Make a positive impact in the life of a younger peer! Join the Look Up! Lift Up! Program today.

Beauty Inside & Out

Hair Care at Home

By Estelle Gulen

Imagine you are staring at the hair of that girl sitting in front of you. Her hair is smooth, silky, soft, unfrizzy, and shiny. You daydream of yourself in hair like that. Snap out of that! Why are you dreaming? Why don’t you make it reality? Here are 5 hair care tips at home!

First and foremost, use this underrated, old trick. Apply warm oil on your hair! Using warm, natural oil(s) on your hair can do wonders for your scalp, texture, and overall hair health. Some oils you could use are coconut oil, which goes away with dandruff, softens hair, repairs split-ends, boosts hair growth, and the hair helps gain protein; argan oil, which is packed with Vitamin E and it is perfect for dry and frizzy hair; and castor oil, which is good for hair health, hair growth, the scalp, and the roots. Apply these warm oils to your hair daily and you will see the beauty sparking from your hair! 

The next step for your hair care at home is using rice water as shampoo and a rinse. Did you know that the Chinese town of Huangluo is known as the “world’s longest hair village” by the Guinness Book of Records? Well, here is their secret. Rice water! Rice water is composed of triglycerides, lipids, carbohydrates, inositol, and phytic acid, which are all proteins that are essential to cell health in your hair. Just boil a handful of white rice in two cups of water and strain out the residue to create your new shampoo bottle! 

The third step to achieve healthy hair at home is an interesting one. An egg mask! Eggs are packed with Vitamin B, B1, B2, B5, B7, and Biotin. These all promote hair flexibility, strength, and overall wellness. Just crack an egg, spread it on your head, let it sit like a mask, and rinse it out. Now you can achieve beautiful hair and hair growth while also avoiding premature greying of your hair! 

The next tip may be stinky, but believe me, it’s worth it. Onion juice is full of nutrients and benefits for hair growth. Splash some on your hair in the shower and onions’ antibacterial and antifungal properties will keep your scalp free of infection. The sulphur in the onion will prevent your hair from becoming brittle and breaking. They also contain antioxidants to help prevent hair ageing and greying. Onion juice is full of healthy nutrients that will keep your hair growing and healthy!

 Finally, our last tip for hair care at home. Green tea! Green tea contains EGCG, an antioxidant which is great for hair follicles and dermal papilla cells, also helping with lesser hair loss and thinning. It also benefits treatment of dandruff and psoriasis. Flaky and scaly skin on your scalp can be nourished with green tea. Green tea regulates the scalp’s protein levels, nourishes, hydrates, and moistures. You can add green tea to your shampoos or just massage a cooled cup of green tea onto your hair. When you use it with a conditioner or as a final hair rinse, it makes your hair softer, smoother, and more nourished, helping to prevent split ends. This helpful little trick will keep your hair beautiful and cherished. 

Did you learn something new today? Is your next goal today to try one of these tips? Well, then you’ve achieved your first step to smooth, silky, unfrizzy, shiny, and overall beautiful hair.


Linda and The Worry Bug

By Kenya Sider

Linda was sitting at home when suddenly she realized that she had a big project due in two days. She scurried to the closest dollar store to collect everything that she needed before going back home so she could get to work. At this point, she started to panic and her thinking went fuzzy.

“What in the world am I going to do? I made arrangements to hang out with my friends tomorrow!” That made Linda go crazy. How could she have forgotten about such an important thing? 

“Linda, honey, are you alright?” Her mom asked.

“I messed up big time mom! How could I have forgotten to work on this project?”

“Slow down honey! How many days do you have to work on this?”

“Today and tomorrow. Then the project is due.” Linda said. Her face was downcast and she was standing still.

Her mom looked at her. “Well then! We should probably make a plan.”

“What do you mean mom?” Linda asked. She had no clue what her mom was talking about.

“Well, make a schedule and stick to it!”

“What happens if I’m ahead of my schedule, mom?”

“Then get to the next thing that you were going to do.” After the talk with her mom, she got straight to work setting up a schedule and working on her project. She even had time to hang out with her friends. Unfortunately for her, that project was the least of her problems.

As she was about to go to sleep, she started to think. She thought about her friends and her family. Soon enough, she was so lost in thought that she couldn’t fall asleep so, she went on her phone. She was scrolling through one of her friend’s social media accounts when she saw a picture of her friends having fun without her.

That made her worry that maybe her friends didn’t want to be her friend anymore! She worried all night and then some more until finally her mom asked her what was wrong. She sat her mom down in her room and explained her dilemma. Her mom listened attentively. When she had finished talking her mom told her to calm down and think of the bigger picture. 

“Think about this,” her mom said, “did your friends invite you to hang out with them?”

“Not that I can remember.” Linda replied, still sure that they didn’t want to be her friend.

“Okay then. Why don’t you ask one of your friends about it. Maybe they can give you a reasonable answer as to why you were not invited!” Linda looked at her mom before grumpily agreeing.

“Fine, I’ll ask Stella. She is the most honest out of all of our friend group.” 

As her mom left the room, Linda texted Stella:

Linda: Hey Stella. I have a question.

Stella: Ya, what’s up?

Linda: How come you never invited me to hang out with you? Did I do something wrong?

Stella: Oh, wow. Um. We thought that you’d be busy! Usually you aren’t available on Wednesdays because of dance so we assumed that you’d just say no to us inviting you. 

Linda: Oh. I see. I’m sorry for that. I was just worried!

Stella: It’s fine! See you on Monday!

Linda: See ya!

Linda felt relieved. Once again, her mom was right. Maybe she should listen to her more often!