This chapter will calm your panic and boost your beauty for a special event that looms on the horizon. A first date coming up this weekend, a romantic getaway with your partner, the school reunion, a vacation by the sea, or a ski break—all of these present special challenges, and a great deal of stress if you don’t feel or look good. It’s important to note that the major problem that all of the situations in this section share is time—specifically, not enough! I hope it goes without saying, then, that these plans are terrific for any occasion that demands you look your best in a pinch. Short and sweet, my Mini Programs for Fast Results address as many issues as possible, as fast as possible, while using the smallest number of products available. And while all the programs here can be used by women of any age, they do not aim to repair every possible aging problem; instead, they address most of the issues very well, and are not too heavy for young skins or too light for older skins.
These programs are designed to be followed exactly, but it is absolutely fine as you become more familiar with natural substances and their revolutionary anti-aging effects to mix and match, and add more items from various chapters in this book to suit your needs.
You’ve just met someone special who gets your heart racing and makes you smile for no reason, or rather, for the best reason of all—you are happy. So much so that you can’t sleep, you don’t feel hungry, and you’re counting the moments until that magical first date. But then you wake up midweek with bags under your eyes (from thinking about your night out), pale and drawn (from not eating), and looking twice your age (from not using my program yet). That is not ideal! But help is at hand. Follow steps 1–3 below for instant radiance. In a day or two, you’ll be ready to go!
Clarify. When you have only a day or so to look great, you want a clear, fresh complexion as fast as possible, which is where proteasome activators come in. Baking yeast granules are amazing. Place two teaspoons of baking yeast from the baking section of the grocery store into a container, add enough warm water to make a spreadable paste, wait until you get bubbles, then apply to your face and neck. If you would like to extend the treatment to your arms and décolletage, please do so, but do it in the shower or the bath! Leave the yeast on your skin for five to ten minutes to work its magic, then rinse off. If you have substantial photo damage, use tomato paste instead. Spread it on your face, neck, arms, and breasts in the shower or the bath for clear, bright, radiant skin. Leave on for five minutes, then rinse off. Both of these treatments will help leave your skin soft, radiant, refreshed, and looking young!
Plump up with squalene. Apply a thin layer of this skin smoother, three times a day, to enhance your glowing skin so that on the day of that date, you will look gorgeous!
Treat your hair. Give your crowning glory a deep conditioning treatment to make it silky to the touch by the weekend. Lard may sound unusual but it is one of the most effective treats you can give your hair. It helps your hair grow and stops breakage, and helps enhance your natural hair color without disturbing any tints or dyes; and once it’s washed off, your hair should gleam so that everyone notices. Smooth one to two teaspoons on your hair, depending on its thickness and length. To enhance effects, add 30 drops each of rosemary and eucalyptus globulus essential oils for every 100 grams of lard, and use that as your pre-shampoo treatment. Lard is solid, but you can heat it gently in a saucepan, take it off the heat, add the essential oils, let it cool, and store. And lard, by the way, washes out very easily. You may shampoo twice if you wish, but you don’t need to. If you don’t have lard on hand, or would like an alternative, then choose from any of these, which can be combined, if you like: one to teaspoons of olive oil, avocado oil, red palm oil, or coconut oil, depending on hair thickness and length.
You want to look young and enchanting but you absolutely don’t want the process of becoming the most enticing version of yourself to take you away from your lover for long! The trick is to concentrate on maximizing your sex appeal. Everything you pack for this special time should enhance your extraordinary allure. We can do that here in only four steps. Long-term, I suggest you revisit chapter 11 and mix and match until you find your favorite and most effective remedies.
Honey: Use a thin layer in the shower for soft, dewy skin and on hair before you shampoo; as a moisturizing, anti-aging treatment when your face is makeup-free (be sure to wash off after five minutes); and at breakfast, when you can add two teaspoons to your hot tea or yogurt. Applying honey directly to your breasts will instantly help perk them up and make them seem fuller and firmer.
Sandalwood or ylang-ylang scent: This is a very individual preference, but adding 30 drops of either essential oil (or both, if you use 15 drops each) to 100 ml of coconut oil and using this as your moisturizer throughout your romantic getaway will help keep your sex appeal at its peak and make your skin look stunningly young and beautiful, without the slightest danger of under-eye bags. Keep in mind that under-eye bags result from decreased elastin synthesis, but they can be exacerbated by eating animal fats. Choose a chicken breast for dinner, for example, and eat only low-fat dairy. In addition to its significant anti-aging effects, sandalwood will help make you feel sensual, so it’s a win-win for you both!
Berries: They are so easy to add to your romantic menu, and their beauty potential is so huge, you should nibble them at every opportunity. It will help your eyes look clear, your skin to glow, and you should feel energized and ready to have fun at any time of day or night! Add 100–200 grams of blueberries, raspberries, or strawberries or 100–200 ml of pomegranate juice to as many meals as you can.
Fennel: Take two teaspoons of this three times a day or more while you’re away.
I’m going to assume that even though you will probably know the date of your reunion for some time, about three weeks out you’ll be gripped with panic. There seems to be all the time in the world, then suddenly none. The key to this program is that the turnaround time is three weeks, so if you want to anti-age for a job interview or special event in that same window, this program works for those occasions, too!
Red palm oil: This will help give you a beta-carotene glow on your skin, longer telomeres, and skin protection from the sun. Take four tablespoons of red palm oil each day and use a 500 gram pot as a base for an external treatment to which you add 30 drops each of myrrh, fennel, ylang-ylang, and dill seed essential oils. This will help increase elastin (dill seed) in, firm up (myrrh), and visibly anti-age (fennel and ylang-ylang) your skin. Use this mix on your face and body. If you prefer a colorless alternative to red palm oil to use externally, substitute coconut oil in the above skin treatment. Avocado oil is my absolute favorite and may be substituted for red palm oil. Avocado oil helps increase collagen and elastin synthesis and is astonishingly hydrating, and can smooth out wrinkles and lines. I find it more hydrating than coconut or red palm oil, so if your skin is very dry, switch to avocado oil. In that case, use 100 ml of avocado oil as your base and add 20 drops of the essential oils mentioned here. Dill weed (also known as dill) essential oil is fine to use as a substitute for dill seed essential oil.
Lard: Smooth one to two teaspoons on your hair, depending on its thickness and length. This treatment alone should make your hair brighter, and amazingly soft. Even better, add 30 drops of fennel, rosemary, and eucalyptus globulus essential oils to 250 grams of melted lard, store in a wide-mouthed container, and use in the same way as plain lard. (Used regularly, this can make your hair grow faster. But you need to use the treatment at least three times a week, for at least six months, to see appreciable gains in length.) If you would rather use a vegetarian treatment, avocado oil is an excellent alternative. Use the same essential oils as for the lard treatment, in the same proportions, and apply before you shampoo.
Gelatin: Stir four teaspoons of gelatin into pineapple juice or water three times a day. In three weeks’ time, your skin should be firmer, your muscles more taut, your hair thicker and shinier, and even your eyes can benefit. As we age, hyaluronic acid production decreases everywhere in our bodies, including our eyes, which can lead to primary open-angle glaucoma, a type of blindness with no known cause. Gelatin has been found to restore levels of hyaluronic acid and reverse the mechanism involved in this condition.
Ashwagandha: This herb will help you radiate youthful gorgeousness. Take two teaspoons twice a day in the three weeks leading up to the reunion. If you prefer ashwagandha capsules, take six capsules twice a day. If you have the tincture, take two teaspoons twice a day. Add it to some juice if you like.
Bee pollen: Take four teaspoons of bee pollen granules twice a day for a golden youthful glow.
Apple cider vinegar: Three weeks is not enough time for substantial weight loss if you are to retain your health and good looks and not end up looking drained. But taking apple cider vinegar, four teaspoons in the morning and at night, can help your body look toned on your big day.
This program is a little bit less “mini” than the others since sun damage accelerates skin aging so rapidly, but once you are familiar with the steps, it is very easy to follow and highly protective. Of course, as with all suggestions in this chapter, you may consult the appropriate chapter in the book and mix and match as you wish.
Gelatin: This increases collagen in the skin, even after sun exposure. Take two teaspoons of gelatin powder in juice three times a day.
Red palm oil: Carotenoids help protect your skin against sun damage. Take two teaspoons of red palm oil in the morning, at noon, and in the evening for all-day sun protection. You can use red palm oil externally, but you don’t need to. It does give skin an orange tint, and there are external treatments that provide excellent sun protection without adding color to your skin.
Tomato paste: Fortunately, this is easy to eat at almost every meal, since tomato-based sauces are very popular. It’s enough if you include this skin protector in at least one meal every day.
Cocoa: Use at least four teaspoons of pure cocoa powder as a sun-protecting supplement every day while exposed to the sun. You can add it to hot milk, tea, or coffee.
Squalene: Apply a thin layer of this oil to your skin three times a day.
Amla, gotu kola, and coconut oil: This preparation is for external use, so make it at home and bring it with you. The instructions are given at the end of chapter 4. You can use rice bran oil instead of coconut oil for an added boost of sun protection from the ferulic acid contained in rice bran oil, and you can use amla and gotu kola tinctures instead of the powder. When using tinctures, there is no herb sediment to filter out, but you need to heat the base oil you are using, in this case coconut or rice bran oil, enough to boil off the alcohol that is contained in the tinctures. Take great care when doing this as you could cause a fire or a serious burn. It’s best to heat the oil on the back burner of your stove. Leave the lid off and let the alcohol evaporate from the tinctures. The process should be complete after fifteen minutes. Remember to leave the saucepan lid off, so the alcohol can escape!
Rosehip and chamomile oil: In the evening after sunbathing, apply this treatment to take away redness and repair photodamage. To 50 ml of rosehip oil, add 40 drops of German chamomile essential oil. German chamomile oil is soothing.
Estrogenic tonic: It’s not a good idea to use essential oils on your skin when you are in the sun, but you don’t want to miss out on estrogenic power while on vacation, so make a tonic to take internally. Mix fennel and fenugreek tinctures in a 1:1 ratio, which means if you have 500 ml of fenugreek, you add 500 ml of fennel, mix it, bottle it, and pack it in your suitcase. Take two teaspoons three times a day. You can take this tonic at any age, as long as you are over the legal age limit; if you are trying to conceive, however, you should check everything you plan to take with your doctor. Herbs with estrogenic activity could prevent you from becoming or staying pregnant, so do not use them.
Being out in the crisp, cold air is an exhilarating experience, but it can wreak havoc on your skin. Cracked, dry skin can bleed and hurt, and certainly needs special care.
Squalene: Apply a thin layer three times a day to keep your skin smooth and soft.
Red palm oil: Take two teaspoons morning, noon, and evening to protect you against the sun damage that snow glare causes. Even your eyes are protected when you take red palm oil internally.
Avocado oil: Use it on your face, hair, and all over your body before a shower. Take two teaspoons a day to keep your skin cold-resistant. Or try an avocado and licorice preparation. Heat 250 ml of avocado oil with three large spoonfuls of licorice root powder for twenty minutes. Let it cool, strain, and bottle, then use all over your body for amazing anti-aging, hair-growing, and skin-smoothing effects. Almond oil is a superb alternative, as it’s easily available wherever you are in the world.
Fenugreek and fennel: Mix these two tinctures half-and-half and take six teaspoons a day, divided into three doses.