Monday, January 21, 2013

Lemon and Sea Salt Body Scrub

Hello Everyone! I hope you are all having a cheery day. I found a Lemon and Sugar Scrub on Pinterest, that was pinned from theidearoom- and decided to do a spin off based on this scrub. I have tried their scrub recently and LOVED it for my feet, hands, and elbows. This time however, I wasn't looking for something soothing, as much as I wanted something that would cleanse and tone my skin.  If you want something soothing, then you can follow the recipe provided from theidearoom.net, but I'm going to create a fresh and all natural cleansing version of my own!

























I am going to make a: Lemon, Sea Salt, Body Scrub with a Witch Hazel base. You can also add fresh mint and coconut oil for more of a soothing effect if you'd like to, but unfortunately I don't have those ingredients on hand.

Now I know you are saying "Deanna, why on earth are you mixing all of that?" Maybe you're thinking to yourself okay I know why you are using some of these ingredients, or maybe if you are a skin care guru like I am ( wink wink ) then you already know why I'd put together that very exact mixture! If that's the case, well go on with your bad self. But for everyone else, here's the skinny on why I am mixing these fabulous ingredients together.

Lemon: Citrus Fruit, has AMAZING antiseptic* properties, smells great, all natural, tightens skin.

Sea Salt: Natural ingredient, great exfoliant**, has antiseptic properties, has healing properties.

Fresh Mint: Fresh Herb, high content of salicylic acid (kicks acne in the butt, sheds dead skin cells).

Witch Hazel: Acts as part of the base for the scrub, excellent toner, provides pH balance for skin.

Coconut Oil: Great moisturizer, all natural ingredient, base for the scrub.

*Antiseptic- kills bacteria
**Exfoliant- sheds dead skin cells

Can you guess what this scrub is meant to do?! KILL MY ACNE! Haha. I don't get acne very often, but when I do, I will try about anything to get rid of it. Luckily, this is a nice natural scrub that my face will enjoy.

For 1-2 uses, mix together:
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 1/4cup of fine sea salt, I used coarse but didn't enjoy it as much
  • 3 leaves of fresh mint finely chopped (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon witch hazel
  • 1 teaspoon of coconut oil

Mix  all of the ingredients gently together in a bowl, careful not to overwork the scrub too much. 



Wet your face with warm water to help open your pores, so that they can get rid of everything trapped in your skin. Massage your mixture to area that you desire to cleanse. Rinse well with cold water to ensure that your pores close. 



You may need to make more of this mixture based on the size of the area you are cleansing. If you make more, just keep the parts equal to recipe and multiply to get the right amount. This may seem like a good bit when you make it, but I like to use a generous amount when washing my face, and usually I do it twice. Just because I hate my acne that much.


*I am not a skincare professional, always be careful when using new things on your face as some of them can be irritating to your skin. Test in a small patch first on your hand to make sure you don't have a negative reaction! I want you to have clean skin, but of course I want you to be safe!

Try it out, and let me know what you think!! I'll report back as well :)

Feel free to share or pin or whatever you like, just remember to give credit where credit is due ;) 
www.deannamarielikes2pin.blogspot.com

Thursday, January 17, 2013

My worst nightmare...

After scrambling for my keys this morning, throwing about 10 outfits out of my closet and emptying my bucket-o-shoes, and digging in my massive purse full of junk to find my badge, I barely made it to work on time. My entire work day left me unsettled, feeling as if I was accomplishing nothing. As I walked out of the building at days end, what can only be described as monsoon-esqe rain hammered away at my body. My mad dash to the car proved useless, leaving me a soppy puddle of a mess.

When I arrived home I looked around and realized something- although my home is clean, it is an organizational nightmare. My daily search for keys, eye glasses, cell phone, etc have left my flustered and always in a rush. For a month now I have eaten healthy and taken great care of myself. I think it is time that I apply this mindset to the rest of my life. So now...WE ORGANIZE!

I searched through Pinterest to try and find some good strategies to help me do this efficiently, without making my apartment even more of a disaster. The most common concept of home organization was to tackle one thing every day. I feel like this is something I can definitely do! This would be something that can get accomplished easily for even a very busy person.

Day One: Organize our dresser

I took the time to sort through our main dresser, containing pajamas, socks, undergarments, and workout clothes. I decided to get rid of anything that was overly worn, torn, etc. I continued by separating out the items that I wear on a regular basis and that fit well into my wardrobe. Anything I haven't worn in over 3 months (or that I can't remember wearing recently) decidedly goes in the trash. Success! Tomorrow- our closet!