LENA BLOG

Life is a balancing act. If you continue to lead a stress-filled life without incorporating stress-reducing activities, your body will eventually show and feel the effects. Sometimes getting sick is your body telling you it’s time to slow down. That is why balancing the stress in your life with relaxation is so important. Without the two in balance, it’s doubtful you can remain healthy for the long haul. Relaxing—every day—is the stuff health is made of. Relaxation can come in many forms. It could simply be becoming aware of your breathing by taking a few deep breaths, which immediately helps to calm your nerves. Relaxation could be getting a massage or a facial. It could be drawing a nice hot bubble bath, climbing in the tub and shutting the door to the world for a few minutes. Reading is relaxing for many people. Exercising is widely known to help many people relax. For me, exercise definitely helps to release stress and get my circulation going, but I don’t really fin...

As you may have read, I have once again become a proponent of juicing. If you are unsure what exactly juicing involves, read the above article that will tell you the basics of this health-producing activity. Although I will explain in more detail in future articles, in brief you want your body to be slightly alkaline not acidic on the pH scale. Therefore starting your day by alkalizing your insides is a healthy thing to do — every day. With that said, my new, favorite morning routine looks like this : First, right after I wake up, I drink a glass of water with a  lemon ice cube  melted in it. I do this prior to doing anything, including walking my dog,  Quincy Blu . This helps to alkalize my system right away. (Although it seems counterintuitive, lemon juice creates alkalinity not acidity in your body.) Second, after returning from our morning walk, I make myself a wonderful glassful of cantaloupe juice. Another easy way to alkalize my insides along with supplying...

F OAM SCRUB is a gentle gel exfoliator that helps eliminate dead cells responsible for a dull complexion and tired-looking skin. Exfoliating can also help to alleviate ingrown hairs ( a problem for many men) along with blackheads, which both men and women tend to suffer from. Using Foam Scrub will help to reveal healthy-looking skin, revived from the action of this gentle scrub. From Yonka headquarters: Foam Scrub is designed to refine and deep clean pores for a clearer, smoother complexion. Formulated specifically for a man ’ s skin, Foam Scrub utilizes essential oils to purify and brighten the skin. Bamboo silica, copper, iris, and jojoba micro beads slough away dead, pore-clogging skin cells while helping to prevent ingrown hairs. Skin that was once lackluster and ridden with breakouts or ingrown hairs is left smooth, clear, and nourished . This product will exfoliate dead skin cells and leaves the skin soft and smooth. Essential ingredients: Bamboo sili...

A head without hair is truly a neglected and Forgotten Place. I’m not going to tell you to exfoliate and moisturize this area, gentlemen (although those are not bad ideas). But it is extremely important to keep the sun off the top of your head . This is true whether you are shaving that area; perhaps you’re follicly challenged; or you are just losing or have lost the hair up top. You are literally a target for skin cancer if you don’t take precautions against sun exposure. The best and most obvious protection would be a hat. But if you can’t, don’t, or won’t wear one, applying sunscreen to your bald head would be wise. There are companies that have spray-on sunscreens, making it easy to get protection on those places where your hair might be thinning or absent. My strongest recommendation is to not fool around when it comes to the sun because in the end, the sun will win. For more information, see: Sunscreen: Toss it out! SUNSCREENS: The WHAT & WHY plus the importan...

There are many reactions that are caused when sunlight hits your outer skin. Melanocytes are excited into action, which in turn produce melanin, the pigment that gives your skin its individual color or tan . Sunlight causes freckles , the color in some moles , and potentially mild to severe sunburn . Finally, DNA can be altered and may form malignancies later on. Melanin absorbs UV light and is produced by your body in an attempt to protect itself from radiation. A tan is the body’s way of responding to sun damage. When you see people walking around with a nice golden tan, they are literally exemplifying the body’s magnificent response to danger. If you have a tan, you have sun damage. The two are one and the same. Black skin, however, is naturally protected (in part) from the sun due to the high amounts of melanin inherent in the skin. So if you’re African-American or another dark skin type, you have not incurred damage; you are simply blessed with a built-in sunscre...

Skin care is not rocket science. How our skin functions and how to take care of it is pretty basic. If you look back at history, the successful diets, exercise programs, and skin care regimes all reflect this concept of simplicity. Jack LaLanne’s TV workout programs, dating back to the 1950s, are chock-full of simple tips and advice. Most of the diet programs today are simply taking us back to an “old” way of eating; making sure we get our fruits and vegetables, not taking in too much refined foods and sugar, and getting adequate protein. That’s pretty simple, right? And so, too, I am striving to get all of you to adhere to a simple program for your skin that I call The Basics : Cleansing, toning, and moisturizing every day plus weekly exfoliation and clay masking ( The Extras ) along with monthly facials if possible. What’s complicated about that? I am 45 years old and have been blessed with extraordinary clear skin. Except for it being very sensitive to fragrance, I never ...

Here are a few advanced techniques for those of you who want to go the extra mile. These are not necessary to do in order to get the full benefits from an at-home facial. They are simply additional steps for the person who wants to take the extra time. 1. Use moisturizer underneath your clay mask. With the mask lying on top, it will help to infuse the cream deep into your skin, giving you an extra dose of hydration. Cleanse your skin, exfoliate, and then before applying the clay mask put on a medium to thick layer of your favorite moisturizing cream. Apply your clay mask, spraying it with water intermittently to keep it moist. Leave it on for 15 minutes, then remove the mask by splash-rinsing with tepid water. Use your toner and moisturizer. 2. Place soothing eye pads over your eyes and relax to treat the eye area during your at-home facial. One way to do this is to steep chamomile tea (or any other relaxing, soothing herb) for several hours. Place the concentrated tea i...