Kitchen Glamour - Refreshing Face Mojito.

I love Mojitos, they are the epitome of summer fun and frolics. So with spring in full throw and the promise of summer getting nearer I was inspired to make a mojito for my face. My pot of mint is thriving under the windowsill, I love rubbing the leaves as I walk past and smelling the fresh scent. I put about 3 healthy springs in this refresher, mint is really good for the skin, not only can it be soothing for irritated skin, but its high amounts of salicylic acid loosens up dead skin cells, which can help stop your pores from clogging. Mint also has vitamin A in it which means that it can strengthen and balance oily skin.

The other ingredients in this face refresher are 2-3 slices of cucumber, 1 tablespoon of caster sugar and the zest of an orange. I have raved about cucumber in my 3 Ways to Combat Puffy Eyes post. Cucumber is 90% water so its cooling and hydrating for your skin, the cucumber acts as the liquid ingredient of this recipe. I also zest an orange into this, this is optional but I think it adds a lovely zing to the aroma. Citrus is also amazing for the skin because of its high content of vitamin C, it can tighten pores and make your face look and feel a lot fresher, you can read more about how oranges are good for your skin here. The last ingredient I add is caster sugar, this helps to grind everything into a pulp in the pestle and mortar.

Once you have all your ingredients ready, put them into a pestle and mortar and grind away until it is a pulpy consistency. You could pop it into a food blender if you wanted. Once you have your face refresher ready you could place it into the fridge for half an hour just to chill it down or you can use it straight away. I massage the pulp around my face (over the sink to catch any drips). Once I have used all the pulp I rinse it off with some cold water and towel dry. This makes my face feel wonderfully soft, refreshed and ready to slip out for an evening of adventures. 

Hope you have a great, glamourous weekend <3

xkx

Kitchen Glamour - Coconut Lemon Sour Scrub.

I was sitting on the sofa the other day painting my nails after I'd had a shower, as I was paying close attention to my hands I realised just how awful they looked. The skin on them was dry and lifeless; they were crying out for some summer sun. The UK is barely providing any sun at the moment so I decided to concoct a scrub based on a tropical cocktail, a much cheaper alternative to a sun soaked holiday that's for sure! This scrub will exfoliate and moisturise all in one go and it gives you that little bit of extra love because it is heated over hot water. This means that it is lavishly warm and syrupy on your skin with a super delicious fragrance.

All you need is 2 tablespoons of lemon juice (you could use lime), 1 tablespoon of flaked coconut oil and 2 tablespoons of Demerara sugar. I'm using Demerara here because this is an all over body scrub so I like to use a sugar with larger grains, if you want a gentler scrub use caster sugar. 

Mix these ingredients up over a bowl of hot water so the coconut oil turns to its liquid state and it is ready to use. Scrub it all over your hands, massage it in really well for a couple of minutes then rinse the mixture off with some warm water and towel dry. DO NOT use soap to wash this off because you want the coconut oil to lounge on your hands and soak in. The coconut oil will not take long to quench your parched skin and because of the lemon juice you will not find your hands feeling like a oil slick. 

My hands felt and smelt absolutely amazing after this scrub. You could pay a lot of money for this treatment out trust me. Using the above amounts will easily make enough for your hands and face, but this scrub would be a great one to use all over your body, especially before a shower. Just be careful not to get too slippery before getting in the shower. I don't want you to be covered in bruises, even if you will have beautifully nourished skin!

I hope you try this because it really feels like a treat, a sure 'pick me up' when your are feeling like you need a little bit of scrubbing love. Let me know if you like it.

xkx

P.S. It is so good that even Ed asked if I could make him some hehe.