How to Whiten Yellow Nails

How to whiten your yellow nails - If you have a problem with stained nails the first thing I'd recommend is to take the polish off and keep it that way for as long as you can, at least a month. This is the number one cause of yellowing nails. Secondly scrub your nails with toothpaste. This will remove some staining and help add a shine to the nails. Next, Take one tablespoon of lemon juice(natural bleaching agent) and the same of baking powder and mix together well to form a paste. Apply a small dot of the paste to the center of each fingernail. With the help of a buffer you'll want to gently buff each nail, don't overdo it by buffing too much. Now you can wash your hands again and pat dry. Massage a rich hand cream into the hands and nails. After doing this once per week you can get ready for polish. I'd start with a clear hardener or strengthener. Dark polishes are the worst for creating staining. If you must use a dark polish ALWAYS use a basecoat so it doesn't seep into the nail.

Hair Moisturizing Mask-Use eggs. If you are like me and make egg whites for breakfast, save the yolks instead of throwing them away. The protein in them will help strengthen your hair and moisturize it. Mix up 2 whole eggs whipped, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 of lime juice(lime juice optional-perks up curly hair). Leave on your hair for 20-30 minutes and tuck under a plastic shower cap. Add heat for better penetration such as a hairdryer or a heating pad and hot towel over the shower cap. Finish by shampooing hair twice and rinsing thoroughly.

Fixing Foot Odor-Baking soda is a gentle alkaline powder that will neutralize odor-causing acids by restoring your skin's pH level. Once a week create a relaxing food bath by adding ½ cup of baking soda to about 2 Gallons of water in your tub. Soak your feet for about 10-15 minutes. As you are draining the water, put a couple drops of peppermint or rosemary oil on each foot. This will create better circulation in the feet and a minty zing. Finish by rinsing feet, pat them dry and then ensure you use a lotion or foot cream to keep feet well moisturized.

Got the Flu?- One of the most useful tips is to get out the hydrogen peroxide and place a clean cotton swab in the bottle. Use both ends of the swab and stick one into each ear every hour. This works to speed up the healing and recovery process of the flu. My husband just tried this again this week and it works!

Recipe for Soft Skin & Prevent Yeast Infections-Add 1/4 Cup of Apple Cider Vinegar to a bath instead of bubble bath. It will soften your skin and protect from getting yeast infections, unlike soaps that are often the cause of yeast infections.

Karla Davis [LINK]

Things that Irritate Us Most !

Telemarketing calls, bad drivers and poor customer service are our most irritating bugbears, 4400 people have confirmed.

Inventions of modern life such as spam email, inconsiderate mobile phone use and speech recognition answering services rated significantly higher on the aggravation scale than longstanding irritants such as barking dogs and having to wait in line.

The results, released today, reveal the majority of Australians think the number of daily hassles and irritating situations we endure has increased in the past five years.

From a list of 32 common daily hassles, respondents were asked to indicate which irritated them.

Inconsiderate behaviour - including dinner-time telemarketing calls, talking to a "robot" and not a "real person", unfriendly or uncaring customer service, driving dangerously to get ahead of traffic, competing for a car space or queue jumping - was a universal annoyance.

People older than 40 experienced more irritation around technology, violence (on TV and on the streets) and bad language than younger respondents.

The Australian Psychological Society, which conducted the nationwide survey, said an individual's response to stress could have an adverse impact on health, leading to high blood pressure, anxiety and relationship troubles. Spokeswoman Amanda Gordon said that while a large majority of respondents didn't retaliate or become physically or verbally aggressive, most people tended to be passive, preferring to talk themselves through the situation, talk to someone else or plan how to avoid the situation again.

She said people needed to learn how to be assertive to deal with situations that really get under their skin. "We know that not responding in an assertive way can [affect] self-esteem and, in some cases, even lead to anxiety or depression."

The best way to deal with an irritating situation was to state the other person's need, state your own, then find a compromise that tried to meet everyone's needs, she said.

"Being assertive is not generally a skill that comes naturally to us and requires effort and training but helps to ensure a 'win-win' outcome."

The top strategies participants used to manage their irritations included

humour (36 %),

taking a few deep breaths and staying calm (32 %),

talking themselves through the issue (28 %),

talking to someone else (27 %),

planning how to avoid getting into the same situation again (23 %)

and exercising (21 %).

The Sun-Herald

How can you tell if a guy likes you?

Well, it's quite simple. What I'm going to share with you are some ways to tell if a man likes you. Once you know the clues guys use, you'll probably see that they're are alot of guys making moves on you, you just couldn't tell. Here are ways to tell if a guy likes you:

If he's always being really nice to you.

I know there are alot of nice guys out there. But if a guy is always holding the door for you, telling you how pretty you look, wishing you a good day, asking how your day was, then there's a good chance he likes you.

If you catch a guy always looking at you.

If you're at work and you notice that a certain guy is always looking at you. Then, he likes you. He's probably trying to build up enough courage to come talk to you.

Another way to tell if a man likes you is if he's always being friendly.

Some guys are nervous and shy, so to get to know you, they will try being your friends. If he always wants to hangout, come over to your house, ask if you need anything fixed around the house, or wants to always take you out to eat at lunch time at work, then he likes you.

If a guys is always talking about what he wants in life and his future,

he's telling you because he's interested in you. He's probably also telling you to impress you. It's what guys do to get women interested in them.

Another way to tell that a guy likes you is a tricky one.

If he picks on you all the time or is always giving you "love" taps, he's interested. Guys do this hoping you'll finally get the clue that they like you. If a man is doing any of the five things I outlined, he probably likes you. There are alot of men who are bashful, nervous around women, or playing hard to get like you. When around women they like, men sometimes act foolish or do things that doesn't make any sense.

Now that you know how to tell if a man likes you, the next time you have your eye set on Mr. Right, you'll know if he likes you or not.

Marc DeAngelo

Mom's Wisdom

My Mom is in her seventies, and has seen a lot in her lifetime. She faced challenges that we all face one way or the other.

She has seen successes and many happy times throughout her life.

Recently, we were talking and I asked her if she could give me just three pieces of advice to live my life what would they be.

After some thought, she said she would have to think about it. It surprised me that she wanted time to think about it.

She always was free with her advice sometimes even when I didn't want to hear it.

I arrived at her house the next day where she handed me a piece of paper with her three pieces of wisdom written out.

She explained to me that if she was only able to give me three, that these three were the most important.

As I read them, I realized the importance of what she was telling me. She wasn't telling me to save my money, nor was she telling me to work hard.

Her 3 most important things to live a happy life were truly pieces of wisdom.

What were they? Here is the wisdom my Mom shared with me:

1. Make each new day count by helping someone or just making someone smile.

2. Don't dwell on life's troubles, think of the good times.

3. Don't worry about things you can't do anything about.

This was an interesting thing to do.

Perhaps, like me, you have someone in your life that has been there for you, no matter what. My Mom has always been one of my biggest supporters and the wisdom she has given me over the years has helped shaped the person I am today.

Ask that person in your life to give you three pieces of advice to live a good life. You may be pleasantly surprised by the answers you get.

Credited to:

Catherine Pulsifer

Guide to Escaping Materialism and Finding Happiness

Money can’t buy you love. It can’t buy you happiness either.

Today’s materialistic world often urges us to buy the coolest gadgets, the trendiest clothes, bigger and better things, but research shows that possessions and purchases don’t buy us happiness. According to an article on CNN:

By and large, money buys happiness only for those who lack the basic needs. Once you pass an income of $50,000, more money doesn’t buy much more happiness, [according to a happiness studies]. So while we are being pushed towards materialism, it’s for monetary gain by corporations, not for our own happiness. Unfortunately, it’s hard to escape the trap of materialism, and find happiness in other ways than buying stuff online or finding joy in the mall.

But it’s possible. Here’s a guide to finding a materialism-free life and discovering true happiness.

Escaping Materialism

All around us, there are messages telling us to buy stuff. On the Internet (blogs included), we see continuous advertising trying to get us to purchase a product or service. It’s the main reason for television, and movies are continually made with products placed throughout, so that we aren’t always sure what is advertising and what was put in there by the director.

Flip on the radio or open up a newspaper or magazine, and you’re bombarded my more advertising. Go to a shopping center/mall, and the urge to buy comes from every direction.

This message to continually buy, buy, buy … and that it will somehow make us happpier … is drilled into our heads from the days of Happy Meals and cartoons until the day we die. It’s inescapable.

Well, almost. You could go and live in a cabin in the woods (and that actually sounds nice), or you could still live in our modern society, but find ways to escape materialism.

Here are some suggestions:

* Limit television.

Do you really enjoy watching TV for hours? Think about which shows you really, really love, and only watch during that time. When the commercials come on, go do something else. Or use Tivo to watch TV. You can even give up cable TV entirely, if you’re brave — I have, and it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done.

* Eschew the news.

Journalists will never tell you this, but if they’re completely honest, they’ll confess that the most important part of any news company, from TV or radio news to Internet or print new, is the advertising division. It’s the division that pays the paychecks of the rest of the company. The news is important in driving traffic to the advertising. So when you’re watching or reading news, you’re really being sucked in to advertising. Try this instead: boycott the news for a week. I’ve done it for about two years, and it hasn’t hurt me a bit. In fact, it’s helped me a lot.

* Limit Internet reading.

I’m not saying you should cancel your cable Internet subscription or anything. I love reading blogs. But find just those that you truly love reading, that give you the most value, and limit your reading to those. And just do it once a day, for 30 minutes or so. If you can do that, you’ve gone a long way towards tearing yourself away from advertising.

* Give up magazines for books.

Magazines are also designed with advertising in mind. And they rarely give you much value. Try reading an ad-free book instead. It’s a much better use of your time.

* Don’t go to the mall or Walmart.

The only purpose of these places is for you to spend money. If you just want a place to spend your Saturday afternoon, find a place where you don’t need to spend money to have fun — a park or a beach, for example. If you need to buy something, go to a single store (not the mall) and go in and get what you need. Don’t browse and walk around looking at stuff. You’ll get sucked in.

* Monitor your urges.

When you’re online, or watching TV, or at a store, keep track of the number of times you want to buy something. Keep a little notebook or index card, and just put tally marks. Once you become more aware of your urges to buy things, you can start to control them. If you could control them, limiting your consumption of media (see above tips) isn’t really necessary — although I would argue that it still gives you a better quality of life.

* Use a 30-day list.

If you still really want to buy something, put it on a list, and write down the date you added the item to the list. Now tell yourself you cannot buy that item for 30 days. It might be difficult, but you can do it. When the 30 days have passed, if you still want it, then buy it. But you can’t buy anything (besides essentials like groceries) without putting it on the list for 30 days first. Many times, our urges to buy something will pass during this waiting period.

* Declutter.

I find it pretty amazing to see all the crap I buy over a period of years, when I go through my closets and other possessions and start getting rid of stuff I don’t use or want anymore. It’s a gratifying process, and at the same time, it makes me realize how useless all our consumer shopping is. I don’t need any of the stuff! When you do this, you may be less likely to buy more stuff. Especially if you enjoy the decluttered look of your house as much as I do.

* Find other forms of entertainment.

There are other things to do besides watch TV or movies or read magazines or newspapers or the Internet. Try playing sports or exercising, or playing board games or creating art or writing or reading a book. Try doing fun things with your kids or visiting relatives and other loved ones. Try volunteering with a charity. I’m sure you could come up with 100 free or cheap things to do.

* Buy used.

When you get the urge to buy something, and you’re convinced that it’s needed, try finding it used instead of new. Look in thrift shops or garage sales or flea markets or similar places.

A True Path to Happiness

So, if you’re able to escape materialism, how can you find true happiness? There are many ways, and each of us is different, but here are some things I suggest trying:

* Grateful list.

Make a list of things about which you’re grateful in your life. Give thanks for them daily.

* Think positive.

Try eliminating negative thinking from your life, and thinking positive instead.

* Small pleasures.

Make a list of small things that give you great pleasure. Sprinkle them throughout your day. Notice other small pleasures as you go through your day.

* Kindness.

Practice random acts of kindness and compassion. Do it anonymously. Help those in need. Volunteer. Make someone smile.

* Love.

Make an intimate connection with your loved ones. Develop your friendships. Spend time with them, converse, understand them, make them happy.

* Health.

Exercise and eat healthy — it sounds trite, but it can bring great happiness to your life.

* Meaning.

It’s often useful to find meaning, either through a church or spiritual way, or through those we love in life or through the things we’re passionate about. Give yourself a purpose.

* Flow.

Eliminate distractions, and really pour yourself into whatever you’re doing. If it’s writing an article, like this one, really put yourself into it, until you forget the outside world.

* Know yourself.

Become attuned to what brings you happiness. Study yourself. Learn about what you love, and about your ability to love. Increase your capacity for compassion. [LINK]