Pretty by Nature » relaxation

Natural Beauty Starts With Healthy Living

Michelle Smith — Fri, 29 May 2009 01:27:42 +0000

This afternoon, I went to the creek for an hour with my oldest daughter. While there I thought about what I might write this afternoon, I thought about what “natural beauty” means to me.

I write a lot about products and I do love products – love to try them, love to talk about them, and I really love to share them, but natural beauty actually starts before the products. It starts with eating a healthy diet, drinking plenty of water, getting exercise, and finding a way to relax, because stress and the effects of stress are not pretty on anybody.

The best way I know to relieve my stress is to spend some time at the park. I walk there and run there, but my favorite thing to do is to take a raft down to the water and just float on the creek.

I’m lucky, because I work at home, which gives me the flexibility to get away for a bit (but it also means I never truly get to leave the “office”). I live close to the park, so the whole trip can take about an hour, an hour and a half, and afterward I’m ready to get back to the business of the day.

Do you have a quick stress reliever that you’d like to share? What does natural beauty mean to you?

Image credit: Michelle Smith

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Tranquil Facial Steam

Aly Walansky — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 04:12:49 +0000

Last week, I was lucky enough to be invited by Sunkist to tour their groves and learn about the many beauty benefits of the lemon. Turns out there are tons that I never knew about, including a facial steam you can create using lemons that will relax your senses and steam away your troubles.

Sound too good to be true? Here’s what you do:

Ingredients

1 table or flat surface
1 large bowl
1 large bath towel
4 cups boiling water
1 sliced Sunkist® Lemon
1 handful of mint leaves

Directions

Place the large bowl on the table and add boiling water, Sunkist lemon slices, and mint leaves. Place the bath towel over your head and lower your face over the bowl. Breathe deeply for seven to ten minutes, allowing the aroma of the mint and lemon to calm your senses and remove impurities. This is also great home remedy for opening breathing passages during cold and flu season.

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Tuesdays Tips – The Ultimate Relaxing Bath

Teri Cosenzi — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 11:13:00 +0000

I have so many great natural beauty tips and recipes to share, that I decided to make this a weekly thing. Thus, I am announcing Tuesday’s Tips. Every Tuesday, I will bring you a new natural beauty tip or recipe.

The Ultimate Relaxing Bath

Who doesn’t love a great bath? And a relaxing bath at that. The best temperature for your relaxing bath should be 100 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the temperature that has been shown to relax and un-tighten the muscles. This is also the temperature at which your brain stimulates calming chemicals. And of course, adding natural essential oils, such as lavender or patchouli will aid in the relaxation process.

Before you get into the bath, gently exfoliate so your skin can more quickly reap the benefits of the calming essential oils. Make sure your turn the lights down low, and light a calming scented soy candle. Enjoy your relaxing bath, but don’t stay in the tub for more than 20 or 30 minutes, as you may just get too relaxed and drift off to sleep… which you do not want to do in the tub. After about 20 minutes, I like to get out of the tub, slather on some moisturizing lotion, slip into some comfy jammies and get right into bed.

Enjoy!

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