DIY Herbal Face Steam & White Chocolate Pistachio Pomegranate Bark {homemade Christmas gift ideas}
I love baking or making homemade gifts for friends and family during the holidays. My girlfriends and I actually get together every single year at Christmas time and have a crafting/baking night together. It’s fun and festive, we drink champagne, watch the worst (they are actually the best) hallmark movies, eat good food, decorate an overabundance of cookies and craft whatever we feel like making. This year I decided to sneak in an extra crafting/baking day so I could pre make/bake something special for them.
I have always loved herbs I find them so magical and their healing abilities are absolutely unreal. After my Dad passed away I switched out all of my home and personal products to be all natural, from cleaners to makeup to bath products, the whole works. I have noticed drastic changes in the way my house smells and looks all cleaned up with natural products. To the glow in my skin to the growth of my hair. I also feel so much better using natural products with animals around the house because then you never have to worry about them getting into something toxic.
What I love most with natural products is that you can make most of them at home yourself. Cleaning products are super easy to make au' natural and once you start playing with herbs and essential oils face and body products can be pretty simple as well.
I got the idea for this homemade herbal face steam from one of my instagram loves Blair @balancewithb she has been doing them all the time lately and posting them in her stories and she is just a glowing beauty that I decided I wanted to make my skin glow just like hers.
Face steams are incredibly relaxing and a great way to deep cleanse your pores and amp up your skin vitality. Face steams allow your skin to absorb the pure, healthful essence of alchemy herbs. The steam hits your skin and carries all the herbal properties straight into your pores. Face steams also help relax your face muscles (hello natural botox) and stimulate circulation which gets you that glow. Plus they smell absolutely amazing, intoxicating almost.
I personally like to set up my steam by burning some incense, lighting some candles and putting on some soft tranquil music. It really can be the most blissful, rejuvenating, relaxing experience.
I picked 9 of my favourite herbs to use in my steam but you can really mix and match all sorts of herbs to make your own favourite blend. All herbs have different healing properties to them as well as being able to naturally cleanse, purify, moisturize and hydrate your skin.
I used equal parts of all of them (about 1 1/2 cups of each herb), tossed them together in a large bowl and put them into cute containers to give to my girlfriends.
Lavender
Is known to help reduce anxiety and stress, as well as slow your heart rate down. It will soothe your skin and calm your spirit. It is why lavender is used so much at bedtime, it helps relax you and deepen your sleep.
Chamomile
Known to calm anxiety and ease stress, it helps relax and calm your nerves, making it a great night time tea to drink or better yet absorb into your skin. It also improves skin regeneration giving you that renewed fresh look.
Eucalyptus
Known to open the lungs and encourage deep breathing. It helps to clear clogged nasal passages and congestion. Herbal steams when you are sick with eucalyptus leaves in them will make you feel instantly better.
Hibiscus flowers
Helps lower your blood pressure, is high in vitamin C and is a natural antioxidant. It is also known to help you shed a few pounds when sipped through tea form.
Peppermint
Has an uplifting aroma that soothes and settles your stomach without even having to drink it. It can also calm nausea and prevent gas and bloating. It also helps clear the air, making it fresher and easier to breathe in. It also helps relieve headaches when sipped or breathed in through the nose.
Calendula flowers
Have great antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, which make them great to use for dry, irritated skin and acne. It has actually been said to have "magical powers and healing virtues". It also heals wounds and reduces inflammation.
Blueberry leaves
Known to improve memory, lower blood pressure and reduce inflammation. They are also said to improve eye sight and are full of antioxidants.
Comfrey leaves
Known to be one of the best healing herbs of all time. It relieves pain and inflammation speeds up healing and has a soothing affect when inhaled or applied directly to wounds through salves.
Orange peel
Known to cure blackhead, dead cells and acne. It cleanses your pores and blemishes and also helps improve dark eye circles, dry skin and brightens your face giving you that extra glow. It is filled with vitamin C and calcium, which renew worn out skin and helps prevent future damage.
I made my own tags and on the back wrote the directions for the steam. Which is to simply add 1-2 tbsp of the herbal mixture into a bowl of boiling water and place a towel over your head and let the steam do its thing.
I also decided to make a super simple white chocolate bark to go along with the steam. Something useable and something edible!
white chocolate pistachio & pomegranate bark
ingredients
4 cups of white chocolate
1/3 cup chopped pistachios
1/3 cup pomegranate seeds
directions
Over a double broiler melt the white chocolate.
Once melted spread it evenly on a parchment lined baking sheet. Not too thin not too think. Sprinkle the chocolate with the chopped pistachios and pomegranate seeds and then place in the fridge to cool and harden.
Once hardened break the bark up into random pieces and place into little clear bags to give to friends or just eat all to yourself!
