Natural, Healthy Hairspray

Hairspray is a great tool for Diva-riffic hair...but it's alcohols and chemicals can make a mess of your hair.

Here's a recipe for a homemade spray that is gentle on your locks, and smells great!

You'll need:

One lemon

2C water

One large, or a couple small spray bottles

1 TBS vodka- cheap stuff ok

A medium saucepan

A medium bowl

A strainer, or cheesecloth

Chop the lemon inside the bowl, so that all the juice stays with it. Neatness doesn't matter.

Add the lemon, it's juice, and the water to the saucepan. Simmer on low until the liquid has been reduced by about half.

Strain and pour into your bottle(s).

Add the vodka, and a little water if necessary to make it thin enough to spray.

This spray can also be made without the vodka, but must be stored in the fridge.

For more great homemade beauty, visit me at Just a Mommy Here

Ten Dieting Tips For REAL Women

We don't live in Hollyweird, with our private chefs, Pilate's gurus, and personal trainers. We are real women, in the real world. We have 15 minute dinners before scouts, laundry for a million children, and the soft bellies that carried said children.

BUT, we can still be fit, healthy mommas if we diet smart.

Here are a few things you can do to help:

• 1. Use a child's or salad plate.
• 2. Limit your juice to one 8oz serving a day. Juice has just as many calories as soda.
• 3. Since you cut down on your juice, grab more fruit. Whole fruit is filled with healthy, tummy filling fiber.
• 4. Eat at home. Most restaurant entrees have 1000-2000 calories. Do you want to use up your whole day's worth at one spot?
• 5. DON'T SKIP MEALS! It causes nothing more than binge eating later, an a slow metabolism all day.
• 6. Keep bags of frozen veggies and pre-cooked chicken on hand for quick, easy low-cal meals.
• 7. Brush your teeth after dinner. Who wants to re-brush them after a nighttime snack?
• 8. Yoga isn't just for hippies. An hour-long class burns ad many calories as an hour of walking, and relaxes, as well as builds muscle tone.
• 9. Do bars grow on trees? Nope...ditch the chemical-filled fad bars for healthy, natural snacks such as fruit, veggies, nuts, or even a glass of low fat milk.
• 10. Start small. Little changes over time can make a big impact. Don't let yourself get too overwhelmed by too many changes at once.

Denise Austin: Get your free fitness success plan!

Petroleum Jelly- Not Just for Babies Bottoms!

Here's some easy-peasy beauty tricks with petroleum jelly:

• Have pink, wind-burned cheeks? Dab on a bit of jelly to soften and heal the damaged skin.
• Next time you are running out the door and find your lip balm, or gloss, has been eaten by a dog, child, or just plain lost, don't fret- a bit of petroleum jelly will do the trick!
  
• That dab of jelly on your lips felt nice, huh? Now you want to use it all the time? Ok, make your own fruity lip gloss: Take a glob of jelly, a bit of sugar-free(the pre-sweetened) "Kool-Aid" type mix, and plop it into a small paper cup. Microwave for a few seconds at a time, until all is melted and can be mixed together. Put into an old lipgloss pot, or another similar sized container, (Gatorade lids work awesome for this if you're a cheapy-recycler like me!) And let cool. Use. Yummy.
• Petroleum jelly also is great for removing stubborn waterproof makeups, like mascara. And it's way cheaper that the bottled stuff!
• Help your perfume last allllllllll night- rub a tiny bit of jelly onto your pulse points before you spray your scent- and it will stick with you all night!
• A dab of it can also help tame wild brow hairs. Dab it on, and use your brow comb to neatly smooth hairs into place.
  

Did You Get a Facelift?

Did you know that the shape of your eyebrows makes a difference in the way your face looks? With the right shape eyebrows you can look younger, like you had a facelift (but without the expense and pain).

Here are the face shapes and the shape your eyebrows should be:

Round: High arched eyebrows where the peak is toward the end of the brow and the tail is short
Oval: Looks great with any eyebrow shape
Square: The peak should be close to being directly above the square of the jaw.
Heart: The eyebrows should be rounded.
Long: Looks best with a flat brow to avoid further elongation
Diamond: More rounded or peaked eyebrow to narrow the width

What shape face do you have? Try a new eyebrow shape and see what a difference it makes.