A Guide to Relaxation

Looking for a drug-free method to help you relax, free your mind of worries, and fall asleep? Progressive muscle relaxation is a tried-and-true technique for achieving both physical and mental relaxation.

-Lie down on your back in a comfortable position. Put a pillow under your head if you like, or place one under your knees to relax your back. Rest your arms, with palms up, slightly apart from your body. Feel your shoulders relax.

-Take several slow, deep breaths through your nose. Exhale with a long sigh to release tension.
-Begin to focus on your feet and ankles. Are they painful or tense? Tighten the muscles briefly to feel the sensation. Let your feet sink into the floor or the bed. Feel them getting heavy and becoming totally relaxed. Let them drop from your consciousness.

-Slowly move your attention through different parts of your body: your calves, thighs, lower back, hips, pelvic area, middle back, abdomen, upper back, shoulders, arms, hands, neck, jaw, tongue, forehead, and scalp. Feel your body relax and your lungs gently expand and contract. Relax any spots that are still tense. Breathe softly.

-If thoughts distract you, gently ignore them and return your attention to your breathing. Your worries and thoughts will be there when you are ready to acknowledge them.

Makeup for Dark Complexion Woman

Eye Makeup for Dark complexion

While applying eye makeup, your better off avoiding light powdery colors and stick more with bright shades but do not cover the whole eyelid. Instead it’s much simpler to go for dark browns, copper, prunes and burgundy. Dark metallic colors also look good. Make sure your makeup is not only dark and bright enough for your skin so as not to look ashy. It’s important to keep in mind the shade you play on using. Girl, we don’t want no pumpkin (orange) faces here. If your dark your probably cool toned. Find out by putting a blue or red color (or metals like gold and silver) up against your skin. Always dust a little loose translucent powder over the eye shadow for smooth and subtle glow while getting ready for evening event. For a day look, you can apply gray or brown eyeliner. To offer thickness and volume to eyelashes, apply black to very black mascara. To recap so far it is important to know ones skin tone to use the right shades. Next, use bright colors to avoid the ‘ashy’ look.

Blush Application for Dark Complexion

Blush on is an important color component of makeup, so choose shade of the blush very carefully. You can go for rose; deep orange and coral shades for the dark complexion while you should avoid dull browns, pale pinks and peach shades. Very dark complexion woman can choose dark rose pink if it is day. Nighttime makeup go for plum, wine and bronze. At night you can add shimmer by touching up with shimmer or gold tone as gold really goes well with dark skin. For that look, apply gold at forehead and on the outer corners of eyebrows. Remember not all gold or silver look equally and it not just about how dark your are but you underlying skin tone. Basic Cool, Warm & Neutral.

Lip Makeup for Dark Complexion

As far as lip makeup for dark skin is concerned, avoid frost finish lipsticks just like very light skin woman, But you can choose matte a finish ones, if you like. You can use shades of browns, burgundy, berry shades and plums. Other colors, which suit dark skin, are shades of beige, bright pinks and gold or silver. There are many lip colors like mochas, coffees, chocolates, dark plums, berry shade, wine shades, burgundy, nude pinks and nude beiges look great on dark complexion. Never apply an orange shade. If you have dark toned lips, prepare a base first by a lip balancer. Once again pinks, berry’s, wines and burgundy are cool tone colors as the others are neutral or (nw) neutral warm shades.

Some Important Tips for Makeup of Dark Skin

– Dark Skin is less prone to pimples and blemishes so provides even tone for foundation blending.
– Liquid foundation is best for the dark Skin as dark skin has tendency to shine and cream foundation will make it worse. Cream are best for dry or aging skin. Doesn’t show lines easily.
– Best way to blend foundation is to use water based liquid foundation and blend it in skin by rubbing the sponge or using fingertips. Apply with and not against your skin. Lessing the appearance of streaks of foundation.
– If you have dark skin less the makeup is more (just like with very fair skin). Your focus should be on enhancing it’s inner glow and highlight the natural color. Pick your best feature ex apply liner on top of your eyes a soft natural eye shadow. A sheer bright lip color (still natural when sheer formulas are used) or a nude color. Finish off with very black or clear mascara and bright colored plum blush accenting the hollow of your cheek bones. By having most of your intense color in the cheeks you look natural and not over done. Ex take Katy Perry’s look but use darker shade of plum instead of light pink. You can match your eye shadow, lipstick and blush just makeup only one the heaviest. It is better to accentuate natural shades of skin then by trying to blend too many different colors.
– It is better not to apply eyeliner on the lower lashes. If you apply it sparingly in a thin line along with the shape of your eye it will not look as harsh. Never apply it on the lower lid. It will give artificial look.
– Choose mascara with natural black or clear color.
-Lastly don’t be afraid of color or playing around with color. Unlike medium to tan complexion your color selections are more limited, but you have the added benefit & option of using dark and bright colors… that others dream about! Dark and bright makeup will not look harsh unless you apply a lot of makeup.

Color of foundation should match with tone of your skin. Shade of foundation should not be lighter than your skin as it will appear as a un-natural mask. The layers of makeup are more visible on dark skin than medium to tan complexion. People with tell you that it is not as noticeable on the very fair to fair skin, but that is simply not true. Dark and very fair complexion (Caucasian) woman both have the same problem with makeup colors. Too much orange, ashy gray coloring and it’s hard to match your skin tone much less a littler shade. Finding the right shade is hard cus the makeup industry is about making money and very pale and dark complexion only makeup up a small percentage. Here blending is of much importance to avoid any uneven tone.

It can withstand the exposure to sun rays as it has more pigment, but you can still get skin cancer so don’t forget your sunscreen. Color of skin should not be of importance. As a woman of ethic race there is a perception of light and dark skin. Which is prettier a battle, lets say. In the Caucasian world it’s more about too fair (light skin) is viewed as ugly. Very fair, olive and dark complexion will find it can be costly to find makeup that fits your s kin color. Luckily more and more makeup companies sell makeup at the drugstores that are more likely to match your skin tone with new technology. I would check out Covergirls or Loreal matching foundation as if is matching about 99%. I’ve used it and it really does work and I’ve never found a foundation that came close to my skin that wasn’t stage makeup.

Some will tell you go natural even use mostly neutral shades…but I can tell you if you practice you will find that you can use bright colors and it still can look tasteful. Remember if you are very dark complexed you can use a bright color and it will not appear bright on yourself. Another idea comes from renowned make-up artist, Bobbi Brown. She shares her tips for Dark complexions. Skin: Finding the right shade of foundation has been tricky for darker-skinned women, as with very fair skin woman, but these days many companies have broadened their ranges. One thing many dark-skinned women find is that their skin is lighter over the cheeks and forehead, which can mean they need to blend two foundations for a perfect match. Make sure you use a deep, warm shade of powder, with a hint of yellow, to prevent the skin looking ash or dull. Don’t be afraid to not cover your entire face with foundation; just use it where the complexion needs some evening out.

Cheeks: “Some very dark skin looks best with no blush or just a hint of bronzing powder,” says Bobbi. For a medium skin tone, try a deep bronzing powder or a currant-toned blush. For a lighter tone, opt for plum, rose or even pink.

Eyes: Avoid colors that ‘fight’ your skin tone. (Meaning don’t use colors that are the too different that your own skin tone. Ex Using warm on cool skin.) Lining the eyes with blue or green will bring them out. On lids, stick with deep, rich shades that blend easily into your skin tone. Chocolate, caramel and gold are great shades for a natural look.

Lips: “I love the look of pink lips with dark skin,” says Bobbi. There are no rules here, but her tip is to line the lips with a dark pencil (plum would work well), blend it into the lips and cover with a sheer gloss in pink, white, silver or gold.

New Pet Products

Organic Dog Paw Balm

New Pet Products!

New Pet Products that have came out in the past few months from That Girl’s Bath & Body. We currently have 2 organic 100 percent natural pet paw balms. One is in a stick with different ingredients and a new pet spray. Made with essential oils, healing oils and butter bases of Shea Butter and Soy Wax.

Pet spray in essential oils or choose pure fragrances. Gentle for you and your pet. To be sprayed on your pet’s bed or directly on your pet (do not let it get in the eyes). Also designed to remove pet odors and deodorize the coat with many pleasant fragrances to choose from.

Our organic pet paw balm stick has just as beautiful designed label as our regular pet paw balm in a jar. The ingredients differ a little and the paw balm stick comes in scents unlike the paw balm jar.

As reported in our Blog New Items have arrived:
A month ago we added our New Belly Butter Balm (pictured above). Mom2Be Belly Butter Balm Healing in a jar! A Natural, Organic Belly Cream helps before and after the baby. Chemical Free ~ 100% Natural ~ Organic – Highly Concentrated ~ All Butter and Oil.

Our Belly Butter Balm is loaded with nature’s own goodies! Handcrafted fresh for you, great for stretch marks and unscented. Our Belly Balm is great for dry or “stressed” skin, especially for the growing belly! Our special formula is just LOADED with Shea Butter, Mango Butter…..along with Rosehip Oil, Emu Oil, Borage Oil, Jojoba Oil and other skin loving ingredients! Keep Your Beautifully – Expanding Belly Looking Soft and Supple – While Preventing Those Dreaded Stretch Marks From Ever Appearing!

Also we came out with a nipple butter. All Natural Nipple Butter / Lotion Bar – Our All Natural Nipple Butter is perfect for expecting mothers & nursing mother. 100 % Natural ~ Chemical Free – Handmade from Scratch – Highly Concentrated ~ All Butter & Oil. Made only with all natural ingredients including cocoa butter, mango butter, fine oils and no petrolatum. Our nipple butter contains NO lanolin or other harsh animal byproducts. Goes on so smooth, not thick and sticky like other nipple creams.

Healing Oil Blend ~ 100% Pure ~ 100% Natural ~ Really Works ~ A very potent combination of oils and all natural. The list of skin ailments that it helps is endless. Only all natural ingredients and essential oils, perfect for Mom and safe for Baby.

Mom2Be Massage Oil