Category: Blog

We all want hair that is shiny, voluminous and soft, whether it’s long or short, we seek the peak health of our hair so that it looks and performs its best. While previous blogs have mentioned all the damage we do to our hair, this one will focus more on all the little things you can do every day to combat the damage and bring your hair’s health back.

As I mentioned before, I have done many things to damage my hair. Since I was in middle school and was first allowed to dye my hair I haven’t stopped until recently. As someone born with naturally dark hair, the first change I made to my hair was highlights. Since that first round of highlights I’ve gone back and forth between dark and light and everything in-between and going lighter always involved A LOT of bleach. I’ve probably bleached my hair at least 10-15 times in the last 12 years. Keep in mind that ALL of these transformations have been done at home by myself or with help of family (because I’m not one to pay crazy salon prices).

Moral of the story is — my hair has been through a lot and it wasn’t until last year, when my hair was breaking off left and right, that I made my hair’s health a priority. Since then I’ve done a ton of research and tried many different things to get my hair back to normal. If you’re like me and you are trying to get your hair healthy again, I think I have some tips to help you back onto the road of recovery

Quick Tips:

• No bleach!
• Sleep in braids.
• Always start brushing from ends to roots.
• Brush with care.
• Brush your hair before you wash it (to decrease tangles after).
• Don’t brush your hair while wet (hair is weakest when wet).
• Leave your conditioner on for 3-5 minutes when washing.
• Only apply shampoo to the roots.
• Avoid putting conditioner on your roots.
• Limit the use of heat styling tools.
• After washing, rinse your hair with cool water.
• Don’t wash your hair with super hot water.
• Get trims as necessary (when ends are split and dry)
• Avoid getting tons of layers if you’re trying to grow your hair very long.
• Use a wet brush! (which has more flexible bristles to avoid breakage)
• Don’t wear your hair up everyday (this can cause breakage)
• Switch to scrunches (regular elastics can cause excess breakage) (plus scrunches are cuter)

My 3 Best Tips for Restoring your Hair’s Health:

First things first, do not wash your hair everyday! Washing your hair everyday strips your hair of its natural oils, which actually do quite a bit to nourish your scalp and hair. This doesn’t mean to not shower every day, just don’t wash your hair with oil stripping shampoo every day because this is likely to dry it out. I only wash my hair twice a week and if my hair starts looking oily in between I use a little dry shampoo.

Next, if you have never used coconut oil on your hair, you are missing out! When my hair was at its very real breaking point I would use a coconut oil mask twice a weak (on days that I wash my hair). I prefer to wash my hair in t犀利士
he mornings, so the night before I would melt down a tablespoon or two of coconut oil and put it in my hair from root to tip. I then usually braided it and slept with a towel over my pillow. Then I would wash my hair as normal with shampoo and conditioner the next morning. Immediately after, my hair feels extremely soft and moisturized and over time I believe that it helped a lot in keeping my hair strong as it grows out.

Last but not least, find a good hair, skin and nail supplement. It’s just as important to give your hair what it needs on the surface as it is to provide from the inside out. Along with eating a well balanced diet, it’s important to make sure your hair has enough of the vitamins and minerals it needs to grow strong. Vitamins that can help restore hair health are: Vitamin A, B-Vitamins, Vitamin C, Vitamin D and Vitamin E.

The supplement I have been taking everyday for the last couple of months is KBA’s Radiance. Radiance actually contains all of the above vitamins and is very easy to take. I just mix it with my morning glass of water or tea and that’s it! Since starting I’ve noticed my hair becoming more shiny, voluminous and strong. Taking Radiance daily and the above mentioned tips have really brought my hair back to it’s healthiest state in years! Check out my results below!

 

 

By Paige Peterson

Every year is the same, as summer ends and the school year begins, everyone’s germs get intermingled and begin cultivating into the common cold. If you go to any sort of school or work in an office setting, once one person catches something contagious it’s just a matter of time before you and everyone else has to deal with a cold or cold like symptoms.

When the symptoms start, most think its just seasonal allergies, which in some cases can be true. But it’s hard to determine the difference between allergy and cold symptoms from the beginning, and so many of us go out into the world in our most contagious state and infect those around us without knowing it.

Now we have all heard–I’m sure more than once–that we should wash our hands more often and eat and an apple a day. But there are actually quite a few other things you can do in order to help prevent a cold or at least make it less detrimental to your everyday life.

The common cold can enter the body through your mouth, eyes or nose. This means the only way to truly avoid the cold is to stay away from people completely, which would be pretty difficult. So if you’re someone who can’t just hibernate during cold season, than you’ll need to figure out how to best prepare your body for the inevitable.

Preparing your Body for Cold Season:

While keeping our hands clean and eating certain things can help, there are actually a number of additional things that can help keep your immune system strong even if you end up getting the cold despite all your efforts.

To start, do your best to reduce stress, which can surprisingly affect your immune system quite a bit. Whether that means doing daily yoga or simply avoiding those individuals that cause unnecessary stress, do it for your health!

Next is making sleep or rest in general more of a priority. Quit staying up late catching up on mindless shows or stalking people on social media and let your mind and body rest so that you’re more ready and alert for the next day.

And of course make fluids a main part of your diet. Take water with you everywhere and drink it all throughout the day. Not only does your body love water, regardless of the season, but staying hydrated can also help thin out mucus, making coughing and blowing your nose easier and more effective.

Vitamins and Minerals for Immunity:

If you’re like me, then natural remedies are your preferred method of prevention versus stocking up on over the counter medicines that often have their own side effects. But you can stock up on vitamins and minerals naturally by either modifying your diet or by adding natural supplements to your regimen.

Three vitamins to keep on hand to avoid getting sick are Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and Vitamin D. And 2 minerals to be sure you’re getting enough of are Zinc and Selenium.

KBA’s supplement lineup is great for immune system defense. Our Pine Needle Powder, Pine Needle Tea and even our Radiance are full of Vitamins A and C. While our Pine Pollen and Energy supplements contain Vitamin D and Zinc. These supplements can be easily added into your daily routine along with the above-mentioned body care to help you escape cold season unscathed

  

They say there is a specific season where allergies are their worst, but as far as my family is concerned, allergy season is every season. Whether it’s summer, spring, winter or fall, there is always something in the air that irritates your sinuses and tickles your throat.

Now some months may be worse than others, but many people within arms reach are fighting some sort of sniffle or puffiness year round. This could be from what grows that time of year or even just too much dust accumulation. The fight against symptoms is never ending!

Allergy Seasons:

When fall rolls around most of us have pumpkin lattes and decor on the brain and not how to combat allergies, but there are still some to keep an eye out for. Ragweed is usually this season’s number one allergen. A single plant can produce tons of pollen and usually does not slow down until the first freeze kills the plant. And dust mites may also be at their peak this time of year because they thrive in 60-70 degree weather.

When you think of winter allergies I doubt much comes to mind because most plants are dormant or dead this time of year (if you live in a colder climate). But there are still allergens around during this season that can cause discomfort. Some of these include: fireplace smoke, pet dander, wood and even mold.

And then it’s spring again! Spring is the time that most allergies are at their peak. Pollen is most people’s trigger for this season’s allergies. It can come from trees, grasses and weeds that come back to life and bloom this time of year. I’m someone who thankfully only suffers from springtime allergies, and I couldn’t imagine feeling that discomfort year round.

Finally when summer hits and your main focus is vacation and tan lines the last thing you want to worry about is keeping tissues on-hand, but you very well may need to. The warmer weather is perfect for plant growth and therefore more pollen, which there is an abundance of on warm and breezy days.

Battle Allergies Naturally:

Most people with allergies will already have certain medications, whether over the counter or prescription, that help them fight off the symptoms. But there are also some more natural ways to lessen these reactions that won’t “break the bank.”

To start, eating an anti-inflammatory filled diet can help. This would mean eating more things like garlic, lemon, green leafy vegetables, bone broth, coconut milk, apple cider vinegar and local raw honey.

There are also some vitamins you can make a priority if you start to feel symptoms before buying over the counter relief. Vitamin C can be very useful in combating allergies. Vitamin C helps to stabilize the immune cells that cause allergic reactions. And there are many supplements out there that are full of Vitamin C and can really help you get through allergy seasons.

KBA’s Pine Needle products are a great option to up your Vitamin C levels, providing you with 3-5 times more Vitamin C than an average orange. We offer Pine Needle Powder, which can be mixed into water or smoothies, and we also have a Pine Needle Tea, that you can steep anytime. Pine Needles also have other benefits such as helping with immunity, skin health, hair health and even eye health.

Whether you’re a year round allergy fighter or just have flair-ups in peak season, try taking a more natural approach to combat symptoms and arm your body with the vitamins it needs to perform at its best regardless of the season.

There are very few people out there, if any, that can say they have never had to deal with acne. It is just simply a part of everyone’s life at some point.

And if you are anything like me, you’ve dealt with it a lot!

Acne is more than just a blemish it can affect your mood, behavior and self-confidence. And unfortunately we live in a society where your outward appearance holds a lot of weight, whether we want to admit it or not.

So whenever there is an out right cure, I’m sure I’ll be in line with the rest of you to get it! But until then, it’s a trial and error process to try and find what works for you because almost no medicine or topical treatment works the same for everyone.Lucky for us there are many, many, many choices, you just have to pick the right one, easy right

Acne’s Many Ages:

The first time most of us start to see acne emerge is when puberty starts its ever so fun process. So while your dealing with changing hormones, new unexplainable hair, you’re also dealing with acne on top of it all.

Then, after the bulk of puberty is over and you’re securely in your adult bod, you still are probably dealing with the occasional break out. At this point you have most likely found the right scrub or cleanser to handle your occasional or even monthly breakout, and you just deal with the acne as it comes.

Now when you head off to college and you’re considered an “adult” your acne may have slowed down or even completely gone away. But don’t get too excited, because adult acne is also extremely common!

It seems that no matter how much we try, acne it is quite difficult to control at any age. Now dealing with my own adult acne, I’ve tried a different approach to fighting it.

Instead of solely targeting the acne, I’ve decided to focus on just how to have healthy skin in general and focus on the cause of my acne, rather than addressing it only after the fact.

Ways to Healthier Skin:

The jury is still out on how much the actual food you consume affects your acne. But your diet can still play a role in determining the vitamins and minerals you consume which can affect your skin’s health.

Vitamin A and Zinc are known to aid in your skin’s health while also combating acne, and both can be found in topical treatments or in supplements.

It has been said that Vitamin A is most affective topically for acne treatment, and is usually in retinoid creams that can be very effective. But there are also oral supplement options.

Zinc can be used topically or taken as an oral supplement as well. In supplement form Zinc can help to decrease oil production, leading to fewer clogged pores and therefore less acne.

Keep in mind you don’t want to take too much of Vitamin A or Zinc without checking with your doctor.

If you are seeking a supplement that can provide Zinc and Vitamin A in an all-natural way, check out our Radiance Hair, Skin and Nails supplement. Radiance contains Goji Berry, Pineapple and Orange which all contain Zinc to help fight acne. But it also contains Pine Needle, which contains Vitamin A as well as anti-oxidants that can help fight aging and wrinkles!

Radiance is a skin health machine! Give it a try today!

 

 

 

Paige Peterson

As I’m sure you have heard multiple times in your life, because I know I have, your skin is your body’s largest organ!

Unfortunately our skin is also the easiest organ to damage, since it is the outer most layer, it is your body’s first line of defense and plays a huge role in protecting your other organs.

We get scrapes, bruises and even scars as we grow up. Along with trying to heal injuries, it’s important to keep your skin healthy 365 days a year.

Daily Damage:

Skin damage in general is quite difficult to reverse naturally, so if you can prevent damage up front, you’ll save yourself headaches and probably money in the long run.

Everyday we go out into the sun without some sort of SPF we are damaging our skin. I know that is terrible news to those of us who love to lay out and get a good tan, but unfortunately it is the truth.

And don’t even think about getting into a tanning bed, because that’s even worse!

Now if you avoid the sun at all costs without protection then sun damage is obviously something you don’t need to be concerned with. However the sun is not the only thing that can damage your skin.

Did you ever think that your very relaxing and hot shower can actually damage your skin?

Well, surprise, it can!

I’m not saying you have to take cold showers from now on, but you do have to restore the moisture and oils that the hot water strips from your skin. So just be sure that shortly after your hot water submersion you take some time to replenish your skin properly to avoid damage.

Topical Options:

To avoid the above-mentioned damage, there are a few topical options available.

For my sun lovers you’ll need to consider changing to self-tanning mousses and lotions. While it costs more than sitting outside, you wont have to deal with sun damage when you’re older.

And if being tan is of little or no concern to you, perhaps just making daily moisturizing a priority is all you need to do.

Whether you have dry or oily skin, moisturizing is a must! So keep an eye out for good moisturizers (no they don’t have to be expansive) and keep them on hand.

Sensational Skin Vitamins:

When trying to improve your skin’s health, you need to focus on what goes inside your body as well.

This means your daily diet and even the vitamins you take.

To improve your skin through diet, you’ll need to add more fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats onto your plate, and avoid refined sugars and simple carbs.

If you feel that even after adjusting your diet accordingly you’re not seeing much improvement, perhaps you need to turn to vitamins and supplements that can help make up for what your diet is lacking.

Here is a list of the top 9 Vitamins that affect your skins health:

Vitamin A

Vitamin C

Vitamin E

Vitamin D

Vitamins K

Vitamins B3

Vitamin B5

There are many supplements out there that focus on skin health and contain many of the vitamins you need to improve it from the inside out. These supplements can be easily added into your skin care routine and can help keep your skin looking and feeling its best!

Here are some suggestions from KBA’s lineup!