The Spa Salt Experience

With family being my main rock for the next ten days, I think this is ideal time to bring you another informative beauty article from the pages of my eldest daughter. It's about pampering yourself during the cold months. I think its rather appropriate on this New England morning where despite the beautiful sunset last night, the sleet is raining down. Rooftops and ground are a mushy white. I think winter is saying its first hello.

You can find an introduction to Gayle, in an earlier post I made here, and of course, all her articles can be found under Natural Beauty on the blue sidebar of the website.

The Spa Salt Experience, by Gayle Whelan
With its cold days, biting winds, central heating and long nights in front of the fireplace, the winter is an ideal time to treat your skin to a simple spa experience, without leaving your home and without a hefty price tag. Taking some time to spoil yourself with natural bath salts and essential oils invigorates your senses, calms frayed nerves, and relaxes tense muscles. There is no time like the present to put yourself first.

Begin with a spa facial made with three tablespoons of honey, 1/3 cup ground oats and 2 teaspoons of peppermint tea. Apply in circular motions and leave for a few minutes before rinsing off. Your skin will be exfoliated and will look gorgeous and feel soft. Now it's time to start running your bath. Consider the temperature of your bath or shower as this can affect energy levels. A cool shower is very energizing, while a warm bath set at a few degrees above body temperature is relaxing while maximizing absorptions of nutrients. A hot bath, however is best with a few drops of lavender oil, and helps promote sleep.

While considering what to add to your bath for the ultimate relaxation, it is best to use only natural products. Mixing essential and aromatherapy oils with bath salts can result in beautiful aromas that enrobe you while offering a host of healing and relaxing properties.

Using Dead Sea salts in your bath is also an effective way to absorb the qualities of the minerals the Dead Sea is renowned for. Research has proven that the nutrients in these salts can help alleviate many skin conditions including psoriasis. Add two or three handfuls to your bath water to relax, rejuvenate and relieve muscle tension. Salt aids buoyancy, which helps take the load off the muscles.

A couple of cups of apple cider vinegar in your bath will help restore a natural pH to skin, as well as rejuvenating and building up the body's resistance. Cider vinegar combats unfriendly bacteria and is soothing to the skin, helping to alleviate itchiness, poison ivy, and sunburn.

For the ultimate spa experience, mix your Dead Sea salts with oils to create your own mood enhancers and stress relievers. Bath salts offer wonderful relief of stress symptoms by increasing circulation and encouraging detoxification of cells. They also moisturize the skin and enhance relaxation. Bathing close to bedtime may help you get a good night's sleep, which is necessary for regeneration of the body.

Whichever way you choose to indulge in the benefits of salt soaks and rubs, use a good natural moisturizer to help retain all the good nutrients your body has just absorbed. For best results, apply within two minutes of leaving the bath. Your spa experience should leave you relaxed and content, and able to face another day.

The Hair Apparent

On the blue sidebar of the website is a reading room section, where you will find many home beauty tips, recipes, and articles. Most of the articles are my own, but when I first began my reading section six years ago I enlisted the awesome help of my first born.

She was a journalist, making her way in the world at a big city newspaper back in England. She's since followed her dream of a doctorate and is buried in research at a big city university, where she's been toiling away for four or five years. I daresay the novels she always dreamed of writing when younger have taken a back seat as motherhood eats into what was once her leisure time. Balancing home and career is an unrelenting juggling act, and that's without consideration for the trials and tribulations that life tosses into your path along the way.

This morning, as I look toward family coming to visit from England next week, I was stuck in a bit of the old memory lane stuff as I looked through the articles under her "Natural Beauty" section. Yes... long gone is the spare time she used to have. But mother's pride never goes "long gone", does it? I've kept it there for all to read. I've kept it there because... well, you do that when you're a mom, don't you? But actually, just between me and you, it's still there because the articles are so informatively great.

Here's one she did on hair for me. You can find all her articles under Natural Beauty on the blue sidebar of the website. Please enjoy the little slice of Mother's pride that I am dining out on right now. Family is a wonderful thing, and I am so fortunate to be blessed the way that I am:

The Hair Apparent, by Gayle Whelan
Your hair is your crowning glory. In perfect condition, it can make many a head turn. But there's no need to spend a fortune on products that promise glossy locks and sleek, shiny hair, as nature has her own less expensive natural products that are fun to use and can give you showstopping results.

There are approximately 100,000 hairs on the average head, which unbeknownst to us, are continually being shed. Each hair can last between three and seven years, and most hair will not grow longer than about three feet long.

If you suffer from dry hair, add a few drops of lavender, bay and sandalwood essential oils to six ounces of warm olive oil. Apply the mixture to hair using a cotton wad and wrap scalp in a warm towel. Leave for around 20 minutes and shampoo your hair as normal. Your hair will be lustrous and deeply conditioned.

Tomatoes, applied in the form of paste, puree or even juice, balance the PH levels in your hair, bringing back its natural color and shine. Massaging mayonnaise into dry hair will help control mild dandruff and leaves you with beautifully glossy hair.

If you're not keen on using harmful chemicals to color your hair, there are some natural alternatives. To lighten your hair, mix water and lemon juice and apply to hair. Leave on while out in the sun, but remember to wash off at the end of the day (and be careful not to get it in your eyes). Similar effects can also be achieved by rinsing hair in cold chamomile tea.

To give brown hair a warmer glow, a cup of tepid espresso onto dry hair and leave on for 15 minutes. After rinsing, hair will be gorgeously sleek. For natural and lovely smelling hairspray, chop a lemon and/or orange and add to a cup of water. Boil rapidly until it reduces by half. Cool, strain, and place in a spray bottle. Use just like hair spray, but store in a refrigerator in between uses.

One good household tip: If you're having a particularly bad hair day and your hair stands up or is flyaway, rub a tumble dryer sheet from your roots to the ends of your hair. Not only will your hair smell fresh and clean, your hair will be tamed.

Also remember that while there are many natural products that help hair gleam from the outside, there's a lot you can eat that will help your hair from the inside out. For good hair health, try wholemeal products such as pasta, brown rice and bread, eggs, vitamin D and C, carrots and always plenty of green vegetables.