SO FRESH AND SO CLEAN

This may seem a little off my blog concept but I do enjoy sharing recipes of products we use everyday that can easily be made at home, in this case I'm talking mouth wash! This recipe below only takes two weeks to make and will give you a spicy and clean feel to your mouth.

1 tablespoon of cinnamon chips

1 tablespoon of whole cloves

1 teaspoon of anise seed

1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

1 cup of vodka

Take all spices in a clean glass jar, pour the over the mixture, cap and shake daily for two weeks.

Strain and pour into a dark glass bottle.

THIS IS A CONCENTRATED MIXTURE.

Dissolve 1 tablespoon of mouth wash into 1 cup of water, gargle, and rinse.

Yeilds 16 treatments

ANTI AGING WONDERS

Besides knowing its important to take good care of your skin its also important to understand key ingredients to treat certain concerns(support your local esthetician!). Anti aging its super hot topic right now, has been and will always be, SO lets chat about three major player ingredients that are being talked about right now.

The first two ingredients are know as ANTI-OXIDANTS, an anti-oxidant helps fight free radical damage(extra negative ions floating around the skin cells causing them to become unstable break apart and die, free radicals are caused by sun exposure, environmental pollution and unhealthy life style habits like smoking) free radical damage can lead to signs of aging like fine lines, wrinkles and sagging skin, the anti-oxidants protect the skin. Anti-oxidant are naturally found in fruits like grapes, pomegranates and give thanks RED WINE!!!!

---Vitamin C, the only type of Vit C that can be absorbed my the skin is L-ASCORBIC ACID, if you are in the market for a Vit C based product look for this as the key active ingredient. Vit C is great at brightening the skin and helping to fade any dark spots caused by sun damage, or acne scarring. Using a serum of Vit C in conjunction with a gentle chemical exfoliant is a great place to start to treat hyper-pigmentation. Vit C also helps to stimulate collagen to minimize wrinkles.

---Resveratrol, another potent anti-oxidant found in the skin of grapes, peanuts and berries, it too can also brighten the skin as well as acts as an anti-inflammatory, keeping the internal structure of the skin calmed and soothed.

The final ingredient I would like to share are the all mighty peptides. Peptides are long complex amino acid chains that strengthen and maintain the firmness and elasticity of the skin. Visualize that your collagen and elastin fibers(which gives your skin the firmness and helps to keep it from sagging) are braided together, over time this braid will loosen due to many factors such as sun exposure and pollution. Peptides come to the rescue like knights in shinning amor and tighten the braided give strength to the skin, lifting and firming it.

GO BE HEALTHY AND FABULOUS!

CRAY CRAY for a BLAST OF COLOR

I recently moved to the pacific northwest and I'm living in my first full on rain season...I am sorta loosing it!!! So besides lots of colorful veggies and fruits I am bringing color into my life thru my everyday look...its working! SO I JUST HAD TO SHARE MY TWO NEW RECENT DISCOVERIES:::
two amazing shades of matte lipstick from MAC....Korean Candy and Quick Sizzle! YUM!!!
Korean Candy is a wonderful Geranium shade blending the perfect tones of orange and red, Quick Sizzle happens to be in my opinion the most perfect shade of hot fusica pink, reminds me of my first lipstick I was allowed to by when I turned 12.
BE PLAYFUL, BE COMFORTABLE, ADORE YOURSELF!

kiss kiss

NAILED FROM HEAD TO TOE!!!

If any of you know me personally you know I"m obsessed with my nails, not only the shape, length, color, crazy inspired art but most important the health of the nails and the skin surrounding them. I have a ritual I try to do on the regular to both my hands and feet to keep the nails and the delicate and often ignored skin healthy and looking fabulous:
-Start by taking off any polish with a non acetone based remover, if you are a regular nail polish wearer you probably use pure acetone(thats ok I have done it too!)
-Rinse hands and or feet with warm water to remove any residue left my the nail polish
-If you file, shape or cut the nails do so now
-Take a bowl and fill half way with warm water, squeeze the juice from a half of a fresh lemon and add a few drops of non detergent based soap, some like Mrs. Myers hand soap, and a dash of baking soda. The purpose of this mixture is to soften the cuticles, brighten and whiten the color of the nails and eliminate any lingering bacteria trapped under the nail beds or in the delicate skin. Soak in this mixture for 5-10 minutes, if you are a fan of essential oils you can tincture this mixture as well
-Removes hands and feet pat dry(if you are focusing on the feet this would be a good time to file or scrub away any dry skin on the heels and pads of the feet with a foot file or pumice stone)
-Using an Orange Wood Stick or a cuticle pusher, gently push back the softened cuticles. If you desire to cut or trim just work on the excessive skin being sure not to cut too close to the actual nail bed
-Using a carrier oil like Olive, Grape Seed or Jojoba gently massage a into the hands and feet focusing on the cuticle and nail area
If you would like to polish wait 15-20 minutes to let the oil fully absorb in.

I find this treatment is great all year around and does not take much time at all.