Quick Tip - Longer Lashes

Instead of forking over a ton of cash for pricey lash growth serums just head to your natural health store to pick up some 100% natural and pure Castor oil. Next time you use up a mascara keep the wand and rinse it off using natural soap or shampoo (you can also purchase disposable mascara wands). Dip your mascara wand into some Castor oil every night (and day if you want) and your lashes, or even your brows, will become longer in time and thicker.

Quick Tip Tuesday - Citrus Bath

Want luminous, refreshed, and vibrant skin? Next time you take a bath try adding some citrus to the water. You will need 2 to 3 ripe oranges and 2 lemons (although you can use one or the other if you prefer).

Fill your tub with warm water and squeeze the juice of the oranges and lemons into the water. You can then add the actual oranges and lemons to the water as well. Soak for at least 20 minutes and relax!

Your skin will absorb the Vitamin C that is found in the orange and lemon juices leaving your body looking luminous and rejuvenated! This soak is also great for those of us with pesky body acne. The juice of the oranges and/or lemons acts as an astringent as well as an exfoliant, and helps clear and soften the skin. Please be aware that citrus can cause your skin to be sensitive to the sun for an hour or two after exposure so wear sunscreen if you're going to be out during the day. Enjoy!

Honey, please!

For hundreds and hundreds of years, people have been using honey for many different purposes, including as a food source and medicinal purposes. Honey is one of natures sweetest gifts, no pun intended. Not only is it cheap and readily available, it's also really great for skin. It's gentle enough for all skin types, and perfect for adding into your beauty routine.

Honey is a natural antibacterial, so it's great for dabbing directly on pimples. It helps shrink and heal them, quickly. Just dab a little on at night and rinse off in the morning.

Honey also makes a great facial mask. I spread honey evenly all over my face and let sit for half and hour before rinsing off. It makes my skin glowy and gorgeous. And don't worry, it's not sticky like you would think it would be!

If you have acne prone skin that is far from sensitive, try taking two uncoated aspirin, melt them with a couple drops of warm water, and mix it with a little bit of honey. Aspirin is a form of salicylic acid, which is commonly found in many acne medications and cleansers. This mask is great for problem skin.

You can also use honey as a hair conditioning treatment. Rub a little honey into your hair, cover with a shower cap and let sit for half an hour. After thirty minutes rinse and shampoo. Voila. Super soft hair!

Everyone deserves a sweet beauty treat once in a while to make themselves look and feel better than ever. I hope these tips help you enjoy all the benefits of honey!

Color brightening tea rinse

Keeping on the tea trend from my last post, I want to talk about how tea can be used to brighten any shade of hair from red to blonde to brown. There is a type of tea that works for every shade.

Brunettes – Just brew two cups of strong black tea and use as a rinse for your hair after shampooing. Let it sit for 10 minutes. It will darken the hair a bit, so don't use this if you have very light brown that you want to keep light. Rinsing your hair with black tea will add shine and highlights to your beautiful brown locks.

Blondes (or light brown) – All you need to do is make a batch of chamomile tea. Just use 3 or 4 tea bags in about 2 cups of water. You need the tea for your hair to be a lot stronger than tea you would drink. Let it steep until strong. After shampooing wring the excess water out of your hair and saturate your hair with the chamomile tea. Allow the tea to sit for 10 minutes before rinsing. This will also lighten a bit and add shine. If you put chamomile in your hair before sitting out in the sun, it will add highlights.

Red heads – Lighter shades of red can use chamomile, but to bring out more red highlights you can use rooibos tea or hibiscus tea. Rooibos tea is a very lovely shade of red orange which is perfect for enhancing highlights for those with red hair. It also adds lovely shine. Just let the tea sit for 10 minutes after shampooing.

Tea can also improve the general health of hair and leave it in a much better condition. You can use a tea rinse once a week.

Lingering nail color? No problem!

I know I've posted a lot about the power of lemons in the past, and today's post is no stranger to the yellow citrus fruit that I love so much! In the Spring and Summer I never go bare – nail wise that is. I always have to have a bright, fun color on my toes and fingers. If you're like me, you may notice that sometimes bright, or even dark nail polishes can stain the surface of the nail and leave a not so pretty mess behind.

Well, lemons are the easy fix for stains. All you have to do is cut a lemon in half and stick your nails in it for 5 minutes. This trick will help brighten your nails instantly, leaving you with a stain free natural nail! Easy, huh? Now you can feel free to experiment with stubborn colors this upcoming season!

Oil, be gone!

Have you ever been out to dinner, running errands, shopping or at work and notice you're looking more like an oil slick than the chic glamourista you started the day out looking like? Forget caking on powder or blotting the shine with pricey oil absorbing sheets because I have an easier, cheaper solution for you. Just head towards any public restroom and grab a toilet seat cover. That material works exactly the same as mass marketed blotting sheets. Just dab the seat cover over your oily areas and voila! The matte look you love is back! Try it out – you'll love it! I promise!

Spots no more.

If you’ve been reading my blog since the beginning you know all about my adoration for honey and it’s magical healing properties. Honey is incredibly nourishing and beneficial for most skin types, especially oily or acne prone skin.

When you mix 2 tablespoons of honey and 1 teaspoon of wheat germ together you get a super face cleanser. Wheat germ in this case is used as an antiseptic and toner. This mask is amazing for those who have acne. Combine the two ingredients and get your face wet with warm water (warm water opens the pores). Just gently rub the mixture on your face with your fingers and leave on for 30 minutes. Rinse off with warm water and your skin will feel refreshed and clean.

If you don’t want to apply the mixture to your entire face, you can dab it directly onto blemishes following the same instructions as above.

Clean slate

Okay, today let's talk makeup removers. I can't even begin to stress how important removing your makeup at the end of the day is. So much harm can be done to your skin if makeup is left on before you go to sleep. Our skin regenerates during the night when our bodies are at rest so having clean moisturized skin is vital.

So many women use the excuse of being too tired or too exhausted to remove their makeup some nights, but no matter how tired you may be there is no excuse for not removing your makeup. Cleaning my face before bed time is a routine I never miss, and I do mean never. Okay, enough with the nagging now.

For the easiest, quickest way to remove your makeup just head to the kitchen and grab your handy bottle of olive oil. You can also use jojoba oil for this. Just massage your dry, made up face with a very thin layer of olive or jojoba oil before washing your face with your regular cleanser. It will get off all traces of foundation, eye makeup, and whatever else you may use. You can also put a few drops on a cotton pad or ball and use just to remove your eye makeup. Just wipe gently over your eyes until the makeup is all gone. Just remember to never tug or pull as the eye area is very sensitive.

Olive oil and jojoba oil are super gentle and nonirritating. They work for all skin types. They are also very affordable and easy to find!

What do you use to remove your makeup?

Quick tip - lemons are lovely!

Lemon is one of my very favorite tastes and smells in the entire world. I remember when I was younger I would put lemon in my hair and go lay in the sun for hours, attempting to lighten my hair. Now that I'm older, I know better than to damage my hair like that. I also know now how amazing lemon can be for my skin. The fruit enzymes in the lemon make it a VIP in the natural skincare arsenal.

I often take a lemon and cut in half, only to rub it all over my face (avoiding the delicate eye area, of course). The lemon helps to exfoliate and brighten my dull complexion. It leaves my skin looking amazing and rejuvenated. I absolutely love doing this. It's a wonderful treat for my skin.
Don't try this if you have sensitive skin though, it could be too harsh for you. Test out a small area first, to test your sensitivity level so that you know you don't have a huge adverse reaction to it. Only you know your skin!

It can also work on your body, if you have very dry elbows or knees.

You can also mix lemon and sugar together to create a scrub for your skin, but I prefer sticking to just lemon juice.

Try it out and let me know if you love lemons as much as I do!