Yes, beauty products good enough to eat!

It recently occurred to me that my line up of beauty products are all in the food family. They're all made from natural ingredients that are mostly edible, and free of chemical additives, just the way I like my food. I've been reading a lot lately about the chemical additives in most commercial beauty products, so being that these are all really nice products and completely natural, I thought others might enjoy trying them, too.

Here's my favorites and how I use them:

South of France - Lemon Verbena Soap
This is the only soap I use and I even take a half a bar with me now when I travel. Southern France is famous for it's fine quality natural soaps and this one smells so fresh and natural.

Lush - Dream Cream 
I use this lotion from head to toe. While Lush does have many choices, I find this cream to be my all-purpose favorite. It provides moisture without being overly greasy or heavy.

If you haven't been into a Lush store and experienced their hand treatment then these next two products, combined with the Dream Cream, are all that you'll need:
Lush - Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter
Lush -Ocean Salt Cleanser
Apply about a tsp of the Lemony Flutter and work into your cuticles and hands. Then add a scoop of the Ocean Salt scrub and rub that in for a few more minutes. Rinse and apply Dream Cream.  Your hands will thank you and you can use this same treatment for your feet. They'll probably thank you, too.

A few birthdays ago, a friend and I treated ourselves to a day at the Mandarin Oriental Spa in Boston. It was beyond incredible, so do try it if you have the chance. They use the Aromatherapy Associates products which are just lovely. One of my treatments was a body exfoliation where they mixed the body wash below with the exfoliating grains.
My skin felt so good that I immediately purchased the two products and have been hooked ever since:
Aromatherapy Associates - De-Stress Body Wash
Aromatherapy Associates - Natural Exfoliating Grains (crushed olive pits)
While I don't have a masseuse at home to give me the full body exfoliation, I do manage to exfoliate pretty well on my own. This combo is especially great for your feet during the summer months.

My daughter introduced me to Melt during a recent trip to the mall. All their products are handmade in Colorado. No crazy chemicals added. Well, being the foodie that I am it's probably no surprise that I fell in love with this product:
Melt - Adriatic Fig Body Butter
It's great for hands, feet and elbows. This one smells so good that you might be tempted to take a bite out of it. Enjoy these natural products and  I'd love to hear about some of your favorites.

Heathful food choices and the power of example

As a parent, I always strive to provide the healthiest diet possible for my daughter. When she was a baby we had a lovely Greek woman taking care of her who insisted that we give her only fresh food. No Gerber's out of the jar for Ally...Maria would not stand for that, and  I agreed with her. So when it was time for solid food we just mashed up whatever we were eating. Does this guarantee that your child will eat everything you put in front of them as they get older? No, but I do think that the more healthful food choices they are exposed to, the better their diet will be over the long haul. You feel better when you eat good food and they have experienced that feeling firsthand. So when Ally has had an overload of sweets, or other less healthful choices, she often requests "healthy food" to get her back on track.
Yesterday afternoon I prepared a snack of Greek yogurt, (Maria would be thrilled) blueberries, a little bit of maple syrup, almonds, and two McVitie's Digestive biscuits:

And lo and behold look what Ally made for herself today:

It's wonderful to see the power of example in action. This makes a great snack for all you big kids out there, too. Enjoy!