Category Archives: Beauty

Pumpkin Facial Scrub

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Hello there beautiful pumpkins!!!

How were your weekends?  It was a beautiful one here!!  We headed out to Pasadena to watch the Utah Utes play the UCLA Bruins.  Pasadena is absolutely beautiful this time of the year and we had such a great time catching up with Erik’s friends who were visiting from Utah.  Other than that, lots of sports, watching my 49er’s and my Giants baseball.  Woo woo, let’s hear it for play-offs!!!  BTW, you like how they are my teams.  Yeah, because I have so much to do with the organizations, decisions, successes…

{ tailgating }

Anyway, back to the pumpkins!  Did ya’ll try out those baked pumpkin doughnut holes?  I sure hope so, those babies were muy delicioso!  Well if you did try them, or maybe another pumpkin recipe,  you might have some left over pumpkin.  What to do, what to do??  How about you try slathering it on your face?!  Ya heard me, make a yummy pumpkin face scrub!  

All you need is anywhere from 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of pureed pumpkin, mixed with a few tablespoons of organic, raw sugar.  Drop in a couple drops of flax or grape seed oil, and you’ve got yourself a powerful scrub right there!  Add sugar a tablespoon at a time.  Since this is a face scrub, you do not want too much sugar exfoliating, we need to be gentle with the facial skin :-)  Use your judgement, you’re smart cookies, errrr pumpkins ;-) .  I would recommend scrubbing it on at the beginning of your shower, letting it sit several minutes, then gently removing with a warm wash cloth.

So what is this mask doing for you?  Well lots, especially if you took in a good amount of sun this summer.   Here are a few reasons to try this mask:

  • Pumpkins are rich in vitamins and nutrients
  • Pumpkin helps ease and repair environmental and sun damage
  • Pumpkin is rich in antioxidants
  • The pumpkin will help moisturiize while the sugar will rid your skin of dead skin cells
  • Pumpkin vitamins fight acne and blemishes
  • Pumpkin can ease redness and inflammation

Hope this gives you a little help using any extra pumpkin you have around :-)  Enjoy your yummy mask Pumpkins!

After Sun Soothing Spary

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Well, it’s official, June Gloom is here in So Cal, and apparently not going anywhere anytime soon.  Silly May, teasing us with “summer” weather.  No matter, I’m bailing the city for the next few days and heading a bit north for some camping at the lake.

Since I REALLY enjoy being in the sun, it’s important to keep my skin well protected.  This includes time in the sun (duh) and after.  Gotta keep that skin well moisturized!!  I searched through some of my natural beauty books and came up with an awesome after sun spray!!  It’s so easy to make, feels great, and smells so warm and yummy.  Enjoy!!

Aloe Vera After Sun Spray:

  • 1 cup aloe vera juice
  • 20 drops lavender essential oil
  • 10 drop rosemary essential oil
  • 1 spray bottle

Just combine all the ingredients in a (glass) spray bottle, shake vigorously, and use as needed.  Store in the refrigerator.  Should last several months.

Happy Friday, enjoy some tunes!  Months later, still can’t get enough of her voice :-)

Coffee and Raw Sugar Scrub

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So, it’s practically May, which means it’s almost summer, which means these cozy sweaters, leggings, and jeans I have been sporting for MONTHS are going to have to go into hiding soon.  I’m OK with that, actually I am more than OK.  I am a LEO, it’s my season.  I love summer…beach, shorts, sundresses, BBQing, sunset wine in the garden with my mom, the smells, the tans…Yeah, I’m more than OK with it almost being summer :-)

Since I will be trading in my sweaters for tanks, pants for shorts, and sporting plenty of summery dresses, I decided to give my body a fresh scrub and healthy glow!  Best part of this scrub, it’s all stuff from the kitchen.  It’s natural!!  No looking on the back of a jar and wondering what the __ is all this stuff.  

Not only does this scrub leave the skin feeling silky and looking radiant, it has some wonderful benefits.  The caffeine in the coffee actually helps stimulate fat cells, easing the appearance of cellulite.  Similarly, it works to help blood cells to reduce varicose veins.   …AMEN!!!!  

All you need are fresh coffee grinds, raw sugar, and some oil (I use olive oil)

Mix 3 tablespoons of coffee grinds, 3 tablespoons of natural, raw sugar, and 1/4 cup olive oil.  

Jump in the shower and scrub up!  Make sure to scrub in circular motions.  After you rinse, your skin will be silky smooth and vibrant, ready for those cute summer outfits!!

The mixture has a strong coffee sent, which is also really nice :-) Enjoy!!!!

All About Almonds

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I think most people can agree that almonds are a healthy and satisfying go-to snack.  Lately, I have been enjoying these beautiful brownish babies in other ways, mostly by way of moisturizer and scrubs.

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As the hot, dry summer months approach, staying well moisturized is a huge priority.  And seeing as I like to match >or try to< my almond friends in color during the summer, is it very important that I keep this face and body well nourished with a healthy moisturizer.

What I mean by healthy is…think of your body as a sponge.  TONS of tiny little openings absorbing almost everything we expose it to, from the air >> pollution even :-(  << to the moisturizer and anti-aging creams.  Your body is absorbing TONS of it!!!  The amount the body takes in depends on the ingredients, but unnecessary chemicals are something I DO NOT need to be feeding to my skin.  It is hard enough protecting against things we have less control over, i.e. pollution and over exposure to sun (I firmly believe moderate amounts of sun are beneficial).  So why add more when there are such NATURAL, BENEFICIAL, HEALTHY alternatives.

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For the past several months I have been OBSESSING over my 100% pure, sweet almond oil >>I use this brand NOW<<.  It has a very mild scent, not very oily, and absorbs easily.

I still use my old moisturizers and eye creams about once a week, but I am finding even that amount is slowly declining.  I am all about being NATURAL now.  Giving my body wholesome, natural care.  My BODY and FACE know what it is >not a ton of chemicals< and they have been showing positive feedback!  I have  NEVER had such a healthy glow to my face.  Even my boyfriend says he has never seen my skin look so radiant!!  I simply use a few drops after showering in the morning and at night, paying special attention to the eye area.

I have also started using this almond oil as a lip scrub.  I take about a teaspoon or RAW, ORGANIC sugar and mix it with several drops of the almond oil and BAM!!! Moisturizing lip scrub.  The sugar acts as a exfoilant and the oil helps moisturize.  I just lightly scrub it with a toothbrush for about a minute then rinse.  My lips are soft, smooth, and moisturized!

*Twinkle*

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A fun, easy way to make that mani last a little longer is to TWINKLE those tips.  I find the easiest way to add some sparkle is to take a glitter polish (more condensed glitter polish if really trying to cover up chips in the polish) and start at the tip.  With light strokes, brush up toward the base of the nail, lighting your stroke as you pull away from the tip.  Enjoy the twinkle, and saving some pennies on having to go get a new mani :-)