The air pollution, dust, hard water and chemicals in shampoos only damage our hair and scalp. This often results in dry hair, split ends and hair loss. If you want minimize the damage done to your hair in an inexpensive way, homemade shampoos are the best way. The recipe for making herbal homemade shampoo is quite easy. Read on to know how to make homemade shampoo.

Herbal Shampoo

Ingredients:

• Herbal Tea
• Liquid Castile Soap (soap made of olive oil and sodium hydroxide)

Instructions:

In 8 ounces (227 grams) of liquid castile soap, mix ¼ cup of strongly brewed herbal tea. This mixture should be stirred continuously over low heat for blending it well. Once blended well, you can remove it from the heat and let it cool down. Store this in a bottle that has a tight cap and keep it in room temperature away from sunlight.

Chamomile Shampoo

Ingredients:

• 6 Chamomile Tea Bags
• Pure Soap Flakes
• 1½ tablespoons Glycerin

Instructions:

Take 1½ cups of boiled water and immerse the Chamomile tea bags in it. Boil for 20 minutes and then remove the tea bags. Add four tablespoons of pure soap flakes to this and let it stand till the soap flakes soften. Add Glycerin and blend it finely in the mixture by stirring continuously. Let it cool down and then store it in a tightly sealed bottle and keep in a dark cool place.

Dry Shampoo (for Oily Hair)

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon Cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon powdered Orris root
• 1 tablespoon finely ground Almonds

Instructions:

All these ingredients should be mixed well and then brushed all over your hair. Begin by applying at the roots and then proceeding towards the tips. With your fingertips, gently rub and massage the mixture on your scalp to make sure it is spread evenly. Then, brush nicely again. If some particles are left in your hair, they can be removed by washing your hair with regular shampoo.

Egg Shampoo

Ingredients:

• 1 Egg
• 1tsp Olive Oil
• 1 tsp Lemon Juice
• 1 tbsp Castile Soap
• 1/2 cup of Herbal Tea
• Fragrant Essential Oil

Instructions:

Mix all the above ingredients in a blender and continuously whip until the mixture gets a smooth texture. Pour it in a bottle and store in refrigerator. Use this mixture with warm water and wash and rinse your hair thoroughly. This mixture should not be used for more than a week.

The exercises would strengthen the mobility of the hips, strengthen hip muscles, and lessen the fat on hip joint.

Bending the Hip
Place a mat on the ground. Lie down on your back with knees bent. Straighten your legs one by one. After a couple of minutes, come to another step in your exercise. Tighten the muscle on the top of the leg you have straightened. Try to straighten the knee as much as possible. Now, keeping the knee straight, lift your leg one to two feet. In the meantime be careful not to bend your back. Repeat the procedure with both the legs. The exercise strengthens the muscles which bend the hip.

Strengthening Hip Muscles
Stand straight with your legs spaced. Keep the abdominal muscles tight, knees bent and chest up. Push your hips back as if you are sitting in a chair. Squat directly down in control. Stop yourself wherever your feel uncomfortable and reverse the procedure. The exercise would strengthen the muscles of your hip.

Toning the Hip
You have to do this exercise on smooth floor. Stand with feet distanced apart to hip width. Keep one of your feet on a paper plate. Skid the leg, which is on the paper plate, away sidewise. Keep torso and abs upright during the process. Bend the other knee when necessary. Hold it there for a few seconds and backset the process. Repeat the procedure for the other foot too.

Consolidating Hip Muscles
You have to use a leg press machine in this exercise. Sit on the machine with your back flush against the back pad. Keep your knees a bit bent, chest up and abdominal muscles tight. Lower your body weight while keeping the hips back. Try splitting the weight between your hip joints and knee joints. Do it as long as you are comfortable and then reverse the exercise process.

Strengthening Backward Mobility
You have to move the leg up and back, with knee straight. For support, hold on any hard object. While the exercise, do not bend your back. The exercise is useful in increasing the backward mobility of the hip.

Reducing Fat on Hip
Stand with your feet stretched apart to hip width. Squat yourselves till hips are in the lowest possible position. Hold for a second and then leap up swiftly. Repeat the exercieight to ten times. Avoid hard floor during the exercise for it could cause injury.

How to Lose Weight in the Thighs

Remember that what you eat decides how you look. In order to tone any specific area of the body, it is necessary to get into a fit shape first. Add more protein and fiber to your diet. While the former will make exercises more effective, the latter will make your body lean and healthy.

Exercises

•  Biking /Swimming/ Jogging/ Walking
The aerobic exercises of riding an exercise bike, swimming, jogging and walking go a great length towards trimming your thighs. While using an exercise bike, try to paddle while standing up and pedal as fast as you can. Paddle your legs as you do your strokes while swimming, especially the back stroke. You can alternate between jogging and brisk walking, for 25 to 30 minutes, three times per week.

•  Skipping Rope
Jump a skipping rope 3 to 4 times in a week. Not only does it make your thighs lean, but also serves as an excellent warm up. Initially, use the jogging pace while jumping with the rope. Turn the rope forward and alternately jump your legs Bend your knees slightly and keep your back straight. After sometime, start jumping both your legs at the same time. This will increase difficulty of the exercise.

•  Leg Curling
Position yourself on the hamstring machine, stomach-down. Place both your feet below the attached weights and put your hands on the grips. Holding on to the grips, bring your feet towards your buttocks. Make sure to inhale as you curl up your legs. Now, exhaling slowly, lower your legs and bring them back to the original position. Repeat this procedure 10 to 12 times.

•  Leg Raising
Another exercise that can help you lose weight from the thighs comprises of leg raises. Spread an exercise mat and lie down on your back. Join both the legs and while inhaling slowly, elevate them as much as possible. Now, bring them back, while exhaling, but keep them about 1 to 2 inches about the floor, so that they do not touch it. Now, again raise the legs and bring them down. Repeat this procedure 10 times.

•  Squatting
Doing squats is an excellent way to get rid of the weight on your thighs. Initially, take a long rod for doing it. Stand straight, with your feet shoulder width apart, and balance the rod on your shoulders. Keeping your back straight, lower yourself to a sitting position, while inhaling, and exhale as you come back to the standing position. Do three sets of 10 repetitions. Gradually increase the resistance, first with dumbbells in both hands and then, with a Smith machine or barbell.

How To Get Rid Of Belly Fat

If you think that losing belly fat means going to the gym regularly and sweating it out, you are not cent-percent right. Well, you sure can go to the gym and work out but wouldn’t it be great if we gave you some simple tips and told you of some easy exercises that you can follow to get into great shape?

If you are looking to change your body shape to make it more attractive, then losing those extra kilos from your belly would do wonders to your overall image. Find out some easy exercises to lose that extra bulk from your belly.

• First and foremost you need to totally discard processed foods and desserts from your diet. Instead, eat lots of fruits, vegetables, salads with olive oil dressing, beans, wholegrains etc. Also, try and eat less salty food.

• Aerobic Exercises are yet another very simple method of getting into shape. There are loads of aerobic videos available in the market which you can get for the purpose. It is also a lot of fun as well.

• Swimming is yet another very good exercise that can help you to lose those extra fats from the belly. It works out the whole body and burns plenty of calories as well.

• You need to stabilize your blood sugar level by eating every 2-3 hours. Also eat lots of nuts, berries and whole grains which have low fat content.

• Always try and be active, physically. This will help and burn the calories from your belly. Different activities burn different amount of calories. You should choose an activity which suits you the best.

In the process of losing weight, face is the first place where you see the difference. Face is the mirror of a person’s health. It is the first thing noticeable and can be rightly referred as your visiting card, providing initial and basic information about you. Given below are some exercises to help you lose weight from the face.

Exercises to Lose Weight in Face

• For the areas around your eyes, close your eyes gently, look down and then look up, as far as possible. Repeat ten times.
• Close your eyes and lift your eyebrows, stretching your eyelids down as far as possible. Holds this position for five seconds, then relax and repeat five times.
• With open eyes, look up and then down, keeping your head still. Repeat this ten times. Also look left and right in the same position. Repeat this ten times.
• Frown as much as possible and try to bring your eyebrows over your eyes while pulling the eyebrows toward one another. Then lift your eyebrows as far as possible while opening your eyes as far as possible as well. Repeat this five times.
• Lie on a flat bed, hanging your head over the edge. Raise your eyebrows as high as possible, opening your eyes wide. Relax and repeat ten times.
• Sit upright, frown your eyebrows down over your eyelids, while wrinkling your nose as far up as possible. Hold this position for ten seconds. Relax and repeat five times.
• Stick out the tip of your tongue and pull in your cheeks. Hold this position for some seconds and relax. Raise your lower lip over your upper lip, trying to touch your nose.
• Smile as wide as you can and at the same time try to touch the tip of your tongue to your nose.

While having naturally dark colored lips from birth is absolutely fine, researches state that there are a number of reasons behind why the lips of a lot of fair and medium complexioned people turn black or start turning dark black after a certain point of time.

Here Are a Few Major Reasons Why Lips Turn Black:

• Smoking (This is the most important and the commonest reason)
• Exposure to sun
• Heavy application of lipstick
• Excess drinking of tea or coffee
• Using lipstick and other lip products of cheap brands
• Allergy
• Dryness

Home Remedies / Treatments for Dark Black Lips:

Pink is the original color of the lips most of us were born with. However with the passage of time and lack of proper care, they often tend to lose their natural tone and slowly turn dark. Since pink lips are a major indicator of good health, people adhere to a number of remedies or treatments to get rid of dark lips. Here are some you too can follow:

• You can use your toothbrush simply to exfoliate the dead skin cells off your lips. But remember to use them gently to avoid hurting your delicate lips. Apply a thin coat of a good lip balm after this. Incase your lips are chapped too, then stick to the same remedy, but with the toothbrush coated with Vaseline this time.

• Try using concealer on your dark lips before wearing your favorite lipstick. For better outcome, use a lip liner to outline your lips and then fill them up with lipstick or lip gloss. Always go for best brands as far as cosmetics are concerned.

• Incase you have noticed that your lips have started to turn dark after you have begun using a lip balm or lipstick from a mediocre brand, discontinue use immediately. Consult a dermatologist for repairing the damage undergone.

• Massage your lips gently with a good lip balm every night. Also make sure that you drink at least eight glasses of water every day. During daytime, use lip balm with at SPF 15 or higher to protect them against glaring sun rays. Follow this routine religiously every day.

Maintain a healthy diet and have lots of fruits and green vegetables. At the same time, avoid consuming caffeine and smoking totally if you don’t want your lips to turn dark.