I need a break!

After this holiday and my weekend at work, I find I am in serious need of some "Me-time".  I found this video on hand care and I liked it so much I subscribed to the whole series of videos.  They are really good.  I plan on starting at the top and working my way down, pampering myself the whole time!

Thursday -- Spa Day

 Here are some great recipes for a spa night to work on your hands and feet.  These and others just as wonderful can be found at www.SpaIndex.Com. 




 Feel free to visit and check out the rest of the recipes there.  Let me know if you like any of these, won't you?

Avocado Hand and Foot Treatment
Mix together 1/4 to 1/2 mashed fresh avocado, 1 egg yolk, 1 teaspoon honey, 1 teaspoon rice bran, and 10 drops of oil of evening primrose. Gently massage this treatment onto your hands and feet, and leave in place for 20 minutes. Rinse. This natural treatment will revive your dry, wrinkled and rough hands, feet, elbows and knees. The avocado and egg nourish the skin with proteins and oils; the rice bran exfoliates dead skin cells; the oil of evening primrose contains precious gamma linolenic acids, essential for healthy hair, skin and nails. Consider purchasing a small jar of Oil of Evening Primrose capsules from your health food store. Open one, and voila...you have the ingredient for this.
Apricot Oil-Lanolin Cuticle Cream
1/2 tsp apricot kernel or emu oil
2 tsp lanolin
1 drop essential oil of your choice (optional)
Melt oils together, add essential oil, pour into jar or small pots and let set. To use, massage into cuticles.
Cuticle Cream
1 T. fuller's earth (a natural clay substance)
1 tsp. olive oil
3 drops lavender essential oil
Mix into a paste and put into a sterile ointment jar or small pot. Massage into nails and cuticles.
Cuticle Softener
1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. vitamin E oil
Combine and massage into nails and cuticles.
Strawberry Hand and Foot Exfoliant
Strawberries have a purpose here; they contain a natural fruit acid which aid exfoliation.
8-10 Strawberries
2 tablespoons Apricot Oil (you may substitute olive oil)
1 teaspoon of coarse salt, such as Kosher Salt, or Sea Salt
Mix together all ingredients into a paste, massage into hands and feet, rinse, and pat dry.
Here's what a journalist had to say about this recipe:
Store-bought vs. homemade: trying natural alternatives

By Crystal Chow for Knight Ridder Newspapers
April 19, 2005

(KRT) - What price beauty? Is it really worth shelling out $10, $20 or more for things like exfoliators and masques? Even if you scream "Yes!" you still might think about creating such products at home. Ingredients are usually right at hand, with preparations costing pennies per application. It's a natural way to be nice to Mother Earth, too. But can DIY glamorizers stand polished toe to toe with the store-bought stuff? We had one tester per treatment find out.

TREATMENT: Hand, foot exfoliator: 8-10 ripe strawberries, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Mix together all ingredients, massage into hands and feet, rinse, then pat dry. (www.spaindex.com)

IS GREEN GREATER? "My skepticism was sky-high initially. Why would I want to use strawberries as a beauty product rather than eat them? But wow! This treatment really made a difference -- my hands were definitely softer. A caveat: The mixture is lumpy and messy, so apply in the kitchen and don't wear good clothes."

OH, MY ACHING FEET


1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tsp. of Aloe Vera
1 teaspoon wheat germ oil
20 drops of peppermint Essential Oil
20 drops of eucalyptus Essential Oil

Mix together and massage feet gently with this soothing ointment, or, add to a basin of very warm water, and soak.  Finish by lightly dusting the feet in corn starch.

Thursday--Spa Day

Here's a couple of videos I found to show how easy it is to make many of the skin care products we all use.  By making your own, however, you control the ingredients and the outcomes.  Home made skin care products also make lovely gifts, so it is a good thing to know how to make these.

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