!!!!!!!!

Happy Women Day! Neurotoxin

Luminisce Celebrates 10th Anniversary With New Refresh Microtherapy

Luminisce Holistic Skin Innovations, my trusted skin clinic and dermatologist for the past decade, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this month. That’s 10 years of bringing the best beauty treatments, innovations, technology, and practices from all over the globe to the Philippines. I started going to Luminisce back in 2013 at their first outlet in Bonifacio Global City. I had been to other beauty clinics before but it was Dr. Kaycee who really stood out with her personalized treatments and recommendations that were best suited for me.

Now, they have become one of the most popular beauty clinics in the country with other branches at the Podium and in Alabang. To celebrate their 10th year, Luminisce hosted a small get together at the Molito, Alabang branch last week. It was the first time for me to visit this clinic and I was happy that Luminisce is now able to serve their clients in the South.

Before Luminisce even opened its doors, Dr. Kristina “Kaycee” Cuevas Reyes Bacani, made it her mission to bring the best dermatological practices from all over the world home to the Philippines. She completed her Diploma in Dermatology at London’s prestigious King’s College, and furthering her education with a Master of Science degree in Clinical Dermatology at St. John’s Institute of Dermatology.

It is this distinct worldview and experience she brings to the Philippines through Luminisce, now considered to be one of the country’s leading skin and wellness centers. Dr. Kaycee Reyes also makes sure that Luminisce is always at the forefront of technology and innovation, constantly bringing in the latest products and machines so that patients can receive the best, world-class care from the comfort of Luminisce’s clinics. For me, it is simply her personalized care and commitment to each guest that comes in for a consultation that made me become a loyal client of Luminisce until now.

The 10th Anniversary of Luminisce was celebrated with lots of food and drinks for all the guests. We even had sparkling wine early in the morning, but no one was complaining. We were also entertained by a trio of musicians who even performed requested songs.

We also got to talk with Dr. Kaycee herself before our scheduled treatments for the day. Luminisce’s menu of services range from the key essential treatments such as regular facials and neurotoxins like Botox to advanced energy devices and lasers such as Ultherapy, Thermage FLX, Sofwave. Luminisce has also been a recipient of multiple awards from prestigious companies and awarding bodies such as Merz, Lutronic, and Dermasia. Last 2019, Luminisce was recognized as the No.1 provider of Ultherapy in the Philippines.

For today, I will be trying out a new treatment called Refresh Microtherapy, so I got ready in one of their treatment rooms for some beauty pampering. Refresh Microtherapy is a new treatment that was pioneered in the Philippines by Luminisce, which is known for their bespoke approach to treatments. Oily skin has always been a problem for many women. Refresh Microtherapy claims to be able to tighten pores and significantly reduce oiliness, keeping all that grease and acne at bay.

We started our session with some topical anesthesia cream applied to my face. This will numb the skin because there will be some injections done later. Refresh Microtherapy involves the use of a 24-karat gold microneedling device to deliver a specially mixed cocktail deep into the skin.

A sample of blood was drawn from my arm and put into a centrifuge machine in order to extract the Platelet-Rich Plasma, which is then mixed into a cocktail. The cocktail is a special mix of a growth factor, neurotoxins, and non-cross-linked hyaluronic acid. Growth factors are skin rejuvenating ingredients that help stimulate tissue regeneration and renewal. These are found in our own platelet-rich plasma.

The special cocktail that contains all three ingredients regulates sweat and sebum production, resulting in an overall decrease in acne and visible pore tightening. It also visibly improves the skin’s sheen and gives it a radiant glow, minus all the grease. It also helps regulate melanin for a more even skin tone, and restores and regenerates collagen for added plumpness.

The cocktail is then injected slowly into the skin using the tiny injections on the bottle. Don’t worry, It wasn’t painful at all because of the anesthesia, so I just relaxed as the nurse completed this step.

The next procedure to be done was the injection of Botox. These neurotoxins are commonly injected into patients to preserve structure, smooth wrinkles, and lift the skin. You’ll commonly hear of Botox being used to help inhibit excessive sweating on the hands, face, and armpits. In the case of Refresh Microtherapy, neurotoxins are added into the cocktail to decrease sebum production—the decrease in sebum leads to the reduction of acne and the visible shinkage of pores.

My face was a bit reddish after the procedure but only for a short while. There’s no downtime or need to stay indoors after the procedure, so I even went straight to another event afterwards. I looked as fresh as a daisy!

While waiting for me, my husband Dexter also had his own personalized treatment done at Luminisce. He always had a problem with deep acne scars and marks on his face, so Dr. Kaycee recommended him to do their Dermablate Laser Service.

The Dermablate Laser is the gold standard for the safe and gentle removal of lesions on the surface of the skin and on the dermis, providing effective treatment without any thermal damage. This ultra-precise laser is your go-to for addressing long-term scars and marks, and for removing skin tags.

If you want to experience the same beauty treatments from Luminisce, you may schedule a consultation with a Luminisce dermatologist by visiting or calling any of their clinics. New patients can even get a discount on their treatments by posting a photo of the promotion on their social media accounts. Luminisce has continued offering world-class service to its loyal clients, and I am happy to have been part of their journey. Congratulations once again to Luminisce on your 10th Anniversary!

Luminisce Holistic Skin Innovations

2/F Mercury Drug Bldg., 32nd Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig (0977-8044601)

4/F The Podium Mall, 18 ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong (0917-1684661)

Unit 5 Bldg. 8 Molito Lifestyle Center, Madrigal Avenue, Alabang, Muntinlupa (0917-8984661)

http://luminisce.com

Instagram: @Luminisce_official

Facebook: @Luminisce

YouTube: Luminisce Doc Kaycee

Happy International Women’s Day to GLaDOS. Killing test subjects with neurotoxin is such a girlboss moment.

Happy Autism Awareness/Acceptance Day 2020!

To me, true awareness and acceptance go hand-in-hand. I still don’t mind the word “awareness,” since most people, even people who think they’re spreading Autism awareness, aren’t totally aware of what it is or what it’s like. But I also love calling it Autism Acceptance Day, because that’s what we need more than anything. 

To spread some awareness, I’d like to address some misconceptions about Autism and share some other thoughts I wish people knew/understood.

1. Autists/Aspies do not lack empathy. 

I found this thing and it explains it super well so I’ll just leave it here:

Imagine a scenario where you say something totally innocent and it triggers the person you’re talking to. They start flying off the handle at you and you don’t know why. But because they’re angry, you are, too. But since you don’t know why they’re angry, you don’t know why you’re angry, either. It’s crazy overwhelming and confusing. And you want to fix whatever you did because you don’t want this other person to be angry or hurt, but you don’t know how, because their all-consuming rage makes it really hard to think and try to put yourself in their shoes. Also, you’re scared on top of it all.

That’s what having high affective and compassionate empathy and low cognitive empathy is like. It’s not that we don’t care. It’s that we care too much, and all the super specific nuances of socializing are things we have to learn one at a time, through either our mistakes or others’ mistakes. These things don’t come naturally to us, but it’s not like we can’t learn. If I were to compare math to socializing, it’s like you all have calculators or other doohickeys to do all the math for you and we just have paper and a pencil... and no eraser. 

2. Autism is not a mental illness to be “cured.”

Now don’t get me wrong, I am ALL FOR people finding ways to help us be able to deal with the world better, whether that’s a better diet, items to block out sensory stimuli or items that stimulate, or counselling that can help us navigate social situations and talk through anxiety and/or depression. But those things don’t “cure,” us because Autism isn’t a disease or something wrong with us. Autism gives us different challenges, sure, but neutotypicals have their own challenges. 

The symptoms typically associated with “low-functioning,” Autism don’t necessarily have to be a part of Autism. Many non-verbal kids grow up to be verbal. That doesn’t mean they stopped being autistic. There was a celebrity mom years ago who claimed to “cure” her son’s Autism with a gluten-free dairy-free diet. He’d been so trapped in his head, he couldn’t engage with the world around him. She altered his diet and one day he laughed at Spongebob, and that was a turning point. He became able to interact with people and react to things on TV. It was a huge breakthrough. But he was still autistic. If you were to have plopped me down on a rug as a toddler next to a toddler like this celebrity’s son before his altered diet, you wouldn’t think I was autistic at all by comparison. But I was, and I am.

Autism is a different neurological blueprint, and yes, brain-healthy diets and detoxes can do wonders for us because it seems like our brain type does make us more susceptible to negative effects from neurotoxins. But if you think someone has lost their Autism just because “the bad parts,” went away... no. That’s not how it works.

3. Not everyone is “a little autistic.” 

When I was newly diagnosed and trying to process it, someone told me something along the lines of, there there, we’re all a little autistic. But that’s not true. There are a lot of traits associated with this brain type, and yes, a neurotypical person can have a few of them. That doesn’t make them a little autistic. To be considered autistic at all, you’d have to have a large number of quirks plus social delays (not associated with excessive technology use), odd or repetitive behaviors, unusual and intense interests, communication struggles, and unusual sensory processing. Suppose you’re white. If you are white, this should be easy to imagine. Say an African American just told you about some of the challenges they’ve faced, whether it’s race-based bullying in school or racial profiling later on. Would it be appropriate to say, “There there, we’re all a little black?” NO. One, it’s false. Two, while all people struggle with stuff because to be human is to struggle sometimes, the struggles of different groups of people are totally different, and you can’t say you know exactly what it’s like or pretend everyone’s the same. We all have equal dignity and worth, but beyond that, everyone’s different. Don’t pretend differences don’t exist. Just value them.

4. Autism doesn’t have a “look.”

When I tell people I’m autistic, this is usually what I hear: “Wow! I wouldn’t have guessed! You don’t look autistic.”  ...What does that even mean??? Is it supposed to be a compliment? Because if it’s a compliment I “don’t look autistic,” then that’s kind of an insult to other autistic people. Or do they mean it like, “I don’t believe you’re really autistic because I have a preconceived idea of what an autistic person looks like and you don’t fit the bill so I’m not going to give you grace if you act weird?” I don’t know. Y’all say weird things too, sometimes, ya know? But Autism doesn’t have a look. There is a sort of distant intensity in our gaze sometimes... and I can legit see it when Jim Parsons plays Sheldon Cooper, but when I see an interview with him as himself, it’s gone. It’s not a fixed feature of our faces, and a talented NT could totally put it on.

5. Autism presents itself differently in boys and girls.

You know how not a lot of people know the symptoms of heart attacks in women because mainly people only talk about what a heart attack is like for men? It’s kinda like that with Autism, too. Typically when you hear about Autism, you’re hearing about the signs and symptoms in boys. Even most pediatricians only know to look for the way it presents in boys, which is how so many girls don’t get a diagnosis until later in life, if ever.  One difference is that, for whatever reason, girls tend to be better at nonverbal communication and taking hints. We’re mimics. Chameleons. We take on the mannerisms of those around us and who we see on TV as we force ourselves to adapt. Verbal boys might speak at unusual volumes or with an unusual voice, rhythm, or cadence, but verbal girls learn to mimic the speech patterns of others. Our special interests/obsessions aren’t typically seen as strange given our age and sex. For example, a six-year-old autistic boy might be fascinated by WWII. I was interested in fetal development. People thought, “What’s so weird about that? She’s a little girl who loves babies.” We often play with Barbies or other dolls long after our peers have stopped. It helps autistic girls process social situations. When I was shamed out of liking Barbies, I started writing stories in notebooks or in my head. Autistic boys usually struggle with social communication from an early age, but autistic girls usually don’t have any major communication struggles until adolescence, when relationships, platonic or romantic, get way more complicated.  Since little autistic girls can mimic their neurotypical peers, and since some doctors only know how to look for Autism in boys, we tend to fly under the radar, causing that huge gender gap in diagnoses.

6. Mental illness is common with Autism, but NOT part of it.

I read an article by an autist in the UK who struggles to get help for his anxiety or depression because therapists have brushed him off, saying “Well, that’s just part of being Autistic, so it can’t be helped.” NO! Just like neurotypicals can be mentally healthy or unhealthy, Autistic people can be mentally healthy or unhealthy. Just because something is common for us doesn’t mean it’s how it’s supposed to be, or that it’ll always be that way, or that it’s part of who we are and we need to embrace it. People with mental illnesses should be embraced (literally or figuratively, depending on what they’re comfortable with). Mental illnesses should not be embraced. Ever. Because autistic kids and adults often face abuse, bullying, discrimination, and are ostracized, anxiety (especially social anxiety) and depression are common for us. In more serious cases, especially in autistic teens and young adults, dissociative disorders can develop. What’s worse, it doesn’t take much looking to find the dark corners of the internet where people, autistic or not, are encouraged to embrace their developing dissociative thoughts and feelings. I once saw an interview with someone who found healing from a dissociative disorder, and she gets emails every day from others with the same disorder she had who regret some of the things they were talked into doing while living with the condition and  who want to find the healing she did. She said many of them are autistic and under the age of twenty-five. Autistic people with mental illnesses shouldn’t be talked into believing their mental illnesses are a part of them, or not mental illnesses at all, or something to celebrate and cling to. I reject the notion we should have to settle for being ill in any way. We deserve to be as healthy and whole as anyone else, and it makes me sick there are so many internet predators preying on us in this way, and that there are therapists who think Autism and mental illness has to be a packaged deal.

7. If LGBT people were treated the way autistic people are by the media, it’d lead to outrage. But it seems like no one is outraged on our behalf.

We’ve seen the news stories, haven’t we? A couple invites the news over to their house, upsetting their autistic child who then has a meltdown, the meltdown is filmed and aired, and the parents are just like, “This is what our life is like because of Autism. And it sucks. Pity us.”

There was one video I saw... I’m just so enraged by it, even after two years. A mother was praised for her open honesty as she vilified her autistic son and complained about how he ruined her life and how hard it is to go out and have people stare. I’m sorry, hard for WHO??? I don’t even want to go into the details. I know only sharing this much doesn’t make it sound like that bad of a video, it’s just... ugh. Guys. It’d be a whole separate post. I can’t deal with it right now. 

If parents went on the news after their kid came out to them as gay, and wept and begged for pity and said some of the things this woman said of her autistic son (wondering what she did wrong that made her deserve this or that led to this or saying she doesn’t believe in God but finds herself praying anyway that God’ll “fix him”), America would call them the worst parents ever. But parents of autistic kids who do this are praised for their openness and vulnerability as they publicly shame their child.

Another time, after a mass shooting carried out by a teenage boy, the news reported that he was autistic and that might have contributed to the attack (there they go, combining mental illness with Autism as one and the same again).

If a pedophile were arrested, and they said on the news, “And we just got word that he’s gay, so that may be why,” there’d be a riot. But the news can pin autists as mass murderers and no one bats an eye!

All of May last year working at a clothing store, I watched as various departments filled up with pride t-shirts to get ready for June, and I couldn’t help but think,

Where were the Autism acceptance t-shirts in March to get ready for April?

I probably shouldn’t be so surprised with the media painting us as life-ruiners and life-enders. 

I know it’s a vile and disgusting thing for me to be jealous of LGBT people in this way, especially since they have their own struggles, too. I just wish society had our backs and celebrated us instead of wanting us “fixed,” for their own convenience, ya know?

8. Almost all of us hate Autism Speaks, and those who don’t are probably just new. XD

I used to be all “Light it up blue!” as well (even though that seemed weird to me, given blue lights might be overwhelming to some people on the spectrum). But then I read something on their site that made me feel really betrayed, and down the line, I learned most autistic people hate them... some because they saw them say the opposite of what I saw they said. Basically we all have different opinions but Autism Speaks spouts whatever information their donors want them to (sellouts), and that donated money doesn’t go towards helping us, but toward more fundraising or research on how to prevent people with our brain type. I guess they’re not fond of the artistic and scientific advancements we bring to the table. They should change those puzzle pieces from blue or multi-colored to white with black specks because they want a world that’s vanilla. 

9. Some of us still like the puzzle pieces, even if we hate Autism Speaks.

I’ve talked about this in a fanfic, but I’d love it if we could redeem the puzzle pieces, because they’re still a good analogy if you assign a different meaning. Autists and NTs are puzzling to each other, no sense denying that, but the more time we spend together, the more we start to understand each other. Also, Autism does have a lot of pieces, and figuring out I was autistic was like solving the puzzle of my life. The missing pieces came together and things became clearer and made more sense. Also also, some autistic people are really good at puzzles. And then there are autists like me who aren’t necessarily good at puzzles, but get totally absorbed in working on them anyway (my parents have been doing some puzzles during the quarantine lol they’re traps! TRAPS I SAY!!!).

Nevertheless, I understand why other autistis don’t like the puzzle pieces and prefer the rainbow infinity symbol, and I quite like it, too. It’s very pretty, and the way the colors fade together is a nice symbol of how it’s a spectrum.

It’s a sign of the infinite possibilities in our lives when we’re empowered, because we can do and have done good and great things in the world.

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So I was on this website trying to print out a bread recipe, and this article caught my attention

SAY NO TO NUTELLA, IT IS POISONING YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN

I’m like, oh boy, this oughtta be good. IT DOES NOT DISAPPOINT. 

In order to protect our kids from the harmful GMO foods, we all must stand and say one large and loud NO. These foods are even advertised as healthy ones.

Yeah the literal decades that GMOs have been around with absolutely no evidence of harmful side effects are like... whatever. And yeah bitch, corn IS healthy, GMO or not (fun fact, all corn is technically genetically modified. We’ve modified it so much over the millennia that the kind we eat can’t grow on its own anymore. Also it used to look more like a pretzel stick before all our genetic modifications. 

Image source: http://thescientistgardener.blogspot.com/2010/04/how-teosinte-lost-its-shell.html

People are convinced by the intensive advertising that Nutella is healthy for our kids, but the bitter truth is that it cannot be even listed in the group of healthy foods. 

All right. I mean it’s a nut spread, so yeah, it’s not on my list of most healthy foods. 

In fact, all the ingredients contained in Nutella aren’t harmful or GMOs, but the product will be harmful with only one bad ingredient. 

[citation needed]

You should know that there are four harmful substances included in Nutella.

The Dangers of Nutella:

Oh boy here we go! 

Soy

The Asian people will disagree with this statement because the soy is part of their diet for centuries. Actually, they consume small amounts of naturally grown soybeans, opposite of the western civilizations today that eat artificial soy in pretty big quantities. 

Fun fact: Literally nothing in this article has any sort of source backing up any of these claims. 

Now I know, from using my eyes, that in the U.S. we do in fact have actual soybeans on the market. I’ve eaten them many times. What is artificial soy? They don’t say. 

Nutella contains soy lecithin which is dangerous for the human’s health. 

Was this written by a robot? “The human’s health” who talks like that? 

Soy lecithin is apparently produced from soybean oil, so... not artificial. It’s literally produced by actual soybeans. It takes some science to get it out, but it’s a byproduct of soybeans, and not like... fake soybeans. Also the first result in my search bar says soy lecithin is widely used even in health food stores. It’s a pretty neat article, it lays out the pros and cons of soy lecithin, pointing out there’s more benefits than risks. Also it’s full of sources to external websites! https://draxe.com/what-is-soy-lecithin/

It is connected with thyroid depression, uncontrolled weight gain, late menstruation, fatigue, premature entry into puberty and breast cancer.

Late menstruation AND early puberty, at the same time? Also as a woman, I wouldn’t complain about starting my period later than it did. Actually, don’t we have a problem in this country with girls starting puberty a little too early? Like, when they’re younger than 10? From the hormones they were putting in cow milk? This website, written by an author about a book someone else wrote, talks about the declining age for the start of menstruation and puberty: http://www.cwhn.ca/en/node/39365

(see, it’s not that hard to get sources, even when you’re cherry-picking to back up your own opinion)

Also that article I linked to earlier (the draxe) one says soy lecithin may PREVENT cancer, lower cholesterol, relieves menopause symptoms, and help deal with stress. So basically the article that has sources is saying the opposite of the one without sources. HM. 

I’ll give them the thyroid thing, the thyroid is dumb and sensitive as shit, it probably does wig out over soy lecithin. 

Sugar

Nutella contains derived from GMO sugar beef 

what

which is inexpensive and filled with pesticides and altered sugar that our body cannot recognize. 

Okay there’s no such thing as “sugar beef”. What are you talking about?? Okay according to Nutella, they have BEET SUGAR, which is different from sugar beef (which sounds like a weird nickname you’d give your hung husband). Pretty much every food has pesticides on it. That’s why GMOs are so popular, they breed stuff into them so they’ll naturally repel bugs and won’t be covered in pesticides! Oh, oops. And golly, the Nutella website says their beet sugar/sugar cane is non-GMO. Talk about a coincidence!

And aren’t beets a root vegetable? How much pesticides would be on the sugar extracted from a root vegetable? 

I’ll say it again, it is very cheap. These sugars are considered as neurotoxins since they can penetrate the blood brain barrier which results with elimination of the brain cells. They are also related with ailments such as ADHD, ADD, autism, migraine, anxiety, depression, etc.

Yeah, companies like it when things are cheap to harvest and produce, because people don’t like buying expensive food. GOLLY. 

Also considering scientists still have no idea what causes autism, [x] doubt. All right, I’ll give that it does make sense to link neurotoxins with neurological impairments. The blood-brain barrier works to prevent toxins from reaching the brain. It’s just, you know, if there’s a lot of that stuff in your blood, it’ll get to your brain. 

I’m not convinced, however, that sugar from beet roots are neurotoxins. 

Also, manganese is a neurotoxin but also there’s a Daily Recommended Value for adults and children to consume it. So, neurotoxins on their own aren’t bad for you. If you had way over the daily recommended value like every day, that would be bad. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manganese#Biological_role That article has like 200 sources on it! 

ALSO if you want to talk about Nutella being bad, just point out that it has a lot of sugar in it. If it was healthy, it wouldn’t have sugar. Or at least, not as much sugar. The end. 

Skim Milk

You can see a green meadows and happy cows on every milk package, which is an advertising trick of course. 

Where the hell are you shopping that it’s just a label that says “SKIM”?

The milk inside is not a skim milk, but pus filled milk of sick cows that were exposed on GMO including corn, antibiotics and many other things that are meant to decrease the costs. 

“Decrease the costs” of WHAT? You not only have no sources, but you don’t elaborate on what you’re talking about! 

Milk is NOT pus-filled. Food sellers don’t want their food to be gross. That’s just logic. 

I brought up the cows on hormones thing, I think places are getting better about not pumping their cows full of stuff, but okay, I’ll give you that one, crazy lady. 

“many other things” [citation needed][what things?]

At the end the resulting product is odorless milk that contains powdered milk. Powdered milk contains the most dangerous type of bad cholesterol.

Okay so according to Nutella, they used skimmed milk powder. Which makes sense, since it’s not a dairy product, that there wouldn’t be FRESH MILK but rather, powder. 

The lady who wrote this is one of those judgmental bitches who complains about women formula-feeding their babies, I’m sure. So, powdered milk is just milk that’s evaporated, pretty much. Because dry stuff has a longer shelf life than wet. Apparently the powdering process makes the cholesterol really concentrated, but there’s a lot of debate about whether it’s bad or not. 

Here’s an article about soy milk. It’s not a super professional source, but it’s well-written, at least. https://www.organicfacts.net/skim-milk.html

Vanillin

The label of every vanillin says that it doesn’t include artificial colors, but the vanillin itself is an artificial flavor. 

This part is honestly what prompted this post. Just read it again. You want to me to take your scare-mongering seriously and you say that? 

Also here’s the Nutella page on vanillin

So, uh, they flatout say that their vanillin is synthetic. The nutritional label says the vanillin they use is an artificial flavor. What it also says is “contaisn no artificial colors”. So this dumbass is accusing Nutella of lying because they can’t read a label or think artificial colors and flavors are the same thing.

Nutella also goes on to explain, in a way that matches what I’d already read, that although vanillin is naturally produced by vanilla pods, they can’t get enough vanillin just that way, so they synthesize some of it. Vanilla is so hard to harvest, because you get like no flavor even out of a ton of beans, so that’s why natural vanilla is so much more expensive than vanilla extract.

It is able to trick our brain and make you feel the true vanilla flavor. 

Natural vanillin smells like vanilla, so... okay.

The brain is easily tricked.

The truest thing this article has said.

 Vanillin is a neurotoxin which is capable to kill the brain cells. 

Oh here we go again.

In addition, vanillin makes us addictive 

you mean addicted? You got paid to write this article! 

while connecting the receptors in the brain and releasing serotonin, the hormone of happiness.

Oh no, this food makes you feel happy when you eat it! Throw it away! If only mankind were capable of self-control and could just stop eating something sometimes if they realize they’ve had too much of it today! Everyone should be sad all the time always!

Also, anyone notice that these terrible side effects are all opposite to each other? One of them causes depression but another causes happiness. Do they not balance each other out? Or is it some sinister thing like first the sugar makes you depressed, then the vanilla makes you happy, so you think you need to keep buying the Nutella to keep yourself happy because the Nutella is making you depressed? And then you’re broke and homeless because you spent all your money on Nutella.

Also, apparently there’s like 0.08 g of vanillin per 400g container of Nutella. So that’s 0.0002%. For 400 g. A serving size is about 37 g, so that’s 0.0074g of vanillin per serving. So, negligible. THE HORROR. 

 It is produced in China petroleum-based factories which makes this country one of the largest producers of vanillin in the world.

I mean it’s nit-picking, but what a poorly-constructed sentence. 

China is one of the largest producers of pretty much everything. It’s a large country and companies know they can get really cheap labor from there. 

I hope these facts

“that I couldn’t be bothered to provide ONE source for” 

are enough for you to decide to throw away these neurotoxins, GMO sugar, cheap and artificial vanilla and say one big, decisive NO to Nutella.

Don’t Forget To Share With Your Friends And Family On Facebook, As You Might Help Someone In Need!

Yeah if I know anyone in need I’ll forward them this article. Sure they’re penniless and homeless because of all the Nutella they bought, but at least they’ll have a printout of this article to use for firewood!

Also I can’t believe they didn’t mention palm oil! Now, Nutella says their palm oil is ethically harvested and sustainable and isn’t contributing to deforestation, but if you’re going to write an article full of unsourced half-truths anyway, why not bring that up? 

Here’s the Nutella website that I referenced a few times: https://www.nutella.com/en/us/inside-the-jar1 Sources also came from Wikipedia, because it was sometimes the only source I could find that had professional sources on it and weren’t like “hippiebullshit.org” websites. 

I just really liked that even the organic/healthy eating websites were contradicting this person. Also, shockingly, the article was closed for comments! 

Now I’m no expert, but Nutella has sugar and cocoa in it, so just from that I would assume it’s not actually the health food Nutella pretends it is. But I think it’s going to be among the least of your worries when it comes to food that may kill you. 

Does Botox for Crow's Feet Look Natural?

Botox is an especially effective solution for crow’s feet, resulting in a bright-eyed, rejuvenated appearance. But even with the ever-growing popularity of Botox treatments among women of all ages (and men, too), some people still worry about unnatural-looking results.  “Frozen face” is the number one concern of new patients, and it’s understandable. Our facial expressions are an important aspect of communication and connection with others. 

In the hands of an expert injector with a thorough understanding of facial anatomy and a keen eye for aesthetics, there’s no need to worry. Botox is a safe and effective way to soften crow’s feet so you still look like you—only more refreshed and rejuvenated.     

How does Botox work on crow’s feet?

Botox injectables are made from botulinum toxin type A, which is produced by the same bacterium responsible for botulism. As scary as that may sound, when administered in very small doses for cosmetic purposes, it’s a safe and highly effective treatment for dynamic wrinkles (those that are caused by muscle movement and facial expressions, like smiling). 

Botox works on crow’s feet the way it does on all other dynamic fine lines and wrinkles—by relaxing the muscles that cause them. The main difference between using Botox for crow’s feet, and say, the deeper lines between the eyebrows is the number of units required to treat each area. While every person is different, and every procedure customized to the individual, in general, the smaller the treatment area and the finer the lines, the fewer units necessary to achieve the desired results.  

Why Does Smiling Make Wrinkles?

It’s not just smiling—squinting also stretches and etches folds into the skin around your eyes after years of repetitive muscle movements. Most people start to notice these wrinkles in their thirties, or maybe earlier if they have really funny friends. By the time you hit your forties, the visible benefits from Botox will be substantial. But what many people don’t know is that you don’t have to wait that long—in fact, kick-starting your rejuvenation regimen early can actually prevent wrinkles from forming.

Does Botox for crow’s feet look natural?

When Botox injections are administered by a qualified and trained practitioner who specializes in cosmetic injectables, your results will look as natural as you want.  Inexperienced and unqualified individuals may unknowingly inject too much formula, or inject the neurotoxin improperly, resulting in frozen face, drooping eyelids, or facial asymmetry. The first step toward ensuring that you get gorgeous, natural-looking results from your Botox treatment for crow’s feet is to work with a highly experienced, licensed, and certified practitioner.  

Once you’ve researched and chosen your practitioner, be sure to:

Schedule a consultation. This is a chance to get a feel for your practitioner, ask questions, and clarify your goals. 

Start with a light dose. You can always increase the dose later, but you can’t undo what’s already been done. 

Follow post-procedure instructions. These may include: remaining upright immediately after your procedure, avoiding strenuous exercise for a couple of days, and limiting movement in the treatment area for 24 hours. Your practitioner will provide you with clear instructions. 

Wait patiently for the results to settle. You’ll begin to see improvement within a couple of days, but it can take two weeks to see the final results. If you go back for more too soon, you may not end up with the natural-looking Botox results you desire. 

Whether you’re looking for Botox to soften your crow’s feet or any other dynamic facial wrinkles, natural-looking results are possible. 

At Siti Med Spa in San Diego, we specialize in natural-looking Botox! 

Frozen Face and other “botox gone wrong” concerns are valid. In the hands of the wrong person, they can happen. But at Siti Med Spa, you can rest assured that we know what we’re doing. We’ve been doing it for a long time, and our happy, satisfied clients trust us to provide them with gorgeous results again and again and again.

If you’re looking for natural-looking Botox for crow’s feet, you’ve come to the right place. Give us a call at 619-717-8484 to schedule a consultation today!

When you get this, please respond with five things that make you happy~! Then, send to the last ten people in your notifications anonymously. You never know who might benefit from spreading positivity~! 🌼 Have a really nice day/night ~!

GLaDOS:1: Testing men, women and children.2: Testing animals.3: Mechanical engineering, theoretical physics., and historically correct usage of slang.4: Compliments and flattery and general praise.5: Musical compositioning.GLaDOS: I also like surprises. Surprise! I'm not flooding ask boxes with this, but instead, neurotoxin.

Scorpion 3x17 liveblog post #20: TOBY & HAPPY... SINCE 1996

Scorpion 3x17 Dirty Seeds....

Happy, in her school uniform and with pigtails, is sitting on her chair, alone. Her eyes are getting tired. Then suddenly she hears a voice:  

Young Toby/Toby: Hi. I’m Tobias. I’m new in here. Got anything to eat?

Happy turn and sees a Young Toby wearing the school uniform and  a fedora. And then she hands him her "Evel Knievel” lunch box.  

Happy: Here (take it). What’s left of my lunch.

Young Toby/Toby:  I like “Evel Knievel”

Happy: I want a motorcycle one day…

Happy: I Thought all the kids were adopted.

Young Toby/Toby: Not me. (Is) That why you’re sad?

Happy: No. I don’t care. Besides, I knew nobody wants me cause I’m defective. #thatsalieyouretellingyourselfdearHappy

Young Toby/Toby:  That’s not why you’re still here. It’s 1996 We just exited the 90s – The Spice Girls have a #1 hit; half the women in America have a haircut called "The Rachel”; people are investing in a website known as “Ask Jeeves”. It’s a time of This is a decade when everyone’s making really bad decisions.  And anyone who doesn’t want you in their life? – That’s just another bad decision. (Toby takes a bite of the sandwich) Nice. Tuna fish.

Happy: I like your hat… I like you.

Young Toby/Toby:  I like you too. Will you marry me?

Happy: We just met. And we’re 8.

Young Toby/Toby:  You know who I am. And my biggest regret in life is that we didn’t really meet when we were 8.  Because I woulda fallen in love with you from that moment. ‘Cause the truth is, you’ve never been alone. My love for you has ALWAYS been there. It just took awhile for our paths to cross so I could share it with you. Under all those neurotoxins in your head, you know I’m right. So you have no reason to be scared. Ever.

Happy looks at/to Toby, (happy) tears in her eyes. REVEAL/WE SEE WHAT SHE SEES: REVEAL: Happy now sees the “real Toby” there with her/next to her.  She is turning more lucid, as Toby is getting through to her, but is still confused.

Happy: Doc… what’s going on?

Toby:  That generator over there? To save yourself, and our friends, you need to go fix it. Fast.

Happy: (as she looks at/to the generator) Easy. (and she moves to the generator, starting working on it)

Toby: (on comm, to Paige/others) Guys, I got through to Happy. Now take care of business on your end.

Decision Making Behind Botox Denver

By Roger Morris

Botox is becoming increasingly popular in recent years for the treatment of wrinkles and other face fluids. It is used most frequently in neurotoxic protein, a botulinum toxin, in beautifying dermatology. In the beautifying and medical communities, Botox Denver is widespread in various conditions and there are benefits and disadvantages compared to every other treatment. Now many people turn to Botox for wrinkles reduction or elimination. Seventy four percent of people who had used Botox previously have been very happy with the results of a recent survey and proposed treatment. Botox is so famous that many people regularly organize parties to Botox guests are injected with drinks and discussions. The remedial treatment was taken into account in 1989, and it in a few useful solutions was once again allowed for none drinking. This is because it can be produced so that it becomes a sensitive response to decrease the pores, pores and skin as already confirmed by the medicine produced. Also, it transpire too much to see sooner than to remedy how and what is in store, as with each helpful methodology. Some of the questions regarding It implantation sensitivity are as follows. You always propose you are as before any clinical technique. In truth, It compound names relate harm to the botulinum A. As a matter of fact, five stars of botulism are similar aces in sedated science at the bottom of the nutritional back. The fundamental supply of this medicine is a muscle misfortune and severe botulism side results. The use of botulinum is disconcerting for neurotoxins that execute it muscle withdrawal. The wide collection that makes people snack the ground from botulism reflects that neurotoxin spreads to the thorny muscle. Strong neurotoxin is secured when isolated from solid facial tissues. Besides this, the breath own muscle tissue may never loosen up again. No other part of your edge has a syringe, while it transpire impregnated with minor social occasions of your face muscles. For all patients under 65, the right capacity of it was totally protected in an assortment of clinical preliminaries. Cervical dystonia is likewise critical for the detainment and transitory evacuation of muscle fits, it and serious muscle conditions including strabismus. For strong loss of motion, a smooth, unbending skin takes 3 to 8 months. The outcomes cannot be estimated in a couple of days after an infusion. The outcomes can be resolved inside a couple of hours, contingent upon your physiology and quality. To maintain a strategic distance from your first shot, It might be a short remedy. Your pores and skin remain in its particular structure, and sooner or later it comes quickly. You have not changed your pores and skin. In addition, interior hours or days can be checked completely, in case the remedy is taken reasonably, by using shot strategies. The effects are rare, because the useful medicine works for all purposes and purposes. A few facial take after being reduced and removed with its own strategy, one of the types in connection with the conceivable wrinkle treatment. It transpire a short 5 10 minutes approach routinely. It suitably consolidates various hazards. In any event, the own nonattendance spreads and nearby treatment makes the PC exceptionally authentic for young pregnant women. It can turn into a disadvantage depending on what exactly is the reason behind undergoing the procedure its solution is temporary. For the entire about the time you want to get rid about the lines and wrinkles, you must receive regular injections. Some cases of antibiotics have occurred in people with allergic medication reactions. However, certain reactions can be handled easily and happens to be severe and uncomfortable fast. Some phrases about the face can prevent It. It paralyzes the muscles of your face. This may lead to a growing look in some cases. Although you do not usually see how such injections are handled, as do those who received several additional cosmetic medications, in addition to it. It fully requires a professional. While popular, parties for the said procedure are at risk of grave danger and ineffective at times. For emergencies such as an allergic reaction, the drug should be properly administered in a clinical setting. It is expensive. In a single area, the average injection cost is 466 USD. Your position depends on this. This is different. This is different. There are versions of less than 100 dollars, but there are mixed results. Some parts about the nationwide, especially California, have a price tag almost as high as 2000 dollars. Although the side effects are often mild and easy to treat, you should be familiar with some about the possible side effects. This after effect is behind the little loss of facial characteristics to express or speak clearly. With this side effect, severe cases are very rare. In addition, high respiratory conditions can be sporadic after It implantation in a similar way. After It implantations, head failures are appallingly visited. The brilliant news is that ibuprofen is, in addition to being difficult to treat, a few perspectives. Botox is plain defilement at the moment the key answer. The proximity of neck torment in one of the combined areas of the edge is one of the fundamental issues. Since true bothering Botox does not spread anymore. It prevail a few divisions that have an indication about five percent of people who have botox implants. The mind own falling or the eye own falling. This is a short errand. This is a short errand. The Botox blend drains or deplores severe individuals. Get back on strategies to keep bluetongue or torment honest and record your contamination. The Botox injectors are verifiably wiped out by circular 45 percent. Botox is a non touchable determined.

About the Author:

Get an overview of the factors to keep in mind when picking a Botox Denver doctor and more information about a knowledgeable doctor at http://bit.ly/2GkBZBs now.

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BOTULISM

BOTULISM

ISM:

Most of us know that if the can of low acid vegetables, such as green beans, beets, corn, or mushrooms, is dented, swollen, or leaking, or hisses when we open it, or explodes, we need to throw it out because it could be contaminated with botulism. Botulism is one of the most deadly poisons on earth. Scientists estimate that one gram could kill over a million people, and a couple of kilograms could kill every person on Earth.* Botulism is caused by the clostridium botulinum bacterium which is found in the soil. Improper canning techniques, especially home canning and preserving, can and does create the environment for the toxin to grow. A pinhole prick in a can may be all it takes to grow the toxin, once air mixes with the moist contents of the can.

Most of us know to avoid buying dented cans. But did you know that fermented fish is prone to botulism, canned or not? In fact, Alaska has the most cases of botulism in the United States because of the native Alaskans’ traditional fish-fermentation practices.  And did you know that chili peppers carry botulism? And foil wrapped potatoes? And oil infused with garlic?

Once someone ingests botulism, they can become gravely ill and die within hours or days. Symptoms usually appear between 18 and 36 hours. Their vision is blurred, or doubled, their eyelids droop, their speaking and swallowing is impaired, they have trouble breathing, they have facial weakness on both sides, they have nausea, and vomiting, they have abdominal cramps, and they have paralysis, which can eventually kill them. It’s a lingering and horrible death for those who succumb, and for those who don’t, it can mean months on a respirator.

So, why is it that people worldwide, mostly women, are anxious, even greedy for this neurotoxin? They do it to slake their vanity, of course. What better motivator than vanity exists to convince people to pay hundreds of dollars to have a toxin injected into their bodies for cosmetic purposes?

The most common injection sites are the glabella (frown lines between the eyebrows), crow’s feet, “gummy smiles,” (google it, you won’t be disappointed),  square jaws, dimpled chins, and neck bands--whatever those are. I imagine an actual band, with a drummer and guitarist and keyboard player--pretty cool, huh? But I digress…

The goal is to look younger and healthier, less stressed and more vital.  

Somehow, scientists figured out that botulism toxin type A (Botox), was good for eye tics, non-stop blinking, and strabismus, and patients began to comment to their doctors that their wrinkles disappeared and their faces looked younger after being treated for those conditions. These doctors had an aha moment and got busy refining the process and getting FDA approval and worked on their marketing strategies. The FDA approved Botox for cosmetic use in 2002.

The cosmetic development process kicked off in the late 1980s, but it took ten years before it gained mainstream use. Now, it’s as common and necessary to some people as is getting a manicure or highlights for their hair. The cost varies, but it’s about $16 per unit and takes about 30 units. It can run from $400 to $1,000. After three to four months, the effect wears off, and it’s time to get another shot. Eventually, the wrinkles will stay away permanently--for most people. The toxin destroys the junctions between the nerves and the muscles, resulting in the muscles remaining still, or paralyzed.*

But beware, Botox users, of black market Botox products and unscrupulous doctors. You know that famous adage: You get what you pay for. Accounts of Botox injections gone wrong abound, and they’re gruesome and deadly. Make sure your doctor is board certified, of course, and has administered more than a few of these injections. Scimp on Starbuck’s coffee, or sushi, or happy hour, or buying istuff, or signing up for Netflix, but don’t skimp on Botox.

You also might want to reconsider getting Botox injections around your mouth. There are sixteen nerves that affect your smile* and the odds of getting each of them injected exactly the same way are poor, which could leave you with a stroke-looking mouth. Putting too much Botox in could cause slurred speech, and drooling. It might even affect your ability to kiss properly--or improperly.

Botox is getting lots of competition as other products are being made from neurotoxins from snakes and other poisonous creatures. In time, we’ll be able to choose designer toxins. Just imagine! Maybe we will choose from our most feared critters, or the ones we most admire. Maybe poisonous tree frog toxin, or black widow toxin, or brown recluse toxin. Maybe cobra toxin. Possibly a combination of them?

Aside from cosmetic purposes, Botox has proven to be effective in treating medical conditions such as urinary incontinence (I think we can all guess where that’s administered, ouch!), anal fissures, (ouch, ouch), GI problems, migraines, profuse underarm sweating, (Ow), and muscle stiffness.

It looks as though botulism is here to stay.

It’s not as if we can can it.

What say you?

* https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles

*http://www.youbeauty.com/beauty/Botox-facts/

*https://www.alternet.org/books/secret-history-Botox

Hello reader, hope you are doing well. What? You are confused by the title? You think I am blabbering? No, I ain’t talking rubbish, please have a read to get the matter.

Botanical lives are beauties for sure, not to forget the innumerable benefits we derive from them. But then, just like everything has a vile side to it, the same goes with them. Let us talk about some of them.

The manchineel tree(sc. name: Hippomane mancinella). It is a flowering plant species belonging to the Euphorbiaceae family, native to the forests of tropical belt of the Americas(Caribbean, Florida, The Bahamas, Mexico, Central America, and the northern part of South America) and is dubbed to be one of the most dangerous trees on the planet. It is an evergreen tree with an average lifespan of other common tropical ones, has simple green leaves arranged alternately, barks that are a mix of red and gray and has groups of small greenish-yellow flowers which bear little fruits that look somewhat like the Indian gooseberry or green apples.

Close up of leaves and fruits.

Machineel in full foliage

So, this was how the Machineel looks. Now, about its toxicity; what parts of this tree are toxic? In one word, every. Yes, its leaves, fruits, bark, flowers all are better perceived from a distance. Eating the fruit tastes sweet at first, until minutes later they leave the consumer gasping for breath in pain. Agony starts with burning sensations down the throat and the food pipe, increasing to painful blisters inside there, vomiting and in worst cases even causes death. For all Spanish speakers reading this, the fruit has a nice little name- ” manzanilla de la Muerte “.Poisonous fruits are just the tip of the iceberg though. A milky white corrosive sap that oozes from its bark all round the year isn’t something you would like to touch.

Sap oozing out from a cut in the bark of Machineel,

It blazes skin leaving behind deep scars and rashes; two of the many harmful chemicals in it being hippomanin A and B. Also, it is not a very good idea to lit a bonfire with wood from this tree–burning them makes the toxins available for inhalation, the results of which include a headache, serious breathing troubles and eye burns to level of damaging the cornea completely.  The leaves also contain this notorious poison as well as the flowers. It is known that early Caribbean tribals used to poison tips of their arrows with this sap and then wielded those arrows to kill animals in hunt or explorers ‘trespassing’ on ‘their’ land. Their enemies also sometimes found their drinking water to be poisoned with the leaves of this plant. The most famous death that can be attributed to the Machineel is probably that of the 15th-century Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León. He is said to have been struck by arrows coated with the poisonous sap by aboriginals on his second journey to conquer Florida, a few days after which he died out of the resultant wounds. Now Among all those who can’t stand this tree of death, there is one(known till date) lucky guy after all who has found himself immune to its toxins and thus feeds on its fruit and leaves on its branches–the black spined iguana(sc. name: Ctenosaura similis), who thus happen to be the tree’s dispersal media.

  Few others also qualify to be on this brief note of mine. They are:

The spotted water hemlock(sc.name: Conium maculatum)–This highly poisonous biennial plant is found extensively in the forests and marshes of Europe, North Africa and North America. Its beautiful white flowers hold a lethal neurotoxin, cicutoxin. Death mainly comes from respiratory paralysis within 15minutes to 6hours of ingestion, depending upon the concentration of poison ingested. Most famous victim of devil’s porridge(common nickname of this plant) was Socrates, who was forced to drink Hemlock poison with his own hands during his persecution.

Fairy bells(sc. name: Digitalis purpurea)- It is a wildly growing plant found across the temperate regions of Europe and North America. Don’t be deceived by its looks. The dainty flowers that it blossoms, contain fatal cardiac poison — digoxin, earning the plant some rightful names like Dead Men’s Bells and Bloody Fingers; consuming them brings in dizziness, nausea, vomiting, convulsions and cardiac arrest.

Deadly Nightshade(sc. name: Atropa Belladonna)-Yes, the very plant, the extracts of which were once prized by women as a cosmetic product to enlarge pupils. The name which in Italian means, Beautiful Lady is not so beautiful after all–Its stems, leaves, roots, sweet tasting berries, all contain alkaloid toxins atropine and scopolamine along with 4-5 more. Symptoms of the poison ingestion are dilated pupils, blurred vision, tachycardia, hallucinations, convulsions, frequent urination, skin rashes and irregular heartbeat. Named after Atropos, the ancient Greek Goddess of fate and destiny, this has been the cause of numerous deaths all throughout history. According to legend, the soldiers of Danes were poisoned by Macbeth’s soldiers using belladonna.

Suicide tree(sc.name: Cerbera odollum)- Indicative of the name, this is a perennial tree native to the southern states of India and other South Asian countries. Statistics say, in Karnataka(A state in southern India) alone, around 50 deaths a year are attributed to this tree. It is actually the tiny seeds of its fruits that contain the poison–cerberin which upon consumption beyond a certain level causes fatal disruptions of heartbeat leading to eternal sleep. It was also used in Madagascar to inflict ordeals on criminals as punishment until banned by King Radama II as it was reportedly so excruciatingly agonizing.

Aconite(sc. name: Aconitum napellus)- Commonly known as “Wolf’s bane”, “devil’s helmet” and “queen of poisons” among many other names, is a species of genus Aconitum that hosts 249 others. All parts of this plant are poisonous, especially the roots, flowers and the fruits that house a deadly poison–Aconitine. Aconitine that is one hand used as a medicinal drug is lethal in greater quantities and raw composition. The plants in full bloom with bright purple flowers are not an uncommon site all throughout Northern Asia and Europe while their noxious characteristic has long been used by tribal hunters to apply on arrow tips and kill wolves(hence the name, Wolf’s bane), and by eskimos to kill whales. Effects of crude Aconitum from this plant start with nausea & vomiting, advancing to burns and numbness down the food pipe, sweating, dizziness and if left untreated brings the eater to death by stopping his/her heart altogether after acute hypotension and arrhythmia. It is said that Nazis used this poison to tip bullets and kill people during the 2nd world war.

With this, I end my article this time. Stay well, stay happy and do stay away from these greens. If you feel some name(s) that ought to be on this list, feel free to leave a comment. See you next time.

_____Rupsha.

Green danger zone Hello reader, hope you are doing well. What? You are confused by the title? You think I am blabbering?

I spent the last few weeks finishing off a great Coursera MOOC called “A life of happiness and Fulfillment. My studio project is essentially improving the happiness of those on hard times so this course directly relates to that. The course speaks of the ways in which we conduct our life and how some of these directly affect our level of happiness. In this post, I’m going to cover the material I learned. And then in another post I will detail how I’m going to make use of this. This is going to be extremely long as I learned a lot, so at the end I will summarize the findings.  

The Basics

Once a human being has access to all necessities to living, e.g. food, shelter, etc… there are three pillars which happiness rests on. And we raise our happiness by building up these three pillars. If you’re severely lacking on one, your happiness will suffer. However, unwittingly we’re always working towards at least one of these as though it were an axiom of quality living. These three pillars are autonomy, mastery and connection. And the way in which we go about achieving these is extremely important. A person faces a fork in his metaphorical pathway, and chooses his approach based on whether he thinks the world is scarce or abundant.

Autonomy

This is concerned with a person’s sense of control. How much control do they have over their life. How free are they? And the two ways in which we go about achieving autonomy is scarcity (External Autonomy) and abundance (Internal Autonomy)

External Autonomy:

When we view the determinants of freedom as scarce, we scamper to find them. We maximize the mediums we believe will afford us freedom. E.g. higher wages, a place of authority, a monk-hood in the Himalayas etc… We do this from a misplaced sense of control. We assume because we can impose our will on the external world, that somehow this means we can control it. And this just isn’t true. And this belief in external determinants in freedom leads us to think freedom/autonomy is scarce. Because money, time and authority are all scarce resources, which we believe are the determinants of freedom.

Internal Autonomy:

The only outcomes we can truly control are those which we decide internally. And even still, many internal actions are autonomous from our control (heartbeat, breath, cell reproduction). However, there are three aspects of internal autonomy which our decisions wholly control the outcome of. And these three aspects of life afford us the ability to feel free. These are moving more, eating better and sleeping better.

Eating Better:

By eating better, we stand to give our body what it needs to be in control. The nutrients which make our minds less fog, give us motivation by regulating dopamine, acetylcholine and serotonin and give us the energy to tackle the challenges we face

Moving More:

Moving more puts us back in control of our bodies. And this means moving more throughout the day, stretching every 30 minutes, walking to paces,  not taking elevators. We have a deep seated need to move our bodies and a massive portion of our brains was developed to facilitate extremely complex movements. When we don’t allow this need to express itself we find our attention fading, our energy levels draining and our happiness going down the drain.

Sleeping better:

When we don’t sleep we obviously perform worse. The processes in our brain accumulate poisonous neurotoxins and studies have shown while we’re in a state of deep sleep, our brain cells contract, opening channels around them for fluid to flow through and wash out these toxins. So when we don’t sleep well we’re operating on a brain filled with toxins clouding our thoughts. Sleep also restores natural 5-ht (serotonin) levels which deals with emotion regulation, motivation and happiness levels. When someone is depressed often they’re prescribed a 5-ht precursor like 5-htp. These precursors increase the production of serotonin aiding and stopping the symptoms o depression. So serotonin plays a massive role in our lives, why deprive ourselves of the main way of restoring it.

Mastery

Chasing Superiority

Mastery is subject to this idea of scarcity and abundance as well. When we view the determinants of mastering something as scarce, we often end up chasing after it. If we’re really dedicated to mastery, we will tend to become obsessed with the outcome of our effort. Putting it before relationships and personal health. And also this sense of mastery is based on external factors. How can you compare if you’re a successful carpenter? Well you might look at another carpenter and ask am I as good as him? And then you might think, well what does good mean? How do I measure that? Well I don’t get any money for my carpentry and he does so he must be better. And so you begin focusing on maximizing the medium you attach to mastery. You start worrying about how well you can make money doing what you love instead of focusing on actually doing it. When we externalize the determinants of mastery they become scarce and materialistic.

Pursuing Flow

When we believe the determinants are abundant, meaning we believe we have the time and ability to master something, we can forget the part of our brain which spends time comparing ourselves to others. This allows us to then completely focus on the task at hand and slip into a state of flow. Studies have shown that flow states are one of the few things which makes humans feel as though living is worthwhile.

Flow

Flow is a state of complete concentration. It can be quite fulfilling but is something which is hard to trigger. There needs to be a certain set of conditions in order to produce this state of consciousness. The state consists of an extreme increase in attention, a distorted perception of time and a loss of self. We stop perceiving ourselves when we achieve this state of flow and become a machine completely dedicated to completing this task. But the determinants are hard to achieve and they are:

-       A challenge – We need something which will take all of our mental resource to complete. A challenge which we are interested in and one that is slightly greater than ourselves.

-       Resolve – we need to be dedicated to achieving something. We need aa goal in mind. With this goal in mind, it frees us of having to think about the pathway to get there because we can simply choose the best action for achieving the goal from moment to moment.

-       Environment – We need somewhere where our flow can be left undisturbed. We can’t be constantly interrupted Anything that pulls us back into our mind. Back into the thoughts of our daily life will inherently pull us out of flow.

-       Attention – We need to commit our full attention to the task at hand. Without this it’s literally impossible for our mind to slip into that flow state. If part of our mind is still stuck to what we’re having for dinner or that argument we had with our girlfriend then we’re not in flow. We're caught in a loop of thoughts in our mind. We’re not in the moment.

-       End There needs to be an end in sight.You need to tell your brain that it has this much time to do the task. Often when you don’t define to yourself an end time you'll feel that discomfort one gets before they decide to procrastinate. When there’s a task ahead, our body does poorly at focusing on the end goal because the task could go on forever. Instead focus on a time frame and get done in that time frame what you can.

Connection

Neediness

This is the intrinsic need in human beings for a feeling of connection. This need is clear, many studies have shown it. At birth we need to connection to others. Isolation leads to a quick death. Studies have also shown when we feel loneliness and rejection the same parts of our brain associated with actual physical pain start firing.  This means there are very real, physiological consequences to isolation. And this path of neediness arises from the same idea of scarcity. That the determinants of love and connection are external and scarce. So one should chase them fervently if one is to achieve them. However all this does is drive people away, lowers our confidence and attracts people who are emotionally avoidant. All these factors dramatically lower our happiness, so what’s the path of abundance?

Love and kindness

Once again, the path of abundance is that on internal abundance. The determinants to connection are within ourselves. We can’t make others like us more, nor can we make them connect to us. All we can control is our ability to influence others. And so when we focus on doing this positively, in that we are giving, altruistic, kind and generous, we feel this same sense of connection and end up building a great deal of lasting relationships out of it. Being kind and generous convinces ourselves that we’re capable, confident and good human’s.

The course also outlined 7 “happiness sins” and 7 counter “happiness habits” which I will cover now. Many of them are the same as were detailed above.

Devaluing Happiness

This is one of the main reasons we struggle to find happiness. Because we don’t know what it means to us. We don’t have a definition of the word and so we are prone to devaluing the concept of happiness. On Top of that, without an idea of what happiness is to us, we don’t know how to get there. And with this comes medium maximisation. We strive for the things we assume will make us happy like money, women, fame etc…

The counteracting habit is pursuing but not prioritizing happiness. This means first defining what happiness is to you and  what makes you happy. After this, you need only remind yourself of this definition before making decisions so that every decision you make is moving you towards happier living. However you don’t want to start prioritizing happiness because this will quickly lead to a comparison of how happy you think you should be versus how happy you are which is bound to result in less happiness.

Chasing Superiority

This was covered above. Essentially avoid chasing superiority and instead place value on spending time mastering your craft by pursuing natural flow states.

Neediness

Covered above, Don’t be needy, instead express the need to love and give.

Being overly controlling of outcomes and people

This one is to do with autonomy however I didn’t cover why we feel the need to control and it’s quite interesting. Studies have shown that people who have who have a higher level of perceived control actually live longer, healthier lives despite essentially living the same lives as others. And so this need for control is not entirely misplaced because it does help up, however often it misguides us. Religion and superstition are what we are prone to accepting when we need control of the external world but can’t have it. Either you attribute the happenings to an omnipotent being or you delude yourself into believing your actions have some effect on the outcome of reality.

And so the counter to this is taking personal responsibility for both your situation and your happiness. And that doesn’t mean feeling guilty, it means trying to better your happiness and refusing to blame external circumstances.

Distrusting others

One of the barriers to feeling connected to others is trust. And we have extremely low trust in our peers. One study showed that when a wallet with 100 dollars was left on the street it was returned 80% of the time. However when asked what people thought the return rate would be they assumed it would be closer to 20%. This demonstrates the gap here. But not only this, a strange phenomenon occurs when someone is trusted with something. Oxycontin levels spike, and Oxycontin is a hormone in the human body that directly promotes trustworthy behavior. Meaning when you trust someone they’re far more likely to be trustworthy.

And so the counter to this is “smart trust” which is maximizing the benefit of trust whilst minimizing the chances of being cheated. This is done by keeping in mind that we’re prone to thinking people aren’t overly trustworthy and that people don’t really want to cheat us. No person thinks they are a bad person, everyone has a reason for the things they’re doing. So realize the people who cheat you aren’t terrible and that maybe you’re in a position where being cheated doesn’t matter all too much. However there is a hidden benefit to being more trusting of others. And that is that when you put your trust in others, you quickly find out if they can be trusted or not. Which means the more you trust others, the more you can filter through people to the point where you’re only surrounded by people you trust.

Distrusting life

What this essentially means is distrusting the path that you’ve taken. Assuming you know whether the outcome of something is right or wrong and dwelling on the decisions you’ve made. However it’s impossible to tell whether the outcome of something was good or bad because we can’t see into the future. Say you break your leg. Terrible. And now the country announces war and they come knocking on doors for compulsory recruitment however they decide to leave you be because your leg being broken. Great! Then your friend dies in the war and you weren’t there to say goodbye to him. Terrible etc… This goes on and on because there’s no equilibrium. You don’t pass a math test and then everything in life stays cheery just like you don’t step in gum and decide to jump off a bridge because it’s gloom from here on in. Bad outcomes lead to better outcomes which lead on. And so attempting to judge that pathway as good or bad can cause a lot of grief.

The counter is “the dispassionate pursuit of passion” which is a state of being whereby we actively seek to influence the outcome in our favor however once the outcome has been achieved, regardless of good or bad, we move on. Forget about judging it and continue to focus on influencing future events in our favor. When one does this what they find is that perceived negative outcomes come with a great deal of opportunities. If we can distance ourselves from the natural urge to ruminate over the outcome, and instead immediately focus on moving on in the best manner possible, many doors open up.

Avoiding the internal

What a lot of dissatisfaction arises from is the failure to realize how much of our happiness is determined by our inner standing and not our external situation. Studies have shown that only 10% of our happiness is attributed to external factors. The rest… completely internal. There’s a reason why many people report going to poorer countries than theirs and being surprised to find happy laughing people. It’s because with a country's material growth comes a hunger in people to model themselves on societal patterns. As the power of capitalism grows, so does that of materialism. And it’s misplaced. That’s not to say material and capitalism are bad, it is to say we as a society should take care not to fall into psychological traps.

The counter to this is simply being mindful of your situation, of your daily life, how you implicitly react to the world around you, how it reacts to you. Being aware of what’s happening now. Being in the moment.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I’ve covered the three basic assets of happiness. The pursuit of mastery, autonomy and connection. We choose how to achieve these things based on our world/life view. That being scarcity or abundance.

Mastery:

-       Scarcity: Chasing Superiority

-       Abundance: Pursuing Flow States

Connection:

-       Scarcity: Neediness

-       Abundance: Generosity, kindness and altruism

Autonomy:

-       Scarcity: Seeking Control of External Factors

-       Abundance: Seeking Control of Internal Factors

On Top of this we often do things which lower our happiness. The following are the 7 main ones and next to them the habits which counteract them:

-       Devaluing Happiness – Prioritizing Happiness

-       Chasing Superiority – Pursuing Flow

-       Neediness – Loving Kindness

-       Seeking Control of externalities – Controlling Internal factors

-       Distrusting Others – Smart Trust

-       Distrusting Life – The dispassionate pursuit of passion

-       Avoiding the internal - Mindfulness

New Post has been published on http://fitnessandhealthpros.com/beauty/this-product-restores-color-to-grays-naturally-for-real-i-gave-it-a-spin/

This Product Restores Color To Grays Naturally–For Real! I Gave It A Spin

I’ve been getting silver hairs since I was twenty (well before becoming vegan and changing up my nutrition–don’t worry, I’m all over my B12 and magnesium). My early grays seem to be hereditary—and of all the possible hereditary woes out there, a few gray hairs is nothing to fret over. And yet, while I admire silver hair on other women, I don’t fancy it on myself. I think the main reason isn’t so much the difference of color but the difference of texture. My happy, pigmented hair is naturally straight and smooth, but my grays are wiry and prone to stand straight up when they’re growing in (why?!). Needless to say, it’s a funky looking juxtaposition.

On two occasions, I’ve dabbled in mild-ish semi-permanent dyes that do a decent job of disguising the grays for roughly a month before fading. These easy, ammonia-free options are okay—I’m not crazy about them because they’re certainly not natural, but they do make a difference in how I feel about my hair, and I don’t have to crack a window to survive the coloring process.

When I became pregnant, however, I wanted to avoid all dyes, especially in the first trimester. I had planned to just ignore the grays and attempt to embrace aging gracefully (ha! not my strong suit)—until I came across Hairprint, a food-grade pigment restorer made completely of natural, pregnancy-safe ingredients (you could eat it, but it’s not recommended!).

Instead of dyeing the hair, Hairprint infuses the hair cortex (the inner part of the strand) with eumelanin pigment, a protein that’s naturally present in non-gray hair.

Reintroducing the pigment into hair allows hair to return to its original hue—i.e., no synthetic color needed. In theory, the pigment protein adds strength, body, and shine to hair, leaving you with permanent color that actually makes your hair healthier. (The eumelanin pigment in Hairprint is derived from velvet beans.)

Hairprint can be used on hair that has been previously dyed with conventional and natural methods (so everything ranging from boxed hair dye to henna), but there are very specific transition tips to follow to avoid making the previously dyed hair too dark. Basically, you coat your non-virgin hair with shea butter and only apply Hairprint to new growth.

Because a large chunk of my hair isn’t virgin, I technically should have applied shea butter to those portions, but the thought of washing shea butter out of my hair was daunting, so I skipped this step and focused Hairprint on my roots—and I’m so glad I didn’t bother with that shea butter business because let me tell you, applying Hairprint is a journey. YOU WILL LEAVE YOUR HAIRPRINT EXPERIENCE A STRONGER PERSON.

Even if you don’t have lingering morning (*ahem* all-day) sickness and hormonal fatigue, you will need to prepare snacks, fuel up on electrolytes, and summon goddess-levels of patience. Altogether, the process took about an hour and a half and involved three applications of product and two shampoos—that’s four lathers! (Most home dye kits take about 30 minutes.) Also, stuff got everywhere! Even when I was very careful, I managed to get it on the sink, tub, floor, and toilet (???). For the record, my other DIY hair color application experiences were never this wild and crazy–I mean, I don’t purposely fling the stuff everywhere! Between applications (there’s a 15-minute wait time), I was scrubbing everything feverishly before the pigment set.

EVERYWHERE.

That said, the instructions are simple to follow, and the product has absolutely no odor. After my final shampoo, I eagerly anticipated the results…by which I mean, I passed out on the couch.

Ultimately, the results were pretty good. My hair was so shiny and smooth and felt incredibly healthy. Even though I didn’t use shea butter to protect my older hair, my color looked even and natural. Unfortunately, some of the grays are still there, but the texture is much improved. Now they just look like healthy, paler hairs, and they really don’t bug me anymore. I would estimate that Hairprint covered about 50-75% of my grays in terms of color but improved the appearance of every hair.

Before–grays doing their own thing.

After: Some sections still had grays. I love the general sheen, however! No blow-drying or straightening required.

After: Other sections were mostly covered.

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At the moment, Hairprint is only available for light brown, brown, and black hair. There are kits suited for men and women. Hairprint is designed to work on both cooperative and non-porous hair (perhaps some of my grays are non-porous?). The kits are free of carcinogens, developmental toxins, endocrine disruptors, GMOS, heavy metals, neurotoxins, pesticides, reproductive toxins, dyes, animal products, and harmful VOCs.

Have you tried Hairprint–or anything like it?

Related: These 3 Vegan Hair Dyes Are Drop Dead Gorge–And Way Better For You

The One Change that Dramatically Improved the Health of my Hair

5 Simple DIY Tips for Managing Oily Hair

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Photo: Hairprint, Mary Hood Luttrell

Peaceful Dumpling Beauty Editor and creator of Bisou du Jour, Mary Hood Luttrell lives with her husband in Corpus Christi, Texas. Mary is a freelance writer and writing and blogging consultant. A lover of whole foods, Mary delights in learning new ways to prepare vegan dishes. Mary also enjoys reading and writing poetry, art journaling, running, and practicing yoga and ballet. Follow Mary on her blog Bisou du Jour, Instagram and Pinterest.

Originally at :Peaceful Dumpling Written By : Mary Hood Luttrell