Make it Monday! Pumpkin Mask, Gourd Mask ! Beta Carotene!

anyone have any leftover pumpkins?  How about those decorative gourds?

Don’t throw them out just yet!  Cut them open, pull out the insides and get gorgeous!

Gourds and Pumpkins contain vitamins A, B1, B2, and B3, C, magnesium, folic acid, zinc, copper, phosphorus, manganese, iron and tons of beta-carotene! Plus they have so many anti-oxidants and hydroxy acids they act as a mild non-chemical, non-abrasive exfoliant.

To make your own Pumpkin/Gourd Mask simply:

• Scoop out the pulp, place in a blender or food processor and blend.

• If you have dry skin add 1 tablespoon of honey or yogurt per 1/4 cup of pumpkin or gourd puree.

• For acne prone or oily skin add 1 egg white.  OR dissolve one aspirin in 1 tablespoon of water then add.

• Blend again to mix in other ingredients.  (make sure you dissolve the aspirin in the water before hand)

Apply to face, neck and decollete and let sit for about 15-20 minutes, then rinse off with lukewarm water.  This can also be used on the backs of hands for age spots.  All of the vitamin C and beta-carotene will help to aid in healing of aging skin, age spots, hyperpigmentation, scarring, dry skin and so much more!

If you have sensitive skin, make sure you patch test to make sure your skin will tolerate. Enjoy your vibrant skin!

Karissa Gindling™ for Prissy Green™ ©

Make Your Own Hand Sanitizer

Sanitizer can be a necessity, especially during this crazy flu season.  Sometimes you are places where just after you wash your hands, you have to place them somewhere questionable.  OR maybe you just can’t get to water?

Just don’t overuse them!

I like to have wipes around me too, Avalon Organics makes a nice baby wipe that is flushable and biodegradable. It won’t clean you hands of germs, but if you have dirt caked hands, you probably don’t want to rub sanitizer all over them. Wipe can be so invaluable to travel with.  Wiping knobs, seats, arm rests, toys you name it!

Keep in mind, you don’t need alcohol to kill germs, essential oils can take care of that.  That is why inhaling them can be so good for you while sick.  Tea Tree over a hot steamy sink, helps you heal and breath!

So I have a pretty simple recipe for you today.  Some of you may have all the ingredients in your house.  I almost always do minus the witch hazel.  I pretty much always have a bottle around.  I have been making this for years!  it is great for camping, which is why I first created it!

DIY Hand Sanitizer

Ingredients:

3/4 cup of  aloe vera gel  (NOT liquid, get the gel!)

1 teaspoon of oil (jojoba or grapeseed is perfect)

3 1/2 tablespoons of Witch Hazel  (try and find pure, 100% witch hazel, if you can’t that is fine)

1 tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar

8 drops of Lemon Essential Oil

8 Drops of Orange Essential Oil

8 drops of Grapefruit Oil

10 drops tee tree oil

Make sure you don’t use metal bowls, and if you have a spoon around that is plastic, or plastic coated use that for mixing.  Mix very well.  place into a small travel shampoo bottle. Preferably one that doesn’t unscrew, but you can use to squirt just a little out in your palm.

And Congratulations!  add a dollop to your hands, and rub thoroughly!

Make a few of these, and tuck in lunch boxes, cars, purses, backpacks, and anywhere you might find yourself with out soap and water!

Good luck and stay healthy!!

Karissa Gindling™ for Prissy Green™ ©

Make It Monday! Rosemary Mint Refreshing Foot Scrub & Moisturizer

Refresh hot feet!
I don’t know about everyone else, but the more cooped up my toes are in shoes and socks, the more they ache. I always feel like I need to let the dogs breathe!

So here is a very simple recipe you can use to refresh feet, and keep some circulation flowing!

Rosemary Mint Hot Feet Refresher

Ingredients:
1/2 cups sea salt. (fine)
1/4 cup of Coconut oil (or more if you have sensitive feet)
10 drops of Rosemary Essential Oil
6 drops of Peppermint Oil

Simply mix it all together. Wet feet, and massage in. This should last a few treatments, and feel free to do your legs too! Rinse off pat dry.

So now you have a scrub, but what about a moisturizer?

Same recipe, just subtract the sea salt! This Rosemary Mint Foot & Leg Energizing Moisturizer will make you feel like running a marathon….
Well maybe, but it does feel so good!

Karissa Gindling™ for Prissy Green™ ©

Make It Monday! Vegan Lip Balm and Vegan Lip Serum

I am not sure if I will ever be brave enough to be a Vegan, but I sure do respect y’all to pieces!  I have been a vegetarian before, but I wouldn’t call myself one now.  Although I have sworn to give up everything but fresh caught fish.  Even milk and cheese.  I will most likely give in on cheese and eggs every so often, especially eggs, as I am not cutting out items made with them.  And I love me some cheese!  But since starting the So Cal Cleanse, I just feel so much better not eating these “sluggish digestive system causing” foods.

So with myself explain a little, I want to give my Vegan Readers a special Make It Monday Treat!

Vegan Lip Balm

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. Avocado Oil, Almond Oil or Olive Oil

• 1 oz. Virgin Coconut Oil

• 1.2 oz. of Candelilla Wax

• 1/4 tsp. Rosemary Extract

• few drops of Vitamin E Oil

• few drops of essential oils you want for smell and taste (citrus oils are great!  tangerine, orange, grapefruit and lime!)  (and/or you can use flavor oils!)

You will need either a double boiler, or use a pan and a glass measuring cup with a pour spout!

Melt the candelilla wax in a double boiler or use a glass jar/bowl inside of a soup pan, over low heat.

Once melted add the remaining ingredients except for the essential oils. Heat through then remove from heat.  Now add the essential oil – stir well and pour immediately into lip balm tubes or containers.  If mixture starts to solidify before you’re finished pouring, heat for a few seconds in the micro.  You can also add flavor additives if you so choose.  Add these at the same time as the Essential oils.

Recipe makes about 5 ounces of lip balm.  That is quite a bit, but whenever I make balms I hand them out like candy!  So either cut your recipe down or give as gifts!

Enjoy!  Feel free to color these with any vegan lip colors you already have too!  Just add those to the pot when heating.

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Neroli Anti-aging Lip Serum

All natural ingredients and Neroli and Seabuckthorn for treating, and pampering the lips.
Neroli’s aroma is a wonderful blend of floral with undertones of citrus. Feel free to replace Neroli with another soothing essential oil, such as Rosewood or Carrot Seed.  Seabuckthorn has become a newcomer to the world of anti-aging, but is setting some great trends!

Recipe makes 3 lip gloss tubes or (0.75 ozs) Don’t buy these!  I know you have some laying in your purse, or ina drawer that you never wear, wash them out really well, and use those, no need to waste!  Unless of course you are gifting these.

Ingredients:

• 2 oz Liquid Shea Oil

• 1 oz Castor Oil

• 2 tsps. Carnauba Wax

• 6 drops of SeaBuckthorn oil (berry, seed or combination)  If you have the capsules from Sibu Beauty that would be great!

• 6 drops of Neroli Essential Oil

• drops of Vitamin E Oil

Melt the wax in in a double boiler, or use a soup pot, and a glass measuring cup with pour spout.  Add the shea and castor oils. Mix well. Make sure you keep stirring at this point.  When it has all combined, remove from heat.  When it has cooled slightly, add the Vitamin E oil, Neroli and Seabuckthorn oils. Before it has cooled completely, pour into lip gloss tubes.  Texture will be somewhat like store bought honey.

Extremely nourishing, and healthy for the lips.  Use this in place of shiny lip glosses, or apply every night before bed.

If you want a chance at winning some Seabuckthorn goodies, come visit my twitter party!!  Read more at the Sibu Twitter Party!  (party October 6th at 9pm EST!)

Don’t forget to check out my girl Kasey’s Blog on Monday’s for her Make it Monday posts! Always a treat!

Get an Extra Entry into any ONE contest for voting! Just leave a comment, on the contest you want the extra entry for, and leave your vote #!!

Karissa Gindling™ for Prissy Green™ ©

Make it Monday! Bath Cookies

Since I am in the nitty gritty part of my SoCal Cleanse, I am craving sweets!  Then we have my Dad and Step-mom over for dinner Sunday, and what does she do?  Torture me by bringing a HUGE plateful of Snickerdoodle cookies.

Of course she has no idea I am detoxing, and is trying to be nice, they are a favorite of mine!  So since I can’t eat them, I decided to do the next best thing, and make some cookies I can use!  Moisturizing Bath Cookies!  These are a great way to add fun to the bath, but with out the hassle of Bath Bombs!

Ingredients

2 cups fine sea salt

1/2 cup baking soda

1/2 cup cornstarch

5 tablespoons ground flax seeds (or 2 eggs)

6 tablespoons water (only if using Flax! don’t use if using egg)

2 tablespoons oil (almond, carrot, jojoba, olive, coconut, argan, etc)

1 teaspoon vitamin E oil (about two capsules)

5 drops essential oil

If you are making these for others, you definitely want to add some pizazz!  Try breaking candy canes/starlight mints in super small pieces and using peppermint essential oil, Or use dried lavender flowers, or chamomile.  You can even break open a tea bag, but loose teas would work better.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pretend like you are making real cookies!  Get out your mixing bowl and mix the ground flax seeds with water and stir until flax starts absorbing some of the water. Add in all other wet ingredients.

Mix all the other dry ingredients in s separate bowl, then fold in.  Last fold in any fun pizazz ingredients!  Shape dough into teaspoon size balls and place them on a baking sheet. Bake for eight to ten minutes or until golden.

Makes about 24 cookies, and don’t eat this dough.  I doubt it would taste like you want it too.  =)

To use, place two cookies in a nice warm bath and relax!

Don’t forget to check out my girl Kasey’s Blog on Monday’s for her Make it Monday posts!  Always a treat!

Get an Extra Entry into any ONE contest EVERY DAY for voting! Vote once per day! Just leave a comment, on the contest you want the extra entry for, and leave your vote #!!

Karissa Gindling™ for Prissy Green™ ©

Green Chic Weekly Roundup!

Factio Magazine Meets Fabrice Penot, the Co-Creator of Le Labo at Barneys New York

College Candy gives Fashion Pulse Daily some tips on fashionably living the green life.

Vivienne Westwood dedicates her Spring 2010 Red Label runway show to rain forest protection, and Fashiontribes has the exclusive video!

My Beauty Bunny is giving away free Tropical Traditions tea tree oil and coconut soaps!

Posh Swaps finds some great sustainable shoes in her post Nina Dolcetti – a step in the right direction

Quinta Trends talks to Indarra. DTX eco and high tech clothes

Runway To Retail checks out London as they are celebrating 25 years of fashion!

The Fashionable Gal reviews Yes to Carrots – a soothing skin care line that is cruelty free and uses organic ingredients.

Karissa Gindling™ for Prissy Green™ ©

Bath Detox Recipe and Cellulite Treatment Recipes

Detox while you lounge in the tub a dub dub!  I don’t have to tell you how much I enjoy my soaks!

I do want to mention that some of the products out on the market are worth purchasing for this as well.  I love my Buddha Nose Detox Bath Salts, and my new SoCal Cleanse Bath Soak and I soon to be reviewed Eucalyptus Bath by 100% Pure.  They have many additional ingredients such as herbs, kelp or other algae to help aid in the detox process.  I am not just telling you this because I work with them, I really do love them.  I used my 100% Bath Treatment, in less then 2 weeks!!!  That is why I needed to find a more eco-friendly solution, and a more wallet friendly solution too!!

***If you have the time, and resources, dry brushing your skin before these treatments, and before any shower, will really help to get your lymph system moving!***

Detox Bath Ingredients

• 1 Cup Epsom Salt

• 1 Cup Baking Soda (helps rid the chlorine)

• 1 Cup Natural Sea Salt (get the stuff that says “air dried by the sun”)

• 1/4 cup grated FRESH ginger.  I place this in a tea infuser so I don’t clog the drain!

The Essential oils in this, are optional, as is the Grated Ginger. Use one or the other, don’t use the EO’s and the Ginger together!

Take the bath as warm as you can stand it.  Add the salt mixture and the ginger and glide it around before you sink down.  This water is good for your whole body, face, hair etc.  Now soak for at least 30-45 minutes.  The ginger will help you sweat, and release toxins, and as the water cools down, you will start absorbing some of the yummy goodness in the bath.  If you prefer to use the Essential Oils below, the same rules apply for length of bath.

If you have a massage tool, like the one to the right, or something similar, you can also use that massage any areas of concern while you are soaking.

Cellulite Treatment Essential Oil Bath Blend

• 6 Drops of Black Pepper Seed oil

• 6 drops of juniper oil

• 5 drops of Geranium oil

• 5 drops of Fennel

• 10 drops of grapefruit oil

• 8 drops of lemon oil

• roughly 15 Drops of a carrier oil. I suggest Avocado oil, or Carrot Oil.

Mix this really well, and add about 1 teaspoon per bath.

Use this instead of ginger!  Don’t use both.  all other directions from above are correct.

Cellulite Intense Massage Oil

• 5 drops Fennel

• 10 drops Grapefruit

• 5 drops Juniper

• 1/4 cup carrier oil MIX WELL.

Use this on all problem areas every morning and every night.  The longer the better, and the more aggressive the better, no that doesn’t mean bruising will help!  I simply mean, don’t use a light hand!

Of course drinking lots of water during this whole process is key!  You can do this baths as often as you like, but not more then once a day.  You aren’t going to see results immedietly but with time you will!  The Dry Skin Brushing is so good for you too!

The better your diet, full of veggies and fruits and natural fibers, and no processed foods, the faster results will come as well!

Use the bathing time wisely, deep condition your hair, smooth out your heels, put on a facial mask, or even a back mask!  (i do at least one of the above and read, but I know some of you have kids!  maybe you can read to them from the bath?  lol)

Good luck!!

Karissa Gindling™ for Prissy Green™ ©

Make It or Break it Wednesday, Milky Cleanser Recipe!

This is a great mild cleanser for any skin type but especially for sensitive, mature and dry.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup purified water (filtered tap is fine)
2 tablespoons of baking soda
1 egg white
1/4 cup of goat’s milk (whole mild or almond milk will work as well)

whisk all ingredients together until blended well. Store in a clean airtight container, this will keep for up to 3 weeks. use with hands or a washcloth.

The baking soda with refresh by scrubbing away dead skin cells, while the milk and egg replenish and nourish skin, giving it a glow.

This is part of All Things Mama And Prissy Green’s Make It Monday!

I know, it isn’t Monday, but I had to share this wonderful recipe and I just couldn’t wait!  I had an aunt ask for a Milky Cleanser recipe months ago, and this is what I came up.  I saw her a few weeks ago, and she told me she loves it and that she has been sharing it with friends and teachers she works with!  So then she told me that if I had not shared it with you yet, that I simply must!

Karissa Gindling™ for Prissy Green™ ©

Make It Monday, Refreshing Strawberry Hand and Foot Scrub

Refreshing Strawberry Hand and Foot Scrub

This recipe can utilize over ripe or under-ripe berries. Feel free to add any other berries you may have too!

• 8-10 Strawberries

• 2 tablespoons Almond, Apricot, Olive, or Avocado Oil  (my new fave is Avocado!)

• 1 teaspoon of coarse Sea Salt

• 3 drops of Ylang Ylang (optional)

Clean and rinse strawberries, mash or puree in a blender.

Mix all ingredients together really well.

Then massage into hands and feet, rinse, and pat dry.

Strawberries contain a natural fruit acid which aids in exfoliation. Plus strawberries are chock full of numerous Polyphenols which can act as antioxidants.

**If you are really feeling like treating yourself, soak hands and feet in warm sea salt water for a few minutes before applying.  Add a few drops of pepperming to the foot bath.

This is part of the Make It Monday meme that Kasey and I are going to be doing each Monday. Feel free to leave a link of your own below, it doesn’t have to be a new post, it can be an oldie but a goodie! Just make sure it is food related or green/natural! thanks!!

Karissa Gindling™ for Prissy Green™ ©

Make It Monday, How to Make Your Own Tinted Moisturizer

I have been trying to think of a good item to preview here for Make It Monday, and I was lost.  Then today I realized, that I make something almost every other day, and didn’t quite realize it.

Tinted Moisturizer!

It is simple, and easy and super effective.  all you need is a sunscreen, one that you like for your face, and some mineral makeup.  Maybe just a tad bit darker then what you would normally wear.  Or the same as you wear, it will be fine.

1/8 teaspoon of Mineral Makeup (the dry kind!)

Dollop of facial sunscreen

Add about a dime sized amount of sunscreen to a plate,  (i use one of my small serving plates). and then scoop out about an 1/8th of a teaspoon of your mineral makeup.  Mix together.  I typically use a Q-tip, that way I can apply it with that and get the whole shebang out of it.  If you need a more natural look then this provides, next time add less mineral makeup. if you need more coverage, don’t use less sunscreen!  Just add more mineral makeup.

You can make this ahead of time, but I don’t suggest doing any more then 3-4 days worth.  Mineral Makeup doesn’t have any preservatives and you never know what you could start growing!  If you do make a couples days worth, make sure you store it in an airtight, clean container, and store in cool place, with no direct sunlight.

Good Luck!  and happy DIY-ing. That is precisely what I have on in this photo, see how natural it looks?