Beautiful to the Core

Apples might keep doctors at bay, but God didn’t make those little green apples merely for your inner health. In fact, apple flesh is topically good for your skin! Apples contain vitamins A and C, but their best beauty benefit is that they contain potassium which traps moisture into the skin, and their natural acids also slough off old skin cells. Though apple pectin has habitually been used in cosmetics to naturally bind compounds--as it does in jams and jellies--additional uses for apples in skin care are cropping up everywhere. For example, Fruits & Passion recently launched an eco-friendly line of products under the Imagine umbrella including an Apple Illusions collection from authentic fruit extracts. And Yves Rocher has patented apple Oligosides® as the main ingredient in their anti-aging treatment Sérum Végétal.

Spas that spoil you with apples…

Wanda Love, Chief Executive Officer, Leading Spas of Canada, notes, “Many spas are now discovering apples as a wonderful natural and indigenous ingredient to add to their signature service treatments!” Here are a few:

Nova Scotia’s Digby Pines Golf Resort & Spa celebrates the Annapolis valley orchards with Apple Blossom Facials and apple puree face masks. Their Polished Apple Body Treatment uses apple pie scrub (raw sugar, cinnamon, and apple extracts) and their Apple Polisher Pedicure features apples and brown sugar.

Amerispa’s eight locations in Quebec tap the province’s famous ice cider. Their signature services include Therapeutic Ice Cider Bathing Treatment, Elixir Ice Cider Exfoliation Treatment and an Anti-Aging Elixir Ice Cider Mask. They also sell an exclusive line of At-home Vintage Elixir Ice Cider Experience products.

Toronto’s Votre Beaute European Day Spa offers the Quince Apple Body Treatment and Regina’s Essence Organic Hair and Day Spa’s Fire & Ice Facial relies on apple and grape pulp. Edmonton’s Avanti Salon Spa has a Pear & Green Apple Sugar Scrub, and on the West coast, Vancouver and Whistler’s Solarice Wellness Spas provide Pear & Green Apple Pedicures.

Easier–than-apple-pie home treatments

Accredited Naturopath Ellen Bockus says, “Apple cider vinegar is great for all kinds of treatments including acne, but it’s also great for ridding hair of excess soap build-up! Once a month mix equal parts cider vinegar and water and use it as a rinse!"

For that apple-cheeked glow, try these:

Apple Toner
Peel, core and dice one apple. Microwave in ½ cup water until soft. Drain and add 1/4 cup witch hazel. Cool and apply with cotton ball.

Apple Mask
Mix well 4 tbs. honey to one finely grated apple. Leave on face 10 min. Rinse.

Apple Bath
For silky skin, add ½ cup of apple juice to your bathwater as a natural skin softener!

So reap the bounty of this season’s harvest with glee because apples can make you beautiful to the core…inside and out!

Photo courtesy of Engadgeteer.

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