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We have tried these homemade beauty remedies and they actually worked

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You have seen homemade beauty remedies on Pinterest and various social media. You have heard people testify them.

Yet, you have never tried them yourself.

Fret not, here are some homemade beauty remedies tried and tested by KajoMag:

1. Coconut oil as hair mask

Massage your scalp with coconut oil before going to bed. Rinse out with shampoo the next morning.

Continue this routine for weeks and you will notice that your hair will become less frizzy.

Coconut oil helps to moisturise and smoothen hair.

Homemade Beauty Remedy 2
Do you know you can use coconut oil as hair mask? Credit: Pixabay.

2. Butter as lip conditioner

If you have chapped lips, this is the most simple and cheapest homemade beauty product for you.

Before going to bed, apply a thin layer of butter on your lips. (Yes, you read right.) Even margarine will do.

Be prepared to wake up with soft and luscious lips.

Besides butter, coconut oil is also good for dry and cracked lips. Apply it on your lips several times a day.

Homemade Beauty Remedy
Apply a thin layer of butter on your lips before going to bed. Credit: Pixabay.

3. Homemade nose pore strip

All you need is one egg white and a paper towel.

Dip the paper towel into the egg white and place it on your nose. Then wait for it to dry.

The best part of this homemade beauty product is that it is affordable and it works.

The disadvantages of using this? You have to bear with the smell of egg while waiting for it to dry. Plus, it takes longer than your usual store-bought nose pore strip. But think of the savings!

Homemade Beauty Remedy 3
Use white egg to make your own homemade nose pore strip.

4. Apple cider vinegar facial toner

First of all, this homemade beauty product is not suitable for everybody, especially those with sensitive skin.

However, for some, apple cider vinegar works wonders as a facial toner.

You can find many different ratios of apple cider vinegar to water mixtures online.

If you are not sure which ratio works best with you, start with one part apple cider vinegar to four parts water first.

Then slowly adjust the ratio according to your preference.

Apply the toner to your cleansed face with a cotton pad, avoiding the eye area.

After several weeks, your face should feel smoother and tighter.

5. Foot scrub

The basic formula for homemade scrub is one cup of white or brown sugar and a quarter cup of olive, almond or coconut oil.

Simply try to mix and match your own ingredients with your preferred essential oil.

We have tried mixing one cup of white sugar and a quarter cup coconut oil with a few drops of lavender essential oil.

Our verdict: the smell of coconut may overpower the lavender but it scrubs away dead skin just fine.

Other concoctions you can try are brown sugar, olive oil and orange essential oil or white sugar, olive oil and peppermint essential oils.

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Myths about blood donation debunked

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No matter how long we have been donating blood, (blood transfusions were first introduced in the 1600s) there are still plenty of myths and misunderstandings attached to this selfless act.

Recently, The National Blood Centre of Malaysia (PDN) published an info-graphic to debunk some of the myths related to blood donation.

Here are some of the myths about blood donation and why they are not true:

1. I’m scared that I will gain weight after donating blood!

This is not true. Your weight will not increase after donating blood. You will only be provided with a five-day supply of iron and vitamin supplements after you donate blood. Hence, it will not increase your appetite or make you put on weight.

2. I cannot donate because I’m scared of needles!

Being scared of needles is a common thing. If you are scared of needles or the sight of blood, divert your attention elsewhere. Let the staff know beforehand and you need to distract yourself.

3.What if I lose all my blood after the blood donation?

Everyone has an average of 4 to 7 liters of blood in their bodies. Every donation only requires 450ml of blood. If you weigh between 45kg to 50kg, only 350ml will be withdrawn from you.

4.Donating blood will make my body weak.

Your blood will be back to normal before you know it. Blood donors are advised to have some snacks and drink a lot of water after the donation.

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Did you know that one bag of blood can save three lives?

For those who are living in Malaysia, here are some criteria you need to take into account before donating blood:

1. You are healthy

2. Meet the age requirements:

  • Must be aged between 18-70 for those who have donated before and be between the ages of 18-60 for those donating for the first time.
  • Have your parent’s written consent if you are 17 years old.

3. Weigh at least 45kg

4. Sleep at least 5 hours the night before

5. Eat before donating blood

6. Your last donation was three months before

7. For women, you must not be pregnant, menstruating or breastfeeding

8. For non-Malaysians, you must have lived in Malaysia for at least 1 year.

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How your daily protein intake can help you lose weight

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Protein plays an important role in losing weight and maintaining a great figure.

Overall, having enough intake protein in your daily diet will increase your metabolism, reduce cravings and induce losing weight hormones in your body.

Here is how your daily protein intake will help you lose that extra weight:

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Red meat is a good source of protein. Credit: Pixabay.

1. Protein reduces loss of muscle mass

When you exercise, you tend to burn fat which subsequently reduces your muscle mass.

You need those muscles because they work like a ‘factory’ that burns your fat.

Protein intake is essential to repair and rebuild your muscle cells which you lose during exercise.

2. It induce hormones which helps you to lose weight.

Taking enough protein will increase levels of the satiety (appetite-reducing) hormones GLP-1, peptide YY and cholecystokinin, while reducing your levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin.

When you are feeling less hungry, you will automatically eat fewer calories.

3. Digesting protein helps in burning more calories

Some calories are utilised to digest your food and this is what they called the thermic effect of food.

Protein has higher thermic effect (20-30 per cent) compared to carbs (5 to 10 per cent) and fat (0-3 per cent).

Having a high protein diet will make you burn more calories compared to a lower protein diet.

In other words, high protein diets have more “metabolic advantage” than low protein diets.

The best part is your body will continue to burn those calories all day long even when you are sleeping as it continues to digest.

4. Your protein intake can help to reduce craving

Having breakfast with high protein can help you reduce your craving for the rest of the day.

Plenty of studies show that by increasing your protein intake, you will start to eat fewer calories.

So having a high protein diet instead will make it easier to cut your calorie intake in one day.

Why not have hard-boiled eggs for breakfast starting today?

Start your day with high protein diet and reduce your craving the rest of the day.
Start your day with a high protein diet and reduce your cravings for the rest of the day.

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3 things to cut out of your diet to lose weight

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To lose weight, watching what you eat is definitely a must.

However, there are so many things to watch out for like cutting down on carbs, adding more fibre in the form of vegetables and getting enough protein.

While doing that most people tend to overlook the little things they put in their mouths which at the end of the day might not help them lose weight after all.

According to nutritionist Nicholas Alvin George, here are three basic things you need to reduce in your daily meals to lose weight:

1. Fat

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Avoid fried food if you want to lose weight. Credit: Pixabay.

Eating a lot of fatty and oily food will increase the risk of obesity and other problems including heart disease and strokes.

Try to steam, grill or boil your food instead of frying to reduce fat content.

Even if you have to stir-fry your dishes, use oil sparingly in your cooking.

Remember to remove all the fat from your meat or chicken while preparing them.

2. Salt

Canned food usually has high salt content. Credit: Pixabay.
Canned food usually has high salt content. Credit: Pixabay.

Salt will stall weight loss because it makes your body retain more water.

When you reduce your salt intake, you’ll lose some water retention in your body.

Remember that just because it doesn’t taste salty doesn’t mean the salt content is low.

There are plenty of foods which are high in salt content such as ketchup, processed food such as sausages, nuggets as well as canned food.

Traditional Malaysian fermented food such as budu, belacan and kasam are also high in salt content.

Opt for natural flavouring such as herbs instead of seasoning powder which also has monosodium glutamate (MSG).

We only need less than 5 grams of salt everyday which equals to only one teaspoon.

3. Sugar

Satisfy your craving for sweet stuff with fruits. Credit: Pixabay.
Satisfy your craving for sweet stuff with fruit. Credit: Pixabay.

Cutting out sugar will decrease your risk of obesity and diabetes.

The best way to reduce sugar is to avoid all sugary and bicarbonate drinks.

A can of soda has an average of 8 teaspoons of sugar. A canned isotonic drink and a small packet drink (250ml) may contain 5 teaspoons of sugar each.

Your one cup of 3 in 1 coffee mix contains about 2 teaspoons of sugar.

Malaysians love their condensed milk in their drinks. But condensed milk is not ‘milk’, it is just sugar and fat.

So the best drink out there is just the most inexpensive one, which is a glass of plain water.

If you really need to satisfy your sweet tooth, have some fruit and vegetables instead of cakes and snacks.

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Breeze Malaysia brings water relief to Sabah villages

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Breeze Malaysia collaborates with Global Peace Foundation for it’s Water Treatment Campaign to benefit 1,050 people with access to clean water

The happy faces of the Kampung Nalasaran and Kampung Padang kids after getting access to clean drinking water with the new water filters sponsored by Breeze in partnership with Global Peace Foundation (GPF).
The happy faces of the Kampung Nalasaran and Kampung Padang kids after getting access to clean drinking water with the new water filters sponsored by Breeze in partnership with Global Peace Foundation (GPF).

KUALA LUMPUR, 15 May 2017: As part of its commitment to sustainable living, Breeze Malaysia is bringing access to clean water to 1,050 villagers in Sabah, in partnership with Global Peace Foundation.

Breeze Malaysia through its Water Treatment Campaign held late last year successfully raised RM50,000 in contributions. For every Breeze laundry detergent purchased, RM1 was set aside.

All funds collected has been used to install new water filtration systems for Kampung Nalasaran, Kampung Padang, Nabawan and a school in the area – Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Sepulut. Over 23 water filtrations systems were installed within these locations which will benefit 385 residents in the villages and more than 700 students of SMK Sepulut.

Students of SMK Sepulut in Sabah having their first drink of clean filtered water at their school.
Students of SMK Sepulut in Sabah having their first drink of clean filtered water at their school.

Vincent Chong, Marketing Director, Unilever (Malaysia) Holdings Sdn Bhd said, “Water is a fundamental need for every human being and it is devastating to see that some people still do not have access to clean drinking water. At Breeze, we want to be able to assist the communities in getting safe, treated clean water which will in turn encourage good health and hygiene practices.

Moreover, the water treatment campaign also stems from the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, a global commitment made by the company to help 1 billion people to improve their health and well-being by 2020. On this note, we are also grateful to the customers of Breeze and the Global Peace Foundation who shares our vision in making sustainable living commonplace and work together in driving sustainable change for the community.”

Previously, the villagers relied on hilltop gravity-fed water for their daily usage. Water is collected from the hilltop using self-made pipes and on rainy days or wet season, the water quality gets worse as it gets polluted with dirt and other debris flowing through the pipes.

The Sabah villagers helping with the set-up of the water filter.
The villagers helping with the set-up of the water filter.

Meanwhile for SMK Sepulut, the school which has dormitories for its students had to source for water from a nearby river. Due to the lack of treated pipe water, the students had to purchase drinking water from a vending machine at their canteen.

In line with the installation, Breeze and Global Peace Foundation also provided training for the communities on the usage and maintenance of the water filter.

“For people in these communities, they had to make do with the water source they can access to, regardless of quality and safety of the water. Often the women had to carry heavy buckets of water for daily usage. Drinking untreated water carries a lot of health risks such as water-borne diseases like cholera or diarrhea. Thus providing the water filtration system will definitely improve their health and social well-being,” said Dr Teh Su Thye, Chief Executive Officer of Global Peace Foundation.

[Standing] Dr Teh Su Thye, Chief Executive Officer of Global Peace Foundation explaining the usage and maintenance of the water filter provided by Breeze and Global Peace Foundation to the community at the training.
[Standing] Dr Teh Su Thye, Chief Executive Officer of Global Peace Foundation explaining the usage and maintenance of the water filter provided by Breeze and Global Peace Foundation to the community at the training.
“The water filtration system is simple in design and easy to use. It requires no electricity and comes with an ultrafiltration membrane cartridge to remove 99 per cent of particles, bacteria and other microbial debris to allow clean, purified water of between 70,000 -100,000 litres to last for several years,” added Dr Teh.

“We have been struggling for years over the issue of clean water. Now that we have the new water filter, we don’t have to worry about this anymore. Thanks to Breeze Malaysia and Global Peace Foundation for their assistance,” said Sidin Andin from Kampung Padang.

For more information, log on to Breeze Malaysia’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/breezemalaysia.

[Middle, seventh from left] Dr Teh Su Thye, Chief Executive Officer of Global Peace Foundation on behalf of Breeze, presenting the LifeStraw® water filter to the villagers in Sabah.
[Middle, seventh from left] Dr Teh Su Thye, Chief Executive Officer of Global Peace Foundation on behalf of Breeze, presenting the LifeStraw® water filter to the villagers in Sabah.

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Is your skin at risk of sun damage while driving?

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An expert’s advice from Dr Wong Su-Ming, understanding the sun’s effect on your skin

Dr Wong Su-Ming
Dr Wong Su-Ming

Did you know that the skin uses sunlight to help manufacture vitamin D, which is important for normal bone formation? But, you’re probably more aware that sun exposure or ultraviolet light can be very detrimental to your skin. That said, when thinking about sun exposure, you might see yourself getting a suntan on the beach or exercising outdoors. Little did you know though, that we receive a large portion of our sun exposure when we’re in our cars.

Ultraviolet Rays: Your Skin’s Worst Nightmare

Within the skin’s outer layer (known as the epidermal), are cells that contain pigment melanin. Melanin serves to protect the skin from the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays. While these rays are “invisible”, they’re extremely dangerous.

Over time, prolonged exposure to UV rays can burn the skin thereby causing sunburn. Sun damage can also lead to wrinkles, freckles, leathering, sagging, brown “age” spots, and in some cases skin cancer. There are three types of UV rays:

a) UVA are the most constant year-round and penetrates into the deeper layers of the skin. It is responsible for the immediate tanning effect and is also known as “UV Aging rays” as they cause long term skin damage and photo-aging (premature ageing, wrinkles and sun spots).
b) UVB cannot penetrate beyond the superficial skin layers but is responsible for delayed tanning and burning. Most UVB is filtered by the atmosphere and is often referred to as “UV Burning rays”. UVB rays are the common cause of most skin cancers.
c) UVC is the strongest and deadliest of solar rays, however the ozone layer stops these from reaching the Earth.

When UV rays penetrate the outer skin layers and pass into the deeper layers, your skin cells can either be damaged or killed.

Sun Exposure while Driving

According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, dermatologists have observed for years now; that patients often have more sun damage on the left side of their faces as compare to the right. Why? Research increasingly points to UVA radiation penetrating through car windows.

UV exposure is cumulative, and research has proven that skin exposed to sun shining through window glass, even in the office or at home, can over time lead to significant skin damage. So, take some time to think about the UV exposure we receive while driving or being in a car. In a research published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, it is found that those who spent more time driving a vehicle had more severe photo-damage on the left side of their faces. Reinforcing this research, in countries where drivers drive on the right side, people tend to develop more sun damage and skin pre-cancers on the right.

Sun Safety in your Car

The best way to protect your skin from the sun is by using products with a high SPF daily. SPF stands for “sun protection factor” and is a multiplier which tells you how much longer you can stay in the sun without burning when wearing a sunscreen, for example. Suppose your skin naturally starts to burn in 20 minutes. When you use a sunscreen with an SPF of 15, you won’t begin to burn for 5 hours – 15 times longer.

While you can choose to apply sunscreen in the car, the Skin Cancer Foundation also recommends window film as the single best safeguard against UV damage. In cars, research has shown that UV damage is more extensive on the side of the body closer to the window but fortunately, there are automotive films that deliver superior heat rejection, with the ability to block UV rays.

About 3M™ Crystalline AutoFilm

The 3M™ Crystalline series AutoFilm features a proprietary, multilayer optical film that combines over 200 layers of nano-technology in a film that is thinner than a Post-it® Note. This unique technology is the reason a clear film can reject more heat than many darker films. Designed to deliver superior heat rejection capabilities, the Crystalline series improves your in-car comfort by rejecting up to 97% of the sun’s Infrared rays and rejects up to 60% of the solar heat coming through your windows.

It also offers sun protection by blocking up to 99.9% of harmful UV rays to provide a total SPF of over 1,000 for you and your passengers. The Crystalline series is a U.S. Skin Cancer Foundation recommended product. The non-metallized window film also allows you to stay connected with uninterrupted mobile service, GPS or satellite radio reception.

About Dr. Wong Su-Ming

Dr. Wong is an accredited physician and dermatologist by the National Specialist Register of Malaysia. She was formally a lecturer and dermatologist at University Malaya for 8 years before going into private practice. She is also a visiting consultant dermatologist at University Malaya Medical Centre.

Dr. Wong is also a member of the Dermatological Society of Malaysia, Academy of Medicine Malaysia, and a member of the Malaysian Psoriasis Workgroup for the development of Clinical Practice Guidelines for Psoriasis.

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