Uses for used tea bags

1. Soothe tired eyes. 

Just place a chilled used tea bag over your closed eyes until the puffiness subsides. You can also use warm, wet teabags as a compress to soothe the pain of pinkeye. Bonus tip: Place teabags on your eyes for 15 minutes and reduce under eye circles.

2. Make canker sores feel better. 

Chill a used tea bag in the freezer. Once it’s cold, place it on your canker sore. The cold plus the tea’s healing properties will help your sore feel better faster.

3. Heal sunburned skin. 

Throw used tea bags in a bath and soak in it after a long day in the sun. The cooling and calming effects of the tea will provide relief.

4. Stop a minor nick from bleeding. 

When a kitchen injury strikes while slicing and dicing, staunch the blood flow fast by saturating a black tea bag with hot water, then holding it against the injury for 30 seconds. The tannins in the tea will quickly clot the blood so you can cover the cut with a bandage and get back to whipping up your delicious dinner.

5. Put a soaked tea bag on a bruise to heal it faster. 

Ruptured capillaries, the smallest blood vessels in the body, create bruises. The tannins will constrict blood vessels which will stop the blood flow that causes bruising.

6. Clean the house. 

Re-steep your used tea bags in cold water to make a weak tea. Use this mixture to scrub linoleum or countertops. Additionally, use the teabags to rub furniture and floor scratches to make them disappear.

7. Fertilize your plants. 

Used tea bags make a great addition to any compost pile! Don't have a compost pile? Used tea bags can be nestled in your potted plants to help protect them from drying out between waterings.

8. Kill dust mites. 

Carefully spray diluted black tea on the carpet to kill dust mites. Color-test the tea first in an inconspicuous spot.

9. Tenderize a tough cut of meat. 

The secret to tender, juicy skirt and flank steaks: Steep four or five black tea bags in 1 cup of water for 10 minutes, then combine with an equal amount o of double-strength beef stock (homemade or store-bought) and marinate the meat in the mixture for 20 minutes. The teas tannins will break down fiber that make the beef tough.

10. Rust-proof your cast-iron cookware. 

Guarantee your trusty skillet stays rust-free by wiping it with a damp. used black tea bag after every cooking session. The tea's tannins will coat the pan with an invisible protective layer that prevents rust-causing oxidation.

http://www.mindbodygreen.com

Elephants and Feng Shui

Nine ways the elephant can be used in a home:
1. Bringing good luck into the home — Place a statue of an elephant, or a pair of elephants, at the front door facing inward to signal good luck and blessings entering the home.
2. Protection— Place an elephant or pair of elephants facing outward to protect the home and to prevent the loss of chi from the home.
3. Promote love and fidelity – Display an elephant or a pair of elephants in the bedroom to promote love and faithfulness between a couple..
4. Bonding between mother and child – Place a statue of a mother elephant and her baby, a symbol of the love and bonding between a mother and her children, in your Family or Children section to strengthen the bond.
5. Fertility – Place an elephant statue beside the bed or place a pair, one on either side of the bedroom door, to welcome in “infant” energy.
6. Knowledge and academic success – Place a statue in your child’s bedroom, on his or her desk, or wherever s/he does homework.  The elephant is a symbol of knowledge and academic success.
7. Energize the Career area – Place an elephant near the door or the Career area to symbolize wisdom and power.
8. Work success – Place an elephant near the front door or the door of the office to attract power and to protect the person from bad energy in the office.
9. Good management – Place an elephant on your work desk facing out to symbolize intelligent leadership, poise under pressure, and cautiousness.
 –Gabriele Amersbach, Lucky Path Feng Shui

http://luckypath-fengshui.com

Facts about soaps

Many different oils, fats and butters are used in the manufacture of soap. These “fats” have different beneficial fatty acids that contribute to the properties of the soap. For example; olive oil contains mainly oleic acid that produces small, mild and creamy bubbles, coconut oil contains nearly 50% lauric acid which makes big, fat, open, fluffy bubbles and sunflower oil contains mainly linoleic acid which produces big, open conditioning bubbles. So the skill of the soapmaker comes into practice with the combining of various oils and fats in the correct proportions that will produce the best lather possible but keep the soap gentle and mild while leaving a nice soothing after-feel on the skin [not the squeaky clean, feeling tight and rough as some soaps do].

Soap removes grease and dirt from the skin because some of its components are surfactants (surface-active agents). Surfactants have a molecular structure that acts as a connecting link between water and the dirt. This loosens the particles of dirt, stale make-up, grease etc. from the skin. One end of the molecule is hydrophilic (attracted to water), and the other is hydrophobic (attracted to substances that are not water soluble).

So, soap is a very effective cleanser, but it is much more! Some ingredients that you see on many popular soaps do not have any beneficial effects for the skin, in fact, they can cause problems such as allergies for many users e.g. perfume - you will see this on most soap ingredients listing. This is a man-made chemical fragrance, simply an aroma that has no therapeutic qualities and can be toxic and irritating for many skin types. In fact, over 70% of women claim to suffer from sensitive skin at some time in their life for various reasons. Therefore the most important thing about our soaps is that they contain NO artificial, chemical fragrances, only aromatherapy quality essential oils that do have beneficial therapeutic properties for the skin. In fact, all essential oils are gently antiseptic in their action and many are corrective for different skin problems, especially when there is an imbalance i.e. overly dry or overly greasy. We use a generous amount of essential oils in all our products that not only smell delicious but have a positive effect for the skin.

http://www.gswoa.com/index.php/pages/goodsoapworks-facts-about-soap.html