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I love using herbal steams, especially in the winter months.  Steam is warming and moistening and helps alleviate dryness in the body. Adding aromatic plants to hot, steamy water allows the plant's volatile oils to combine with the steam, and then delivered to the skin and/or respiratory system. Facial steams are calming to the senses and are a natural way to promote open airways, clear head colds, and is one of my favorite ways to give skin a rosy, dewy glow.When used as a part o …

Cold weather can do a job on your skin, making it dry, itchy, dull, chaffed, and make wrinkles more noticable.The Herbal Toad’s new Herbal Steam Cleanse is a great way to rejuvenate and cleanse your skin, while adding nutrients, rather than stripping them away. Steaming helps soften the surface of the skin, and helps detox and dilate pores to make it easier to remove blackheads, left behind makeup, and dirt when daily cleansers cannot. This is because steaming softens the surface of your skin an …

Thalassotherapy is the therapeutic use of salt water. It really a thing, and I am obsessed with this Himalayan sea salt spray!  It is great for both hair and skin, and I find that it really can replace professional hair sea salt sprays.The Benefits of Sea Salt SprayFor Hair: There is nothing like sea salt spray for easy summer hair. It creates natural sexy beach waves, while adding moisture, and providing light hold.  This recipe is alcohol free, so it is just pure moisturizing go …

Charcoal has been used medicinally for thousands of years. The ancient Egyptians used it as a poultice to clean wounds. The Hindus used it for water filtration. In the 18th century, pharmacists and chemists discovered the ability of charcoal to provide protection from toxins. Modern medicine uses activated charcoal in water filters and as an antidote for poison. Activated charcoal is a powerful tool to detoxify, purify, and clean up your skincare routine, especially if you have oily, acne p …

What is Facial Gua Sha?Gua sha is a traditional healing technique of East Asian medicine. Sometimes called ‘coining, spooning or scraping.  For our purposes today, we will be talking about a gentler version of gua sha that uses lighter, gentler strokes, which have multiple anti-aging benefits as well as health benefits. Body gua sha deserves its own blog post, so we will cover that at a later date.DIY gua sha facials may be slightly more involved than using a cold jade roller but …