Body Polish - my go to product

When it comes to beauty products one of the most amazing products I've ever used is body polish.  It's a busy girls best friend.  A major multi-tasker and you get quite the bang for your buck.  Everything a Beauty loves.

 A body polish is basically something that will exfoliate your skin and moisturize at the same time.  It removes dead skin cells to reveal the bright healthy skin layer below.  It usually contains some type of oil to hydrate the skin as you rub it in.  By sheer virtue of how you have to scrub it in, it increases circulation,helping to aid in detoxing of the skin.  (Detoxing can = less cellulite btw.)  Wow!  What more can you ask out of one product!  Add some well chosen essential oils and you've just boosted the power of your polish!

No matter how many times I use my body polish I'm always amazed at how wonderfully soft and glowing my skin is after.  It's the quickest, easiest way I know to raise the health of my skin with almost no effort at all.  It's great to moisturize our face everyday but nothing makes you feel more like a Goddess than having baby soft skin... everywhere.

This holiday season mains de mariposa will be releasing the first in the line of all natural body scrubs.  The main ingredient in our body polish is organic cane sugar.  Sugar contains natural alphahydroxy acids.  These help to chemically remove dead skin cells while the scrubbing action will physically remove them.  Again, what a multi-tasker!   Cane sugar was also chosen over salt.  This way you can feel free to shave and then finish off with your body polish without the worry of getting salt scrubbed into any tiny cuts or nicks the razor may leave.  

The mdm body polish also contains sunflower oil which is high in vitamin E.  It is easily absorbed by the skin but doesn't leave you feeling like a french fry.  Just a touchable, dewy glow.  Specially chosen essential oils elevate the entire experience making every shower like a trip to the spa.

For those of you who are DIY Beauties, here's a great recipe to try at home!

Simple Scrub Recipe

What you need:

1 container (even an old yogurt or sour cream container will do)

2 parts sugar (or salt)

1 part oil (any oil will do but keep the 'french fry' factor in mind)

a few drops essential oil (optional)

What you do:

Mix everything together.

When you're done your shower, turn off the water.

Using small amounts rub the mixture over your body, starting at the feet and moving towards the heart.

Turn the shower back on and rinse off.

Gently pat dry.

Glow like a Goddess!

Use this scrub every 2 to 3 days, a little less if you have sensitive skin.

Don't forget to scrub your hands with it while you're in the shower. You'd be amazed at how far this will go to keeping your hands looking great!

Have you tried this?  Have you tried mdm's body polish?  Let us know what you think.  Do you love mdm's body polish? Let us know why and how it worked for you.  Email your story to bonnie@mainsdemariposa dot com and as a thank you we'll enter you in the monthly draw for great mdm products!

All Natural Herbal Iced Tea

As part of Bootcamp, Babes are drinking more tea.  They're making the choice to drink more nutritious beverages.  Here is an easy recipe to help adjust to drinking tea and get you away from juice and pop.  It's also a great substitute for juice for the little ones.  Try making it with Red Rooibos  tea (see below for the benefits of Rooibos tea) for great anti-oxidants and no caffeine so everyone can drink it!  Slowly start to increase the amount of tea and decrease the amount of juice until your taste buds adjust.

Recipe

What you need:

4 tea bags of Red Rooibos (or other herbal) tea

teapot or pot

4 cups (1L) unsweetened apple juice

1 tablespoon grated/minced ginger root

4 cups boiling water
1/2  of a lemon, sliced

Large jug or pitcher

ice cubes (optional)

What to do:

Prepare your 4 teabags with the boiling water either in the teapot or regular pot with the lid on and let cool.

Meanwhile combine the other ingredients in the jug or pitcher.  

When the tea is cool, add it to the pitcher and stir.
Add the ice cubes if using.

Enjoy!

Notes: our family uses only 2 cups of apple juice now and replaces the other two with water.  As you get used to it you may find that 4 cups makes it too sweet.  Adjust to taste.


Have you tried this recipe?  Let us know what you think!

And don't forget!  If you have a success story of how mdm products worked for you, email your story to bonnie@mainsdemariposa dot com and as a thank you, we'll enter you into the monthly draw for a great mdm gift pack!

The Benefits of Rooibos Tea

It's no secret to my clients, customers or readers that I'm always reading labels and analyzing what goes in my body.  Recently I've been searching for nutritious teas.  Yes, water is important but if I'm going to drink, maybe there's a way to get even more out of that drink.  Part of being a babe and accomplishing, what appears to others as super human, is really just being organized and getting more done with less effort.  Rooibos tea helps us do that.

Green tea has exploded in popularity over the last few years because of it's health benefits.  But what if you want to (and I strongly suggest you do) avoid the stimulating affects?  More about that soon in another post.   A while back I suffered from adrenal exhaustion and now, anything stimulating, eventually just makes me very tired.  Herbal teas are fine but I like a tea with a bit of body, that's earthy, complex and, if I can help it, with no "flavours" added.

Enter red rooibos tea.

Rooibos is an Afrikaans word meaning 'red bush'.  Rooibos tea is not really a tea, in that it doesn't come from THE tea plant (Camellia sinensis).  It is however, made from leaves and stems of Aspalathus linearis.  The oxidization of these leaves gives it it's red colour.  In this case oxidization is not a bad thing.  In fact Rooibos tea is full of anti-oxidants!  Not quite as many as green tea, but close and remember, there are no stimulating effects what so ever! (Check out the Adrenal Fatigue post coming soon to learn why babes do not want to drink stimulants).

Okay so we have our flavonoids for anti-oxidants.  Great.  It's got a one up on water.  But studies have also shown that it is also anti-inflammatory and helps prevent DNA damage.  Wow.  Not bad for a little cup of tea.  For more scientific information on Red Rooibos benefits check The Inhuman Experiment blog.

Red Rooibos is a mild tasting tea and contains no tannins.  Tannins are the part of tea (Camellia sinensis) that makes it taste bitter if you let it steep too long.  I love Rooibos because you can leave it in while you drink and you don't have to worry about the steeping time!  One less thing to worry about is a bonus in my book!

Some people claim that it's very high in vitamin C and minerals but I haven't found enough evidence to believe this.  Let's stick to our green leafy vegetables for that shall we?

If you're just switching to tea and drinking less of other beverages I have a great all natural iced tea recipe for you.  Our family loves this so much that we actually don't make it too often.  When we do we just drink it until it's gone!  But it's a great way to start drinking tea.  Eventually changing the ratio to have more tea and less juice.

So, if you're going to drink something, why not drink something with heaps of flavonoids, no tannins and absolutely no caffeine?  Why not Red Rooibos?  Try is as part of the All Natural Iced Tea Recipe and let me know what you think.

Be well,

Bonnie

Time Management

Time management. Need I say more. The very phrase conjures up all kinds of images and yes even emotions, generally not so positive. There are however some simple tactics that you can weave into your everyday life to help it run a little more smoothly therefore opening up a little more time here and there. Little bits every now and then add up to some serious savings for quality time (not to mention energy) left at the end (or any time) of the day.

Now, just because something is simple does not necessarily mean it is easy. I dare say though, if you persevere until these simple suggestions become easy habit, you will find yourself effectively managing your time and therefore, your life!

#1 You gotta have goals

Everyday have a focus, a vision. When you have a goal in mind for the day you're more likely to be focused (and more likely to achieve it) than if you just go into your day scattered and hoping things will get done. Make sure that these goals are realistic and achievable. Set out a brief plan of action of how to achieve these goals and asses the plan for it's practicality (reality check). Perhaps you might not be able to do an hour and a half workout AND jog for an hour AND loose 10 pounds all in the same day while you do the groceries, supervise homework and bath time and make supper and do the laundry. BUT what you may be able to achieve is to make some wise food choices, a 15 minute walk on your lunch break, 20 minute walk after supper with the kids and a few sit ups and push ups in the bathroom before your shower. See how we can sneak it in there? Without using up a huge slot of time we've at least maintained a semblance of our goal. If we had stuck with our grandiose goal we would have been dissapointed and less likely to even consider fitness in the future. By setting goals we are also sending a message to our subconscious. Our subconscious really, really wants to help us. We simply need to send it clear messages. So set your morning goals. Make them realistic and stick to them. Then you won't just be wafting around in the evening trying to decided or being side tracked into other things and finding at bedtime that you really didn't get anything done.

#2 Plan Ahead
Do today what you CAN do today, to save time tomorrow. This one is pretty obvious but once you make it a habit it will pay off big time. Let's just skip right to some common examples.
Garbage day. Empty the bathroom garbage, the office etc. dead food in the fridge, sort the recycling the night before. Then in the morning you've just to take it to the curb. Better yet, have a system in place for sorting the recycling as you go then you've only to take it out!
Laundry. Separate the laundry as it comes off your back. Even a two compartment (or bag) system will save time. Whites in one, darks/colors in another.
Dishes. Wash them as you make them. Don't sit down to eat until the pots are washed. You'll wash them faster because you're hungry and then you won't dread it afterward.
House work. Break it up. One small thing a day. It takes me 15 minutes to wash the main floor. 30 seconds to wash the bathroom counter. One thing in the morning and one at night takes little time or effort and avoids a big cleaning day. (Therefore freeing up my Sunday for walks in the forest!)
Other tasks? If you know you're making cookies on Saturday make sure to have the recipe printed out and buy the ingredients with the regular groceries to save yourself alot of time and an extra trip to the store.

#3 Git 'er done!

Dad always said, "Don't think about it, just do it". Have you ever noticed how sitting and thinking about a job or task you don't want to do makes it that much harder to find the motivation? The more we think about it, the more our beautiful brains can come up with ways that it will be awful or difficult etc. This leads to procrastination, which in turn leads to a lot of time used up doing nothing or at best doing things that are really not that important to us leaving us with a sense of having wasted our time. The answer? Just do it. Identify those things that just never seem to get done, those things you dread doing. Is it laundry on Saturday morning? Maybe your workout? Or those never ending dishes? Make it a habit to just get it done. Unfinished chores zap our energy because they require attention to keep reminding ourselves that they're not done. One option is to get it done first thing in the morning before you even have time to come up with excuses. Dishes? Do them as you go, immediately. Then you don't have to dread them while you're eating or worse, all day at work. It takes only a few seconds more to wash as you go and will save you that whole experience, not to mention the time, later on.

#4 Never leave a room (or your car) empty handed

This was a tip I learned from my mother. Sometimes it seems like a "stuff" bomb explodes in our house or, yes I will admit, our car. Stuff just seems to collect in all the places except for where it should be. The answer? Never leave a room or your car without bringing something to it's proper place. How does it work? If you're going upstairs, make sure to bring at least one thing with you that should go up there. If you're leaving the living room to go to the kitchen and there is a glass in the living room, take it with you (and even better wash it). Odds and ends can trail all over eventually leading to a big task (which will take up time) of cleaning it up. If you take one thing each time you go it will never amount to the dreaded cleaning session.

#5 Stop "trying"

Last but not least, stop trying. As Yoda said "There is no try. There is do or not do." Trying means that you feel for some reason you should but you really don't want to. You therefore do not have the commitment and emotion behind the task to effectively carry it out and accomplish it. It will suck your energy and waste your time as you procrastinate. You will use a lot of energy and accomplish little. Evaluate those daily goals and tasks. Commit right now to either doing things or not and simply stop trying.


So to sum our new focus for managing our time and cutting out alot of wasted space:

You gotta have goals.
to achieve those goals
You gotta plan ahead
when you plan ahead you'll
Git 'er done!
To git 'er done
Never leave a room empty handed
and for heavens sake
Stop Trying!