Pamper Yourself!!

Hey everyone,

This is a reprint from my old Willow's Whimsy blog. Hope you like it, we had a lot of fun doing it. I'm working on a blog about detoxifying your body for next week. There is so much information out there and I want to talk to an herbalist to confirm much of what I'm reading before posting so look for that next Saturday :)

One that my girls love doing with me is anything facial...we love masks, toners, scrubs, you name it. They are both very enthusiastic about taking care of their skin and I promise them they'll be grateful when they're my age. I didn't always put as much emphasis on skin care as I do now and I'm lucky, I think I look pretty good, people rarely guess my age but even so, there's aging occurring, wrinkles, etc. But with a regular regimen that starts at puberty and is kept up, adding things to your regimen as you begin to get older, you can really preserve what you've got.

Hair masks are fabulous for your hair, bottom line. I add peppermint essential oil to almost every hair mask recipe I have because it makes your scalp tingle and it promotes blood flow to your scalp which is good for keeping it moisturized (I tend to get very dry and itchy in the winter) and a stimulated scalp can, in some cases, limit hair loss. Hair loss in most cases is hereditary so I'm not saying if you do this, you'll keep your hair but it can help with situational hair loss.

So, I've published a blog before about the avocado hair mask. That one is fabulous too, you can use an egg in any of these recipes. Egg is great for adding protein and bonding the hair so it doesn't split. But it adds a smell I don't care for and if you have coloring in your hair, I wouldn't use one unless the coloring is old and you are about to go get your hair done again, it's great in a pre-treatment hair mask.

So...
For the hair mask, you will need: One banana, 1/3 cup plain yogurt, 1/3 tbsp olive oil, 1/3 tbsp honey, one egg if you choose to use egg. If you want to use the peppermint essential oil, 1/4 tsp is more than enough to get the desired effect. Blend it all together!!!

You'll come out with a goop that looks like:

It smells so yummy. Start gooping it into the top of your head and then all over the scalp, working vigirously into your scalp. Once your scalp is saturated, start adding it to the rest of your hair, don't pile up on top of your head unless you have short hair. If it's long, work it in a little at a time until you get the bottom. Apply a generous amount to the tips as this is where breakage usually begins.

You can see we put our face masks on first but because it's OK to leave the hair mask in for up to an hour, I would usually do this first.

If you are just doing a hair mask, go ahead and hop in the shower when you're done and rinse, rinse, rinse and then shampoo, you can choose to condition if you want to but I've found you don't have to.

Ok, so the facial treatment. You can do any of these on their own and get great results but once a week, I like to do the full on. For each of these particular treatments, I don't do any of them more than once a week except for the exfoliation part, which I do twice a week. It's not good for your skin to exfoliate more than 2x per week unless you have MAJOR MONDO greasy skin. I'm talking the kind where you can press a tissue to your skin and it comes away greasy...

Ok, so first you want to steam your face. I bring a pot of water to a boil and then add two drops of teatree oil and 2 of lavendar.

This is very hot, so be careful. This isn't the kind of thing I'd do if little ones are underfoot. Wait til they take a nap or are asleep for the night. To many things could go wrong. Drape a towel over your head and let the steam do it's thing. You will get hot and it's OK to lift the towel to get some fresh, cool air if you need to. I do this for 5 minutes.

When you are done, pat your face dry. For an added extra, if you want, you can then put a clean face towel in the water, wear rubber gloves cuz the water will be HOT and then wring it out. Wait til it's bearable to touch with bare hands and put it on your face, the tea tree oil is fabulous for people prone to acne. Leave the towel on your face for up to 5 minutes.

Ok, next you want to exfoliate. Your skin will be primed for it, soft and pours open for all that heat. One tablespoon of honey, mixed with one tablespoon of brown sugar, any kind of sugar is really OK but brown sugar is softer and therefore more gentle on the skin. You mix this thoroughly and add a small amount to fingertips. GENTLY rub this in all over your face in circular motions.

Rinse off and your ready for your mask. I use green clay. You can order it from any online site specializing in this kind of thing but I recommend Mountain Rose Herbs
You can mix your clay with different home products depending on your skintype. If your skin is dry, I suggest whipped cream or milk. Whipped cream tends to be hard to mix in with the clay and will go on clumpy but does feel good. If you have greasy skin, I would just use water. For normal skin, you can use carrot juice. I love carrot juice and milk. My skin flucuates between dry and normal. I used a juicer to make the carrot juice. For one application, you would only need about 10 baby carrots and then add one tbsp of clay. Stir this together with a spoon.

Doesn't that look yummy? OK, so put it on your face. I just put it on with my fingertips in a downward motion, adding more as needed and creating a nice smooth layer. I apply to the bottom of my chin and my neck too. Anything you do for your face, you should do for your neck...some schools of thought say apply it in upward strokes but I prefer down. Now, here's the trick, DON'T keep a clay mask on for more than 20 minutes. By it's nature, it sucks stuff to the surface to be washed away when you rinse. This includes your faces natural oils. Once a week this is fine but not for prolonged periods of time. You want some of it remain. The clay will harden, put a warm, moist washcloth over the clay and let it soften. Then rinse and rinse and rinse. It's kind of messy but cleans up nicely. Try not to scrub it off, not good for your skin at this point, especially if you are over 35. Then...moisturize. I use my the facial serum bars I created for my business but go ahead and use whatever you know to work for you...

Beauty??? LMAO...but it leads there, I promise!!

Hope you enjoyed this one. BIG thanks to my lovely girls for helping me out, for participating in the pampering and for being enthusiastic, good sports through the whole thing.

If you want green clay and don't want to purchase in bulk amounts, I'd be happy to sell you a couple application's worth for about $5.00 or so and if you are interested in my facial serum bars, hit me up and I'll tell you all about them. They sell for $7.00 a bar and are the size of an ice cube. My first one lasted for 2 months and that's using it morning and evening.

If you want to try this on your own and have any questions, hit me up, I'd be more than happy to walk you through the process...

Happy Beauty!!!
Denise