Featured Image: Salome (1876), by Gustave Moreau
The Picture Art Collection / Alamy Stock Photo
When the season of giving entwines with the season of extravagance, I see only one path: the shimmering promenade that leads to the altar of beauty rituals. Is there anything more delightful than sensuality? Think about it for a millisecond. Non! To be in conversation with your senses is to experience pure, unequalled joy in the present moment and in the petite pleasures of the flesh that nature and beauty continually conspire to reveal, particularly when we have become somehow disengaged from our weary bodies, our harried spirits, and in the process have forgotten the truth of love. Yes, love. An immense outpouring from the goddesses that is there for us to see, to embrace, and to pass along: Beauty is inner love made external—the fine art of ritual that empowers and shows others by example exactly how we are to be treated. This is pure confidence. What could be more restorative and more bewitching? A high vibration of who you are, what you need, and what you can offer all wrapped in silky, glowing, perfumed skin … la force de la nature.
And, of course, the beauty ritual should be one of all-out voluptuous decadence, no? A hedonistic soak while anointing your face with the sybaritic indulgences, then covering every inch of your naked body in a tantalizing scent … now that sounds like goddess work to me.
To align with the many gifts this season brings, I’ve conjured the Triple Goddess of luscious beauty must-haves for your winter’s pleasure. As you concoct and enjoy each one, I invite—actually, I insist—you enter the temple of your body with complete abandon, being fully in the present, and creating with your senses. Take this time for yourself, any way you can, and imagine you have nothing else on this earth to do but adorn yourself in the gifts of the divine. I offer you, mes amours, unabashedly wanton sorcery: Lose yourself in it. And then, find yourself again.
My first offering polishes your skin gently, but magnificently, with one of my most adored beauty secrets—champagne! Ah, oui! It is a delight of the heaven and earth, and here we literally bathe in the lunar-lowered crystalline starlight it conjures. The spirit and the skin are renewed in the most playful way, defiant in its decadence.
ÉTOILE POLONAISE
Body Exfoliant and Bath Soak Conjures
2-3 treatments
1 cup Himalayan pink salt, fine
¼ cup champagne
1 tablespoon sweet almond oil
6 drops pure vanilla essential oil
3 drops wild orange essential oil*If you do not wish to use champagne, a sparkling mineral water works beautifully.
In a beautiful bowl, combine the pink salt and sweet almond oil until well blended. Add each essential oil, one at a time, then blend again. Pour in the champagne, and watch with delight as it bubbles. Give it a stir, then glide gracefully into your bath area and apply to damp skin, massaging in circular motions. If you have a bathtub, sink down in, allowing the potion to act as a bath soak, adding more as you desire. When you emerge, your skin will glow like the galaxy, with the tactile sensuality of silk.
Himalayan Pink Salt is an excellent base that sloughs away old skin, providing mineral riches and earth power.
Champagne The “wine of kings” is actually quite the beauty secret. It is loaded with antioxidants, helps promote even skin tone, and cleanses with natural antibacterial powers.
Sweet Almond Oil Soothing and nutritive, almond softens and heals skin with natural vitamin E, which has the ability to regenerate cells and repair damaged skin. It also carries the magic of healing energy.
Vanilla This gorgeous, lusty vine is rich in copper to promote collagen and elastin production and has noted aphrodisiac powers.
Orange supports collagen production and cellular renewal while bringing forth love and prosperity.
Next, revel in the lush ritual of treating your face to a most exquisite indulgence: the intoxicating scent of chocolate in a rich coconut créme ambrosia that gently cleanses and detoxifies without you even knowing a thing! Why? Because, mes amies, you will be much too taken with the voluptuous nature of this creamy, thick potion that deeply moisturizes, leaving
a positively edible scent to linger and enchant.
TRÉSOR DE CHOCOLAT
Facial Masque
Conjures 3-6 treatments
1 fresh fig, or two dried figs
1 teaspoon horse chestnut flour
1 teaspoon raw cacao
1 teaspoon unsweetened coconut cream
*If you are using dried figs, soak them for a minimum of one hour prior to potion making.
In another gorgeous bowl, whisk the horse chestnut flour with the cacao until well blended. Slice the figs in half, then scoop out the flesh, and add it to the mixture. When it is well combined, add the coconut cream, mixing well with a fork until smooth. It will seem very thick, but once it hits your skin it will melt upon meeting your body warmth and become easy to massage. Apply in this manner to clean skin, let it rest for at least 15 minutes while you do something interesting, then rinse well.
Fig Ruled by passionate fire and lucky Jupiter, this lusty fruit of creativity brings strength, abundance, and lusty adventures. Rich in beautifying vitamins, minerals, and fiber, figs also contain Jing life-force energy.
Chestnut Fiery chestnut is ruled by abundant Jupiter and known for attracting love. It promotes cellular regeneration and rich moisture on the skin.
Cacao is a fire-ruled beauty food that enhances mood and stirs sexual desire, and is rich in skin-saving antioxidants.
Coconut Ruled by the moon and water, coconut heightens your intuition and psychic abilities as it provides beauty fats for supple skin.
Beauty Witch Secret: This recipe makes enough for a full-body treatment! How about that for decadence?
And last but never least, beautés, I have a very succulent treat for you: a perfume that invites pleasure seeking by way of la patisserie! Think of yuletide sweets in all their warmth and debauched satisfaction but without the beauty-busting sugars and calories … now that is fabulous. Your pencil dress will thank you.
PARFUM DE DESSERT
Perfume
Conjures approximately 1 ounce
Essential oils:
20 drops vanilla
5 drops clove
6 drops nutmeg
8 drops bitter almond
4 drops wild orange
Pure spring water
In a one-ounce bottle, combine essential oils, one at a time, taking a moment to breathe each one in, connecting to its energy. Fill the bottle to the top with spring water, but leave a little space to breathe below the cap, stopper, or sprayer. Swirl it all together in a clockwise motion until mingled. Use wherever and whenever you desire a bit of heaven on earth.
Dancing with vanilla, almond, and orange are a beloved pair of seasonal magic makers:
Clove Decadently spicy, Jupiter-ruled clove oil kills bacteria and clarifies skin while conjuring love, money, and protection magic.
Nutmeg Fiery, Jupiter-ruled nutmeg is an excellent anti-inflammatory for skin that can have a reaction to the changing seasons. It is also highly valued for its ability to open up our psychic awareness.
Beauty Witch Secret: Parfum de Dessert makes a luxurious house fragrance too! Mist rooms, carpets, draperies, and clothing as you desire, taking care to shake well first, and spray at least 6 to 8 inches away from fabric.
