Lavender & Rose

 Im not sure if I have mentioned before that I used to work for LUSH. It was a great job, I love all of the products and it taught me a lot about natural ways maintain your skin and hair, while being environmentally conscious. One of my absolute favorite products they have is Angels on Bare Skin. It is a white clay based exfoliating but gentle cleanser, perfect for sensitive & combination skin like mine.  It is also pretty pricey, totally worth it, but still a bit of a splurge. I have actually struggled with acne my entire adolescent and adult life, it can get pretty bad, so I am always on the look out for gentle cleansers that soothe & heal but also help to fight the acne. I recently ran out of my AOBS so I mixed up this little face mask with similar ingredients to soothe some trouble spots I developed over the weekend. The lavender is a natural anti inflammatory, soothing the skin, the rose is a natural toner as well as an anti-inflammatory, the kaolin helps to cleanse and exfoliate with out drawing out the healthy oils you want to keep in your skin to have balance. 

Lavender, Rose & Kaolin Face Mask 

 

While I was stocking up Chelsea's wedding gift with bulk spices from Whole Foods, I grabbed a few of the ingredients needed for this mask, the dried lavender (since my lavender plant hasn't started blooming yet) and the kaolin clay (also called French white clay). Both were literally less than a dollar an ounce, so I got a small ziplock baggie of both. The rose is from my back yard! Now, Im not sure if this is really the best way to incorporate rose into a face mask but I was short on time and I thought chopping the petals would help to release those oils, when I couldn't make my own rose water. I also has some tea tree oil on hand which I mixed in as well, which is a great anti bacterial and cleanser. 

I just mixed a tablespoon of the clay with just enough filtered water to wet it, and mixed in the flowers and a very small amount of the tea tree, it can be potent, too much can irritate my skin. I let it sit for a minute and then applied it to my face. I made sure to apply it in circular motions so that the larger bits acted as a gentle exfoliator. 

 Anyone notice my old spider bite piercing scars? I took those bad boys out while I was in Uganda, before one of the kids got the chance to pull them out! 

After applying my mask, which was cooling and soothing, not one bit itchy, I drank this AMAZING juice from local Chicago juice company, Wide Grin. You could also easily make this yourself. 

Watermelon, Lime and Celtic Sea Salt Juice

I washed my face with warm water and a wash cloth, and it felt smooth to the touch, all of the trouble spots were still there of course, but calmed and a little less noticeable. The thing I was most surprised  by was how easily my make up went on, it seemed to lay a little better. 

 Ta Da! Fresh and Clean. 

All together the whole thing from beginning to end took about 30 minutes, during which I was able to water the plants, make the bed, make Julian breakfast and drink my yummy juice. Not bad, not bad at all! Try it! Let me know if it helps you too.

-K