Truly Natural Skin Care

Have you been spending a lot of time and money looking for truly natural and organic skin care? I have been making my own for years because it is nearly impossible to find truly pure products. Finally, I would like to present to you a skin care line that is truly pure: Annmarie Gianni Skin Care.

Read a review on the products here.

I have used 3 of the products myself.

Coconut Body & Face Oil - I loooooooove this, and so does my skin. It smells great, calms, and nourishes.

Anti-Aging Serum & Anti-Aging Oil - I put these on before bed. They have a nice herbal scent. A little goes a loooooong way too, so your 15ml bottle will last a long time.

Good news is, mini sets were just made available, so you can try it out without committing too much. Also, you get free shipping until Dec 15... that's just 3 days away, so check it out now. Read more...

Relaxing Home Spa Hour

The best way to unwind after a stressful day is to treat yourself to a personal spa hour at home! Let me tell you how you can have a relaxing spa experience that doesn't come with a $200 price tag.

Salt Water Soak

Begin by filling your bathtub with hot water. Add 1 cup of Epsom salt and 1 cup of regular, cheap salt. Stir the water around a bit to dissolve the salt. Add a couple drops of your favorite essential oils such as Lavender or Peace & Calming blend. If I have an empty essential oil bottle, I will remove the cap and drop the bottle into the tub. That way I can utilize the tiny bit of oil that is otherwise impossible to use.

Epsom salt is therapeutic and assists as a detoxifyer. In this day and age, our bodies are daily exposed to exhaust fumes, cigarette smoke, and other airborne toxins and free radicals. A weekly epsom salt bath is a great way to habitually assist our skin and tissues with detoxification. Epsom salt can be purchased at any drug store or pharmacy.

Next, set some lighted candles all around the bathroom to create a calm, relaxing atmosphere. Find a way to play some soothing, ambient music. Ensure that there will not be outside audible irritations to distract you from your home spa experience.

Mud Mask

Enhance your relaxing spa experience with a detoxifying and conditioning facial mask. Use bentonite clay or french green clay, which will draw oil and impurities from the skin. It will also revitalize the skin and tighten pores.

To make the mask, start with dry powdered clay and a small empty jar. Mix equal amounts of clay and water. I really like to use rosewater over plain water. Add liquid as needed to make a nice paste. Customize the scent with a couple drops of therapeutic essential oil such as Lavender. Store this clay mixture in an airtight jar so you will have it ready for your next spa experience.

It is very rewarding to make your own Rosewater as well. I made my first batch last spring with wild rose petals. To make your own rosewater, collect the following materials:

• Jar with a tight-fitting lid (pint size is good)
  
• Enough wild rose petals to pack the jar to the top
  
• Witch Hazel extract or vodka
  
• Pure water
  

Instructions: Pack the rose petals tightly into the jar. Use a combination of 3/4 witch hazel extract or vodka and 1/4 distilled water to pour over the top of the petals, covering them plus 1 inch additional. Screw the lid on the jar tightly and let the mixture sit in a warm, dark location for 2-3 weeks. Once the time has passed, open the jar and strain out the petals. Your rosewater should smell lovely and rosy. It will stay good in the jar indefinitely. You can use it as a facial toner or in other natural, personal hygiene recipes.


As you soak in your salt water bath, you can perform the oil cleanse method followed by a mud mask. Let the mask dry for about 15 minutes as you soak all stress away. To remove the mask, dip a wash cloth in your bathwater and drape it over your face for several minutes to rehydrate and loosen the clay. Once loose, simply wipe the clay from your face. Notice how soft and smooth your skin feels!

Follow up your bath by rubbing coconut oil into your skin all over. Coconut oil is the perfect, natural body lotion and moisturizer.

To continue the relaxation and assist you in achieving a deep, restful, night's sleep, dab some Peace & Calming essential oil blend behind your ears, on the back of your neck, and on the bottoms of your feet.

After a day, you'll be smiling and glowing if you treat yourself to this home-made spa hour.


Useful Tip: Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night to an intensely painful, cramped calf muscle. I can immediately alleviate the cramping and pain by rubbing in a drop of Peace & Calming essential oil blend. I keep it right by my bed just in case. It works miraculously in seconds!


Sources:
Herbal Healing for Women by Rosemary Gladstar

Note: If you would like to purchase Young Living's Peace & Calming essential oil blend, you will need to set up a free, customer account and reference the following sponsor number: 615650

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Sunburn Treatment & Prevention

Since it is now August and the height of summer time here in Portland, I have some timely information on natural prevention and treatment of sunburns. Being a fair skinned person myself, I am well acquainted with the power of the sun's rays and how quickly they can cause a week of suffering. Fortunately, I have great solutions that work every time, even for a person as pale as myself.

Treatment

So you find yourself red as a lobster after having spent all day playing in the sunshine. Instead of enjoying the next week of summer fun, all you have to look forward to is peeling, flaking, and odd stares as you walk through the grocery store. Not so for me. When I find I have mistakenly gone from prudent to overindulgent with sun exposure, I turn to Lavender essential oil. Many occasions I have completely skipped the peeling and burning phase and gone straight to healed in just one or two nights. All I do is apply therapeutic-grade Lavender essential oil to my skin. Often, I top it with jojoba oil and let it soak in. I always apply before bed and after showering in the morning until the skin has calmed to a nice healthy tan. Goodbye burn.

Prevention

I LOVE to be in the sun. The shade just doesn't quite do it for me on a nice summer day like today. Of course, staying in the shade is the most obvious solution to preventing sun burns but certainly not the most fun. Sunscreen is the second most obvious solution; however, sunscreens are loaded with toxic chemicals that we would do well avoid. It seems we are stuck choosing between two evils: skin cancer from sun burn or cancer from toxic chemical absorption. Until now...

Allow me to introduce the internal 'sunscreen' that really works: Astaxanthin.

Astaxanthin is a carotenoid derived from microalgae that blocks ultra violet damage to the skin. This nutrient is found also in seafood and is what gives salmon, for example, their natural pink color. Astaxanthin is a powerful antioxidant that can assist in overall skin health and anti-aging. Additionally, it can contribute to eye health, nerve health, and exercise recovery.

In the mornings during the summer time, I take two capsules of astaxanthin, and I am ready to go. I buy my astaxanthin supplement from Vitacost, where I get many nutritional products because their costs are low and shipping is a flat $5 regardless of how many products I purchase.

No longer do I need to worry about my scalp, forehead, or nose burning when I find myself having been unexpectedly overexposed to the sun's rays. Neither do I need to worry about oxybenzone, lauryl sarcosine, fragrances, etc. polluting my blood stream.

This sounds like a win-win to me!
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Natural Skin Care

Last April I began an experimental skin care regimen from which I really got results! Since my teenage years I have struggled with skin blemishes - acne and congested pores. I fully expected to just grow out of it, but it persisted into adulthood. While browsing the internet one day I ran across what is called the Oil Cleansing Method. It sounded easy enough, so I put it in to action! After one month of faithful practice, I got noticeable results. Now I want to share with you all about it along with other natural hygiene practices.

First things first:

Eye Makeup Removal

Grapeseed oil is my solution for eye makeup removal. First, I tried Olive oil which stung my eyes. Next, I tried Jojoba oil which didn't sting but left a film over my eyes (no fun!). Grapeseed oil, however, is light, produced no stinging, and is great for the skin! Perfect!

The Oil Cleansing Method

The basic idea behind this method is that oil dissolves oil. Typically, soap is used to cleanse the skin, but soap not only takes out the dirt and grime, it also strips away the natural oils which are needed to keep the skin moist and supple. This dried-out effect brought on by soap necessitates the use of moisturizers. Most moisturizing products are loaded with all kinds of harmful chemicals (big problem!). Fortunately, there are natural products available with less perplexing lists of ingredients. I exhort you to begin reading the labels on all packaged products you purchase (for both internal and external consumption). The shorter and more comprehensible the list of ingredients, the better! Don't be fooled by package labels that say "All Natural" or "Organic". Verify the ingredients yourself.

In the oil cleansing method, Castor oil is used to draw out impurities from the skin without leaving the skin stripped and dried out. Castor oil is antibacterial and antifungal and is used in many more ways to achieve healing than will be covered here. Using cold-pressed castor oil, I perform the following steps each night:

1. I remove my eye makeup.
   
2. I pour some castor oil into my palm and use my finger tips to rub it into my skin. It is okay to apply the oil right on top of makeup without washing first. I rub in circular motions all over for several minutes.
   
3. I soak a wash cloth with hot water and press it to my face. What I really want to accomplish here is a steam effect. I want the pores to open and the castor oil to penetrate and latch on to impurities. Sometimes, if the water on the cloth is too hot, I hold it close to my face. When I breathe out of my mouth onto the wash cloth, I can feel hot steam rise to my face. It is really quite effective. I will hold the cloth to my face until it cools to room temperature. Once cool, I will resoak the cloth with hot water and do the steaming procedure again. Please be careful not to hurt your skin with scalding hot water. You could also accomplish this steam using a pot of boiling water and a towel to drape over your head. Feel free to pursue this method, but chances are you are more likely to stick with a quicker, simpler method.
   
4. After the second steam, I use the cloth to wipe the oil from my face. 
   
5. Then... I start all over! I use a second dose of oil and rub it into my pores followed by two steams and wipe off.
   

Toner

Once I am done with the oil cleansing, I use a cotton ball to apply my homemade toner. In a glass bottle I have combined the following:

• 1/2 cup of strongly brewed tea: I used green and chamomile teas (6 tea bags total), but you can use other things such as Burdock, Yellow Dock, and Sarsparilla which are good detoxifying herbs. I may experiment with those on my next batch of toner. 
  
• 1/4 cup of raw, apple cider vinegar: let the tea cool before combining.
  
• Several drops of Tea Tree oil: Tea Tree is an excellent antibacterial treatment for blemishes.
  

You may at first be put off by the smell of vinegar, but don't worry, the scent disappears quickly enough.

Anti-Aging

My final step is to apply my homemade anti-aging formula. In a 2 ounce amber dropper bottle, I combine jojoba oil and the following essential oils in the approximate amounts:

• 10 drops of Frankincense
  
• 7 drops of Myrrh
  
• 7 drops of Sandalwood
  
• 5 drops of Rosewood
  
• 1 drop of Geranium
  
• 5 drops of Lavender (I may or may not add this, but it is a wonderful, universal skin remedy)
  

To apply, I drop some of the formula on clean fingertips (important!) and rub around my eyes and lightly pat all over my face. It smells wonderful. Jojoba oil is a nice, light oil that penetrates the skin easily and takes all the wonderful essential oils with it. Jojoba oil will not clog pores. Do not be afraid to use it even if you have very oily skin. In fact, your skin's oil production may become quite balanced after using jojoba oil consistently.

A second skin formula that I always have mixed in a dropper is jojoba and Tea Tree (approximately 15% solution) that I use on particularly blemished days. Tea Tree oil works just as effectively on acne as Benzoyl Peroxide or Salicylic Acid and is non-toxic!

Cleansing Tea

In addition to the topical skin routine, I recommend drinking tea made with herbs which are known for cleansing the liver and thus improving skin condition. These herbs include Burdock root, Yellow Dock, Sarsaparilla, and Dandelion root. Here is a formula for a cleansing tea:

• 1 part Burdock root
  
• 1 part Dandelion root
  
• 1 part Yellow Dock
  
• 1 part Sarsaparilla
  
• 1/2 part Licorice root
  

Add for flavor:

• Cardamon seeds
  
• Cinnamon Bark
  
• Clove buds
  
• Ginger root

Put 3 tablespoons of the mixed herbs in 20 ounces of water and soak overnight. In the morning bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain out the herbs and drink. Save the strained herbs and add 1 tablespoon of new herbs to make another batch the following day. Continue to reuse the herbs 3 times before discarding.

Often, poor skin condition is an indication of a toxic liver and/or poor elimination channels. If the body is having difficulty eliminating via primary means, it will eliminate through the skin.

Dry Skin Brushing

Dry skin brushing is the use of a stiff, natural-bristle bath brush which you can find sold in health and beauty supply stores. The technique is accomplished by briskly brushing in long, sweeping strokes across the skin toward the heart. Brush the entire body at least twice over and follow with a warm shower to rinse. The brush should be kept in a dry place as exposure to water will change the stiffness and effectiveness of the bristles.

Dry skin brushing removes dead skin layers, stimulates circulation, assists the lymphatic system, helps remove cellulite, and results in overall softer skin. Additionally, the dry skin brushing technique can assist us in restoring proper levels of vitamin D. It is well known that skin makes Vitamin D when exposed to sunlight. However, it is not so well known that Vitamin D is actually produced by the interaction of sunlight with the natural oils produced by the skin. If we wash those natural oils away with soaps and detergents, we still end up Vitamin D deficient even with sufficient exposure to the sunshine. The dry skin brushing technique is effective enough to cleanse the skin and leave the natural oils behind.

Diet

In addition to this skin routine, I have become vegetarian/vegan over the last few months as well as increased my intake of raw foods. I didn't become vegetarian over night, rather slowly moved away from consuming meat and most animal products altogether. I'm sure this factor also played a role in my improved skin condition as eating lower on the food chain introduces fewer toxins into the body which must find their way out.

Sources:
Body Electronics by Thomas C. Chavez
http://www.acne.org/messageboard/OIL-CLEANSING-METHOD-Hi-t141871.html

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