Need a Schpritz?
In the sweltering months of August, sometimes you need a lil' pick-me-up. I know I could have used one last week at BlogHer '10 in New York City. It was HOT, hot, hot the first couple days.
When I got home, I was thumbing through some back issues of Health Magazine and I found this quick recipe for an Energy Spritz. (April 2010, page 25).
Energy Spritz
- 2 bags of white or green tea
- 2 cups of hot, filtered water
- 2 drops of lemon or orange oil
Brew tea with hot water. Let cool to room temperature; discard tea bags. [Ed. -- heh, "tea bags"] Combine tea and oil in a spray bottle. Refrigerate and mist on when your skin feels dry or needs a lift.
I've done something really similar to this with ginger tea and a little lemon juice instead of white/green tea and oil. The scent of the ginger is really mood-lifting and calming at the same time. It makes me feel like I'm in Origins.
Another soothing spritzer is an oldie, but goodie of mine:
Joelle's Rose Schpritz
- Thayer's Rose Petal Witch Hazel with Aloe
- Seltzer Water, plain
I get one of those little hairdresser spray bottles from Sally's or some other beauty supply, fill a third with Thayer's and the rest with seltzer. (Plain seltzer, not lemon or whatever -- just plain -- but I guess you could use an "essence of" as long as it doesn't have any other ingredient but water.) Chill it in the fridge and when the A/C goes out and it's 95°, hit the fridge and spritz your face, chest... anywhere that needs cooling down.
The seltzer makes it invigorating (you could use still water if you wanted), the rose water a pleasant scent, relaxing. It takes you to a better place.
A word of caution: DO NOT get plain witch hazel. You must get the Thayer's Rose Petal Witchhazel (or their Lemon, Cucumber, Lavender or Peach varietes, if you're into that -- though I've never seen those in stores. Maybe Whole Foods?). It's cheap, under $10, and worth the hunt if you can't find it easily (I get mine at CVS). Regular witch hazel stinks so bad, I couldn't get away from myself fast enough. Trust me on this, it smells like burned toenails. But Thayer's does make an unscented variety if you're not into scents at all.
The witch hazel is clarifying, like an astringent (only without alcohol), so you're not only cooling off, you're getting a mini spa break, kind of. Or at least, that's what I tell myself when I'm standing with the fridge door open, cooling off and spritzing down.
Got any good summer-cool-down ideas or doubleduty beauty tips?
I'm always on the lookout for ways to unwind and relax. Normally I go out and garden or take the dogs for a long walk. But lately, we've been experiencing temps in the 90's and I don't find gardening and sweating at all relaxing. I do sometimes find gaming relaxing, but usually nothing involving First-Person shoot-outs or exploding aliens with green blood smeared all over the screen. Now if you ask my husband, those are the very things that he would find relaxiong and that's why about 95% of the video games we own are First-Person Shooters. The other 5% are games that I generally play. One of those is