Essential Oils for Beginners: Flavors and Uses

What are essential oils?
Essential oils are concentrated plant extracts that retain the natural smell and flavor, or "essence," of their source.

Essential oils used in aromatherapy trigger responses in the brain that send healing to the body. These oils can balance out hormone levels, heal digestive disorders, and dramatically reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Essential oils are obtained through distillation (via steam and/or water) or mechanical methods, such as cold pressing.
Once the aromatic chemicals have been extracted, they are combined with a carrier oil to create a product that's ready for use.

The way the oils are made is important, as essential oils obtained through chemical processes are not considered true essential oils.

Most Popular Essential Oils:
Lavender Essential Oil.
Peppermint Essential Oil.
Lemon Essential Oil.
Eucalyptus Essential Oil.
Frankincense Essential Oil.
Tea Tree Essential Oil.
Chamomile Essential Oil.
Rosemary Essential Oil.

WHAT IS AROMATHERAPY?

Aromatherapy has been in existence for 6000 decades or more it is a holistic healing treatment that uses natural plant extracts to promote health and well-being. 

It's also called essential oil therapy. Aromatherapy uses aromatic essential oils medicinally to improve the health of the body, mind, and spirit. It enhances both physical and emotional health.

Aromatherapy doesn’t have to be high-priced, and it has many benefits. It has become fundamental for alternative and holistic medicine. Establishing aromatherapy as a habit in your ordinary life will help you take some time for yourself.

If you don’t know how to use essential oils, don’t feel overwhelmed or intimidated by how to get started. It’s really easy and a lot of fun! You’ll be surprised in how many areas of your life you are able to use your oils:

Essential oil diffuser
People everywhere are now using essential oil diffusers in their homes to reap the benefits of the scents of natural essential oils.
Primarily, diffusers are used to relieve stress, promote relaxation and freshen the air naturally. If you're looking to add one to your home, you have a wide range of options to choose from.

Use in a bath

Adding essential oils to your bath is an amazing way to take a relaxing time-out during your busy day. Buy a box of simple Epsom salts as the base for your essential oils. If you just drop the oils into the water, they will not dissolve as nicely as they do when first mixed into the salts, who then dissolve beautifully. Please don’t combine any other chemically produced soaps or products into this mix in an effort to fully enjoy all the benefits of the essential oil and Epsom salts alone.

Oils Skin Application

Coconut Oil

Used in many natural face products and for good reason: it's naturally anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and moisturizing. Coconut oil is composed primarily of nourishing fatty acids and is especially high in lauric acid. It also contains vitamin E and healthy fats, which help to make skin smooth.

Olive Oil 

Most commonly used in cooking, olive oil can also be used for cosmetics as carrier oil. Olive oil is packed with benefits including aiding occasional ear discomfort, joint pain, support of rheumatic conditions, or hair care applications.

Sunflower Seed Oil

Sunflower seed oil is a great source of vitamin E, rich in nutrients and antioxidants, and is effective for combatting skincare issues like acne, inflammation, general redness and irritation of the skin. In addition to vitamin E, sunflower oil is also rich in vitamins A, C, and D, making it effective in the treatment of acne. Sunflower seed oil contains vitamins and fatty acids that act as antioxidants to regenerate new skin cells and help your skin rid itself of acne-causing bacteria.

Shea Butter 
Shea butter is a skin superfood that comes from the seeds of the fruit of the Shea (Karite) tree and that is naturally rich in vitamins A, E and F. It offers UV protection (it is SPF ~6) and provides the skin with essential fatty acids and the nutrients necessary for collagen production.
Reduces Inflammation: A 2010 study found that due to its cinnamic acid and other natural properties, shea butter was anti-inflammatory. One compound in particular, lupeol cinnamate, was found to reduce skin inflammation and even potentially help avoid skin mutations. This also makes it beneficial for some people with acne.

Moisturizing: The concentration of natural vitamins and fatty acids in shea butter makes it incredibly nourishing and moisturizing for skin. It is often used to remedy dry skin and to help protect the skin’s natural oils.
Skin Smoothing: Shea butter aids in the skin’s natural collagen production and contains oleic, stearic, palmitic, and linolenic acids that protect and nourish the skin to prevent drying. With long-term use, many people report skin softening and strengthening as well as wrinkle reduction.

Jojoba Oil 

Extracted from the jojoba beans, jojoba oil can be stored for a longer period of time compared to other carrier oils. It possesses an almost indefinite shelf life. It is easily absorbed by the skin as jojoba oil mimics collagen, making it relaxing to the skin, especially for those who have hypersensitivity, eczema, psoriasis, acne or blackheads. 

Almond Oil

Sweet Almond carrier oil is an excellent emollient which softens and reconditions the skin. It penetrates easily and can soothe dry, irritated areas. Excellent for all skin types.
Well suited as a carrier oil for aromatherapy blends. Also useful as a bath or massage oil; excellent addition to lotion bars, sugar or salt scrubs and balms.

Simply inhale

Steam inhalation

Also called steam therapy, it involves the inhalation of water vapor. The warm, moist air is thought to work by loosening the mucus in the nasal passages, throat, and lungs. This may relieve symptoms of inflamed, swollen blood vessels in your nasal passages.


Aromatherapy Massage
Aromatherapy massage is used for a variety of different reasons, including relaxation, pain management, and improved mood. These are also some of the basic benefits of massage therapy. Adding essential oils is thought to enhance such benefits.

OG Fired! - Basketball Wives Season 8 Reunion

Social media has been blazing 🔥 for weeks and today not much has changed. 

The hot topic "Basketball Wives LA" is still drawing huge backlash from the public; who expressed disappointment, shock and outrage how retired women’s football player Ogom "OG" Chijindu was deemed as "aggressive" called "ugly" and her overall treatment this Season (8). Many viewers felt that OG was being held to a different standard considering Evelyn Lozada and so many past and present casts have been violent in past seasons. 

Polls, social media comments, and many went as far as signing petitions to boycott the show and Evelyn Lozada. Blaming much of the behavior displayed this season on Shaunie O'neal, Executive Producer and Cast Member of the show. Hearing that 'OG' was fired from the show awoke a new level of disdain for Shaunie and Evelyn. 

Both reality tv co-stars, and besties Shaunie and Evelyn have been accused of displaying "colorism" and "racism" against OG and past "dark-skinned" cast members. They claimed it is obvious they favored "lighter skinned" cast members. 

Other casts who have sided with the two women; Kristin Scott, Malaysia Pargo and Feby Torres were all accused of being bullies, and called "Mean Girls".

During the Reunion OG sat in a room via television as she addressed "The Collective" as she calls her fellow cast members.

Shaunie responded in an interview which aired directly after Basketball Wives Reunion Part 2 on Wednesday saying: 

She gets what OG is saying and she didn't intentionally single her out. She hates that OG felt that way, she "feels horrible", that, that was her experience. 

Despite the uproar Shaunie O’Neal has revealed that it has been renewed for another season.

View this post on Instagram

@iHEARTOG found a VERY interesting way on delivering her receipts from Chad to Evelyn... 🤑🤑🤑 #BBWReunion #BasketballWives

A post shared by Basketball Wives (@basketballwives) on Oct 16, 2019 at 5:58pm PDT

France - Copycat September 11th Attack Intercepted

On Thursday, according to France's Interior Minister, a man was arrested for planning plane attacks, mimicking the World Trade Center bombing that took place in New York on September 11th, 2001. 

The intelligence services was successful in the interception however; French officials say the threat of attacks remains very high.

France has struggled for years to find best ways of responding to both  homegrown Jihadists and foreign militants following a series of attacks across the country. 

Rally at Sergels torg, or Sergel's Square, in Stockholm, Sweden
November 14, 2015, a day after the attacks in Paris. (Reuters Photo)

More than 230 people have been killed in France in the last four years from Islamist militant attacks. In particular in November 2015 after coordinated strikes across the capital, the attacks were claimed by Islamic State in Syria, and were carried out in part by French-born fighters.

Just recently on October 3rd, an IT Specialist with suspected Islamist sympathies, who also had a security clearance; killed three officers and one civilian employee before he was shot dead by a police officer.

According to Christophe Castaner, Minister of the Interior the latest interception was the 60th attempted attack since 2013. 

Officials now fear dozens of their nationals held in Kurdish-controlled camps in prisons could escape and return home following a Turkish offensive in northern Syria that is targeting Kurdish militias guarding them.

FRENCH REPORTER: “You have a very low unemployment rate in the U.S. & we have a very high unemployment rate in France. — How come?”

PRESIDENT TRUMP: “Well... maybe we have a better President than you do.”

pic.twitter.com/oPqednOVma

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) October 18, 2019

What's New with Fortnite 'Chapter 2'

Drop into a New World 🌎

Fortnite Chapter 2 is available now.

Share your #FirstDrop! pic.twitter.com/azURjtP8Cs

— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) October 15, 2019

‘Fortnite’ Patch Notes: 11 Of The Biggest Changes In ‘Chapter 2’

Fortnite

CREDIT: EPIC GAMES

Fortnite Chapter 2 is here. It’s been a long road getting here, including 30+ hours of staring at a black hole, but the game is now back online with massive changes. We've gotten accustomed to big drops of new content every ten weeks or so in this game, but nothing has ever been quite on this scale before: there’s a new map, new default skins, new items and...a ton of other stuff. We’re still sifting through exactly what’s different, because this one doesn’t seem to have dropped with any patch notes, unlike every other patch in this game’s history. Epic appears to want us to discover this stuff ourselves, which is exactly what we’re going to do.

So without official patch notes, we’ll make our own. While we’ll be figuring out stuff for the rest of the day at least, let’s take a look at the biggest changes that we can see here at the beginning of the season.

New Map: This one is sort of hard to miss. But after 10 seasons we said goodbye to the old map in dramatic fashion, and now we’re setting out to explore the new one. The in-game mini-map is grayed out when you first drop in, and you have to do it gradually.

Water: Water is a big focus of this map, and we’ve got some nice improvements to go along with that. We’ve now got boats and the ability to swim and even dive a tiny amount. There are also some nice water effects and physics, though you won’t see those at lower graphics settings.

New Default Skins: You see this one the second you open up a match: we’ve got new default skins, saying goodbye to the ones that we’ve played with for over a year. Don’t worry: the characters remain, but they’re wearing different clothes.

Better Graphics: I’m fairly certain I noticed some lighting improvements in there along with the better water effects. There definitely seems to be a bump up at the highest level, but I’ll be curious if Digital Foundry or some other tech experts take a look at things.

Fortnite

CREDIT: EPIC GAMES

UI Changes: Nothing major here, and everything should still be pretty navigable if you’ve played before. But we’ve got tweaks to the basic UI, including a progress bar at the bottom of the screen and skin icons next to players.

New Weapons, but less weapons: The game is promising a streamlined arsenal for the beginning of Chapter 2, which is a relief: the Junk Rifts and Batarangs were getting a little bit exhausting. There are a few new basic weapons, too, but they all fall into fairly recognizable categories.

Support Skills/Items: We got a lot more options for medic-style players at the end of last season, but these additions are even bigger than those. We now have both the ability to carry your downed teammates to safety and a new “bandage bazooka” that allows you to heal your teammates at a distance.

New Progression Systems: Progression has always been a shifting beast in this game, between season level and battle pass level, but Chapter 2 brings with it major changes. You now earn experience for all sorts of things besides killing people, like harvesting materials or opening chests. There are also medals tied to specific actions that you can use to fill out a “punchcard”.

Hiding: Fortnite has never really been about hiding, despite the fact that I always spend a lot of time hiding. Players like me now have options that extend beyond squatting in a bush, including the ability to hide in environmental haystacks and dumpsters.

Fortnite

CREDIT: EPIC GAMES

Upgrade Your Weapons: This should take some of the RNG out of things. You can now upgrade your weapons using materials, giving players different avenues towards building the perfect endgame loadout.

Fishing: You can fish for weapons, now!

We’ll leave it at that for now as we look for more changes. There should be a ton of stuff coming in soon, so and it will take a bit of time to sort through it all.

Dave ThierSenior Contributor 

Games

I write about video games and technology.

HORSE CARRYING 'WEST NILE VIRUS'

West Nile Virus' 1st case found in a horse!

Crook County has detected it's first case of West Nile Virus, found in a horse after 15 years of testing. According to Oregon Public Health officials and the Crook County Health Department. A horse became ill in September, it was the first to test positive for the disease since 2004 when testing began. According to officials, the horse had spent time in both the Prineville and the Post/Paulina areas, and had not traveled outside of the county during its exposure period.

The diagram shows how West Nile virus is transmitted from mosquitoes feeding on infected birds; which are considered hosts. The infected mosquitoes then bite and transfer the virus to both humans and horses.

Though this is not the season for the virus, folks in the area should take this matter seriously, exercise precautions and avoid the risks of contracting the virus.

According to News Channel 21 report: 

Karen Yeargain, LPN, communicable disease coordinator at the Crook County Health Department stated:

"There's no way to distinguish whether you just got bit by a mosquito that’s carrying West Nile versus one that’s not," says Karen Yeargain, LPN, communicable disease coordinator at the Crook County Health Department. "You won’t know."

Cliff Kizer, manager of Crook County Vector Control: 

"It is unlikely that other livestock, like cattle, could catch the virus. He said mosquito bites act like "vaccination," and when the cattle get bitten, they develop immunity to the disease.
“The general population of warm-blooded animals will develop resistance, and people and horses will also, but we don’t want to take the chance of losing even one person to it," Kizer said.
Luckily, there have been no residents of Crook County diagnosed with West Nile illness.

If you feel you have been exposed to the virus here is some information that may help.

Symptoms, Diagnosis, & Treatment

Symptoms:
No symptoms in most people. Most people (8 out of 10) infected with West Nile virus do not develop any symptoms.

Febrile illness (fever) in some people. About 1 in 5 people who are infected develop a fever with other symptoms such as headache, body aches, joint pains, vomiting, diarrhea, or rash. Most people with this type of West Nile virus disease recover completely, but fatigue and weakness can last for weeks or months.

• Serious symptoms in a few people. About 1 in 150 people who are infected develop a severe illness affecting the central nervous system such as encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) or meningitis (inflammation of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord).
• Symptoms of severe illness include high fever, headache, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, vision loss, numbness and paralysis.
• Severe illness can occur in people of any age; however, people over 60 years of age are at greater risk. People with certain medical conditions, such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease, and people who have received organ transplants, are also at greater risk.
• Recovery from severe illness might take several weeks or months. Some effects to the central nervous system might be permanent.
• About 1 out of 10 people who develop severe illness affecting the central nervous system die.

Diagnosis:

See your healthcare provider if you develop the symptoms described above.
Your healthcare provider can order tests to look for West Nile virus infection.

Treatment:

No vaccine or specific antiviral treatments for West Nile virus infection are available.
Over-the-counter pain relievers can be used to reduce fever and relieve some symptoms
In severe cases, patients often need to be hospitalized to receive supportive treatment, such as intravenous fluids, pain medication, and nursing care.
If you think you or a family member might have West Nile virus disease, talk with your healthcare provider.

LOSE WEIGHT IN 30 DAYS! - Celebrity Weight Loss

💪    GET INSPIRED   💪

30 Day Weight Loss Challenge!

Actor, John Goodman

Actress, Gabourey Sidibe

Singer, Sam Smith

Singer, Adele

Reality TV Star, Khloe Kardashian

Singer, Jennifer Hudson

Singer, Kelly Clarkson

Mogul, Oprah Winfrey

Reality TV Star, KIM KARDASHIAN

Singer, CHRISTINA AGUILERA

Singer/Actress, JORDAN SPARKS

START ⬅

 

 

🎮 Is Fortnite Over? Finito? Done? Here's What Happened...

Millions of Fortnite fanatics all over the world are in awe! 
Season 10 is over and no one has a clue of what's going to happen next. Well no one except the creative genius' up at the Epic Games headquarters.

I spoke with a 12 year old gamer, who was in the middle of playing Fortnite on Sunday 13th,  and he described his experienced: 

"Well around 2 p.m. I was playing Fortnite with (4) four of my friends the all of sudden there was a rocket launch, it exploded in the sky, then disappeared. Then, I seen plenty rifts with spaceships shooting across the map into each other. It made one big rift then appeared in front of the meteor. The meteor was stuck over Dusty Depot all season but then started falling towards "Loot Lake". When asked what was "Loot Lake"? he explained that is was a location on the Fornite map. 

 "The meteor dropped into the orb, in the middle of "Loot Lake", then there was a big explosion, all my friends and I flew towards "Moisty Palms". Then everything was sucked back towards "Loot Lake" then everything disappeared. 

After that the Black hole appeared. I waited for 30 minutes with my friends but nothing happened, so I finally took that shower, I was trying to take all day". 

Social media is in a frenzy as Fortnite posted updates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Twitch and Youtube with the same "black hole" and some really creepy music can be heard playing.

Could this be the end of Fortnite? or an awesome marketing strategy gearing up for Season 11 or Chapter 2.

Over 20,000 people on Twitter alone are tuned staring into the black hole, expressing their feelings and theories of what they think happened. Screaming and crying emojis can be seen in the Twitch chat room as they all watch and wait for something... anything!

... https://t.co/cTqXvOTuoa

— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) October 13, 2019

🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮  FUN FACTS 🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮

 WHERE OUR GAMING MONEY GOES!

Tim Sweeney, Epic Games CEO  •  NET WORTH $4.5B

• Tim Sweeney is co founder and CEO of Cary, North Carolina game developer Epic Games.

• The private company is the maker of Fortnite, one of the world's most popular games, with over 250 million players.

• The free-to-play game, released in July 2017, brought in an estimated $2.4 billion in revenue in 2018.

• In October 2018, Epic Games raised $1.25 billion in funding from firms like KKR, Kleiner Perkins and Vulcan Capital.

• Chinese tech giant Tencent, which bought a 48% stake for $330 million in 2012, is still the largest outside investor.

• Epic Games is also the creator of the Unreal Engine, one of the most used game development tool kits for other studios.

Who Wore It Better?

Comment "K" for KeKe  or "B" Beyoncé

🎤 KODAK BLACK (BEHIND THE SCENES) In The Bahamas

🎼 Rapper KODAK BLACK: In the Bahamas for anticipated Long Walk to Freedom Tour!

After Buju Banton's performance some left tired, fulfilled and others disappointed. They had expected to see Kodak Black prior to the main act; so many assumed he was a "no-show". 

At exactly 3:10 am Kodak entered the gate arms wrapped around his mom and a female friend. I could not confirm if it was a girlfriend; but doing what seemed to be a ritual {repeatedly kissing the hands of both ladies} it is safe to say she was equally important to him. A few moments later, he was ready to perform for who was there waiting.

It was said that Kodak's flight from Mexico enroute to Nassau, Bahamas was the cause of him being more than an hour late.

Banton, could be seen in his tent looking upset by what was transpiring, but production members had a quick meeting and the show went on.

After the performance which lasted about an hour - he was whisked by security into his tent. Fortunately, for me I met and took a photo with Kodak. The entire night he was in the best mood -funny, sweet and patient, in particular my phone rang twice on two occasions, as we were taking selfies. He stated "Wow! Rj really checking on you, take it again!" he flashed his signature smile with his grillz and the rest is history.

Kodak at Atlantis, Paradise Island Bahamas

Though there was controversy surrounding Kodak Black; a young "rapper" being added to an "old school" reggae artist like a Buju Banton's  lineup. There was a certain age group and population that could not wait for Kodak to hit The Bahamian soil again.

Kodak was spotted weeks leading up to the concert, and news quickly traveled, that he was in talks with the production company, to in fact be apart of the major event.

The Bahamas was the 2nd stop on the tour, the 1st being in his home town in Kingston, Jamaica.

The Long Walk to Freedom (Bahamas) was rendered by Paradise Productions. Though new to most, this production company is well connected; and has existed for years hosting many reggae concerts in the Caribbean, I imagine this has been the largest and most successful.  

Buju Banton, who was released on December 8th 2018 from Federal Prison in the US, after serving (8) eight years. The concert was being talked about and advertised years in advance and had many booking travel and accommodations as soon as a date was released. 

The Long Walk to Freedom (Bahamas) had feature performances from rappers Kodak Black and Lil’ Duval, Nigerian singing sensation Davido , Jamaican DJ Ritchie Feelings, Glen Washington and many Bahamian artists including Willis & The Illest, DJ Ignite, DJ Studda & Mix-A-Lot, Jah Hem and more.