Looking fresh faced and glowy in the dead of summer is challenging. With the heat comes the drab makeup and the blah, dehydrated skin. In the sweltering dead of summer heat, nothing feels quite like a refreshing face mist. Spritzing your face with a homemade infused face mist is cooling and refreshing on a hot day, post workout or as a pick-me-up for that mid-afternoon drop off.

Face mists make your skin less dull and more dewy, providing additional benefits from the botanicals you select for infusing. Traditionally with facial mists that are hydrosol distillations that include the essence of botanicals and endure an involved distillation process. While some store-bought versions use this method, many can also contain synthetic fragrances, alcohol, or other ingredients that can cause dryness and irritation.

I have long loved creating my own facial mists, toners and other homemade skin care treats. From simple essential oil fragrance blends to deodorant, insect repellent sprays and beyond. I am also just very fond of aromatic botanicals as a whole. On our walks through the neighborhood, I am always stopping as I find wild growing herbs calling out to me like the pie in window sill of an old cartoon. Jasmine around the corner coaxing me to make the turn. Orange blossoms on the tree in our yard encouraging me to have my morning coffee outside. Wild growing rosemary in the neighbor’s front yard turning me into a neighborhood creeper, just to get a sniff. I’ve been known to demand my husband quickly pull over the car on a wild, windy highway in the mountains, just so I can indulge my sniffer in wild growing white sage.

A strong sense of smell can be both a blessing and a curse, but ultimately I love it. Scents are very transportive to me. Various aromatic herbs and flowers have the power to take be back to another time, remind me of a lost loved one and some of the best scents instantly flood me with memories I no longer realized I possessed.

Today’s post is inspired by Kale & Caramel: Recipes for Body, Heart and Table the beautiful new book from my friend Lily Diamond. Lily created a stunning collection of recipes and emotional storytelling featuring powerful herbs and flowers to nourish heal us from the inside out. Pages after pages inspired by mother nature’s bounty.

Lily’s plant whisperer ways and her beautiful, often goose-bump providing cultivation of words, come from an incredible background that includes her sun-kissed Maui upbringing, her herbalist, aromatherapist mother, her experiences in longing for more, for change, for a different family.She calls on the intensity that came from processing the loss of her mother along with the grief and the spiritual awakening that followed. This beautiful book is birthed from love and heartache, loss and tears, passion and a desire to nourish others. All of these feelings surround you as you thumb through the pages, taking in her words and her gifts.

Each chapter of Kale & Caramel celebrates a different aromatic herb or flower, it features vegetarian and vegan recipes for eating, slathering on your beautiful body and for awakening your spirit.

While the recipes for eatin’ in the Kale & Caramel Book aren’t exclusively gluten-free or grain-free, there are definitely quite a few options that will work for those of us that are, some with just minor adjustments. The same goes with dairy-free. Some of my favorite savory eats in the book are: Butter Lettuce with Herbs de Provence Vinaigrette, Thyme Scented Plum and Arugula Salad with Honey Hazelnut Clusters, Fennel Butternut Miso Soup with Toasted Seeds and the Lemony Fennel, Radish & Kale Salad. If you are looking for sweet stuff, these are some that caught my eye: Coconut Ginger Tapioca with Cilantro-Scented Mango, Lemon Thyme Vanilla Bean Sorbet, Coconut Chia Mousse with Cardamom Rose Coco Whip and Coconut and Hibiscus & Blood Orange Blossom Slushies.

Beyond all that deliciousness, the book is loaded with skin and body care recipes, including exfoliators, face and body masks, scrubs, baths moisturizers and more – all pure enough to eat. These alone are worth having this beautiful resource on hand.

This Mint Awakening Spritz featured in Kale & Caramel and shared below, inspired me to create two more refreshing infused face mist blends to share with all of you, but truly the sky is the limit for possibilities. I encourage you to get creative and feel inspired by your favorite botanicals and create your own blends. I would love if you shared in the comments what you create.

And definitely grab a copy of Kale & Caramel: Recipes for Body, Heart and Table. A perfect inspiration full of nourishment beyond just nutrition.

Mint Awakening Spritz by Lily Diamond

“Mint soothes digestion and awakens even the sleepiest of minds and bodies. This spritz (and all of the them) can be used on face and body, or as a room spray to freshen any environment.”

• 8 ounces water*
• 1 cup gently crushed mint leaves

Add the fresh mint to the bottle, top with distilled water. You can also add a few drops of mint essential oil. Shake well and spritz away.

*I recommend distilled or at the very least filtered water.

 

Calming Chamomile Spritz

Chamomile is gentle and soothing for the skin and reduces inflammation. Great for puffy eyes.

• 8 ounces distilled water
• several sprigs of fresh chamomile

Add a few sprigs of fresh, organic chamomile to the bottle, top with distilled water. You can also add a few drops of chamomile essential oil. Shake well and spritz away.

 

Soothing Lavender Spritz

Lavender is therapeutic and calming, helps with anxiety and it’s a soothing remedy for sleeplessness. I really enjoy using this spray as a mist on my sheets and pillow, pre-bedtime. Vanilla bean is a really nice compliment to the lavender, too.

• 8 ounces distilled water
• several sprigs of fresh lavender

Add a few sprigs of fresh, organic lavender to the bottle, top with distilled water. You can also add two drops of high quality lavender essential oil. Shake well and spritz away.

 

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Storage:

Store your facial sprays for up to 3 days in the fridge if using fresh herbs. Up to 6 months if using essential oils.

 

Options:

Get creative with your herbs and florals, try out different things, combine, create and have fun. You can always choose whichever (quality) essential oil you adore the scent of or are seeking the benefits of, but be sure to avoid citrus-based oils as they can have a photosensitive effect causing skin pigmentation in the sun.

 

Other Additions:

You can also add to your facials sprays: aloe vera, alcohol-free witch hazel, green tea or other brewed teas, coconut water, cucumber, vitamin E, jojoba, sweet almond, or rose hip oil, etc.

 

NOTE: Everyone’s skin is different, some herbs and flowers can irritate some people’s skin, so best to do a light skin patch test on your arm, before you spray something all over your face, no matter what is in your personal blend.