Day 21 of MY Beauty Secrets

Working in Manhattan on photo shoots and on special events taught me a lot! One of the beauty dilemmas I saw when we had an early call on set was… the models had puffy face and eyes And dark bags under the eyes especially when the sun 🌞 hadn’t even come up yet.

So besides using 🥒 cool cucumber slices, chamomile and anti-inflammatory eye gels on the lids and under the eyes and face there was another trick I discovered and have used on myself and on my VIP clients and the girl next door!

The answer was cold tepid 💦 water. Splashing the face with water at least 8 to 10 times works magic!

It’s especially good to do once you get out of the shower. It deflates and wakes up the face! It also appeared to make the pores appear smaller.

Also, they would not serve them coffee and donuts. They would serve them a cup of warm lemon water. It made them tinkle a lot !

There’s something wonderful about that water!

Better than a face primer! Water! 💦

And drinking it actually made the face and the body look skinnier and flatten the tummy too for photographs or on an event location appearance.

I never forgot that trick… so simple and so effective!

Next time you have someplace special to go to or get your photo taken and more. TRY this model and photographers trick!

Day 15 of MY Beauty Secrets

Oops, I fell asleep last night and forgot to post on my blog. I don’t know about you but I am having restless sleep and sometimes my new morning wake up time is 4:30AM. This has never happened before. I had a long work day yesterday and needed to look good and well rested but I didn’t feel it after all.

How about you! Are you sleeping well?

The beauty secret I’d like to share with you is one to make your skin feel good and give yourself a little exfoliation naturally. In the heart of winter and on hot summer days I love to exfoliate my elbows and needs with fresh lemons. Juicy, ripe or on their way out and about to go in the garbage. Don’t throw them out. Cut them in half and dip them in some white sugar.

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Place them on the elbows and rub on the skin. Move in circular motions. Place more sugar on them and go for round two. Allow it to set on the skin.

Next got to your knees and do the same. Do it twice. Every time I do this treat to my elbows and knees I feel like I am back in Italy enjoying the glorious lemons and a delicious Lemoncello drink.

Rinse well with lukewarm water and a washcloth. If your skin is extra sensitive or thin rinse after one treatment) It will feel tingly. The acid of the lemon is gently exfoliating your tired,dry grayish skin (You know the skin may look almost looks dirty). But you CAN make it look better.

Afterwards shower,bathe or just rinse your elbows and knees again and apply your favorite hand and body lotion. You can do this once a month or once a week.

Your skin will LOVE you back by the way it looks.

SUGAR Please!

Happy 1st day of summer!

As the summer begins you want to EXFOLIATE your skin. Dead skin cells mount up on your hands,feet and body and your skin needs a bit of TLC attention. This will also help you get a better even tan. I love doing this before I apply my sunless tanner. Your skin will be smoother and tan faster and more efficiently.

It really WORKS!

Sugar & CITRUS Scrub

2 tablespoons of  white or brown sugar

1 orange zest

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

2 tablespoons of sunflower oil or apricot kernel oil

Mix all of these in a small bowl and on a clean body. I like my body to be slightly damp. Rub in circular motions and slough off your tired looking winter skin. Your skin will turn a little pink and have a flushed look. That’s a good thing. You are bringing blood to the surface and helping circulation.

Rinse well with luke warm washcloth. Next, apply your fave body lotion.

Lemon Love Water

Follow this D.I.Y. treatment by drinking  a half a gallon of water with a slice or two of lemons. Drinking this will eliminate toxins and flush and clean you from the inside.

Sip it throughout your day.

I hope you will enjoy this refreshing skin loving treat,be more hydrated and kiss your dull skin…GOODBYE!

Sugar,Sugar

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LEMON LOVE!

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Do you ever crave certain foods?

Of course you do!

Unfortunately most of  my other cravings are about crunchy chips of any kind,buttered popcorn,old-fashioned Circus peanut candy and salted pretzels. peanuts!

So today I am giving into my cravings and indulging in all things green!

Here is a simple but mighty powerful healthy recipe to enjoy.

• Steam some greens like spinach,kale or collard greens.
• Add a squeeze of lime or lemon juice over it.
• Don’t throw out the water from the greens you steamed.
• Drink and enjoy it like a cup of broth or soup.

Steaming veggies like this creates a mineral rich broth that is a great way to detox. Always think about your beauty from the inside. Nourish your body and give it what it needs.

Take care of yourself… Darlings.

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Blackheads are rearing their ugly heads…

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Once they come to the surface. That is why they call them blackheads the dreaded  clogged pore! 

Sometimes blackheads come from an over worked sebaceous gland. Not washing your face good enough at night and more.

Here is my go to D.I.Y. recipe for telling them goodbye!

2 teaspoons of cornmeal (I grind it fine in my coffee grinder)

1 teaspoon of Chinese or any other clay mask powder

1 teaspoon of lemon juice

2 teaspoons of plain yogurt (I prefer Greek)

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Mix all of the above in a bowl. Let it rest. The cornmeal will get creamy and the clay will soften together. Stir and apply the mix on a wet face that you FIRST splashed with water. Apply to your face with a clean MASK brush or your fingers. Stay away from your eye area. I like to focus my attention to the T-zone or wear there may be a stubborn blackhead. Rinse with warm water and your fav’ cleanser and rinse again.

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Your face will look better,skin tighter and the blackhead be gone (fingers crossed).

Do you have a mask or scrub you use that you’d like to share with me? I would LOVE to hear from you.

My beauty and lifestyle blog is a two sided relationship!

😍

PS

I like to keep all kinds of spices,sugars, flours and cormeal at my fingertips in my pantry for beauty.

Day 3 Gift Idea for HIM!

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Last year I bought my husband a variety of small herb plants and an ivy and placed them in plant pots.  He works on the computer hours at a time. He also likes to cook when he is in the mood. So, my ploy to get him in the kitchen worked for me all year.He not only made us some spa water with fresh rosemary and lemons. He also uses the basil with Italian dishes and pretends be talian. The plants have grown into these eco healthy plants that purify the air from bad things that get in our home and keeps him healthy from all that computer blue light and what rays our tech tools give off.

Bonus they are so beautiful to look at and aromatic too.

So, I highly recommmend if you have’t purchashed a gift for him yet…

Give him a few plants in a beautiful basket,wrap in a cookbook and a small kitchen utensil and spoon or whisk…

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You now have a thoughtful healthy and creative gift.

If he is a foodie even better. Remember it is truly the thought that count!

 

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A Supermodel’s Lemonade Recipe

 

In Florida we went from a mild winter, to  maybe 4 days of Spring and NOW summer and it isn’t not even summer! As a Northerner who moved to Florida for her southern husband I hate it. I know I should be grateful for palm trees and sunshine but the heat SUCKS!

Here is a recipe I found from InStyle magazine that I think is pretty cool in more ways than one.

I love this recipe!

1 cup of room-temperature water.

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon of Agave nectar

1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

Place all in a glass. Stir and enjoy!

And it makes you pee  lots because it is hydrating,cooling and eliminating!

The beauty of this recipe is it is Aussie super-model Elle Macpherson’s lemonade drink recipe and we know how fabulous her body is along with those LONG lovely legs.

No wonder she has been on the cover of Sports Illustrated five times! Drink up and refresh yourselves!

Lemon Love

I have always loved lemons just typing on the keyboard and posting this blog post makes my mouth pucker and water.

And I am always whipping up new recipes for beauty and healthy skin in my kitchen lab or in my bathroom. So, today was no different.I made some fresh lemonade for my husband and I started to really crave lemons. So, I made this lemon toner for face and body.

4 cups of distilled water

12 drops of lemon essential oil (I love the brand Aura Cacia)

1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar

Optional: I like to add a drop of lavender for another version of this.

After I mixed all of the above together I  poured it in a pretty spray bottle.

My skin loves this skin toner.

Today I smelled like lemons all day and I received many compliments on the way I smelled today. Citrus lifts your spirits too!

Home-made Beauty Tips

Celebrate your face and skin this summer with these natural beauty recipes!

I love to shop Whole Foods Market and the Farmers markets for the ingredients to make these D.I.Y. recipes.
All of my recipes are cheap,quick and easy to make. And unisex…your daughter or sweetie can get in on the touch of the spa action too.

Key Lime Pie Body Treatment
2 cups of plain Greek or regular yogurt (use less if you are making a smaller portion)
1 tablespoon of coconut oil
1 tablespoon of honey (Bee Friends Farm)
1 tablespoon of lime

Blend all of the above and pour into a plastic bowl. Sit at the edge of the tub and rub on your body.Leave this treatment on at least 15 minutes.Rinse well and enjoy the way your skin feels.
* I like to scoop any remains and recycle re-purpose and place in a jar and save for another day.Lasts nicely in the refrigerator for a week or more.

Skin Brightening Lemon Cups

Say Bye Bye to dry discolored skin with this skin treat.
Next time you prepare a meal with lemons or make lemonade save the leftover lemons and rub the inside of the lemons on your elbows.This treatment will gently exfoliate and help the discoloration most of us get on our elbows and knees.Rub the meaty part of inside of a lemon and go round and round motion on your elbows. It can also be done to your kneees.Rinse with luke warm water and a washcloth.Apply your favorite hand and or body lotion.

Bathe in Beauty

I love to to take a bath and surround myself with things that are pretty. Make your body happy with this awesome bath idea.
Sprinkle your fave bath salts or Epsom salts in warm bath water.Add a couple edible flowers. Pour yourself a glass of your favorite drink or fresh water in a plastic glass and enjoy eating an edible flower too. It is kinda FUN.Make it even more decadent and add a piece of decadent chocolate!

Be good to YOURSELF…if you don’t who will?

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I love to clean BUT…

I LOVE to clean. Really!

I find it kinda stress relieving! My favorite room to clean is the bathroom.What’s yours?

However, I don’t like the chemicals and the artificial man made scents. So here is a recipe a friend shared with me and I made it with my own twist and fell in love with it.

1 part water

1 part white vinegar

Add some lemon zest and citrus peels. I like a combination of orange and lemon peels.

Fill the above in a spray bottle and go to town cleaning.

The combination will be natural and the fresh citrus  will be refreshing!

As they say in that Disney movie…“Whistle while you work”. YOU’LL be whistling and smiling while you clean and your body and lungs will feel better too!