DIY Raspberry Lemon Sugar Scrub - Handmade Bridesmaid Gift Idea

Well, I promised you all some more DIY Wedding stuff! I made this delicious homemade raspberry lemon sugar scrub as part of my bridesmaids' gifts goody bags. (I'll be sharing more of those soon as well). It's a beautiful happy color pink, it's moisturizing, and it smells amaaaaaaazing (seriously - good enough to eat)! Oh, and it's super quick and easy to make!

Now of course, it's not strictly wedding related, but it's the reason it came about, so it is to me. I love the idea of using this homemade scrub for any gift giving occasion, and it's definitely great as part of a gift basket (filled with other homemade goodies, of course!) Hostess gifts, baby shower gifts, etc. etc., it's perfect, right??

And if you want to make it extra special, see below for info on etching a monogram right onto the glass jar!

DIY Raspberry Lemon Sugar Scrub

DIY Patriotic Manicure - With Foil Stars and Glitter Glue!

Happy Fourth of July, everyone! I have to admit this wasn't a planned post. I just woke up this morning and thought, darn it! I wanna do something FUN today. So I decided to do a little patriotic nail art with what I had available...which turned out to be some aluminum foil, some glitter glue, and a little bit of nail polish. Hmmm, well, you know what? It turned out pretty great if I do say so myself, and I didn't have to make a run to the store, so in my book, that makes it 10x more awesome :)

I also made it into my very first video for my new YouTube channel, which is something I have been wanting to do for a while. (I keep my other channel specifically for jewelry making tutorials, so random fun things like funky nail art designs and other such distractions don't exactly fit in, I think?) So yeah. 15 hours later, here is the finished post and edited video. And there goes my 4th of July, LOL!

How to Achieve Perfectly Polished Complexion - Simple DIY Microdermabrasion Treatment

If you've ever indulged in a microdermabrasion treatment at a spa or a really good microdermabrasion home treatment system, you are probably aware of all the benefits in using these products; wonderfully soft, smooth skin and a gorgeous healthy glow.

If you have never experienced microdermabrasion or are unaware exactly what it means, I'll tell you briefly so we can get to the good stuff!

Microdermabrasion is basically a fancy word for a very fine exfoliant, much finer than your typical face scrubs which can have pretty large grains. The finer grains slough off more dead and dying skin cells to reveal the newer, more vibrant layer of skin below. It's this fresh new skin that tends to 'glow'.

Normal face scrubs achieve the same thing, to an extent, but the difference is much like the comparison between using very rough and very fine sandpaper. The rough stuff certainly works to scratch up the surface, but the finer stuff achieves a nice, smooth, polished finish.

One problem with these microdermabrasion productss is that they can be pretty expensive ($50 and way up for an average of 2.5 oz), and the other is that they can contain a lot of chemicals and toxic ingredients!

So I'm going to share my secret all natural DIY microdermabrasion recipe with you! Ok, it's not really a secret, and it's not really a recipe. It's too easy for that!

I like to call this stuff my "Face Polish," and after you try it for the first time you'll see why! Let me put it this way....when I first tried it and I asked my fiancé to touch my face and see if he could feel a difference, I ended up

yelling at him to "STOP TOUCHING MY FACE!!!! later that same evening. Of course, I couldn't stop it either, but still. LOL!

DIY Ultra Moisturizing Hair and Face Mask

I've been doing a lot of research lately on DIY hair and facial treatments, trying to find easy recipes that will yield good results. (Yes, I have become slightly more vain of late as my wedding date nears; only 4 months...eeek!) I found lots of great recipes for each, but in an effort to remain frugal with both money and time as well as 100% natural & chemical free, I wanted to see if I could come up with a recipe that would work for BOTH my hair and my face to have me looking so shiny and smooth that people will think to themselves, "Oh my, she's too YOUNG to be getting married. For shame!" (Heheheh. I'm 35 :)

I researched lots of ingredients that kept popping up and built this concoction based on maximum effect for both applications with the fewest number of ingredients and minimum effort. I decided on Avocado Oil instead of the actual fruit for having so many benefits for both skin and hair but longer lasting (for storage purposes) and without the lumpy consistency of guacamole.

I have been using this recipe regularly for 3 and a half months now, and am confident that both my hair and skin have proven it worthy of being shared!

How to Make Your Own Ultra - Moisturizing Hair and Face Mask

INGREDIENTS:
• 2 TBSP Organic Avocado Oil
• 1/2 cup Homemade Mayonnaise* (see recipe below) or Organic Mayonnaise
• 1 TBSP Organic Raw Honey

To Make Homemade Mayonnaise:

Mix one organic (preferably pasteurized) egg yolk with 1/2 cup organic olive oil in a bowl and whisk until it looks like mayonnaise! 

*Note: This homemade mayonnaise recipe is meant for beauty recipes so it won't have much of a flavor at all. You'd need to add a few more ingredients to make this actually taste like the mayo we all know :)

DIY Lemon Butter Lip & Skin Balm in Altoids Tins

This rich Lemon Butter Balm is amazing and extremely versatile. You can use it as a lip balm, cuticle cream, moisturizer for hands, feet, elbows, knees, body, etc. It is deeply moisturizing and will do wonders for your winter dry skin, and it has a lovely subtle scent, which reminds me of honey lemon tea. 

Of course you can play around with the 'flavors' by adding essential oils to the mix. I really only used the lemon extract because I had it on hand and didn't have any lemon essential oil around, which would have made for a stronger scent (you would probably only need several drops instead of 2 tsp of extract).

I poured mine into Altoids tins because I happened to have a giant stash saved up (I used to keep them for jewelry making supplies...back when my stock was small enough to fit in these tiny containers :). Plus I thought they'd be kinda cool and they're the perfect size to stash in your purse!

Mint Chocolate Chip Manicure: DIY Nail Art

This is going to sound crazy, but I actually was inspired to try this manicure by my favorite flavor of ice cream. I have a lovely mint colored polish, which I used last week in my Mint and White Chevron Manicure (so I guess I have mint on the brain...), and I have a cool glittery black polish...and I thought hmmm, I wonder if I can recreate that look?

Anyway, as kooky as it seems, I was determined to try it. I thought it would make for an edgy funky look that was exactly what I was in the mood for. I think I like it! Of course, this technique can be used in any combination of colors, so if you're not a fan of mint chocolate chip don't let that stop you!

This technique is especially awesome for covering up a marred mani; you know, stupid sheet marks or fingerprints in your polish...? I know it all too well. This is a pretty easy quick fix so you don't have to start all over again!

Want to try it? Here's how!

TOOLS & SUPPLIES:

• 2 colors nail polish
• clear top coat nail polish
• plastic wrap / cling film
• small paint brush or q-tip

• nail polish remover

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.) First paint your nails as you normally would with two coats of the color you want to use as your base. (I used Essie Mint Candy Apple). Let this dry completely. Overnight is best, but at least let the polish cure for several hours.

2.) When your nails are dry, crumple your piece of cling film up into a little ball. Use your accent color (mine is Pure Ice: Electric!) to paint on the wrinkled surface, sporadically, as shown below.

3.) Press the painted plastic wrap onto each nail, one or two times (moving slightly each time) in a stamping or blotting motion. Add more paint to the plastic as necessary. I think I only reapplied once, after the first hand was complete.

4.) When all nails have been 'stamped', discard the plastic wrap and allow your nails to dry completely.

5.) In the meantime, you can take care of any mess you made; Dip a small paintbrush or q-tip in nail polish remover and clean up around your nails any polish that got on your skin and cuticles.

6.) Finish the manicure with one or two coats of the clear top coat of choice.

7.) Enjoy your funky new nail art and get ready for compliments!

More Like This:

Mint and White Chevron Nail Art Mani 

Stars and Stripes Patriotic Nail Art Mani

 

DIY Minty Fresh Chevron Manicure

I've been having some fun with trying my hand at nail art recently. I LOVE the way my Stars and Stripes Manicure turned out for the 4th of July, so this time I thought I'd play around with some of the things I've been seeing a lot of lately; chevrons and the mint and white color combo. I pictured this as a perfectly summery manicure, and I was right. I like the way this one turned out too!  

TOOLS & SUPPLIES:

• 2 colors nail polish
• clear top coat nail polish
• sticky labels
• ruler / straight edge
• pencil / pen
• scissors
• toothpick (optional)
• tweezers (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

First paint your nails as you normally would with two coats of the color you want to use as your base. (I used Essie Mint Candy Apple). Let this dry completely. Overnight is best, but at least let the polish cure for several hours so you don't mar the surface.

Next, cut a strip of sticky label about 1 inch wide and 5 or 6 inches long (depending on how many stripes you want to make, and how thick). 

Use the ruler to find the midpoint and mark it, then draw a straight line up the middle of the length of the strip. 

Draw a line from one of the corners to meet the midline at an angle of your choice. The more sharp the angle, the more dramatic. Draw a similar line from the other corner to complete a triangle.

Decide how thick you want your strips to be. Remember, the strips represent the negative space, or the base color that you have already painted on your nails.

Copying the angle of the first chevron, draw your lines the rest of the way up the strip. I just eyeballed it but you could use a ruler, or even cut the first piece off and use it as a template to trace.

Cut all your chevrons out before you move on and start painting. I used 2 on each nail, so I cut 20 strips.

Peel the back of one of your chevron pieces and place it on the nail as near to center as possible and press down firmly. Make sure the point is stuck down well, and that the part of the strip that overlaps is pressed down into the cuticle. You can use a toothpick to help push it down into the crease.

Apply all the strips to all your nails before you begin painting so you don't have to fiddle with peeling the backs of the labels with wet nails (please...learn from my mistake :)

Paint two coats of your accent color (I used OPI Alpine Snow), painting over the label. Paint normally, along the length of the nail as if the stickers weren't even there; it's too awkward to paint side to side and you can get strange streaks.

Remove the labels while the nail polish is still wet. I use tweezers to grab the ends and pull them off to prevent ruining the finish.

When the second color has dried, finish with one or two coats of a clear top coat of choice.

That's it! I hope you'll give this a try and have fun playing around with different colors. Which ones will you try first?

Want to learn some more nail art tricks? See my Stars and Stripes Manicure and my "Mint Chocolate Chip" Nail Art Tutorial for some new techniques!

DIY Stars and Stripes Patriotic 4th of July Manicure

TOOLS & SUPPLIES:

• 2 colors nail polish (I used Alpine Snow and OPI Red )
• clear top coat nail polish
• Star paper punch (1/4" size)
• sticky labels
• scissors
• toothpick (optional)
• tweezers (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

First paint your nails as you normally would with two coats of the color you want to use as your base. (I used OPI Red). Let this dry completely. Overnight is best, but at least let the polish cure for several hours so you don't mar the surface.

For the Stars, use the star punch to punch out as many as you think you may want to use from your sticky sheet label. We are going to use the negative shapes as a stencil.

The label sheet I am using is actually the scrap from when I print my shipping labels...you know I don't like to waste things!

Use the scissors to cut tabs around the stars, long enough so they will overhang the end of your nail for easy removal after painting.

Remove the back from the label and place the tab where you want to create your star shape on the nail. I liked mine off-center.  Be sure that the label is stuck firmly to your fingernail, especially around the points of the star.  Use the toothpick to press it down all around the edges of the star if you need to.

Please note: this is the order in which I did things, but I would actually recommend doing all the cutting and placing of labels on all your nails before you paint your second color. I ruined a couple of my stars while messing with scissors, etc. and had to start over!

Use your accent color to paint inside the star shape, two coats (the color I used is OPI Alpine Snow). Peel off the label while the polish is still wet. If you need to, you can use the toothpick to straighten any crooked points on the star. Mine needed a little help, but not bad for a first try!

For the stripes, cut thin strips in the label as even as possible. Make them long enough to overlap your cuticle and hang off the end of your nail.

I started with one stripe on my pointer finger, mainly because I wanted to test the technique and see how it looked. I thought I would add more afterwards, but it doesn't really make sense to paint one stripe at a time... and anyway, I liked it with just one, so I kept it!

If you want 3 stripes on one nail, you will need 4 strips since we're using the space between them for our accent color.

Peel the back off the label and place the strips on your fingernail, as straight as possible and spaced according to the thickness of stripes you want.

Paint between the lines using your accent color, two coats, and peel the strips off while the polish is still wet. Tweezers come in helpful here for peeling off very thin strips without smudging the fresh paint.

Again, use the toothpick to clean up any edges - it can remove paint that goes outside the lines, or dip in polish and use a tiny bit to fill in any spots missed inside the lines.

Allow to dry, then finish with one to two coats of clear top coat nail polish.

That's it! I hope you had fun reading this and got some ideas for your own nail art DIY manicures, whether it's for the Fourth of July or not! The possibilities are endless, why not see what you can dream up?

Feeling inspired by Independence Day? Try these Ten Fabulous Fun 4th of July craft tutorials too!

                                                                                                  

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