Body Wraps the Ulitmate Spa Experience
If you have never had a body wrap you don’t know what you are missing. They provide relaxation, rejuvenation and skin conditioning. There are wraps for moisturizing the skin, detox wraps and cellulite removal wraps.
A body wrap is just that, your body is wrapped in towels/ bandages which are soaked in a specially formulated solution specific to your skin type. They typically contain essential oils, minerals and other ingredients to remove toxins, reduce inches and/or cellulite and skin conditioning. My girlfriend gave me a spa treatment for my birthday a couple of years ago which included a body wrap. I admit I was a little hesitant about exposing my entire body but the Spa did provide paper panties and bra and my anxiety was immediately diminished. The estheticianist took my measurements around my waist, thighs, arms etc., before the body wrap and afterwards there was a significant reduction in inches. It was truly a wonderful experience. Unfortunately my budget does not allow trips to the spa especially for something as extravagant as a full body wrap. However, the good news is that there are body wrap recipes and kits so that you can easily enjoy this spa treatment right at home.
Below are two body wraps recipes for your enjoyment:
Clay Body Wrap
1 cup bentonite or green clay
1/4 cup sea salt
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 cups water
Boil water and add sea salt stirring until dissolved. Stir in remaining ingredients. Adjust the water if necessary to form a wet paste. Rub the mixture over your entire body and cover yourself with thin towels or a clean white sheet. Other options are to take a sheet and cut into strips or use ace bandages. Most salons recommend proper wrapping sheets as the compaction helps to squeeze the tissues together for greater results. Lay in the tub for at least 45 minuets to an hour. Shower when done. You can use a variety of herbs in this wrap depending on the fragrances and properties you like. Recommended for this recipe is any combination of: chamomile flower powder, lavender, rose petal powder, sage, and sandalwood. All of these herbs have beautiful fragrances that will promote relaxation and contain properties that soothe the skin.
Before your wrap:
Take a warm shower to open pores and make your skin receptive to the minerals.
Take something to read, a puzzle book and/or radio. It can get kind of boring lying in the tub watching the ceiling.
Drink lots of water before and during your wrap to help flush out toxins.
Take a blanket or use towels to keep you warm.
Both of these recipes will also allow you to do a spot treatment such as thighs, tummy, and upper arms to tone and tighten.
Homemade Clay Body Wrap Recipe
1 cup of one of the following ingredients: Capsicum powder, Alfalfa Powder, Fennel Seed Powder, Ginger Root Powder, Yellow Dock Root Powder, Chamomile herb, Ginger herb, or Lavender herb.
1 Cup Epsom Salt
1 to 2 Cups of Clay: Bentonite or Green clay
2 Cups of Boiling Water
Place all the ingredients (clay, herbs, powder, and Epsom salt) in boiling water. Mix thoroughly until wet paste can be seen. Allow the clay mix to cool until it is warm to the touch. Apply the body wrap mix liberally to your body, targeting the most problematic cellulite areas. Tightly wrap (not to tight) your body with the towels, or with proper body wrapping sheets if you’ve got them. Proper body wrapping sheets will typically provide better results. Relax in the tub or in an area that can be easily cleaned. Leave wrap on 45 minutes to 1 hour. Shower and apply your favorite cellulite lotion.
Body wraps are a great way to pamper the skin and give yourself some TLC. They can be as a spot treatment on the arms, thighs, tummy to take off inches and reduce cellulite
For wonderful homemade skin care recipes, including body scrubs, toners, facial peels, clay masks, etc., visit Complete Skin Care Therapy
Carol Belanger, author of 300+ Skin Care Recipes.
By: CarolynSue
Everyday Beauty Tips for Real Women
When it comes to perfecting my makeup I know I can use all the beauty tips and techniques I can get. Below are a few tips that can get you on your way to a beautiful you and hope you will find them useful!
Blush: The correct color for your skin tone and properly applying blush as part of your makeup routine can add so much to enhance and accentuate your facial features.
Below are a few suggestions based on skin tone:
Beige and pink tones are appropriate for fair skin
Warm, brown shades are appropriate for yellow-tones skin
Plum, bronze shades are appropriate for dark skin
Orange, apricot and coral shades are appropriate for sun-tanned skin
The soft tones/ apricot, peachy, pink/ are appropriate for everyday use
Cool-toned Asian use a natural looking pink blush
Tip to make a round face look longer and well defined:
Purchase a blush palette which enhances your skin tone.
The palette should consist of a dark tone, medium tone and light tone.
Apply the darkest tone just below the check bones; even if not prominent at this time. Do not apply past the corner of the outer eye. Apply the medium shade and blend well all the way to the hairline. Finally, highlight the check bones with the lightest shade. You should see that your round face will look naturally thinner and has an apparent glow.
Additionally, a blush palette will add dimension which can not be achieved with just one ordinary color.
Eye Liner: Don’t have a steady hand, it is not necessary to paint a continuous line with liquid eyeliner. Start with small dashes on the lash line. Start at inner corner, then middle and out towards the outer corner. Then go back and connect the dashes. For droopy eyes thicken the eye liner at the outer corner.
Raccoon proof your eyeliner by using liquid eyeliner. Liquid eyeliners can hold up to 24 hours!
Lipstick: Selecting the perfect color can be frustrating. What looks good in the store doesn’t always look good when you get it home. Here are a few tips that can alleviate having a drawer full of lipsticks that you bought and didn’t like.
The most flattering lip color will be one or two shades darker than your natural lip color. So to find the right shade apply a color to just one lip and compare it to your bare lip, if it is one to two shades darker than your bare lip, then you have found your color. You can do this at the store just by looking in the mirror and place the lipstick tube color up against your lip in the mirror.
Fair skinned women – consider shades such as nudes in an apricot, pinks and light corals.
Medium skin tone – go a bit darker with roses, mauves and berries. Skip the bright reds and try a deep burgundy.
Dark or black skin should consider deep plum, chocolate and red.
Everyone can wear red if you consider the undertones – for instance, pink-skinned girls can wear cherry red, olive skin can wear fire-engine red and dark skin looks good in deep reds.
Application: Start on the natural top lip line with your lip pencil and work outwards in short light strokes. Begin on the bottom lip in the center of the mouth. Next apply your lipstick inside the lip line from your lipstick or lip brush.
To give the illusion of fuller lips, add a dab of shimmery lip gloss that is one shade lighter than your lipstick.
Eye Shadow
Deep-set eyes – to enhance your eyes apply a light shimmery shade across the eyelid from the inner corner to just beyond the out corner.
Wide-set eyes – you can create the illusion of closeness by applying a deep shadow shade from the inner corner to the middle of the eyelid. Then apply a lighter shade from the middle eyelid to the outer corner and blend where the shades meet.
Close-set eyes – to create an illusion to appear wider, apply light pale shade from the inner corner to the middle of the eyelid. Then apply a slightly darker shade from the middle of the eyelid to the outer corners and blend where the two shades meet.
For those with glasses – play up lashes with rich black mascara. Take the time to define your eyebrows, your brows should frame your eyes not your frames.
Asian – apply a thick smoky line along the top lashes. The line should be thick enough so that it can be seen when eyes are open. Also apply a thin line under the bottom lashes.
Eye Shadow Color:
Primers are super hot right now because they help set makeup that stays for hours. I’ve found the secret to keeping shadow in place for hours is a shadow base, or primer.
Shimmery eye shadow is gorgeous and makes eyes really pop, however it does play up wrinkles and creases.
Blue Eyes – Gray, violet, deep blue or taupe can add depth to your blue eyes. If using a blue shade, select a blue slightly darker that your eye color, it will make your blue eyes even brighter. If using bright colors do so sparingly.
Brown Eyes -Brown eyed girls who want to go for a classic look should stick metallic colors like bronze, copper or champagne and can also safely try browns, beige or khaki. If they want to add a little flair to their face, they can be bold and try tangerine, hot pink, lime or royal blue.
Green/Hazel Eyes – use shades of brown, apricot, purple, plum, khaki or pine green. These colors can brighten green or hazel eyes and are ideal for all times of the day.
Eye Makeup for All Eye Colors
There are a few eye shadow colors appropriate for any eye color. For a classic look, ladies of any eye color can try navy, charcoal, or silver. Silver can work to highlight the eye and brow areas and accentuate those who find their eyes are their best feature.
Blending is the key to great looking eyes if you are using a three color palette. Start with a light base and color the entire eyelid and up to the brow. Secondly apply a highlighter for the crease and then the darkest color on the lid.
When applying dark shadow to the crease of your eye, be careful to blend only on the outside edge.
Mascara: The application of mascara is a three step process:
Start at the base of the lashes and wiggle the wand left to right. It is the roots of the lashes that give the illusions of length not the tips.
Wiggle the wand as you apply the mascara. It separates the lashes and avoids clumps.
The final step and one I always forget is to close the eye and place the mascara wand on top of the lashes working from the base to the tips.
To keep lashes from clumping there are a couple of options. One is a lash comb and they are a great invention and used by makeup artists to get glob free and perfectly separated lashes. The other option is to wipe the mascara wand with a tissue and run the wand over your lashes.
Consider a colored mascara – Basically black works for everyone but can be harsh on light-skinned blondes. Blondes should opt for brown/black by day and reserve black for night. Blue mascara brightens blue eyes while purple mascara makes brown eyes pop.
Lastly but certainly not least – Smile – it gives you a natural glow. Furthermore, great looking makeup starts with a great looking skin. Remember to cleanse, exfoliate, tone and moisturize for a well hydrated dewy complexion.
The key to beautiful makeup is the correct application and selecting the right colors based on your skin tone. Addtionally there are various beauty tips and techniques in the application process that can enhance your overall makeup.
Carol Belanger, author of 300+ Skin Care Recipes
For wonderful homemade skin care recipes, including body scrubs, toners, facial peels, clay masks, etc., visit Complete Skin Care Therapy.
By: CarolynSue
War Against Depression, How To Do
Obsession is something that can result from a state that has been neglected. Suddenly you can feel like there is no point to anything, and you may want to be hurting yourself or others. People who suffer the most, besides himself, are the people closest to you.
Major depression is what happens when you’re unhappy and you do not know why. If you saw someone at that time, or you’re not interested in a relationship with that person or you just want to hurt the person to get them out of their way. And sometimes, this type of depression reaches the point where the stress is immobility. Yes, that bad. You must be very aware of your mood and try to orient ourselves in the best sense of humor all the time.
In the United States, many people experience serious depression all the time. It is known that at some point during their lives, up 17% of the population is forced to suffer from the disease. Although not all of them are critical, you will agree with me that the effects are such that we can do better without them. Do not join those who are part of this statistic. Fighting and winning the war against depression, and you will be better for it.
There are many mental illnesses that are evident in many forms. Depression is one of the most common of them. Throughout the world, up to 8 percent of adults suffer from depression occasionally, and the United States, is prevalent as much as 17% of the adult population.
Some countries of the world see that not many in the population suffer from symptoms of depression. On the reverse, some also know that many of them suffer from the disease. There is no selection process or criteria, but apparently the people of the first world are doing something wrong with that. You can fight and win the war against depression, if you stay informed about how to do.
With all the expectations that society has of women, some experts believe it is entirely possible that they suffer from depression until three or four times more than a man does. This, however, can not be the reason; it could simply be that they have to deal with more hormones.
People with depression tend to sleep fewer hours than most others around you. Much of the time, you may find that you are not getting enough sleep even though it has been in bed for hours. And then you probably do not wake up and feel as if I had slept at all.
It is common for a depressed person to go to bed, sleep five hours, and get up in the morning feeling tired and blue. You could spend all day feeling well, and the next would be unaffected. Not a good sign, because you will surely start to be bad for the people around you.
By: Mark Richard