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This is our Henrietta 👻🎃 Thank you #abelandcole for sharing this design with us 💟 #halloween #halloweenpumpkin #scary #cute #wedidittogether #owl #lovethispumpkin #loveautumn https://www.instagram.com/p/BpSVQaPgNWm/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1j23jmlyx1mix

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How to deal with thrush/Advice from Katka's pharmacy

Thrush is very common health problem and I am sure almost every single woman in this world was experiencing it at least once in her life. Some women are not very lucky and they are fighting thrush very often, sometimes every month. During my career in pharmacy I came across a lot of cases, where women where miserable, they didn't know what to do, but only thing, what they could think of was to get rid of this irritation in any price. I am a woman too, so I do know, how did they feel, I did experienced it by myself and yop, I wasn't very happy about it either.

How do you know you have a thrush and what can cause it?

First part of this question is very easy to answer, thrush can be usually identified very very fast, you will experience terrible itchiness, discomfort in your private area, sometimes soreness too. Most of the women are also having a discharge, which is mostly unusually (for you) coloured and smelly as well. In rare cases, this symptoms are not as clear and easy to identify, if so, woman should go and see her doctor, who can run a test for her, which is very easy and simple.

Causes of thrush, well there is so many things, which can affect your balance in your private area, it is overwhelming :) Let's get started :

*Antibiotics are number one, antibiotics are targeted to destroy bacterial infections in our bodies, their job is to kill the bacterias which could sometimes bring other issues for the person taking them. Unfortunately, they don't know the difference between good and bad bacterias, so they can affect bacterial flora in vagina, by killing bacterias living there (good ones). Many women are having reactions as a thrush after or during taking antibiotics, but don't worry there is a very simple and easy way, how you can protect yourself (keep reading and you will find out, what it is).

*Wearing the wrong underwear. Vagina is very very sensitive part of female body and wrong materials or cuts of underwear could be an issue.

*Toiletries for feminine care as a towels, pads, pantyliners, intimate washes and soaps, bath products.

*Wrong diet.

*Stress.

*Sexual intercourse.

*Other medication.

*General body unbalance.

As you can see, there are many factors, which can affect women's health and every day life. But it is not as scary as it looks, if you will follow few simple steps and take few simple actions, you can protect yourself very easily. Many women's first choice in chemist, while dealing with thrush is anti fungal treatment,  chemical products coming in topical creams, pessaries or oral tablets. But  is this the best what you can do? Taking unnatural medicines? Are there any other options for us? Something more gentle for our bodies?

The answer is yes yes yes, there are few different products, which every woman should know about, they are amazing, natural and well in my opinion, much better for body balance.

I will show you, what can you use, how can you help yourself and bring comfort back to your life, without using anti fungal products :).

My personal award winning in dealing with thrush is and always will be taking the right type of probiotics. What are they? Probiotics are products, capsules, which contain different types and concentrations of bacterias, specially mixed together to help with different health problems. When you will start looking for probiotics, you will come across many different brands and types of them. You have to be careful, which one will you pick. Always look for certificates and tests, which were done with certain brand. Because probiotics are live cultures, you want to be sure, that the one, which you pick will give everything, what you need. That the brand can guarantee, that all the bacterias are alive until the expiration date.

When you are dealing with thrush, make sure, you will pick one, which are made for women and women's health. They do have perfect combination of different types of bacterias, which will basically rebuild your bacterial flora in your vagina and restore your balance, which is very much needed, when you are dealing with this problem. Balance is very important. I had recommend this to so many patients and have a many coming back, thanking me for advice. Because human body contain many different bacterias, it is very important, to pick the right probiotics for certain health issue. Probiotics are natural, they contain things, which we do have in our bodies, which we need for every day life. No chemicals :) Great isn't it?

You can choose from oral capsules, which are great or also a local capsules, which are inserted inside the vagina, or you can use them together for extra boost. When you have a lot of discharge and discomfort I will definitely pick the local first, followed by oral treatment too.

As I mentioned before, one of the most common causes of thrush is usually taking antibiotics. How can you protect yourself? Taking probiotics!!! When you know, that you are going to have a antibiotic treatment and you do usually have a reactions or, you just want to protection, there is very simple thing, what you can do for yourself. Take the probiotics, while you are on the antibiotic course and maybe few days afterwards as well. You have to be careful again, with picking the right one. Again, do your research and pick the right product to be taken with antibiotics. There are few available on the market, which are specially made to be resistant from antibiotics. Price is not usually the indicator, from my experiences the most expensive probiotics are usually crap. So watch for certificates and tests. As simple as that, this can save you so much trouble :) it is magical.

While the probiotics are doing their job, which can take few days, you can find a relieve from outside irritation by taking sit down baths with chamomile. It is very simple, natural and effective way how to calm your skin. Just simply boil the water in cooking pan, add about 2 spoons of dried chamomile, leave it for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, pour your chamomile water (tea) into your bath (filled up with some water) and sit down. Stay in your bath for at least 20 minutes. Chamomile does have amazing calming power, which many people don't know about.

These two simple steps are very effective and worth to try.

As I mentioned on the begging, thrush does have many different causes. If you are a person, suffering with it often, you should be careful and try to protect yourself and prevent the irritation. Very important is a quality of your underwear, you are using, you should be always picking natural materials, as cotton or bamboo, which are breathable and soft. They will keep your private parts dry and fresh.

Other thing is toiletries. What are you using for everyday hygiene. Pantyliners, towels and pads should be unscented, made from soft cotton (the best is organic unbleached cotton), natural natural natural, that is the answer for almost everything :) .

The same goes with body washes, intimate washes - no perfume and keep it as simple as possible. During the time, you have irritation use just a water and chamomile baths for your intimate area.

Diet, does play very important role in keeping body in balance, unhealthy diet can effect general health but also can cause many different illnesses and infections, as a thrush for example. Diet rich for sugar will not be beneficial for you generally but especially will not keep your vagina in healthy stage. Sugar can defect bacterias and we all know now, what will happened afterwards.

These are the basic tips from me, how to deal with thrush, but don't forget always ask yourself, why do you have certain problems, investigate and find the reason and deal with it. It is not just about treating, but understanding and dealing with cause, not just with symptoms.

If you do have any more questions about this topic, or any others, feel free to contact me, send me a message and I will try to help you as much as I can :)

K.

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How to deal with insomnia/Advice from Katka's pharmacy

Insomnia is very common problem these days, our lives are busy, we are under a lot of pressure, hunting for success and money and very often we keep forgetting, that our body needs our attention too.

There are many people suffering with insomnia, which can be stress related, caused by unhealthy diet and generally unhealthy lifestyle (not enough of exercising), taking certain types of medications and many other factors.

If you are suffering with insomnia, have symptoms such as finding hard to fell a sleep, waking up several times during the night or keep waking up and then having a problem to fell a sleep again, and you are willing to do something about it, you want to feel good, give your body rest, which it does deserve, you don't want to just take some random chemical tablets, which will knock you out, but they are not beneficial for your body at all, then keep reading and I hope you will find here some interesting tips and advice, which might motivate you and will help you to find a way how to feel better.

During my time in pharmacy, I was always trying to have a conversation with customers and trying to dig deep and find the reason, why do they have health issues, why their bodies didn't work as they should. I think, this is very important, if you are trying to help somebody or to help yourself. Don't try to just get rid of symptoms, try to understand your body, dealing with cause is much more beneficial.

Our lifestyle, can effect us very much, diet is very very important, when we keep feeding our bodies with unhealthy food, without nutrients, vitamins and minerals, then we can't expect to have happy life, with no health issues. The easiest way, how to control your diet, is to cook everything by yourself, from scratch, which might be challenging on the beginning, but it will get better, I promise :)

With insomnia, you should be keeping and eye on your daily intake of sugars and carbohydrates. If you want to learn more about, how can high intake of sugars effect your body, I can recommend and amazing document called "That sugar film", where you can find everything you need about changing a diet and getting your body to a healthy stage.

Exercising is my second advice. We need to keep moving. Every one is different, we all need and like different stuff, but we all should be doing some physical activities, which will help you to build up your stamina, to burn some calories and exercising is the best thing ever for getting rid of tension and stress. When you are working in stressful environment, or you are going through rough time you should think about it, for sure. There are so many different types of physical activities, you can join the gym, go for walk every day, start running, do Yoga or Pilates or find some other class, which you can enjoy. This will help you to relax, you can get rid of the steam and start thinking with a clear head afterwards.

When you have a healthy diet and enough of physical activities and you are still having problems with sleeping, then it is a time to reach for help from my beloved herbs.

Herbal products are very helpful with dealing with insomnia, they can have very calming and soothing effect, which eventually will bring some peace and relaxing time to your body.

They don't work as a chemical medications, which will work instantly, you have to keep taking or drinking them for a little while, to build up the active ingredients in your body. Usually people, can see the difference after three to four days of using herbs.

So which ones are the best for sleeping problems? Well there are few, but the most effective are : Valerian, Hobbs, Lavender, Chamomile and Melissa (known as a Lemongrass). Valerian is the most powerful one from all of them, but unfortunately, the taste and smell is disgusting, I will definitely recommend to mix Valerian with different herbs (they are different combinations available in shops) or you can make your own mixture.

My very favourite herb from all of mentioned ones is Melissa, which does have lovely mild, little bit refreshing taste.

If you are not a big fan of drinking a herbal teas, you can also find this herbs in forms of tablets and drops. You should follow the instructions on certain products and as I mentioned before, don't expect them to have magical power after taking one tablet. Keep taking, don't give up :)

With all the herbs I would not recommend to use or take them for too long, you should always give your body a break, if you are taking tablet or drops, have a break after 2 or 3 months. When you are drinking a tea it's easier, because you can keep changing different herbs, but everything should be in moderation, don't drink 2 litres a day :) one cup in the evening is plenty.

If you tried all of my tips above and you are still not feeling better, you are not getting enough of sleep, feeling tired, then I think it's time for deeper investigation. You should probably see your GP and try to find a reason, why is it all happening, there might be something hiding behind sleeping problems.

I hope you found this post beneficial for yourself, as you can see I love everything natural, love using what is Earth giving us. I will have some more health blogs coming up, hopefully very soon.

Take care...

K.

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How to deal with cough / Advice from Katka’s pharmacy

Hello and welcome, I am back and bringing you exciting but also, for me, very important topic of today and this is cough.

I am sure, everyone knows, what I am talking about, everyone went through struggle with coughing and feeling under the weather. But not everyone knows what and how to use, while you are coughing.

Lets get started, what is cough and why do we have to deal with it?

Cough is simply a protective mechanism, which your body is using to let you know, that something is not right in your lungs area. You might experience two types of coughs, which are dry and chesty (often called productive).

With dry cough, you can feel irritation, tickling and you are not bringing anything out, you can find yourself having “cough attack”, which could be very stressful and annoying, especially, when you are at work or very often in theatre.

Relieving dry cough is much much harder, than dealing with chesty one. There are not many products available in chemists in UK, and all of them are in form of syrups, which are full of sugar or sweeteners, not the best for your body. If you are like me and you don’t want to take any of this “chemical medicines” unless it is necessary, and you are always trying to find better, healthier and more natural way, how to help your body, then welcome again :)

First, there is a warning, I like herbs and herbal teas, because they are natural, very effective, but unfortunately not very easy to get in UK. Luckily, thanks to internet and all different healthy online shops it’s not impossible.

Because dry cough is mostly irritation and reflex, your intention is to calm and sooth.

I have three favourite herbs, which will help you to achieve it : Ribwort plantain, Thyme and Eucalyptus. All three of them are available in dried drugs (tea). They can be used separately, or you can mix them together and make yourself your own tea mixture. Recommendation from me will be to drink 3 cups a day, probably for 3-4 days. By then, you will be probably fed up with taste anyway :)

I love herbal teas, they are amazing in winter times, because, you can keep yourself warm, hydrated and also you are dealing with your current health problems.

If you are struggling with a cough for a long time (more than 3-4 weeks) I would definitely go to see your GP and have it checked, this can be a sign of something more serious going on in your body.

Chesty or productive cough shouldn’t be ignored. When you have mucus or phlegm in your lungs and you will just leave it as it is, without trying to bring it up, you can cause yourself some more troubles, as pneumonia for example. I met a lot of people, during my career, who wanted to suppress their chesty cough, because they were, lets just say lazy, and didn’t want to cough, which is very wrong, you should clear your lungs and prevent any other infections from happening.

I have a good news, all the herbs, which are helping with chesty cough are very tasty and very helpful too. They can help you to dilute the phlegm and make it easier for you to bring all the yucky stuff out.

Licorice, Mint, Wild thyme and Fennel, all four of them are amazing and very helpful with this type of cough. Again, you can have them separately or mix them together for delicious tea mixture. (3 cups 3-4 days). Again, if you are experiencing a problems with a cough for longer period of time (the same as dry cough) do not hesitate and book an appointment with your GP surgery.

With a herbal tea I will always pick the free dried herbs, not the ones, which are already packed in tea bags. This will make it easier to mix them together and also, you can see exactly, what are you going to drink, while tea bags can hide some little surprises :) (just my opinion). Even better is, when you can grow them in your garden and save yourself money and time, you can grow your own organic herbs, dried them and keep them preserved for a winter time. ( I managed to do it just with Mint so far, but I am now on the hunt for some Rosehip too)

When you are feeling, that herbs are not enough, you can always pop into your closest pharmacy and ask for some cough mixture, you can even use them together with your herbs, but I think herbs do deserve our attention and many people are not giving them enough of credit, which is wrong. Herbs could be very effective if we will give them a chance to prove it.  

Unfortunately herbal products are not as great for people suffering with allergic reactions and asthma, if you are one of these people, be careful, if you feel adventurous and you are willing to try them, always ask your doctor first, stay safe.

K.

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How to deal with congestion/Advice from Katka's pharmacy

It is me again, I am person with lots of experiences from pharmacy, who is trying to put all important informations and advices for everyone together, hoping this will help somebody to deal with their health issues.

My today's topic is congestion. This annoying, very irritating and sometimes painful thing, which I am sure every one of us experienced all ready.

When you are congested your mucus membrane in your sinuses is swollen and your sinuses might be full of mucus too. You are experiencing problems with breathing through your nose, sometimes pain under eyes, on forehead or insite your ears.

The most known remedies for treating congestions are decongestants, local (nasal sprays) or tablets. People like using them, but very often, almost every time, they are not aware of all the risks and contraindications.

Simply said, decongestants are doing their job, by changing a pressure in your mucus membrane inside the sinuses, which will eventually help with swelling, with the final result : easier breathing. Because they are affecting a pressure in your body, they are not recommended to a people, with high blood pressure or people suffering with some heart conditions.

You might have heart about addiction to nasal decongestant sprays, it is called “rebound congestion”. These sprays are fine, when they are used safely and not for a long time. When somebody will continue using them for usually longer than 7 days, they will find themself in circle, where they will have to use them all the time, because without them, they won't be able to breath through their nose, but this congestion will be caused by using them. Which sounds pretty depressing. Using them long term can also affect your sense of smell and blood pressure and this are the reasons, why are they not recommended to be used for longer than seven days. Tablet form of decongestants shouldn’t be used longer than 4 days (again affecting blood pressure). They are helpful and they can make our lives easier, but in my opinion, it is better to avoid them, if possible..

There are some other products, which you can use instead, which are more gentle and natural, but they are a little bit more difficult to use, but I think it is worth it.

First of all I want to talk about sea water in spray form. I love using it and recommending it, because it is completely natural, no additives, just pure sea water. There are two basic types of sea water in spray available in shops: hypertonic and isotonic s.w. What is a different?

Isotonic is just a plane sea water, which is great for nasal hygiene, for moisturising and flushing your sinuses, which are full of mucus, dirt, dust or pollen.

Hypertonic sea water, does contain a higher concentration of salt, which can help with swollen sinuses, great for unblocking your nose. You can use this one instead of decongestant nasal sprays. It doesn’t work as fast as the chemical ones and effect doesn’t last as long, but when you want to take natural way, this is a great product to choose. When you are one of the people already addicted to decongestant nasal spray or you do know somebody who is, hypertonic sea water is the right product for them. It can help them to slowly get rid of others product and get their bodies back to normal. It is not easy journey, but it is possible. I have seen it happened, many times :) These types of nasal sprays don’t have any contraindications, and they are safe to use in combination with any medication, safe to use during the pregnancy and breastfeeding and isotonic is suitable for babies too. You might find special sea water spray targeted for little babies and toddlers, there are the same products as the ones for adults (isotonic), the only one difference is a nozzle, which it’s little bit more gentle for little noses :)

Steam inhalation is another perfect trick, how to get rid of congestion. You have plenty of options, what to use, you need hot water, which is essential :) and then you can pick an additive, like some essential oils  (eucalyptus,menthol, lavender, chamomile, pine), Olbas oil, Vaporub, dried chamomile or lavender flowers, sea salt. Very effective is using steam inhalation at least 2 times a day, which will help you to dilute the mucus in your sinuses and relieve the pressure and pain. Another great thing is to use sea water spray, straight away, after steaming, to flush your sinuses, this will help to move mucus and in perfect scenario, you will be able to get it out :), sounds disgusting, but when you are poorly, this can be very relieving.

When you are having troubles to sleep, because your blocked nose, try to use essential oils. Grab some Olbas oil, eucalyptus or menthol oil and put few drops on your pillow, or in winter on wet towel, placed on radiator. Very easy and effective trick :) which can sometimes work with snoring problems too.

Very important as always, to drink plenty of fluids and have a rest, which can help your body significantly. If you want to know, what to do for boosting your immunity system, I have you covered, you can check out my advices of how to use natural and herbal products for supporting your immunity system, which is available on my blog.

You can expect some more “health” blogs coming soon :)

K.

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How to deal with cold and flu/Advice from Katka's pharmacy

It's this time of year again, when our bodieshave to stay strong and fight all the nasty viruses and bacteria around us. Most of the time, if your diet is healthy, and you do have right intake of vitamins, your body can do the job and keep you protected. But sometimes, the strong protective barrier could be broken and you can be left with cold or flu.

And this is, what this blog is going to be about, to give you some advice (from me, I have lots of experiences with working in pharmacy), tips and tricks, how to help your body, how to boost your immune system, without taking all the expensive and many times useless cold and flu medicines.

I do not like the as I like to call it “chemical medication”, I am always trying to avoid it as long as I can. Instead I prefer to use, what our earth is giving us, use herbs and natural products, which are very effective, if you know, what to use.

First of all, if you are suffering with any serious illnesses and you are taking any other medication from your doctor, your body is generally not in very good shape or you have a tendency to have allergic reactions, then always, before taking any other medication or herbal medication, ask your doctor or pharmacist about contraindications. Herbal and natural products, could sometimes react with different types of medications, stay safe and think forward!!!!

When you are attacked by viruses or bacteria, the most important thing, what you have to do is to boost your immune system. Help your body to stay strong and have enough of energy to fight. That means to eat healthy and drink plenty of water. While you are down with cold or flu, I would always recommend to have extra intake of fruit and veggie, which are sources of natural vitamins and minerals. You don’t have to take supplements with vitamins, just eat healthy. *another great thing is garlic, if you can fit some into your diet, your body will be very grateful, garlic is known as a natural antibiotic, so very helpful with killing nasty bacteria*

Drinking enough of liquids is very important to, it’s helping your body to clear the mess faster :) you can also drink and boost at the same time by drinking herbal teas.

One of my favourite immune booster is Rose hip tea, which taste nice, very refreshing and also, does have secret power. Rose hip is naturally full of vitamin C, so drinking a tea will give you plenty of this vitamin, without taking supplements. This doesn’t mean you should drink too much of it. I would recommend to have 2-3 cups a day, probably for 3-4 days. Remember, even herbs could be harmful, when you are taking them for very long in very high concentrations. Everything in moderation.

Ginger is another secret weapon of mine. If you don’t mind the taste of it, I would definitely recommend to get some fresh root of ginger. You can use it for making a tea, just simply grate maybe an inch of ginger into your favourite mug and pour it with hot water. You can also add some lemon for a taste too. Other, more effective way, how to use a ginger is to make a ginger shots. I learned this trick from my sister and it does work. You have to grate 2 inches of ginger root, squeeze it and get a juice out of it, add juice of half lemon and 1 spoon of honey ( I am not using honey at all in my kitchen, because of sugar, but this is exemption) and then drink it. Taste of this shots is crazy and strong, but it will help your body so much, give it a try, if you are strong. Again with a tea I would recommend to have maybe 3 cups a day, with a shots, 1-2 it’s plenty.

If you are really suffering and feeling very poorly, than I have a magical product for you. It is called Betaglucan and it is amazing. Betaglucan it’s an extract, usually from Oyster mushrooms, which is full of vitamins B and it is natural way, how to quickly and effectively fight viruses in your body. Unfortunately, this one is very hard to get in UK, this is why I always have some send to me from my Mum just in case. Recently I found Betaglucan in UK, I think, there are 2 companies making it here, but there is a difference. They are extracting betaglucan from yeast, which as I found it’s not the same, it doesn’t have the same power, but it is still effective, you will have to take it for a bit longer ( better to take it with a food). You can keep taking this products every day, but well I don’t see the point of doing it. What I am doing and I learned this trick from one doctor in Slovakia, I will take 3 times a day 2 capsules of betaglucan (mushroom) for 2 days and that's it. With a yeast one, you will have to keep taking it for 3 or 4 days. It does work magically, you can feel the power of nature, helping you to recover and giving you strength to carry on with your life :)

I don’t really understand, why is it not very popular in UK, but on the other hand, people here are from what I have seen not very keen of using natural and herbal remedies. I hope, this will change in the future, because why not. Why would you keep filling your body with chemicals, while you don’t have to.

This combination of herbal and natural remedies works for 90% of the time. There are a situations, when your body is exhausted and appreciated for all the help you are giving it, but it’s not enough. When this situation will happen all what you need is probably a good old rest. Have some days off and stay in bed, give yourself a break, have a good sleep and I am sure, you will feel better then ever :)

Sleep has a magical power for physical and mental health.

Hope, you will find my advice useful, they are all tried and tested and recommended so many times by me :)

Next time I will tell you something about congestion, what can decongestants do to our body and I will show you, what can be used instead.

I am looking forward to it :)

K.

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Advice from Katka’s pharmacy

As you might know, if not I am gonna tell you, I have more than 9 years of experiences working in the pharmacy. I used to study, back in Slovakia, for 4 years, special medical secondary school, which main subjects were all about working as a pharmacy assistant. I also finished a lot of courses, about skin care, herbal remedies, even homeopathics. I had to do another training in UK, to be able to work in pharmacy, behind the counter, because they didn’t accept my training from Slovakia (also I was a health champion in our pharmacy too).

So as you can see, I do have a lot of knowledge and experiences and I don’t want to be selfish, so I am going to share it all with you. My whole career in pharmacy was about to help people feel better and trying to make their lives enjoyable.

But let’s get back to why I am writing this post. I want to put together few interesting blogs, full of my experiences and advice about different health issues and problems. I just wanted to tell everybody, that I am not making all this advice up, I can call myself a professional :) I know what I am doing and saying, so you are safe with me.

And another thing, get ready, I am all about nature and herbs and healthy living and healthy eating, I don’t like taking any “chemical medicines”, as I like to call them. I like to avoid them if possible. My first choices are always herbal remedies. No, paracetamol is not going to help you with everything :).

I have a lot of notes all ready waiting for me, I just need to put them together and bring you some interesting and in my opinion better health advice for the most common health problems.

They will be with you very soon.

K.

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Life with Seborrheic dermatitis

Seborrheic dermatitis (let’s call it Sede) is a common skin condition, which symptom is usually inflamed and flaky skin, usually seen on scalp, eyebrows, nose, mustache, and in my weird case insite ears too.

From my experience, finding out, if you are a lucky winner of Sede, could be a very, very, very long process. Diagnosis can be a bit tricky, in my case for many years I had problems just with my scalp, so everyone assumed, I am dealing with basic dandruff issue, but later on, my Sede started progressing and now I am dealing with inflamed skin in my eyebrows, around my nose and in my ears, which is the most annoying place ever (you can really scratch an itch in your ear, which can and will drive you crazy :D). I always had a dandruff on my scalp, they never went away, even after my Mums witchcrafting :D, she tried to put on my scalp literally everything, from eggs, olive oil, honey, vinegar, baking soda, lemon, leaves of horse chestnut, and many other things, which I am trying to forget about :D.

I was diagnosed correctly, when I was around 21 years old and this happened, just because of new symptoms on my face.

After diagnosis I was relieved, I could finally stop trying all the antidandruff shampoos and homemade crazy masks. My Mum kind of have in her mind and I can’t change it, that I have this problem, because I don’t know, how to wash my hair :D and even now, when I will sometimes, by mistake, complaint in front of her, she will tell me : “Hmm Katka I don’t think, you are washing your hair properly, are you washing of all the shampoo???” aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa I will be 30 very soon and still... She is not going to stop :D

Anyways, let’s get back to what Sede actually is :) there are few known causes of this skin condition, one of them (the most important one) is a type of fungus, which lives on your skin (you are usually born with it and you CAN NOT spread it to others with physical contact). This fungus is multiplying and having a time of its life, when your scalp or skin is wet, warm, sweaty or oily and you are then left with incredibly itchy, flaky and red skin. Unfortunately, there is no cure or no way how to get rid of this fungus on your skin, it is going to be with you forever, however there are some products available on market, which can help you to keep your skin and your best friend fungus under control.

My journey to find the right products for me was loooong, I went true many different products, so many bottles of shampoo were given to a family and friends, which they did appreciate it, but my purse wasn’t very excited about it :) I realized, how very great would be, if skincare companies will start making little sample bottles or small bottles, which you can try. My scalp is reacting usually very fast, so I don’t need to use shampoo multiple times, I need one test and I can feel reaction right away, which is as I mentioned before: red red red scalp and itching.

I have few categories of products, which I can’t use at all (created during my testing process), these are all the “antidandruff” drugstore shampoos, baby shampoos (surprisingly), anything with oil in it (olive oil, argan oil) but on the other hand, coconut oil shampoo is fine with me, and anything with strong perfumes and lots of parabens.

I have a couple of everyday shampoos, which I am tolerating, it is Bioderma Node Fluide shampoo, which is really good, doesn’t have a lot of foaming agents (detergents) in it, very gentle, but bit more difficult to get in UK + little bit more pricey. So this is a special treat, when I am fed up with using the other one all the time.

Second one is Palmer’s Coconut oil conditioning shampoo, which is quiet perfumy and does have coconut oil in it, but somehow I am fine with it, I don’t know what magic did they use, but it is working :) This one is free of parabens, sulphates, phthalates, dyes, gluten and mineral oils.

These two are my everyday products, but also I have one special guardian, which is with me all the time, but I am trying not to use it, unless it is very necessary and my scalp is crying for help. This little hero is Selsun medicated shampoo, which does contain selenium sulphide and it is life saver for me. I don’t want to use it very often, because I don’t like to use too much of chemicals in general, but sometimes, you just have to do, what you have to do. This shampoo saved me so many times, that I always have at least 2 or 3 at home, just in case, if they will decide to stop making it, or any other apocalyptic situation will happen :D better be ready, than sorry later. It is also very good for face too. My the most affected area with Sede is scalp, but sometimes, usually, when I am under a lot of pressure, or going through rough time, my face will react too and yop, all what I have to do is do wash it with Selsun and irritation will improve straight away. So thank you Selsun very much for everything, what you have done for me and please, don’t even think about stopping this range, because my life without you will be miserable.

Skin care is little bit easier for me, than shampoos, I can basically use almost everything for sensitive skin, without perfumes or with a very little of it. I was always Bioderma fan and I don’t want to change it :) I like quality of their products. At the moment I am using Bioderma Sebium Global, which suits my skin very well, so I don’t feel need for switching it. I am also using a SPF cream in summer made by Bioderma, it’s called Photoderm AKN Mat, which is lovely, because it’s not so heavy and greasy, than usual face sun creams.

Recently I have discovered products called Sebclair, which are non steroidal products for Sede, I liked the cream, which I am using in case of emergency (not every day) in combination with Selsun shampoo. This range contains also a shampoo, which did absolutely nothing for me, I think it is too expensive and it didn’t touch my irritation at all. This little boy is still sitting on my bathroom shelf, and I hope it’s thinking about his failure.

I hope, I helped you to understand, what Sede is, what symptoms does this skin condition have and how can you help your skin. I don’t think, that everyone will react to all the products the same, so every one of us, will probably have to go our own way learning and discovering products, which we can use. But you can try stuff, which I am using and see, if it doesn’t work for you, you can still shift it to me :D I will give them a use :D

You have to know your body better, listen to it and try to find the way, how to live a nice and calm life with it, even if it isn’t perfect.

During my journey, trying to understand my body I figured some tricks, which I am always keeping in mind and they are helping me, to keep my skin under control. There they are :

1. Always dry your hair with hairdryer as soon as possible, after washing it + try not to keep towel on your head for too long : prevent your skin from being warm and wet

2. When visiting hairdresser, always take your shampoo with you, it will save you a lot of hassle with calming down an irritation, which might come after using different shampoo

3. No hair masks with oil, no oily moisturisers on face, if so avoid the Seda area

4. Winter means a lot of itching, wearing wooly hat will not help your scalp (warm and wet, your fungus will have a party), get ready stock up with your first aid products

If you do have  Sede by yourself and you have some tricks and products, which are working for you, let me know, I am always open to try new fun stuff and see, what my body thinks about it :D

[forgetmenot-katka-blog]

Christmas baking, recipes needed

Am I the only one person, who is allready in Christmas spirit? I am trying to find some christmas sugarfree recipes for baking, so if you do have any, please please I need them :)

[forgetmenot-katka-blog]

Isle of Wight adventure

My partner and I, we are both trying to see as much interesting places in UK as possible. Every year we are visiting one special place and this years pick was Isle of Wight. We have heard a lot about this place, so we were really excited, a bit worried for ferry ride, but still pretty excited. UK is full of interesting places, hidden treasures and we love to explore and learn.

Before we went on our short trip, we needed to book some accomodation, which we are always doing with tripadvisor, we have great experiences with this app, so it is our big helper with planning our trips. Also, it’s full of reviews of different places and attractions in surrounding areas, which is very helpful too, so we did picked some of places, which we definitely wanted to see and some, which we would like to see, if we will have some time left.

From our experiences, we knew, what kind of accomodation were we looking for : a little house, bungalow or cottage with own kitchen and preferably little space outside,to have a morning cup of coffee :) We found one in town called Shanklin, which is situated on south east coast of isle.

When we had everything sorted, clothes packed we could set off for adventure. We picked ferry Lymington to Yarmouth, because it’s one of the shortest ones and also you have to drive through New Forest, which does have some lovely scenarios. Ferry experience was really nice, I was worried, but surprisingly, ferry rounds very very slowly, so whole journey was smooth and gentle, no bouncing at all.

After we arrived to Yarmouth, we didn’t have time to see any attractions, because it was already late afternoon, so we were just driving around, and taking the whole island atmosphere from the car :)

On our first day of adventure we decided to see an Osborne house, which is part of English Heritage. This place was once a holiday house for Queen Victoria and her family, and let me tell you, I want holiday house like this too, with my own beach and breathtaking garden, hmmm.

This place is truly magical, but also very popular, which means crowds and crowds of people. We are both a bit antisocial weirdos, so we prefer to visit places, which are not as busy as this one, but even so, we had a lovely time. We managed to spend few hours there, we saw the house and gardens and beach and swiss cottage too. They were nice, but when the hunger came, we had to leave and found some pizza place :) Yes, during the holiday time, healthy diet is not as important as in everyday life… I have to say, there are not many pizza places on whole isle, but we found one Pizza Express, which saved our lives.

After we had delicious pizza we found out something very very important, almost everything closes at 5pm, so we couldn’t do much more that day but headed off to our cottage and later in the evening had lovely walk on the beach, followed by minigolf (our holiday tradition).

Second day was reserved for animals, our destinations were Donkey sanctuary in Ventnor and monkey sanctuary called Monkey Haven in Newport.

First on list were donkeys, there is no entrance fee, but nothing can stop you from donating some cash to this cutiepies. My goal of the day was “to stroke a donkey”, but they were not interested in me at all, I was a bit disappointed, but then we met an older pony, called Bessy (I hope I’ve got the right name), she is a lady with no teeth, so she is on special diet, because she can’t chew, awwww. She was very friendly and opened to any cuddles and strokes, so we did spend some time with her. She is a star.

On our way to second destination of a day, we found shop called House of Chilli and we had to stop. My partner is a big chilli lover and there was no way to ignore this place. He picked some dried chillies for himself, I picked chilly oil, for cooking and we bought some chilly peanuts for fun, too. Eating this peanuts wasn’t funny at all, they were crazy!!!!! I managed to eat 2 of them.

Monkey haven was heartbreaking, but also a very nice experience at the same time. Thanks to lovely keepers, you can learn about some of the rescued monkeys, their life stories and history and it makes you wonder, how how how and why would some people treat the animals like that. We listened to some talks with Charlotte who assured us, that all the animals in sanctuary are getting the best what they can. We just want to say big thank you and well done to everyone, who is involved and who is helping the save something, what the others tried to destroy. Monkey sanctuary is also taking care of some owls and 6 meerkats, too.

Both donkey and monkey sanctuary are very positive and nice places to see, but also to support. Every creature on this planet deserves to live nice life on place, what is their own habitat, but not everyone is lucky to have that, those who are not, they need our help. It is sad,unfortunately some of them met a wrong people :(

After spending a day surrounded with animals, we just went on beach again and had nice evening, followed by watching Naruto in bed.

Our last day in isle, was opened for any adventure, we didn’t have anything planed, all what we wanted was to visit something close to Yarmouth, because we needed to catch a ferry home in the evening. So we searched area and found a place called The Needles. We didn’t know properly, what it was, but wanted to checked it out anyway. And what a surprise!!! We were driving by west coast of isle and that was the moment, when we realised, what a mistake did we make, by booking accommodation on the other side. This place is so amazing, deserted and beautiful, just perfect for us. We know now, that next time visiting the isle, west coast is our place to stay. Road was amazing, we could see the ocean and cliffs, absolutely stunning place.

The Needles was lovely place too, after arriving you have to pay for parking, which was £5 a day, we paid £4, I don’t know why, but maybe, because we are National Trust members??? Who knows.

The lover lever of this place does have nice view, but it is full of attractions, mostly for kids, so we headed off to the higher level, where you can walk (around 20 minutes), or there is a option to take a bus, which was £2.50 if I remember it correctly.

Weather was lovely, so we decided to walk, and also we had all this treats and unhealthy food, so some extra exercising was necessary. We did make the right choice, walk was nice, lovely countryside and view. On the end of footpath we found place called The Old battery, which is historical military place, situated on the cliff. Battery is part of National Trust, which saved us some money for entrance fee :) This place was very peaceful (which is strange, because it wasn’t few years ago, when they were working with gunpowder over there). Not very busy, with lovely tea room, surrounded with ocean and great view,... This is what we like. We did take (I did) lots of pictures, but because somebody (me) forgot to pack a charger for camera, we do have just a lover quality photos taken by phone :(

After a while we become hungry again and we had some spare time, so we went to find a place to eat.

Belated lunch was the end of our little adventure, which over all was lovely experience. We had nice time together, we were blessed with sunny days, we saw everything what we wanted and now after collecting all the memories, we have to get use to normal life again. We can tick off Isle of Wight of our list and start thinking, what will be our next adventure. We are deciding between Scotland, Wales and Lake District, who knows, we will see what feature is holding for us.

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When you've got an itch and you cant control yourself 😂🐎🐒 #donkeysanctuary #isleofwight #loveanimals #hemademelaugh #itchybottom #newuseofwheelbarrow #englishcountryside #donkey https://www.instagram.com/p/Bngs3M_gmsv/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1kdlmtg9u0by6

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Going for adventure 🚢🚗 #isleofwight #adventuretime #exploringengland #myfirsttimeonferry #belatedsummerholiday https://www.instagram.com/p/BnT8zQWD6Rx/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1sc61wakf6ltv

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Eco-period

I am currently at the stage of my life, when I am trying to change everything for better. Better means healthier, economical and ecological.

I was concerned about the amount of waste I am producing every month during my least favourite time - period time. You know, we need a lot of products and most of them are not degradable at all and this was the reason, why I started searching, what other options (except) pregnancy do I have :)

I was very nicely surprised with all the products which I found on my mision. Moon cup, special period underwear, biodegradable tampons and pads...

I decided to start slowly, with something, what I know. I am not ready for trying Moon cup and underwear, it sounds little bit scary for me, but I believe, one day I will be brave enough and give them a try :) They are on the end of the day the most ecological and economical products, which you can get for your period time.

So I did some research and ordered tampons and pads made by Natracare, from my very favourite shop Abel&Cole.  They are made from organic and unbleached cotton and are almost 100% biodegradable.

Tampons which I picked were in size Super, I read some reviews and most of the customers recommended to get size up from your usual, which worked very well for me. I was very happy with a price I paid - £2.70 for 16 tampons, not bad at all.

Tampons are 100% biodegradable and are coming with cardboard applicators, which sounded very weird for me and I was very curious to try it. Applicators look pretty much the same than the standard ones, just made of different material. At first, I found using them a bit tricky, but after practicing I found the best way how to make it work.

Tampons by themselves do have standard shape, nothing strange about them, so on the end of the day I was very happy with this experience and I am going to switch my usual brand, which I used to use and start with Natracare, until a Moon cup time will come.

I like using pads together with tampons during first couple of days of my period, I like to be safe, so double protection is my way, how to feel more comfortable. That is why I picked a Natracare ultra pads - regular, which are coming in box of 14 and price is £2.20, so nothing crazy, very affordable. They are 95% biodegradable, made of unbleached cotton, no perfumes or plastic, which is great for your comfort and wellbeing. They are not 100% biodegradable, but I guess, that is impossible task to achieve, they contain some synthetic rubber as a glue, but this one is BPA free, which is much better for your body too.

I did use them overnight as well and they were great.

If you will want to use them on their own, during the days, without tampons, you will probably need to change them more often, their absorption is not as great, but nothing catastrophic. You will probably need to use 1 or 2 more, than usuall. But I still think it’s worth it, better for you and for environment.

When I was buying all the Natracare stuff, I’ve seen that they are making a panty liners as well, so I am going to give them a go and see. I am a bit fussy about panty liners, my everyday comfort is very important to me, and I was disappointed many times already, but I do have a high expectation, so fingers cross.

After trying Natracare period stuff, I can definitely recommend them to anyone, they are much more gentle fo you and your private area and you can do something good for Earth.

When I will finally get over my fear from Moon cup, I will let you know, what my experiences were, but until then I will carry on using organic period products from Natracare.

If you do have some experiences with using it, positive or negative, share it with us, it might help me and maybe somebody else too, to be braver or it will scare me to the point I will never try them :)

You never know

K.

[forgetmenot-katka-blog]

Foreigner in UK (part2)

Hello and welcome, as I promised I am back with more and more and much more writing about why and how I love England :)

I think, this series of blogs will never end, I am sure I was born on wrong place, I definitely feel english insite, unfortunately, my passport is saying something else, but you never know, this may change in the future (I hope so) .

On the other hand, maybe there is a reason, why I wasn’t born here, maybe I wouldn’t be able to appreciate everything, what this country is giving me, if I didn’t know how challenging could life be.

I guess we will never find out, so let’s get started with “Foreigner in UK, things which I do and don’t like” Part 2.

BARGAIN HUNTING

I love love love shopping, but what I love more is hunting for bargains. I like saving a money and I don’t see the reason, why should I pay crazy money for something, when I can get it much cheaper??? This is a reason, why I am enjoying very much shopping in charity shops and boot fairs.

Charity shops are types of second hand shops, but almost all of the money which they make goes to a certain type of charity. You can find a charities supporting dogs and cats shelters, supporting kids education, cancer research, cardiovascular research and many others.

They are very popular and I personally think it’s great way how to do a good think, you can support them by shopping in these shops and also donating your clothes, books, furniture …

As you can see, you can buy them almost everything, what you need (except food), sometimes, when you are lucky, you can find some treasures for a very fair prices, you just have to keep searching. They are getting new stock (from donations) very often, so just keep looking :)

By shopping in charity shops, you are not even saving yourself money but also you are saving the planet :) (you are recycling !!!) Isn’t it great ???

Boot Fairs… If you don’t know, what this is, you should definitely check it out. Boot fair it’s simply a market on open field, where anyone can come and sale their stuff, which is no longer needed (you have to pay small fee) straight from car. You can easily get rid of your clothes, you no longer want, furniture, shoes, books, kitchen utensils…

Better site for me is, that I can buy all of these items for a very fair price. People selling on boot fairs are not asking for a lot of money, the most expensive item which we bought was food drier, which was brand new and we paid £8, not bad is it? I am always buying books a lot of books (usual price is £0.50). I don’t have much space for keeping them all, so after reading, they are all being donated to charity shops ;)

Boot fairs are great, when you are moving a house and you need a lot of stuff as kitchen utensils, small furniture, cooking equipment, tools (my partners favourite), decorations, we even bought our christmas tree there :) or if you are moving to the UK and you need everything ;)

If you will ever have an opportunity to go and experience it by yourself, do not hesitate, it’s fun, even if you don’t need anything, you can just walk around and have a look :)

As I sad on beginning I am enjoying my life in UK, so I am trying to pick the most interesting stuff about England for me as a foreigner.  I will definitely have to carry on with writing about it in the future :)

K.

[forgetmenot-katka-blog]

When you want to say him, how much you love him ❤💙💚💛 #allyouneedislove #lovegoesthroughthestomach #organicfood #becauseicare #useyourimagination #hearts #happiness

[forgetmenot-katka-blog]

Foreigner in UK

Things which I do and don’t like (part 1)

I moved to England three and half years ago, from small post communist country called Slovakia. Slovakia is little bit behind the west, which I am pretty sure is because of dark time of communism, but it is OK not the end of the world.

When we moved to UK, we were basically running away for a vision of better life, mostly more money, but I had no idea, that I will fell in love with UK, I found something better than money, I found place, where I feel I belong to. Firstly I wanted to write this post as a 10 things, which I love the most about UK, but then I started writing down everything what I like and I realized I have to do a series :)  

There are of course few little things, which I am not very comfortable with, so I might mention few of them, but they are not break dealers.

Let's do it.

1.PEOPLE

This is what I noticed as a first thing, English people are different. They are very friendly, communicative and open. When I moved in I wasn’t used to it at all, in Slovakia people are not usually talking to strangers, they are mostly ignoring each other, but here, you can find yourself to have a chit chat with staff in shops, or you can have a nice conversation with somebody when you are chilling in park, or queueing in shop. I wasn’t a big fan of it from beginning, just because I have never done it before, but that time is gone and now you can see me talking away, everywhere, anytime :)

But it isn’t just about communication, people here are more calm, relaxed, polite, smiley and that makes all the difference. People do respect each other (most of the time) and trying to help each other, which I think is amazing.

You can of course find some exceptions, but not very many, fortunately.

Thanks to people here I managed to change and I have to say, I think I changed for better, which well I am very happy about, because now I feel better than ever.

2.COUNTRYSIDE

Let me just tell you, grass here is greener, flowers more colorful, there are many sheep and lambs on fields, you can see little bunnies jumping around with their cute little tales, gardens are full of birds singing away, sky is nicer for some unidentified reason, you can share your fish and chips with seagulls on beach…... Seeing it all just makes you feel blessed and impressed, wondering how and when did all of this magic happened.

3.NO UNNECESARY BUREAUCRACY

OOO let me tell you, this is my the most favourite thing. So far in my 3 and a half years stay I visited the office (any office), once. That was the time, when I had an appointment for my National insurance number, and that was it. I didn’t have to go anywhere since. Everything is easy, I can do everything online or by mail, which is like a fairytale for me.

No bureaucracy, no wasting of your time running with one paper back and forward from one door, to another, from one building to another across the town.

So I just want to say, THANK YOU England, for making our lives easier, I do appreciate it very much, because I know, that it could be much more complicated.

4.HISTORY

Which other country can say, that they had a king with 6 different wifes, or such a long history of monarchy or woman as a queen, the leader of whole country in 16th century, the one of the first democratic parliaments, strong power, wealth, history of intelligence and scholarship, the most famous ship in the world, the queen, who was mourning for 10 years, suffragettes organisation….

England does have a remarkable rich history and I just love it, I love studying it, learning and absorbing every single information.

5.DOGS AND CATS

English people generally are a big animal lovers. Almost every household, which I know does have dog or cat or dogs and cats all together. That means a lot of animal presence, many cuddles and stroking every time, you are walking through park, or walking to work, basically any time.

I do believe, that people who are treating animals kindly and with love are doing the same to a people….

That is enough of talking nicely about England, lets just move on and talk about nasty stuff, which I will never be able to get use to it. I hate it so much, I can’t even explain.

SPIDERS

I have an arachnophobia, which I am trying to  get rid of it, but so far nothing has happened (if you know about anything what works, except touching them, let me know). I had no idea, before I moved to UK, what beasts do they have here. When I first saw the size of this disgusting, black hairy spiders I wanted to move back to Slovakia. They are not yet the size of tarantulas, but well they are on their way there. Some people might find it funny, but I don’t. I hate them so very much, but I am trying my very best. This is not easy for my partner, because he is the one saving the situation again and again, every time spider is around. Luckily the big ones are problem just for about 2 or 3 weeks in August, because of harvesting I think. Two weeks of nightmares and anxiety are not that bad :) I think I will stay here anyway.

There is not a lot of things, which I dislike about life in UK, as you can see. I really do appreciate the opportunities, which I was given here, I appreciate all the love, which I am receiving from the people and I hope, that Brexit won’t change anything and I will be able to stay here maybe forever and ever.

K.

[forgetmenot-katka-blog]

Happy Friday, our food delivery just arrived, that means full tommy :) I recently fell in love with Abel&Cole, which is online organic shop, offering everything from dairy to cleaning products, they can leave your boxes whenever you want, which is very convenient for us :) I love it so much, vegetable and dairy taste like I remember it from my childhood ❤ All what you need to do is just unpack boxes and put your food away :) they will collect all the boxes for you next time, and reuse them, very very ECO +🌿 Prices are bit higher, but quality of food is much much better….. I just love it, time to time, they will give you some little present to your box, we had a lemon today :) thank you Abel&Cole And one more thing, this post it isn’t sponsored, unfortunately, I wish it was but it is just my very very positive experience #organicfood #ecofriendly #abel&cole #shopping #organicshopping #reuserecycle #istilllovemethodwildrhubarb