I just found this fun homemade recipe for a Peppermint & Cucumber Face Mask. Take a break from the busy shopping season to relax and pamper yourself...you deserve it!!!

Time to thaw out those chilly weather blues by winterizing your skin with this new do it yourself recipe. Peppermint when used as an infusion is much gentler than peppermint essential oil, while cucumber soothes and feeds the skin with silica.



Ingredients ~

1/2 of a fresh medium cucumber
5 ounces (150 ml) filtered tap/mineral water
1 packet peppermint tea
2 oz (60 ml) aloe vera juice
2 drops vitamin E oil
1 oz (30 ml) carrot juice (optional)

First, puree the cucumber using a blender. Next, prepare the peppermint tea using filtered water and allow it to steep for 3 minutes. Then combine with the rest of the ingredients and shake well.

The peppermint, when used as an infusion in this blend, is much gentler than peppermint essential oil, while cucumber will help sooth and feed your skin silica.

When the mixture is ready, you can either rub it on your skin or even add it to your bath water.

Storage ~
Refrigerate the mixture [and keep it away from your beverages for obvious reasons! ] and it will stay good for at least 3 days. You can even toss it in your freezer for a quick skin reviving treatment through the summer months.

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

December Christmas Special!!!

Purchase a Gift Card of $100 or more and receive a FREE Microdermabrasion Facial!!!
Keep the Microdermabrasion facial for yourself or give it to someone you love as a relaxing and pampering holiday gift!

Call or email us today to take advantage of this special!!!

Epsom Salts & Ingrown Hairs

Ingrown hairs are a potential side effect of hair removal, particularly in the bikini area. This condition occurs when the hair begins growing out and curls in on itself, growing under the skin instead of outward; this causes irritation, rash and redness. Untreated ingrown hairs can become infected.

Epsom Salt Soaks
An Epsom salt soak can help to draw out the ingrown hair because of the salt's active ingredient, magnesium sulfate. Add 1/4 cup salt to a tub of warm water and soak for 30 minutes.

Epsom Salt Scrub
Add 1/2 tsp. salt to 1 tbsp. body cream or oil and rub into the affected area. This will exfoliate the skin and should draw out the hair

Preventing Ingrown Hairs
Before shaving, thoroughly exfoliate the area with an Epsom salt scrub or a loofah. Alternatively, consider wax or depilatory hair removal methods that are less likely to create ingrown hairs.

Infection
If home treatments are unsuccessful or if the area is red or inflamed, consult your physician.

Cautions
Do not use Epsom salts without first speaking to your doctor if you have high blood pressure, diabetes or a heart condition.

Holiday Special---Lashes!!!

Dashing through the SNOW, Watch your LASHES Show! Holiday Sets will GO, Don't be the last to KNOW!!!



Revitalash Holiday Special!!! Get BOTH Revitalash Lash Conditioner AND Revitalash Mascara.....Only $98!!! Don't miss this Holiday Special! Enjoy fabulous lashes this holiday season and into the New Year! Limited Time Special!

Contact me if you want to order your Revitalash at this once a year price!! Makes a great gift that keeps on giving all year long!!!

Five Things to Keep Acne From Getting Worse!!

Five Things You Can Do Today to Keep Your Acne From Getting Worse

1. Break out the ice. Ice helps inflamed lesions from getting worse and often can make them go away. Cleanse your skin first, then get an ice cube (better yet - get a Styrofoam or Dixie cup and fill it up with water and freeze it) and ice your zits for a minute or two.

2. Stop eating peanut butter, peanuts and/or peanut oil. Peanuts contain a hormone in them that can make acne worse. If you love peanut butter, switch to unsalted almond butter - it doesn't have the same effect as peanuts.

3. Stop using fabric softener in the washer AND the dryer (the softener sheets). Fabric softener leaves a waxy residue on cloth - that's the softness that you feel. Unfortunately, that wax is getting on your skin while you sleep on that soft pillowcase and it's clogging your pores. And, don't think that fragrance free is any
better - it's the waxy residue, not the fragrance.

4. Get uniodized salt to use at home. Iodides are the culprit in the foods that you eat - it irritates the follicle walls and breaks you out.

5. Start taking zinc supplements. Research indicates that the best form to take is zinc monomethionine. But, don't take it on an empty stomach - eat first.

Vitamin E and Eczema

More Vitamin E = Less Eczema?
Kids who eat lots of foods containing vitamin E may have a lower risk of the itchy skin condition called eczema, a new study in Japanese youngsters shows.
At the same time, foods rich in vitamin A don't seem to protect against allergies, despite earlier studies suggesting they do.
Dr. Masayuki Okuda of Yamaguchi University in Ube and colleagues measured the levels of substances in the blood that showed how much of the two vitamins children were likely eating. They focused on asthma and eczema because both are allergy-related conditions.
Among 396 10- and 13-year-old children, 240 of whom had eczema, wheezing, or asthma, the researchers found no relationship between a child's risk of any of the conditions and his or her blood levels of vitamin A-related compounds.
However, kids with the highest levels of vitamin E-related compounds were at 67% lower risk of eczema than those with the lowest. Even those with only moderately higher than average levels of the compound had a similarly lower risk.

Although the study does not prove there is any cause and effect at work, it was more precise than earlier research, the authors note, because previous studies relied on food questionnaires. Such surveys can be somewhat unreliable because they depend on memory.
Yellow, red and orange fruits are rich in vitamin A and related compounds, while vitamin E is found in vegetable oils, nuts, and whole grains.
There are no commonly agreed-upon standards for levels of such compounds in the blood, but the U.S. recommended daily allowance of vitamin A is 2,000 international units (IUs) for this age group. The recommended daily allowance of vitamin E in the same age group is about 16 IUs.
It's not clear why vitamin E would lower the risk of eczema, but Okuda and his colleagues suggest that its antioxidant and immune-boosting effects might play a role.




SOURCE: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123400376/abstract

Great Mascara Tip!!!!

Great Mascara Trick....This trick is so brilliantly simple for solving mid-day mascara messes that we had to share it with our Facebook fans. When refreshing lashes with another coat, avoid clumps by first wetting your fingers with water and then gently rubbing lashes. This will create a smooth surface for you to build... your next layer of mascara!!! Gotta love luscusious lashes!!!

Have a great sunny....springy day!!!