Celtic Naturals » dryness

Spa Night: Sharing and Caring

admin — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 13:21:04 +0000

Winter has arrived in all it’s glory in the North East and Midwest: snow, low humidity homes and offices, cold winds. During the holiday season, strong skin can become a challenge. Not only is the weather a problem, but holiday eating and tight schedules can stress out an otherwise healthy complexion. This year, why not combine an activity that is sure to help your skin and ease your schedule?

Gather the girls for an in-home facial party. Celtic Naturals provides themed, customized products tailored to your skin, teaches you the steps and gives you the recipes. After an evening of camaraderie, you leave feeling refreshed and sporting glowing complexions.

Care

This spa workshop empowers you to remove the synthetics and preservatives from your skincare. While sharing your time, you’re caring for each other, and your surrounding environment. By removing synthetics and preservatives from your skin care products, you are providing the healthiest ingredients for your skin. Not only are you helping yourself and your friends, you are helping the environment as well. Where do those chemicals go when you wash them off your body? Down the drain.

Celtic Naturals is committed to helping you reduce the chemicals that are washed down the drain. That’s why we are helping the environment one shower at a time.

Show them you care.

Please contact Angela to schedule your party.

Suggested Themes, Winter 2010-2011

Peppermint Twist

Silk and Honey

Winter Ginger

Comments or questions are welcome.

*(denotes required field)

Name: *

E-Mail Address: *

E-Mail Address again: *

Please enter your E-mail Address a second time.

Subject: *

Message: *

CAPTCHA Code: *

Powered by Fast Secure Contact Form

Sun Soother Sugar Polish

admin — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 17:28:05 +0000

Late in the season, the effects of repeated sun exposure sneaks up on even the most sunblock-conscious individual. Whether your time in the sun is due to exercising, babysitting at the pool, sunbathing, or gardening, your skin is susceptible to drying out and peeling. Maintain a young and healthy glow to your skin using an all natural sugar polish.

Complementing Celtic Naturals’ Sun Soother Line is our new lemon-lavender scented sugar polish. Take about one tablespoon of this wonderfully healthy scrub with sugar, olive oil, vitamin E and essential oils of lemon and lavender with you into the shower. (I use a shot glass.) After washing with your Sun Soother soap, take a finger full of the Sugar Polish and rub lightly on arms and legs. Use a slight circular motion to rub fully into skin. The sugar lightly exfoliates while the oils moisturize and nourish the newly exposed skin. Rinse in the shower and pat dry with your towel.

Enjoy.

Last Minute Pampering

admin — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:50:56 +0000

Yesterday I woke up at my father-in-law’s with a mild concussion, a swollen nose, slightly dark eyes and the realization that it was my wedding anniversary. We came to visit my father-in-law this week because it coincided with the Utica Boilermaker, a 15k road race. While packing, I prepared for the race, not an anniversary dinner (oops.) Poor planning in addition to a blow to the face / nose the day before meant that I was ill-prepared for a nice evening with my husband. Here’s what I did to get ready, without synthetics, much money or time.

In classic movie scene style, I dumped the makeup bag I had with me on the counter to survey its contents. A brown eyeliner, a pink blush, mascara, lip balm and a burgundy mineral eye shadow I might wear at Christmas. Absolutely nothing else, not even earrings. Certainly not enough to hide the oncoming bruising or put me into a romantic frame of mind!

Local Shopping: A quick walk to the drugstore with our toddler in tow resulted in some budget friendly upgrades. Finger nail polish remover, a clear polish and a white pen for a French manicure, some random brand of mineral based eye shadow called Mermaid’s Tail (light blue and highlighting pink) and a blue eyeliner called denim. Total cost: $25. Despite my toddler’s best efforts, I did not buy neon orange, yellow or iridescent green finger nail polish!

However, at the toddler’s insistence, we walked through a child’s clothing boutique, where I scored a pair of earrings that matched my intended top for $2 made by the boutique owner’s daughter. (She was so excited to sell a pair of earrings, I heard her whisper to her mom about the sale as we left.) Awesome deal on local art by youthful artists.

Local Haircuts: On a our walk home, we stopped past a Hair Salon. The wonderful lady accommodated us, letting my son play nearby while she gave me a great cut. My father in law lives in small town America, so my cut only cost $13. I was so surprised, I had to tip well! In fact, they don’t accept credit cards, so I had to run home and get cash to pay her.

Homemade Facial: Once at home, I raided the kitchen of a widower to create a quick facial for myself. Luckily, there was baking soda, lemons, olive oil and sugar. I started by washing my face, then created a facial steam by placing a wet facecloth in the microwave for two minutes. I followed the steam with a baking soda paste scrub, which always helps clean out my pours. I usually make a more complete paste that is more effective, but I was time and ingredient limited today. I followed the scrub with a light application of olive oil and water, simply mixed in the palm of my hand. After this, my skin looked healthy, and ready for the makeup later.

Sweet Hands: Naturally, I started with removing the chipped fingernail polish. A quick round of the emery board shaped my tips and then I was ready for the smoothing scrub. If you have ever attended any of our facials evenings, you will remember the lemon and sugar scrub that leaves fingers and palms refreshed and smooth. A palm full of sugar and a few drops of lemon juice from the lemon coupled with vigorous rubbing creates a glaze that softens and refreshes callouses and skin. With smooth hands and shaped nails, my fingernails were ready for the self-applied French Manicure.

Sugar Scrub: It probably wasn’t necessary, but *was* my anniversary, so I created a quick sugar scrub with just olive oil and sugar, approximately 1 Tablespoon of olive oil and 1/4 cup sugar. Into the shower for some pampering and relaxing. Besides, shouldn’t sweet, smooth hands be attached to recently exfoliated arms? Aaah.

Make Up: I am by no means a make up artist, but years of staring at the same face in the mirror has at least led me to be able to put make up on my face acceptably. For real hints and tips, visit Make You Special. However, this is what worked for me today in light of what I had available for my now very short blonde hair, blue eyes.

Eyes: The light pink from the Mermaid Tail mineral eyeshadow lightened my undereyes considerably. Not typically what I would do, but I had no base or foundation, and I was still fighting some light bruising. It also became the base for my eyes. I used the blue from this package as the base on the lids as well. I intended to use the Denim colored eye liner, but it turned out to be some electric blue shade reminiscent of the 80s, so I instead used it as a base, to cover some of the red still around my eyes, then went over the top with the brown eyeliner. The result was surprisingly acceptable. Follow that up with mascara, I was pretty happy.

Cheeks: I seldom use a straight pink blush because my coloring doesn’t lend itself well without blending in an apricot to make it look natural. However today, this pink helped lighten the effects of the bruising. A light dusting over the bridge of my nose and under my eyes was surprisingly effective. As a result, I think the pink on my cheeks worked out better than usual. Granted, this was not a heavily made up look, but I was happy to look pretty and unbruised!

Lips: The wonderful fact of mineral makeup is that it is so versatile. I could hardly go to my anniversary dinner with lips unadorned! So I used a combination of the Christmas burgundy, the blush and the pink from the eyeshadow for highlights over the top of the lip balm. I was happy.

Overcoming a series of challenges, I now felt relaxed, pretty and prepared for a wonderful dinner alone with my husband, a luxury we seldom get to enjoy.

Humidity and Your Skin

admin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:44:09 +0000

Do you have a hygrometer in your home to measure humidity? You can get an easy digital one that reports temperature and humidity. More expensive versions report the pressure and predict weather patterns. More importantly, why do you want one and how does it relate to skin care?

I know that the weather turns cold and dry in various parts of the world because my phone starts ringing and my inbox becomes flooded. People confide to me that each winter, their skin dries out. No amount of lotion seems to do the trick. What can they do?

Here are some fantastic, all natural tips to help you deal with the current weather situation facing most people in the United States right now.

1. Problem: Low humidity in the home. Our home recently registered 20% humidity. Although the hygrometer runs regularly, I didn’t pay attention until my cuticles started taking a beating. Solution: Install a humidifier, at minimum use a room humidifier for the nights. Recommended humidity in the home should be around 40-60%. This level of humidity allows the skin to hydrate and does not dry out those precious mucous membranes that protect you from viruses. It also also not so high that it promotes fungal or bacterial growth. If you only experience periodic dips in humidity in your home, consider trying these cost-effective options:

Strategically place water near your heater vents (assuming you don’t have a dog: I never had luck with this method when my golden retriever was alive.)
Keep a battery of house plants.
Leave an inch of water in the bathtub.

2. Problem: Dry skin after showering. Solution: Examine your soap as well as your shampoo. Always use an all-natural soap that has not been purged of glycerin, as most commercial products have been. Not only is this good for the environment, but it’s a great step for your skin! It is extremely difficult to find an all-natural shampoo that works for all hair types and lengths. If you have not yet delved into the “No ‘poo” world (nor ever intend to do so), at minimum re-examine your shampoo. Make certain it is not the drying agent in your skin care. For extreme skin sensitivities, wash your hair in the sink and avoid skin contact with the shampoo.

3. Problem: Biting dry wind. Outdoors activities, including commutes expose our skin to dessicating winds. Solution: Cover up, not only with clothing but with all natural protective lotions. The absolute cheapest option is to “oil up” with olive oil, but olive oil is best when used on the body and not the face. Choose a heavier-than-normal lotion for exposed areas, such as face and hands, and keep the lip balms handy. We recommend Re-Cycle Mint Lip Balm for such occasions. Check back soon for the commercial introduction of our lotions. In the meantime, some few lucky individuals are testing them here in Central Ohio. At 20% humidity, I hope they feel protected!

4. Problem: Dry skin, dry lips. Solution: Drink more hydrating liquids. Primarily, this means water. Sorry coffee lovers, but until your skin becomes balanced and hydrated, now is the time to avoid all diuretics. Skip the coffee, skip the soda. It’s time to drink herbal tea and water.