incense burning
By Jennifer Whyte Wellbeing

What Incense Is Good for Cleansing: Home, Negative Energy & Crystals

You can feel refreshed with a good cleansing, pushing out the old and welcoming in the new. Are you looking for incense for cleansing but you aren’t sure what to use? We have some incense you can try the next time you want to perform some cleansing in your life. Here are our top choices.

Lavender

We like lavender because of its wide-ranging benefits. This incense works wonders on bad vibes in the home, pushing them from your house and actually cleaning up some of the destruction they left in their wake. Its’s like a two-in-one bad vibe treatment, and that’s why it is at the top of our list.

For those who are interested in what kind of incense for good for cleansing out bad mojo in the home, lavender works best at night.

The soothing incense is one you can leave burning at night, as long as you are careful not to let it burn out of control. Practice fire safety with your incense, particularly when you leave it burning overnight. However, starting your nighttime routine with lavender can help safeguard your sleep from bad energies.

Sandalwood

This incense is ideal for destressing you and helping you to deal with the things in your life that have you agitated or emotional. Sandalwood comes in a couple different varieties, but we mostly differentiate them as light and heavy sandalwood. The heavy scents are nice for refreshing and recentering your mind, while the lighter ones are good for getting rid of stress and offering a bit of cleansing benefit.

So, you want to choose your sandalwood variety carefully.

You can put on some sandalwood incense when you need peace in your mind and rest for your body. It helps you to work through the kinds of situations that may make you feel stressed, keeping you from acting emotionally or rashly. It also helps you to have pleasant thoughts so that you don’t keep your mind on things that will depress or upset you.

If you want to put a stop to the negative energies around you that you are producing, and you what to know what incense is good for cleansing you from self-produced unpleasantness, then sandalwood is an excellent choice.

Pine

What type of incense is good for cleansing during cold weather? Pine has a warm, welcoming, comfortable feeling to it. This is typically the kind of incense you would burn during colder weather, perhaps during late fall, early spring, and all through the winter. Of course, if you live in a colder climate, you may be able to burn it almost year-round.

Pine has cleansing abilities that might not be on par with some of the other ones that have been mentioned already in this list because its cleansing power is fairly simple and straightforward. However, the comfortable vibes it gives off make it a good seasonal option when you want something a bit different.

Eucalyptus

There may be times where it seems like negative energies are coming at you from multiple sides and you can’t hardly focus, and nothing you do seems to make a difference. What incense is good for cleansing and protection? If you want to protect yourself from negative energies, try some eucalyptus, as it can be very beneficial at releasing negative energies that have built up inside the body.

Eucalyptus is especially helpful for getting negative energies that out that may be stored in the chest area.

When those negative energies attack, you may not think through our problems like we should or may worry about them too much. When you feel overwhelmed try burning some eucalyptus and see if that helps you should make a little space from the negative energies and get some room to breathe.

It’s also a good incense to fight against asthma packs and improve breathing by clearing your airways and helping you to feel better.

Cedar

What incense scent is good for cleansing? If you’re looking for an incense that smells good but isn’t overpowering, then you may want to try cedar. It’s an excellent way to cleanse what comes into the house, which is why cedar is usually burned near the door or by a window that’s been opened. It helps spread a pleasant scent throughout the house and keeps negative energy out.

This woody incense is very pleasant and somewhat mild, and it’s more likely to be appealing to a wide range of people compared to some of the more intense or unique scents that you might come across that are supposed to help with cleansing.

What Incense Is Good for Cleansing Crystals?

If you use crystals in your rituals and they are due for a cleansing, you can use an incense to do that, but you will want to use the right incense, something with power to specifically handle the cleansing that crystal needs. which incenses would that include?

You can try Palo Santo, lavender, white sage, mugwort, or juniper to cleanse your crystals. Anything along those same lines will work fine and can be used for the cleansing ritual. These types of incense are the right fragrances to help you to feel relaxed and to get rid of stress or anxiety in your mind.

The Palo Santo incense is particularly good at pushing out negative influences and energies and helping you get in touch with your spiritual side. Try using these kinds of incenses when you’re cleansing your crystals and doing meditation.

Also make sure that you are creating a set apart space for the crystals to be cleansed. That ensures that there’s no interference between the incense and the crystals, so that the crystals can be cleansed like they’re supposed to be.

When doing a crystal cleansing, make sure there’s good airflow in the space so that the incense can move around the area freely and provide a proper cleansing for the ritual. Be careful about any other influences that may be close by, such as toxins or other scents that could interfere with what you are doing.

rubber bands falling out of packet on pink background
By Jennifer Whyte Beauty, Haircare

How to Get Rubber Bands Out of Hair

Have you ever got rubber bands stuck in your hair and weren’t sure how to get them out? This is definitely a problem that people with curly hair run into almost every time they use rubber bands. How to get rubber bands out of hair when they’re stuck?

We’ll show you a few methods you can use so that you’re not pulling your hair or cutting it out just to get rid of the rubber bands. You don’t have to say goodbye to using rubber bands if you know the best methods for removing rubber bands from your hair.

Roll the Rubber Bands Down

The simplest method to remove rubber bands from your hair is to pull them all the way down to the bottom of your hair till they fall out in your hand. This is how most people will remove rubber bands, though it doesn’t always work. Depending on how tightly the rubber bands are wrapped, what kind of hair you have, and the condition of your hair, rubber bands may not roll down very easily.

How to get rubber bands out of your hair using this method? Just grasp the rubber bands on two sides with fingers of the same hand. You’ll use your thumb on one side of your hair of the rubber bands and then your next two fingers on the opposite side. Squeeze tightly, and then pull the rubber bands downward while keeping your fingers clenched.

Once you get to the bottom of your hair, the rubber bands should fall out easily. There may still be a hair or two stuck in the bands, and you should be able to loosen those hairs by opening up the rubber bands at that point.

Where most people mess up with this method is they try to jerk the rubber bands off in a single motion. Unless your hair is really short, that won’t work very well. You’ll probably end up pulling on your hair so much it hurts or even pulling hairs out of your head. Instead, gradually pull the rubber bands down in one, long smooth motion or short, gentle motions.

Cut the Bands out of Your Hair

Sometimes, the pulling method doesn’t work, especially if there are tiny rubber bands that are wrapped tightly around your hair. As you pull and pull on them, they may not get any looser, and you may start to regret that you used such tiny rubber bands in the first place. How to get tiny rubber bands out of your hair?

One of the most effective and fastest methods is to use scissors and cut them out. This is tricky, because you don’t want to cut your hair, but if you are doing it right, there won’t be much risk of that.

The bands should be wrapped in the opposite direction of the hair, so you’ll want to place the scissors under the edge of the bands in the same direction as your hair. This minimizes the risk of cutting. Try to fit the blades under the rubber bands as far as you can.

Maybe you can only wedge them under one strand the rubber bands. If so, then that’s a good start. Before you try to close the scissors and cut the bands, make sure there’s no hair in between the blades. You can move some of the hair out of the way if you need to. It also helps to try lifting the rubber bands up a little bit before you cut them, pulling up with the scissors to separate the bands from the hair. That way, you can make sure there’s no hair caught in the part of the rubber bands where you’re going to cut.

Make a small cut at first, making sure that you’re only cutting rubber bands and not hair. You can snip through strand by strand of the rubber bands or just cut one strand and then pull the bands loose from there. Cutting a single band of the rubber bands is the safest method. You should have enough leverage at that point to be able to wriggle the rubber bands free from the hair.

How to Get Rubber Bands out of Hair with Oil

If the rubber bands are stuck and pulling them is not an option and you’d prefer not to cut them, you can always try using a little oil. I understand not wanting to cut the rubber bands because you don’t want to waste them.

Any kind of conditioning agent or hair grease should work well at loosening the bands. How to loosen rubber bands in hair? Squirt a little bit onto the end of your finger and rub that under the rubber bands as much as possible.

A thin oil will slide under the bands easier than a thick oil would, so you may want to choose your oils carefully.

Just about any kind of oil will work, though. You could use cooking oil, butter, and even mayonnaise. This can always be washed out of your hair later. It may not be very pleasant to put oil in your hair that doesn’t belong there, but it’s certainly better than leaving the bands in there until your hair gets grungy or cutting your hair to try to get the bands out.

These are our best tips for how to take rubber bands out of hair, and hopefully we have given you an option or two you didn’t think of. If you’re not confident about one of these methods, just use another one, and maybe consider not putting rubber bands in your hair in the first place.

It may even help to get someone to assist you. You might not be able to loosen the bands by yourself or get them out without someone else giving you a hand. Don’t be ashamed to ask for assistance with this problem, as another pair of hands may be able to work better, since the other person would have a better view and better angle to work with when trying to remove rubber bands.

Pouring essential oils into a bowl
By Jennifer Whyte Beauty, Skincare

How to Use Essential Oils in the Shower

If you’re one of those people who enjoys the benefits of essential oils, you might have wondered if it is possible to use essential oils while you are showering. It is, actually, and we put together a guide for using essential oils in the shower.

Essential Oils in Body Wash

Can you add essential oils to body wash? Essential oils can be added to many perfumes, lotions, and other liquids, so it makes sense that you could add them to body wash as well.

When you’re mixing together essential oils and body wash, you want to make sure you dilute the oils well. You don’t want concentrated essential oil touching your skin and causing irritation or damage. In general, you’ll be diluting the essential oil down to about 3% of your mixture.

A lot of different essential oils can be used like this, but which essential oils are best to add to body wash? Try mixing in essential oils that won’t be harmful to your skin and that will provide soothing treatment and skin benefits.

Grapefruit oil is really good at tightening and toning the skin.

We would also recommend lavender oil because of how it calms your body and can even be used to help heal your skin. If you’re looking for something that detoxifies and reduces inflammation, try bergamot essential oil mixed into your body wash.

The best essential oils for body wash will depend on what you’re trying to do and how you want to benefit your skin. Any essential oil you normally use on your skin should be able to be added to your body wash.

Can You Add Essential Oils to Shampoo and Conditioner?

Body wash isn’t the only liquid you use in the shower that you can add essential oils to. It can also be mixed in with your conditioner or shampoo. You won’t need to use it very much to make an impact on your hair. You can use a ratio of five to six drops of essential oil for every ounce of shampoo or conditioner you are using.

This mixture works best when you’re using an unscented hair product, since essential oils tend to have strong aromas of their own.

You can mix in rosemary, tea tree, lavender, and others to boost your hair health and help it to grow faster and stronger. Some essential oils are really good at regenerating hair follicles and replacing hair cells quickly so that you always have strong, vital hair.

How to Diffuse Essential Oils in the Shower

There are a few essential oils in particular that I love to breathe in when they’re properly diffused. You may be wondering how you would do that process in the shower or if it’s even possible. It’s a little more complicated than mixing together on essential oil in body wash, but it can be done.

One of the more effective methods is to use a steam bowl or steam cup. What you do is take 2 ounces of hot water and bold and then add in about 14 drops of essential oil. Rest the steam bowl next to the wall of the shower or in a rack hanging inside your shower. The hot water will cause the essential oil to diffuse and circulate throughout the shower.

Another method you can try is to put essential oils on the floor of the shower. You want to stop the drain so that your oils don’t run down the pipe before you can benefit from them. As the water starts to build up around your feet, you can add about 8 drops of essential oil to the water.

This provides benefits for your skin, and then if you are using hot water, the oil should diffuse throughout the shower.

I recommend using tea tree, lavender, or another soothing oil that’s gentle on the skin. This is also a great method for how to use eucalyptus oil in the shower.

How to Make a Shower Bomb

Have you ever tried adding a bath bomb or shower bomb to your cleaning routine? What is a shower bomb? It’s like a bath bomb that works in the shower.

It’s a ball made of different components that fizzles when it hits the water, whether you put it in your hand and rest it down in the shower. As the ball fizzles, it starts to melt and create a beautiful aroma.

You can use essential oils to make your own shower bomb. Here is a quick recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 20 drops of the central oil
  • ½ cup of citric acid
  • 2 cups of baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons of water
  • Silicone mold
  • 6 drops of food coloring
  • Bowl
  • Dropper

You’ll need to mix everything together until it makes a paste and then pour it into the mold and let them dry out for a few hours.

I usually let mine dry out overnight, and by morning they are ready. You decide on the essential oil to add into the shower bomb, but be sure to choose something that will be gentle on your skin.

How to Use a Shower Bomb

Shower bombs are designed to be used in the shower after you turn the water on. Keep them away from water and in a dry place until you are ready to use them.

Once the water is flowing and it starts to warm, you can hold the shower bomb in your hand under the flow of water. Feel free to breathe in the aroma as you hold it.

Once the water starts to flow over the shower bomb, the bomb should start to melt and foam. It will create a soapy lather that you can then rub all over yourself. Use it to cleanse your skin and let it sit there for a minute or two if you like. Then, allow the shower to rinse off your shower bomb foam.

This wonderful shower item will keep your skin smelling lovely for hours, similar to scented soap or body wash.

infinity sign in the sand by the sea
By Jennifer Whyte Uncategorized, Wellbeing

How to Cleanse Your Karma

Your karma may need cleansing or clearing from time to time. There might be some bad karma that is holding you back from experiencing joy in your life or from moving forward, and if you know how to cleanse bad karma and create space for good karma in your life, then that will benefit you greatly. Here are a few things you can do to rid yourself of bad karma.

Identify Sources of Bad Karma

Do you suspect there is bad karma in your life? If you can figure out where that is coming from, then you can do something about it. One of the most common sources of bad karma is from other people.

Anyone in your life who is toxic or producing bad karma will need to be purged from your life. Their bad karma can be bleeding into your life, holding you back from some of the good things that should be coming your way.

If someone’s energy seems wrong and seems to clash with your own energy, then they may very well be a source of bad karma in your life.

It may be time to sever ties with them.

Get Rid of Past Life Karma

There could be bad karma for a past life that is holding you back. Let me share with you how to cleanse past life karma. You can get rid of bad karma from a past life the same way you would get rid of bad karma in your present life. One of the best ways to do that is start taking decisive action.

If you are usually indecisive and you have trouble getting yourself motivated or doing what you set out to do, then you need to change that.

One method related to that for how to cleanse your karma is to change your action. The type of action you have been taking may keep you in your current cycle, repeating the same mistakes. If you do something different, you may be able to break the cycle and change your karma going forward.

After all, if you do the same things all the time, you will just get the same results. If you are looking to change your karma, then you need to change the way you live, behave, talk, and think.

Practice Forgiveness

Are you holding onto past grudges and keeping bitterness in your heart against someone? It is time to let all of that go. It is said that bitterness is a poison you feed yourself, and if you want to stop hurting yourself with bad karma, you need to forgive those who have wronged you.

You don’t always have to tell them that they are forgiven. Sometimes, it is better to stay out of contact with the people who have hurt you.

However, you should determine in your mind to forgive them and not hold on to your anger and resentment any longer. Then, the next time you see this person, you can treat them in a kinder way. You may find that this changes your relationships and causes them to treat you kindly back.

Do What Scares You

One method I always recommend for how to cleanse karma is to defy the things that you feel are your own weaknesses. Maybe you are scared of heights, and it could help to challenge yourself and spend some time in a high place.

Perhaps you’re scared of social interactions, and getting out and about and socializing can do more than just confront your fears. It can change how you interact with people, opening up new avenues for relationships, and at the same time it can be an excellent method for how to cleanse yourself from bad karma.

Take Personal Responsibility

Do you feel like there is bad karma in your house or your life? You may want to examine when you’ve done something wrong and haven’t taken responsibility for it. I’m not talking about accidents but rather errors in judgment or things you’ve actually done wrong and hurt others. If you are to blame, even partially, you should take responsibility for this.

You should realize your contribution to the problem, and that can help you to not make the same mistakes. If you’re looking for help to cleanse a house of bad karma, then having yourself and everyone in the house take on responsibility for their own actions is a good place to start.

It can be very difficult and intimidating to own up to what we’ve done wrong, but it’s very good for us. It provides a karmic cleanse that will help going forward, letting good karma into your life and into your house. It could very well be our own mindset and our own way of handling problems that keeps bad karma trapped around us and prevents some good karma from entering into our lives.

This is one karmic cleansing method that you want to be very careful about going too far with. Many people do blame themselves for things that are not their fault, and it’s important to be realistic about where the blame lies.

As you attempt to determine where responsibility should be placed, try not to hold grudges and be bitter against someone who may have done wrong by you.

Instead, focus on your part in the problem and take responsibility for that. You may not be able to change other people, but you can certainly change yourself and how you handle unpleasant situations.

Learn about Your Own Karma

Each person has their own type of karma, and identifying your particular karma and how you’re bound to it can help you to change it and work with it. You might be stuck with a particular kind of karma, but it doesn’t have to continue to be bad karma. If you follow the steps listed above, you can get rid of bad karma in your life and bring in good karma. It may take some work and may not be easy at first, but it’s definitely worth the attempt.

woman on space background
By linkliverpool73 Wellbeing

How to Connect with Your Intuition

Everyone has that voice inside them that tells them what to do. Sometimes, that voice is really negative and harmful. It tells you to do what you know you should not be doing. Sometimes that voice is naïve and innocent. Sometimes, that voice is overlooked and ignored.

Your intuition can tell you with a gut feeling what action to take in a situation or what direction to go or even what to say. Some people are very in tune with their intuition, and others feel so out of touch with their true selves that they don’t even recognize the voice that is speaking to them.

If you are wondering how to connect with your intuition, we have a few tips to share with you that can help.

Spend Time in Meditation

This is a game changer for a lot of people. We have so many distractions in our lives and so much noise all around us that it can seem odd to just stop and listen to nothing. Doesn’t it seem like we are always listening to music, advertisements, podcasts or people talking? All those voices around us don’t leave a lot of space for our own, so many people don’t even know how to access their intuition. They may be completely missing the spiritual side of their life because of all the distractions around them.

When you find quiet time to yourself, that can be time where you collect your thoughts, think about your journey and discover what kind of person you really are. You can analyze the decisions you have made and the words you have said and think about whether those are really your own or if they belong to someone else.

You can also use meditation time to clear your mind of thoughts completely. You can push everything out and try to be empty, like many people do when they are practicing certain types of meditation. This allows your intuition to speak more clearly and helps to push away all the noise in your life. Try meditating for just 15 minutes a day and see if that doesn’t make a difference.

Various kinds of quiet time can be helpful for how to connect with your intuition spiritually. If you pray, listen to quiet music or try to meditate, all of that is calming soothing, relaxing, and helpful in getting in touch with your intuition.

Disconnect from the Internet

I’m not just talking about turning off the social media and stepping back from Instagram or Facebook- I’m talking about disconnecting the internet entirely. Turn it all off, shut down your phone, and will yourself to stop spending time on any internet sites or services.

This is so good for you because it allows you to be you rather than to get a constant stream of outside influences. How can you know what you think if you are filling your mind all day with what others think?

The truth is that you can’t, and your natural intuition will be lost amid the flood of other voices that come from the internet. The news, movies, videos, updates, social media posts, and everything else that we absorb regularly can be really harmful for us. Not only are these things negative, but they aren’t our voice.

How much of our day is consumed with hearing our own voices? That’s why we don’t even know if it is out intuition that is speaking sometimes or if we are just following the prompts of other people. Maybe you just heard it on a podcast or you just read it online. That bit of advice you just thought about might not even belong to you, and will you remember where it came from?

Go Out in Nature

Are you sensing a pattern here yet? This activity involves getting away from a lot of manmade stimuli, like screens, cars, electronics, and other things that can be distracting for your spiritual side or your intuition. Being in nature can help you to connect to who you really are, quieting your mind, invigorating your senses, and helping you to feel at peace.

There are fewer distractions in nature that might cause you anxiety. There is space and freedom, and these things are great for your mental health.

This quiet time in nature can help you to get in touch with your senses and your mind. It can change up your entire environment, of course, which is really helpful when you are trying to get in touch with other parts of your being. A change in scenery can do you so much good, whether you are being active in nature or just sitting down quietly.

The key to connecting with the intuitive part of yourself is to find ways to listen to your own mind and body and to separate your voice from the many other voices around you. In nature, there are no influences telling you what to do or giving you their own mindset and worldview.

This helps you to be clearheaded, and you can see how much of yourself is being blocked and how much of your mind is being suppressed in your normal environment.

Being out in nature allows these parts of you some freedom and a chance to speak to you where they would otherwise be drowned out.

Have you been missing your intuition, and do you feel like the decisions you make aren’t really your own? That’s how a lot of people feel these days, and it mostly comes down to how many outside influences they have affecting them. The tips I’ve given you will help you filter out a lot of those influences, even if it is just for a short time. That way, you can connect with your intuition and start thinking your own thoughts.

Doing these things regularly could change the course of your life in a big way and help you to make decisions that aren’t based so much on what other people think, feel, or believe.

woman applying shea butter to hand
By Jennifer Whyte Beauty, Skincare

How to Store Shea Butter

Shea butter is so good for your skin, as it fights breakouts, soothes your skin, and prevents inflammation. However, what happens when it’s not stored properly?

Shea butter can last for a while, but you will want to make sure you’re storing it the right way and taking good care of it. Anything you use to treat your body should be seen as an investment. It’s unwise to apply anything to your skin for treatment if there’s a chance that it’s gone bad.

How Long Does Shea Butter Last?

The answer to that question all depends on how the shea butter is stored. When stored properly, shea butter can last for up to 24 months, or two years.

Different factors can affect shea butter and cause it to go bad faster, particularly the location it is stored and the temperature it’s stored at. You do want to protect this product from extreme temperature changes so that it doesn’t spoil quickly.

You can tell shea butter is starting to go bad if it has an unpleasant smell to it. It will become rancid, and there likely won’t be any doubt that it’s spoiled. Bear in mind that this butter can have a smoky, almost burnt scent to it, and that does not indicate that it has gone rancid.

If shea butter is allowed to experience temperature fluctuations or it’s not stored in the right way, it can start to harden. That will make it very difficult to use, as you’re supposed to spread it on your skin, and it ought to have a buttery consistency to it.

How to keep whipped shea butter from hardening? I’ll show you how to store shea butter so that it last longer and retains its proper texture and consistency. This makes it easy to use and ensures that you can enjoy its benefits whenever you do use it.

Where to Store Shea Butter

There are a few different places you could store your shea butter, but the most important thing is the container you choose. Glass jars or glass containers work fine, as do resealable plastic bags and plastic containers with an airtight covering. It’s really important that you keep air away from the shea butter to prevent the air from damaging and spoiling it or from causing it to harden.

You’ll find that a lot of shea butter is stored in a food grade plastic bags, which is really gentle on the butter and is also quite good at keeping out air.

One really good way to store this product is to wrap it loosely in some plastic and then place that inside a container or a resealable plastic bag.

The butter would be more protected when it’s stored inside a thicker, heavier container as opposed to a thin plastic bag.

We do recommend storing shea butter in a pantry, where it won’t be affected by changes in temperature very much and where it is out of direct sunlight. It should not be kept near a window or close to heating elements. The more you can keep its temperature consistent, the longer it will last for you.

How to Store Unrefined Shea Butter

You should store shea butter at room temperature or away from heat as much as possible. Don’t let it achieve a temperature of 75 degrees Fahrenheit or hotter. If that does happen, you could permanently damage your shea butter, but You can try putting it into the fridge to restore it if you catch it soon enough. It’s fine to keep shea butter in the fridge, as that usually won’t affect it negatively.

Our advice for how to store raw shea butter is to put it out of direct sunlight as soon as you purchase it and then keep it in a thick container in a cool, dry place when it’s not in use.

What Does Shea Butter Smell Like?

A lot of people would describe shea butter’s aroma as a natural scent. It has a kind of nutty smell to it, similar to wood or even coconut. After you have been storing shea butter for a while, the smell will change, and it might not be as strong.

If you’ve kept it for too long, past its shelf life, or you’ve allowed air to get in and damage it, shea butter can start to become rancid. It will smell rotten and unpleasant. It may take on aroma that’s similar to rotten food, particularly spoiled olive oil.

How to Soften Shea Butter

Shea butter should not be hard, and it should not have a greasy quality to it. Instead, it should be soft and buttery.

If you have not been storing it properly, shea butter can become hard, and if it hardens, it will be difficult to use.

How do you soften it back again? One of the simplest methods is to add a liquid oil to it. Any kind of liquid oil you have on hand that you don’t mind applying to your body will work just fine. Try a couple drops of olive oil or any other cooking oil, or you can use an essential oil that won’t negatively affect the smell or usage of shea butter.

You could also try to whip the shea butter, similar to how you would whip butter or cream. Feel free to whip by hand or using a mixer, and once the butter is whipped, it will be soft and malleable again. You may need to add a little liquid, particularly a liquid oil, to help soften the shea butter again.

You can also try melting the shea butter, if it has become hardened. You do this by heating it at a low heat until it starts to soften. You should then allow it to cool slowly.

If you cool it too fast, the shea butter will turn grainy and not be very pleasant to use.

oats in a tub next to a jar of oat oil
By linkliverpool73 Beauty, Skincare

How to Make Oat Oil

Oat oil is a soothing skincare treatment that you can actually make at home. You have probably heard of oat creams, serums, and body washes before, or maybe even used them, and you are probably already familiar with how good they are for your skin.

Oats have all sorts of beneficial properties that make them great for skincare. I want to share with you a method for how to make oat oil at home, if you’re interested in the DIY side of skincare.

What Is Oat Oil?

Oats are healthy inside and outside the body. Of course, oatmeal is great for your heart and digestive system thanks to its high fiber content and various nutrients. Oats used as a skincare treatment offer completely different benefits. Oat oil comes from that same plant you get oatmeal from, and the stems and leaves of the plant are processed to create a soothing, helpful body oil that can do wonders for you.

Oat oil is so good for keeping your skin moisturized. If you have skin that tends to be dry, flaky, and dull looking, then applying some oat oil can help, as it fortifies the skin’s barrier and keeps moisture from escaping as easily. That’s perfect for when you are in a dry climate and need some help keeping your skin looking vibrant.

Oat oil is also a good anti-inflammatory, and that’s why it is so soothing. It can be used to treat burns, eczema, and other skin conditions.

Another benefit of this oil is its ability to boost healthy hair growth. This is a beneficial side effect of its moisturizing powers, as it relieves dryness in the scalp and stimulates healthy hair follicles by improving the health of the skin that the hair is growing from.

Why Is There Oil in Oat Milk?

Some types of oat milk will contain oat oil in them. That may seem strange to you, and if you’ve ever heard about oil being an ingredient in oat milk, you may have wondered what its purpose is there.

Oil is actually added to oat milk and other kinds of milks to help them achieve a creamy consistency. Oat oil may not be the only type of oil used in oat milk. Sometimes canola oil or other types of oils are used.

Typically, there will only be a small amount of oil in oat milk, so it shouldn’t feel or taste oily at all. Just enough oil is added, in most cases, to make the milk as creamy as the customer expects.

How Is Oat Oil Made

You can buy oat oil that’s already prepared for you or you can make it yourself from scratch. Let me share with you a method for how to make oat oil at home.

Ingredients:

  • 4 grams of colloidal oatmeal
  • 40 grams of sunflower seed oil
  • 40 grams of sweet almond oil
  • 11 drops of lavender essential oil
  • 9 grams of emulsifying wax
  • 17 grams of olivem 300
  • 3 blobs of benzoin essential oil

Directions:

  1. Pour water into a small saucepan to fill it to about an inch and bring that to a simmer on the stovetop.
  2. In a separate dish, combine a teaspoon of sweet almond oil and all of the colloidal oatmeal. Stir them together until they create a smooth mixture. You may need to break up some clumps.
  3. In a glass measuring cup, combine sunflower seed oil, emulsifying wax, olivem 300, and the remainder of the sweet almond oil.
  4. Add to that the oatmeal mixture and then place the measuring cup into the pan of water (a heat resistant measuring cup is essential for this part).
  5. Allow the hot water to melt your ingredients, which should take 15-20 minutes. Stir everything together once it has melted.
  6. Take your melted oil and pour it into a plastic pump bottle. Add the essential oils in and cover the bottle. Then shake the bottle to mix all of your components together.

This creates a wonderfully soothing oil that you can use in the shower to help fight infection, improve skin moisture levels, and ease skin irritation.

To use the oil, just pump a few globs into your hand and spread it across your skin, particularly on the dry, scratchy and irritated areas. You can use it in the shower, if you like, rinsing off whatever isn’t absorbed into your skin after using it. It doesn’t have to be rinsed off, though. You can spread it on your skin outside the shower and leave it there as a skin lotion.

How to Make Oat Infused Oil

Oats can be infused with other kinds of components to make oil as well. Usually, you will start with colloidal oats and mix them in to your other ingredients and then melt all of that together using heat conduction. That’s the method I showed you above, and it stays pretty much the same no matter what kind of combination of ingredients you are using.

Just make sure that whatever oils you are using, that they are soothing for your skin or at least won’t irritate it. Remember that all of the components you use will be spread on your skin, so be aware of what oils cause irritation or allergic reactions.

Even using colloidal oatmeal on its own as a skincare treatment works well, so when you infuse it into an oil, you can make it a little less icky (who likes spreading oatmeal on their skin anyway), and you can craft it into a form that is more easily absorbed by your skin.

The benefits are pretty much the same either way, but you get more benefits faster by making the oats into an oil and rubbing that on your skin rather than using an oatmeal powder or paste.

How to Store Oat Oil

You may be wondering what kind of storage is ideal for oat oil. There isn’t any water in the mixture I gave you earlier. It contains water soluble components, but it doesn’t have water in it. Because of that, you won’t have to use a preservative in it. It should store just fine for as long you care to use it.

You should keep it way from water when you aren’t using it and ensure that water does not get inside the oat oil solution. If you keep it sealed in the pump bottle, then there shouldn’t be any issue. Once water get introduced to it, though, then there could be a risk of microbial intrusion and the oil could spoil after a while.

You can store it wherever you store your other lotions, creams or shower products. Just be careful about shower storage, because you want to keep water from getting inside. Make sure the bottle is secure after every use and definitely after you refill the bottle.

The method I have given you for making a homemade oat oil is about as simple as you can get when you are trying to make a quality skincare treatment. Use the oat oil as often as you like, even when your skin isn’t dry and itchy, just to boost your protection against dryness.

By Jennifer Whyte Wellbeing, Emotional Wellbeing

Dating Someone Who Has Been Cheated On – What to Expect

Are you considering getting into a relationship with someone who has been cheated on before? You may be wondering what some of the issues would be that you have to deal with and what you should expect when you date them. You may even be wondering if it’s a good idea to start the relationship at all or if you’re better off looking elsewhere.

Here are a few things you should know about dating someone who’s been cheated on.

They May Have Trust Issues

A lot of people come into relationships being very naïve about that relationship and where it might be headed. They may not have many expectations, especially if it’s their first relationship. The thing is, all of our past relationships inform our future ones.

In other words, we learn things from previous relationships that we bring over to all the following ones. We may have baggage from those old relationships that we would bring with us as well.

So, someone who has been cheated on before may suspect that anyone they date could cheat on them as well. Their ability to trust maybe seriously damaged or even broken. This isn’t even something that’s exclusive to people who have been cheated on.

People who have seen awful things happen around them or had traumatizing experiences in their life may be afraid of being cheated on more than your average person would.

Just as you would be more careful about touching fire after the first time you’ve been burned, so too will someone who has been cheated on be careful about getting into new relationships. They may have trouble trusting you, and that can show up in a few different ways. Not everybody who’s been cheated on before will act the same way in a new relationship.

The Potential for Jealousy

One way we see people react to having been cheated on before is that they are quick to have jealous thoughts. If they see you hanging out with someone that they think could be a potential partner for you, they may suspect you of starting a relationship with that person. If you engage in behavior they see as suspicious or difficult to understand, they may suspect that cheating is going on.

There’s a tendency there to see unfaithfulness everywhere. What has happened with someone like this is that the trauma of being cheated on has created a fear that is very difficult for them to control.

You have to realize that this is possible and look for signs that they are made jealous easily. You may be tempted to brush off or dismiss jealous behavior or even laugh about it. You may engage in arguments over it. You may even try to convince this person that you are trustworthy.

Really though, the only way to correct the jealous behavior is to prove your trustworthiness. Once they can see that you are someone who can be trusted, it will become harder for them to rationalize their jealousy.

A Fear of Being Left Alone

When someone has been cheated on, that can affect them in a variety of ways. Some people internalize a lot of what has happened to them and even blame themselves. Then you think they were cheated on because they weren’t loving enough or they didn’t give the other person enough attention. So, this may manifest as them being kind of clingy and being deathly afraid of being left alone.

They may overcompensate in the relationship by trying to be everything they ought to be and more. That fear of being left alone or a fear of contributing to cheating may cause them to behave in strange and inscrutable ways.

You want to be very careful that you don’t take advantage of someone like this. You don’t have to call them out on all of their behavior that stems from their fear of being left alone, but you should be reassuring and let them know that they don’t have to do to prove themselves so much.

To get at the root of the problem, it can be helpful to reassure them that they may not have been responsible for the other person’s actions and for being cheated on it. Remind them that when someone cheats, it is terrible behavior and it’s not the right response for someone that is unhappy in a relationship.

They Will Need to Heal

You have to know going into a relationship like this that the person who’s been cheated on will need time to heal. Not everybody heals the same way, nor does everyone heal successfully. You could be taking on quite a project if you try to help them take on their healing.

While some people will tell you not to take on any of their healing for yourself and carry that burden, a good relationship requires two people to support one another.

Their healing process could take a very long time. Some people get over being cheated on pretty quickly and are resilient and are able to move on. Others may take many years, or their healing process may be so slow, that they never seem to get completely over it.

It’s important not to make assumptions about how their healing will go and how quickly it will be finished. That’s simply not something you can tell from the start of the relationship.

If you’re going to make the relationship work with someone who has been cheated on, there will be times where they will need more support from you than you will from them. There may be times where both sides are not giving equally.

Remember that if you are there for them in their hard times, they will be more likely to be there for you in your hard times. Not everybody has the same difficulties in life, and you have to understand that going into relationship with someone who has been cheated on will require a lot of work, a lot of understanding, and a lot of love.

meditating surrounded by a gold aura
By Jennifer Whyte Wellbeing

What Does a Gold Aura Mean?

Your energy field or your aura can identify what kind of person you are. The way you behave, how you think, and the manner you live your life can determine the color of aura around you.

Some people have what is known as a gold aura emanating around them and identifying who they are to spiritually minded people. What is a gold aura?

It’s often associated with success or great wealth, but that’s not really all there is to the gold aura.

What Does a Gold Aura Mean?

It’s interesting that golden auras are using identified by people who have gold auras themselves. That’s because a golden aura can identify someone who has great wisdom and who is spiritually enlightened. This kind of person may be very compassionate and may be tuned into spiritual matters.

Someone with these kinds of characteristics may be more interested in spiritual matters or may see things in a spiritual way that other people would just think of and notice on a physical level. They may see multiple meanings to things that happen in someone’s life, looking at the spiritual implications and the spiritual movements that are happening behind the scenes.

A gold aura typically identifies someone with spiritual leanings. People with other kinds of auras may be spiritually minded, but they might not have the enlightenment and the wisdom that tends to come with a gold aura.

What Does a Gold Aura Mean for Business?

What does it mean if you have a gold aura and you wonder how it will affect your work life? This kind of aura is typically associated with someone who is a natural leader or who has strong leadership capability. You’ll find that people who succeed in business, who are the head of major companies, and who show leadership skills tend to have golden auras.

Many people you know who have had great success in their work that have started their own business or do a great job in leadership probably have gold auras. They may accept opportunities that other people would not take and they may meet challenges differently than others.

By being business minded and leadership skilled, they will be able to handle situations differently from people when it comes to business.

What Does Having a Gold Aura Mean for Your Personality?

A gold aura can help identify the kind of personality you have. A person who has this kind of aura will usually be very compassionate, caring about others and putting the needs of others ahead of their own. They may see good in people where others cannot see it.

They may care more than others do, as their empathy will be greater and they will be better able to appreciate what others go through, even when those experiences are very different from their own.

Even though gold auras tend to be successful and wealthy many times, that doesn’t mean they live lavish lifestyles. In fact, they tend to live modestly, using money as necessary but not being extravagant with it.

This may be part of what helps them to be so successful and business minded, as they’re not often thinking about themselves, and they may not spend too much time with entertainment and other frivolous pursuits that won’t better them.

Not everything about someone with a gold aura is positive, though. There are some negative aspects to their personality, in general. They tend to bring too much on themselves, overextending themselves in what they do so that they go beyond their means. Someone who repeatedly tries to take on a lot of projects at once may have a gold aura.

Another negative aspect of their personality is that they tend to be overprotective. This can be good in some ways, but it can also mean that they may be risk averse when it comes to their loved ones. They may not want them to be away from them for very long or may not want their kids to be out of their sight for more than a few minutes at a time.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re always worried and anxious, but they do hold on to the things they have and try desperately to protect the ones they love, sometimes to their detriment.

What Does It Mean to Have a Gold Aura Friend?

You may be wondering how gold auras are at friendship. What good and bad qualities would they have as a friend, and what should you expect from them when you enter into a friendship with one?

They do tend to be really supportive and encouraging. They’re often looking for ways to prop people up and support them, and this comes back to their caring and selfless personality. They make time for other people, not caring as much about whether they have time for all the things that they want to do.

They love to give advice, and they may do that just a little too much to where it can be annoying or it feels like they’re trying to correct all your behavior.

You have to understand that gold auras are people who care about others and want to see them do well. They don’t always know how to express that in a way that is socially acceptable. They do tend to have a good sense of when someone needs advice though, and they’re very good at listening, all of which makes them really good friends.

They tend to be pretty humble as well, and they do a decent job of understanding their own flaws and pointing them out when they think it’s necessary. They’re not always looking for a lot of praise and recognition, and they’d rather just simply do something great than be recognized for doing something great.

How loyal is a gold aura? They tend to make really true friends, staying with you through thick and thin.

What Does It Mean When You Have a Gold Aura Lover?

From all that’s been said so far, you might think gold auras make really good lovers. How do all the wonderful qualities we’ve mentioned so far translate into being a good boyfriend or girlfriend or even a husband or wife?

Well, gold auras tend to be very romantic. They don’t mind letting everyone know they’re involved and celebrating their relationships. In fact, they like to demonstrate their love.

They tend to be outgoing romantically, and they’re also really good at expressing themselves and opening up to their romantic partners.
Because they can be overprotective, they might feel clingy and the relationship could become claustrophobic. You want to be sensitive to their needs and what their concerns are.

Make sure you keep them updated if you’re going to be away, and also let them know if something is bothering you. They may be able to sense it, and not knowing can bother them too.

What Does a Pink and Gold Aura Mean?

Anytime you see that someone has two different colors in your aura, sometimes known as a rainbow aura, that means they’re going through a period of serious change. There could be something major happening in their life, and it could be having an effect on their personality and who they are at the core of their being.

People do grow and change throughout their lives, and as that happens, it can affect their aura colors.

We’ve already talked about what a gold aura means, so let’s talk about the meaning of a pink aura. People who have a pink or attend to be caring, loving, and compassionate. They may be very kind and open in their relationships. They tend to be receptive and sensitive to other people’s needs, but they also have strict need for boundaries.

It’s difficult sometimes for them to reach out and help others because of the boundaries they set in their own lives. There’s a constant clash there.

So, when you see someone with an aura that is both pink and gold, it means they’re transitioning from one to the other. They may be moving from pink to gold or in the other direction. This transitional period can affect their personality and how they react to certain situations. It will particularly affect how they perform under pressure.

Eventually, their aura will settle into one or the other. They will start to take on the qualities of that aura more completely, and the two-color aura will disappear.

Closing Thoughts

Gold auras are people who are a lot of fun to be around because they care so much about other people. That can make them seem stressed or overburdened, but taking on other people cares is simply what they do and how they function. They also tend to be very spiritual minded and may look for the spiritual side in any event. They will make excellent friends and tend to do a good job of making others happy in a relationship.

mind, body, reset on post it notes
By linkliverpool73 Wellbeing, Emotional Wellbeing, Physical Wellbeing

How to Reset Your Body and Mind

Everybody has those times where they just can’t focus or think about what they should be doing. Maybe you are working and your mind feels like it is giving up. Maybe you are writing and you can’t think of the next thing to write. Maybe your mind just feels sluggish, like it is tired and ready to quit on you. How to reset your men and get back to a perky, focused state?

If you’re tired, then the best thing you can do is lie down and rest. You may think you can’t rest in the middle of the day, but that’s common practice in a lot of countries. You have probably heard of something called a siesta, where people just go and lie down in the hottest part of the day and refresh themselves before they come back out to work.

Try doing just that the next time you feel like your mind is exhausted and you can’t think any more. Just give yourself 15-30 minutes to rest and see if that doesn’t make a difference, rejuvenating your mind and getting it back on track.

Have a Coffee

Looking for how to reset your body and mind without going to sleep, why don’t you try having a coffee? That’s what a lot of people do when they are tired. If the tiredness is not so severe they can simply make up some coffee and keep going.

Coffee can reenergize you within about 45 minutes, though some people feel energized from the first taste. Coffee can keep you going for hours, and it probably won’t fully leave your bloodstream and be processed by your body for about 5 hours, so you want to be careful about how late in the evening you have coffee so that you’re not awake all night.

Even drinking a small cup of coffee can perk up your mind and make your body feel energized because of the caffeine in it.

If you’re not a coffee drinker and would prefer something else, you can try caffeinated teas or even sodas. A chocolate bar has a similar effect because of the amount of caffeine in it.

Wash Your Face

To perk up and wake up, one of the best ways to do that is to run some water over your face.

Just find the nearest sink, splash some water in your face, or rub your face with wet hands and then dry yourself off. This works especially well with cold water, and the water stimulates your skin and wakes your brain up because of how stimulating it is. This is a good way to perk yourself up for a short time, and it’s one of the simplest methods for how to reset your mind and body.

How to Reset Your Mind for Success

We’ve talked already about perking yourself up and having yourself to feel more awake, but what about if you’re looking to do more and change the way you think. If you’re following the same habits and struggling for success in your life, what kind of mental changes need to be made in order to have more success?

What can help a lot of people achieve more success in their life is to read more. Maybe you can find books on the kind of work you’re wanting to do or the kind of business you are hoping to start.

You could look for self-help books about how to be more successful or how to develop better habits.

Reading is excellent for your mind, and that action in itself provides stimulation that can help to change the way you think.

Some experts recommend listening to music, particularly complex music like classical tunes. These can improve the way you think and process information, boosting your mental acuity and even your ability to solve problems and remember facts.

Rewiring your brain for success often means changing your daily habits, choosing successful ones instead of whatever you have been doing.

That may mean getting up earlier, doing some chores each day before work, spending less time on the internet or your phone, avoiding alcohol and other things that can keep you from being motivated, and looking at other areas of your life where you could benefit from changing up your habits.

You can also make changes that will boost your motivation and remind you of what you are trying to do with your life. One way to do that is to find a picture or phrase that encapsulates your motivation and hang that where you can see it every day.

Another way is to find an accountability partner. Ask someone to keep you accountable, and you can keep them updated on how you are doing and what you are working on. That way, you are more likely to stick with your plans.

How to Reset Your Mind and Mood

Controlling your mood and want to change it? What helps is to step away from the situation that has you in a bad mood. Then, introduce a stimulus that can alter your mood and your state of mind.

Music works well for that, as does reading, watching a movie, or hanging out with friends. Even eating a good meal or drinking a great beverage can help to stimulate your mood and change it, getting you out of the funk and helping you to feel better.

In most cases, trying to change your mood or reset your mind involves introducing something that’s not already there. Try changing your habits, doing something different from what you normally do, or even going on a little adventure. You might be surprised how a change in environment and a change in what is typical for you can be great for your mood and your mindset.

Think about what has you in a bad mood and then separate from that. Remind yourself that you may not be able to change the situation, and you just need to roll with what has already happened. Maybe you can make things better for yourself just by having a better mindset.

Keep in mind that you will only make the situation worse by dwelling on the past, the hurt, and the disappointment. Instead of moping and keeping a bad attitude, force a change in mood. This can take time, and it may not be easy, but reminding yourself to have a good attitude can actually work to change your mood.

Try engaging in activities that make you happy, like spending time with a hobby, going shopping, eating something you like, or talking to your favorite person. Everyone has something that stimulates them and helps them to feel a little better. What is your happy place or happy activity?

How to Reset Your Mind, Body and Soul

Do you feel unsettled in your soul or like something is broken in you? Do you feel like you’re not getting out of life what you want to? We started talking about simply waking up and feeling more alert at the beginning of this article, and then we moved on to more long ranged and powerful changes that you may be hoping to make. Now, let’s talk about changing what’s at the core of your being, or your soul.

You’ll probably have to try some serious, powerful stimuli. Exercise is a good place to start, getting your body moving, your brain active, and your blood pumping. Be careful about overdoing it if you haven’t worked out much recently, but doing even a little bit of exercise can have a profoundly beneficial effect on your mind body, and soul.

You could also try meditating, taking some quiet time or praying. These kinds of pensive, introspective activities can help you quiet your thoughts and think about things you might normally not have thought about.

By clearing out the distractions in your life, even for a short time, you’ll notice the benefits and the change.

It is possible to rewire your brain, soothe your soul, and improve your chances for success. These kinds of changes may not always happen right away. They may happen little by little, and then they take lots of different methods rather than just doing a single thing. You may have to try several different methods before you land on something that works for you.

It’s important to make changes to the way you live and the way you behave, though. That’s how you’re going to change the way you think.

You should think of your mind as a computer. What goes in is what will come back out. So, if you’re dwelling on negative things, then negative words will come out of your mouth and you’ll have a negative mindset. If you put positive things in your mind, you’re likely to think positively and speak positively, even about yourself.

By changing what goes into your mind, you can rewire mental pathways and think like a different person, becoming the person you want to be.