My Favs. February 2, 2010

Here’s a few recipe ideas for you if you’d like to start making some small changes with your skin care. I’ve kept these pretty simple as the last thing we all need is more work to do! If you’d like to get more elaborate we have great skin care books available at the salon with great advice, recipes and instructions. Remember to always buy organic and follow the guidelines when using ingredients on your face and body!

For my hands and nails: Castor Oil! This is my new favorite thing. Take a few drops and rub into your nails, cuticle and back of hands. Castor Oil provides a protective barrier against cold, dry air and water (good news for hair stylists!) and it is excellent for softening your cuticle. As an added bonus it also is a gentle cleanser. I have done this every night before I go to bed and my nails look clean and bright, and my cuticle healthy and soft. I don’t have time to keep up on polishing my nails but I like them to look professional so this is a great way to keep that clean and polished look without the cost or time of a manicure. This is definitely a keeper. Follow up with Zoya Nail Growth Stimulator.

For my lips: Brown sugar and honey. No need to measure, just mix a little of each together to get a slightly thick slurry. Gently rub on your lips for 30 seconds and then let it sit for a minute. Rinse with warm water. Pat dry and rub a drop of castor oil on your newly exfoliated lips. Another keeper!

Eye makeup remover: Olive oil. Put a drop or two on your fingertips and gently rub your eyelashes. Remove with a tissue or cotton pad.

For my facial wash: Ground oatmeal, honey and plain yogurt. Mix together 2 tablespoons of each, keep in a closed container and refrigerate. Use as you would a gel based cleanser, rinsing well with lukewarm water. Be careful not to get in your eyes.

Toner: Brew a very strong cup of organic green tea and let cool. Keep in a closed container and refrigerate. After cleansing, dip a cotton ball in tea and apply to face. Do not rinse. Green tea is a natural astringent!

Serum: Jojoba oil: I’ve used this for some time now and love the way it balances my skin. You would think applying an oil to your face would make it more oily but jojoba is naturally sebum balancing and soaks in beautifully! I use this for day and night. Add a few drops of lavender essential oil for more benefit.

Spot treatment for blemishes: Honey. Honestly honey, it really works. Just apply a small amount to your troubled spot with a q-tip! I do this an hour or so before bed (after moisturizer) as it is a bit sticky and I remove it before sleeping with a little warm water. Honey draws bacteria out and heals simultaneously.

Quick enzyme treatment: Pineapple juice. Fresh only, not juice from the can! The next time you cut up a pineapple, reserve the juice or just mash a small piece. Dip a cotton ball into the juice and apply to your freshly cleaned face. Leave on for 20-30minutes and rinse with lukewarm water. Apply moisturizer.

Simple, inexpensive and most importantly non-toxic! Have fun and if you create something wonderful you’d like to share, feel free to post it on the reply!

Enjoy

The rundown… January 29, 2010

Okay, so here’s the rundown on the costs, the benefits and my opinion.

• 10oz Organic olive oil  $9.99
• 7oz Cocoa butter  $6.79
• 8oz Almond oil  $3.79
• 6oz Bulk Organic Oats  $.67
• 6oz Bulk brown sugar  $.69
• 16oz Castor oil  $6.79
• 6oz Organic honey  $4.79
• 6oz goat milk yogurt  $2.19
• Fruits   $10.00                
• total cost = $45.70

Because I was not staying long, I did have to dispose of what was left of the fruits and yogurt. Otherwise these could have been used or eaten. I still have plenty left of the rest and some I was able to leave there for next time I visit, the rest I brought home and will use up. I would estimate that there are close to 20 applications with the amount of (non-perishable) ingredients that I bought, depending on the recipe. Lets see a show of hands from all of us that have spent at least that much on just one product! Okay, even if you haven’t you have to admit that this experiment proves that making your own skin is very cost-effective. And while saving money is great, the benefits and ease of use is more important.

• Oatmeal – soothing to all types of skin irritations and sensitivities. Excellent base for skin care. Moisturizing and softening.
• Honey – a humectant (holds moisture). Rehydrating for the skin. Antibacterial properties.
• Almond oil – penetrates well. Good for dry, inflamed or itchy skin.
• Olive oil – make up remover and skin softener. Great conditioning oil for nails, feet and hair.
• Castor oil – excellent for softening rough, dry areas and patches of psoriasis and eczema. Applied to nails it imparts a protective shield against exposure to drying detergents, hot water and winter dry air.
• Cocoa butter – super skin softener. Helps diminish scars and stretch marks.
• Yogurt plain (no additives) - acts as a mild, nonabrasive, bleaching exfoliant, it has lactic acid which helps dissolve surface dead-skin cells.
• Brown sugar – an abrasive exfoliant but not drying like salt. Cleansing. Contains natural glycolic acids so it exfoliates on a chemical level, not just by abrasion alone. Do not use on the face.
• Strawberries – contains a gentle, exfoliating acid that helps rid skin of dead-cell buildup.
• Pineapple – contains bromelain, a protein digesting enzyme which dissolves dead surface skin cells. Softening and smoothing.

I will be perfecting the recipes that I loved the most in the week ahead and will post them all for you. I want to make them as simple as possible with the highest benefit and lowest cost. I will say that my hands, face and body felt amazing over the weekend and I could feel and see a difference immediately. I know I will be incorporating these recipes into my daily/nightly routine!

~Stay warm

Day 4 at the soon to be known as world famous Spalicious Resort & Getaway. January 24, 2010

Yesterday was my last day and I spent the morning cleaning everything out of the fridge and disposing of all the perishables. I’m always sad to leave as I love it so much there, but happy to get home. I will definitely use what I’ve learned in the last few days in my daily beauty routine and start experimenting with some more recipes. I will honestly say that I will choose differently when I am at the co-op and not just think about what I can buy for dinner but also how it could  benefit my skin! I think it will help me be very creative in my meal planning.  Oh my poor husband…..

As a woman it was very liberating to not bring my normal skin care products on this trip and to use only what nature provides. I felt very connected. No stress thinking if the security man will take my $50 face cream and toss it because he says it’s a liquid or time spent packing it all in little tiny travel containers. Just complete content with the results and a lot of fun. When you really think about it, most of the beauty products on the market copy nature. There’s green tea extract, mushrooms, papaya enzymes, coconut oil, olive oil…. I could go on and on about how enzymes in pineapple are great for anti-aging, coffee grounds for cellulite, olive oil for wrinkles, honey for blemishes or skin lightening, essential oils as antibacterials. But thats another blog. The point is it all started right outside our doors, not in some factory with great chemists. That’s just how it’s evolved over time.

When I return I will post my favorites from this weekend and how much it cost me. Until then……

Have an eco-beautiful day!

Day 3 at the Venice Eco-Luxury Resort and Spa January 23, 2010

Dinner last night was fresh caught gulf shrimp, red peppers, onions and pineapple in a yellow curry sauce served over a bed of organic brown rice. Accompanied by a nice glass of Organic Wine Works a’ Notre Terre and my BFF’s- Norah Jones and Corrine Bailey Rae. Dessert you ask? Avocado hair masque and pineapple/strawberry/yogurt  facial frappe’. Delish!

 Earlier in the day I applied a hot oil treatment  to my hair that consisted of honey, olive and castor oils. 2o minutes later I hopped in the shower and exfoliated my body using the inside portion of the pineapple skins I had removed the night before, adding a little brown sugar. It took a few extra shampoos to get out the treatment, but I’ve noticed issues with our water before and have never gotten a great lather here, regardless of the shampoo I’ve used. It felt like there was still a residue in my hair but I moved on to exfoliation and loved the way it cleansed! You would think between pineapple and brown sugar you’d be a sticky mess, but just the opposite. My skin felt awesome when I was finished and not as dry as it had been. I applied a mixture of castor oil, olive oil and lavender for a body lotion and I’ve got to tell you, I’ve never thought of castor oil as an alternative before but have learned to really like it. ( I think castor oil got a bad rap many years ago from an episode of Happy Days…..) It takes a bit longer to soak in but it seems to keep your skin nourished and protected all day and it smells lovely.  I washed my face, toned and moisturized as I did the night before, applied the nail treatment and went on with my day. Let me tell you some of my observations…

Using the facial moisturizer at night was incredible but I would skip it for daytime as it took far too long to soak into my skin. I wasn’t putting on make up so I didn’t mind. I will say though, when I woke up it was maybe 4 hours before I washed my face and it still felt clean and smooth, not oily at all.

At bedtime last night my hands STILL felt incredible! Im not sure if it was the enzyme peel or the overnight mask or a combination of both, but I will SO do that again.

After blow drying my hair it felt soft and silky and I would say there was a tiny bit of oil residue but it wasn’t a greasy or icky feeling. Although I didnt style it as normal, I felt I could have and it would have looked great. It still felt fantastic by evening and I couldn’t stop running my fingers through it!

I really feel fantastic! Im also drinking lots of filtered water and of course eating healthy because it’s important to nourish our skin from the inside. No amount of beauty products are going to help us if we continue to eat unhealthy foods!

To be continued!

Day 2 at The Hacienda of Health January 23, 2010

I am well on my way to opening up a Spalicious Diner. Even though my kitchen is a bit on the messy side, I’ll have to say it’s been alot easier than I thought. And all great restaurants have dishwashers, right? I did the prep work last night and after beginning my “Weekend at the Spa” nightly ritual, I realized this would be so easy to do at home. Just a little forethought and organizing to keep things simple.

I cut up the pineapple, reserving any juice and keeping the core and skin. Cleaned up the strawberries saving the hulls and leaves and ground up the dry oatmeal in the blender. That was really it for prep work! I wasn’t in the mood for dinner so I just noshed on the fruit while I was preparing my concoctions. I mixed up equal parts honey, ground oats and filtered water (usually I would use purified ), to use as my facial wash. I blended the strawberry parts, pineapple core, a squeeze of lemon, plain yogurt , a handful of oats and filtered water for an enzyme peel (which made a lot more than I figured, so I will use it for  my body too). Brown sugar, almond oil and honey for a lip exfoliator. Cocoa butter, olive oil and lavender for moisturizer. Castor oil, lemon and almond oil for a nail treatment. And last but not least, plain yogurt, castor oil and almond oil for an overnight hand treatment.

Whew! Sounds like a lot of work but it really wasn’t. Instead of throwing things in the garbage or compost, I just used them! It felt great to utilize the entire food source  and eating it while making it turned it into a kind of whole body experience. Very cool. To give you a heads up, my skin tends to be mostly oily and very sensitive. I get dry patches in the winter and I have some sun damage. I am also in menopause so when my hormones go on a rampage it usually shows up on my face. Especially my chin area. I have been very blessed to not have many wrinkles (especially since I’ll be 43 tomorrow!) but I do show some signs of aging and I’m actually totally fine with that as I like to think I am always improving with age.

Results? The facial wash was really smooth and creamy and it felt really luxurious while I was massaging it into my skin, it removed all of my make up (do not use for eye make-up remover, use olive oil first) and left my skin feeling soft and full of moisture. Something I usually don’t feel. The green tea toner was refreshing and cleansing. I applied the enzyme peel expecting a sloppy mess but it went on quite perfectly and I could feel it working immediately so I massaged some into my hands for 2 minutes. After 20 minutes and a glass of Radical Red I was ready for sleep. I rinsed my face and exfoliated my lips and thought about the final application.I was nervous about the moisturizer as I am not familiar with castor oil nor have I ever used cocoa butter on my face, but having used jojoba and olive oil (which are naturally sebum balancing) I trusted it would work fine. The last to do was the overnight hand treatment. I scooped up a handful, which looked just like lotion from a drugstore, and after 2 attempts I was able to put some socks on my hands and went to sleep. My husband use to do this when he was a tile setter,  using Vaseline of all things. He called this ritual “putting on his “paws”. I think Vaseline belongs out in the garage with the lawnmower.

It was a gentle rain falling this morning and I was eager to get up and see how fabulous I looked! After removing my paws and looking in the mirror I analyzed things closely. My hands felt AMAZING and super smooth. My face was non-oily and radiant and I even noticing a few blemishes drying up! I’d say the recipes we’re successful.

More fun today!

Day 1 at Weisen’s Retreat January 22, 2010

I arrived in town too late last night to pick up any groceries, so I came home and poured a glass of wine and made a list of recipes for my body and my belly. YUM! I tried to keep it simple and only buy what I would eat for dinner or use for skin care, keeping the waste minimal and the cost low. My goal was a facial wash, toner, moisturizer, scrub and mask. A hand and foot moisturizer, a body scrub and some deep conditioners for my hair. I had my plan. I was ready. I felt like Julie in the movie Julie & Julia …

When I awoke this morning the only things edible I had in the house were a jar of olive oil, some Tazo green tea and a bag of tater tots my husband left in the freezer. Hhhmmmm. I decided to skip the tots and have a cup of tea. I brewed one for me and one for my skin.  I washed my face and body with my Greenbody shampoo (its multi-purposeful), used the green tea as a toner and applied some olive oil with a few drops of lavender essential oil  as a moisturizer. I’ve actually been using both the Greenbody and olive oil on my face for a year or more  and I always pack the lavender when I travel, so nothing out of the ordinary yet. I ran to the farmers market and the co-op and with a few exceptions, got just about everything on my list including pineapple, strawberries, oatmeal and yogurt. (Sounds like a fabulous dessert!) I’ll improvise on the rest and see how it goes with some substitutions. If all goes well I’ll come home a glowing goddess of health and wellness or…. last years fruitcake.

Stay tuned…

A weekend at the Spa! January 20, 2010

Well, it’s not really the weekend and technically….it’s not really a spa. But it is a quiet retreat in a beautiful, warm location just minutes from the rejuvinating beach! I am off to our home in Florida to set it up for seasonal renters ( I know, it’s a tough job) and I’ve decided to make it into a mini retreat for some well deserved “me” time. As you’ve all been reading in my posts you know I like to make and use homeade natural skin care recipes for my face, body and hair, so I decided to give myself a little challenge and have some fun while Im away!

I’ve decided that the only personal care items Im bringing south will be my Greenbody shampoo & conditioner. Everything else I think I’ll need I will purchase at the natural foods store along with my meals! For the next 3 days I will only make what I need for washing my face and body, deep conditioning my hair, exfoliation and masking. And, I will prepare them only from fruits, oats, oils and whatever else is in season at the farmers market. I will combine my skin care needs with my grocery list and what I don’t eat I’ll use! I’ll keep a log of what I bought, used, liked and disliked and I’ll report back in a few days to let you know how it all went!

Talk soon! Lj

Support local food! August 5, 2009

This sounds like great food, fun and fresh air. This sunday at the Nicollet Island Pavillion is the Fresh Taste Festival! It’s all about supporting organic, local and sustainable food & wine. Think of it as the Food & Wine Experience on a much smaller, more intimate scale.

Eating organic foods is so important for us and for the health of our planet.  If you’ve been thinking of going organic, but didn’t know where to start, this a great place to get your feet wet!

Here’s the link.

See you there!

Toilet Cleaner and Vino connection? July 23, 2009

This is a great article! I saw this on AOL this morning and wanted to share it with you. It’s nice to see this information going more mainstream.

Read article here

After seeing Food, Inc. for the second time,  I agree more wholeheartedly than ever with Micheal Pollan – “We have a right to know whats in our food and where it’s coming from”. Forward this article on to friends and family and lets get the word out.

Eat healthy and stay healthy!

Food Inc. June 24, 2009

Last Friday night I went with some friends to see the movie Food Inc. Have you heard of it? Well, let me tell you something. Grab your spouse, your kids, your parents and neighbors and get to the Lagoon Theatre and watch it.

I have been living  what some would call an “organic”  lifestyle for some time now. I shop at co-ops, buy organic, cook only organic at home and am very careful what I order when we go out for dinner. We only eat meat and poultry (at home) that is sourced responsibly and I have an organic garden in my back yard. I thought I understood  how the food industry processes and manufactures food, but after watching this movie I now understand that I had no clue.

This movie will amaze you. It will open your eyes to what the ‘really big picture’  is all about. Who controls (literally “owns”) our food and seed supply, how our food is made, why and how E Coli is getting to be such a deadly problem, immigration, farming and so, so much more.

Warning here: This is not for the faint of heart and a few scenes are graphic and hard to watch (close your eyes) and you probably wont want to see this if you are not willing to change your shopping and eating habits. I promise you, you will not look at food in the same way ever again, and that is a VERY good thing.

Bon Appetite!

Check out the trailer here.

(Movie theatres are always air conditioned so this would be a perfect week to go)!