DIY Face Masks for Healthy, Sexy, and Glowing Skin!

In this economy and also just as a young woman who basically puts all of her money towards an apartment, food, and tuition, it can be REALLY freakin hard to find beauty products that are amazing but don't cost what I basically workout in my mind to be either 1. groceries for the week or 2. gas for my car.......but not to fear! Consider me your Frugal Face Mask Fairy Godmother!  

Being a rather a frugal gal I have found some absolutely amazing face masks that you can easily make at home with everyday ingredients that you either probably have in your pantry already, or can buy for a few dollars at your local market. 

One of my staple go to ingredients for my face masks almost always involves LEMONS!! They are kind of like my second boyfriend(sorry babe) and have so many amazing healing properties!

Lemon Juice

1. Great for cell turnover and because it's acidic it acts as a natural exfoliant

2. Helps get rid of dead skin cells which makes skin softer 

3. Natural disinfectant and helps to kill acne causing bacteria that can lead to breakouts and clogged pores

4. Acts as a natural skin lightener and is AMAZING at helping to improve the appearance of acne scars and skin discoloration

You know those icky red marks that linger way after your pimple is gone and can take weeks or even months to fade? Well I do, and they suck, so my favorite way to lighten them and also help with any current breakouts I might be experiencing is with one of my FAVORITE face masks I nicknamed the BURNING MAN, because the lemon juice is acidic and does feel like it's burning your face, but it is not I promise! 

Burning Man

1/2 tsp. of Cinnamon 

1/2 tsp. of Nutmeg

2 tsp. Raw Honey

(none of the nasty stuff with added chemicals and preservatives)

2 tsp. Fresh Lemon Juice

Mix it all up in a bowl and apply all over your face. Leave it on for 30 minutes and then gently wash off with warm water and follow up with a light moisturizer. TAD DAH!!!! Bask in the glory that is your soft and sexy skin!

A lot of people(myself included) tend to use too many products at once, which means a lot of harsh chemical irritants on your face which can cause redness and irritation. This Honey-Yogurt Moisturizing Mask is the perfect remedy for that! 

Honey-Yogurt Moisturizing Mask

1 tbs. Plain Yogurt

1/2 tbs. Raw Honey

1 tbs. Cucumber Pulp

(grate the cucumber on a cheese grater) 

(optional) 1 tsp. of Lemon Juice

Yogurt is amazing for your skin because the lactic acid helps to reduce the size of your pores. It also acts as an amazing moisturizer as well as helps to reduce excess oil in the skin. 

Honey brightens and tightens your skin and also helps to heal old acne scars/red marks, as well as healing current breakouts! It's a Win-Win-Win! 

Cucumber soothes any skin irritation and redness and helps to calm down any puffiness.  

Pop some slices of cucumber over your eyes, sit back and relax for 15 minutes as your skin is moisturized and nourished with amazing chemical free ingredients. Wash off with warm water apply some moisturizer if you want even smoother skin, but trust me your skin will feel like as smooth as a baby's bottom! 

Good beauty products don't have to cost an arm and a leg and I swear by my apple cider vinegar obsession as a toner and these face masks to help keep my skin clear and radiant:) I cycled through about every drug store and expensive skin care product there is and I have always come back to these natural remedies to manage the occasional breakout or issues with dry skin. 

Thanks so much reading guys! It means the world to me:) 

Until next time my sexy skincare babes

xoxo Harriet 

The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale is FINALLY Here!!!! My Favorite Steals That Won't Break the Bank!

I love a good sale and boy is this one going to hurt my wallet!! The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale is something I look forward to every year because I know that I will find some amazing deals on items that will become WARDROBE STAPLES!!! I can find things to prepare for fall like some great boots and I always love getting great new pair of workout sneakers, and these pink ones from Nike are incredible and so comfy!!!

Here are a few of my favorite picks from this sale and I would love to know what items you guys are totally dying over!! 

Items from left to right 

I love this beautiful floral appliqué maxi dress and it is the perfect thing to wear to a cocktail party or dinner on a warm summer night, it flows beautifully and is very etherial 

This bangle is the perfect statement piece to add some glam and glitz to any monochromatic outfit like and all black everything kind of look.  

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these Zella "Live In" Reversible Leggings and they are perfect to wear to the  gym or a yoga class because they are so incredibly comfy and my second pair is currently being shipped as I type(so excited!!) You can wear them to workout and then go about your day and still look sexy and stylish! 

These sexy little stackable rings are the perfect addition to any summer outfit whether its shorts, or just to accent your new manicure they are amazing!! 

Get a jump start on shopping for fall with these sexy little biker looking Halogen "Claudia" Zipper Trim Leather Booties!! Pair these with a skinny cigarette style jean and a chunky necklace and oversized handbag and you will look like a million bucks without spending a million bucks!!

I love makeup and definitely have way more than a girl could ever need but is there really such a thing as "too much makeup"? If it's wrong then I don't want to be right. This NARS Cheek Palette is the perfect combination of all of their amazing products. It has my favorite blush "Orgasm" which gives you that sexy and sparkly little post coital glow that drop dead hot, "Laguna" which is an amazing bronzer, and two other amazing colors

These Frends "Taylor" Headphones are so gorgeous and have with memory foam ear cushions to keep your ears nice and comfy while lying on the beach and listening to your favorite tunes. And who can resist a bit of bling!

I am a little bit like Jessica Day from the Fox show New Girl in the fact that I love polka dots! I think they add a cute flare to any outfit and this Wildfox "Mauve Dots" Pullover is perfect to add to any outfit, pair it with this gorgeous pink clutch and these Paige Denim "Skyline" Straight Leg Jeans and you are good to go!!

These Nike shoes are perfect to pair with the black Zella leggings to go for a run or get in a good workout.

SO these are some of my favorite sale items, I hope you liked them and I promise to add some more favorite if I find any more amazing steals, well pretty much all of the items on sale are amazing so it's tough to choose!! 

Love you all, until next time, remember to stay fit and fabulous!!!

xoxo Harriet 

Young Fit and Fabulous: How to Bounce Back to Your Sexy Self After a Few D...

Young Fit and Fabulous: How to Bounce Back to Your Sexy Self After a Few D...:         Hey, we all do it, eat a bit too much in a day or in my case a weekend. Last weekend was my B-day and after a month of really c...

How to Bounce Back to Your Sexy Self After a Few Days of Eating Like Crap!

     

Hey, we all do it, eat a bit too much in a day or in my case a weekend. Last weekend was my B-day and after a month of really clean eating and working out/sweating my ass off, I wanted to give myself permission to indulge guilt free.

Yep that's right GUILT FREE! I am a firm believer in the 80/20 rule and eating clean, whole foods, 80 percent of the time, but allowing yourself to indulge(not go bat shit crazy eat every cookie and pastry in sight) kind of indulgence, but eat foods that you really love and enjoy, because life is too short to give up everything you love in the name of clean and virtuous eating. 

Some people may disagree and more power to you if you can eat clean 100 percent of the time, but I can't and don't want to. Life is about BALANCE not perfection and I strive to achieve a healthy balance in my life every single day. 

I have been underweight at times in my life and felt such guilt over literally over indulging in celery! Freaking CELERY!! That's seriously nutzo, and it is no way to live. When my future kids ask my about my 20's I don't want to say that I spent all of my time counting calories. 

So last weekend I didn't go nuts, but I fully enjoyed my Fleming's Steak Dinner(omg the service was amazing, everybody wished me a happy birthday, so sweet), some wine, some devilishly delicious hot Cheetos, and some ice cream cake(my weakness, holy crap that stuff is like crack).

But guess what, Monday morning, I was BACK. I decided that I needed to give my body some help to detox from a weekend of delicious indulgences, so I woke up and had two cups of hot water with lemon. Lemons are great because they help to flush impurities and toxins out of your body(aka hot Cheetos), as well as helping my body to debloat. 

Tips

• Drink as much water as possible to flush out your system.It also never hurts to eat foods that have a lot of water in them like celery, watermelon, and grapefruit
• SWEAT IT OUT!! I know you feel bloated and nasty, I get it trust me, but get off your couch and be proactive about your body and health. Work out, go for a run or a walk, I ran for 30 minutes and did some light weights after, nothing major but I felt so much better after! Go to a steam room if you can too, in my last post I talked about how your skin is your largest cleansing organ in your body, so sweat that shit out!!
• Avoid carbonated beverages(yes diet coke still counts), cut out booze for a week or two, it's full of empty, bloating calories, I am not a big drinker anyway(I'd rather eat my calories) but to each their own.  Also drinking tends to lead to some mindless eating which makes it hard to get your rockin sex kitten bod back on track!

My amazing boyfriend surprised me with a picnic in bed <3

>>What a day of recovery eating looks like for me<<

Hot water with lemon when I wake up and maybe a shot of espresso to kick my ass into high gear

Breakfast- Eat something that is filling enough to get you through a workout and sweat sesh, like steel cut oats with fruit, or a slice of Ezekial bread with some scrambled egg whites and avocado

Snack- Plain Greek yoghurt with berries and a dash of cinnamon(it speeds up the metabolism) 

Lunch- Will always be a big salad filled with healthy lean protein like grilled chicken or turkey slices, with cherry tomatoes, avocado, cucumbers, some garlic, EVOO and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Snack- Almond butter with celery or apples

Dinner- Light meal of my skinny sexy tacos(recipe to follow) that are basically grilled chicken, tomatoes, lettuce, avocado, some other yummy veggies on a small corn street taco, about 100 calories per taco, and I have two. If I want some fake sour cream, I add a half tsp of plain greek yogurt on top of each taco and I swear it tastes better! 

After dinner I make another cup of warm water with lemon and add some ACV(apple cider vinegar, remember it's your new best friend:) and a dash of cayenne pepper to speed up my metabolism and detox even further, and also some honey if you don't enjoy the taste of ACV(it's weird you grow to love it)

My biggest piece of advice though is DON'T LOOK BACK! Have no regrets, I fully enjoyed my birthday weekend(yes I said weekend, but at least I don't say birthday week/month like some of my closest gf's, I mean Martin Luther King only gets one day ladies calm down!!).

It was my birthday and I enjoyed every single delicious and amazing second of it:) 

Until next time lovelies,

xoxo

Harriet 

Give Your Body the Big Brush Off, Why Dry Brushing is One of My Obsessions!!

Hey everybody, happy weekend! 

I wanted to talk about my absolute obsession with Dry Brushing and why everybody should give it a try because is truly LIFE CHANGING! 

Why is dry brushing the absolute shiz nit? So glad you asked.

Your skin is the biggest organ in your body for elimination and it plays a HUGE role in daily detoxification. Everyday your skin eliminates two pounds of toxic waste, which is huge! No soap can cleanse your body as well as dry brushing can. It helps to stimulate your lymphatic system in order to get rid of nasty excess fluid(no more bloating?), bacteria, and uric acid which is the breakdown of cells in your body(dead skin cells). 

Other awesome benefits?

• Helps to eliminate toxins in the blood stream 
• Lessens the appearance of stretch marks
• Improves circulation helping to make skin look younger
• Helps to get rid of cellulite by removing the dead skin cells and excess fluid 
• It provides a huge energy boost!

So here is how to do it!

1) Start on your dry naked skin ideally before taking a bath or shower to help get rid of all brushed off toxins, or dry brush before working out to make sure your sweat evenly. Use a natural bristle brush not a synthetic fiber to avoid skin irritation. 

2) Begin on the soles of your feet and then work up from there, going next to the ankles, and always brushing in long slow strokes toward your heart because your lymphatic fluid flows through the body towards the heart. 

3) Your back is the only exception to this rule and brush from the neck down on your back.

4) Really concentrate on brushing the lymphatic areas of your body(back of your knees, inner thighs, under your arms) where your largest lymph nodes are. 

5) Continue up and brush each arm and hand, go lightly over your breasts and ass as that skin is rather thin and you don't want any icky redness. Get all of those toxins out of your body.

6) You can use a skin exfoliant in the shower or yummy body wash to help get off any lingering toxins or dead skin and then finish up post shower with a nice body oil or moisturizer. Delish!

Occasionally when finished I will raise up one fist in the air and do a total power pose because I feel so energized and awesome from my dry brushing and I know I am doing something positive for my health and my body!(Ok maybe that's a little much but hey whatever works right?)

You can skin brush everyday and even if you're a little hesitant to try it, give it a week and see how much better you feel, you will never regret doing anything positive for your health:) 

I have been dry brushing for over two years and have fluctuated in weight quite a bit, I went from model skinny to normal person who eats and and didn't really workout, to then evening out and eating healthy(but still eating) and working out, so I had a bit of cellulite at first, but now NONE! So thanks skin brushing! I owe you one 

Until next time my fit and fabulous readers,

xoxo Harriet

P.S. I love this soft and contoured brush and this deliciously moisturizing body oil 

Kingsley Natural Bristle Brush with a Contoured Wooden Handle

Coconut Skin Nourishing Oil

Apple Cider Vinegar: Your New Best Friend

This AMAZING product has so many benefits and can help in 

Curing Acne and balancing skin pH

Removing Stains from Teeth

Getting Sexy Shiny Hair

Weight Loss

Now When I am talking about Apple Cider Vinegar, I am talking about raw, unfiltered ACV with Mother, not the chemical filled crap made by Heinz. My favorite kind to use is Braggs ACV with mother because it is pure and full of only the good stuff.

What is Mother and why is it so important?

Well it has nothing to do with calling your mom(a little joke, no? ok) It’s. the enzymes the vinegar is made from. ACV is naturally antiseptic, antibacterial and can help fight germs and bacteria. It’s FULL of amazing vitamins and rare minerals that provide some KICK ASS health benefits as well.

Pretty cool stuff from a bottle that looks like it has cobwebs floating around at the bottom!  Regular ACV has been filtered to remove the Mother and all the health benefits that come along with it, so skip that nasty shit and get the good stuff!

Acne- Take a tablespoon of ACV and two tablespoons of water, mix it up and use it as a skin toner to help clear up acne and balance your skins natural pH

Remove Nasty Stains and Whiten Teeth! Rub teeth directly with ACV and rinse your mouth out with water when you’re done, Voila!

Get some Sex Kitten certified Shiny Healthy Hair- add a few tablespoons to your shampoo and hair and watch as your scalp dryness vanishes and you are left with sexy silky hair!

Oh and my favorite benefit? A little thing called WEIGHT LOSS!! Mix 1-2 tablespoons of ACV into your tea in the morning or some water, some honey can help to dilute the taste if you aren’t a fan, but I found that I started to crave it after a few days! To each his own J This can help to fight cravings throughout the day too, so miracle drink? I think so

If this hasn’t convinced you that apple cider vinegar is the shiznit I don’t know what will, here are a few more sexy little health benefits

It can help you detox- add a few tablespoons of ACV to a warm bath and dip your feet in for a great foot detox bath.  

ACV can also help to balance the body’s natural pH level and detox your liver from icky toxins

Can help reduce Candida- a yeast that can be responsible for memory problems, yeast infections, and sugar cravings (buh bye late night chocolate binge)

So it’s a winner on all accounts, and something that every Young Fit and Fabulous girl should have handy in their pantry, and did I mention it’s only six dollars! 

Until next time

Xoxo

Harriet

The Detoxifying and Delicious Glowing Green Smoothie

The recent trend in smoothies and detoxing is everywhere these days, from healthy magazines, to celebrity gossip columns about who is fasting and what program they are using, I would like to add my two cents on the matter and comment about fasting and detoxing and the pro's and con's. 

One of the most talked about detox or weight loss solutions involves Green Juice or Green Smoothies. Kimberly Snyder, the author of "The Beauty Detox Solution" vehemently espouses that starting your day off with her glowing green smoothie or green juice is the most powerful way to simultaneously up our mineral and enzyme consumption. Green based drinks are the real superfoods, condensing healthy vegetables and fruits by blending them together or juicing them and she also insists that by drinking this smoothie every morning between when you wake up until the time you eat lunch, your body will naturally detoxify itself and you will become more beautiful and healthy inside and out. 

I have tried drinking these green smoothies everyday for two weeks and I felt amazing and energized and actually did not even need coffee to get me going in the morning and this was when I was working the 5 am morning shift! The recipe consists of 

- 2 cups of water
-1/2 head of organic spinach
-1 head of organic romaine lettuce
-juice of half a lemon
-3-4 sticks of celery
-1 organic banana
-1 organic pear
-1 organic apple 

You can make a huge batch at the beginning of the week and freeze individual servings(16-24 oz.) and then just microwave them when ready to drink. You might be thinking exactly what I thought upon making my first batch of this very green and vegetable looking smoothie, but honestly upon the first sip I was amazed, it tasted delicious!! I sipped on this smoothie from when I woke up to around lunch and felt energized, healthy, and full. This recipe will give you energy lasting for hours and make you clearheaded and calm. 

Overtime as your body's natural makeup shifts, your body will start rooting out the blockages and toxins in your system that cause those cravings for sugar, heavy foods and caffeine that you consumed frequently in the past. You will truly start loving these green drinks and the way they make you feel light and energetic, and also will help you drop anywhere from 5-12 pounds depending on how much unnecessary weight your body is holding onto. 

So overall I highly recommend starting your day off with a glowing green smoothie and seeing how wonderful it makes you feel for at least a week or two. Ask yourself if two weeks out of your entire life can be taken to make a positive step towards your overall healthy, and I think and hope that the answer is "heck yes it is".

Thanks so much and stay tuned for my next post, please let me know how you guys like this smoothie and when you start to see results!

Much love

--------Harriet B