Cleaning Tip of the Month
Microwave Your Sponge to Kill Germs!
I’ve always loved the convenience of the kitchen sponge. Scrubby on one side, absorbent on the other, they make for a wonderfully simple cleaning solution, especially in the kitchen. They are also little germ incubators. The water and warmth are perfect breeding grounds for all those germs they help clean up. It has always been recommended that you throwaway the sponges after about 1 weeks use, this has always seemed wasteful to me. So, I avoided using them, until now.
Scientists have discovered an easy solution to this problem! Yea, science! Simply wet your sponge and microwave your sponge for two minutes on high. Poof! Ready to use again!
If you’d like to both freshen and kill germs, simply soak the sponge in a baking soda and water solution and then rinse, before “nuking” the sponge. It takes away the stinky smell and kills the germs, problem solved.
Have a cleaning tip you'd like to share? Submit it here and if we use it, you'll recieve a free Now 7 Zen Bathworks product!
What’s New in Skin Care and Beauty
Milk, Nourishment for Your Skin
Milk, does a body good! Since the days of Cleopatra’s Milk and honey baths, milk has been used to beautify skin and hair.
Milk in skin care products is not new, but it’s making a comeback! Think about it, milk is designed to nourish and care for babies. It's full of vitamins and nutrients. The natural beta hydroxys (a gentle acid that aids in exfoliating dead skin cells) and lactic acid, a natural occurring alpha hydroxy acid, make milk (not just cows milk either) a wonderful addition to your skin care regimen. The proteins and vitamins sooth, soften and nourish your skin to a healthy glow.
Milk beauty products can be especially helpful with extremely dry, itchy, irritated skin. It gently exfoliates the dead, dry layers of skin and sooths and nourishes the new skin underneath. It can be particularly beneficial to sunburned, or wind burned skin as well.
Some suggestions:
For a soothing bath that doubles as a fabulous facial mask:
Mix together:
½ cup ground oatmeal (You can find Oat flour in the specialty flour section of the grocery store)
1 cup dried whole milk (You can also use the powdered buttermilk from the grocery store)
2 tablespoons honey
For a bath:
Add half of the mixture to warm bath and soak for a half an hour. This is not a “get clean” kind of bath, more of a skin care bath. I usually take a quick shower to get clean and then, fill the bath for a long soak. Rinse and then pat your skin with your towel just until moist. Apply your favorite lotions and moisturizers. Of course, we recommend our lotions and body butter, why stop the pampering there?!
For a facial mask:
Mix 2 tablespoons of mixture and 1 teaspoon of warm water and mix until it creates a paste. Add more warm water until you get the consistency you desire. Smooth over clean face and allow to dry. Rinse, pat skin with towel until damp. Apply your favorite moisturizer.
Why not try both, while soaking in the milk bath, apply the facial mask and allow to dry.
You can double or triple this recipe and store in an airtight container, refrigerate. For extra life, add Vitamin E. Just pierce one gel and squeeze into the mixture.
For a wonderful shine boost for your hair we suggest sprinkling dried whole milk onto your hair and massage into scalp. Comb through your hair and wash your hair as usual. Dried whole milk is less messy, but if you don’t have access to powdered milk, you can dip your comb in regular milk and pull it through your hair. Just make sure that you massage it into your scalp as well. The natural acids in the milk will aid in the removal of the dead skin cells around hair follicles allowing the natural hair oils to make your hair and scalp healthy and shiny.
Beauty Tips of the Month
Make Your Lotions and Moisturizers Work For You
Tips for Making the Most of Your Lotions and Moisturizers
With Spring and Summer creeping up on us, smooth, nourished, supple skin, will become more important as we bare more of our skin. There are several basics for keeping your skin glowing.
Rule #1 Exfoliation, Exfoliation, Exfoliation
Getting rid of dead, dull skin cells is key to glowing, healthy looking, skin. There are several ways to go about this. Microdermabrasion is one way to rid your skin of unwanted dead calls. There are several products on the market to aid in the endeavor. Most are geared toward facial exfoliation like Olay’s Regenerist Microdermabrasion and Peel Kit (see product reviews), but, there are also kits available over-the-counter for body microdermabrasion. Most are available at any chain drug store.
If microdermabrasion is not your thing, there are other ways to get the results desired. There are many bath accessories out there that will do the trick, if used regularly. My favorites are the “scrubby gloves” that are available at most outlets like Walgreen’s, and Target. I use my scrubby gloves for every shower and bath that I take. They feel wonderful on your skin while showering or bathing. Just remember to be gentle! Scrub in a circular motion paying particular attention to hard to keep smooth areas, like knees, ankles, heels, elbows and the back of thighs. Don’t forget those hands either! It’s easy to do considering the scrubby gloves cover them. But, your hands also need the exfoliation to keep calluses at bay.
To care for your scrubby gloves, it is important to hang them after every use, so they dry completely. This limits the bacterial growth. About once a week, I include them in the wash with my towels. They can even go into the dryer!
Rule #2 Moist Skin is the Best Skin to Lotion or Moisturize
When is the best time to lotion up? After a shower or bath! Instead of completely drying off when you get out of the shower or bath, just pat dry, just until there are no more drips. Your skin should still be moist when you apply your lotion. This also applies to your face. The oils in lotions and moisturizers work to seal in the moisture and keep your skin supple and soft.
Rule #3 Night Time is the Best Time
Our skin rejuvenates itself at night. Skin, our body’s largest organ, gets its rest too. The best time to moisturize is at night. A long bath followed by a good moisturizer before bedtime is not only good for a restful sleep, it’s good for your skin!
Rule #4 Water, water, water
If your skin seems to be dull and scaly, perhaps you’re not getting enough water. Make sure that you drink the recommended 64 ounces of water daily.
Got a Red Blemish? Do What the Pros Do
Red blemishes are always difficult to mask and cover. Next time, try this: Drop a few drops of redness removing eye drops to a cotton swab and dab (gently) on the blemish. The eye drop solution will lessen the redness of the blemish. Then use another cotton swab to apply the coverup of your choice. Red blemishes are easier to cover using a green coverup under your foundation. Green coverup is readily available at most drug and department stores. Models have used this trick of the trade for years, and it really works!
Try not to use your fingers to apply your coverups on your blemishes. The reason? The heat from your fingers actually intensifies the redness.
Got a Beauty Tip you'd like to share? Submit it here and if it's chosen to be included
in our magazine, you'll recieve a free Now & Zen Bathworks product!
Ask Heidi!
Do you have a question that you'd like us to answer for you? Submit your question by clicking this link: Ask Heidi!
If your question is chosen, we will email you the answer personally as well as include it in that month's Beauty Tips! You will also recieve a free Now & Zen Bathworks porduct!
I Wonder If That Works?
Have something that you'd like us to test? Submit your suggestion here:
As with the Ask Heidi! feature, should your suggestion be chosen, we will email you our results as well as publish them in that month's Beauty Tips!
What's New at Now & Zen Bathworks
Spring, Spring, Spring!
With Spring upon us, we at Now & Zen are working on some new products including special "Mother's Day Gift Baskets" and wonderful lotions designed specifically for warmer months. Look for the launch of our new product, Wake Me Up! Shower Tablets, coming soon!Keep up to date on the latest from us by signing up for our "Secret Sales", just click the link to sign up!
Next Month in Beauty Tips
Product Reviews: Crest Pro Health Oral Care Products, Pantene Restoratives Time Renewal Shampoo and Conditioner
Cleaning Tip: Spring Cleaning Tips
Beauty Tips: Spring Fashion Trends, Mother's Day gift ideas
Product Reviews
Oil of Olay Regenerist Microdermabrasion and Peel System
$24-Target
First off, I have acne prone skin that is sensitive and dry most of the time. The kit is a combined treatment of both microdermabrasion and chemical peel.
Step one- Microdermabrasion
Sunshine orange in color with a very pleasant orange/citrus scent.
Upon application, the mixture warms up, opening up pores for exfoliation. The granules in the product go to work, scrubbing away unwanted dead skin cells. My only caution here is to make sure that you are not applying too much pressure. Use a gentle circular motion and definitely avoid the eye and other sensitive areas like nostrils and lips. After one minute, go to step two.
Step Two
Do not rinse yet! The Chemical Peel. Upon application, the chemical peel dissolves the crystals from the microdermabrasion, creating a gel/foam. Continue to apply using circular motions and allow to stay on skin for at least a minute. The peel breaks down "the glue" that holds the dead, dry, skin cells that dull your complexion. Rinse. It may be necessary to use a washcloth to get it all off.
The Judgment
I found this product to be fabulous. It left my skin feeling soft, smooth and refreshed. I would recommend this product to anyone whose skin seems dull, dry and lifeless. I also recommend following the treatment with Olay’s Regenerist moisturizer. See the next review for opinions on that product.
Final review: Worth every penny!
Oil of Olay Regenerist Daily Regenerating Serum
$15- Target
The formula, available in both regular and sensitive, fragrance-free blends, is gel-like in nature. Don’t let the little bottle fool you, a little bit goes a long, long way.
It is quickly absorbed into the skin, leaving a soft, smooth feel with no greasy after effects. I found that my skin felt fully moisturized and visibly improved.
Final review: Worth every penny!
John Frieda Luminous Color Glaze
$10- Walgreens
When this product first hit the shelves, I was excited to see something that I could use in between colorings to enhance my hair color without the damage of a touch-up. I have dry, color treated, hair that likes to give me trouble. If I condition too much, I’m left with greasy feeling, limp hair. If I use a volumizing conditioner, I’m left with dry brittle hair. I was hoping this product would give me the shine, and color boost in between colorings.
This is a cumulative product, meaning, you don’t get the results right away, it must be used for about a month to get results. Patience, grasshopper, patience.
The product come is 6 different shades. Two blonde shades, golden and champagne. Two brunette shades, chestnut and amber and two red shades, brilliant red and deep rich red.
The product is gel-like and has an interesting not pleasant but, not unpleasant scent. Use after shampooing and leave in hair for at least 3 minutes. Rinse and style as usual.
I noticed a bit more volume but, it lacks any real conditioning properties. My hair still felt somewhat dry. I noticed a little bit more shine but, not any more than usual when my hair is conditioned with a good conditioner. As far as the color enhancing, I wasn’t all that impressed, even after using the product for the stated amount of time.
Final Review: I wont buy it again, but, it may work for someone else.
