Still indulging in some extra size holiday portions? Trying to quit coffee? Need a body reboot? This detox drink is for you!
Why these ingredients?
Ashwagandhais a powerful whole system balancer and adaptogenic remedy. It has been used for thousands of years in Ayurvedic medicine to help alleviate stress, support physical and mental stamina, balance the immune system, support the nervous system, promote restful sleep, improve memory and support healthy adrenal function. It’s perfect if you’re trying to detox your diet or wean yourself off of coffee!
Ginger has powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and has been used as a digestive aid since ancient times.
Himalayan Pink Saltprovides the body with essential minerals, balances electrolytes and pH, and supports optimal nutrient absorption.
Collagen is the protein that our body relies on to ensure the health and vitality of your skin, hair, tendon, cartilage, bones, and joints. Everything that connects our body, keeping skin tone and joints strong, needs collagen.
Our modern diets lack the collagen that was once abundant in foods. Without dietary collagen, our body can’t replenish what’s missing. This can have an effect on our hair, skin and nails, and joints, ligaments and tendons as we age.
Vital Proteins Vanilla Collagen Peptides are collagen molecules that are small enough to get quickly absorbed and used by our body. This bioavailability is the reason people see improvements in how they look, feel and move after using Vital Proteins Collagen consistently.
This week, I shared one of my tried and true, very favorite, organic face mask with the one and only Forbes Magazine!
Pinch me!!!
Sharing my favorite organic face mask with one of my favorite giants in the business world is so incredibly exciting. Forbes? Face masks? Yep! Organic beauty has officially gone mainstream – and the big guys are taking notice!!
Showing your skin some TLC is one of my favorite activities, as nothing makes you feel quite as confident as having a visibly-glowing visage. Organic materials like clays, spices, and superfoods are common ingredients in plenty of facial treatments on the market, but these fun and natural ingredients are also readily available in your own home!
This face mask works great to simultaneously exfoliate and moisturize your skin. Incorporate this mask into your skin routine 2-3 times a week for the best results. Your skin will be glowing, refreshed, and happy!
It took me a long, long time to start caring for my skin in the morning. Years and years. In fact, it took me years to begin even taking my makeup off at night before I went to bed. I know. The cardinal sin of beauty!
I don’t know if you guys have woken up and started the day with a glass of ice water with lemon + a dash of cayenne, but it’s heavenly – and seriously good for your skin! Ever since I started doing this I saw a massive improvement in how awake, alert and glowing I looked. It’s detoxifying as well as refreshing, and my body loves me for it.
My new favorite morning ritual is to start my day with a DIY lip scrub, which I love. I make it myself so that it’s not too abrasive and I know the ingredients are completely clean. I like my scrubs a little grainer, so himalayan salt is a perfect ingredient to start with (as sugar can get clumpy or be too harsh on your lips if they’re dry.)
I really wish I had started doing this sooner because it makes all the difference! Not only is a lip scrub a luxurious way to start your day, you can alternatively use it as an exfoliator for your face! It’s gentle and hardworking.
Also, getting out my precious oils in this way reminds me to HYDRATE HYDRATE HYDRATE, which should be the #1 goal of every morning. After all – you’ve just spent 8 hours without eating or drinking a thing!
Prickly Pear Seed Oil has been a go-to oil for years. It’s particularly great for my skin, which is dry in some spots and acne prone in others. Prickly pear works for every single skin tone, and is normally SUPER expensive. I grow prickly pear cactus’s, and I know that harvesting the seeds from a cactus and then pressing them to make oil is one of the most laborious exercises in beauty! It can take hundreds of prickly pear seed to extract just one ounce of oil – hence it’s high cost.
This bottle is one of the ONLY pure prickly pear oils I’ve found that’s a reasonable price (it’s currently sold out in the large form so pick yourself up a travel sizefor just $10!)
Prickly Pear Oil promises to plump, fill lines, revitalize and rejuvenate your skin like no other oil in the industry. It will quickly become your ally in fighting against free radicals and sun damage. I apply some under my eyes nightly and in the morning first thing! This has dramatically tightened the appearance of the skin underneath my eyes and lightened dark circles that I’ve suffered from since adolescence!
Argan Oil is perfect for face, skin and hair. Argan Oil for skin has astonishing healing, conditioning, and anti-aging properties. Pure Argan like Aynara’s can be used to diminish stretch marks, restore texture, improve elasticity, tone, relieve skin damage fight fine lines, hydrate, repair imperfections, minimize scars, and reduce inflammation to treat skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis. Argan Oil for hair heals and conditions damaged hair.
I use it as a makeup primer, a highlighter, a moisturizer, a hair oil and for a ton of DIY projects like this one! I absolutely love the subtle natural scent and consistency. It’s chock full of vitamin E and fatty acid content, so it’s the ideal product to give skin a natural boost. It absorbs easily and is non-greasy and non-irritating, which makes it a great natural moisturizer. These two oils together make the perfect scrub base!
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
Aynara Prickly Pear seed oil(this is the cheapest and best quality prickly pear I’ve ever found, and I’ve been looking for years!!)
Dark circles are the second most common skin complaint. If you’re looking for an all-natural way to combat tired eyes, discoloration and puffiness, there are some easy ingredients that you have at home that can work just as well or better than expensive spa treatments. This method is seriously liquid gold!
Many people think lack of sleep causes the appearance of dark circles, but it’s a little more complex than that. This natural DIY treatment contains high levels of collagen. A recent study on collagenshows a “significantly higher skin elasticity level” and a “positive influence” on skin hydration and evaporation. Read below to learn more about how this eye mask can help address the causes of dark circles, puffiness, skin inflammation and aids in hydrating dry skin + wrinkle reduction!
Parchment Paper or Pre-made eye masks (these are the only natural ones I’ve found, and they’re re-usable!)
2 slices of pineapple
1 squeeze of lemon
INSTRUCTIONS:
Combine raw cashews, marine collagen, coconut milk, pineapple, lemon + water in blender
Blend on high
Combine mixture with beef gelatin in a pot on the stove
Mix until gel-like consistency
Remove and place onto parchment paper
Let cool + cut eye mask shapes with a knife
OR: Alternatively, add mixture to one side of pre-made eye masks + let cool
Apply to eyes. Let the magic mixture go to work for 15-30 mins. Remove.
Use within 24 hours or store in water to keep hydrated
WHY IT WORKS:
Cashew nuts help our body to utilize iron properly and eliminate free radicals. They contain high levels of riboflavin, pantothenic acid, thiamin, niacin + vitamins E + K.
Beef gelatin promotes youthful skin, healthier hair, and stronger nails.
Marine collagen makes your skin appear smoother and more supple. In studies, it has been proven to prevent the formation of deep wrinkles and actually decrease wrinkle appearance by up to 80%
Pineapple contains vitamin A, which has the ability to reduce inflammation and also act as a natural anti-fungal and antibacterial.
Coconut milk has high levels of Vitamin C which helps maintain elasticity and flexibility of skin. It is also rich in copper, and prevents wrinkles, sagging skin and age spots.
Lemons are rich in vitamin C and citric acid, so they can help brighten and lighten your skin when used over time. Vitamin C is a great antioxidant for neutralizing free radicals and boosting collagen production.
This post was created in partnership with Vital Proteins, a company that I really believe in, use daily and truly love.
I recently went to the dentist for a teeth cleaning.
Dr. Holmes is amazing. He’s a conventional San Diego dentist – just down the street. Not holistic in any way, but very practical and open minded. Been in the practice longer than I have been alive, and has additionally been doing mouth cancer screenings for 17 years.
After my cleaning, X-Ray, CatScan we dorked out on dental care – and Dr. Holmes dropped a bomb. I had NO cavities!
WHAT?!
Hallelujuah!!
Additionally, my dentist was super impressed with my knowledge of dental care and admitted that my organic oral hygiene routine (coming to the blog soon!!) was definitely helping my health and protecting my teeth and gums. And he also let me in on a little secret:
I could whiten my teeth naturally! And I didn’t have to pay him a gazillion dollars to do it!!!!
After I was done hugging him for his honesty, I went to write down this incredible teeth whitening formula so that I could pick up all the ingredients on the way home. Boy, did I feel silly! After less than 5 seconds, he had named every ingredient — and they were ALL in my pantry!! YESSS!!
OK, so here’s the skinny from Dr. Holmes. I’ve already been doing it every day of the week — sometimes 2 or 3 times a day — and I swear it’s already working!
Hydrogen Peroxide is the main ingredient in most teeth whitening gels – but this way, you don’t have to ingest all those nasties to get it’s benefits! Plus it removes stains and whitens with an organic consistency, so you’re not left with some white parts and some not-so-white parts, ala Crest White Strips. The organic coconut oil sticks to the oil in the cell membranes, capturing all the bacteria in your mouth. So when you spit it out, you’re also spitting out all those little guys in there. Science.
Calcium carbonate is a mineral. Minerals have a significant impact on the strength and hardness of dental enamel, specifically, calcium can be a huge support of enamel. It also breaks down bacteria and replaces it with new, stronger cells.
How easy was that?!
Want more natural remedies for a better life? You’ll love this!
The benefits of Coconut Oil are immense. It’s great for cooking, for lotion, for toothpaste, for stretch marks, for eczema, scars, is great for deep conditioning your hair, wonderful for your health as a supplement, is antibacterial, is great for dry skin and soothes nausea.
Every bit of the coconut is used. Coconuts are called the “Tree of Life” and can produce drink, fiber, food, fuel, utensils, musical instruments, and much more. This magical fruit/nut/seed oil has a high price on the grocery shelves! I love food and I love DIY crafts, so I figured I’d make some myself! It was terribly successful, really fun, and super easy!
What You’ll Need:
1 Coconut
1 Fork
1 Knife
Coffee Filters
1 or 2 Jars
The first step, of course, is open your coconut (I use a hatchet) and:
Step 2: Heat your coconut meat slightly over low heat in order to make cutting easier.
Step 3: Cut your coconut meat into small pieces:
Step 4: Throw it in a food processor or blender. Blend on high.
Step 5: Put a coffee filter or cheesecloth over a wide-mouth jar.
Step 6: Pour or spoon a small amount of the coconut mixture onto the cloth.
Step 7: Squeeze the milk into the jar.
Step 9: Refridgerate & leave it unattended for at least 24 hours. The curd and the oil will separate. If you wish to discard the curd, wait 48 hours and scoop it out. However, it is just as wonderful and useful as the oil, which is on the bottom!
I am so, so very proud of my first batch, and got two jars out of one coconut! Beats spending $6 for a jar at the store, since my coconut cost me something like $1.25! 🙂
Hi, I'm Tara! A bestselling self-help author, singer and speaker. The Organic Life is a place where I share my healthy life hacks - so we can all become our best selves!
