Why I love juicing with Flexi Lexi.

Yayyyyyy! Just finishing up my 3 day juice cleanse, literally,  2 more juices to go.

I love juicing (nothing like a freshly pressed juice) but sometimes I really do not feel like pressing juices myself. Call it lazy but if you have ever juiced you know it is messy and the cleanup takes quiet a bit of time, no matter how easy the juicer company promises it to be.

This time I have treated myself to a juice detox with the lovely Alexa Spas the owner of Flexi Lexi an Ottawa business focused on culinary nutrition and juice cleansing.

I absolutely loved the idea of all juices being prepared for me and delivered to my door. Yes, Alexa will press the delicious cleansing juices, all 18 of them and bring them to you. No need to scrub carrots, core apples, dice beets 6 times a day, no need to think which recipes will be the best to include in your juice cleanse... not even a trip to the store to buy all the produce needed...pure cleansing heaven.

Alexa's juices, each of the six you will have every day are very very tasty and there is plenty to satisfy you throughout the day. OK... I had my moments which is also a good reason to go with Flexi Lexi. All of the juices are in your fridge, paid for... so even if the weak moment strikes you will feel you may as well keep going. No easy way out:)

We are coming into a perfect time of the year for a cleanse. If you are feeling sluggish, tired and wanting to get a fresh kick start to healthier eating and a clearer complexion, I highly suggest you get Flexi with Lexi soon. I sure am glad I did.

Thank you Alexa!  I am looking forward to many more of your awesome delicious and nutritious juices:))

How to get in touch with Alexa Spas?

www.flexilexi.ca

https://www.facebook.com/flexilexi

email: hello@flexilexi.ca

For the love of essential oils - Sweet Orange

The scent of orange has uplifting qualities; sweet, fresh, cheerful light and fruity.

Perfect for the 'end of winter blues'.

Think... refreshing aroma of an orange peel.

The essential oil of Sweet Orange (Citrus sinensis) is perfect to improve your mood.

Spray some in your room - mix 15 drops of orange essential oil and distilled water (fill up) in a small 50ml - 100ml spritz bottle.

If used in massage, Sweet Orange essential oil will not only uplift but it will also stimulate lymphatic flow and move fluids (good for cellulite), calm your nervous system, help relax the muscles and stimulate the digestive system.

In skin care I use it sometimes in my bespoke blends for oily skin but be cautious, it can be irritating to the delicate skin of your face.

*Do not apply before sun exposure... it can make your skin photosensitive.

Definitely a great oil to have for the grey, slow days... :-)

Sweet & sensuous vanilla body oil.

It is my daughter Carollyne who turned me on to vanilla ... she loves the scent. Last Christmas I gave her a bottle of hand-crafted (by my own hands) vanilla infused jojoba oil as a gift. I must say as I was preparing this infusion a few weeks before Christmas, I developed a bit of a love affair with it myself. 

I am putting together a new batch and it will be ready in about 4 weeks. Some of it will be available as simple vanilla in jojoba body oil and part of it will serve as a base for more complex formulations.

Vanilla body oil by Woman Divine

Vanilla is a member of the Orchid family. It is valued for its aphrodisiac qualities and you will often find it as an ingredient in sensual body oils and perfume.  Vanilla is believed to stimulate the release of serotonin which triggers feelings of arousal and satisfaction. An idea for Valentine's night... actually any night. 

Vanilla body oil by Woman Divine

Sweet smelling Vanilla is also beautifully soothing and calming for the nervous system. For this purpose it works great in body oils.

If you wish to make your own Vanilla infused oil please use organically sourced vanilla seedpods and carrier oil.

How to infuse vanilla into jojoba oil?

• 3 organic vanilla pods
• l cup of organic jojoba oil
• Cut up vanilla pods into small pieces place in the amber glass and cover it with oil.
• Place on the window sill and let it infuse for the next 3-4 weeks.
• Strain and you are ready to go.

If you like a softer scent, you can always dilute it using more jojoba oil.

If you are not the kind to play with making stuff but would like to have a bottle of organic, beautifully sensuous and relaxing vanilla infused body oil, my batch is brewing as we speak. I will let you know when it is ready... in about four weeks.

This week's intention.

A few drops of oil and two hands, close your eyes, stroke your face kindly with an upward movement... take your time... move slowly noticing both softness and tension under your fingers. Breathe as you go .. in... peace and quiet...  out... stress and tension. Once this week... no thinking just feeling... a moment with yourself :-)

Magdalena xo

Spreading wings...

My daughter just left for a far away trip… strange feeling for a mother to experience her child make a big step into the world… I feel both excited and uneasy at the same time… like the day I dropped her off at daycare for the first time when she was little… a new chapter begins for both of us.

To my daughter and all daughters who are spreading their wings :-)

May you experience the World as a safe place.

May kind people always walk next to you on your path.

May LOVE light your way wherever you go.

Roxana Illuminated Perfume

Yesterday, on my way back from work I found in my mailbox a much anticipated package. A Roxana Illuminated Perfume sampler I ordered had finally arrived.

As soon as I had visited Roxana's blog I had a feeling that this woman was creating something very, very special.

I received nine lovely presented perfume samples, six liquid and three solid. The scents...beautifully balanced, full of depth...I will call it aromatic poetry.

Photo by Roxana Illuminated Perfume

One of them immediately called to me. ROSA solid perfume is mine. "Rosa is a sparkling rose natural perfume unfolding from a green powdery rose bouquet into deep rich rose with wood and earth at the base. It literally blossoms on the skin of the wearer. The climatic ending of the orchestration is a musky wood." It is a composition a Wild Woodland Rose - California Rose - Precious Rose Otto, my beloved Oud and Sandalwood. You could say, I have been waiting for Rosa for many years...truly.

Photo by Roxana Illuminated Perfume

I had almost given up on perfume. Synthetic big brand perfume never appealed to me. It actually gave me headaches and today I still find it offensive when people wear toxic fragrance in public. I have tried a few pseudo 'natural' or 'organic' brands which surely did not list all of their ingredients... based on the negative effect they had on me.

Roxana Illuminated Perfume is made all by hand by Roxana herself using "high grade essences, many of organic and vital origin, obtained exclusively from the plant, mineral, sea and apis kingdoms." 

Roxana's botanical, all natural perfume is beautiful and healing. It is not a type of fragrance you splash on but rather one you anoint with. 

Photo by Roxana Illuminated Perfume

I highly recommend Roxana Illuminated Perfume. I wish for you to find your own scent just like I found my Rosa.

Purchase Roxana Illuminated Perfume

Happy New Year!

Another year is about to end...a few more grey hairs... will keep on colouring... not feeling ready for silver yet. I have been postponing the inevitable for a couple of years but I think 2013 will have to be the year of the eye glasses. Peculiar..., the more my body shows the mark of time the more whole I feel, softer inside and beautiful...comfortable with me..., the way I am.

May 2013 bring you peace, happiness, prosperity and mostly LOVE including the kind you feel for yourself. Happy New Year everyone!

Love,

Magdalena xoxoxo

PS. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your support. I am looking forward to seeing you or hearing from you in 2013. It will be a good year...

Face oil - how to choose the right one for your skin.

Today's market offers a wide selection of face oils but using oil on your face is hardly a new practice.
For ages, women around the World have been using healing vegetable oils to nurture and beautify their skin. The western world is just catching up.
Oils have been part of my personal care for a long time. I believe, I have never purchased a commercial body lotion. It has always been oil. I use oils on my face daily and I find them effective, versatile and simple to use. I also love working with oils and use them in every treatment I offer at my clinic. The healing potential of oils is greatly underestimated and commonly not known.
Oils are beautiful; various in colour, texture and scent. They also differ in their healing profiles and biochemical makeup. 
I would like to encourage you to give oils a try. But before you run out to buy one lets see which oil will benefit your particular skin type the most.
One more thing; there are many oil blends by various skin care companies on the market. To start with, explore pure organic cold pressed vegetable oils also known as base or carrier oils like: Rosehip, Argan and such. I believe you will like them a lot. Once you get a feel for base oils, the next step will be to add essential oils. At that point you will be able to affect much more than the health of your skin with your face oils.  Another time about this....

DRY SKIN loves oil and can benefit from a variety of oils.
Apricot kernel
Argan
Camellia
Sesame
Rosehip

MIXED/COMBINATION SKIN does not like the oily feeling, yet it can benefit from oils like:
Camellia
Meadowfoam
Jojoba
Coconut

OILY SKIN will benefit from oils which help to balance the excessive production of sebum.
Grape seed
Hazelnut
Jojoba

AGING SKIN is still either dry, sensitive or on the oily side so follow one of the above suggestions.

You can use oils daily instead of a moisturizer, as an addition to a moisturizer and/or to massage your face and neck at least once a week. Organic and cold pressed is always the way to go.
Are you using oils already? It would be great to hear about your experiences.

Simple oat scrub for dry and sensitive skin.

The cold weather is here, the heat is on and your skin might have just started feeling a bit too dry and dehydrated. This is a very simple scrub for dry and sensitive skin (not the best for oily) which will help gently exfoliate dead skin cells without stripping the protective acid mantle.

The acid mantle is a very fine, slightly acidic film on the surface of the skin acting as a barrier to bacteria, viruses and other potential contaminants that might penetrate the skin. It is secreted by sebaceous glands. The pH of the skin is between 4.5 and 6.2, so it is acidic. These contaminants and other chemicals are primarily alkaline in nature and the skin's moderate acidity helps to neutralize their chemical effects.

You can create it from the stuff that is already in your kitchen, literally for pennies. I think everyone ought to know how to utilize simple home ingredients to create beauty care products, from high end skin care divas to women who love the simplicity, purity and creativity which comes with concocting your own stuff.  It comes in very handy in many situations. Even if you are a lover of brand products, you never know...You may run out of your favorite product and need to exfoliate like, NOW, or maybe your wallet is a bit thin these days. If you are an 'earthy beauty' I do not need to convince you.  

Simple steel cut oat which you use to cook porridge is a great exfoliating agent. When prepared properly it will softly clear your face of dry and flaky skin and it will leave it glowing.
HEALING PROPERTIES OF OAT:
helps to soften the skin
anti-inflamatory
soothing
helps to relieve itchiness
*high in silica
The quality of oat is: warm, moist and sweet; ideal for dryness.
Oatmeal can be used as a poultice for skin conditions like eczema, cold sores and shingles.

Many skin care companies use oat as the base for their scrubs and exfoliating creams. Now you can experiment with your own.

I use organic steel cut oats which I buy at my local health food store.
First, the very simple version. All you need to do is:
throw a handful of steel cut organic oats in a blender and take it for a spin until it turns into powder
sift it to remove any leftover large pieces
place in a jar
you are ready to go
use after cleansing 2x a week
grab about 1tsp and mix it with water forming a soft paste in your hand
work it all over your face and neck
rinse and apply your moisturizer or face oil

You can up the healing properties of this scrub by adding 1Tbsp of dried Calendula flower petals. You would place the petals and oat together in the blender and follow through, the same as you did with the simple version of this scrub. 

Calendula is just one possibility. You could use rose, lavender or echinacea. Have fun with it...

Calendula - the soothing flower for your skin.

Today I was playing with Calendula flowers. I was simply making tea for myself but when I poured hot water over dry Calendula flowers, magic happened. My cup of Marigold tea has turned into a 'poetic thing', kind of sort of... :) I took some pictures... hope you like them.

I use Calendula officinalis (Marigold) on a daily basis. This flower is very well suited for sensitive skin and skin inflammation due to infection or physical irritation. It can also be used on wounds, bleeding, bruises... Herbalists often use it as the key ingredient in healing skin ointments.
I prepare a Calendula infusion every morning and use it as a soothing hydrating mist or as an addition to the raw sensitive skin masks I create throughout the day. 
I also use Calendula infused oil for facial massage in face masks and in face oil blends.
Powdered Calendula flowers can be added to ground up oatmeal, to form a lovely home made face scrub.
Calendula tea makes a good remedy for indigestion,  gall-bladder and liver problems, gastric and duodenal ulcers as well as for menopausal problems and menstrual pains. Some herbalists say it also supports healthy lymphatic function.

Herbal tea:

(daily dose)
2-4 tsp of dry organic Calendula flowers 
or 4-8 tsp of fresh flowers
500ml of (purified) water just off the boil 
steep for 10-15min 
strain
drink 3 times a day hot or cool 
*use your tea as a wash for sensitive skin 
place it in a spray bottle and mist onto your skin

Infused oil:

(yes, you can make it yourself)

pack a jar tightly with calendula flowers (fresh is better but dry will do)
completely cover with oil (organic cold pressed virgin olive oil or sunflower oil) 
put the lid on 
leave on the sunny window sill for two weeks
strain 
repeat the steps using once infused oil and a new batch of fresh herbs
leave on the sunny window sill for two more weeks
strain
store in the amber bottle away from light and heat

I must say, I am mesmerized by the flowers which became the essence of my tea. How beautiful... I am drinking it thinking some of their beauty will surely rub off on me:)