kitchen – Life, Lipstick, & Glowing Skin

Merry 🎄Christmas, Happy Chanukah 🕎 and …

Whatever you celebrate I wish you a beautiful day and holiday season.

I’m back and have a chance to breathe and slow down. Wow! What a whirlwind it has been on my end. It’s truly called “holidaze” for a reason.

I loved helping my clients shop for the holidays and to treat themselves and shop for someone else. I love ❤️ serving them a glass of bubbly or champagne and serve them some healthy yummy bites like Brie and vegetables, nuts and fruit. A few sweets on the side can’t hurt.

I also love to make them laugh and put a smile 😊 on their face! One idea I love to do when entertaining is this…

Looking for a few good men?

My clients and friends are too.

I love serving them gingerbread men on a silver platter. I brand I love ❤️ and is so delicious is from the Stauffer Biscuit Company I found at the Dollar General store. But I ’m sure other stores carry them. I am picky about the taste of my gingerbread men and brand.

Only the best for my clients and friends!

On display I place a sign that reads “ Looking for a few good men” next to the silver platter of gingerbread cookies. They get such a kick out of it. Sometimes the simplest things are the best!

I also like to make my home smell amazing with a tease of the scent of gingerbread. Since I’m not baking gingerbread cookies from scratch the house does not smell like them but you can make an Aromatic Holiday Elixir in your home by simmering a pot of this.

What you will need for this fragrant DIY is:

A few drops of gingerbread essential oil

1 small orange sliced

2 cinnamon sticks

1 sprinkle of nutmeg

Add to a small saucepan filled with water. Place on low heat. Simmer away.

Your home 🏡 will smell awesome and feel cozy too!

Serve some hot cocoa and you’re all set. Marshmallows on top of course and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar.

I hope you enjoy these ideas! All the decorations, twinkling lights, eat yummy things and have fun 🤩 with friends and family. Life isn’t quite the same anymore but we have so much to be grateful for!

Oh those winter feet!

Tonight I felt like giving my winter feet 🦶 a sweet treat. You can do it too. This recipe is easy to make and quick to do.

I made a DIY pretty aromatic orange 🍊 scrub with these simple ingredients:

1/2 cup of white sugar

1/2 cup of sunflower 🌻 oil

5 drops of orange essential oil

You’ll love 🧡 this skin softening elixir.

Mix the sugar and the oil together in a bowl. Lastly add the essential oil. If you don’t have the actual orange essential oil… A squeeze of an orange 🍊 can work for scent sake.

But the essential oil is best.

Apply on the heels and soles of the feet. Rubbing between the toes and on the toe nail bed.

Leave on 10 minutes or more. Rinse well with a luke warm wash cloth.

Then add your favorite hand and body lotion or foot cream.

Enjoy softer and exfoliated feet. Your tired and winter skin will appreciate the 🧡 love!

Bat those lashes today!

Go ahead it is National Lash day.

Today we celebrate the beauty of lashes real and faux!

Don’t forget to condition those eyelashes of yours too. I like to use a natural D.I.Y. recipe (from your kitchen) women from the Mediterranean have shared with me. Simply wash your face,clean off ALL eye make-up and apply a sheer small coat of fresh olive oil with a Q-tip. I like to also do this by applying with a disposable mascara wand too. I use ONLY for this trick. No cross contamination with a disposable mascara want filled with mascara.

Leave on your natural lashes and either watch,TV, take a bubble bath or read a good book or a great magazine then go to sleep. DO NOT RINSE it off. It will gently hydrate those lashes while you sleep.

Foot 🦶 Facial at home!

I love helping my clients look and feel amazing! So, since a few of you have asked for another recipe for the feet… here goes!

Best of all it is a UNISEX treat!

All you have to do is put all these ingredients together and head to your bathroom or a cozy chair,the bathtub or an area you can get a little messy in until you rinse it away.

1/4 cup of oatmeal

1/4 cup of cornmeal

3 tablespoons of grape seed or sunflower 🌻 oil

2 tablespoons of Himalayan sea salt or brown sugar

Stir all of the above together. If it is too thick you can water it down with a few sprinkles of water 💦. Stir again.

Apply and rub mixture gently on clean feet. I like to go up to the ankles too. Pay attention to the heels as well.

Allow this DIY treat to set and be on the feet at least 15 minutes.

Rinse with lukewarm and wet towels or larger wash cloth.

The oatmeal softens, the oil gives you enough slip to move around the foot and lower part of the legs, corneal and salt exfoliate. Your feet and ankles will be nourished, hydrated and softer. It’s Self-Care Sunday!

Let’s try and make every day a self-care day. But if you can’t at least do one or two fabulous things for yourself on one day.

Sandal Weather…

Brings out the best and the worst of feet. Now in the midst of a pandemic some people are choosing to give their feet some TLC instead of going to the spa or nail salon.

A quick rescue I learned from one of my clients from Greece is made with olive oil. Yes, it’s good for making yummy dishes, dressings and salads in the kitchen but it also is wonderful for the skin.

Place some olive oil in a saucepan on the stove. Or you can microwave some I guess. Warm on low until you see it is warm NOT so hot it will splatter or burn you. Next, turn off the stove and let it cool a bit.

Dive in the sauce pan with a small spoon and drizzle some of the olive oil on your feet. Start to massage it in and on your skin all over your feet,toes and nail bed.

Rub and enjoy.

Next, I like to place my feet with the olive oil in some cozy socks. My absolute favorite is a pair of white cotton socks. One size larger.

I pour myself a cozy yummy drink and get under the covers and go to sleep.

Wake up with softer happy satiny feet.

Kiss 💋 that dry and tired skin goodbye! Guys love this too! And kids do too.

Yummy!

Yesterday I went grocery 🛒 shopping…we put it off and couldn’t wait any longer.

It it is a battleground out there for food and drink! I couldn’t find so many things and we paid a fortune for paper towels! $22.00 for six rolls 💴

I wanted coconut water 💦 but could not find any. So, I decided to make it at home. I was craving all things coconut, like a coconut granola mix, coconut 🥥 and açaí bowl and coconut water.

I also love the coconut chips from Trader Joe’s… they are delicious to snack on and remind me of my time spent in Hawaii.

I loved the quaint little stands in the roadside that sold them fresh and twisted from the

2 Teaspoons of Thai lite Coconut 🥥 Milk

22 oz. of bottled water (Not tap)

A healthy DIY and hydration ritual you’ll so enjoy!

Add ice to a pretty tall glass of it and maybe float a cherry 🍒 on top and enjoy!

red and yellow labeled cans — Photo by Polina Tankilevitch on Pexels.com

coconut filled with slice of fruits — Photo by Daria Shevtsova on Pexels.com

Smoothie Shots

I enjoy drinking and making smoothies for my family on Sundays and serving them to my clients too. I especially love 💗 to make them with fruit and ingredients that are good for the skin and energizing too.

Here is a pretty looking creamy and dreamy smoothie that is good for you, great for the skins elasticity and the ginger is an anti- inflammatory.

Guys YOU can enjoy drinking it too.

What you will need:

1 cup of bottled 💦water (not tap)

2 cubes of a Frozen dragon fruit

1/2 cup of blueberries

1 scoop of collagen powder

1 piece of ginger

*Ice cubes optional. I like to add at least one or two. But it is up to you.

Place all of the above in a blender and blend.

Pour, serve and savour every sip and enjoy in a beautiful glass.

FYI

You can serve this smoothie in shot glasses too! Not all shots need to be alcoholic. 😜 Your guests will get a kick out of these small shots too!

dragon fruit

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com