Coffee Scrub

This is one of my all time favorite sugar scrubs! I love using sugar scrubs. They are an awesome way to exfoliate your whole body and also moisturize, but if you're like me. Sugar scrubs can be SO expensive at the store and they don't seem to last as long. So why not make your own?! Cheaper and so easy to make! The main ingredient in this specific sugar scrub is coffee. Coffee is amazing in sugar scrubs! I love the benefits coffee grounds have on your skin. The caffeine in coffee is a great use to fight the appearance of cellulite. It smooths and softens your skin, and also evens out the tones of your skin too!

Ingredients:

1 cup of coffee
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of coconut oil
1/4 cup almond oil

Directions:

I love fresh ground coffee but coffee in a can works just as well too!
•Mix coffee and sugars together well in a glass bowl.
•Add your oils and mix well.
•Store in air tight container.
I love using this in the shower while I have conditioner setting in my hair. I also love to use it right before I shave then exfoliate right after to get the rest of the dead skin. :) enjoy! It smells so good!

Coconut oil hair mask

This is something I do on a weekly basis. I love doing hair masks! It has helped keep my split ends down, increased my hair growth, and has made it super shiny and soft! Especially in the summer my hair gets dry and damaged so easily. This helps to keep it nice and healthy! You only need 3 things to do this:

•Coconut oil (I think Trader Joe's has the best kind)
•Hair clip
•Shower cap OR plastic wrap

Steps:

1. Take about a handful of coconut oil. (You can use more or less depending on hair length and thickness)

2. Evenly saturate hair starting from root to tip.  (I think this works best when you bend over so your head is upside down)
3. After your hair is well coated, pull it up in a top knot or however you want to do it so it's out of your face and doesn't touch your clothes.

4. Put shower cap on OR wrap plastic wrap a few times around your hair so that all the hair is covered.

5. Wear for at least an hour to allow it to moisturize. You could even have it in your hair overnight to get deeper moisturizing benefits.
6. After you let it sit rinse hair with warm water and a small amount of shampoo to get the excess oil out.

Ta da! You're gonna love the changes you'll start seeing in your hair!  :)

Court

Brightening lemon facial exfoliator

I've been slacking on my posts! So sorry! This exfoliator I am going to talk about has some awesome benefits for your skin and is very cheap! Exfoliating is extremely important. It helps break down dead skin to help the new healthy skin come to the surface. Exfoliating your skin should only be done once a week. You never want to over exfoliate because that could cause your skin to over produce oil and then your face becomes more oily. No bueno. This exfoliator you'll only need to use lemon and sugar. The lemon juice is a great product for your skin and has amazing health benefits. It brightens your skin, fades age spots and scars, helps acne, and helps to fight wrinkles. I use it all the time! Here are the steps:

Step 1. Pour about a tablespoon of sugar in a bowl and cut your lemon in half.

Step 2. Remove seeds and squeeze a little bit so juice comes to the surface.  (Helps sugar stick a little better) then dip the lemon in the sugar till it sticks

.

Step 3. Rub gently in small circular motions all over your face then rinse with warm water. Pat dry. ALWAYS finish with your favorite moisturizer! 

Hope you love this as much as I do! Have an awesome day!!!

Court

Ispy Glam Bags

This is the perfect thing for all you make up lovers out there! It's affordable, fun, and you get to try full sized name brand samples! It comes on a monthly basis and it's only 10 bucks a month! You set up an account for your Glam Bag and take a beauty quiz. It's a few questions so they can personalize your bag every month. Plus you can earn ipsy points to get more free product. June was my first glam bag and I couldn't wait to get it! In my bag was:

1- Marc Anthony beach spray

2- Nyx butter gloss

3- Be a bombshell mascara

4- DERMAdoctor DD cream

5- Nicka K Shimmer Liner

So many fun products! Excited to try them all and I can't wait for next months! If you want to get your Glam Bag visit

http://www.ipsy.com/r/9skf

20 uses for Coconut oil

I'm sure some of you have heard about coconut oil. It is one of my all time favorite products! I use it for everything. You can buy coconut oil pretty much anywhere.  It'll be with the cooking oil, but my favorite kind is from Trader Joe's and sadly the closest one to me is in Salt Lake :( so I stock up whenever I go! Coconut oil has some amazing uses! Here are 20 uses for Coconut Oil:

• Body moisturizer. Use right after a shower to deeply moisturize skin.

• Hair mask. Softens and strengthens to promote healthy hair growth.  

• Cooking. I love using this to cook with. Trader Joe's has an awesome oil spray too!

• Shaving lotion. Use this instead of shaving cream to get a closer shave and moisturize. 

• Makeup remover. Use to remove eye makeup. Rub onto eyes in circular motion. Remove with cotton ball or tissue.

• Facial exfoliator. Mix with baking soda to exfoliate and moisturize at the same time.

• Diaper rash cream. It's gentle enough for babies and perfect at healing and preventing diaper rash. 

• Massage oil.

• Stretch mark cream. Great at fading and preventing new stretch marks.

• Sunburn Soother. Apply onto sunburn to give it a protective barrier and to begin healing.

• Bug bites. Apply to bug bites to stop itching. 

•Dandruff. Massage onto scalp to exfoliate dandruff and stop itching.

•Wrinkles. Apply to wrinkles to moisturize and firm skin.

• Lip Balm. Coconut has a natural sunscreen. Apply to lips to moisturize and protect.

• Toothpaste. Mix with baking soda and a drop of peppermint oil to clean teeth and freshen breath. 

• Fitness. Helps boost metabolism and improve thyroid function. 

• Eczema. Coconut oil helps with this by taking it internally and also rubbing it on the affected area.

• Spider Veins. You can also take coconut oil internally to help. Also by rubbing on affected area, coconut oil can help to heal the broken capillaries. 

• Acne. Mix with a few drops of tea tree oil to use as a spot treatment to kill acne causing bacteria.

• Kerarosis Pilaris. In addition to exfoliation using coconut helps to prevent those bumps to get smoother skin.

This is just a fraction of things that coconut oil can do. Love this stuff! :)

Charcoal Mask!

This is another great use for Activated Charcoal! It is amazing for your skin. It can draw out toxins and bacteria that cause acne. It also is a light exfoliation to exfoliate the dead skin cells that can give your skin a ruddy or run down appearance. I have seen many charcoal masks out there that range from 6 bucks all the way up to 40 or more. This one is great because you only don't need much and it works very well! You can find Activated Charcoal Capsules at any health foods store. I got mine at Natural Grocers. I also mixed the charcoal with Redmond Clay. It's a Bentonite clay you can find at Shangri la. It's about 8-10 bucks for 10 oz and it lasts forever! Bentonite clay is one of my favorite products. It's made from Volcanic Ash. It is also used to detox and draw out toxins. Bentonite clay is also referred to as healing clay because of all the healing properties it has. It can be used on insect bites, cuts, stings, and burns. It's also used to calm skin irritations such as exema or psoriasis. It's also amazing for internal use to detox. I love it. So for the mask you'll need 2 charcoal capsules and about a tablespoon of clay and a glass or wooden bowl.  (You never ever want to mix products in metal bowls or use metal utinsels, they can affect the products ability to draw out toxins.) I always use a small glass bowl and a popcicle stick. First you'll empty your capsules into the bowl. Then you'll add your clay. I always like to mix that around first before I add the water. After I mix it together I SLOWLY add water and mix till it gets a paste like consistency. Make sure you have cleansed your face before you apply the mask so it goes on evenly. After you apply it on your face wait about 20 min or till it dries. It'll turn grey and your face will feel tight. Rinse with warm water and pat dry. Your skin will feel so smooth and fresh! Always finish with your favorite face moisturizer!  :)

Activated Charcoal Teeth Whitening!

Okay I know what you're thinking. Charcoal can whiten my teeth?! Crazy I know, but it works! This is an awesome way to whiten your teeth and they don't get sensitive! Activated charcoal is similar to common charcoal, To make activated charcoal, manufacturers heat common charcoal in the presence of a gas that causes the charcoal to develop lots of internal spaces or “pores.” These pores help activated charcoal “trap” chemicals. Activated charcoal is mainly used for medicine. It can help absorb poison and help with digestive issues. Externally though, Activated Charcoal is amazing for your skin. (I have a great face mask I'll show later) But right now I'll show you an awesome and easy way to whiten your teeth! I love whitening my teeth. I have spent so much money on whitening strips. 50.00 a box was so expensive and my teeth always got super sensitive when I used them so it was hard to keep doing it. I decided to find other ways that would do just as good to whiten my teeth. I came across activated charcoal and I started to look into it. Of course I had to try it! So first what you'll need is Activated Charcoal Capsules. I got mine at Natural Grocers in Logan. They just opened up by Al's. It was about 9 bucks. You also need a cheap toothbrush which you can get at the dollar store, toothpaste and a paper towel. First you'll open one capsule and dump  the contents onto the paper towel, then you get your toothbrush wet and dip it into the charcoal powder till it sticks to your brush. Then you brush your teeth like you normally would for about 3- 5 min. This part made me super nervous because my teeth were so black!!! I was quite scared that it wouldn't come off.. haha but I promise it does! :) after you are done brushing, rinse really well and then brush your teeth again with toothpaste to make sure you get all the charcoal off and voila!! You are ready to show off your pearly whites :) I would recommend doing this once a week or so to maintain! Yay!

Court

About me

Hi! My name is Courtney Wiley. I have wanted to do a skin care blog for a while, so I figured I'd start now! Here is a little bit about me. I am married to my husband Chris. We have been married a little over two years now! It's been great!  We also have a 15 month old girl named Harper. She is quite the busy girl. I love being a mom. I am also an Esthetician! (Skin care specialist) For as long as I can remember I have always been obsessed with skin care and makeup. I was always buying the newest products and trying the newest things. It never gets old! When I was in high school I wanted to go to cosmetology school so that I could do more with what I loved,  but doing hair was a little intimidating to me. That's when I heard about Esthetics and I started researching and learning more about it and I loved it! Right after I graduated high school I immediately got enrolled and started that fall! I absolutely LOVED school! It was so fun to actually be learning about things that I am so passionate about. After school I had a few Esthetician jobs here and there but now after having a little one I am mainly doing services for family and friends, but I would love to get in the spa setting again! Over the years I have been constantly learning and trying new things. I always love to find awesome things you can do on a budget, so that's why I started this blog so I can share my tips and tricks with you!! :)