Picnic

Homemade Hand Scrub

I've been trying to keep a healthy skincare regimen lately because I know that when the babies come I will have dark circles under my eyes, about 40 pounds to lose and will be lucky if I manage to grab a quick shower everyday.  To prepare for the lack of hygiene later, I'm stepping up the process now with regular pedicures, eye brow waxes, massage and facials.  Pampering myself helps me forget about how uncomfortable I really feel.

Here is a simple little recipe for moisturizing those dry winter hands...

Mix together 1/4 tsp. of sugar and 1/4 tsp. of olive oil and rub into the back of your hands once a week.

* this recipe is from the 10/09 issue of Real Simple magazine.

Balancing Yogurt Mask

I had big plans to have a "spa day" with Bijou after school.  I was expecting her to get a real kick out of rubbing food all over her face.  Come to find out... the idea was not so appealing to her.  Who knew?  So I did it by myself and let her laugh at me.

 

Ingredients

1 egg white

1 tsp. steeped green tea

1/2 Tbsp. plain organic yogurt

2 Tbsp. oatmeal, finely ground

1/2 tsp. honey

Preparation

Whip the egg white until it becomes foamy.  In a separate bowl, mix the green tea and the oatmeal.  Combine the egg white, yogurt and oatmeal; mix in the honey.  Apply this to your face and leave it on for 8-10 minutes and then rinse.

 

This recipe will make enough for 2 people or you can save the extra in a jar in the refrigerator to save for another day.  It will last up to 1 week.

Winter Beauty

I don't know about you, but with all this wind whipping around the bay this week my skin feels all dry and wrinkly. 

I think a spa day is in order and since there is no way I can convince my husband to send me off to spa, I'll just splurge on a few necessary products and lock myself in the bathroom for an hour.  In fact, I may even invite the little one to join me since she certainly loves a morning of pampering.

Spa Goddess Pure Fresh Detoxifying Body Scrub, $4.25 for 2 oz.

Jewel Alchemy Organic Vegan Lip Balm, $8

Soothing Oatmeal and Cocoa Butter Soap, $4.25

Miapella Nourishing Butter, $12

p.s.  This blog is off on vacation tomorrow.  We are off to Santa Cruz for the Halloween festivities.

Sunscreen

Guess who's recent trip to the dermatologist resulted in a positive biopsy result for basal cell carcinoma?  Lucky me!  It didn't come as a shock since I'm about at fair as they come and the spot showed up on my back, my hard to reach sunblock spot that often goes uncovered, and my Dad and Grandma have both had it.  However, it did freak me out a little because I'm only 30 and I wasn't expecting these results at such an early age.  Fortunately, the spot is superficial at this point so a cream on the spot for 6-weeks is the recommended treatment.  

 

I've done a little research on sunblock and came across this great website with recommendations and descriptions for a ton of beauty products.  You can also plug in your skin type and sign-up for emails that would only pertain to your type of skin. 

It sounds like this Dermaquest SPF 30 might be worth the $48 price tag for my face this summer.  With several trips to Lake Tahoe, a trip to Kauai and a possible trip to Australia planned for the summer months, I'll be getting my fair share of sun.

Lavender Eye Pillows

My sweatshop has been busy producing eye pillows this week.  Well actually, the sweatshop always remains a cool 65 degrees so no actual sweating ever takes place in the sweatshop.  In fact, I often turn on the heat to warm the sweatshop to a pleasant 70 degrees.  Anyway...

My friend Kim wanted to be reacquainted with the sewing machine since her last memory of sewing was in her 7th grade home-ec class where she made a chino skirt and earned extra credit for actually having the nerve to wear it to school the next day.  We decided that these eye pillows would make for a great first project.

Step 1:  cut one 5" x 9" rectangle from silk or soft cotton for the back.

Step 2:  cut two 3" x 4" rectangles from mismatched cotton

Step 3:  cut one 5 " x 6" rectangle from printed cotton.

Step 4:  sew the two smaller rectangles together, wrong side facing in, along one of the 4" sides.  1/2" seam.

Step 5: sew the larger rectangle to the piece you just sewed together along the 5" side. 1/2" seam.

Step 6:  sew the front to back leaving a two inch opening on one of the shorter sides. 3/8" seam.

Step 7: fill with 1/2 cup lavender and 2 cups of organic flax.

Step 8: top-stitch the opening closed.

Step 9 (optional):  hand stamp a tag and pin it to the eye pillow to give to friends as a gift.  Kim suggested that these would make for some lovely Mother's Day gifts.

If you want one but don't actually want to make one, pick one up in my Etsy shop!

Homemade Beauty Products

I'm looking forward to this weekend because I will be celebrating a friend's birthday with a group of friends at Solage in Calistoga.  The group "Mud Slide" we have ourselves signed up for, should be a real bonding experience;o)

Feel free to join us in a spa weekend with some homemade beauty products from... Home Spa by Manine Rosa Golden.  These make lovely hostess or holiday gifts.  I packaged my salts in recycled baby food jars and the oils in recycled vanilla extract jars.

Sore- Muscle Bath Salts

1 cup epsom salts

1 tsp. jojoba oil

7 drops of lavender oil

Lavender and Rosemary Dry-Skin Moisturizer

fill jar with jojoba oil

add 20 drops of your favorite essential oil

Herbal Steam

2 qts. distilled water

1/2 cup of your favorite dried herb (chamomile, sage, peppermint)