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How to boost the quality of your hair?

Hair dye with plants!

When I saw the picture of Polly Higgins with her beautiful hair, it reminded me of how my hair used to look like when I was a young girl: thick, vivid, shining.

And now… it was dry, dull and not even close to what it used to be. Strange, I thought, because I was doing everything I could… I was using quite expensive shampoo, moisturizer, wax oil… And I styled it very carefully with a blowdryer…

Maybe it was the chemical colouring of my hair or the products I used?

What if I started to stop the chemical colouring? Looking at Polly’s hair, you can see it is natural, because of some fine grey hairs. So, I began to think about what is more important to me:  quality or colour?

My hair now

Of course both are more or less important! But I decided I would rather do some concessions on the colour than the quality…
I went to a natural hairdresser in The Hague and… what a surprise: I found out that you could also dye your hair with plant colours in a satisfying way! Even with the possibility of hiding the grey hairs! So doing concessions wasn’t even neccessairy at all!

So I started to colour my hair with plant colours and I also started to use organical products without all the bad additives. Slowly my hair began to look better and better again. Thicker and not dry anymore.

And I’m slowly starting to feel as that girl again…

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Hair colour or quality, or… both?!

Hair dye with plants!

When I saw the picture of Polly Higgins with her beautiful hair, it reminded me of how my hair used to look like when I was a young girl: thick, vivid, shining.

And now… it was dry, dull and not even close to what it used to be. Strange, I thought, because I was doing everything I could… I was using quite expensive shampoo, moisturizer, wax oil… And I styled it very carefully with a blowdryer…

Maybe it was the chemical colouring of my hair or the products I used?

What if I started to stop the chemical colouring? Looking at Polly’s hair, you can see it is natural, because of some fine grey hairs. So, I began to think about what is more important to me:  quality or colour?

My hair now

Of course both are more or less important! But I decided I would rather do some concessions on the colour than the quality…
I went to a natural hairdresser in The Hague and… what a surprise: I found out that you could also dye your hair with plant colours in a satisfying way! Even with the possibility of hiding the grey hairs! So doing concessions wasn’t even neccessairy at all!

So I started to colour my hair with plant colours and I also started to use organical products without all the bad additives. Slowly my hair began to look better and better again. Thicker and not dry anymore.

And I’m slowly starting to feel as that girl again…

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Don’t forget your gloves! Nettles smoothie

Nettles & Banana smoothie

This morning I picked some fresh beautiful nettles. Nettles clean the blood and are rich in vitamins C en E, protein and minerals, especially iron. Good enough for a healthy breakfast.

Ingredients (for around 2 well sized glasses)
SAMSUNG– 1 or 2 bananas
– 30/40 tops of nettles
– 1 good slice of ginger
– 1 handfull of nuts and raisins
– 2 spoons of line seeds
– 1 large teaspoon of coconut oil
– 2 teaspoons of chorella powder
– around 2 glasses of water

How simple is this! Pick some fresh young nettles (about thirty, only the tops of them with the four upper leaves). Then overtrow them with boiled water so that the bristles soften and become edible. After that rinse them with cold water. Then first peel the banana and break it into large chunks to make it fit for the blender. Then add the nettles and the other ingredients. And finally pour the water and blend until it reaches your desired consistency.

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Autumn smoothie with curly kale and pear

Curly kale and pear

Fresh and sweet smoothie!
Boerenkool-792x1024
Kale is one of the healthiest veggies (read more about the nutritional value of kale) so I like to use it in a smoothie. Especially now when it is in the season. Here is a nice and easy recipe which I like very much because of its freshness. 

Ingredients (for 3 or 4 glasses)
– 5 large leaves of curly kale (boerenkool)
– 2 pears
– ½ lemon
– 1 good slice of ginger
– 1 handful of nuts and raisins
– 2 or 3 spoons of line seeds
– 2 teaspoons of coconut oil
– 2 teaspoons of chorella powder
 (optional)
– 1 teaspoon of maca powder (optional)
– around 2 glasses of water

Remove the seeds and stalk from the pears, cut them into large pieces and put them in the blender first. Then cut the trunks of the Cale into slices and add them to the blender. Do the same with the lemon and the ginger and then add this with the rest of the ingredients to the blender. Then pour water and blend!

Tips: start with blending slow and speed it up after a while until everything is smooth.

Hope you enjoy it !

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Top 10 wild plants

My Top Ten of wild plants that are widely spread and easy to recognise. For smoothies and salads.

1. dandelion
The leaves of the dandelion can be picked at any point in the growing season, and while the smaller leaves are considered to be less bitter, the bigger leaves can be eaten as well, especially as an addition to a green salad. Dandelion leaves can also be steamed or added to a soup. The flowers can be eaten raw, or breaded and fried. The root of the dandelion can be dried and roasted and used as a coffee substitute, or added to any recipe that calls for root vegetables.paardenbloem2

2. ground elder
Ground elder was once introduced here by the Romans, to supply their soldiers with fresh vegetables along the roadside. Of course they used a plant that knows how to survive in all circumstances, one that cannot be conquered. The plant is therefore considered by most gardeners to be one of the worst weeds that there is. But you can look at it at a different way; just by eating it you can control the growing. Take te top leaves that look still fresh. Wonderful in salads or to make pesto from.ground elder

3. chickweed
Chickweed leaves, stems, and flowers can all be eaten either raw or cooked, where it adds a delicate spinach-like taste to any dish.
chickweed
4. plantain
The young leaves of plantain can be eaten raw, steamed, boiled, or sauteed, and while the older leaves can be a bit tough, they can also be cooked and eaten as well.plantain
5. curly dock
Curly dock leaves can be eaten raw when young, or cooked when older, and added to salads or soups. The stems of the dock plant can be peeled and eaten either cooked or raw, and the mature seeds can be boiled,
or eaten raw, or roasted to make a coffee substitute. Dock leaves have a high oxalic acid content, so only eat them in moderation.dock

6. nettle
Pick the leaves with gloves on and take only the four leaves at the top that still look fresh. Boil or steam them for or, to keep them as raw as possible pour boiled water over them for at least 10 seconds. Boiling/steaming gets rid of the “sting”. nettle

7. cleavers
When you pick the cleavers they are easy to recognixse because they are very sticky. You can decorate yourself with them if you like! They do well in smoothies. Put them in raw and you won’t notice their stickiness. You can also cook or steam them for some minutes; they will shrink and you can add them to mashed potatoes. 
kleefkruid2

8. gallant soldier
Gallant soldier can be eaten as a whole to make smoothies or salads out of it.
gallant soldier

9. dead-nettle
Use the leaves and the flowers to make a beautiful salad. You can add them as a whole to your smoothie.
dead nettle

10. lady’s mantle
Ladies Mantle root is edible, as are the leaves, which sheep and cattle are said to relish. The entire plant is normally harvested in midsummer and can be used medicinally for bruises and wound healing.
vrouwenmantel2

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Dandelion leaves and feta cheese salad

Salad with dandelion leaves

Pick some fresh dandelion and make a salad out of it. It’s very simple.

SAMSUNG

Ingredients
dandelion leaves
feta cheese
carrots
pumpkin seeds
avocado
marron honey  (raw)
extra virgin olive oil
some fresh lemon juice

Just cut the dandelion leaves, carrots, avocado and feta cheese into pieces. Add the olive oil, seeds, honey and lemon juice and…

Enjoy it! Just as I did 🙂

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Quality or colour?

The beautiful hair from Polly

When I saw the picture of Polly Higgins with her beautiful hair, it reminded me of how my hair used to look like when I was a young girl: thick, vivid, shining.

And now… it was dry, dull and not even close to what it used to be. Strange, I thought, because I was doing everything I could… I was using quite expensive shampoo, moisturizer, wax oil… And I styled it very carefully with a blowdryer…

Maybe it was the chemical colouring of my hair or the products I used?

What if I started to stop the chemical colouring? Looking at Polly’s hair, you can see it is natural, because of some fine grey hairs. So, I began to think about what is more important to me:  quality or colour?

My hair now

Of course both are more or less important! But I decided I would rather do some concessions on the colour than the quality…
I went to a natural hairdresser in The Hague and… what a surprise: I found out that you could also dye your hair with plant colours in a satisfying way! Even with the possibility of hiding the grey hairs! So doing concessions wasn’t even neccessairy at all!

So I started to colour my hair with plant colours and I also started to use organical products without all the bad additives. Slowly my hair began to look better and better again. Thicker and not dry anymore.

And I’m slowly starting to feel as that girl again…