SCRUB A DUB DUB, YOU DON'T EVEN NEED A TUB!

With the tips previously covered you can now treat yourself to natural, healthy, easy treatments for your face, hair, hands, nails, and feet. You can even reduce your stress or wake yourself up with some great bathing tips, so what is left you may ask? Well, how about the complete, full-bodied spa treatment in the comfort of your own home? Try this. Turn the lights down low, light a candle or two, unplug the phone, shut off the computer, set some relaxing music on low and prepare to relax, soothe and rejuvenate your mind and body. With the following tips you can treat yourself like the queen you deserve to be! These treatments are more SPA like and definitely more time consuming than the ones for specific body parts, but YOU ARE WORTH IT! So schedule yourself a SPA DAY at HOME! General body treatments include scrubbing, wrapping, bathing, moisturizing, and massaging. So I will take these in order and offer you some tips and recipes for each. Let's begin with scrubbing. When you exfoliate, the fancy word for scrubbing, you rid the skin of dirt, oil residue, and dead skin cells. This is important because, with the layer of dead skin cells gone, your skin will better absorb the products used in the next steps of skin care. It also serves to stimulate and circulate lymph fluids, which help eliminate toxins in the system. The stimulating massage increases blood circulation and stimulate the production of the body's own natural oils. Full body exfoliation should be done daily for great body and skin health. When done properly, it is one of the easiest treatments to revitalize and energize your mind and body. *Tips for doing it properly*

• Do not abrade the skin. Be gentle, especially when first beginning. As you develop a rountine treatment, your skin will develop a resisitance and you will be able to apply more resistance without irritating your skin. Remember that the purpose is to affect the top most layer of skin, not the underlying tissue.
• Use the proper tools. This is body scrubbing, not face scrubbing. Use a mitt, a towel, a loofah sponge, or a stiff body brush.
• Use your tool in circular motions. Begin with the feet, ankles, then the legs. Then do the hands, arms, shoulders, and down your back. Then do your stomach and chest.
• Use a cool water rinse after you are finished and pat your skin dry.
• Use moisturizer after you finish.
• Be sure to clean your tool thoroughly with soap and water after each use. Hang to air dry where it will get plenty of air circulation. You do not want to grow bacteria!
• Exfoliate your body daily, spending at least 5 minutes on the process to obtain optimal benefits.
• Since this treatment is energizing and revitalizing, it is best performed in the mornings.

*RECIPES*

*Irritated or Dry Skin Body Scrub Take 1 ripe avocado, peel it, pit it, and mash it. Set it aside. Take 1/2 cup of almonds and place them in a blender or coffee grinder. Grind them until they are course. Make sure they are not too fine this is not a face recipe! Once ground, mix 1 cup of oatmeal, old fashioned, not instant, and put them into a bath glove or muslin mitt. Scoop the avocado up and rub it over your body with the almond/oatmeal filled mitt. Rinse with tepid water and pat dry, then moisturize. Oatmeal is well known for its anti-inflammatory, skin soothing, and anti-puretic (anti-itch) properties. It is also very rich in vitamin E. Almonds are a natural emollient and make a great exfolient when they are ground. Avocado pulp contains vitamins A,D,and E and posesses collogen rebuilding properties. Not to mention that the pit of the avocado makes a great natural massage tool for sore muscles, so make sure to wash it and save it for use after your scrub! *Revitalizing Body Scrub, especially for Dry, Flaky Skin you will need; 1/2 cup of course sea salt 1/4 cup of rosemary oil body-scrub tool Dip your body scrub tool into the oil and then into the salt. Rub over your skin as described in the tips section. Continue to dip and scrub until you have covered your entire body, then rinse, pat dry and moisturize. Rosemary clears the mind and revives, as well as increases blood flow, while the sea salts work great to exfoliate the skin's surface.

*Body Scrub In a bowl, mix 2 cups of coarse sea salt with 1/4 cup of apricot kernal oil, making a paste. Gently smooth on body, in the mannor described in the tips section, being sure to use the palm of your hand, flattened, applying firm, but un-abbrasive pressure. When you have covered the whole body, rinse off, using a sponge or loofah, pat dry and moisturize. The apricot kernal oil is rich in natural emolients, as well as vitamin A adn B. It is easily absorbed by the skins' pores. It leaves the skin very smooth and well moisturized, while the salt is a natural exfolliant.