It is said, that you first must let go of the old, to make way for the new. It’s time to do this for your body.

To start the new year fresh, with a high-functioning, clear and nouished body, a therapeutic detox bath is the answer.  The skin is the largest organ of ingestion. The body can easily assimilate the beneficial nutrients added to the bath water through the herbs, oils and salts. This bath will cleanse the body of toxins stored over the course of everyday living, and replenish and recharge with vital nutrients thus clearing the way for better balance.

The recipe for the bath is simple. Just combine one cup of epsom salts with two cups of baking soda. We add essential oils (grapefruit, rosemary, fennel and juniper) and some Magnesium oil, a critical mineral for nerve and muscle function. If those ingredients aren’t easily available, below are some suggestions for effective variations found in your kitchen.

The water for this bath should be drawn very hot. Stay in the bath as long as you can, keeping the water hot. Soak up the goodness and let go of the rest.  If possible, you should detox bathe twice in the same day. Be sure to drink plenty of water throughout the day.

Related posts:

1. Blue Ribbon Bath Bomb ~ Bath-On-A-Stick by bodylish
2. Making PEACE Bath Bombs at Byerly’s Ridgedale Today
3. PRESS RELEASE: Bath-on-a-stick Joins The Minnesota State Fair

I love essential oils … the composition and natural characteristics of the flower, shrub, tree, or root from which the essence is distilled offers skin loving nutrients and natural healing properties. They are highly concentrated, not oily, and contain the natural components and benefits of the plant. These attributes have helped the plant survive and defend itself against the elements, and are powerful forces. Essential oils have been used for centuries in beauty and health recipes. They are amazingly diverse and vary in smell, texture, viscosity, and beneficial properties. They provide the best nature can offer for youthful skin and they can do this by helping your skin generate new skin cells at a quicker rate.

We just made a Winter Face Oil (for added protection from the dry Minnesota Winter) that I also use as an after shave.  My skin soaks it up quickly, and it soothes the razor burn as it nourishes my skin. It can be easily reproduced at home.

Recipe:  In a one ounce bottle with a Rose Hip Seed Oil base, combine essential oils; Three drops Sandalwood, three drops Rose Absolute, three drops Hyssop, three drops Chamomile German, ten drops Evening Primrose, and five drops of Carrot healing oil.

It’s the best after shave I’ve used because it smells good and it gives my skin fresh plant essences and nothing artificial. If you want us to mix you up a bottle, just comment to this post, or send us an email and we’ll get one out to you!

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1. Coffee Break for Tired Feet

In salute to all those hard working feet out there, bodylish will include a STAND ON LOTUS flowering foot fizz with every order until May 15!

Whew, what a weekend. Who knew that mid-April in Minnesota means head to the garden? You’ve got to make hay when the sun is shining, as my ancestral farmers proclaimed, and we listened. A weekend of great gardening weather wreaks havoc on a body after a Minnesota winter and it’s time to give my feet a COFFEE BREAK.

The feet are often forgotten. They work tirelessly for a body, and get very little tender loving attention. Here’s a perk that’s sure to work, and you likely have everything you need.

Gather these things:

• 1/4 cup sea salt
• 1 tbl freshly ground coffee beans
• 1 tbl ground vanilla beans
• 1/4 cup oil (olive or almond)
• 1 pot of coffee, at room temperature
• whipped cream

Then just follow these steps:

1. Mix salt, coffee and vanilla beans and oil in a bowl.
2. Pour the pot of coffee in a basin and add the whipped cream.
3. Place feet in the basin and soak for about 10 minutes.
4. Rub feet and calves with a scoop of the salt mixture, concentrating on callused areas.
5. Rinse feet with warm water, dry them lightly with a towel, and follow up with a hydrating moisturizer.

The caffeine in the coffee reduces redness and swelling, and the salt, coffee grinds and vanilla beans – along with the lactic acid (in the whipped cream) - are all natural exfoliants.

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1. Lotion Making Day
2. Beauty Through Essence

I am a firm believer in a positive attitude. In fact, when life gives me anything , I try to consider it a gift and I imagine the possibilities. Well, life can be tough, and I’ve been given a lot of lemons lately. That won’t stop me from feeling good and having fun. It just so happens, lemons have a lot of potential. Here’s what I came up with:

1. Cooking with lemon

The possibilities for using lemon in cooking are endless. Lemonade, of course, is one possibility (add a little mint or basil and you have yourself a gourmet treat). I almost always have a lemon available for whipping up a batch of my handmade mayo that leaves a lasting impression on the eater of any sandwhich made at my house.

2. Cleaning with lemon

Yep, it’s true. Lemons aren’t just for the kitchen. Lemons can be used in cleaning to cut grease, deodorize, bleach stains and disinfect. You can add two tablespoons of borax, 1/4 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice, and 2 cups hot water to a spray bottle to make an all natural, non-toxic, highly effective all-purpose cleaner.

3. Lemon in body care

Ah, how I love the benefits of lemon in body care. It pulls toxins from the body in a bath, deeply cleanses the pores when used in a face mask (mixed with honey), and is great for zapping oily skin and acne spots. If you drink a glass of water a day with freshly squeezed juice from half a lemon every day for a month, you will not only loose weight, your complexion will be the envy of all who know you. 

Many bodylish products contain the essential oil of lemon. One of my favorites is the FarmHand liquid soap. We use an essential oil blend of lemon, basil and rosemary in this capable and dependable liquid soap and it remains a best seller on the bodylish menu.

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1. Therapeutic Detox Bath

This bomb says it all. No need for words.  It is made to gently caress and moisture kiss every body, with a combination of honey, avocado oil and sandalwood powder. Prepare to be loved from head to toe and to leave the bath smelling good and feeling silky. This bomb will posses your heart.

Dry Ingredients: Sift dry ingredients in large bowl and set aside.

• 4 cups baking Soda
• 2 cups citric acid
• 2 cups arrowroot powder (corn starch will work as well)
• ¼ cup honey powder (arrowroot powder can be substituted for the honey powder)
• 1 tsp. red sandalwood powder (or dry colorant)

Wet Ingredients: Mix wet ingredient in a glass jar and mix well before adding to dry ingredients.

• 5 Tbl. sweet almond oil (any oil can be used here, including olive oil)
• 5 Tbl. avocado oil (any oil can be used here, including olive oil)
• 3 Tbl. distilled water (for a special treat I sometime substitute a floral water such as rose water or lavender water)
• 1 tsp. borax
• 1 tsp. EO blend (we use a bodylish blend of sandalwood, rosewood, ylang ylang, and patchouli)

Directions: Slowly drizzle wet ingredients into dry ingredients while constantly mixing.  Try not to let it fizz up too much.  When mix is slightly sticky and dry, gently push into mold filling each half then pressing together.  Holding one end of the mold in the palm of your hand, slightly tap the mold to release the bomb.  Repeat on other side. Place on cookie sheet and let cure for a few hours or overnight.

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1. When Life Gives You Lemons

Today is the big day.  It is the relaunch of bodylish.com into a whole new way of doing business. Our little company is growing up fast!  We are so proud.  In honor of this we have shot our inaugural video, I’ll be making the bodylish favorite … the I (heart) You Bath Bomb.  (Aww … how sweet).  Jay (my chief technical officer and partner in all things bodylishious) will be behind the camera and I will be front and center.

In some ways I’m nervous about the first video and I wonder what I’m going to say and how it will look … in other ways I don’t think I’m nervous enough.  This seems to be my way about the world, I jump in first and figure it out as I go (it’s worked for me for this long).  Don’t tell me if it looks silly, I only want the good news.

Because you care enough to be here reading this, and because I am willing to divulge my bodylish life to all of my closest friends (and fans) let’s meet here, at bodylish.com and watch as life unfolds.  I promise to share the good and the bad, the fun times and the rough … I plan to provide tips and recipes, resources and links and all things that make life a little better in the living.

Here at bodylish, we believe in savoring every moment.  You can start by taking a bath.

I Heart You Bath Bomb from bodylish on Vimeo.

The first video from bodylish! Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Heart Recipe
2. Blue Ribbon Bath Bomb ~ Bath-On-A-Stick by bodylish
3. PRESS RELEASE: Bath-on-a-stick Joins The Minnesota State Fair