Three Very Important Herbs For Women

Chaste Tree Berry

Vitex Agnus Castus

Parts Used: Berries (fruits/seeds). Picked in autumn at full maturity and dried.

Indications: Used to for hormonal balance in order to regulate an erratic menstrual cycle and PMS. Also used for the treatment of: herpes, premenstrual, acne, polymenorrhea, secondary amenorrhea, uterine fibroids, and menopause with hot flashes. It also can be used as a galactagogue to increase milk flow. Stabilizes the HPA axis. It affects the pituitary gland in such a way that it corrects and regulates the secretion of progesterone from the ovaries. It can treat a deficiency of either estrogen or progesterone.

I wish more teenage girls new about this herb. It helps so much to regulate the hormones and relieve acne as a result of PMS or any kind of hormonal imbalance which most teenagers face. A lot of them as the body's normal way of adjusting to puberty, but also the chemical diet they are so persuaded by.

Actions: Female Reproductive Tonic, Galactagogue, Alterative, Emmenagogue.

Contradictions: This herb is sometimes recommended for prevention of miscarriages related to low-progesterone. However, it is mostly not recommended due to its emmenagogue effect. May counteract the effectiveness of birth control and other hormone therapy. If PMS symptoms worsen, the herb should not be used further.

Dosage: Infusion: 1 teaspoon of crushed fruits per cup of water; or 1:3 dry liquid extract: 20-75 drops 1-4 times per day.

Black Cohosh

Actea Racemosal Cimifuga Racemosa

Parts Used: Roots and rhizome dug during dormancy (fall/winter) and used dried or fresh.

Indications: Can be used to treat PMS, weak, irregular, or delayed menses and menopause symptoms. It also has an antidepressant effect for a depression that feels heavy, dark, and oppressive (black cloud depression). Black Cohosh can be used for traumas to the nervous system that create congestion and pain. These traumas can be physical such as a car accident or they can be mental/emotional such as sexual abuse of children in which physical trauma may not be present, but mental/emotional trauma remains prevalent. Sometimes used during labor, although using it during early pregnancy is disputed.

I have used this for delayed periods and it works within hours of dosage.

Constituents:  Terpene glycoside fraction, including actein and cimifugoside. The rhizome also contains other potentially biologically active substances, including alkaloids, flavonoids, and tannins.

Actions: Antispasmodic, Sedative, Diaphoretic, Digestive Stimulant, Mild Expectorant, Peripheral Vasodilator, Hypertensive, Female Reproductive Tract Tonic, Anti-inflammatory, Analgesic, and Diuretic

Contradictions: DO NOT use during first trimester due to emmenagogue effect. Overdose symptoms include: slowed heart rate, hypotension, bradycardia, nausea, vomiting, injected conjuctiva, flushed face, dilated pupils, lightheadedness, frontal headache with severe bursting sensation, stiffness and trembling limbs, decreased blood pressure and joint pain.

Dosage: Decoction: 1 heaping teaspoon per cup of water; or 1:3 dry plan liquid extract: 10-40 drops 1-4 times per day.

Blue Cohosh

Caulophyllum Thalictroides

Parts Used: Rhizome and roots dug during dormancy in the fall/winter. Can be used fresh or dried.

Indications: Blue Cohosh has the ability to effectively balance the uterus. It can slow an excessive period or bring on delayed menstruation. This herb is good when there is reproductive tract debility as a result of chronic inflammatory conditions.It is mostly used for relaxing spastic uterine miuscles, uterine atrophy, menstrual cramps, cervical vericose veins, and atonic conditions.  It is often used during labor to relieve false labor pains and during childbirth to make the entire delivery less painful. It also contributes to a quicker recovery time post childbirth. It is considered for problems with the male reproductive tract, as well. For symptoms of impotence.

Actions: Emmenagogue, Antirheumatic, Antispasmodic, Diuretic, Diaphoretic, Parturaficient, Expectorant, Female Reproductive Tract Tonic, and Nervine

Contradictions: Increases blood flow to pelvis, so must be used carefully for women with heavy menstruation. In a study with rats it inhibited their ovulation. Should not be used during pregnancy as it is highly stimulating to the uterus. It may be used during pregnancy ONLY under the guidance of a trained healthcare professional. Overdose symptoms include: nausea, vomiting, headache, thirst, dilated pupils, muscle weakness, incoordination, constriction of coronary blood vessels, cardiovascular collapse and convulsions and thus should not be used for patients with angina or cardiac insufficiency.

In my experience, blue cohosh combined with black cohosh is sort of a one-two punch for getting you period going and toning the uterus. 

Dosage: Decoction: 1 heaping teaspoon in a cup of water; or 1:5 dry plant liquid extract: 10-30 drops 1-4 times per day in a little water.

Jeremy Rock The Big Spring Chops

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BE A HAIR MODEL!

Hey all you beautiful people we are doing a Schwarzkopf color class Monday April 28th and we need some models for a FREE color service! Here are the restrictions:
1. Must be available all day April 28th
2. Must be open to a hair color CHANGE
3. Must come in for a 30 minute consultation prior to the 28th

Call today to schedule your consultation with Rebecca or Amanda and lets you ready for summer! 828-225-8828

Spring Facial and Nail Discounts For March and April!

A 30 minute antioxidant and moisturizing facial designed to cleanse, tone and hydrate the skin. Treatment includes 10 minutes of relaxing reflexology on the decollete and face.

Special price $40
Call 828-225-8828 to book your appointment!

Get $5 off of a shellac manicure if you are booking for the first time and say you saw this deal on our blog!!

Before and After Cut by Stacey Baxter

2014 Hair Trend by Schwarzkopf

Here are the 2014 hair trends from Schwarzkopf. We are excited about this new season. There is little revisitation of retro styles and a lot more re-visioning of what the hair can do. We are looking forward to our client's own reinvention of these styles to fit them! You can peruse more Schwarzkopf fun stuff on their website. 

• Schwarzkopf hair expert Armin Morbach on the trendy look

  What type of woman did you have in mind for Imperfection?
  Armin Morbach: "Like the name says, Imperfection is a look that plays with the imperfect; it is slightly chaotic and provocative. This is expressed particularly in structures like the kind you get with salt spray. It is a self-confident look for women who love to provoke and whose concept of femininity is not shaped by a perfect image."
  
  That doesn’t exactly sound glamorous.
  Armin Morbach: "This is a new kind of glamour, and this look scores points at any party. Combined with bold eye make-up with lots of black kohl, pencilled-in eyebrows and pale lips, this look has a punk attitude which can be extremely seductive. It is perhaps not the ideal style for a family get-together, but for any other occasion – from a meal at a restaurant to a trendy party – it is perfect."
  
  How is the look styled?
  Armin Morbach: "Imperfection plays with different structures. Salt spray gives the lengths texture and a slightly chaotic structure. The style is easy: apply mousse to the roots and blow-dry the hair away from the face. Then push the hair back off the face and fix with hairspray or pin into place on the back of the head with hairpins."

• Schwarzkopf hair expert Armin Morbach on the trendy look

  What is the vision behind the Classifield look?
  Armin Morbach: "New interpretations of classic looks play a key role this season. Classifield is subtle and elegant, but never old-fashioned, and this makes it the perfect look for the office. Careful attention to detail gives this look individuality."
  
  And how is the look styled?
  Armin Morbach: "The hair falls in soft, controlled waves from chin height. The style is either asymmetrical with one side tucked behind an ear or boldly blow-dried back off the face. A shiny finish is really important. The creative version features a quiff with slicked-back side sections and a ponytail. Hair colours, like a cool blond combined with the hair at the nape of the neck dyed almost black, give the look a very trendy and individual twist."

• Schwarzkopf Hair Expert Armin Morbach on the trendy look

  What is the message of Fairywaves?
  Armin Morbach: "Fairywaves is a romantic and glamorous look that was inspired by science fiction and magical fantasy series. Coloured eye-shadows are the perfect complement to this mystic look."
  
  How is the look styled?
  Armin Morbach: "The key styling tools for this look is a small curling iron or, for a looser structure, large hairpins. The hair is curled in individual strands using a curling iron. For tighter curls that look almost crimped divide the strands into eighths and wrap around large hairpins. The results are stunning: a fabulous and very trendy look that is given extra volume simply by backcombing only using the fingers."

• Schwarzkopf hair expert Armin Morbach on the trendy look

  What is the message of the Realusion look?
  ARMIN MORBACH: "This is a relaxed and natural look with an innocent beauty that is instantly captivating. It’s all about the structure. The hair is worn either straight or in waves that look wind-blown. In its more elegant version the waves are brushed and carefully positioned."
  
  And what type of woman was it created for? What does the rest of the style look like?
  ARMIN MORBACH: "The look was inspired by street styles and it suits any woman who enjoys fashion and loves casual, carefree styles. The style looks just as fabulous with biker boots and a bomber jacket as it does with a cool evening gown. Smokey eyes in warm metallic shades and light, radiant shades of blond make the look even more modern."
  
  How do you style the wavy version?
  ARMIN MORBACH: "Simply curl the hair in different directions using a curling iron."

Yoga For Your Looks & Remembering To Take Care Of Yourself.

                   You know those women who wear yoga pants like its their job and their skin is glowing and their hair is shiny and silky and you can't help but try and find a million reasons not to like them out of envy, but you can't because they are so f***ing friendly and sweet? Well, turns out those women are onto to something pretty great. Yoga has always been known for it's whole body benefits. However, most women turn to yoga when they simply want to increase flexibility or go down a dress size or two. Seldom does anyone ever thinks of yoga as a way to enhance the look of your hair, skin and nails. When was the last time you looked at your dandruff and were like, "Oh man, I gotta do some yoga stat!"? Probably never. Well it's time to start!

               Really, any exercise that gets your heart pumping and you blood flowing is great for your looks, but Yoga works more extensively to stimulate and massage certain organs that help your body eliminate toxins. In addition to that, yoga relaxes you. We live in such a frantic world. We are constantly in multiple places at once. The world doesn't grant breaks. Most of the time, unless tragedy strikes (knock on wood), we are all running around in a way that makes the energizer bunny look pathetic. We have to take time for ourselves. We have to demand it. In contrast to the aforementioned yoga-fairies, have you ever met a person who made you think to yourself, "Wow! They have gone their entire life without ever smiling once?" The kind of person that yells at the cashier for 20min. for accidentally wringing up celery instead of carrots.

             Vanity is one of those great motivators that I find to be a necessary evil. If we truly didn't care about the way we looked, we'd never get out of bed, we wouldn't get new clothes, we might not shower. If you begin to take better care of yourself because you are motivated to look better, it hardly matters because regardless you will feel better.

So here's to you, and your looks, and remembering to smile, and to give the poor cashiers a break.

This article below was pretty neat and the inspiration for this post:

Stylecraze.com wrote about 8 poses that can ward of hair loss (I copied it below, but you can view it at their site here:

Souce: gettyimages

Hair is a woman’s pride. It is something to flaunt! But when the thickness of your ponytail starts decreasing it is time to pay some serious attention. It is heart breaking and stressful to comb your hair and find a whole clump of your hair sticking to the comb. This is where yoga can come in handy! Yoga helps immensely to grow back your lost hair. Adopting asanas in yoga to prevent hair loss is one of the most effective solutions in the long run.

Reasons for hair loss:

• Too much stress
• Ageing
• Unhealthy eating habits
• Medication
• Hormonal problems
• Using too many hair products
• Heat treatments on hair
• Genetics

It is good to know that hair loss due hereditary is curable. If you can control your unhealthy lifestyle habits and practice pranayama and meditation, you can deal with hair loss issues a lot more easily. Here are some exercises from the ancient books of yoga for hair loss prevention.

Asanas of Yoga for Hair Loss

As far as yoga poses for hair loss control go, a few are exceptionally effective! They are listed below.1. Balayam Yoga (Rubbing nails):

This yoga asana was made famous by Baba Ramdev. It is simple and highly affective.

• You can do this asana either sitting or standing.
• Curl the fingers of both hands inwards towards your palm.
• Bring the nails of both your hands in contact with each other and start rubbing them vigorously ensure leaving out the thumbnails.
• Keep rubbing your nails continuously for 5-7 minutes at a stretch.

Besides hair loss, Balayam yoga can also cure dandruff and premature graying of hair.
By doing this, the roots of the hair follicles connected to the fingernails pump energy to the scalp needed for hair growth.

[ Read: 5 Baba Ramdev Yoga Asanas for Better Hair ]

2. Uttanasana (Stand forward bend pose): 

Image: shutterstock

• Stand straight with your legs close to one another touching your knees, heels, feet and toes.
• Inhale deeply.
• Now while exhaling, lift up your hands and bend forward, until your fingers and then your hands touch the floor.
• If possible, you can also bring your hands behind your heels.
• Hold on this position with some normal breathing.
• When you want to come out of this pose, inhale in deeply and stand back straight.
• For beginners, if you are not able to touch the ground with your hands, then fold your hands and hold your right elbow with left hand and left elbow with right hand.

This asana it helps better hair growth because of two reasons:

• If you have noticed, your head is hanging below your heart allowing allows blood to circulate properly in your scalp leading to proper hair growth.
• Another reason is that Uttanasana de-stresses you and relieves you of all anxiety and tensions which is a primary reason for hair loss.

3. Sasangasana (Rabbit pose):

Image: shutterstock

• Sit with your knees on the floor, hips on your heels in Balasana pose (child pose).
• Now put both your hands at the back and hold your heels.
• Place the crown of your head on the floor and slowly inhale and lift up your hips.
• Hold this position until five breaths.
• Exhale as you slowly unroll yourself back to child pose.
• Relax and repeat again.

This asana is again beneficial because while the crown is on the ground, the blood flows to the head. Proper circulation of blood to scalp means good and healthy hair growth.

4. Ustrasana (Camel Pose):

Image: shutterstock

• Sit straight on the floor with your knees in a way that the calves of your knees form right angle.
• Keep hands on your waist, fingers in the front and thumb behind.
• Now bend your spine backward and hold the heels of your feet with your hands or you may also touch the soles of your feet.
• As you bend your spine, also move your face upwards and try looking at the ceiling.
• Hold on this pose for a few seconds and keep your breathing normal.
• Exhale while exiting from this pose.
• Sit in baby pose or Balasana and relax.

Follow some precautions while doing this yoga for good hair:

• For beginners, do not bend backwards too much as it may cause injury to your lower back.
• You need Flexibility for this asana, if your body is stiff, you’ll never be able to complete this asana until the end.

[ Read: Top 10 Yoga Poses For Faster Hair Growth ]

5. Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Dog pose):

Image: shutterstock

• Place yourself with your knees and hands on the ground. Your hands perpendicular to your shoulders and your knees perpendicular with your hips.
• Next push your hips up and alongside straighten your legs too, standing on your toes.
• Pressing your palms to the ground, straighten your spine more.
• To exit from this pose, pull down your hips gently and come back to the first step.

6. Vajrasana (Diamond pose):

Image: shutterstock

• Sit on the floor keeping your spine erect and with stretched legs. Your heels should be together.
• Place your hands by your side palms facing the ground.
• Now you have to fold both your legs, keeping them under your thighs; first the left leg and then the right.
• Place your hands on your upper thighs.
• Sit in a relaxed position and breathe in and out deeply.
• When done, return back to your original posture of sitting with stretched legs.

7. Matsyasana (Fish pose):

Image: shutterstock

• Lie down straight on the floor with your legs together, both your hands should go at the back of your thighs with palms facing downwards.
• Now with pressure on your elbows, pull the mid portion of your upper torso dropping your head a bit more backwards such that the crown of your head touches the ground.
• Your body position will be such that an arch will be formed between your hips and crown. Breathe in deeply and try filling in as much oxygen possible to your respiratory organs.

8. Uttanpadasana (Raised feet pose):

Image: Shutterstock

• Lie on the yoga mat with arms by your side and palms facing the floor.
• Stretch your body and slowly raise your legs at a 45-60 degrees angle from the ground.
• Keep your legs raised for a minute or even more if you can hold it.

This asana allows blood circulation to the scalp and thereby hair follicles allowing it to regrow.

Some other poses that help growth of long and beautiful hair are Sarvangasana (Shoulder stand pose) and Sirshasana (headstand pose). Beginners may have a problem doing these two poses. But as your body becomes flexible with yoga, you’ll find the difficulties fading away gradually. Other than these yoga asana, also practice Anuloma Viloma (alternate nostril breathing) and kapalbhati. They help you become stress-free which mean less hair loss.

Yoga is a natural treatment preventing hair loss and help growth of new hair. Practice yoga for long hair every day in the morning with an empty stomach for best results.