Are you struggling with dry lips these days? It’s such a brutal time of year (at least in the colder climates) for your smackers and nobody likes to have flaky, dry, cracked lips. So here’s a quick, easy and NATURAL way to get back to smooth kissable lips.

In a small bowl, put 1 tablespoon of sugar (regular white granulated or natural/demura sugar). Add 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil (best) or any other cooking oil you have around (canola, corn etc). Mix together until it is like wet sand.

Then, simply put some on your lips and scrub gently with your finger. Wipe off (or if you have a sweet tooth, you can lick it off!). Afterwards, apply your favorite lip balm.

Leftovers? Use it on your hands – scrub hand over the sink with the scrub and briefly rinse (just to get the sugar off). Then apply Hand it to You hand cream (ok – you can actually use any hand cream, but I’m biased…)

You’ll be amazed at how well that works and how soft and smooth your hands and lips will be. Sweet!

Not sure if you have noticed, but Tea Tree oil is starting to show up in all kinds of natural skin care products. Why, you ask? (or maybe you’re not asking, but I’m going to tell you anyway because that’s the great thing about a blog – there’s no “reading of social cues” so if you’re eyes are rolling back and you are starting to doze already, I have no idea so I just keep plowing on. Isn’t this fun?) Well, it’s because Tea Tree oil is a fantastically useful and effective ingredient for so many things – it’s almost incredible.

Tea Tree oil can be purchased at most health food stores. The one I have is from Trader Joe’s (no duh, for anyone that knows me. My home away from home…) If you buy it, make sure it is 100% tea tree oil – not a blend.

For specific applications, I recommend that you read the articles I have listed below or search online for more information. Tea Tree oil should never be swallowed and should be used carefully. In a few cases it is ok to use it in tiny amounts directly on the skin, but generally it should be diluted. Again – I suggest reading more if you want to use it.

It is found in many Garden Girl products as well, including You’re Fresh face wash (keeps skin clear), No Worries night cream, and Hand it to You hand cream.

Some key facts:

• It is a natural antifungal, antiseptic, antibiotic, and antiviral ingredient
• Comes from the Melaleuca Alternifolia tree or bush native to New South Wales, Australia
• Can be a mild pain reliever for wounds and burns
• Fights acne and reduces blemishes
• Excellent for fighting dandruff and dry scalp
• Works on eczema and dermatitis (I used it on my face for perioral dermatitis and it cleared it up – along with a sulfate-free toothpaste! Darn sulfates. Who knew they were hiding in toothpaste?)
• Clears up cold sores and canker sores
• Clears up athlete’s foot and toenail fungus – ICK, I know – but good to know!
• Great for bug bites
• Works for pest control – and much safer than those terrible sprays!
• Great as a household disinfectant/antifungal spray

These are only a few of the uses, but if you are interested, there is a ton of information on the web (but be selective – some is more hype than fact). The sites I keep bookmarked are: http://www.socal.com/artman/publish/printer_450.shtml
http://aztec.asu.edu/iaha/articles/Tea_Tree_Article/tea_tree_article.html
http://www.living-library.com/dodt/teatree.htm

Sometimes it makes you wonder why we have so many of these terrible harmful chemical laden things when there are natural alternatives that really do work – safely!