Essie's tips for turning your kitchen into a beauty salon!

Truly natural beauty products

Why don't you save some money and get your cosmetics from the kitchen for a change? It's not only cheaper, but also saves the nature and your body, hair and skin from unwanted chemicals. Here are some great foods that easily change into cosmetics :)

Coconut oil:
Coconut oil is a wonderful moisturizer. I use it for EVERYTHING. It is my lotion, massage oil, salad dressing, cooking and baking oil, hair mask, etc etc.
It's great for your hair, add it to the ends and leave it for the night before washing your hair in the morning. Or do it how i do, Put it everywhere in your hair and leave it for one day (and walk around with oily hair) and night , and then wash it.
You can also make a conditioner by mixing half an avocado and some coconut oil.
Coffee:
Caffeine in coffee actually pulls water from the skin, which helps redistribute fat cells and decrease the formation of cellulite. The caffeine in a coffee scrub also acts as a vascular restrictor, shrinking blood vessels and reducing varicose veins.
Make a perfect body scrub for you by mixing olive oil, grounded coffee and sugar.
Avocado:
Avocado is one of my favorite foods in the world, but it is also one great moisturizer. You can use it  for the hair conditioner or you can just make a moisturizing face mask by smashing half an avocado, adding it to your face until its dry and rinsing it with warm water.
It leaves you skin perfectly smooth :) 
Apple cider vinegar:
Apple cider Vinegar is wonderful for your skin. It has a tonic action that promotes blood circulation. It is also antiseptic, preventing the proliferation of bacteria, viruses, or yeast that trigger infection. 

For an oily skin, mix some water with apple cider vinegar and wash your face with it. You can also make a face wash by mixing it with green tea.
Yogurt:
Yogurt includes lactic acid that helps to smooth rough, dry skin and prevent premature aging such as fine lines, wrinkles and age spots. A face mask from plain yogurt will also help to dissolve dead skin that is accumulating in the pores causing a dull and cakey appearance. For your face, only use plain yogurt and for the best results make sure it has live active cultures in it. 
Yogurt mask: Add plain yogurt to a clean face, leave it for ten minutes and rinse it off with warm water.


I hope I gave you some good ideas :) Good night,

-e-

Top five recipes! You gotta try these!

Simple, nutritious, healthy and delicious!

One of my clients has asked for simple and healthy recipes and I thought I might as well upload them here, so all of you can get some ideas :) These recipes are something that I make every week or every day, and many of them uses same ingredients, but it works for me. When I see recipes I want to try, I always make my own version to make it just the way I like it, and I suggest you do the same. Feel free to use your favorite seeds and nuts, vegetables, greens and sprouts. 

1. Raw mixed salad with red cabbage

Cabbage

Red cabbage

cucumber

cherry tomatoes

carrots

arugula

avocado

hempseed

cilantro

lemon vinegar dressing (recipe in the end of this post)

Everything in this salad is raw. I usually mix the cabbages and carrots, pour the dressing on them and then add everything else.

2. Sauteed eggplant on a spinach bed

1/3 Eggplant

Red bell pepper

spinach

cherry tomatoes

garlic

lemon juice

Pumpkin seeds

turmeric

cayenne pepper

sea salt

paprika

apple cider vinegar

lemon

1 tbsp olive oil

Put olive oil and one chopped glove of garlic on a pan. Add eggplant, a little bit of water and the spices, and sauté the eggplant until its soft. Meanwhile chop all the other veggies and put spinach on a plate. Add sautéed eggplant, all the other veggies and pumpkin seeds on the plate, pour a little apple cider vinegar and lemon on it and ENJOY!

3. Sauteed Kale and Bok choi

bok choi

Kale

tomatoes

cherry tomatoes

carrot

avocado

pine nuts

nutritional yeast

olive oil

garlic

lemon

apple cider vinegar

cayenne pepper

Put olive oil and one chopped glove of garlic on a pan. Add bok choi first and then kale, a little bit of water and the spices, and sauté them for about 2 minutes. Meanwhile chop the veggies. When the greens are sautéed, add them on a plate followed by everything else. Again, you can pour a little apple cider vinegar and lemon on top and VOILA, its done!

4. Collard green wraps with quinoa and portobello mushroom

Collard green leaves

quinoa

1 portobello mushroom

carrots

1 tomato

cucumber

1/2 red bell pepper

hemp seed

nutritional yeast

lemon

olive oil

turmeric

black pepper

sea salt

paprika

Prepare quinoa as told on the side of the package. Meanwhile chop the portobello mushroom and cook it on a pan with some garlic and olive oil until its soft. Chop all the other veggies, and when your mushroom and quinoa is done, mix all the ingredients together, and Add your favorite spices. Take one leaf of collard green, add the topping on it and roll it. It might be a little hard in the beginning, and maybe the roll is not the most beautiful but it tastes amazing! 

5. the simplest cabbage salad

1 (small) Fresh Cabbage 

3 tasp Olive oil

1 tasp sesame oil

sea salt

pepper

fresh lemon juice

1-2 gloves of garlic

sesame seeds

sunflower seeds

Cut the cabbage and put it in a bowl. Mix the oil and the spices in a glass and pour it on the cabbage. You can put a handful of different kinds of seeds and nuts on the top of your salad.

I'm sure you all notices that I'm in love with Hemp seed, lemon, garlic, cayenne pepper, turmeric, avocado, olive oil, vinegar. I'm also a big fan of quinoa and soba noodles (buckwheat noodles), and I promise to post my favorite soba noodle salad soon! I hope you liked the recipes and will try some of them. If you do, I would love to hear any feedback. Also if you make your own version, I would truly appreciate if you share it in the comments section.

*Lemon vinegar dressing: olive oil, apple cider vinegar (or balsamic vinegar), lemon, seasalt, black pepper. Mix all the ingredients and pour it on top of your salad or veggies. Be careful if you don't want it to be too vinegary!

Love, -e-

Library of recipes: Rawlicious oatmeal (raaka kaurapuuro)

My new favorite breakfast!

I know a Glowing Green Smoothie is a GREAT breakfast.....but we all know that sometimes you just want something else. Especially if you know you won't be able to have lunch early or you are going to have a long day. I made my own recipe of raw oatmeal, by simply just mixing all my favorite ingredients. And you should do the same. This Raw oatmeal is made the night before, soaked in the refrigerator over the night and then enjoyed in the morning! 

Ingredients:

Oats

water

raw honey

cinnamon

1/2 Organic Apple

pinch of seasalt

crushed walnuts

1 tsp chiaseeds

1 tbsp flaxseeds

1 tbsp coconut oil

Put all the ingredients in a breakfast bowl and put it in the refrigerator. You can use the nuts and seeds you have, doesn't have to be walnuts. I wouldn't suggest putting a lot of honey, just a little bit to make it  super tasty!

I think I will make this for breakfast tomorrow and we will see what my boyfriend says! I'll keep you posted! Have a wonderful weekend!

-e-

Fat, sick and nearly dead!

Maybe someone close to you is just like these guys.

If you haven't seen this funny but teaching documentary already, it's about time! Show it to your dad, uncles, cousins, aunts too or anyone who might have a bad diet, attitude or some overweight. I have showed it to my boyfriend, he loved it. Also my mom loved it and she is going to make my uncle and stepdad sit down, watch and learn!

Fat, sick and nearly dead is a story of two men from different worlds who are overweight, sick and unhappy. With doctors and conventional medicines unable to help long- term, Joe turns to the only option left, the body's ability to heal itself. He changes his diet completely, from junk food to green and fruit juices for 60 days. Across 3,000 miles Joe has one goal in mind: To get off his pills and achieve a balanced lifestyle.

You can find the full documentary from google starting $1.99, it's on netflix and they also have their own website.

Make yourself a nice smoothie or juice, and enjoy these guys' trip!