Another Pumpkin Facial! Pumpkin Apple Enzyme Facial Mask and Olive Oil Hair Soak!

I work very long hours on the weekends. I have mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. Because of these long hours, I tend to eat poorly on the weekends. I do not drink enough water, I do not get enough sleep, and I have no time for pampering. It is no wonder that when I look at myself in the mirror every Monday morning thatmy reflection has me running to the kitchen to whip up a new recipe. This morning was no different.

Since my skin looked undernourished and depleted, I wanted something that would provide lots of moisture and skin food–nourishment for my poor face. I also knew that I needed to exfoliate. So, I began with a sugar and lemon juice exfoliating scrub, using the usual technique–two minutes massaging it onto my face, then 2 minutes or more sitting on my face. The AHA’s in the lemon juice and sugar work their magic, and the vitamin C boost from the lemon juice helps a lot, too.

While the sugar/lemon juice mixture was drying, I went to the kitchen and began to dump things into my food processor. I wanted a skin softener and those oat beta glucans called to me so I started with a handful of oatmeal. I then put in a few teaspoons of half and half, a couple of large dollops of pumpkin puree for the enzymes and vitamin A and C, a teapspoon of lemon juice, a couple of teaspoons of honey–the natural humectant to lock in moisture, and 1/2 of a small apple, skin and all. Oh yes, I also added a fresh egg white and some cinnamon.

I blended it until it was lumpily smooth, and there were no giant chunks of anything. I rinsed the sugar/lemon off of my face with warm water, then I applied the pumpkin apple mask and it was a nice, thick consistency, so it stayed on very well, with no drippy business. It smelled so good, and felt so good, that I planned to leave it on for a good 30 minutes.

Since I didn’t want to waste that time, not that I was but… I grabbed a bottle of extra virgin olive oil and used about 3 palmfuls to coat my hair completely. I have fine, shoulder length hair, so you may need more, or less. When the 30 minutes was up, I jumped into the shower and washed my hair gently, three times–until it did not feel oily any more. I did not condition beyond the olive oil. I then rinsed off the pumpkin apple enzyme facial mask, finished my shower, hopped out, and dried off.

What with the hair toweling, and the skin cream applying, and the getting dressed, I did not look into the mirror for several minutes, but when I did, I was amazed! I know that when I gave you the first recipe for the pumpkin facial mask that I said that the fine lines around my eyes had softened to a very noticeable extent. Well, this morning, the fine lines around my eyes, very apparent before the mask, had virtually vanished! I am not kidding–my skin looked plump and smooth and well fed. I was truly delighted. My bath tub was a giant mess, what with the oily residue, and the oats and stuff, but it was well worth it, ladies and gentlemen.

I have a good amount left over, so I plan to use this mask each morning, or every other morning, this week just to see if a shorter time on the face works the same magic. If you liked the Pure Pleasure Pumpkin Facial mask, I strongly urge you to try this oatmeal, pumpkin, apple wonder mask at your earliest convenience! It is truly awesome, and I do not use that word lightly. Put your best face forward with these seasonal, Fall ingredients! All of the vitamins, minerals, oat glucan’s, and alpha hydroxy acids will rock your world. Oh yea, my hair looks and feels great, too! Soft, shiny, and manageable!

Hello! I am The Natural Beauty Lady!

Do you think that this page theme makes my carbon footprint look big? It is a little busy, but I love flowers, and the other themes were quite dull. Speaking of dull, how is your skin looking today? If it’s not glowing and radiant, then you need to ask yourself, when was the last time that you exfoliated? Dry, dead skin needs to be removed, so that your inner beauty can shine through.

Winter, spring, summer, or fall. It doesn’t matter. For gorgeous, naturally glowing skin, you need to exfoliate at least twice a week. But what to use that is not chock full of chemicals? If you are using something like Philopsopy’s microdermabrasion peel, and paying $70 for the priveledge of doing so, then you are also treating your face to a whole bunch of various parabens and other nasties while you exfoliate. Yuck!

You can get the same exfoliating benefits of Philosophy’s product, and that wonderful vitamin C by going to your kitchen and grabbing a lemon and some sugar–brown, raw, white. It doesn’t matter what type, however if you want to be organic about it, then use raw sugar and an organic lemon. Slice the lemon in half and squeeze one half into a cup of some sort. Add enough sugar to make a very grainy mixture.

Apply this to your face, and massage using your fingertips, for two minutes. Then just let it sit on your face for another two minutes. At the end of those two minutes, transfer some of the grainy goo from your face to your lips and doing a little exfoliating there, too. Rinse with warm water, and your skin will be smooth as a baby’s bottom!

Both lemon juice and sugar contain alpha hydroxy acids, those very acids used in drug store and department store exfoliants. They are called chemical exfoliants. The sugar granules are also mechanical exfoliants, meaning that they remove dead skin cells simply with the friction caused on the skin, just like those vitamin C granules in the Philosophy product. And, you guessed it, lemon juice is loaded with fresh vitamin C!

So, there you have it! Your own, homemade, vitamin C filled, mini exfoliating peel, for the cost of about $2, or less. Since vitamin C is a very unstable vitamin, mix this little natural beauty up fresh each time that you use it. If you have any leftover, use it on your hands. It feels wonderful, and if you’ve never exfoliated your hands, you will be amazed at the smoothness afterwards!

This completes my first post about natural beauty on my brand new blog. I hope that I haven’t left a sour taste in your mouth 😉 As time goes by, I will tell you a bit about myself, and my lifestyle, as well as explaining why you should toss your commercial make-up and skin care products in favor of a more natural, budget friendly alternatives. Relax. It’s going to be fun, and fairly painless!