Spritz! After a Sunny Day Spray

I am skeptical of anyone who doesn’t love summer.  I get enjoying the winter cold, springtime flowers and colors of fall, but lying under a tree after a salty swim with the summer heat & breeze keeping you at the perfect temp all at once…it’s hard to beat.  Granted last summer I was 7-9 months pregnant and it was one of the hottest summers on record over here…so while a bit sweaty, it didn’t alter my outlook on the perfection of summertime.

Over the years of learning a great deal about our bodies, our health, our nutrition and the like, I have adjusted our sun exposure habits as necessary.  I’ve switched to using homemade sunscreens, am always on the lookout for a “stylish” sun hat for all family members (definitely a relative statement depending on your tastes), keep a rashguard on the keikis during the hottest hours of the day, and eat lots of watermelon!  Want to know a fun fact?  Watermelon and some other delicious fruits and veggies have SPF qualities.  So eat up!

Even with all the precautions, sometimes, we end up a little bit toasted.  Particularly because I fail to always reapply after swimming.  Surprisingly I’ve managed to keep my kids from getting super roasted, and while that could partially be due to their father’s skin genes (those Spanish olive tones that tan so dang perfect), on occasion we end up with pink noses & shoulders, and dried out tired skin.  When that happens I apply this sweet little tincture to give a soothing cool effect… and the healing properties of aloe and the Essential Oils don’t hurt!

Here’s the recipe:

2T distilled water
2T Raw Aloe Vera Gel (or Aloe Juice or gel if need)
1T Vitamin E oil
1T witch hazel
15 drops lavender
5 drops peppermint (leave this out if applying on baby)
5 drops tea tree
5 drops copaiba

Directions:
1. Blend all ingredients well in blender
2. Pour into 4 oz sprayer (any unblended raw aloe will get stuck in the spray nozzle! make sure it’s blended into a non-chunky liquid). 

The vitamin E acts as a short-term preservative, so you can keep it out of the fridge for the duration of summer, but I prefer to keep it in the refrigerator as the temperature of the cold makes it that much more refreshing!

Shaloha!