Sleep and pleasure your way to success

Sleep and pleasure your way to success A few weeks ago on Instagram I wrote about how slowing down was exactly what I needed. I think it's a common problem in our busy lives. We just go and go and go, until we break. We miss the warning signals, and in my case, they were pretty obvious. It got so silly that at one point I was using my good left arm to move my bad right arm around on the mouse mat, so I could send emails out and finish some work projects. It sounds so obvious now as I'm [...]

Hello sexy! Embrace vanity to get healthier

Hello sexy! Embrace vanity to get healthier I want to dispense with the myth that willpower and self-control are the main drivers behind good health. We know that willpower is finite and easily used up on any given day. While there are some people for whom the "just suck it up" type mentality is motivating, for the rest of us mere mortals that type of thinking is bullying and has a predictable tendency to mire us in self-loathing and inaction. The stick doesn't work for most people. Ah, but what about the carrot? How about vanity? Now there's something I think we can work with. Who [...]

Find me on Pinterest! The Confidence Kitchen

Find me on Pinterest! The Confidence Kitchen If you’re a fellow lover of delicious whole foods and natural beauty, you may want to check out my blog's Pinterest boards on healthy recipes, healthy swaps, things to eat daily, gluten free baking and many more. You’ll find hundreds of awesome pins leading you to some wonderfully delicious recipes and natural beauty ideas along with the powerful visual inspiration for health, happiness, creativity and overall wellness that I have found from all around the web. Find me on Pinterest with the name: Laura @ The Confidence Kitchen Here are some of my other Pinterest boards that [...]

Papaya face and body mask for glowing clear skin

Papaya face and body mask for glowing clear skin Like many people eating a standard-issue diet, I struggled with my skin for many years. Blotchy redness, breakouts, patches of uneven texture, strange bumps under the skin's surface - you name it, I've experienced it, covered it up, stressed over it, and tried hundreds of different drugstore products to try and tame the skin beasts. So on my radiance journey, I've been super thrilled to find so many easy, fast, and really-truly-effective natural beauty solutions that actually deliver stunning, glowing and clear skin. I love, love, love this easy mask. It [...]

Papaya green smoothie for clear skin

Papaya green smoothie for clear skin So many of you gave such positive feedback and requested more smoothie recipes for firm, clear, gorgeous skin. The sneaky thing is that while you're pursuing a gorgeous glow, you'll also be seeing side benefits for your heart, respiratory system, joints and bones, digestive system, and overall immune system (don't worry, I won't tell anyone)! It was certainly a surprise for me when  I first started trying to increase my overall heart health.  I was getting unexpected compliments on my skin. For this reason, we'll gladly let vanity drive us and continue  the natural beauty theme this summer. Main benefits of eating this green [...]

Drink matcha tea for boundless energy, focus, and a healthy heart

Drink matcha tea for boundless energy, focus, and a healthy heart Dr Sara Gottfried, whose work I absolutely love, has said that the number one issue that most of her patients come to her with are problems of energy. I don't doubt that at all. It's one of the most common refrains I hear from the busy women I know. I certainly know the feeling. Before I began my odyssey to discover a healthier lifestyle in 2011, energy was almost always front and centre in my mind. How can I get more of it? Why do I feel so tired today? When will I [...]

Seeking safe cosmetics you can actually eat

Seeking safe cosmetics you can actually eat This month has been a lot of fun for me. I set out to test whether you can affect your health and your natural beauty by changing what you put on, and in, yourself. There's been a lot of testing going on in the background over here at the Curious Giraffe! Lots of crazy stuff has been tried - some great, some rash-inducing, and a couple just brilliant finds that I am happy-dancing-amazed by! A great litmus test to use if you're trying to decide whether to buy something that is labelled a [...]

How to feed your skin to combat 8 common problems

How to feed your skin to combat 8 common problems I think it's fascinating to discover how ideas about health and beauty have changed over time. They've flip-flopped back and forth pretty consistently over the last 100 years, and it turns out that even the Romans had some pretty sophisticated beauty products that would compete well against today's concoctions! By the early 20th century, scientists were fully poo-pooing the idea that natural concoctions could do anything more than provide a temporary moisture boost and other superficial benefits.  I have to admit that was one of my first questions when I [...]

Most beauty products are not safe and don’t work

Most beauty products are not safe and don't work Most beauty products are dangerous and beauty sapping. You've got to pick products with ingredients you would feel comfortable eating. This week we've looked at a 4 step routine for amazing skin after finding out that creams don't work as a delivery mechanism for getting active beauty ingredients to do their thing inside your skin. Now that we know the 4 steps we need to take, it's time to choose the right products to use for each of the them. I've always found choosing beauty products very difficult. There's a lot [...]

The amazing 4 step beautiful skin routine

The amazing 4 step beautiful skin routine Yesterday we learned that beauty creams don't work. Turns out that the great sounding jar of cream that says it is packed full of Vitamin C, CoQ10, and other goodies, never had a hope of working in the first place because the moisturiser in the cream creates a roadblock that won't let the active ingredients through to do their jobs. So now what? These 4 steps will give you skin the best chance of getting the nutrients it needs to be beautiful. Four steps for a great skin care routine Besides [...]