Beauty Tips For Your Face

Beauty Tips:

You can able to renovate your dry skin into super level, elastic, flexible, and glowing skin by using these home remedies.

• Crush a banana with milk and affect on face and leave it for 20 minutes. Clean it with cold water to get a skin that will glow.
• Apply honey on your face and neck for nearly 20 minutes. Sponge down it with cold water. Your skin will shine and become soft and smooth.
• Mix some honey with tomato juice to get a solid paste. Apply this combination on your face and wash after 15 minutes.
• Mix egg white with honey and apply on the face for 20 minutes. Wash it with cold water.
• Compose a paste of one teaspoon of walnut powder, honey and lemon juice. Cleanse your face with this paste and leave it for 20 minutes. Wash it with cold water.
• Wipe a piece of papaya on your face and neck for 15 minutes.
• Make a paste by mixing two tablespoon turmeric powder in orange juice. Polish it on your face and neck and leave it for 20 minutes. Wash it with cold water.
• A paste of the fresh fenugreek leaves, useful on the face foil pimples, blackheads, dryness of the face and early look of wrinkles. 
• Make a paste by combination smashed banana, honey, lemon juice and margarine. Apply on face for during the night. Smudge on hands and feet, and wash off in the morning.
• Cooks cabbage in water. Wash your face with this water

Beauty Tips For Dates Fruit Face Pack

Beauty Tips:

How to prepare this dates fruit face pack:

To prepare this face pack you need 5 or 10 dates fruit. If you can get fresh dates fruit is fine. Otherwise definitely you can utilize the store bought dates. Remove the inner seed. Here you need one more ingredient, 1/2 fresh orange or lemon(lemon is for oily skin). Do not remove the skin, just remove the seeds. Slice the orange with outer skin. Now using a mixer prepare a paste out of these two ingredients. No need to add water, But If the paste is too thick add a little drop of water. Now dates fruit face pack is Ready..

How to apply the dates fruit face pack:

First cleanse your face with clean water. Tissue dry and apply the face pack on wet face. If you want, before applying this pack just take a little of this pack and do light facial massage. Take a little of this pack in your finger and apply on face and do facial massage in circular motion. Do it for 5-10 minutes. and rinse it off. Then apply this as a face pack. This method will give better result. After applying pack wait for 10-15 minutes. Do not allow any face pack to get dry on your face. Splash water on your face and rinse face. Allow face be wet for another 10 minutes. and then tissue dry. Sure, You feel the difference in your Face..

Recipe: Nick's Cullen Skink

Might find a few Scottish people annoyed that I labelled this under "British recipes"- especially with all of this independance malarky being talked about at the moment, lol! Cullen Skink is a scottish soup, made with smoked haddock, potato, milk and parsley. I was very curious as to why it was called "cullen skink", so i checked it out on wikipedia. It said that first of all, traditionally you should use smoked "Finnan haddie" instead of haddock, secondly that it orginated in the north eastern scottish town "Cullen" (hence the first part of the name), and the word "skink" comes from gaelic and originally meant "shin" or "knuckle"- the cut of beef that they used to cook in soups and stews, so then "skink" eventually became the generic word to describe any type of soup. There you go- theres some education for ya! This is my boyfriend's recipe, and its absolutely delicious- I dont even like fish, but this soup is to die for! Mind you though, hated the smell of the kitchen after it was cooked- stank of fish!! This recipe was published in our local newspaper (The Bath Chronicle), along with Nick's Cranachen recipe, after he organised (and cooked!) a big burns night supper with entertainment, for 60 people a few years back.

Nick’s Cullen Skink (serves 4)

450g un-dyed smoked haddock
50g butter
1 white onion, finely chopped
450g potatoes, peeled and diced (about 1/2 inch size)
1.1 litres semi skimmed milk
A little vegetable stock (optional)
Large handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Fry the onion in the butter until soft, for about 10 mins. When the onion is nicely softened, add the milk to the pan, bring to the boil and add the diced potatoes. Simmer until potatoes cooked, approx 15 mins
2. Add the smoked haddock fillet and leave to simmer for 5 or 6 mins, until just cooked. Remove the fish with a slotted spoon and put to one side until cooled enough to touch. Flake it roughly into a bowl, removing any skin and bones.
3. Crush some of the potatoes against the side of the saucepan in order to thicken the soup slightly. The soup needs to be fairly thick, like a chowder. At this point you can add a little vegetable stock if you wish, particularly if the milky mixture has thickened a bit too much.
4. Return the fish to the soup, add the chopped parsley and warm through. Season to taste and serve!

Monday Meeting: The Rubbish Diet Challenge Wk 2

After such a great start to Week 1, which saw our bin slimmers sorting out their recycling systems at home and getting familiar with what can be recycled locally, this week's challenge will take them to a whole different level when it comes to their waste busting mission.

Whilst last week's challenge was to recycle as much as they could, this week's focus moves to eliminating other waste through what they buy. 

There are even more mini challenges to contend with this week, which will have the rubbish dieters scouring the shelves of the supermarkets and checking the packaging to see which products will suit their recycling bins and their rubbish bins alike.

This is the week, where I'd recommend that you allow an extra half-an-hour for your grocery shopping, or if you normally do it online, make some time to go off the store for just this occasion.  It will be worth the effort.


So are you still up for the challenge?  Great, then here we go:

This week is all about getting used to shopping with waste in mind, becoming knowledgeable about packaging and your own shopping habits and asking yourself some questions before you buy.  It won't be easy because, against the aim of reducing waste you will also need to weigh-up other factors such as budget, convenience, values and personal taste.  There is lots of information in the Week 2 of The Rubbish Diet Challenge guide, but these mini-challenges will get you started in the right direction.

1: Before you buy anything, ask yourself the following questions:

• If I buy this product, will I definitely use it?
• Can I buy it without packaging?
• Can I reuse, recycle or compost the packaging?
• Are the reycling options convenient?
• Do I really need the product if the packaging ends up in landfill?
• Without this packaging, will the contents end up as food waste?
• Are there alternative products that create less waste than my usual choice?
• Is the product\packaging made from recycled materials?
• Can you make it at home?

2. Become familiar with recycling labels: The first thing you need to understand about recycling labels, is that they should NEVER replace advice from your local authority.  Only your local council can tell you exactly what they are able to recycle.  Packaging labels only offer extra reminders about which materials can be recycled in the UK and the extent of the sevices available.

More information is available in The Rubbish Diet Challenge guide, but even without that, my top tips are:

• Ignore this symbol, as it means nothing to UK recycling guidelines. It has no value in this country and just makes me want to spit feathers, so just pretend it's not there.

• Look out for these labels instead, developed by WRAP and the British Retail Consortium and which have become the retail sector standard.  However even if the label says it can't be recycled, e.g. Film, as shown below, you should check with your local council first.

3. Learn to lift and separate. This particular exercise is for those who live in areas where plastics such as yoghurt pots and margarine tubs aren't recycled.  If are looking for off-the-shelf alternatives which enable you to throw less plastic into landfill, try and identify products that have been designed to use less plastic, ie developed with a thin plastic inner and a stiff cardboard outer. Brands such as Yeo Valley have redesigned their packaging in this way. It just means that before you recycle, you should split and separate the packaging.

4. Remember prevention is better than cure and here's a list that might help.

• Pick up an old bag before you head to the shops.
• Buy loose, where possible (Bananas don't need bags)
• Take a container, if the shop allows (and follows in the footsteps of Unpackaged)
• Buy concentrated products.
• Look for refillable options.
• Supersizing your purchase can sometimes help reduce packaging, so look for larger packs.

So, it will be interesting to see how our 8 volunteer households get on this week, throwing these extra decisions into their already busy lives.  However, as experience shows, once you become aware of how much waste results from our purchasing choices, it really does become easier to shop with waste in mind as a subconcious mindset, just as we shop with any of the other values that we carry with us.

So, without further ado, it's time to reintroduce our bin slimmers and see how they are getting on.  I think they're doing really well and the results of this week's weigh in will be updated as the results come in.

1.  Terry-anna.
Household: 2 adults, in Ipswich Borough, Suffolk. 
WK1 Weigh-in: 1.5 large bags, filling one third of a wheelie bin (fortnightly):  THIS WEEK: half a bag, with another week to go before collection.

2.  Ness.  @NessyThompson
Household: 2 adults & 5 children, a rural village in Mid Suffolk
WK1 Weigh-in:  2 full wheelie bins (fortnightly).  THIS WEEK: less than 1/2 a wheelie bin, with another week before collection.

3.  Donna.  @Donna_De
Household: 2 adults, in Tower Hamlets in London. www.beatinglimitations.com/blog
WK1 Weigh-in: 1 30L rubbish sack. (weekly).  THIS WEEK: 1 30: rubbish sack.

4. Amy. @AmyMarpman
Household: 2 adults in New York City.   www.beyondthebluebin.com
WK1 Weigh-in: 2 bin bags - estimated 9kg / 20lbs. (Weekly) THIS WEEK: 1 small bag - 3.6kg / 8lbs

5: Kate. @BusinessPlumber
Household: 2 adults, in a rural village in Mid Suffolk : www.businessplumber.co.uk
WK1 Weigh-in: 1 unusually full wheelie bin - incl Christmas waste. (fortnightly): THIS WEEK: 1 bin bag with another week before collection.

6: Jax. @LiveOtherwise
Household: 2 adults, 3 children & a baby on its way, in Suffolk Coast. http://liveotherwise.co.uk/makingitup/
WK1 Weigh-in: 7 small bin bags - filling one third or half of a wheelie bin (fortnightly). THIS WEEK: 3 small bin bags, with another week before collection,

7.Melanie
Household: 2 adults, 2 children, Aylesbury Vale, Buckinghamshire
WK 1 Weigh-in:  3 large bin bags, almost filling a whole wheelie bin. (weekly).  THIS WEEK: 2 Bags.

8.Tim @Dotterel
Household: 2 adults, 3 children, Lincolnshire.  www.bringingupcharlie.co.uk
WK 1 Weigh-in: 1 full wheelie bin (fortnightly). THIS WEEK: 4 small bags with 1 week to go before collection.

Don't forget, just because the Rubbish Diet challenge is already in WK 2, it doesn't mean that you can't join in.  Just visit the online guide to catch up with everything you need to do.  There's also lots happening on Twitter too, so to join in the conversation just use the hashtag #therubbishdiet, or tweet @karencannard.

And if you're a blogger, remember to share your latest blogpost on the topic using the clever little linky below.  If you're got any questions, please feel free to get in touch.

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Chocolate Mask

Chocolate....a girl's best friend and worst enemy. What if there was some way you could make a special treat for your skin, using on of our most favorite ingredients- chocolate? It not only smells good but tastes good to!

This is one of my most coveted masks, it uses my three favorite ingredients:honey, plain yogurt, and cocoa powder.

Before we get started making this dessert for our face, let me simply tell you why each ingredient is good for your skin and what is does. 

Yogurt:

• Yogurt is yummy, thick and creamy.
• It's a virtual treasure-chest of minerals, vitamins and proteins. 
• Yogurt adds enzymes and oils to the skin, working as a natural moisturizer. 
• It reduces pore size, the rich zinc content will help acne prone skin. 
• It helps improve overall skin texture, and give you that healthy glow. 
• Its a natural skin smoother that makes it a simple, yet effective facial mask. 
• Soothes, softens, tightens the skin, and refines 

Cocoa Powder:    

•  It is an antioxidant powerhouse.
• Works with the skin to diffuse damage caused by both internal and external factors such as sun damage, and pollution.  Antioxidants also help to protect skin from future damage.
• It also improves skin texture, increases skin thickness, density, and hydration (therefore super moisturizing!). 
• Dark chocolate can create healthy, glowing skin.
• Chocolate actually helps prevent acne as it contains serotonin which produces a calming effect, it relieves the stress stimulating acne eruptions.  
• Helps detoxify the pores of the skin and to firm and tone.
• Even assists in the wrinkle area.
• Softens and smooths the skin (and who doesn't want soft skin?).  
• Increases blood flow.
• Has vitamin content as well as mineral content.

Honey:    

• Naturally leaves the skin moisturized
• Tones
• Gives you that highly desired  glow
• Makes skin supple, soft, and younger-looking (I know I am in for that!)
• Helps skin heal faster (help you get ready for that day when you need to look your best!)
• Helps in the wrinkle and fine line areas. (amen!!)
• Treats and prevent acne (also, helps lightens up acne scars and fades red marks)
• Helps renew skin cells

Now that we know what we are getting into, lets make this baby!
All you are going to need is one dessert spoon of each of the ingredients listed above.
Combined these three items in a bowl or container and mix well.

Now, I know your excited about putting it on but first, let it chill in the fridge for a few minutes before applying. Leave it on for 20 minutes. Wash off with warm water. (You can also exfoliate it off with sugar.) Pat dry and make sure to moisturize right afterwards to lock in the benefits. 

You should see and feel a difference in your skin. Who knew you could use chocolate in other ways then eating it! 

Beauty Tips For Reduce Pimple

Beauty Tips:

 

First wash your face daily atleast four or five times. and Avoid touching your face with your fingers.

Eat a lot of fresh fruits and green vegetables with a lot of water.

Apply fresh puthina juice in your face its just look like a fresh and it clean your pimples.

Take green gram and some neem leaf make it paste. Now add half spoon of turmeric powder. Now mix it and make it a paste and apply on your face.. After dry wash the face by cool water.. Apply this pack weekly once.. pimples will disappear..

Take one teaspoon of honey and half a teaspoon of cinnamon mix well and keep in the fridge for a night use it the next day and wash after 15 minutes. Removes pimples really fast.

Take some fresh fenugreek leaves and make a paste to apply on the pimples overnight.

Exercise regularly to reduce your stress level which will indirectly help to improve your skin condition..

Recipe: Chicken, Asparagus and Red Pesto Fusilli

This is such a simple dish, only using a few ingredients, but so packed full of flavour. I am actually drowning in Asparagus now, because there was a deal at Sainsburys for two massive bundles of it for only £3! I know it's out of season and it's from peru, but i dont care- student needs cheap veggies!! The "red pesto" i got from Marks and Spencers, and it seems to be called "red pesto" because it's not just sundried tomato based, its also got red peppers and cashew nuts and things in it. It's absolutely delicious anyway, i could eat it with anything- as a dip, on toast,on a jacket potato, you name it! If you cant find this though, any other sundried tomato pesto will work just as well.

Chicken, Asparagus, and red pesto fusilli (serves 3)

1 chicken breast
2 tsp rapeseed oil
1 tsp dried oregano
Salt and pepper
250g dried fusilli
12 asparagus spears, diced
3 rounded tbsp sundried tomato (or “red”) pesto
Knob of butter
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Put the chicken breast, oil, oregano and seasoning into an ovenproof dish, and bake for 25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add the fusilli and cook for 10 minutes (or whatever it says on the packet instructions). 4 minutes before the end of cooking time, add the asparagus to the pan.
3. Drain, and return to the pan. Remove the chicken from the oven and roughly dice. Add the cooked chicken, butter and red pesto to the hot pasta and asparagus, stir well to combine, season to taste and serve!

The Friday Journal: It's all been happening in Week 1

What a week it's been.  Very much of a whirlwind really, which kicked off in great style on Monday launching on BBC Radio Suffolk from Bury St Edmunds' Household Waste Recycling Centre.

It really is incredible to see how much can happen in just five days. News coming in from the households participating in the challenge includes great discoveries of local recycling facilities that will help keep all sorts of materials out of the bin.




There have been challenges too, including one household, which was trying to find a convenient Tetra Pak recycling bank. Hopefully that will be resolved.
 

The bin slimmers have also been organising new storage facilities, recycling new things and have even given me access to their bins to see if anything had been missed.  And yes, it is rewarding to find stuff in a bin that can be passed on easily for recycling and already fits in with an existing recycling routine.

I've made a few discoveries this week too, not least that all the recycling centres across Suffolk take plastic packaging such as rice and pasta packets as well as the polythene bags, but we can also bung corks in their timber collection and their media banks will accept VHS tapes, cassettes as well as CDs and DVDs.

That's the thing with recycling centres, facilities are always changing so if it's been a while, it's always worth popping in for a bit of a gander, as was discovered by one of our participants today, who drives past most days but has never been in, except for one occasion as a passenger.

Other great discoveries include improvements over the last year to council business recycling facilities in Bury St Edmunds, which now includes heavyweight items such as glass. Having met with our borough council today, I'm also looking forward to more good news being announced over the next few months.  Further afield, Aylesbury Vale District Council, home to one of our families, will also be announcing improvements to their service too.

This week, our local primary school commited to taking its own Rubbish Diet Challenge and has already started to investigate how they can reduce food waste over the next seven weeks, a project that's been adopted by their eco-club, so I'll be keeping an eye on how they get on.

And elsewhere, a local cafe, The Coffee House in Moreton Hall, signed up as a Tapwater.org refill station, enabling passers-by to refill their water bottles for free and reduce the need for bottled water. I only suggested it on Wednesday and by Thursday, they were on the Tapwater map.

So what with our Ipswich bin slimmer receiving her new slim bin from the council, a compost bin on order for another and a kitchen waste caddy awaiting delivery and some reports coming in of less waste, it has been a really good start to The Rubbish Diet Challenge 2012.  And I really can't thank the participants enough, as well as others who are joining in as the challenge progresses.

But the proof is always in the pudding and we will find out more at next week's Monday Meeting, when a new set of mini-challenges will be set,

However, in the meantime, if you haven't seen it before, do check out one of my favourite videos of this week, put together by Tim Atkinson, aka The Dotterel, who's taking the challenge in Lincolnshire.  The full blogpost can be found here.

The Rubbish Diet: The sponsored approach

It warmed the cockles of my heart yesterday, to discover that there were even more bin slimmers officially on board, aiming to reduce their household waste over the next 8 weeks, and one of them had extra news to share.

It came in the form of Joanna Boardman, who has not only pledged to see how low she can go, but has also registered her challenge on the DoNation website in the hope that she can also gain some sponsorship for her efforts. 

Now, before you think I'm going to ask you to empty out your spare change, if you haven't come across it before, the DoNation scheme is a sponsorship site with a difference.

It asks supporters not to delve into their pockets, but to donate by doing instead, a marvellous idea based on the inspiration of founder Hermione Taylor, who cycled from London to Morocco in 2009.  She didn't ask friends and family for sponsorship but asked them to do something to make a difference to help environmental issues. She was amazed that this drew sponsorship from 216 people, whose actions saved over 16 tonnes of CO2, the equivalent of 84 flights from London to Morocco.

Joanna challenge was the 100th to be registered at DoNation, and she is now keeping a diary over at her blog Let's Waste Less, which encourages people in North East Lincolnshire to make less waste.  Joanna also happens to be a waste minimisation officer for North East Lincolnshire and having just moved into the county it will be interesting to see how she gets on, whilst wearing both her professional hat as well as being a resident.

Her starting point last week was 1 sack full of kitchen rubbish and two carrier bags full of other household waste.  She lives in an area that doesn't recycle yoghurt pots or plastic meat packaging and she'll no doubt have trouble with all kinds of plastic film as well.

And having left her old compost bin in situ at the previous house, one of her first tasks has been to organise a new one for her latest property.

I remember that was one of the first things I did when we first moved to Bury St Edmunds.  Even though the council collected fruit & veg peelings and garden waste, I recall crossing my arms defensively and saying "They're not getting their hands on my compost!", so there's nothing quite like a girl after my own heart.

We'll be keeping tabs on Joanna's progress over the coming weeks, but do visit her blog for more info and pop over to see how you can sponsor her at the DoNation site.  I've just promised to switch from my car to using my bike once a week, which will apparently save 9kg CO2 each time.  It's about time I got back to pedal power..... and I suppose it's a form of 'recycling'. (Boom Tish)

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Fantastic Collection Chapels of 2012

In this fashion world there are numerous ranges of chapels that are available at the shops. Every boys and girls like to wear fashion brand of models that they believe as one of the personality development. As this desire of youths goes on, this trend becomes the top competition business at present. All chapel company produces the chapels that are consistent and of high quality.

 For women grace, flat sandals models are unveiled in the market. This type has rich in style that look flat. The prices for this chapel are very competitive. The summer flat sandal models have different color and look great in design. See the pictures of this model below:

 

Stylish assortment Sandals for Women:

There is a excellent collection for the shoes, for both girls and boys. See the list below:

For Girls:

    * Casual Sandals

    * Casual Shoes

    * Pumps

    * Casual Slippers

Outdoor wedding:

At present brides like to choose chapels for their marriage. The following model use for women’s to wear at the time wedding. This type is , straightforward and generous, and quite.

Indoor Wedding:

This model, for brides, has types like conventional white, silver wedding footwear and you can also able to select your shoe color.

 

Hillary Duff:

Best alternative choice for the brides is tar Hillary Duff. This type of pair of nude colored footwear, fish head, this can be a pair as well as the wedding, lime green bridesmaid dresses and in several other occasions.

Palace on Heels:

This model is leading the top place, which attracts the youth so much in the past few days. It illustrated by the inspiration from heirlooms of royalty, architectural grandiose of palaces, treasure troves laden with gems, jewelry and rich weaves embellished with pure gold.

What you will find on this blog, plus simply honey mask

Want something that will actually help you get glowing skin? Soft shiny hair? You have come to the right place! For starters, I want to simply explain the purpose of this blog and what you can expect to see.

This blog is going to be about giving you natural ways to take care of yourself, without breaking the bank. I'll share beauty tips and tricks that work. Everything I am going to share I have already been the "guinea pig" for! For example, what I am going to share with you are homemade, 100% natural masks using ingredients in your kitchen cabinet. Some may sound a little weird, but give them a try and you'll see for yourself! You can use them to help with every type of skin problem. This includes... acne, wrinkles, scars, redness, dryness and the list goes on.

Want your hair to grow faster? Look shinier? Be softer and smoother? I can help you with that, using hair masks!

The great thing about all these exciting masks, tips and tricks is that they all use items that you most likely already have in your home! I have done extensive research on this topic and wanted to share what I found. It will help you with your overall health and of course beauty!

So, to kick it off here is a simple mask that is sure to work wonders!

                                       

 Here is some of the results you will see...

• Naturally leaves skin moisturized        
• Tones Skin
• Gives skin a healthy glow
• Make skin supple, soft, heals, rejuvenates, and makes it younger-looking 
• Fades red marks and lightens scars 
• Heals skin faster
• Makes a great exfoliant 
• Eliminates wrinkles and fine lines 
• Treats and prevent acne
• Helps renew skin cells

Sounds great right? 

Here's how to do it: 

Take honey and put it in a bowl (make sure to put enough honey that can cover your whole face or just problem areas- approx. 1/2 tbsp.) and heat it up for 15 seconds. Make sure it is not to hot when you apply. Apply to your face in a circular motion, and leave it on for 10-20 minutes. Now is the perfect time to read your favorite magazine! 

After letting the mask sit, you can do one of two things... 

Rinse off with warm water, pat dry and apply moisturizer. 

Or...

Take a handful of oatmeal and make a fist, run it under water to dampen oatmeal. From there simply exfoliate the mask off. This will help with the softening and renewing process! 

I hope you enjoy this blog and come back often to find out more mask ideas and tricks that will help you look your best! Feel free to comment and ask any questions! 

Recipe: Watercress Soup

I know i know, it's all about the soups at the moment- but when it comes to my post Christmas slimming routine, it's really working out! Have lost a little over half a stone since New Years, and have only got a couple more pounds to lose before i'm happy with slimming down again. Apparently there is a whole "watercress soup" diet, that Liz Hurley was rather fond of, which is very similar to "the cabbage soup diet" but obviously with watercress instead. Mind you, i dont think the recipe for her watercress soup would include butter and potatoes, and wouldnt taste half as nice as this! I love the fresh but peppery flavour you get from this soup, very warming.

Watercress Soup (makes 3 bowls)

1 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 tbsp butter
1 white onion, diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 celery stick, diced
400g potatoes, peeled and diced
1 bay leaf
500ml chicken stock
500ml semi skimmed milk
100g watercress (plus a few extra sprigs kept for garnish)
Salt and pepper to taste
*Optional extra virgin olive oil for garnish

1. Sautee the onions, celery and garlic in the butter and oil, for 10 minutes, covered, stirring occasionally. Add all other ingredients except the watercress, bring to the boil, and cook on a medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add the watercress, and cook for a further 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, blend, season to taste and serve- with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a sprig of watercress.

Meet the bin slimmers

Each week, I will be introducing some of the volunteers who have signed up for the Rubbish Diet challenge, so that we can find out more about their rubbish, the issues that arise and their plans for slimming those bins.

For Week 1, I'd like to introduce you to two people from Suffolk, Ness and Terry-anna.

Meet Terry-anna

Terry-anna lives with her partner in Ipswich, which falls under the district of Ipswich Borough.

When she first volunteered for the challenge she mentioned that she threw out between 2 -3 bags of rubbish every fortnight. However, already at the start of the challenge this week, she'd already slimmed this down to one and a half bags for her first weigh-in. 

This is great. Taking advantage of less waste, Terry-anna has already ordered a new slimmer bin from her council, a 180L, which will take up less room than the average 240L that's issued to most homes.

Some of the key things that her household will be tackling throughout the Rubbish Diet Challenge include some food waste (but not much), aerosol cans and those annoying little things such as tissues.  However, she doesn't want to stop there. When she was offered the opportunity to have a larger recycling bin, she politely declined.  Instead, she hopes to slim down her recycling bin too.

Huge thanks to Terry-anna for joining in and helping to support the launch of the challenge on BBC Radio Suffolk this week.  You can listen in on the link to Mark Murphy's show, with my introduction at 1hr 6min and Terry-anna's interview at 1hr 25m, where she confesses that she really hopes to get down to zero during Week 8.

*Terry-anna's new bin is part of Ipswich Borough Council's 60\40 plan where they are aiming for 60% recycling and offer residents the choice of smaller rubbish bins and larger recycling bins. 

For Ipswich's recycling guidelines, click here.



Meet Ness

Ness lives with her husband and three children (aged 6, 8 & 10) plus a dog and two cats, in the rural district of Mid Suffolk.

Currently she has two wheelie bins for rubbish, which are generally full to capacity each fortnight.  However, for her first weigh-in this week, she was already pleased to see that her rubbish was down by one bag since she's been preparing to take on the challenge.

The key challenges for Ness will be organic waste and making sure that her family follows the recycling guidelines.  It's a busy household, which means things that can be recycled often get thrown into the rubbish bin.  Just like Ipswich, Mid Suffolk residents benefit from mixed plastics recycling so most packaging can be put in the recycling bin for kerbside collection. 

However, Mid Suffolk doesn't collect compostables, except for garden waste, and even so, this service is only provided on subscription for residents who need it.  Knowing that organic waste such as peelings and odd pieces of mouldy fruit end up in her rubbish bin, Ness has committed herself to getting to grips with home-composting and has already got a bin on order.

She's also focusing on how she can organise other materials to drop at the Household Waste Recycling Centre, which admittedly is not always a convenient exercise, but will allow her to recycle textiles, Tetrapaks,  plastic film and hard plastic.  I'm hoping that by the end of this challenge, Ness will have cut her rubbish down by at least half and the council will be able to wheel that second bin away.

*For Mid Suffolk's recycling guidelines, click here.


I'll be reporting back on how both households have managed later on in the challenge.  In the meantime, for further information about recycling facilities in Suffolk, visit the county's new website.

Effortless way to apply Mehndi

Tips For Mehndi

 

We love Mehndi when it stuck so darker to our skin beauty.

After applying it one should want to make it dry for minimum six to seven hours, for long keep for dryness result high in darkness.

The mehndi is look fruitful after a day. It takes some time to darken its color to our skin but any way after it will slowly become lighter.

You can able to choose the color of Mehndi that you like to pertain.

The choice of colors goes to green, dark brown and khaki. But generally it will turn around into the brownish when you past it on your skin.

Natural Mehndi powder will generate the dark brown color in your hand for long but it is not is the case for the Stale mehndi.

After the applied Mehndi is dried then you must want to syrup (mixed of Lemon juice and sugar) into the skin. This helps to keep the Mehndi for the long result.

At present most of the henna includes some harmful chemicals that affect your skin. So first make a trial of this type of Henna to your skin.

Brides ought to have shining done before mehndi is applied on them else the mehndi will be waxed off with their hair.

You can also decorate your mehndi with sparkling glitter, which are frequently available at the shops.

Home Made Curd Beauty Recipes And Benefits

Everyone aware about curd, it is a cow's product and available in your daily grocery shop or you can make it at home. It is good for health as well as your natural beauty. But some people are aware about the curd beauty.

• Curd is used as a sun tan cream. Make a paste of 4 tea spoon of green gram powder by adding 20ml of curd. Apply it on your expose area like face and neck. Leave it for half an hour,and wash off it with warm water. Do it for couple of day and see the result. There is no side effect,cheap and you will get better result than cosmetics product.
• Curd is a best treatment for acne problem. Prepare a pack by using 2 tsp of aloe vera pulp, 2 tsp of lemon juice,2 tsp of curd,2 tsp of turmeric powder. Apply it acne affected area. After half an hour wash it with cold water.
• Curd helps to increase your weight. If you are thin, then take 100ml curd with sugar in twice a day and have fresh curd rice of yours meals. After 2 weeks you will become healthy.
• Curd is a good natural pack to control hair dandruff problem. Take 3 tsp of curd,5 tsp fenugreek seeds powder and 2tsp of onion juice. Mix all very well and apply it on your entire scalps,leave it 1 hr before taking hair bath. Continue this process until to get complete cure from dandruff.
• Curd is a natural product for curing hair fall problem, gray hair problem. Take a bunch of henna leave and curry leaves,make a paste of it and mix 3tsp of curd. Apply it on your scalps properly and leave it for 1 hour then take hair bath. It will prevent from hair loss problem.
• Make a paste of henna leaves and curd and apply it on your gray hair. After some days you will be good bye to gray hair problem.
• Curd helps to grow your hair. Take a bunch of hibiscus leaves and grind it by using curd. Make small paste pellets. Put 10 pellets in 100 ml of coconut oil and warm it. Apply it on scalps. It will help to grow hair on your head.
• Take 2 tsp of curd,2tsp of oatmeal powder,3 tsp of tomato juice, mix together very well and apply on your face and neck, and keep it for 20 minutes. Then wash off it with cold water. By doing this you will get fair and glowing skin. You can add cucumber juice for getting whitening skin.

Recipe: Beef Goulash Soup

This is a delicious traditional hungarian dish, that i've been making a lot at the moment because it's so cold in my new flat! BrrrrRRrrRR! In hungary, and in a lot of other cold countries (saw it in restaurants in Iceland and when i was in Prague) they serve goulash soup as a starter (rather than the traditional thicker goulash casserole served with potato dumplings, which is served as a main course). It is rather filling though! Traditionally you would use pork in this dish, but i used beef because that's just what I happened to have in the fridge. Only thing missing from this dish is parsley on top- forgot to get any from the shops- D'oh!

Beef Goulash Soup (serves 2)

1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 white onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 carrots, peeled and diced
250g casserole or stewing steak, finely diced
1 tsp paprika
½ tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp caraway seeds, crushed in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
1.5 litres beef stock
1 bay leaf
1 yellow pepper, seeded and diced
Salt and pepper to taste
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish (optional)

1. In a large pan, fry the onions, garlic and carrots in the oil and butter for 5 minutes. Add the beef and paprika, and cook for a further 5 minutes.
2. Add all other ingredients except the diced pepper and parsley, and cook on a medium high heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
3. 15 minutes before the end of cooking time, add the peppers. Remove the bay leaf, season to taste and serve topped with some chopped fresh parsley!

Educating the family

Sometimes the family can make you scream!

So, we're only in Day 2 of the Rubbish Diet Challenge and several of the volunteers - and other folk  - are already confessing their first major hurdle ... and that's the recycling bin saboteurs who strike when their backs are turned!

The question I've been asked is how the heck do you educate other family members to get on board with your goal of slimming that bin!

This is a tricky one, especially if others in your household don't have the same amount of patience as you, or even think that recycling is a futile exercise,  And then there's the issue that recycling is often not as straight-forward as it should be, so without proper supervision they get confused.

Confusion is probably the easiest obstacle to tackle.  The first step is to list the rules and place it next to your recycling bin. I would suggest placing a copy on your rubbish too for double measure.  If you're a family with young children, it might be possible to task them with creating a poster with pictures of the things that should go in the recycling bin and hope they follow the rules if they've taken some ownership on the matter.  From a practical perspective you may also need to provide some extra boxes, to make it more simple.

If children are the main culprits, you could suggest they compete against each other to see who can create the least rubbish each week. Give them a box or a carrier bag each to collect their personal rubbish and see how they go.  Warning! Incentives may be required.

Even adults might want to give this a try.  For inspiration, I recommend paying a visit to the Clean Bin Project, where Jen and Grant challenged each other to see who could create the least waste for a whole year.  Yes a year!  Those taking part in The Rubbish Diet Challenge will now be grateful that this is just for eight weeks.

If the issue stretches beyond confusion over what can be recycled and moves into the area of values or different levels of patience, I woudn't want to meddle as I'm no expert in such matters, but I'd suggest expressing your feelings first and offer evidence that it is worthwhile, whether it's the £56\tonne landfill tax that we pay to dump our rubbish in the landfill, or the energy savings that are created as a result of recycling. 

The Recycle Now website is a great place to start for basic consumer information, and features useful videos.  The Recyclometer on the Coca-Cola website is also an informative resource.

For further information about policies and research that are being developed at a national level, across all sectors, including government, retail and manufacturing, I'd recommend delving into the WRAP website as well as WasteWatch, which is an educational charity.

Of course another aspect of education is food waste, but this issue is a total minefield and worthy of a blogpost of its own, which I plan to visit in a few weeks time.

This blogpost offers an insight into how things have worked in our family and amongst some of the households with whom I've discussed this issue before. And trust me, my husband is not always the most patient when it comes to recycling or my piles of stuff waiting for the charity shop run!  If you've found other ways of getting your family on board, I'd love to know, so please do share.

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On Twitter?  Then do join in the conversation using the hashtag #therubbishdiet or tweet @KarenCannard

Beauty Tips For Girls

See some of the valuable Beauty tips for girls:

 

1. Always make a tendency to drink minimum eight glasses of water every day.
2. Put in practice to take Vitamin rich foods, that Vitamins are A and C, which is useful to look fair naturally.
3. To make your skin shine, you want to mix the honey with water and drink it continuously in each morning. 
4. To hydrate our skin naturally every one should massage the skin with milk. This will help to keep the fresh glow of the skin unharmed.
5. Always wash your face with a face washes creams in the morning and before going to sleep.
6.  Make your room temperature gentle such that your skin doesn’t get too much dried.
7. Everyday Take bath with half heated water and always remembers to use a soft kind of soap.
8. Doesn’t use hot water as it will make your skin all the more dry? Be mild while abrasion your skin with a towel and never be ruthless with your skin.
9. Eat ample amount of fruits and raw vegetables which are rich in fluorine that is very important to avoid scaly skin.
10. Cucumbers are a great foundation of sodium that helps you to prevent your skins from wrinkle. A cucumber has also makes to keep the body cool.

Competition: Love The Garden's Seasonal Recipe Competition

As I mentioned just before Christmas, I entered the Love The Garden.co.uk's recipe competition with my delicious Carrot, Maple and Bacon soup. Love the Garden regularly run seasonal recipe competitions for food bloggers, choosing one main focus ingredient, and challenging us to all come up with innovative and delicious recipes using this ingredient. In the past they have chosen ingredients such as cabbage, potatoes, and tomatoes- but this winter it was carrots! I thought my carrot soup had a fair chance- and it turned out it did! Because i won runner up prize, winning a copy of the new cookbook "Comfort and Spice" by Niamh Shields. I love it actually- very pretty photography, and i will defo be trying her "American style pancakes" recipe in the lazy brunch section of the book- sounds lush!

I lost to a recipe for carrot halva, by the guys behind the "Wanton Flavours" foodie blog. The grand prize is always £200 at any restaurant of your choice in the U.K, and each time i become ever more determined to win first prize! I'll get it one of these days, watch this space!!!