Digest for Week-endng 2 July 2011

Last week, I wrote about how amazing our feet are and how important it is to give them the attention that we pay to other parts of our bodies. This week, I offer tips and information about your hands as well as results from some of the natural products I’ve either been using for years, or just recently tried.

Stay Healthy with Clean Hands

Just like the winter with the higher risk of colds and flu, this time of year provides lots of opportunities to catch and spread germs through dirty hands. Here are some tips for keeping hands clean this busy and public time of year.

Your Fingernails are a Window to Your Health

Disease and deficiencies in the body will show up as telltale signs on and around your fingernails. Here’s what they may be telling you.

How to Properly Maintain Hand Strength

Keeping your hands strong and able to open the pickle jar well into your years takes more than simple gripping exercises. Effectively keeping your hands strong is a two-way street.

Wrinkly Fingers May Actually be Functional

You know how unsightly the tips of our fingers look after they’ve been in water for an extended period of time. Well, it turns out that the pruny look may develop for a functional reason…

“Go”ing Natural on My Toes

After last week’s post about deciding to finally eliminate toxic nail polishes from my life, here are the initial results from one of the safer brands that I tried…

A Natural Stain for the Hair

In this post, you can see the results of years of using a plant-based dye for my hair and find out where to get the products.

A Natural Stain for the Hair

Last night, while testing a natural nail polish on my toes, I was also staining my hair with something natural. I’ve been using henna for many years now as an alternative to the harsh chemicals and dyes that are available.

I discovered a site called Mehandi.com a while back that carries body art quality henna as well as a number of additional dyes and natural beauty products, like amla, cocoa and mango butter, as well as soaps and shampoos.

Depending on how thick or coarse your hair is, it should be left in your hair for two hours or more. Two hours works well for me, but I’ve read that other women leave it in for six hours! I’m wondering if that’s necessary. The best thing to do is read the instructions carefully. For this henna, the powder needs to be mixed with an acid, like lemon juice (and water) and allowed to incubate for several hours to allow the color to be released.

Because my hair is medium to dark brown and I want it to stay within that range, I actually mix the henna in a 1:1 ratio with indigo (another powder that I mix with water and then combine with the henna), another plant stain that by itself turns hair black. When combined, the henna and indigo give my hair a rich brown color that casts highlights of red in the sun. Much nice for me than looking like Bozo the clown! It also adds volume and body to my fine hair and it is super shiny. Know that this is a permanent form of color. It will fade over time, but I will usually reapply it every six to eight weeks to cover the new growth.

Just one more way that I’ve attempted to keep my body clean…