When life hands you lemons, make air freshener!

Commercial air fresheners can be expensive and are made using many artificial ingredients. Create your own air fresheners using spices you probably already have in your kitchen for a greener and less costly alternative. Natural air fresheners can freshen your home without artificial ingredients. It’s super easy to make and made the house smell incredible in less than 20 minutes, sans harmful chemicals.

What’s Needed:

• One lemon
• A few springs of fresh rosemary
• 1 Tbsp of vanilla essence (you don’t need to waste the real stuff, as vanilla essence does the trick).
• 2 cups water
• Medium-sized pot

What to Do:

• Cut the lemon into thin slices
• Prune your rosemary bush of a few, longer stems
• Cover with water
• Add the vanilla essence
• Let simmer on a very low setting until desired smell is reached throughout your home; check periodically to ensure the water is still covering all ingredients, top up if needed.

A fresh and tangy, yet sweet and creamy smell that reminds me of Spring A great and green way to make your home smell divine!

Water is good for you!

Health experts use to say that the average person should drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water daily. Now it is said that exactly how much water you should drink each day depends on your size, recommend drinking half an ounce per 1 pound of body weight. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, you should drink 75 ounces of water daily. While we may not need eight glasses, there are plenty of reasons to drink water. Fluid losses occur continuously, from skin evaporation, breathing, urine, and stool; these losses must be replaced daily for good health.

10 Reasons to Drink Water Consistently

• It helps with weight loss/ get full faster with water
• You get a healthier workout when hydrated
• It improves the feel, appearance and overall health of the skin
• It keeps you regular, as it aids the digestive system
• It helps remove toxins in the body
• You gain and retain more energy
• Taking in more fluid reduces water retention
• It improves the hair’s moisture level
• It’s free

Need a little assistance with your water intake? There’s an app for that! It helps you track how much water you drink a day, ultimately motivating you to consume enough throughout the day and stay consistent with it as well. Go to the app store on your cell and look up “Hydrate.”

Love Your Hair,

Jane

Our habits have a horrible hold over us. I’m not speaking of the obvious small bad habits; I’m talking about the insidious little behaviors, beliefs and attitudes that we allow ourselves to get away with…even though we “know” they are not empowering because we criticize others for clinging to them! Growth isn’t automatic.

“Growth demands a temporary surrender of security.”

Growth begins when we begin to accept our own weakness. If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we really are not living. Give up the familiar, let go of the security you know in exchange for something new and greater. Embrace that feeling vulnerable doesn’t mean being weak and that being uncomfortable doesn’t have to mean paralyzing uncertainty.

There is strength in vulnerability, there is life in change.

Love Your Hair,

Jane

Q: I haven’t had a relaxer in “x” years, but I have straighter pieces of hair. Why?

A: Whether your hair is chemically processed or natural, too much heat can hurt it. This pertains to daily heat abuse to your hair through the use of flat irons, heat can cause irreversible effects especially if applying high heat. Thermal damage causes curls and kinks to become limp waves or even lifeless straight strands. You may not be relaxing your hair but your flat iron can give similar effects, creating permanently straight pieces. (eeeeek!)

Always use a leave-in conditioner like Jane Carter Solution Revitalizing Leave-In Conditioner that seals in vital panthenol and humectants. This amazingly light product triples as a detangler, re-hydrator and heat protectant.

Love Your Hair,

Jane

Individually, Hair Nourishing Cream and Hair Nourishing Serum are remarkable…combined, they’re magic! Have you visited our Mixology page to learn how to “mix it up”?

This blend of products is particularly effective on fine hair, but can be used on all types of hair. It adds absolutely no weight – just great natural shine. Blend a pea-sized dab of Hair Nourishing Cream with a couple of drops of Hair Nourishing Serum in the palm of your hand. I promise this awesome combination will leave your hair soft, nourished, and shiny. It fortifies hair, reduces fly-aways and seals the cuticles.

Learn how to mix it up and how Jane Carter Solution products can work for you!

Love Your Hair,

Jane

Approximately 100 women gathered last week at Georgia State University to join a discussion entitled, “Black Women, Their Hair & the Work Place – a Dialogue”. The panel met to contemplate the idea that their skills, talent and intelligence could be overshadowed by a hairstyle…and more often than not, the concern is based on women of color sporting their natural hair.

“You’re talking about being polished and (having) interview skills and yet no one is addressing the fact that natural black hair has been traditionally seen as not polished on its own whether it’s well cared for or not,” said James Bailey, chief executive officer of Operation HOPE and a panelist at the event, “so basically it’s all about maintaining the Eurocentric standpoint.”

Yes, the hair that grows naturally from the roots of our heads could be contributing to the growing unemployment rates…BAFFLING.

How do you feel about sporting natural hair (locs, afros, curls, braids, etc) in the workplace? And do you encounter any questions or issues from coworkers?

Love Your Hair,

Jane