Get your daily dose of veggies with this easy DIY Avocado Carrot Cream Facial Mask. It combines avocados, which are rich in Vitamin E, with carrots, which are high in beta-carotene and antioxidants, with cream, which is high in calcium and protein. These ingredients will rebuild skin collagen, improve tone and texture, and fade age spots.

Ingredients:

• 1 avocado, mashed

• 1 carrot, cooked and mashed

• 1/2 cup heavy cream

• 1 egg, beaten

• 3 tablespoons honey

How to:

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl until smooth

2. Spread gently over your face and neck

3. Leave on for 10-15 minutes

4. Rinse with cool water and follow with your favorite toner and moisturizer

The best part about this recipe is that whatever you have left over, you can use to make delish snack (minus the heavy cream)!

Recipe courtesy of www.beautytip-s.com

Being bronze in the summer isn’t a convenient side effect of frolicking on the beach all day… it’s a lifestyle choice. The one thing that can stop your golden tan dead in its tracks?… Money. For two reasons: first, if you need to make money, you probably have a job, which means you aren’t able to lay out every day and perfect your awesome glow. And two, not having money makes it really difficult to maintain a healthy, natural-looking sunless glow – all that self-tanner and bronzer adds up! (Unless of course you snag today’s $30 sunless tan on The Right Deal or win today’s Perricone no-sun tanner prize in the Tweet-a-Thon.).

The solution to your tanning vs. money conundrum: DIY Organic Bronzer made with household cooking ingredients and your favorite essential oil. Keep your skin safe and tan all summer long without playing hooky from work or breaking the bank on expensive, department store bronzers. Plus, you’ll be avoiding harsh chemical fillers often found in heavy-duty bronzers and powders. For the crafty beauty junkie inside you, here’s how to make your own organic bronzer in a convenient compact:

Recipe and images courtesy of Elizabeth Seward

Ingredients

• Cinnamon Powder
• Powdered Sugar
• Essential Oil
• Empty Make-up Case (or small mixing bowl)

How to:

1. Choose an Empty Makeup Case

2. Pour in Cinnamon

3. Add Powdered Sugar

Pour some powdered sugar into the case. The amount will depend on how light you want the mixture to be for your skin.
4. Mix Together

Mix the powders together. Use a paint brush or eye shadow brush for this part.
5. Add an Essential Oil

Mix a few drops of your favorite essential oil (lavender, jasmine etc) into the mix. Not only will this leave it smelling good, but it’ll bond the powders together and keep them firm in the case.
6. Apply

Apply with a fluffy brush in upward, circular motions along cheeks, forehead, chin and bridge of your nose… and enjoy!

One of my favorite and often forsaken beauty products is toner. I was never big on toner (seriously who wants to integrate another product into their lengthy skin care routine) until I started working in the spa industry and realized how much it really made a difference in the appearance of my skin. Since I started using an alcohol-free toner after cleansing on a regular basis, I have noticed my skin is tighter and my pores are smaller due to daily use.

I got turned onto one particular product during college called Organic Apoteke Balancing Rose Toner. (I got it as a free sample from my internship.) It’s an all-natural, all organic tonner that works great on sensitive and/or dry skin. Last summer I used it in the morning after I washed my face and also as a misting spray when I laid out by the pool on weekends. It helps purify and re-moisturize skin while minimizing pores and reducing redness. Plus it feels so refreshing on your face and neck in the hot sun.

What’s great about this product is it contains rose water and witch hazel, both organic and naturally beneficial to your skin. Rose water helps improves circulation and soothes dry summer skin. Witch hazel protects against dehydration, sooths redness caused by sun exposure and is an anti-inflammatory, so it reduces the appearance of blemishes.After I went through the entire bottle in like, a month, I researched where to buy more. Then realizing the product was $35 and I was eating frosted mini-wheats for every mean, I surmised I could not afford my beloved pool buddy anymore. That is where the recipe comes in. With a little research and some advice from my previous spa employer/esthetician, here is a DIY rose petal and witch hazel toner that is a quick and easy to make and way better than that pricey product.

Ingredients:

1 Red Rose ($2.00-$5.00 available at the local market, deli, grocery store or even gas station).
1 Bottle Witch Hazel ($5.99 at CVS )
1 Bottle of Purified Water ($1.00-$2.00 for a 12oz bottle of Poland Spring will do)

Materials:

How To:

1. Pluck the petals from the rose
2. Using your fingers or scissors, gently tear/cut each petal into tiny pieces (like large confetti)
3. Place the petal pieces into the coffee mug and add fill ¾ of the way with bottled water
4. Using the back of the spoon mash the petals in the water
5. Then microwave the mug for 90 seconds
6. After the beep, give the mixture a few more stirs and let it sit for about 10 mins until the water cools from boiling to room temp (and so the rose’s essence can mingle with the warm water)
7. Poor about 1-2 spoonful of witch hazel into the mug and stir (note: be sparing at first with witch hazel until you test it out on your skin)
8. Then poor the contents of the mug into the spray bottle
9. Cap the nozzle and shake vigorously
10. Miston face for a burst of hydrating goodness

Insider tips: Place to spray bottle in the fridge for a refreshing morning waker-upper. Or, pop 1-2 ice cubes in the spray bottle and take to the beach/pool. While laying out, sprits on your face and neck to freshen and purify skin and reduce redness.

 Give it a try and let us know what you think. Does it beat your store-bought product? We want to hear all about it!

Images via masterfile , photobucket

Guest contributor: The Chefanies

It’s Cinco de Mayo and we’re celebrating here at Spa Week Daily with one of our favorite south of the border imports: avocados (green and sexy!). Before hitting up tonight’s parties, get soft, glowing skin with our Avocado Honey hydrating facial mask. Avocados are great for you, inside and out. They are super rich in vitamins and minerals, especially Vitamins A, C, and K – all of which help brighten and tone the skin. Both avocados and honey contain natural humectants, which are chemicals that attract and hold water, making this mask a great moisturizer.

INGREDIENTS:

Half of a ripe avocado

2 Tablespoons of honey

Mash the avocado with a fork or mixer and mix in honey. If the honey is really thick you can heat it up slightly to make it more liquid or dilute it with a tablespoon of hot water. Apply the paste to face, avoiding eye area and mouth, and leave on for 10-12 minutes. Rinse with warm water and a washcloth.

NOTES: Be sure to choose a ripe avocado for this mask. A ripe avocado will be a deep brown color that yields to the touch, but isn’t mushy. Make sure to cleanse your face before applying this mask to achieve the best results.

The Chefanies is the blog of 2 Stephanies cooking up a healthy storm using fresh, seasonal and organic ingredients. We focus on everyday cooking that is impressive enough for entertaining and hearty enough to enjoy solo. Go to thechefanies.com for more!

Guest contributor: The Chefanies

I just got back from a week long cruise vacation to Mexico. I know, I know, poor me.  But after a week of sun my hair was in desperate need of a good moisturizer.  As I live in San Francisco where the weather never seems to elevate above 65 degrees I wanted to relive my warm sunny vacation through my hair treatment.

This easy Papaya Banana Coconut Hair mask will bring you back to the tropics with its intoxicating scent and highly moisturizing properties.

The coconut oil, with its anti-fungal and antibacterial properties is high in protein which helps to prevent hair breakage and loss.  In addition, when applied to the scalp it can help to stimulate proper circulation to keep your scalp moisturized and free of dandruff.

Papaya helps to maintain the natural shine and keeps your hair super soft.  It is rich is proteins and Vitamin B6, Vitain C, Iron and Magnesium. It’s high content of vitamin B6 helps to prevent hair loss.

Bananas are high in potassium which also promote hair growth and circulation.

This is an all around vitamin rich mask that will leave your hair silky soft and shining like the tropical sun.  You will love it!  And it tastes good too.

Recipe:

Yields 2 uses

1 banana

1/2 papaya

3 Tbs Coconut Oil

1/2 cup Greek Yogurt (Full Fat)

Directions:

Blend all of the ingredients together and apply to your hair.

Let sit for 20 minutes.

Rinse with shampoo and conditioner.

The Chefanies is the blog of 2 Stephanies cooking up a healthy storm using fresh, seasonal and organic ingredients. We focus on everyday cooking that is impressive enough for entertaining and hearty enough to enjoy solo. Go to thechefanies.com for more!