5 ways to clear sinuses

Many people suffer from sinusitis at some time in their life. Antibiotics can help but often the sinus problems return as soon as the course is over because the root cause is still there.

Here are some suggestions to help reduce the chance of getting sinusitis and to treat it naturally if you do.

1. Drink plenty of water
Keeping your body well hydrated is a good idea for many reasons but especially if you are prone to sinus problems. A headache across the eyes and forehead can indicate slight dehydration or too much salt in the diet.

"I know this remedy's not pleasant
but neither is sinusitis"

2. Look at your diet
Reduce mucus forming foods. The main culprit here is dairy so that means milk, cheese and cream. Yoghurt and butter are usually fine. Also, to help your immune system, reduce sugar, coffee and alcohol. All of which will affect your body's hydration and may have triggered the sinusitis in the first place. Increase fresh vegetables and fruits to help reduce acidity and remove toxins via the bowels. Keep any salt in your diet to a minimum.

3. Aromatherapy for the sinuses
At Willow Trading we offer a Sinus Soother treatment which uses essential oils and pressure point massage to release congestion and fight infection. It's a very popular treatment which can bring a lot of relief. If you're not in our area don't worry; any experienced aromatherapist will be able to do this type of treatment. You can also use essential oils at home. Pine, eucalyptus and thyme are good oils to choose for an inhalation steam bath. Just add a couple of drops of each to a basin of boiling water, pop a towel over your head to trap the steam and inhale deeply. Be vary careful not to tip the basin over or your sinuses will be the least of your worries!

4. Give your nostrils a salt bath
Although salt in our diets should be kept to a minimum salt can be used to fight infection. Dissolve a teaspoon of salt in a cup of warm water and allow to cool to body temperature. Lean over a sink. Rest your nose over the brim of the cup. Slowly tip your head back until the saline solution runs in to your nostrils. Sniff hard!! (I know this remedy's not pleasant but then neither is sinusitis). Then all you do is spit out any that is in your mouth.

5. Garlic and parsley
Garlic is great for all sorts of infections and the beauty of it is that it's often readily to hand. However it needs to be taken raw. If you cut a clove of garlic in to tiny pieces you can swallow it with water. Just like taking a pill. Take at least one clove. And the parsley? Well that's to take a way the smell of the garlic. Chew a couple of sprigs and you'll be kissable again in no time!

tell us about your favourite products

Do you have a favourite skin care product that you'd like to tell us about? At Willow Trading we'd love to hear what you think about any product we sell whether it's from our web site or our Glasgow shop.

You might like to tell us how good Burt's Bees Herbal Blemish Stick is or maybe you just adore Essential Care Organic Rose Moisturiser. Have you tried Green People shampoo and now couldn't live without it?

"We'd love to hear your thoughts
- positive or constructive!"

Perhaps you have a cheeky tip you'd like to share. Maybe you've found a new use for something that others would love to hear about. We know of one lady who uses Neal's Yard Remedies Lavender and Tea Tree Body Powder to dry shampoo her dog.

Whatever the product we'd love to hear your thoughts - positive or constructive! It's always good to be able to share customer comments with people when they are choosing a product and we'd like to post some genuine testimonials on our web site too.

So if you'd like to send us a comment just click on the "comments" link below and let your fingers do the talking!

review of Green People toothpaste for children

There is a lot of concern about the unnecessary amount of fluoride in toothpaste and particularly in toothpaste for children who often swallow paste when cleaning their teeth. Some kids even like to suck it out the tube. Not a good idea when you consider that the manufacturers advise against swallowing it, using only a peas-sized amount and rinsing well after use.

As well as fluoride, regular brands of toothpaste also contain sodium laureth/lauryl sulphate (SLS) which is a harsh foaming agent that can cause irritation, ulcers and dryness in the mouth. As an alternative, Green People have formulated an organic, fluoride-free toothpaste with a mild taste and only a very mild foaming action. It's also made without preservatives. It really is 100% natural.

Green People toothpastes contain antiseptic, antibacterial essential oils and rather than rinsing the paste away at the end Green People say that by leaving a coating of paste in the mouth the essential oils will continue to protect the teeth and gums.

It's certainly quite a different experience brushing with this type of toothpaste compared with the zingy, blow the top of your head, fill your mouth with foam toothpastes that we used to use. It took a bit of getting used to however children's toothpastes are generally milder in flavour than adult ones so it was an easier transition for them to make.

I think this a great product. My children have been using Green People toothpaste for about five years and their teeth are filling free. I, who have a mouth full of fillings due to a high sugar, low dental care childhood, have also been using Green People toothpaste for the same length of time. Before I started using it I had a problem with bleeding gums but the aloe vera and myrrh (which is renowned for it's affect on the gums) have made a tremendous difference. My gums are now strong and healthy and I also think my teeth are whiter than they've ever been. So that's something to smile about!!

10 natural remedies for spots and acne

1 Don’t eat rubbish!
The skin is an organ of elimination so if your diet is high in mucus producing things like salt, sugar, alcohol, poor quality fats (good oils we need), additives, dairy products caffeine, etc. your skin will need to work overtime to clear all your internal mucus.

2 Drink lots of water
This can be hot, warm or cold. Making sure that you are well hydrated helps the kidneys and the bowel eliminate toxicity so your skin doesn’t need to work so hard. It also stops your skin from becoming dehydrated and flaky.

3 Eat lots of fibre
Eating foods such as whole grains and vegetables that are high in fibre encourages the bowel to work well. If the bowel is working efficiently then toxicity is able to leave the body. However if your diet is lacking in fibre the bowel will be sluggish and other routes of elimination, such as the skin, will become over worked.

4 Eat less bread
For some people cutting out or reducing bread can make a huge difference to their bowel and therefore to their skin. Bread is high in gluten which tends to clog the bowel and make us feel sluggish and bloated. Spots across the forehead can indicate that the bowel is congested.

5 Get your lymphatic system working well
Gets your lymph moving to clear toxicity and improve your skin. The lymph doesn’t have its own pump so it depends upon the movement of our muscles and circulation. Anything that causes the skin to flush will help.

Try working up a little bit of a sweat every day or body brushing with a dry brush before showering. This not only encourages the movement of the lymph it also removes dead skin cells and keeps the skin clear. Or try turning the water from warm to cool a few times at the end of your daily shower.

6 Keep your hands away from your face
Picking and squeezing spots only makes them worse and can cause scarring but touching your face at any time is generally not a good idea. Dirt from your hands can easily be transferred to your skin and cause spots. If you get patches of spots in particular areas it may be because you are touching your face more than you realise.

Sitting at a desk you might rest your head in your hands or touch your chin when you’re thinking. This is often the case with students and school children or anyone who works at a keyboard. Cleansing your face after work, school or college can help as well as making a conscious effort not to touch your face unless you need to.

7 Use natural skin care
Good quality natural skin care is made with plant oils which have molecules that are small enough to be absorbed into the skin. Other products are made with petrochemicals that sit on the surface of the skin and block the pores which can lead to spots and blackheads.

However other unnecessary chemicals may be absorbed in to your body so stick to products that are free from toxic ingredients like parabens, SLS, triclosan and synthetic fragrance.

8 Protect your skin’s acid mantle
Our skin has a fine protective covering which is known as the acid mantle. If you use cleansers that leave your skin feeling tight and uncomfortable then the acid mantle has been damaged. The skin will either over produce sebum, which can lead to spots and blemishes, or will become too dry.

Many manufacturers will claim that their product is pH balanced to work in harmony with the acid mantle but let your skin decide. If after using it, your skin feels taut and dry then it’s damaging the acid mantle and is best avoided.

9 If your skin’s oily - give it some oil!
This seems like a very strange concept but it works. If we use harsh cleansers that strip our skin of its natural oils (see no 8) it will simply produce more. By using a treatment oil as a moisturiser your skin will feel comfortable and will start to produce only the oil that it needs.

10 Use naturally antibacterial skin care
There are certain natural plant oils that are known to fight the bacteria that cause spots and there is one oil in particular which we have found to be quite extraordinary. Manuka essential oil is a little known oil from New Zealand.

Its properties are similar to Tea Tree but it is clinically proven to be much more effective against bacteria and less drying to the skin. It often comes combined with Manuka Honey which helps skin to heal without becoming dry and therefore greatly reduces the chances of a scar forming.

Bags of Change

A big eco cheer for Bags of Change who have just scooped the 2007 Green England Awards for Best Green Company and came runner up in the Best Newcomer category too.

Well done to Hugh, Faith and the team!!

bags of change

A couple of years ago we started the Willow Trading "do you need a bag for that?" campaign. Actually "campaign" is really too strong a term for it. That implies some sort of organisation. It was really just a case of us deciding to ask every customer whether they needed a bag or not, rather than just giving one automatically.

I would say that since we started doing this the number of carrier bags we use (that's paper bags, we've never used plastic) has dropped by about 60%.

Most people when asked, will have a think and then realise that they can easily use their hand bag, ruck sac, bottom of a pram, another carrier bag or even their pocket.

Obviously it's easy in a shop like Willow Trading where the products are small and people aren't coming in to shop for their weekly groceries.

But we are seeing an increase in the number of people who come prepared with their own shopping bag and I have seen signs in both Sainsbury's and Marks and Spencer to the same effect. Maybe it is a campaign after all!

Rather than taxing plastic carrier bags we should just encourage shop owners to stop handing out bags willy nilly. Which, of course, is only going to save them money.

I'm sure the practice of giving everyone a bag started as a form of customer service but I don't think any of our customers feel that we're being rude when we ask them if they need a bag. They are very welcome to one if they do. (We'll even gift wrap with a smile).

There are so many attractive shopping bags around now (and shopping trolleys for that matter, courtesy of Habitat and Ikea) that we don't need to look like our grannies going for the messages!

This is where Bags of Change come in. If you buy one of their rather funky hemp bags (just £14.85) you'll automatically get discounts when you use it to shop in any of the stores and restaurants that are participating in their scheme.

For example if you shop with a Bags of Change bag at Willow Trading you get 10% off any of our organic products that carry the Soil Association logo. Not bad eh? It's like getting a reward for having having a really cool bag!

You can buy the bags from the participating stores - such as ours - or directly from the Bags of Change web site. Once you've registered with them online they'll send you a regular newsletter so you'll always know where to get the best discounts on local, organic or fair trade products.

It's a brilliant yet simple idea and I think it's going to go from strength to strength.

get a free voucher for the flotation room

Here's the deal.

For every £50 you spend on our web site we'll give you a free voucher for the Flotation Room at Willow Trading. So if you spend £100 you'll get 2 vouchers and so on.. Each voucher is worth £30.

All you need to do is place your order and put "Please send me my free float voucher/s" in the special instructions section of the checkout. (The wording's not too important. Just so long as we get the message that you know about the offer)

If you don't need it to be gift wrapped you could let us know that too. It saves on the packaging!!

If you are due to get more than one float voucher and you would like them gift wrapped just let us know whether you want them wrapped together or separately.

Now here's the fine print.
* offer ends at midnight on Sunday 16th December 2007
* the vouchers can only be used for single float sessions at Willow Trading
* vouchers are valid for a year
* you must mention the offer at the time of ordering to be eligible for a free float voucher
* you need to spend £50 (excluding delivery charge ) on our web site
* this offer does not apply to telephone orders or purchases made at Willow Trading in Glasgow

I think that all seems fairly straight forward but if there's anything that you're not sure about please let us know. You can contact us on 0141 339 6446 or at relax@willowtrading.co.uk

You can use this link to go back to the float voucher page on our site.