The sun is out and it’s time to get into your fresh summertime fresh!  Check out a couple ways to start off getting into your health, confidence and being STRESS free!

Inside Out- Starting from the inside out is number one on the list. Your diet not only determines how you feel but also how you look as well. Eating plenty of dark green vegetables, beans, nuts, whole grains, and carrots are just some foods that are high in vitamins that your body needs to feel good and look great! So the next time make sure your moms makes you eat a green vegetable with your meal don’t skip out, your hair and skinwill thank you later, promise!

Don’t Hide It- So the first step to achieve your confidence is simply accepting and embracing all your characteristics. Don’t try to hide or try to cover up your traits but embrace them. Learn how to accent them instead of making it disappear. You would be surprised to know that the traits that you feel most self conscious about are the ones that others admire. If you have strong cheekbones or full lips wear them well! Find a color that makes your features command the attention in the room.

Control -  Being physical on a regular basis for atleast 45 minutes a day, will have you not only looking like a new person but feeling like one too! Maintaining a healthy weight in your early years will make it easier to maintain a healthy weight when you enter your adult life. If you create good habits now you will more than likely continue them tho older you get.

“No” Please- Say it loud and say it proud! Sometimes the word “No” is the bridge that will make stress disappear from your life. I know telling the parentals or the teachers “no” is not an option but maybe the club president or your girlfriends is. If you feel like you’re overwhelmed with too many extra-curricular activities maybe stepping back is a good idea. You never want to stretch yourself too thin. Also you don’t have to be at every social event there is. Telling your girls you’ll skip out on movie night just to catch up on some extra Z’ss, is perfectly ok. You gotta get your beauty sleep right??

-C.O.R.E Fam

Summer is here! Yes, time to get officially excited! Ok, so even though your days and nights are surrounded by warm weather and fun times, don’t forget about your health! Take advantage of the days where you do not have to stand in the cafe line at school. This does no mean gobble down every fast food place you see either. Check out how simple choices can change your entire of day of how you feel and act! Trust me, you’ll thank us later!

Check out a couple healthy snack to keep your mind sharp for….dun dun dun summer school! You may be surprised of what’s number 1

As women we are always looking for ways to enhance our beauty and physical appearance, and most times we are looking for enhancers, creams, new regimens to try; when all we really have to do is to take care of the body and skin that we already have. Self- Preservation?! We can’t neglect ourselves and then look for a quick fix to combat our laziness (yes, I said laziness) we are all guilty of it, even me, I confess. I have learned that if I spend a little extra time simply practicing some self love then I really have little need for extra products. I have shared a few beauty tips below. I hope this helps you as much as it has helped me.

Bedtime Beauty Tip No. 1: Always wash up.
I’m guilty of skipping this step — and I’ve got to stop! Sweat, dirt, makeup, and the day’s grime … all of this sits on our face at night, clogging our pores and aging our skin. So use a gentle facial cleanser and lukewarm water before going to bed, and follow up with a mild toner. (I will too. Pinky promise.)

Bedtime Beauty Tip No. 2: Never sleep with your hair in a ponytail.
No matter how exhausted you are, it’s important not to leave your hair elastics in, because they can cause breakage. If you want to avoid morning tangles, try sleeping on a satin pillowcase. It’s easier on both your hair and your face.

Bedtime Beauty Tip No. 3: Brush and floss every night.
If you skip the dental care at night, you’re not just in for a huge lecture at your next dental cleaning; you might actually be making yourself look older too. Brushing removes stains between and around your teeth, and you’ve got to floss too: Poor gum care can cause your gums to recede, making your teeth look longer — and you older!

Bedtime Beauty Tip No. 4: Let your feet breathe.
Keeping your feet in socks may keep them feeling toasty, but it also creates a moist environment where foot fungus can breed. Yikes!

Bedtime Beauty Tip No. 5: Get your beauty sleep.

I know you really want to stay up late to watch your favorite show, talk on the phone, or peruse the internet, but beauty sleep is no myth. Your skin needs time to heal and restore and get its glow back on.

-Nikia Pope

“Aaahh all I want to do is crawl into a hole and hide from the world!!” this is a daily feeling for you after being burnt out from intense volleyball practices, exhausting study sessions and the parentals asking you to do every errand or chore they can think of, “stress” is a word that you seem like you ca never run from. No matter how far you go it just seems to linger all around you. Well no worries, we have the perfect solutions to kick stress to the curve without running to crawl under the closest rock!

Laughter!- Ok, people around you especially most adults tend to take life a bit too serious. I’m not saying making a mockery of serious life decisions is the answer but you can enjoy anything you do, it’s just a simple attitude shift. Look at the brighter side of things, enjoy laughing it up with your girls and it’s even ok to chuckle at yourself sometimes. The more pressure you put on yourself to be perfect, the more stress you’ll make yourself. So Laugh it up as much as you can throughout the day, by the end of the day you will be happier and stress-free!

Tackle It- I get it, your long 2 do list seems never ending and every time you think about it for a half a second too long you can feel your blood pressure slowly raise. A reason why you feel so stressed because you’re looking at all your tasks at once and not individually. Of course you’re going to be stressed if you look at doing 20 things in 20 minutes! So instead of feeling overwhelmed, break up what you have to do into most to least important and literally just focus on one task at once. Turn off everything complete that task fully and then move on to the next. When you try to multi-task too much, you sometimes start but never finish anything on the list. Time to focus and cross them out one by one. Trust me your stress level goes down with each task fully completed!

Move It! – Ok so your body needs just a slight boost to get both your energy and attitude to regroup. Stretching, exercising or just taking a walk around the block allows you time to regroup and refocus for tasks you need to do. After your body works out it releases endorphins which are your body”s “feel good” drug, which will put you in a better mood quicker.Try calming exercise such as walking, swimming and yoga.

“No” Please- Say it loud and say it proud! Sometimes the word “No” is the bridge that will make stress disappear from your life. I know telling the parentals or the teachers “no” is not an option but maybe the club president or your girlfriends is. If you feel like you’re overwhelmed with too many extra-curricular activities maybe stepping back is a good idea. You never want to stretch yourself too thin. Also you don’t have to be at every social event there is. Telling your girls you’ll skip out on movie night just to catch up on some extra Z’ss, is perfectly ok. You gotta get your beauty sleep right??

The “Write” Way- Sometimes you have to see it to believe it! So to prove how amazing your life is write down all the positive that’s happening in your life. Sometimes you just a slight reminder to shift your focus and embrace the hidden treasures in life. We tend to focus on 1 or 2 negatives in our lives and all the good gets buried under it all. It’s time to refocus our life. Once you see how long your list is,your stress level will come down and realize that great things always happen to you on a regular basis!

-C.O.R.E Family

What’s the difference between liquid foundation and powder? How important are good makeup brushes? What is a lip stain? Makeup can be very confusing but you ladies will have your entire life to explore all the many products and tools out there. Here are a few suggestions on stepping into the vast world of beauty:

-Expensive does not always mean better. The makeup counters in department stores and major retailers like Sephora and Ulta can be tempting with their funky packaging and creative names, but many of beauty’s best makeup products are classics that can be purchased at your local drugstore. Feel free to match that one-of-a-kind turquoise eye shadow that was $25 you just had to purchase with a $1 eyeliner and $3 mascara. At no point should your makeup look break your pockets because the most important part of it was free: your natural beauty.

-Make sure to always start and finish a look with a clean face. Many of us often are using makeup to cover minor imperfections like a small pimple of acne scar. That’s fine, as long as we’re not making the problem worse in the meantime. Washing and moisturizing your face before applying makeup is providing you, the artist, with a new canvas. It is even more important to thoroughly wash your face when you are done rocking your look. This helps prevent future breakouts and gives your skin a chance to breathe. If you’re lazy like me, keep some of those makeup removing cloths right beside the bed to use before you snooze.

-Experiment in your free time, not when headed out the door. If you try it out beforehand, you might discover that robin’s egg blue eyeliner and purple lipstick might be a little too much for 4th period Biology. Makeup is meant to be fun and creative, but should also be appropriate. Testing your makeup also will help you develop a simple, quick everyday look. Note: For special occasions like Prom or the Homecoming dance use a professional at a makeup station to achieve your desired, fabulous look.

-Less will always be more. Owner of Lamik Cosmetics, Kim Roxie, chose the tagline “Where beauty is enhanced, not applied.” to describe her line and I love it. Ladies, we should not be applying tons of makeup to our faces covering natural beauty to create a look where our own family and friends can’t recognize us. Your look should simply say “This is me, just refreshed and fun.”

Your most important beauty asset will always be your smile. If your inner beauty is not shining through people will only see a painted canvas, not your masterpiece!

- Demi L. Motley

Spring is here! So you know what that means Summer is going to be here before you even know it! The best way to start inviting these warmer months is with healthy eating habits. Hmmm I know you’re thinking eating healthy is boring and difficult. Well I’m sorry, but I’m about to prove both of your theories wrong.

Check out easy, light, and quick snacks you can whip up after school or on a chill weekend.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Strawberries

Banananas

Ice

Blender

Put the cups in the refrigerator to keep them nice and cool until you drink your smoothie.

Wash the strawberries, and cut the leaves off.

Remove the banana peels. Then slice the bananas into two halves.

Toss both strawberries and bananas in the blender

Time for the ice and yogurt. Take a regular drinking cup, fill it with ice and dump the ice in the blender. Then pour in any amount of milk you want. Depending on how much you want to make, you can add another cup of ice (I also add some bought strawberry juice to sweeten it up a little).

Plug in your blender, put on the lid, and blend it altogether.

Pour into a cup.

Pita Chips & Fruit Salsa

Just a half of a cup of this salsa counts as one of your daily fruit servings (you need three a day), and the whole-wheat pita chips are healthier than potato or tortilla chips. Serves 4.

Summer will be here sooner than you think! Yes, warm days come with no school, memories with friends and mornings that you can sleep in past 7 am! But also with warm weather comes with dry hair days too! To make sure your hair stays healthy and fresh this summer, check out a couple of tips of how to keep your hair moisturized this summer!

For Natural Hair…

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For Relaxed Hair…

As you wake up in the morning the only action you are motivated to do is go back to sleep and try to ignore the world. Day after day you feel worse than the day before. You wake up and just go through the actions of life but not a single moment you enjoy. You almost feel as if the entire world is closing in on you and no one understands you. When you mention it to parents or any other adult they shrug it off as normal “teen years syndrome.”

In actuality hundreds of teens suffer from Teen Depression every year. The sad part is that many people do not take it seriously until it’s too late and they have already taken their own life. From bullying to family issues to peer pressure, these all can be causes that may lead to teen depression.

Check out this vid of identify different symptoms and causes If you or a friend may be suffering from depression do not ignore it.

Please contact Teen Health Hotline if you or a friend is suffering from depression —->HERE

So you know the term “Beauty Begins Within?” Well it’s no longer a dead statement. It’s time for you to shape up! Being young has its perks! For example unhealthy habits takes time to creep up on you so you don’t always see the effects its has on your body right away. But don’t get it twisted, just because your unhealthy habits have not crept up on you does not mean they never will. I know the cafeteria special of burger and cheese fries sounds quite tempting but just make sure you balance out your diet. Hmmm still don’t believe me? Ok, Let’s do like Beyonce and give that good ol “Countdown” and prove it!

Here are 5 reasons Fruits & Veggies Keep You Fly!

5. Pretty Plate- Yes, as girls we love to have beautiful scene in front of us. As corny as this may seem chowing down on fruits & veggies makes your entire spread looks so much better! If the fresh taste doesn’t sway you to munch down own these fruits and veggies, their natural colors and shades should definitely give you a nudge to enjoy them one by one. Think about it? We try to imitate these colors on a day to day basis and they have these vibrant colors naturally! Enjoy them!

4. Convenience- “Always on-the-go” should just be stamped on your forehead. You’re forever getting pulled in 86 different directions from everyone around you. Well, do you know what’s even quicker than “Fast Food?’ Yep, you got it ….“Fresh Food!” Instead of waiting in the drive thru for a McChicken you can snag a tasty plum and carrots out of your fridge in 2 seconds! Hmmm, I’m slowly breaking you down…aren’t I?

3. Skin Care- Prom, First Date, Homecoming, Bon Fire, what do they all have in common?? Let me give you hint…it has to do with being you are what you eat. Well if you were leaning towards having beautiful & acne free skin you were….RIGHT! Ok, yes your parents have not been lying to you this whole time, eating your fruits & veggies does improve your skin.

2.Calorie Count/Energy- Now I am not by any means encouraging to jump on one of these fly by night diets or start counting calories like you’re taking the SAT math portion of the exam. But I am just saying that fruits and veggies are low in calories and gives you a boatload energy! So it’s time to knock the redbull to the side and go for the fresh fruit smoothie instead!

1.Reduce Disease/Dazzling Digestive- Yes! Last but CERTAINLY not least as much as clear skin and a pretty plate may attract you, knowing that fruits and veggies helps you prevent disease and allows you to have a dazzling digestive system will keep you here! It helps reduce risk to your heart disease, high blood pressures and some cancers.

“One who has health, has hope. One who has hope, has a life.” -Proverb

Clean, Fresh, Chic and Fly…is the way you want your face to look every time you walk out of the house. But here is the problem your parents aren’t supporting your Mac makeup habit or you realize you barely have time to take a shower in the morning and would be impossible to add applying make up in your sched. So hmmm how do you get out of this pickle? Well, glamorous gals you don’t have to worry about applying a face full of make up to achieve that look. As much as you don’t think but having a fierce and arch eyebrow not only brings out your features but it’s a time saving way to feel like you have to apply a new face. There are 3 different methods to achieve the “Perfect Arch.”

Check it out…

Wax On, Wax Off!- Waxing is one of the most common methods to achieve a defined arch. Now, before getting your eyebrows wax always make sure to go to licensed esthetician in a clean and safe environment. The last thing you want to do is have uneven eyebrows or a rash. When you got get your eyebrows wax make sure you let them know the shape you’re striving for or even show them a picture. This way they can use it as a reference. The process is quick and gives your hair 2-6 weeks before it starts growing back. Also make sure that the esthetician cools the wax before applying it to your skin.

Needle & “Thread”- This is the newest method that’s been sweeping the nation for past years. Originally beginning in India, threading is a method where a thin cotton thread is used to remove hair at one time. More and more areas are introducing “threading” for an affordable price. Make sure that both the environment is clean and safe as well before you get your eyebrow threaded.

Pick Up the Tweezers- So you already crept into your mom’s medicine cabinet and experimented with tweezing your eyebrows? This way is a perfect way to save money, especially if you master the technique of tweezing. If you or a professional tweezes your eyebrow you will be able to pluck and still see the shape of your brow. Plucking and tweezing is pretty painless but you have to maintain the brows every few days.

-C.O.R.E Family