Lemons

Buying some fresh lemons is a practical, easy way to start living a more pure life. They are packed with vitamin C (2 times more than oranges), potassium and folate to nourish your body even when you apply them to your skin.  Lemons work to gently detoxify your body and they even dissolve petrochemicals. Toxins are stored in your cellulite, so whether you drink the juice in your water or apply to your  skin you’ll help move the junk out of your system. Why add more garbage to your system from hydroquinone or mercury tainted creams on your skin when you have lemons! Any type of lemon will do.  I would only use organic lemons for cooking or body care though, traditional grown lemons are most likely sprayed with fungicides like thiabendazole and gassed with ethylene to speed the ripening process, who wants that on their skin? Yuck! . Meyers lemons will give you more juice than other varieties. Here are 9 of my favorite uses to brighten your skin and your mood:

1.Drink fresh squeezed juice into warm water in the morning to wake your body up. Drink it in cool water in the afternoon to perk you up without caffeine. You’ll also boost your immune system with the vitamin C.
2. Lighten finger and toe nails yellowed by nail polish, squeeze some juice into a teaspoon of baking soda, scrub into nails with an old toothbrush.
3. Add shine to your hair when you rinse. Add the juice of 1 lemon to 2 cups of water and use as your final rinse water.
4. Scent. Lemon blossoms smell exquisite, add a handful of blooms to your bath water to gently scent your skin.
5. Remove dead skin cells and brighten your complexion. At bedtime, use fresh lemon juice as a toner on a damp face after washing, dab on a couple drops of olive or sesame oil.
6. Massage gently areas of cellulite with dried lemon zest or ground almonds, a pinch of sea salt and coconut or sesame oil before showering.
7. Dry up a blemish. Apply pure juice to blemishes, repeat throughout the day to dry it up.
8. Head-off the start of a cold sore, apply fresh lemon juice on location every hour until gone.
9. Polish your skin with fresh squeezed lemon juice, ¼ C organic sugar and ¼ Colive oil. Massage all over and rinse in a gentle shower. Be careful, this might make your tub slippery!

*Lemons do cause photo sensitivity, so don’t apply lemon juice within 24 hours of sun exposure or you’re likely to burn. You can also use food grade lemon essential oil in place of the fresh lemon juice, just make sure the essential oil is organic, food grade is the purest (lemon essential oil is distilled from the rind so any pesticides or fungicides will become highly concentrated). Fresh lemon juice has more active enzymes that will remove dead skin cells to brighten your skin. Lemon essential oil is rich in limonene, found to decrease the incidence of cancer.  You can substitute lemon essential oil for all uses:  1 drop of essential oil, diluted in 1 tsp aloe vera juice or water. Check out this video on 6 of my favorite uses of lemon essential oil.

McCornack, STATUS OF POSTHARVEST FUNGICIDES FOR CITRUS FRUIT1, (229-232).

Therman, Ferrer, Analysis of Postharvest Fungicides and Their Metabolites in Citrus Fruits and Their Juices. www.agilent.com.

Pamper yourself before a special night out, this easy to prepare recipe will remove dead skin cells and leave your skin soft as silk. Blend all the ingredients together until you have a small ball of paste, adding more almond oil as needed. After drying off from a shower or bath, roll the mixture over your entire body, massaging into areas that are dry. You’ll want to cover the skin with a fine layer that will dry pretty quickly. When you are done, brush off the excess with a dry washcloth and your skin will be left glowing!

Ingredients:

1 T ground oatmeal

2 tsp ground almonds

1 tsp dried, ground citrus peel

1 tsp dried, crushed rose petals

1 tsp dried, crushed lavender buds

1 pinch ground clove

1 pinch ground nutmeg

2-3 drops essential oils of choice: sandalwood, myrrh, neroli or lavender

1-2 T almond or sesame oil

This treatment is not one to rush through, it might be something different than anything you’ve ever done before.  Give yourself time to do it when you can enjoy the process and be relaxed. How else do you pamper your skin at home?  I’d love to hear about little luxuries you treat yourself with at home!