She's Style

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Cucumber - Honey Toner

Cucumber - Honey Toner

1 medium - cucumber, peeled and cut into pieces

2 teaspoons - honey

Directions

Puree cucumber in a blender. Line a sieve with cheesecloth and set the sieve over a glass bowl or measuring cup. Pour the cucumber puree through the sieve and let it stand for 15 minutes for the juices to drip into the bowl. Pour the clear juice into a clean bottle and add honey. To use, shake the bottle and saturate a cotton pad with the lotion. Sweep over face, neck and chest morning and night, and let it air dry (about 3 to 4 minutes). Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Makes about 1/2 cup.

1. Cucumber-Honey Toner:

Puree 1 cucumber in a blender, drain and collect the juice. Add 2 teaspoons of honey into the juice and mix. Pour the mixture into a bottle. Apply on the face and neck area with a cotton pad in the morning and at night. Air dry it and rinse clean. Store the bottle covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

2. Honey-Apple Toner:

In a blender or food processor, combine 1 peeled, cored apple with a tablespoon of honey and pulse until smooth. Apply mixture to face and allow it to stay for 15 minutes, then rinse.

3. Hot Honey Bath:

Perhaps the easiest natural skin care recipe using honey -- Add 1/4 cup of honey to your hot bath water for silky and luscious skin. This is especially good for dry skin.

4. Honey Olive Hair Conditioner:

For lustrous, silky, healthy hair and scalp, simply combine 1/2 cup honey and 2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup olive oil. Massage scalp with this conditioner, then put on a shower cap for 30 minutes. Shampoo and rinse as usual. Good for hair revitalising.

Citrus Bath Herbs

Fragrance Bowls: Fill large decorative bowls with clean sand then top with citrus peelings, homemade potpourri, cinnamon sticks and bunches of fresh herbs or fragrant flowers to fill a room with a pleasing, and natural, fragrance.

Fragrant Bedroom Sacks: Fill small fabric sacks about the size of a shoe bag with Homemade Potpourri and tie closed with ribbon to make large sachets. Arrange them with the pillows for a pretty decor effect.

Directions

Mix together and store away for use.

To Use: At bath time you may put a large handful of the mixed herbs into a muslin bag and drop the bag in the hot tub or drop the herbs directly into the water. You can also opt to put the herbs into a perforated metal ball available in the cooking section of department stores and often used in the cooking of rice. You can also make an infusion of herbs and strain the liquid into the tub.

Citrus Spice Aromatherapy Bath Recipe

Ingredients

1/2 cup dried Lemongrass

1/2 cup Lavender flowers

1/8 cup (2 tablespoons) whole Cloves

1/8 cup (2 tablespoons) chopped or shredded Licorice root (optional)

3 drops Lemongrass essential oil

3 drops Lavender essential oil

3 drops Palmarosa essential oil

Directions

Combine the lemongrass, lavender flowers and licorice root in a dark glass or PET plastic jar.

Using a mortar and pestle, crush the cloves a little to break them into slightly smaller pieces and release their scent. If you don't have a mortar and pestle (I don't!) you can put the cloves in a stong plastic bag and gently hit them with a hammer, or you can grind them in a clean coffee maker - just be careful not to overdo it.

Add the cloves to the herbal bath tea mixture, then drop in the essential oils, placing each drop in its own little spot on top of the mixture. Use a stainless steel spoon to gently stir everything together.

Cap the jar and let it sit for at least 24 hours before using to let the aroma 'cure' (longer is better.)

To use your citrus spice aromatherapy bath recipe, scoop a few spoonfuls into a small organza or muslin drawstring bag. Fill about half full - it will expand in the water.

If you don't have a bag, put a few spoonfuls into the center of a square of double thickness cheesecloth, pull the edges together and tie it closed with a string.

To get the most benefit from your bath, boil a kettle of water, then steep the bag in a bowl of very hot water for 10 minutes or so. (Yes, you're making herbal tea for your bath!)

Pour the herbal bath tea into your bathwater BEFORE YOU GET IN then check the temperature to make sure the bath water is not too hot. Drop the herbal bag in the water, slide in and relax for 20 minutes.

Beautiful Brows

Let your eyebrows fill in. Don't touch those brows of yours for at least 3 weeks to allow you to see the natural growth pattern and shape of your eyebrows. This will also allow the hair to be on one growth cycle – when hairs are taken out at once they will all grow in at once – meaning less tweezing altogether.

Tweeze hair in a well-lit space using a pair of good tweezers with sharp slanted edges. Hold skin taut and pull hairs in the direction of growth. Pain-phobic? Tweeze after you get out of the shower when the skin is softer and pores are open or use children's teething gel to slightly numb the area.

Avocado Carrot Cream Mask

Girls of all ages love to apply beautifying masks. Wendy Allred, training and education manager of New York City's Bliss Spa, shared this homemade version, fun for two great activities — making and applying!

Materials:

1 avocado, mashed

1 carrot, cooked and mashed

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 egg, beaten

3 tablespoons honey

Beauty Tips for Glowing Skin

The skin around the eyes is very thin and delicate. It can get easily pulled or stretched. So, be gentle while removing make up and creams.

Apply a cleansing gel around the eyes and wipe it off with moist cotton wool. Then apply an outer eye cream and leave it on only for ten minutes. Wipe it off with moist cotton wool.

Apply cream and massage it on the skin around your neck, starting from the chin and going downwards. Use both the hands, one hand following the other. The pressure should be applied while going down towards the chin.

Mask for Normal and Dry Skin

Mask for normal to dry skin: Mix half a teaspoon honey with the yolk of an egg and one teaspoon dried milk powder. Mix into a paste and apply on the face. Remove after 20 minutes with plain water.

For the area around your eyes: Apply pure almond oil sparingly around eyes and massage gently for one minute using only the ring finger.

For puffy eyes: Apply a compress of iced water or cold milk directly over closed lids and leave for 15 to 20 minutes.

For hands: Take 2 tablespoons granulated sugar and add a few drops of oil and lemon juice just before application. Take it on the palms and rub hands together till the sugar dissolves. Leave on for 10 minutes and wash off with water.

Natural Tips for Healthy Hair

For Dandruff

Massage the Scalp with pure coconut oil. This will also help growth of hair.

Apply coconut oil which has been boiled with small onions for about 20 minutes. Wash it off with a mixture of green gram powder and water drained from cooked (boiled) rice.