My Favorite Wraps

Tips to Tighten Skin
Water.  Water is crucial to skin elasticity and plumping up sagging skin. A simple test of dehydration is skin “tenting” on hand or forearm.  If you can pick up skin in these areas, you’re dehydrated and need water.  A minimum of 64 ounces of water a day, many researchers advocate more, such as 90 to100.  
 Vitamins. The best vitamins to rebuild skin and its collagen that helps it stay firm and elastic is Vitamin C. At least 1,000 mg of Vitamin C a day in divided doses of 500 mg. This helps build collagen that creates the “scaffolding” structure of your skin and holds it together.  Other supplements are liquid collagen This will help skin elasticity.
Weight training.   When you lose most of the fat, skin only has muscle and bone to drape across. You will get tighter, toned, and slightly bigger muscles that your skin can drape across more attractively. Your weight numbers may bump up on your scale, but added muscle is good weight. It’s fat weight that’s unhealthy.
Glutamine.  Glutamine powder, or capsules, can be bought at most health food stores. Take 5 grams on an empty stomach before weight training and 5 grams afterwards. Take an additional 5-10 grams before bedtime to augment muscle and skin repair that occurs during sleep repair.
Skin brushing/exfoliating.   It’s important for new skin cell growth and health to remove the layer of old, dead skin cells.  This can be done either vigorously doing a dry skin brushing on a daily basis or using a medium-coarse exfoliating skin cleanser in the shower 2-3 times a week.
Laser tightening.  Laser procedures heat collagen and elastin fibers beneath the skin and result in shrinkage and tightening of these structures, tightening the loose skin.  Costly, but the results may be worth it.
Burn more fat.  Part of sagging skin actually still has fat pockets in it causing it to hang. This is especially true of upper/under arm skin, and inner/upper thighs, knees, waistline.  Do cardio/aerobic work  & lower carb intake burn fat pockets out of the skin.  Add these supplements:  Omega 3’s, green tea extract, L-carnitine to assist in fat burning and drink plenty of water.
Far infrared sauna.   Unlike steam saunas, far infrared saunas burn subcutaneous fat and reduce cellulite, as well as remove toxins from the body and burn calories.  
Recommended twice a week. Drink lots of water during use.
Skin wraps.  You can be wrapped head to toe, or just problem areas like arms, thighs, and waist/stomach. Then you do light aerobic exercise to raise your body heat or use  a far infrared heating blanket.  Many swear by wraps for tightening skin, reducing unsightly cellulite that can make loose skin look much worse, and inch loss.

DIY Coffee & Coconut Oil Cellulite Scrub
Coffee – The caffeine in coffee, when directly applied to the skin, stimulates blood flow and circulation to the target area. This helps with cell regeneration and the tightening of skin. The ground coffee’s texture is also an exfoliant which removes dead cells and loose skin, giving new skin cells an opportunity to receive proper moisture and nutrients.
Coconut Oil – Coconut oil is a wonderful natural moisturizer for the skin. It contains vitamin E which is beneficial in growth and repair of skin. It also works to keep skin smooth and prevents premature wrinkling.
What to Do:
1. The coffee can be taken directly from packaging or you can use coffee grounds that have been used in your coffee machine. If using directly from a package, simply strain the coffee grounds until moist.
 2. Add 1/4 cup of coffee grounds into a bowl.
 3. The coconut oil should be in a liquid form. Many brands are sold as a solid. Take 3 tablespoons and melt them in a small pan. Once liquefied add the coconut oil into the bowl with the coffee.
 4. Mix the two ingredients until they form a paste like substance.
 5. Massage the mixture into the problem area(s) for a 2-3 minutes. Once you are done, wipe off the mixture with a damp towel.
 6. Pour the remainder into a mason jar or any air tight container. Use this scrub 2-3 times a week for optimal results. The mixture will slightly harden due to coconut oil’s natural state. Make sure you mix thoroughly before reusing.
 7. You’re all set! No lasers and no liposuction. Natural ingredients and patience can usually get the job done!

 DIY Coffee Scrub for Fading Stretch Marks
Ground Coffee – This can be taken directly from packaging or you can use coffee grounds that have been used in your coffee machine. The caffeine in coffee, when directly applied to the skin, stimulates blood flow and circulation. This helps with cell regeneration. The ground coffee’s texture is an exfoliant which removes dead cells and loose skin, giving new skin cells an opportunity to receive proper moisture, in this case from the next ingredient.
Olive Oil – Olive oil moisturizes, cleanses, and protects the skin. Most importantly, it penetrates the skin to work on different skin layers. Stretch marks are located beneath the surface of our skin’s outer layers, and we need to penetrate that surface to get to where the actual skin damage is.
What to Do:
1. Ideally, your skin should be clean prior to applying the scrub for the best results. If you’re using coffee grounds from your machine you’re all set on the first step. If you’re using coffee straight from the package, depending on how big the affected area is, pour an adequate amount into a small bowl or container and add enough warm water to moisten the coffee but not drown it.
 2. Mix olive oil with the coffee until it has a paste-like consistency. Ideally, the end mix should produce a paste that can stay on your skin for an extended period of time.
 3. Once the paste is ready, gently rub it into the area where the stretch marks are present. Apply it on the skin around the area as well. If the stretch mark is the size of a golf ball, apply to the area as if it were a tennis ball. Light and gentle rubs for about 3-5 minutes.
 4. Once the paste is applied, leave it on for 20 minutes.
 5. After 20 minutes, grab a damp, non-abrasive cloth to wipe away the mixture from your skin.
 6. Apply a natural moisturizer to the area 2-3 times throughout the day. 100% African Shea butter is a multi-purpose moisturizer which treats stretch marks, stimulates cellular growth, and repairs damaged skin.
 7. This scrub should be repeated once a day until you see a noticeable difference in the area. Different peoples’ skin is different, and depending on the severity of the stretchmarks, some fading can take longer than others. Be patient!
 8. If you don’t want to make the scrub daily, you can put the ingredients in an air-tight container to use whenever you need. Store at room temperature.
Sources: Mayo Clinic, Global Healing Center, Livestrong, Frank Body
 
DIY for Loose Skin Tightening
Age and natural elements wear on our skin over time. Wrinkles and loose skin, although naturally occurring, can be fought off with two simple ingredients. This DIY skin tightening recipe will help to firm your skin and will give you a long lasting, younger appearance.
Ingredients and Why They Work:
Cucumber – Cucumbers contain key nutrients which naturally bring restoration to the skin. Vitamins C and K are both antioxidants that fight off free radicals which can cause wrinkles and loosening of skin. The key ingredient to fight off wrinkles in cucumbers is silica, which promoted connective tissue growth.
Egg White – Egg whites naturally cause skin to tighten and are another added bonus.
What to Do:
1. Cut a cucumber in half and peel the skin off one half.
 2. Slice the peeled half into smaller chunks, no bigger than 1 inch each.
 3. Using a blender on medium speed, blend for 2 minutes or until the mixture is turned into pulp.
 4. Place a strainer over a bowl and place the pulp onto the strainer.
 5. Allow the juice to drain into the bowl and use a spoon to push out any additional juice into the bowl.
 6. Add 1 egg white and lightly mix together.
 7. Apply this mixture to any part of your body or face which needs tightening.
 8. Leave it on for 15 minutes and rinse off with cool water.
 9. You can use this mask 1-2 times a week for best results.

 How To Make Ginger Wraps, And Burn Belly Fat Overnight!
What you need:

• 1 freshly grated ginger or ginger powder
• 4-5 body lotion
• some plastic wrap
• a towel
• an elastic band

What you do:
Put a towel in a warm water and soak it then wrap the areas where you want to burn fat.
 Let it act for 5 minutes.
 Add body lotion in ginger and mix them well.
 Apply on the affected area and then use plastic wrap in order to wrap around that parts.
 For great results, it’s best to leave the compress on for at least 6 hours, or, preferably overnight – apply it before you go to bed, and remove it in the morning.

How to correctly get rid of cellulite with coconut oil
6tbsp (3oz) of coconut oil
20 drops of orange essential oil
.5 tsp cinnamon powder
 
PREPARATION METHOD:
Put the coconut oil in a bowl;
 Add orange essential oil and then cinnamon.
 Mix ingredients well until you get a homogeneous mixture.
 Allow the mixture to stand for 30 minutes.
 Apply this anti-cellulite cream directly to the affected areas, massaging gently.
 Cover the area with plastic wrap.
 This process must be repeated 3 times a day.
In seven days the effects will be visible. 

 
Detox Body Wrap
This body wrap will help you get some of the toxins out of your body and take the bloat out but it’s not a permanent fix. It can last for a day or two but if you want permanent results, you still need some good old fashion healthy diet and exercise.
This would be great for a special event though. If you need to look better or feel better for a special occasion, then this will work perfectly.
So if you want to see how you would look with one or two inches off, let’s start wrapping.

• plastic wrap
• lotion
• clay mask
• 2-3 ace bandages
• belly band
• bowl of warm water
• paper towels

 
Step 1
Put warm water in a bowl and soak your paper towel. Apply the paper towel to your tummy to open up the pores. Let it sit for about five minutes
Step 2
In a bowl put equal part of lotion and clay mask and mix them together. The clay mask will detoxify your skin and the lotion will give it the moisture it needs. Once it’s all mixed together, heat it in the microwave for about 15 seconds.
Step 3
Test the mixture first to make sure it’s not too hot. Then apply a thick amount to your tummy and to your sides and wrap it with your plastic wrap. Go around for about six times and make sure that it’s tight but not uncomfortable.
Step 4
Wrap the elastic bandages around followed by your belly band to secure everything together.

 And that’s it! Cover it up and leave overnight.
 When you wake up in the morning, remove everything and see the results.
I’d recommend measuring your waist first with a tape measure before wrapping yourself up so you can compare the numbers.
 Remember, this is just a quick fix. Achieving permanent results will require a lot of hard work and discipline.
I’m sure you’ll love the quick result you’ll get from this DIY detox body wrap you can do any time with the fraction of the cost. Try it tonight!