Forgive the cliché, but every year when the snow melts and the Earth shows us little hints of green, I cannot help but look forward to new beginnings, new life, and a fresh start. For the purposes of this blog, we will say that for us, from a beauty perspective, a fresh start means sloughing off the old, sad, dull winter complexion and revealing fresh, firm, rosy skin from head to toe. I plan to invigorate every inch of my delicious body with products from the Crystal Hills Organics line. Additionally, I am going to experiment with natural beauty recipes for the face and body and share these recipes and the results with my readers. I am hopeful that you will have some fun with…
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Crystal Love Sugar Scrubby organicwellness
Crystal Moon Goddess Body Serumby organicwellness
Crystal Love Body Serumby organicwellness
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Holiday Decorating
Holiday Decorating The holiday season is upon us. The stores are full of all things Christmas. It can be overwhelming, so I thought I’d let you in on a few of my favourite things in holiday decor. Lit Birch Trees I am a sucker for the lit birch trees by Restoration Hardware. Other brands offer similar trees in different price ranges. These are a holiday staple for me. I use them inside and out and I think they look best when they are done in groupings. I like to nestle bunches of poinsettias at their base. It is such an elegant touch. White Lights I like crisp and clean – white lights always work. The coloured ones just don’t do it for me. I also…
Goddess Spotlight – Kristina Matisic
Goddess Spotlight: Kristina Matisic Who could be better suited to be our first Goddess than the lovely Kristina Matisic. She perfectly portrays the modern-day Goddess: when you are in her presence, you can see her inner light shining brightly. She is a beautiful, motivated, compassionate, kind-hearted, and successful woman. I asked Kristina some questions about herself so that we could find out a bit more about her with the hope of inspiring and empowering all of us to live our most brilliant life. Let’s all Shine Bright and Be Amazing. How did you get started in your career? I got a lucky break at the Squamish, BC radio station Mountain FM. I had just finished journalism school in LA and had moved back to Vancouver…
Goddess Spotlight
Goddess Spotlight I wanted to create the Goddess Spotlight to inspire women to awaken their inner goddess and let their inner light shine. I would love it if we could all feel like we were in a state of enchantment that allowed us to feel beautiful, sensual, confident, passionate, and empowered; where we all felt valued, cherished, and loved while expressing our inner truth. At some point in our lifetime, we all go through tribulations where our strength and resilience are tested. It allows us to rise up and determine what we are made of. It helps us to learn that we are worthy of respect and love. This has certainly happened to me: I have been faced with challenges and had to decide…
Matcha Green Tea
My friend Mary was born in Japan. Everything about her is exotic, and she exudes natural beauty and good health. I asked her one day if she knows of any at-home beauty tricks that women in Japan use, and she said to me, “Nicole, it all begins with matcha.” Mary’s recommendation is to drink at least one full serving of matcha green tea powder per day, dissolved in hot water, as you would an instant coffee beverage. She swears that the potency and benefits of this daily beverage are unparalleled. Matcha tea is different from regular brewed green tea because matcha powder is composed of straight stoneground tea leaves. Drinking a single serving of matcha gives you the equivalent benefits of drinking ten cups…
DIY Strawberry Sugar Scrub
DIY Strawberry Sugar Scrub Strawberries are a good source of vitamin C, folic acid and dietary fibre. They are sweet, delicious, and satisfying to eat. Their nutritional qualities, which nourish our bodies from the inside, combined with their unique acidic nature, which beautifies our skin from the outside, lets them do double duty as a great food and DIY beauty product ingredient. During the summer, we show more of our legs and feet. This recipe is for a leg and foot scrub that will slough off dead skin cells, rejuvenate your tough skin, and enable your moisturizer, sunscreen, and body serum to penetrate fully and work as best they can. You will need 1 cup of ripe fresh strawberries and 1 cup sugar. The rest…
Radiate a Healthy Glow with this DIY Peach Facial Mask
Peaches are a wonderful gift from nature. During the summer months, we can enjoy them as a snack, for dessert, and of course as part of a DIY skin treatment. The best time to make this mask is when you have a lovely peach that is fully ripe and appropriately juicy; even a touch overripe will do. The key is that the peach needs to have an aroma when you sniff it, and the flesh needs to have flavor and depth. For this mask, you will need: 1 ripe, fresh peach ¾ cup plain, nonfat Greek yogurt ¼ c. whole oats 1 teaspoon raw honey ½ teaspoon organic vanilla extract Blend all the ingredients together. Apply about ¼ cup of the mixture to your face,…
Regaining my Inner Balance
Regaining My Inner Balance Like most busy moms, I am constantly on the go. It takes a lot of work to pack up the kids and all their supplies for the day. However, I consider myself to be lucky as I can usually fit in some kind of “me” time on most days, such as gym time, tennis, lunch or coffee with a friend, or some quick shopping. Since the mornings are so busy, most days I am lucky to get a five-minute shower and quickly put on mascara and lip gloss before heading out the door. A typical day for me means that I can have either good hair, good makeup, or a good outfit: two out of three means I am meeting a…
Crystal Hills Open House
Andrea has been talking about her Crystal Hills products in development for a long time. I knew that I would enjoy using her products, and I knew that they would be nice and feminine and fancy, but I had no idea how marvelous they would actually be. On June 3, 2016, Andrea invited me to a Crystal Hills Open House at her laboratory in Kelowna. First of all, it is not just a laboratory: the facility is perched on an idyllic hillside, overlooking her organic vineyard and herb garden, adjacent to a peaceful pond, tennis courts and a sprawling house and pool that looks more like an oasis than anything else. The interior of the lab also surprised me, with glass jars containing crystals, herbs and other organic…
History and Use of Sodium Bicarbonate
History and Use of Sodium Bicarbonate Sodium bicarbonate, also known as baking soda or sodium hydrogen carbonate, is a crystalline solid. Baking soda is not to be confused with baking powder which is a mixture: baking soda is pure. Most of its use is in a fine powder form. Sodium Bicarbonate is one of the ingredients incorporated into Crystal Dreams Bath Salts. In water, sodium bicarbonate forms a mildly alkaline solution. Benefits of alkaline water include helping the body to cleanse efficiently by detoxifying the skin. The detoxification process leads the body to remove wastes and other toxins, which ultimately has a rejuvenating effect on the skin. History Sodium bicarbonate has a rich history, extending thousands of years into our past. Ancient Egyptians used natural…