The Spa Director at The James Royal Palm’s renew the spa in Miami Beach has shared with us an at-home beauty treatment that we think you will love! At renew the spa they have a wonderful Oat and Coconut treatment, perfect for restoring your skin’s PH levels, and Spa Director Vivian Villamizar has shared how to make this at-home: 1.)    To begin, mix Epsom salt with pure virgin coconut oil to exfoliate any dry itchy areas on the body. The combination of the Epsom salt with the coconut oil replenishes the skin with trace minerals while hydrating it at the same time. This exfoliation can be done gently or vigorously. 2.)    Following the exfoliation, mix 2-3 tablespoons of oats and 2-3 tablespoons of coconut oil butter cream together and place them in a poultice bag. Heat the poultice in the microwave for 30 seconds or until you create a nice thick paste inside the bag. 3.)    Once it is heated, this poultice may be massaged, rolled and compressed all around the body. Not only do you get a nice heat coming from the poultice, but the paste will start spreading around your body which will heal and nourish your skin. The active ingredients from the oats and the coconut oil will help restore your skin's PH levels leaving your skin exfoliated and silky smooth. Let us know if you try it! Subscribe to A Girl’s Gotta Spa! beauty blog. Watch our reviews on YouTube, see our pins on Pinterest and check us out on Instagram and G+. Got a Kindle? We’re on Kindle too!

So let me begin this post by letting you all know that this recipe was actually compliments of my quick thinking sister, as I had originally intended to ingest this and not use it topically.  You are all well aware (based on my earlier post on the DIY Pineapple Strawberry Enzyme Facial Mask) that I started out the year, like a lot of you, on a health kick.  I received a juicer for Christmas and have been really enjoying juicing and coming up with different fruit and vegetable juice recipes, which led to me discovering how amazing the pulp of some fruits work as a facial mask. Well the health kick continues and in addition to juicing I also wanted to whip up fruit and vegetable smoothies. So I went out and got a Magic Bullet. My first smoothie was going to contain avocados, pure coconut water, honey and coconut oil. I've been reading up on the health benefits of avocados and was really excited about incorporating it into my diet.  Well I did not have coconut oil handy first thing Monday morning so I substituted extra virgin olive oil instead.

Not measuring anything (because I was so anxious to get going), I put one half of a very large avocado, a bit too much olive oil and honey and not enough coconut water in the bullet and blended.  It tasted absolutely awful, one sip was enough, I could not finish the rest.  When my sister asked about my smoothie I told her how horrible it tasted and she then suggested that it would make a great face mask...something I had definitely not considered, but was glad she mentioned it because that meant I wouldn't have to toss an entire glass of bad tasting smoothie.

Later that night I applied the mask to my face, including under my eyes, since that area is so delicate and often feels dry. I also applied it to the ends of my hair since that part tends to get really dry and brittle.  My skin definitely felt softer and more hydrated after I removed the mask. The skin under my eye felt as if I had applied a heavy eye cream.  My hair felt the same as if I had just conditioned it and rinsed so I did not notice a huge difference right away, but I will continue using the mask on my hair and leave it in for longer than ten minutes to see if I notice a change in the condition of my hair with continued usage.  I am definitely thinking that avocados are my new health and beauty superfood! Have you made face masks with avocados? Share your recipe! If you found this DIY skin care post helpful, please Like, Share and Pin it! Subscribe to A Girl’s Gotta Spa! Watch our reviews on YouTube, see our pins on Pinterest and check us out on Instagram and G+. Got a Kindle? We’re on Kindle too!