Beauty Blog

As early as ancient Egyptian Civilizations bathing has been an essential element of one’s health, appearance, and peace of mind.  Bathing is one of the most accessible, exotic and rewarding beauty rituals that you can perform.  Showering will get you clean, but fully immersing your body in water is true bathing.  For me it is a perfect end or beginning of my day.  After a bath filled with lavender and chamomile I feel beautiful, healthy and renewed.  Loving and caring for the body is an obligation and bathing was one of the first ways people began to respond to caring for the body.

Bathing will help you reap the following benefits:

• relaxes tense muscles
• opens clogged pores
• removes dirt, bacteria, and environmental toxins from the skin
• gives strength to your body
• restores moisture to your skin and tissues
• adds a healing dimension to your day
• reconnects you to your body, mind, and spirit

To get the most from your bath time, first of all, prepare your bathroom.  Your bathroom should be clean, fresh, and soothing.  Lighting a candle or incense and playing some soft music may help to set the mood.  Make sure your slippers, towels, and robe are close by.

Next, prepare your tub.  Draw water that is very warm but not hot.  Water that is too hot will actually do harm to the skin. Add natural ingredients to your water such as pure essential oils, salts, herbs, and plant oils like jojoba, avocado, almond, and apricot.  It is important that you use live natural ingredients as they help to keep your skin healthy and alive.  Natural soaps, herbs, sea salts, and clays are also helpful.

Bathing is a healing activity, so you especially want to avoid synthetic fragrances, harsh soaps and other bath additives that will strip moisture from your skin and create a toxic bath. Once you have prepared your bath, dry brush your skin to help get rid of dead skin cells, and to open the skin so that it can absorb the water, and additives in your bath. Soak for 20-30 minutes, taking deep breaths, which help rid your lungs of toxins.  Relax and appreciate the water, and the benefits of the natural ingredients in your bath.  and then use a natural sponge or cotton washcloth to clean your skin.  Massage your skin in a circular motion.  You should also use a foot file to remove old skin from your heels.

Pat your skin dry, and, starting at your feet, apply moisturizer while your skin is still damp.  One of the best moisturizers is raw, unrefined shea butter. When applied to the skin, it’s rich fatty acid and vitamin a content will help to seal moisture into your skin.  This step will help to prevent dryness and cracking and helps to keep your skin from aging.  Pure unrefined Shea butter is available at PrettyNatural-inc.com.

Your mind, body, and spirit all gain strength from bathing. Rediscover the art of bathing.

image: fairygodmotherinc.com

Well I was popping around the web this morning, trying to find my daily fix of “celebrity-giggles” and bingo-bango! Found it! Here is the lead singer of “Tokio Hotel” being compared to a cartoon Dragon Ball Z, complete twins if you ask me.

But that’s not the part that totally made me go…”WTF!” …

 THAT’S A DUDE! - Bill Kaulitz to be exact. You can make fun of me if you want but I don’t really know much about the band “Tokio Hotel” and when I came across the image, I totally thought.. “Oh that’s funny, she does look like that cartoon..” - Oops!

Well all I have to say is that is the prettiest young man I have ever seen, reminds me of a young Boy George. (Yes, yes… I am that old.) 

(Source of Image: The Cutting Chair)

Whilst in the Land of Smarter Beauty Blogging:

• What is the Best Hand Soap? 
• Win your Static Electricity War! Beauty fix tip- How to get rid of STATIC Cling!
• Men’s Fragrances - Sweet Scents - Clinique Happy for Men

When I was a kid my older brother and I use to have “STATIC ELECTRICITY” fights! Obviously it was the 80’s and both parents were working so we had a ton of time on our hands. The premise was to put on two pairs of our soccer socks and begin rubbing our feet against the orange shag carpeting furiously until we built up enough static electricity to shock each other. He always won! To this day I always get a little nervous when people touch me, I guess subliminally I imagine getting shocked.

Well the other night I was at dinner and I noticed my date’s hair was standing up a little and when I touched his arm I got a little shock! It was sort of funny and sweet. Made me think of my brother and our childhood shenanigans.

It also inspired this post because I just wanted to let all you ladies and gentlemen know how to get rid of static electricity. 

1. Rub a dryer sheet against your clothes and head. This works, I do it all the time. Takes literally seconds plus you end up smelling dryer fresh.

2. Lotion - Apparently staying moisturized helps you from getting shocked or building up static electricity. Applying lotion after a shower especially during the winter seasons helps you from picking up shocks.

3. Apply metal to metal - If you are tired of getting shocked by your doorknob or kitchen towel rack etc. Touch the surface first with your metal keyes or a spoon etc. The other metal will absorb the built up electricity.

4.  Fake Fibers - apparently synthetic fibers build up more static electricity than natural ones.. so if you are a frequent fan of the spandex you are in for some shocks! Ha!

I hope this helps all of you, with these nuggets of knowledge in your arsenal maybe you will be victorious in your own “Static Electricity Wars”!!

I just can’t seem to get this one kink out of my neck and from in-between my shoulder blades. Seriously it’s driving me nuts! I keep stretching and nothing seems to crack it. I think it might be stressed induced. Which means that I need to relax my mind and decompress or else it will never go away.

So it struck me that it has been a LONG time since I’ve actually lit candles and taken a long bath. Like just sat and relaxed and was left to my own thoughts. The prospect is both enticing and frightful. Lord knows what would come to light if I am left alone with my thoughts.

Well my cousin Charm loves L’Occitane products and has an odd fixation for all things violet and lavender so she gave me some of her foaming bath soap. Loves it!

Check out the L’Occitane Foaming Bath Soap with Lavender Oil:

• Formulated with pure lavender essential oil and rosemary extract
• Helps soften, soothe and calm skin while cleansing
• Relaxing aroma sweep away stress of the day
• Gives rich bubbles with a small amount of product
• Leaves skin feeling clean, fresh and comfortable

Price $39.00

If you are interested in decompressing and trying out the L’Occitane Foaming Bath Soap - Click here!

Ahh, Childlike wonder…I often find myself amused with things that are intended for 5 years olds, like drawing hand turkeys and making snow angels. Apparently craft projects are no exception. This week I decided I would make Shrinky Dink necklaces* for my friends with the faces of their pets (it didn’t seem as creepy when I was doing it).

All you need to make your own is: directions, shrinky dink paper, a inkjet printer, a hole punch and a toaster oven.

*Not responsible for your friends thinking you are a animal loving freak.

(Source: A Fashion and Style Blog from Punky Style)

(I thought this was too cute, and I personally love unique hand crafted gifts always!! - Michelle  )

While in the land of Smarter Beauty Blogs:

• Showering Etiquette 101 -When guests use your Louffah it’s BEYOND personal, it’s bleepin’ GROSS! 
•  Dear Santa, All I want for Christmas is the following Beauty Products… 
•  Fish Oil - So Good for your Health, So Bad for your Breath 

One of the perks of blogging is having a public forum to vent. Well this is one of those posts!

I think I have kept mum about the following issue for long enough. What I want to discuss with all of you is what you think the proper decorum is for guests who come or sleep over and use the shower. Which alone is of course not a big deal, my issue is when they bogart all your expensive shower products and/or use your LOUFFAH!

Am I taking crazy pills or is that not crossing the intimacy line?! I chalk that right up there with using my toothbrush for pete’s sake! 

Here’s the back story. I have a handful of girlfriends (and my younger sister) who take advantage of my beauty product addiction and use my shower as their own personal beauty testing cubicle. It use to annoy me but I have learned to deal. What I do now is hide the really pricey scrubs and shampoos before my sister comes over, lest she bogart $60 dollars worth of Bliss products. I swear the girl will consume half a bottle of shampoo in one shower trip, I really think she stands there and dumps the good stuff on the floor just to spite me.

PLUS - I think the following is just plain rude, gross and wrong! (Btw, this applies to male visitors as well)

• when you see hairs that are NOT yours in your shower razor
• when your louffah is moist and sudsy after they leave the bathroom, indicating direct use from a stranger
• the brand new body scrub you just opened is suddenly half empty and you can feel the granules lining the shower floor (indicating someone went product testing crazy at your expense)
• little”ummm” hairs stuck to your bar of soap (barf)

I readily admit, I am a tad OCD-ish! But I honestly don’t think my requests are a lot to ask. Is it? Ugh! Just thinking about it makes me shudder. All I keep thinking is the parts of my body that my louffah touches and the parts of their body the louffah touches! Add germs to that line of thought, and rashes, and flesh eating bacteria, and.. and…and… *screams!* GROSS!!!

Am I wrong here guys? What are your “SLEEPOVER-SHOWER-DON’TS”?!

You deserve a relaxing fragrant bubble bath to soothe all your aches and pains! L’Occitane is a great brand of luxury body care, skincare, fragrance and bath products for ladies and gentlemen.

Purchase the L’Occitane Honey Harvest Bubble Bath and bathe in the lap of luxury.

Originally sold for: $32.50

Currently sold for: $26.50

(you save 18%)

To purchase L’Occitane Honey Harvest Bubble Bath, click here or any of the links above.

To shop for more discount luxury Bubble Baths, click here.