You're The Bomb!: Homemade Bath Bombs.

Bath Bombs. One of the most amazing experiences to recharge and renew the mind and body. Bath bombs can be simple to the creative and extraordinary. These simple yet luxe little bombs can give you the perfect spa night and can also make a great gift for any holiday. Bath bombs can cost anywhere up to $8 a bomb and I will show you how to make one bomb for under a quarter!

You will need: 

• Baking Soda
• Your Favorite Fragrance or Essential Oil 
• Citric Acid - available online or any location that they sell beer-brewing supplies
• Food Coloring of your choice
• Epsom or Sea Salt
• A mold: Ice Tray, Cupcake tins, any mold you wish

How to Make:

1. Blend two parts baking soda with one part citric acid. Blend well so that the mixture is not grainy.
2. Once blended, add the coloring and the essential oils..(a little goes a long way)
3. Using a spray bottle, spray witch hazel into the mixture while stirring. Make sure your mixture does not become too wet for it will activate the bomb.
4. When the mixture becomes congruent, press into the mold. The tighter you pack it, the better your bomb will be.
5. After a few minutes, tap the bomb out of the mold and let air dry for two hours.
6. Pop into your bath if you would like or wrap in a cello bag and ribbon to gift!

Lala xoxo

So Berry White! : Natural At-Home Tooth Whitener.

The star of this show is the strawberry. Did you know that strawberries are one of nature's natural brighteners? Strawberries contain malic acid. Malic acid assists in lifting surface stains from the tooth enamel. Here is a simple recipe that you can use once a week to lighten and brighten your pearly whites!

1 ripe strawberry
1/2 tsp. baking soda

• In a glass, mash the strawberry and the baking soda together into a paste. 
• Apply the mixture to your teeth with a toothbrush. Leave on for 5 minutes.
• Rince and brush your teeth with your favorite toothpaste. 

Lala xoxo

En Line: Fool Proof Fashion Forward Liquid Liner.

This Holiday Season, the look is all drama and definition. One of the stars of the show is liquid liner in a big way. If you look at high impact liquid liner as intimidating but always wanted to rock it, here is a foolproof application technique to wear this look with ease and style. 

1. Apply an eyeshadow base and eyeshadow in a light cream color all over. 

2. Stencil out your liner with a black waterproof eyeliner. Fill entire upper eye lid from lash to crease with the black eyeliner. Then, draw out the line into a cat eye, angular shape. (Using the pencil to create the shape gives you more control and makes it error proof. The liquid liner is too hard to control at most times.)

3. Take liquid liner and use the liquid liner as a top coat to add definition and shine. 

Lala xoxo

Oats My Gosh!: Three Homemade Oatmeal Masks.

As Fall weather kicks in, our skin looses radiance and moisture. Oatmeal is a natural soother, contains moisturizing properties and is known to give skin a supple appearance while healing dry skin. 

Here is the basic recipe for a great oatmeal mask and two spin off oatmeal masks that are hand catered to specific skin types and concerns. 

Basic Oatmeal Mask.

You will need..

3/4 cup Dry Oatmeal (If you have a food processor, grind the oatmeal. If not, it is not necessary.)

1/3 cup Warm Water 

Mix the ingredients into a paste. Apply on slightly damp skin, leaving on until the mask dries. Remove with warm water. 

Agave Nectar, Lemon & Oatmeal Exfoliating Mask - Normal to Combination Skin. 

You will need..

3 tbsp. Agave Nectar 

2 tbsp. Oatmeal (If you have a food processor, grind the oatmeal. If not, it is not necessary.)

1 tbsp. Lemon Juice 

The agave nectar is a natural humectant, drawing moisture to the skin while the lemon juice is a natural exfoliant. 

Mix the ingredients into a paste. Apply on slightly damp skin, leaving on for 30 minutes. Remove with warm water. 

Strawberry, Apple, Agave Nectar & Oatmeal Clarifying Mask.

You will need..

1/4 cup Oatmeal

1/2 Apple

1/2 cup Strawberries

2 tbsp. Agave Nectar

Apple contains Malic Acid, a natural exfoliator that is gentle and ideal for breakout prone skin. Strawberries contain Salicylic Acid, a natural pore detoxifier and skin clearing ingredient. 

Blend together in food processor or blender. Mix the ingredients into a paste. Apply on slightly damp skin, leaving on for 30 minutes. Remove with warm water. 

Lala xoxo

Long Lashes: At Home Lash Growth Treatment.

The trend in pharmaceutical  cosmetic treatments is lash growth treatments and serums. While these serums do increase lash growth using the key ingredient Bimatoprost. Bimatoprost is a fatty acid that helps to bind prostaglandin receptors that are responsible for growth, strength and stimulation in the hair follicle. Incredibly active and efficient, it also comes with a price tag and even some possible side effects of discoloration of the eye.

As a Do-It-Yourself girl, I get asked often if there is an alternative and you will be amazed at how simply you can stimulate lash growth at home.

A night time routine utilizes Green Tea and Olive Oil.  Green Tea is rich in flavonoids which support healthy lash growth. Olive Oil is rich in omega fatty acids which help to strengthen and condition.

After washing your face at night, saturate unsweetened chilled Green Tea on a cotton ball and apply to lashes and lid. Do not rinse, allow the Green Tea to be used as an eye serum. Apply Olive Oil on lashes and around eye area. This routine is best when used each night continuously as your night time routine.

Enjoy!
Lala xoxo

Make Your Eyes Pop!

Does the thought of applying eyeshadow leave you baffled? Where does that go? What brush makes it do that? What color is right for me? ..I know, I know..it is the number one thing that intimidates women around the world. Here is a simple highlighting technique that fakes out the look of multiple shades of shadows in a simple natural and eye opening finish that only requires one light shimmer shadow.

1. Apply light shimmering shadow to the inner corners of your eyes. 

2. Apply shimmer to the lower lash line, concentrating on the outer corner. 

3. Apply shimmer shadow along the brow bone. 

4. Finish with mascara. 

Lala xoxo

Glow On! : How To Sunless Tan.

Summer. Glowing skin, radiant complexions, healthy tones...all of these things come with the season. As we transition out of the Summer and into the Fall our skin cell turnover changes speed and the lack of exposure to the outdoors we loose that lustre. There is no need to lose that healthy glow that you acquired this summer with the help of sunless tanners and gradual tanners. Here is a guide on what they are and how to use them.

Have you ever asked yourself, how does a sunless tanner work? Sunless tanning products contain dihydroxyacetone..but let's just call it DHA. DHA is a colorless sugar that interacts with the dead skin cells located above the top layer of skin cells and creates a protein chemical reaction that changes the color of the dead skin cells. On the market, you have a choice of how tan you would like to be ranging from just a sheer glow to a dark tan. That is all based upon how much DHA is in the product. DHA is also the ingredient that gives sunless tanners the oh so lovely stench that they are famous for. Recently cosmetic chemists have found a way to encapsulate the DHA in a fragrance molecule, lessening the scent of the DHA and making it more pleasant. Also, most sunless tanners no longer turn the skin orange as they have also put a color correcting pigment in their formulations, leading to a perfect bronze.  At any given time, each person has up to 40 layers of dead skin cells on their epidermis. As the top layer of dead skin cells exfoliate and slough off, so does the look of the sunless tanner.

So now that you know how a sunless tanner works, let's talk about the options to apply and what is best for you and how to use them.

Gradual Tan: This is great if you just want to maintain a healthy glow and a great option for those that do not want to sport a tan in the fall but want to have a little lustre to their skin. You would apply gradual tanner as your daily moisturizer. Gradual tanner has the lowest amount of DHA in it so it is more flexible.

Spray Tan: A personal Favorite of mine..because I want faster results and am pretty lazy about it. For a successful spray tan, simply shower and exfoliate. It is recommended with this method to exfoliate and shave so that the spray evenly adheres to the freshest layer of dead skin for even application. Moisturize and let the moisturizer set on your skin for about 15 minutes. Cover your hair in a shower cap and spray skin. Spray behind your back, your sides and do not rub in. That is the benefit of this application as you do not need to rub it in and you can get the hard to reach places. Let it dry for 5-10 minutes and then you can go about your business.

Mousse and Lotions: You will still want to cleanse and exfoliate your skin however most formulations do not require you moisturize but have built in moisturizers into the formula. A best practice is to apply your sunless tanner with a sunless tanning glove/mitt for even application. You would apply your sunless tanner to your glove/mitt (or you can use your bare hands as well, just ensure you are keeping your hand closed in a cup formation so that your fingers do not create streaking), then rub in the sunless tanner starting with the largest part of your body and blending it out to the smaller parts of your body. Example, start with your thigh, then move to your calf and ankle, then with the left over product on your mitt lightly brush over your knee cap. Knees and elbows should be saved for last and applied with leftover product residue from the hand since there are more layers of dead skin and those areas tend to grab darker.  Wash your hands, let your body dry for 10-15 minutes and then you can go about your business.

A final tip as well is to sunless tan before you go to bed so that your sunless tanner can develop generally undisturbed. DHA takes between 6-8 hours to develop completely with the protein in your dead skin cells. Avoid contact with water and solutions before that time period. In the morning, you can rinse off the sunless tanner and enjoy your sunless glow for about 3-5 days.

Glow on!
Lala xoxo