DIY Peppermint and Lavender Foot Scrub (plus more holiday gift ideas)

I remember my first pedicure dearly. Not because of the scrubbing and scraping that was happening on my feet, but because of that chair. Have you ever gone to get a pedicure just to sit in their massaging chair? No? Yeah, me neither...

While pedicure visits were never a regular thing for me (I like to do them at home), I did love to sit in that massage chair and watch as flakes of dried skin went flying all over the place. My sister had some really dry feet. We mostly went for the experience -- to just step away from life for a moment. But we left with so much more. We put on our little plastic flip flops and stepped out of the salon with smoother feet, a relaxed back, and a whole new outlook on life. (Well, at least the relaxed back part.)

Natural Foot Baths for Dry Skin, Aches, Detox, and More

I usually talk a lot in my posts. A lot. It's funny how much I "talk" in my posts because I'm not a big talker. I only talk when extremely passionate about something or just to make a sarcastic comment. Really. (My family might beg to differ.)

So, I figured I try out something a little different. On Sundays (not every one, but most, and hopefully in addition to my regular post), I'm going to share something simple. A natural remedy or an easy recipe. A kitchen tip or some other easy-to-explain food or health related idea. No long drawn out stories or explanations (no promises on that though...I may not be able to help it.)

So, let's get to it.

Gelatin: Its Many Benefits (with personal experience) and Ways to Consume

I went a little off track this past week. Most weeks I eat probably 100% real food. If you don't, no judgment. This just works for me. I also typically eat about 90-95% paleo. I don't really pay attention to an exact percentage, I just know I eat some non-paleo foods when I want them and it ends up being rare. So, as for going off track...unexpected stress combined with unpreparedness will do that. It happens. I drank one too many Starbucks lattes. I ate a Chick-fil-A chicken nugget and a fry. Yes, one. One of each. I stole them from a child. Don't worry, it wasn't a random child. And I don't even really like Chick-fil-A that much. I probably shouldn't say that out loud.

Plus, I ate chips with interesting ingredients, especially considering they were only "salt and pepper" chips. And last, I consumed MSG (monosodium glutamate) in several items (including the nugget which I didn't realize).

In case you didn't know, Chick-fil-A's nuggets are full of gluten, MSG, and all sorts of stuff that should not be in chicken nuggets. Check out The Domestic Man's recipe instead.

I made the choices to consume these foods I do not typically consume. I don't feel guilty. I don't believe in feeling guilty over food consumption, no matter what you eat. When it happens, I learn from it and move on. For me to feel my best, going that far off track is not a good idea. My skin broke out, my digestion suffered, and I felt very blah. Just blah. And then, there was my knee. I had a bad knee (maybe arthritis since it runs in the family) for as long as I can remember -- until I went paleo. With paleo there was no pain. This week it came back with a vengeance.

DIY Lavender Vanilla Sugar Scrub

Back in January, I showed you how to make a one-time-only exfoliating scrub. I started with that because my sister always says she doesn't have time to make any of the homemade products I recommend. Understandable. Truly, it is. The kitchen-to-tub body scrub (as I like to call it) is quick and easy and you can make it as needed. But making an exfoliating body scrub to store for future use, whether for yourself or to give away, is also nice (and quick).

Today, I'm going to tell you how to make a very simple Lavender Vanilla Sugar Scrub. Before you run off because you don't have lavender, just wait...you can make this scrub with just the simplest ingredients that you probably already have in your home. Using lavender is optional (but highly encouraged).

DIY Microdermabrasion with Baking Soda

While I'm working on the post for my chicken recipe, I figured I could share another quick DIY beauty recipe for you. This is another simple switch I made when I gave up store-bought products. But first, have you made ACV (apple cider vinegar) toner yet? If not...get on that. I'll wait.

I remember being at my sister's house and she was using one of those microdermabrasion kits -- you know the one that vibrates (that you use on your face). I actually used to own one myself. Since I had thrown out almost all of my beauty products (and I had an embarrassingly large amount of them), I'd been thinking about what to do about my acne scarring (none of those expensive products worked). My day to day acne was clearing up, but unfortunately after years of bad skin, it left it's mark behind. I knew that microdermabrasion was typically used to treat acne scarring (as well as wrinkles, discoloring, and sun damage). Usually this procedure is done by an esthetician or dermatologist with micro-fine abrasive crystals in order to remove the outer-most layer of dead skin cells. But it's not cheap. (Exfoliation is good for your skin even if you don't have acne scars.)

So, I started to research natural ways to do this at home.

The next day, I put baking soda on my face.

DIY Apple Cider Vinegar Facial Toner

Once you make the switch to real food, inevitably you will start looking at your beauty products and checking the ingredients as you do with your food. Maybe you won't/haven't gone a little crazy like me and start tossing everything. Then you stare at your pile of moisturizer, wrinkle cream, toothpaste, plus all those extra products you never use and obviously never really needed, and you realize you can't wash your face or brush your teeth.

Luckily some of these things (like this body scrub) can be easily made from products you might just have in your kitchen. (Or ones that you should have in your kitchen. Hint. Hint.)

Homemade Single-use Exfoliating Body Scrub

I'm still fighting off illness, so while I have a few recipes and other things to share, today I'm going to give you something simple. It involves sugar. But we aren't going to be eating it.

Many of you probably (maybe) already know about this...well, I'm sharing it anyway. Because I have a person in mind when writing this. As I brushed across her arm the other day, snow began to fall -- in the form of dry skin cells. Actually...it was probably my arm.

Yeah, it was my arm.

Winter is here and my skin has finally become aware of that. And it's time to scrub those skin cells away. (Doing this all year is best, but who thinks about this kind of stuff in the summer...) While making and storing a body scrub is nice, that is not what we are doing today.

Sorry no pics from the shower...