Wonderful Winter Skin

Winter is coming. Is your skin ready?

 Chances are it's not. Once the season changes and the air gets colder we really need to amp up our skin care regimens.

One of the most important things to do this Winter for your skin is to stay hydrated. This is the time of year that people drink less water leaving their skin thirsty and dry. We also have a way of over doing it with sweets and treats not to mention the booze. These holiday extras can leave our skin feeling less than wonderful. 

Need some motivation? Hot water with lemon is my go to cold weather tool. Not only does it keep me hydrated it helps to flush my body of excess water that adds on holiday bloat. So soak up some water, your skin will thank you.

Find a creamy cleanser. The cold air strips our skin of its natural moisture. A thicker creamier cleanser will coat your skin sealing moisture in.

Can't find a creamy cleanser you love? Get a cleanser packed with Vitamin C & AHA's. It brightens naturally and is great for an all over winter glow. My personal favorite is the Arbonne RE 9 daily cleanser.

Grab a facial oil. Remember what I said about sealing in moisture? This is the same idea behind a facial oil. Highly hydrating, deep penetrating bliss. Need a suggestion? 

Arbonne facial oil from the Arbonne Intelligence line. Personal favorite in and outside of the studio.

Invest in a probiotic.

Your gut and your skin are closely related. Because your skin is your largest organ it can be temperamental and reactive to your diet. It's the season of merriment and fun and it's also the season of people being lazy bones so we are a little extra relaxed when it comes to watching what we are eating and burning it off. No movement and a poor diet can lead to sluggish bowels and that can lead to breakouts, lots of them. Eating clean and moving will help. Adding on a probiotic is great tool for every season skin care. Arbonne Digestion Plus is my go to.

Pump the breaks on over exfoliating. I see a lot of over processed skin these days. Everyone is trying out a DIY treatment or two or four they have seen on the internet. What does that lead to? Over processed not happy skin. 

While it's fun to try out these yogurt honey pepper peels or what ever you are seeing online please leave the heavy stuff to the pros. Scrubbing your skin with an apricot scrub 7 days a week is doing way more harm than good trust me.

Don't forget  your smooch! Lips take a beating this time of year. Cold air ...chapped lips. Here is a DIY I can get behind.

1 teaspoon of coconut oil

1/4  teaspoon table sugar

2-3 couple of drops of vitamin e 

2-6  couple of drops of your favorite essential oil or oils to make a blend  

mix in a bowl rub on your lips 

rinse and pat dry repeat twice a week

You can store this mixture in a tupperware and even make a big batch and give out as gifts in cute jars.

Invest in proper professional treatment and quality skin care. Give your skin the gift of reinvention by booking a treatment with your local skin therapist and buying good products. I always say your skin is one of your most important investments. You are going to be looking at your face for the rest of your life as so is everyone else so take care of it. www.absoluteblissskinspastudio.com

Shop this post at http://michellecastro.arbonne.com

A Return To Autumn

My all time favorite season is Autumn. I love when the days get shorter and the nights get cooler. I can often be found snuggled up in bed ready for an early nights sleep as the evening approaches. One thing I dislike about Autumn is the inevitable slow down that my body has as it arrives. Once I start seeing pumpkins arriving in the markets I know it's bulk up season. Which, isn't going to work for me. How am I planning on maintaining myself for these next few cold months.

Here are some of my plans

- Cut back on carbs. This is a tough one because in all honesty I'm a carbophile. But smart swaps can help. Zoodles instead of pasta. Butter lettuce leaves instead of bread for burgers and sandwiches.

- Go meatless one - two nights a week. I love my slow cooker this time of year but I plan on opting in for a few meatless salads and veggie heavy meals this season.

- More greens less fruit for my smoothies.

- Hot lemon water... Mix in a little bit of almond milk, cinnamon and skip those PSL's 

- Move my butt! The time to recommit to myself is now. Pump up the cardio, get a few more miles in as possible a week, challenge myself.

- Eggs they are eggcellent. I love making a frittata loaded with veggies on Sunday evening this gives me an easy lunch option during the week.

- Green juice. Mix a batch in the morning and stay sipping all day. Favorites to add

Sweet greens

Ginger 

Cucumber

Peppers

Lemon

Paprika 

That right there is a recipe for sweet success.

The Return Of Mermaid Life

It has been months since I felt ok enough with my conscious to soak in a bath. California is having a pretty serious drought. I have been working out a whole lot lately and my poor quads were seriously not happy with me.  Since it had been so long I allowed myself the indulgence and whipped up some extra fantastic ingredients to make sure my bath was as therapeutic and indulgent as possible.

So what was in the brew this go round? Well let me tell you.

3 tablespoons of chamomile flowers dried
1 cup of epsom salts
a squeeze of local honey, a kukoi body oil
1/2 cup of milk
2 tablespoons of dried passion flower
a few sprinkles of lavender essential oil

Not only was this bath aromatic and soothing to my achy muscles my skin was smooth and felt fantastic the next day. Oh and in the tea cup, chamomile tea. It was a long day.

Purple Potion

I have been on a serious smoothie kick lately. I really don't know what the heck took me so long to get with it, but here I am having a serious love affair with my Blend-Tec  and the produce section of my local market. This morning I was in need of something. I needed it to be quick of course and full of color since I love to start the day off bright. I whipped up this fantastic tasting smoothie.

Purple Potion Smoothie

1/2  cup of frozen berry mix
1/2 cup of coconut milk
1 scoop of vanilla protein powder
1 tablespoon of oats
1 tablespoon of dried blueberries
1 tablespoon of almond halves
3 prunes

I love the super full feeling I had after drinking this smoothie and bonus the dried berries and prunes had me matching my manicure ... so fab!

Pomegranate Luv!

A couple of weeks back I popped into a local farmers market and picked up a fresh pomegranate. I love the fresh tangy  taste and delicious crunch when you bite down on this powerful fruit. What's crazy fabulous about pomegranates are they are great for your body and your skin. Pomegranates are the most powerful anti-oxidants of all fruit, providing you with anti cancer and immunity support effects. Pomegranates are also great a lowering blood pressure, and cholesterol.

Pomegranates are also ideal  for fresh clear skin. Feel a little dry? Don't skimp on the Pomegranate juice, it helps keep you hydrated and will recharge and replenish your dull dry skin. Pomegranate also helps to stimulate collagen production, battling wrinkles and saggy skin as we age.

Having a break out? Pomegranate is great to decrease inflammation and battle the redness that pops up on your skin near that wretched pimple.

Adding pomegranates into your diet or to your skin care regime will defiantly boost your shine. so go ahead and give it a whirl.

Here are two quick and easy ways to make it happen, like now!


Pomegranate juice is great to tone your skin with after you wash it.

Antioxidant Rich Smoothie 
Serves: 2 Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:
4 cups organic baby spinach
1 cup pomegranate juice
1 cup blueberries, frozen
1 cup strawberries, frozen 
2 tablespoons flax seeds, ground
2 tablespoons of coconut oil 

Blissful Beauty Elixir

I pretty much stopped drinking coffee about 6 months ago. I was noticing that coffee really was not doing anything for me or my energy level. I was still feeling tired and come 3 pm I would have a major coffee crash. My skin was also feeling tired, dry and lacking all sorts of luster. I made a change for the better with my beauty elixir.

1 hot cup of water

1 slice of lemon 

few sprinkles of cinnamon 

few sprinkles of tumeric

a few sprinkles of grated ginger

Not only does this elixir taste way great its also good for you. Many people sip hot water and lemon each morning to jump start their bodies natural cleaning properties. Hot water with lemon is also very helpful to:

balance out pH levels
help with digestion issues
hydrate our lymph systems
give our immune systems a boost
clear up your skin


I have added herbs and roots to this morning ritual not only does it make it even tastier but there are tons of health benefits too:

Cinnamon is a great herb to help with arthritis relief, acts as an anti inflammatory and anti bacterial agent as well as regulates blood sugar.

Tumeric is helpful in fat metabolism and can help with weight management. Tumeric is also a natural detoxifier for your liver. Tumeric is also a  very powerful anti inflammatory herb.

Ginger root is awesome for digestion, it can reduce pain and inflammation as well as, prevent colds and flus, relieve migraines and menstrual cramps.

What I found was that it was not really coffee I required in the morning as part of my day as much as it was me needing to take in something warm into my body each morning. Switching my morning ritual from coffee to my beauty elixir has been something I really needed. Not only did I slim down from omitting the creamer and sweetener in my cup each day, my skin looks amazing. Literally its been glowing and I get even more compliments on it. I don't have the 3 pm coffee crash, I'm actually able to stay up later at night with out feeling too exhausted. I don't munch in between clients as much as I used to,  the lemon and cinnamon really help me regulate my blood sugar. I sip this elixir all day and I feel quiet satisfied.

Do you think you could put down the coffee and mix up your own elixir?

Fabulous Fall Skin

It's that time of year again. Days grow shorter, weather gets colder and for most of us our skin feels these effects.

When the weather changes and we start dressing for colder weather many people forget to still care for their skin. This is a huge no- no. Your skin is your largest organ and should always be maintained to keep it healthy and glowing. Here are a few ideas on things you can add to your healthy well beautiful skin routine.

-Keep hydrated. Just because its getting chillier outside does not mean you should skimp on your water  intake. A great calculation to determine your water intake is the following

Take your body weight and divide that number by two.

Divide that number by eight. 

Your answer its the approximate amount of 8 ounce glasses of water you should be drinking every day. 

If you lead a very physical lifestyle, working out etc you can add an additional two glasses of water into your final answer above.

Be sure to stay hydrated but don't over do it on the water intake. Water just like all healthy life style habits is about moderation. You don't want to be out of balance with water levels.

- Switch up your cleanser. Using a soapy gel based cleanser can leave your body feeling stripped of moisture during the Fall. Going soap free and switching up to a creamy body wash to scrub up can leave your feeling and looking its best. 

- Protect your hands and lips. Seek out a fabulous lip balm and a fantastic hand cream. These are two hand bag must haves for myself. I love having soft kissable lips and as a massage and skin care therapist I pride myself on my always soft hands. 

-Exfoliate I can never stress enough the importance of exfoliating your skin. Exfoliating sloughs off dead dry skin cells, revealing fresh skin. It will also help you with circulation and waking up your lymph system . I recommend exfoliating during your morning shower to increase lymph drainage. An oil based scrub is always a great way to go during the colder months.

Here is a quick DIY body scrub you can make at home.

Hello Autumn Body Scrub

1/ 2 cup of coffee grounds

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup carrier oil (olive, grape seed, kukui oil, sweet almond, avacado)

6-8 drops of clove essential oil

6-8 drops of  myrrh essential oil 

6-8  drops of sandalwood essential oil

Get Glowing

It's  just about Spring. Time to get glowing there is no better way then with a salt scrub. Salt scrubs help to keep your skin clear of impurities and nourished. After a long bundled up Winter you wanna show off some skin. I know during the Winter my skin is very lack luster and drab. I am always slathering on lotions ,creams and oils. What I learned awhile back is that a salt scrub will remove blah dead skin and reveal lush glowing skin worthy of some sun rays! 

Making and blending salt scrubs is what I do. Both at home and in the stdio in practice salt scrubs are a way of life for me. I always invest in quality sea salts and essential oils. I will occasionally add in a few secret ingredients my Be Blissed salt scrubs will leave your skin, relaxed, nourished and glowing. Don't just pile on lotions and oils,  scrub your skin and renew a fresher you. 

Well Hi There!

Hello! Hola! And all that jazz welcome to absolutely blissed! I am so pleased you are here. Please stop stay awhile and see what develops! Let me tell you a little more about little old me. I'm a licensed massage therapist and esthetician. I''m a health educator and an advocate for wellness. I practice reiki, read tarot  I live a positive life style. I rarely get out of bed without reading my horoscope... I like to take a glimpse and what maybe coming at me. For the most part I'm gluten free however,  that's been tricky to stick with since December 1. But I'm getting back on it. My life is ritual based. Everything I do seems to have a ritual attached to it. Some would say I'm a creature of habit. Others would say I'm a little OCD. I like to say ritual. It sounds way more lovely and whimsical and magical. I think every life should be filled with love, whimsy and magic. Massage and body work is my passion. I'm also a sucker for a great lip gloss and inviting cosmetics counter.I'm a girlie girl. I love to stop and smell the lotions at Victoria's Secret and the flowers in the park.  Here at absolutely blissed  you will pick up fabulous tips and tricks to care for your body, wellness and beauty. You will also find a comforting ritual or two. Thanks for stopping by!