a woman I am expected to have beautiful feet. Therefore, I feel the need to pay more attention in caring my feet. I want healthy feet, happy feet. For that reason, I do pedicure for my own feet every 2 weeks at home, an alternate way of going and spending money at a salon.

Here's what I do:
1. use foot file to get rid of cracking heels.
2. clean dirt/fabric that usually are hidden between toenail and skin/nail-bed.
3. soak in warm water with additional of some ACV (optional). This takes about 10 to 15 minutes. Then dry them completely with towel.
4. trim toenails when necessary. Usually after shower/soaking, toenails are softer and easier to be trimmed.
5. use nail buffer to smooth and make toenails shiny.
6. massage some cuticle oil that has Vitamin E on toenails and spoil toes by massaging them. (alter cuticle oil with tea tree oil for toenail problems).
7. put some foot gel/cream or body butter for smoothing and soothing. I like peppermint because it feels refreshing.
8. for treating cracking heels and hard skin, I put on socks for extra moisture. Otherwise, I leave them open.

Toenail Problems
For those who have toenail problems (ie. my husband and my friend, some part of toenails are not sticking to their nail-beds; I think this works for foot fungus as well) : put some tea tree oil onto the toenails with problem before going to bed every night and leave it overnight. Since toenails are growing so slowly, the treatment should continue until at least 6 months. A complete toenails could take one whole year to fully regrow.

Picture source: www.feetfirstcardiff.co.uk/commonfootprob.html

Additional Tips :
1. toenail treatment work better if we always let feet dry, so try not to wear socks/slippers while at home.
2. additional foot spray is recommended to soothe our feet, especially if we only wear shoes that don't require socks. Spray will help freshen feet and reduce odor. Choose natural tea tree spray if possible.
3. If you like to put on nail polish on to your toenails, it's fine. As long as you remember to clean it off completely after one or two weeks and leave it breathe for at least 48 hours before applying another color.

Our feet will be healthy happy feet once we do this in regular basis. No more feeling ashamed of having ugly feet, instead, we welcome pretty flip-flops and sexy sandals!
Have fun caring your feet! And always keep our natural beauty!


-dora-

Being in Mid 30s

Hi All,

I promise, this won't be long. Just a quick share, though this year I am 35 years old, I'm always being asked to show my ID card every time I enter a casino even though I don't go for gambling, I just want to eat there. Well, I take that as a compliment in addition that people always thought that I'm still in my early 20s. I wish!

How do I maintain the look? Honestly, I don't really know. However, I'd like to share what I think could be the reasons:
1. being born as Asian. People always say that Asians tend to age really well. I think I'm lucky because I'm from Indonesia where it's super hot and humid all year long so my skin won't easily get dry. (Dryness causes aging). If this could be a reason, then I put as #1 because you can't choose to be born here or there. However, I think it's more likely gene factor. My mom is 60 but looks like she's 45.
2. trying to live in balance. I like to eat protein and carbohydrate (any meat and rice/pasta); therefore, I also eat veggies/fruits to balance it. I eat broccoli everyday. I do some housework and most of times sitting on the sofa writing blog or reading articles, therefore I balance it with a bit physical activities like walking/jogging/playing tennis once or twice a week minimum. (This doesn't  mean I can't eat junk food once a while. I call it a break from my routine and I think that's nice to have such a treat).
3. trying to have enough sleep (at least seven hours a day).
4. trying to ditch harsh chemical products. I opt for natural products. I wear some cosmetics of course, but I try to check ingredients before buying.
5. every now and then I take a teaspoon of ACV or gummy vitamins; every other day I take 2 tablespoons of honey.
6. drink water regularly. I also drink a cup of coffee latte every morning (I admit this is not a good habit, someday I will switch into tea).
7. always maintain cleanliness. I brush teeth at least twice a day and take shower at least once a day. During summer time, I could take shower up to three times a day. Our family do laundry every week; bed cover and pillow cases are important to be kept clean as to avoid dirt/allergies/any skin problems.
8. never forget to put face moisturizer/oil for day time (and sunscreen!) and night time. I have dry combination skin and that could be a problem if I neglect my skin.
9. say yes to body oil/butter/lotion.  Don't let the cold of winter makes your skin dry.
10.last but not least, always trying to let go stress by smiling. I know, it's easy to say, hard to be done. Everyone has his/her own problems. Today has its own problem. Once you start to smile, it will lift up your mood a little bit and reduce your worries. Remember wrinkle is stress' best friend! Smile and good laugh will help you through another day.

Well, I think that's all. I hope you enjoy your life no matter where you are, what you do and how old you are. Simply love yourself. Keep natural !


-dora-

Ba-Ba-Ba...Ba-Banana....

why Minions like banana?

Hi Beauties !

Being pretty doesn't always mean taking care of our look from the outside. It also depends on our routine, our habit, which are related to our intake. Hm. To think of it, if a pretty woman constantly eats junk food, drinks alcohol and smokes, in the next few years, she might have any health issues. Health problems could cause her stressful. Not only that stress could fasten the aging process, if she had to take medicine, she could get some side effects. She started to have more wrinkles, panda eyes, any side effects from the treatment (could be allergies, rashes, losing appetite, gaining weight or else). She would put more makeup to cover it up meaning more harsh chemical gets into her body and so forth. Would she still be looking gorgeous? Maybe. But most likely, she will probably be looking much older. And I won't let this happen to me. So, IMO being pretty also means being healthy.(I'm sorry if it sounds depressing, I just mean to encourage us (including me) to live better by being healthy and to leave those bad habits).

BANANA
This suddenly came across my mind 'why do the Minions like banana so much?.' I would say because of its super power nutrients. Before I write some facts about banana according USDA, I have a story to tell y'all. When I was little, my mom used to urge me to eat banana once a day. She would say banana is a really powerful fruit because it's rich in Vitamin. As a good child, I ate those bananas, 'nothing to lose' I thought.

As I grew up, I learned that when my relative had upset stomach, he would only eat banana, nothing else. Of course he also drank water. Apparently, to him, bananas help detoxify his stomach and fix his health. At that moment, I was amazed as I was a bit underestimating this yellow fellow!

A year ago, my husband (he was my fiance back then and I was still in California) had a real bad food poisoning. He couldn't eat anything at all and he would throw up. I recalled the story of my relative and told him to eat only bananas and not to drink soda. He only followed eating bananas but still drinking soda. Again, he kept throwing up. His stomach wouldn't accept anything at all except banana. I suspected the culprit was soda. After struggling for 3 days throwing up and nothing could be eaten, his condition got worse and he had fever. He was really bad, indescribable: pale, weak, non-stop coughing, vomiting, sometimes headache. I wasn't a doctor, but I did research online for his symptoms. The result was daring: he got dehydration. In addition to food poisoning! However, knowing he'd gotten worse, he gave up soda and drank juice instead and sometimes water. He took one day off to bed rest. He slowly getting a bit better. After that, it was just banana and juice for the following two weeks; nothing else. He took cough syrup before sleep. Two weeks later, he got much better and was able to eat other food without throwing up. I am so glad that he survived both food poisoning and dehydration without going to hospital, especially since I found out the fact dehydration could cause death. So, ladies, don't underestimate bananas! Because it contains a lot of nutrients that you need for your health.

USDA
Using USDA interactive tool, a medium banana (7"-7.5") may contain 105g calories but Zero Fat. It also has Protein, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Calcium, Potassium, Magnesium, Zinc, Vitamins: A, B6, B12, D, E, K, Folate, and more. I think it's pretty complete for a fruit, plus you don't need to worry of gaining fat from eating bananas,Yay ! Well, that explains why banana has a super power effects to our body! Or that maybe explains why minions like banana despite its taste that's just 'hm-okay' to me. But, hey! I wouldn't ignore if anybody made me banana-strawberry smoothie! Yummm!

INTAKE
Eating banana is an easy habit we can do to start our healthy program. Let's say once a day. I'm a type of person who eats everything as long as in good portion, meaning not too much. I maintain my diet and my weight because I understand that my future is relying on my habit. I am not a big fan of bananas but I don't mind to add them onto my diet list. Why not? They make good smoothies (mix with any berries, little milk and honey) and I love to make my own Banana Cake that I can eat as my coffee cake. Cut a banana into pieces then eat with your cereal and you have a wonderful breakfast! Most of my friends who have babies started to feed bananas to their 6 month-old babies because banana is also good for brain health.

Here's the deal: anytime you want to smoke, eat banana instead. Why do you smoke? Because you're not happy. Well, banana is believed to be able to boost up your mood because of its tryptophan content. Its potassium can help fighting anxiety and good for our blood pressure while its fiber content help your digest system. So, ever wonder why minions are always happy?


-dora-