My Name is JoelaHealth and Beauty Archives ⋆ My Name is Joela

Belly Butter DIY

You guys!!!! I am so excited, I just made for the first time, my own belly butter! It was so easy! Over the counter belly creams and lotions cost so much money and they don’t even have good or safe ingredients. I decided to make my own so I know it’s safe and effective. The good thing is, if you already have stretch marks it also does help make them less visible!

Here are the ingredients from Left to Right (pictured above):

Raw Cocoa butter, Raw Shea butter, Raw Coconut oil (sorry the coconut oil pictured is actually really hard to find online so I pictured another great option) and Vitamin E oil. You can click on each ingredient for the link to buy.

As you can seem these are very simple ingredients and they can be used for various other things, so when you buy them to make your belly butter, you will have more left over to make more belly butter later or make other natural products or just even use the ingredients separately.

Here are the step by step easy instructions on how to make this belly butter………

First- use a double boiler or create your own with a stainless steal bowl over a pot of boiling water like I did below.

Once the water is boiled, throw in some Cocoa Butter pieces, I used between 20-25 pieces. (As you can see in the photo below, I started with about 13 pieces and realized I needed more)

While its melting, throw in some chunks of Shea butter and Coconut oil and then squeeze in about 3/4 of the vitamin E oil. You can use as much you want. There’s really no wrong amount. I personally wanted more Cocoa butter and Shea butter over the Coconut oil because they are more moisturizing. I put in a ton of the Vitamin E oil because it heals stretch marks that are already there and it deep conditions the skin.

Lastly – just wait until its all melted and pour it into a small mason jar or any other kind of small glass jar you have laying around. The one I used (below) was from a yogurt that came in a glass jar so it about 4- 6 ounces. At first, it may not seem like you made a lot because the bowl is so wide but once you start pouring you’re like WOW! That’s a lot! The total amount I made was about 8 ounces but I put the left overs in another jar for a friend. 🙂

That is it my friends, super duper easy right? I then took a piece of parchment paper and a piece of string and sealed it up and then stuck it in the fridge overnight. (see below)

In the morning it was nice and solid, as you can see the color even changed. (pictured below)

I took the the parchment paper off and I just left it open. It was nice and smooth and now I am ready to moisturize this baby belly! I really hope you enjoyed this post and found it helpful. I love sharing with you, please drop a comment and let me know if you tried it or have any questions! 🙂

See you soon!

Joela

Update: New Hair Product – L’Oreal Profiber

Ok – so here is an update on how my hair is doing…..in one word….. AMAZING! I cannot rave about this enough. I would just like to add that I am not being endorsed by anyone but this is a true testimony and review of this product. I am truly amazed by the results. I will admit this does go against my crunchy ways, because you know I am the “coconut oil fixes everything” kind of girl but I was in need of some major help.

My hair immediately stopped falling out in clumps. I would say I have normal hair loss and breakage now. Before, I used to have hair all over my clothes through out the day and now I do not. If I were to just touch my hair through out the day, I would pull out a ton of hair and now that does now happen either. So again, if you are having hair loss for whatever reason, for me it was post pregnancy hair loss, I would suggest using this L’Oreal Profiber line. I use it once a week (because I only wash my hair once a week), shampoo, conditioner, mask and leave in treatment. Once a month there is a Recovery treatment but I will be going into the salon for it but you can do it at home.

I just want to send a huge shout out to my salon Xchanges Hair Artistry, for telling me about this. 🙂 AND if you’re in NJ and you need a great salon, here you go. You will not regret it. 🙂

Hope this helps some of you, if you’ve tried it too, I’d love to hear some of your experiences as well.

Post Baby Hair Problems

I’m sure I’m not the only one freaking out right now about losing massive amounts of hair. My hair dresser warned me. She said at about 4 months my hair would start falling out and last up to about 8 month post partum. Well, she was right on the money. As soon as my son turned 4 months, I washed my hair that week and when I tell you clumps of hair were falling out, I am not exaggerating. In the shower, afterwards when I was brushing and even when I was blow drying it, it just kept on falling. Again, not an exaggeration, but so you know, half of my hair fell out that day alone. When I was pregnant not one strand of hair fell off my head. It was getting thicker and thicker by the week and actually really unmanageable. I couldn’t deal with it, it was too thick, it would take forever to blow dry. Now, every single hair that didn’t fall off then, fell off now. Well the good thing is, my salon got this new treatment in by L’Oreal called Pro Fiber and I went in and got it done and then bought the whole system to do at home (Learn more about it HERE). It comes with Shampoo, conditioner, mask, treatment and something called recovery. It’s AMAZING. My hair feels like silk and I have been losing only a couple of strands a day, unlike before it was like 10 strands every time I touched my hair.

I wanted to tell you about this and how it’s working for me so I will be updating you with how it’s going and if it continues to work for me.

Oh! And If you live in NJ, please check out my salon, it is the BEST! You won’t be disappointed! They are called Xchanges and they are in Kenilworth, NJ.

Here’s a picture of my thick crazy shaggy hair before the treatment. (Oh i forgot to mention, i my hair was also getting extremely knotted and so it was breaking too and Ezra pulls some out every now and then)

And I didn’t take an after picture right away but here is one of this weekend about 3 days into the treatment, still looking silky smooth!

I will update you in a couple of weeks on how its been doing. I’ll do my first was this weekend. For those of you who don’t know, I only was my hair once a week. 🙂

I will try to post more often. It’s been a lot harder than what I thought to post even weekly. Mom life equals crazy life but it’s truly the best. <3 Talk to you soon!

Top 5 Pregnancy Tips While Traveling

Last week I traveled to Nicaragua to visit my husband’s family and at the end of April I traveled to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for work. The week I traveled to Florida, I was 21 weeks pregnant and last week I was 26 weeks pregnant. Having said that, I don’t like it. 🙁 First of all, both of those places are sweltering hot. Luckily, when I went to Florida it rained all week and thunderstormed, so the heat wasn’t too bad, just the humidity. Plus, I was inside most of the time.

In Nicaragua, I almost died. Ok fine I’m exaggerating a bit, but I was very uncomfortable and not a happy camper most days. It was 100 degrees and humid granted I have been there several times before and knew what to expect, but being pregnant is a whole other story.

#1 Tip – STAY HYDRATED! – I can’t express how important this is! It was so hard to drink enough water especially when you’re on the road and sight seeing all day or going for long drives and then you have to pee every half hour. But, you have to drink and drink and DRINK!! The car rides there are pretty bumpy because there are a lot of dirt roads, so it made it a little worse for me since it felt like my bladder was going to burst every time we hit a bump. There were 1 or 2 days where I definitely didn’t drink enough water, and I started to feel nauseas like I was going to pass out. SO DRINK!

(I was drinking fresh papaya juice here, something cold and refreshing! While sweating my tushy off!)

#2 Tip – WEAR LOOSE CLOTHING! – This is something we don’t usually think about. If you’re going to a hot place you would probably wear shorts or a dress so you’re comfortable and those are good options. Even a maxi dress is fine as long as it’s loose. The one day I wore jeans, I didn’t think anything of it– jeans and tank top. That was the day I almost passed out. I felt like I was suffocating. It was extremely uncomfortable. Culturally in Nicaragua it’s very common for people to wear jeans on the daily to work or to go out. I guess they are used it because I couldn’t. I was kicking myself all day because I couldn’t even change. In general, loose fitting clothing is more comfortable for anyone, but especially when it’s hot.

(This is me dying of heat in my jeans! But of course I smiled for the picture!)

#3 Tip – DON’T TRY NEW FOODS! – OK, this may seem weird, BUT if you’re pregnant and traveling, I wouldn’t recommend trying new foods. Sometimes it may be tempting but remember, if you’re in a different country, it might not be a good idea. If you were to get sick, I don’t think going to a local hospital there would be very comforting since you would be unfamiliar with their ways. Also, you can get an upset stomach or even diarrhea. Neither of those are fun when you’re traveling so try to be careful and make sure everything is clean. While I was in Nicaragua I had unpasteurized cheese ( I know! Big no no! ). I actually didn’t realize it was unpasteurized until the 3rd day, and I had been eating it every day. This wasn’t something new for me since I have been there several times so I didn’t think about it– I just ate it. When I realized it was unpasteurized, I started freaking out. The good news was I was eating it fried, yes fried cheese, yummy! So all the bacteria would have been dead, except for one night I had it raw. BUT it’s a very hard cheese, not soft. The no no is usually for unpasteurized soft cheeses. Luckily, everything turned out ok, but it does happen. Especially, with pregnancy brain and all. 🙂

(Tostones con queso and carne – My fave! This was the fried cheese I was talking about! Its so delicious!)

#4 Tip – DON’T OVER PACK! – This is important because overpacking can cause you to strain yourself at the airport. There’s a lot of walking in the airport and if you’re traveling solo like I did when I went to Florida for work, it can be really hard to carry your things. I packed one large suitcase for the week and I didn’t pack a carry on bag because I didn’t want to carry extra things, but I felt like my luggage bag was just too heavy for me to carry on my own. I should have opted for a smaller suitcase. You live and you learn. When I went to Nicaragua, we brought a large suitcase each, but my husband was there to help me so it was much better. If you’re flying solo, the smaller the bag the better. OH! And ,backpacks are my best friend while traveling instead of a purse. It can carry whatever you need on the plane; laptops, tablets, cameras, makeup, magazines….etc. You’d be surprised how many things I fit in mine! And then for while you’re out and about, it’s perfect too! No purse necessary!

(Me with my backpack walking through the city of Granada.)

#5 Tip – OVERLOAD ON VITAMINS C & D! – OK, last but not least, take your vitamins! Everyone is more susceptible to getting sick while traveling especially on the plane being next to someone who is sick or coughing or breathing on you, yughhh! Keeping germs to yourself isn’t easy. So the week before you go, load up your vitamins C & D! Take double and then triple 2 days before and the day of. While you are out there, keep taking your vitamins too. You need to rev up your immune system so it can combat any germs you may encounter while you’re traveling. It’s extremely important for you and the baby not to get sick because medication is a big no no! I recommend this for anyone, but especially if you’re preggers. I had my husband do the same thing this time around because he ALWAYS gets sick and guess what? He’s a healthy man! 🙂

I hope that sharing my experiences has helped you and you enjoyed reading this. If you have any other tips you’d like to share with me, I’d love to hear them! Post a comment! Thanks and talk to you soon!

Joela

Disclaimer:

This is a personal blog. All opinions expressed here are my own and not those of anyone else. I am responsible for all content – not anyone else.

Why am I Wearing this Necklace?

Since being pregnant I have had extreme heart burn and reflux to the point where it makes me want to puke. It’s actually very painful and uncomfortable, it even hurts to swallow water. I have had on and off days now since I have entered my 2nd trimester, but in the beginning it was bad. They say it gets even worse in the 3rd trimester so if that’s the case I needed to find a solution to help me survive this symptom.

A couple of weeks ago, I met with my nutritionist at The Midwives of NJ practice and she gave me a couple of suggestions. One of them being hazelwood and the other being a chewable calcium tablet which would act as an antacid, and would at the same time, up my calcium levels since the baby needs a lot of it anyways.

When she mentioned hazelwood to me, I thought it sounded interesting so I asked her to tell me more about it. Apparently when you wear hazelwood by having contact with your skin, it release all sorts of molecules that promote healing and may help ease the symptoms related to oxidative stress and inflammation such as : teething pain, heartburn, skin problems (psoriasis, eczema, acne), joint pain, and mouth sores just to name a few. If you know me, you know I LOVED the sound of that! I am all about unconventional natural healing techniques. The best part is that they make hazelwood into jewelry so they have all these cute styles of necklaces and bracelets. They makes them in all sizes from infant to adult.

Now you know why I wear this necklace. I love mine because it has freshwater pearls in-between the hazelwood. There are many places that sell them but I personally was recommended to buy from www.purehazelwood.com. The one I am wearing is product number A05 in the teen and adult section. Also, this company is based out of Canada so make sure you change the country settings on the top right to the United States. 🙂 I hope you enjoyed learning about hazelwood and I hope that you would be willing to give it a shot if you are having any of these health problems.

I will be posting again about this topic in a couple of months to give you some updates on how it has helped me. Talk to you soon!

– Joela

Talk to me about Coconut Oil

If you haven’t jumped on the coconut oil band wagon yet, its probably best you do so because you’re missing out if you don’t! Coconut oil is the most amazing multitaskable health & beauty product out there. It’s actually really funny because I literally use it for everything. No but really, EVERYTHING!

People will as me….

” What type of moisturizer do you use?”

Reply, “Coconut oil.”

“What about on your body?”

Reply, “Coconut oil.”

“What do you use for eye cream?”

Reply, “Coconut oil.”

“What if you have acne?”

Reply, “Coconut oil.”

“What about makeup remover?”

Reply, “Coconut oil.”

I literally don’t spend any money on moisturizers and all these creams with chemicals in them. I realized a long time ago that all these products I was spending hundred of dollars on just wouldn’t cut it for me. Everything made me break out and even things that were dermatologist recommended were making me break out, so one day someone told me about coconut oil and BOOM! Problem solved! I no longer spend money on those things and I use my Trader Joe’s Extra Virgin Coconut Oil or my Kelapoo Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (these are my favorites but there are many different brands out there). Make sure if you buy, it’s extra virgin and Organic. The only ingredient should be cold pressed coconut oil.

I also use coconut oil to cook, some worry about the coconut flavor in all their foods but honestly you can barely tell. It usually does not taste like coconut unless you purposely used a ton for the flavor. Also, throw it in your smoothie! Like I said if you’re not into the flavor trust me, you won’t taste it. Coconut oil does your body good inside and out.

I already use coconut oil on my body as moisturizer but I have been applying extra on my belly and hips to prevent stretch marks. I do plan on using coconut oil for my baby as well. I will be replacing baby powder with it and diaper rash cream because it works better than a powder and plus baby powder has a ton of chemicals unless you get one that is organically made. But, since I use coconut oil for everything else, why not just continue!?

Summer is coming and you wanna know what? Forget Aloe vera gels! Unless you are using a real plant then thats fine but if you want a quick sun burn relief and cure, get your self some coconut oil! It works wonders and the extra moisturizing is a plus!

I can go on and on, on other ways of using coconut oil but I would be here all day. So just take a look below at his info-graph I found online at http://coconut-oil-tips.com and check out the many ways it can benefit you. I hope you found his interesting and I hope you will consider adding coconut oil into your beauty routine. Good luck! 🙂