Island Beauty Face Mask

As the season of fall draws to a close, the face starts to feel the harsh of the colder, more biting climate. The dry of the winter months take their toll on the skin, and as dead and dying skin cells build up on the surface, a barrier is created. It is this hard layer of cells which prevents moisturizing cremes from penetrating the skin and realising their full potential, often resulting in the common complaint of a dull and lifeless complexion.

Pineapple is a wonderful ingredient for the skin. As well as having anti-inflammatory qualities and being a great astringent, it also holds an enzyme called Bromeliad, which helps shed the skin of dead and dying cells. Olive oil is a gentle hypoallergenic oil, rich in vitamin E to helps with skin restoration. Honey is anti-microbial and is a wonderful humectant, helping to hold onto moisture and lock it in.

This simple facial mask uses all three of these natural skin loving ingredients and can be made with ease from your kitchen cupboard:

Island Beauty Face Mask

You will need:
1/4 cup of pineapple chunks (fresh chopped or canned)
A small pour of extra virgin olive oil
Drizzle of warmed honey.

How to:
Whizz the pineapple with a hand blender until smooth. Stir in the olive oil and warmed honey, using the back of a spoon to incorparate. With fingertips, apply the paste gently to the face, avoiding the eye area. Leave on for about ten minutes. Wipe away with warm damp face cloth.

Notes: Always test for allergies first. Be sure to throw away any unused mask, as it is not preserved.

Pretty Me Pumpkin Mask

It's the start of the Halloween month, and many a good pumpkin will be hollowed out and candled this next few weeks. But hold on before you trash the goodness you've scooped out, because pumpkin is a wonderful natural ingredient for your skin, and a simple facial treat can be made in minutes with ingredients from your kitchen cupboard.

Pumpkin is naturally soothing on the skin, and is also very moisturizing. Used as an ingredient in facial masks, it acts similarly to a carrier oil, and helps to carry the nutrients from other ingredients deep into the skin. Pumpkin is also rich in vitamins A and C.

Pretty Me Pumpkin Mask

You will need:
3 tablespoons of pumpkin (cooked)
1 tablespoon of honey (gently warmed)
1 teaspoon of cream/milk/or yogurt

How to:
Cook fresh pumpkin in a little water, then mash with a fork. Add the warmed honey and your cream/yogurt, then blend smooth with the back of a spoon. Apply the paste gently to the face, avoiding the eye area. Leave on for about ten minutes. Wipe away with warm damp face cloth.

Notes: Always test for allergies first. Be sure to throw away any unused mask, as it is not preserved.

Berry Boosting Burst

Keep yourself refreshed and energized during the summer with the natural berry boost of anti oxidants and amino acids. This simple summer drink uses yogurt, which is also helpful to your digestive system.

Berry Boosting Burst

You will need:
1 cup or more of fresh summer berries
1 pot of yogurt (plain or flavored)
A few ice cubes
Drops of vanilla essence (optional)

How to:
Wash berries, and place in blender with remaining ingredients. Whizz until smooth, pour into a nice cool glass and slowly sip while relaxing in your deck chair.

Avocado Hair Masque

Many factors can affect the way your hair looks and behaves. Like other parts of your body, the scalp has its own reaction to weather, stress, hormones etc, and dryness is often a symptom common to external or internal influences. This moisturizing hair masque is simple and effective, and can be made in minutes with ingredients from your kitchen cupboard.

The avocado fruit is rich in natural vitamins and essential fatty acids. It has deep penetrating properties, and is a wonderful natural stimulant for your hair. As with olive oil, avocado acts as a humectant, helping to hold onto and seal in moisture. Both offer thirsty hair a welcome handshake of friendly hydration.

Avocado Hair Masque

You will need:
1/4 cup of mashed avocado
1/4/cup of mayonaisse
Drizzle of olive oil

How to:
Using the back of a wooden spoon, or a hand blender, incorporate ingredients until smooth. Apply to your hair and cover with a shower cap for fifteen minutes. Wash hair with a mild shampoo.

Notes: Make sure to peel your avocado before mashing. Always test for allergies first. Be sure to throw away any unused masque, as it is not preserved.

Milk and Honey Hand Bath

If your hands are feeling the dry of the winter, here's a simple beauty treat right from your kitchen cupboard to soften them up.

The lactic acid in the milk loosens the flaky or dead skin cells on the back of your hands, helping hydration. Honey has its own properties of hydrating calm, and is also antimicrobial. Working together on your skin, milk and honey leaves it soft and smooth.

Milk and Honey Hand Bath

You will need:
2 cups of water
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon of honey

How to:
Mix all ingredients into a large microwave-safe jug, and microwave until warm (about 20 seconds). Pour into a bowl large enough for your hands, and soak both of them in it for ten minutes. Rinse with warm water, and pat dry with soft towel.

Notes: Make sure not to overheat your liquid in the microwave. Warm it gently.

Simple Pedi Polish

Yesterday was another full day on my feet. Up and at it from 5:15am, I finally got to close the workshop door some fifteen hours later. Not without some prompting from techy husband guy though. He's been making a case for me to put a clock in my soap room for a couple of years now, but I'm not a time person.

It wasn't until I actually sat down with a cuppa in front of the telly that I realised my poor feet were telling the tale of the day. So, footbath it was. I love to soak my feet. It's such a simple luxury that anyone can afford. Just a bowl filled with hot water, some epsom or sea salt, and a dash of cider vinegar. A chamomile tea bag tossed into the water is a nice addition or substitute. As are dried lavender buds, calendula flowers, or just some plain old bubble bath if you don't have anything else to hand. I like to place a few pebbles at the bottom of my soak bowl, and let my toes play with them. It really adds something to the relaxing experience.

At this time of year with the cold of outdoors and heavy winter shoes, it's nice to treat yourself to a homemade moisturizing foot polish. The gentle massaging of the skin is a nice relaxing treat, and the feeling after you've rinsed and dried is wonderful. Vegetable oils have many skin loving properties, and I use olive oil for this particular treat because it is so soft and gentle on your skin. Full of antioxidants, olive oil attracts moisture, while still allowing your skin to breathe.

If your feet are telling you the tale of the day when you finally get to sit down, try some home spa pedi pampering with a simple kitchen cupboard beauty treat.

Simple Pedi Polish

You will need:
1/4 cup of Olive Oil
1/4 cup of Sea Salt
Splash of Lemon Juice (optional)

How to:
Mix ingredients together in a small bowl, and set aside while you prepare your foot bath. Soak feet for ten minutes, and pat dry with towel. Using your hands, massage your pedi polish into feet using fingers and thumbs to smooth away the tale of the day. Return feet to water, rinse and pat dry with soft towel.

Notes: If you have your own essential oils, you may add a few drops of tea tree, and/or lavender to your olive oil when preparing your recipe. Always dilute essential oils with a "carrier" oil in this way, and never use directly on the skin.

Always test for allergies first. Be sure to throw away any unused polish, as it is not preserved.

Simple Carrot Face Mask

For too many months to count now, I've been meaning to add some simple kitchen cupboard beauty treats to the "Home Spa Recipes" section of the Reading Room. Today, I finally got around to going through my folder, and writing up a few of my favorites.

With the weather playing havoc on the face these winter months, I thought I'd kick off with a simple but effective real carrot face mask specially for dry skin.

High in beta-carotene, carrots have wonderful natural antioxidant benefits, known to help with tissue repair, cell regeneration, fine lines, and aging. The vitamin A from carrot juice is reportedly higher than that of any other fruit juice. Honey is gentle to the skin. It attracts and holds on to moisture, making it a natural humectant. Warming the honey first helps to make it easier to work with.

Simple Carrot Face Mask

You will need:
1 or 2 carrots
2 - 4 tablespoons honey

How to:
Cook the carrots in a little water, then mash with a fork and mix in the honey. Apply the paste gently to the face, avoiding the eye area. Leave on for about ten minutes. Wipe away with warm damp face cloth.

Notes: Always test for allergies first. Be sure to throw away any unused mask, as it is not preserved.

Soak It Up

A bath of water takes the weight off the muscles, which in turn gives your bones a much needed break. Make it warm, add some salts, and drops of lavender. A bit of plant or nut oil, and a chamomile tea bag too. Light a few candles, warm up your towels, and you've got yourself a nice little spa thing going on.

Sweet September...

With the scorching summer sun getting set to yield to the cool of fall, there's no time like the present to give your skin a treat. Small wonder then that this is the month we nationally celebrate honey. Cleopatra had it right. Fill a bath with milk and honey, and sit in it while the world goes by. Skin needs to be kept hydrated in order to remain soft, supple and elastic. Age, life's stresses, and everyday pollution really stretch our skin to the limit and affect its ability to stay moist. Skin becomes dry, cracked, and yes… those dreaded wrinkles appear.

Honey attracts and holds on to moisture, making it a natural humectant. Honey is also good for sensitive skin. But, the benefits of honey for beauty don't stop there. Studies show that honey has good antioxidant properties. Antioxidants not only play a part in protecting the skin from the harmful rays of the sun, but are also rather handy when it comes to skin rejuvenation and the restoration of. Its antimicrobial talents make it good for skin break-outs without drying the skin like most acne lotions, zit creams and wishy washes.

So, celebrate September with a jar of honey, and your skin. Spread it on your face, spoon some in the bath, and even mix with olive oil to condition your hair. Honey, you know you're worth it...

Tea For Three

Chamomile tea has many beauty benefits. The herb lessens the levels of the stress hormone, ACTH, which is produced by the pituitary gland. It relaxes, without making you sleepy. Fill a muslin baggie and toss into bathwater. Brew some and rinse hair with it to soothe the scalp. Or just sit back with a cup of it and feel the calm.