Chemicals, chemicals, chemicals

OK, let me start with this:

Now go grab your favorite "beauty product" and read the ingredients.
It's basically CANCER IN A BOTTLE.

But here's the thing, all these products are new (1920's), how did humans survive before that?!

Sure, in the Middle Ages they rarely bathed in Europe because the water wasn't clean.. but before that, or in different parts of the world, people only used natural things for health and beauty.
That doesn't mean that The Body Shop has it, in fact their products contain the same crap, just marketed better.

Instead, the answer lies in your garden or kitchen. Or simply in your bathroom.

I stopped using shampoo/conditioner/cream on June 6th. I only wash my hair with water, and guess what? it's thicker, stronger and happier! I use natural oil (coconut or cactus) if I swim in the sea because seawater dries it up, but other than that, JUST WATER :D

My hair after 3 months of no chemicals :)

As for people with oily hair, it will be hard to suddenly stop using shampoo, you will have to use sodium bicarbonate to remove the layer of silica most of your products have been coating your scalp with. You can find that in a pharmacy or supermarket. Just take a spoon of powder, put some water on it, it will foam and you can use that instead of shampoo for 1-2 weeks :)

Regarding other products: lotion, lip balm, etc. -> coconut oil, almond oil, shea butter.. the list goes on! Even olive oil, it's an amazing make-up remover too :D

Make-up is a tricky one, there are brands that stick to all natural minerals and pigments but they're hard to find.. You have to do your local research and look online for what suits you best.. but honestly you don't need make-up, you're beautiful the way you are!

And lastly, I would like to add two things:

Deodorant: spare yourself the alcohol, salt, and weird names you can't pronounce, just use a strong smelling oil to prevent you from stinking: lavender, tea tree, jasmine, ylang ylang... so many beautiful pure smelling oils out there! Also costs nothing.

Toothpaste: Choose one WITHOUT fluoride, that actually calcifies your brain and leads to all sorts of diseases, we get enough fluoride from our drinking water! FInd a natural herbal toothpaste, or just make some at home! All you need is crushed herb (basil, mint, miswak), sodium bicarbonate and water!
Check this out http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Toothpaste for more details :)

Honey

Honey is an amazing gift from Nature, not only it taste deliciously sweet but it has a wide range of health/beauty applications:

Firstly, it heals any wound, even burns. Apply a thin layer on the wound, let it get absorbed (it might take several hours) and you'll wake up the next day quite surprised :)

You can go a step further and mix it with cinnamon, not only will it speed up the healing process but it can:

A- Serve as an amazing facial for spots and blackheads (the cinnamon is a perfect scrub)

B- Applied to your hair, for several hours, can lighten it because the two ingredients together form hydrogen peroxide

Simply mix equal amounts of each:

Honey is also an amazing moisturiser for your hair, apply and leave on for 1 hour or so, then shower (without using any chemicals), your hair will be super soft and glowing :) Don't worry, honey dissolves almost immediately in water!

And of course, a hot lemonade with honey, cinnamon and ginger is the BEST thing to cure the flu!

Also, try to use it instead of sugar whenever you can! it's more natural, much more beneficial and also heals internal ulcers (mouth, oesophagus, stomach) :D

QUESTION: Do you believe honey is vegan?

"Earning a Living"

So yesterday, we were watching the stars and thinking about our lives... and suddenly we realised we're not living.

We're told to "earn a living" but what does that mean?

Why should you EARN the right to LIVE? to EAT? to be COMFORTABLE?
Why is water not free?!? (At least in this part of the world, there are drinking fountains all over Europe)
Why does food not grow on trees in public gardens and parks?!*
Why is shelter not free?!?!?!??!

Borders create this prison we're in. The land belongs to all of us, we should live together, share water, share food, share shelters, and most of all enjoy being free and not spending this thing called money.

Who are they to tell we need to make money so we can enjoy life?!

Let's go back to the forests, jungles, beaches, mountains...and truly LIVE.

But here's the thing... if you don't want the system and you wish to destroy it, you must find a way through it... For instance if you want to live on the beach you're going to have to buy that piece of land so that it is ''yours'' forever and you can live however you want on it. Plant your food, eat it, poop it, give it back the the Earth and get more food .. the beautiful cycle of Life.

You have to find the hole in the system and drag it down through it. But it all starts with baby steps, and people are already doing this around the globe.. From India to Costa Rica, Ecuador... etc. It's truly inspiring and we are seriously going to do that soon!

* I recently saw a banana tree in front a school next to my house, I'm gonna take one and give the rest to the people living nearby, especially porters and policemen... they get paid almost nothing and they should start planting food for themselves and others!

Starting the raw diet :)

My fiancé and I are devout animal lovers, and have recently decided that we will not eat mammals, they're too cute and the meat industry is too terrible, so unless we find free-range animal farms are we're desperately craving meat, we're going to eliminate it from our diet.

So we started the raw pescetarian diet...well almost.
(You can read more about the benefits of raw food in a previous post)

We will eat all these raw (in salad or juiced):

You can make tons of yummy raw desserts, using nuts, like chocolate mousse:

But we're still Egyptian so we need our legumes!! Fool, lentils, chickpeas... and these can be soaked in water and cooked on low fire over a long period of time.. that way more proteins are preserved and we still stick to our traditions :) They're also full of iron...

Speaking of iron.. It's super important to eat nuts and seeds, which can also be incorporated in amazing raw desserts.

Bird food, yum!

It's still important to remember, everyone is different and we all have our needs. If you're menstruating and feel anaemic and are craving a steak... go for it! Just make sure the cow lived a happy life and actually WALKED, that it didn't get stuck in a roofed building its whole life - heart breaking video here: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xwpkbw_assembly-line-of-death_animals

ANOTHER IMPORTANT POINT: You need fats, and certainly you may get them from eggs and fish (raw) but if you're going vegan, then don't forget to include olive and coconut oil, they're so good for you and you need the lipids!

This might sound a bit controversial, don't hesitate to contact us if you have any philosophical questions.

Don't eat too salty!

Remember your parents telling you not to add too much salt to your food?
Ever heard the countless reminders that too much salt leads to high blood pressure and cardiovascular complications?

Well guess what...

It's not this kinda of salt that is too much for you...

Actually this is what you need to completely eliminate because you've been unknowingly over-saturated with

THIS kind of salt:

When they say "no artifical preservatives" you'll feel like you're buying something healthy...

but they use salt to preserve many packaged foods -if not ALL.

You'd be surprised! Go read what's written on the boxes now!

You can be getting as much as 20% of your recommended daily value (RDV) of salt per SERVING of ONE ingredient.

If you eat a  lot of packaged foods (even cereal, milk, chocolate....) you really shouldn't be adding table salt to your food.

Sorry darlings.

Or you know, just stop buying packaged food and do everything yourself :) It's more rewarding anyway ;)

When you go shopping...

Do you feel better using recycled/recyclable plastic bags?

...

Do you feel better using recycled/recyclable paper bags?

...

Do reusable cotton bags look nicer, feel nicer, and are easier to transport? Not to mention they are multi-use and washable?

Yes :)

Make a change.

DETOX before trying to LOSE WEIGHT

Have you been trying to lose weight by eating less and failed?

That's because your fat stores all the toxins you assimilate through dermal exposure, inhalation or indigestion. It's your body's way of PROTECTING YOU.

If you try to eat less, you are exposing your blood to all these toxins and you probably won't feel amazing.

So what you really need is..

A KICKING IMMUNITY!!

Eat or drink more vitamin C (kiwi, berries, lime and oranges) and perhaps try ALGAE (as capsules or under powdered form: spirulina and chlorella) which you can add to your food and juices.

Among many other things which provide great detox (am I forgetting?! garlic, green tea, and cactus!) algae is amazing, not only because it's so small -one ounce is as beneficial as 10kg of vegetables- but easy to pack, easy to dilute and its taste can easily be masked.

So there's really no point in trying to lose weight, before giving your body a BOOST! Sure you want to exercise as well, ad think you have enough ''fats'' to feed your muscles, but what you really need is those white blood cells wiling to fight away any evil substance.

EAT WELL
EAT GREEN
EXERCISE
SWEAT

AND SMILE! :)

Losing weight is not about thinning, it's about CLEANSING!