If you have read the first excerpt of my book on this site you know that I am rather fond of spa days. The weather has recently turned cold and my skin needs extra nourishment. So I decided to have fun with the herbs I dried from my summer bounty and create some facial delicacies for the winter months. I found a few easy food based recipes on the internet that I would like to share in case you want to bring this self honoring ritual into your life during the cold months that quietly try to seduce us into slowing down and deeply nourishing ourself. Following is the line up of my recent spa day with friends. You can use different combinations on a daily basis.
We started with cleansing our skin with Thyme Fennel Cleanser
2 sprigs fresh thyme, crumbled, or 1/2 TBS dried
2 tps fennel seeds, crushed 1/2 cup boiling water
juice of 1/2 lemon
Mix the thyme and fennel seed in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Add lemon juice and steep for 15 minutes. Strain. Apply with a cotton ball.
After cleansing we applied Ambrosia Honey Almond Scrub
4 TBS almond meal
2 TBS almond oil
4 TBS raw honey
5 drops peppermint essential oil
Just stir well. Apply about a tsp amount onto the face. Mix with a little water while you gently massage your skin. (Don’t add water to the jar of almond scrub) Be very gentle and don’t scrub the soft under eye skin. Remove with a warm washcloth.
We then moved onto the Avocado, Carrot, Cream Mask
I am doing this mask regularly through the colder months.
1 avocado
1 cooked carrot
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 egg
3 TBS honey
Place in a food processor and whip the ingredients into a nice smooth paste.
Spread this on you face and neck and hang out having a cup of tea. After about 15-20 minutes we removed this with a warm washcloth and applied:
Ambrosia Kelp Firming Mask
3 TBS plain yogurt
1 tsp organic kelp powder
1 tsp honey
Mix well and apply to your face and neck. Massage you skin lightly. Hang out some more, maybe have a snack, or exfoliate your hands with a blend on strawberries, almond oil and course salt. I used strawberries I froze from my garden.
After we removed the kelp mask with a warm washcloth we spritzed out face and necks with a toner I made by making a strong infusion of dried spearmint from the garden and spring water. I added a little apple cider vinegar. It’s very refreshing.
We then smeared an herbal moisturizer I made with an oil infusion of several herbs I gathered either from my garden or in the wild and dried, such as calendula, chamomile, rose buds, chickweed, nettle leaf, comfrey leaf, lavender, and lemon verbena.
It is a deliciously nourishing time to spend together, especially combined with a nice seasonal meal. I refrigerate these concoctions and use them throughout the colder months. If you make small batches they are alive and fresh and it makes a difference in how your skin responds to the nourishment. They are so easy you can just keep making them, applying them, and enjoying them. Not to mention the money you save from not having to buy expensive beauty products. Enjoy!!!
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