Homemade Spa Treatments with Citrus Fruit

Citrus fruits, like oranges, lemons, limes and grapefruit, offer a number of benefits. The alpha hydroxyl acids naturally exfoliate our skin and citrus has astringent, antiseptic and detoxifying effects on the skin. Additionally citrus scents can be relaxing and refreshing, leaving you feeling quite pampered. Here are three homemade spa treatments with citrus fruit that you can do at home.

Relaxing Citrus Spa Bath

Grab two oranges and two lemons, dim the lights and if you choose, light a few beeswax or soy candles – it?s time to pamper yourself. Slice the oranges and lemons into ? inch or smaller thick slices. Run a warm bath and drop the slices into it just before you settle in for a refreshing and cleansing soak.

Citrus Mask

Combine one medium-sized papaya, the juice from one lemon, and a teaspoon of honey in a blender on low speed until you have a smooth cream or paste. Transfer to a small container. Wash your face and dry it. Apply the mask, leave on for thirty minutes and rinse clean. The natural fruit acids will exfoliate your skin and leave your face feeling smooth and radiant.

Milk Cleanser and Lemon Toner

In a small bowl, combine one teaspoon of powdered milk and one teaspoon of water, then mix until you have a smooth paste. Apply to your face and neck. Apply the mixture to your face in small massaging circles. Rinse, dry and squeeze one small lemon into a clean container. Apply lemon juice to a cotton ball and apply to your clean skin. The lemon juice serves as the perfect toner to your clean, non-oily milk cleanser.

Citrus/Almond Scrub

Scrubs are a great way to exfoliate dead skin from your face, elbows, knees and other rough areas of your skin. The lemon juice and zest in this recipe adds a nice invigorating scent and helps exfoliate.

You?ll need:
* 3 almonds
* The zest from 1 lemon
* 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
* 1 teaspoon honey

Directions
Grab a clean coffee grinder or food processor and ground up your three almonds. Zest a lemon and add that to the food processor or coffee grinder. Pour ground mixture into a small bowl and add lemon juice and honey. Mix until combined and you have a lemony, yet coarse cream. Apply the mixture to your clean and dry face, massaging in a circular motion to lift and remove dirt and dead skin. Rinse clean with warm water.

Citrus is often used to lighten hair during the summer by taking advantage of a chemical reaction with the sun that lightens the hair. It?s also used to exfoliate rough elbows and knees by simply halving a lemon and rubbing on the rough spots.
Citrus, in short, offers a number of beauty benefits naturally. It invigorates with its natural and appealing aroma and enhances any home beauty regimen. Enjoy!

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E-Vite and E-Cards = Paper & Money Savings

E-vites and E-cards are electronic cards which have been available for a few years. However, they are only recently starting to really catch on. As people are becoming more environmentally conscious and cutting back on their expenses, electronic invitations and cards are growing in popularity.

Benefits of e-vites and e-cards:

#1 Less paper. It is estimated that if we sent electronic cards and invitations instead of paper cards and invitations we’d save more than 200,000 trees each year.

#2 You don’t have to spend money on stamps to send your invitations and cards, which quite often require additional postage.

#3 They reduce the environmental cost of producing paper. Paper not only means cutting down trees which are valuable to our environment, the production of paper also uses tremendous amounts of energy and resources – all of which contribute to our carbon footprint. Cut back on greenhouse gases and use e-cards and e-invites.

#4 No ink. Unless your cards are printed on earth friendly and non-toxic ink, you’re much better off using an electronic option. In addition, you don’t have to personally sign each card, once again saving ink.

#5 No delivery costs. When it comes to ordering invitations or buying cards, it takes a delivery truck and/or airplane to get them to you. Whether they’re being shipped to the store where you buy them or you order them and they’re being shipped to you, electronic cards do not need to be shipped anywhere. This means you save fuel costs and emissions.

E-Card drawbacks?

When it comes to e-cards, the only real drawback is that while the majority of people use their email on an almost daily basis, not everyone is on email. If you’re sending out wedding invitations for example, there is a very good chance your older relatives do not have email addresses. However, you can still send them paper invitations and send the bulk of your list an email invite, dramatically cutting back on costs and saving resources.

Where do you get e-cards and invitations?

E-cards and e-invites can all be found online. There are generally a few basic options:

* Membership sites where you register for free and can then send cards and invites. Some cards may even be available for free. And there are customization options so you can change the design, wording and information to reflect your needs.

* Freebie sites that don’t require registration. These sites are great for the occasional e-card. However, they typically do not allow for much customization.

* Paid sites requiring a subscription. Generally, the subscription is an annual one, it’s relatively low cost and you do receive a good degree of customization options.

E-cards and e-vites are growing in popularity, not only because of their convenience but also because they’re a very sustainable practice, and they save money. When you combine these three benefits, and the wide variety of card and invitation options, it’s easy to choose the electronic option.

photo credit: Checiàp

Zero-Carbon Houses

Can you imagine what it would be like to live in a house that produced zero carbon emissions? It’s almost inconceivable, right? How could that work? Let’s take a look at what it means to be a zero-carbon house and how it’s possible.

Definition of Zero-Carbon

Designed to drastically reduce our greenhouse emissions by utilizing more efficient and sustainable practices, zero-carbon homes and buildings are being designed and built all around the world. Depending on whom you ask, zero-carbon has different meanings. It’s defined by the country and by the professional. For example, an architect may define zero carbon differently than a civil engineer.

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