Photo © Julia McKay 2003-2005

Your beauty detox plan for 2005

December 2005, by Shazzie

Wow, it's so hard to believe that this year is almost through. I knew it'd be great, I just didn't know how great. I've loved every moment of this year, and hope you have, too. Let's make 2005 the year that the benefits of raw food hits the mainstream. Let's all be the most beautiful examples of human beings that have ever walked this earth. Let's radiate love and live a life of laughter -- those two things alone will make us more beautiful and more attractive to others in the world.

To get you in tip-top shape for the party season and the New Year, I've put together a simple DIY or DIWAP (Do It With A Partner) beauty detox plan. It only lasts a week (please don't do it for longer), and you can get on with your usual life at the same time. If you can't do this before you put your party frock on, do it afterwards, and be one of the only unbloateds in the country!! Those who practise Chinese medicine say that spring is the perfect time to build Chi (lifeforce) and to detox the body and cleanse the mind.

Your beauty detox plan

Before you go to bed, squeeze the juice of a lemon into half a litre of water. Add a touch of MSM if you have it. This is your fruity water and you should drink this whenever you would normally reach for plain water.

Wakey wakey time!

If you can stop using that nasty alarm clock for the duration of this plan (and then only for the rest of your life), I'd be very grapefruit. If you have to get up before you're ready, invest in a gentle wake-up clock, which uses either light or slowly increasing sound to gently coax you out of your slumber.

Don't get up just yet (err... unless you need the loo!). Drink your lemon-water that you made the night before and enjoy planning your day. Today is going to be a beautiful day, and you are on your way to glowing like never before!

When you get up, look in the mirror and say out loud at the person staring back "I love you". Don't cringe at this point! If you can't say you love yourself, there's no way you're loving anyone else. Do it...

If you're versed with the Tibetan Rejuvenation Rites, then practise those every day this week.

Beauty Breakfast

Before breakfast, mix a teaspoon of psyllium husk in 8 oz of water, and drink. Then drink another glass of water on its own.

Psyllium is from the plantain plant and is used as an intestinal cleanser, bulk laxative, and poo softener. You can use psyllium to help with symptoms of constipation, IBS, Crohn's disease, hemorrhoids, and other intestinal disorders. This fibre supplement expedites the elimination of waste and toxins.

Your breakfast can be any raw plant foods except for those containing high amounts of fat such as olives or avocados. Your liver will really thank you for this fat break, and it'll be apparent in your new glow! Examples of great beauty detox breakfasts are:

• Half a watermelon, with a green superfood spread on top of it.
• A smoothie made from maca, young coconut water and its jelly, some Pure Synergy and some vitamin C, with some small dashes of flax/hemp/coconut oil.
• Fresh Aloe Vera juice blended with oranges, kiwis, strawberries and/or raspberries. Aloe helps soothe the digestive system and assists the self-cleansing action of your body.
• As many apples as you would like to eat. Try grating them and adding some fresh ginger. You could even add some agave nectar (the raw vegan alternative to honey and maple syrup), and it'll all taste a bit like apple pancakes!

Detox helpers

If you've read my book Detox Your World, you'll already know how much I love detox helpers. This is where "It's hard work" goes out of the window. Each day, make time for one of the following. These are just suggestions, you know what else detoxes you. Choose which ones you love, as this is a time to relax and feel amazing...

• Massage (especially lymph drainage)
  
• Reflexology
  
• Sauna (especially infra-red)
  
• Meditation
  
• Yoga
  
• Sit by a tree (bring a blanket!)
  
• Watch a comedy video (laughter is so detoxing!!)
  
• Go rollerskating, skateboarding or some other activity that you love and makes you smile
  
• Make lurve
  
• Dance the night away
  
• Clean your cupboards out (this will make you more inclined to keep yourself clean)
  
• Walk or stroke your companion animal. Feel its heartbeat.

Snacks

On this plan, you won't be having nuts as part of your snacks, so we'll get a bit creative with foods to keep you interested and satisfied. When you're hungry or have the munchies, fill up on your faves from this list, or similar foods.

• Celery with raisins
  
• Apple with cucumber
  
• Grapes with dandelion
  
• Young coconut water blended with melon
  
• Any sweet fruit with any green leafy foods (strawberries with lettuce or plums with savoy cabbage).

Again, make use of the preparation procedures. Try shredding, blending, grating and adding spices and herbs.

Drinks

You know that when you're detoxing, you need to drink lots.

Make some herbal teas that will assist in cleaning you out. Heat the water until it's hand-hot (not boiling) and let the herbs steep for 5-10 minutes. Try chamomile, lemongrass, nettle, yarrow, elderflower, sage, red clover or peppermint. Drink as many cups of tea as you like. I add raw almond milk and a touch of agave nectar to my tea!

Enjoy your fruity water, make the most of aloe vera juice mixed with fruit juice and crack open lots of young coconuts (you can get these from Asian supermarkets, and sometimes Sainsbury's and Waitrose even sell them!).

Lunch

Lunch is light and liquidy on the beauty detox plan. Juice any of the following, in whatever quantities you want.

• Carrots and beetroot (both great blood and liver detoxers)
  
• Kale, savoy cabbage or other dark hard leafy green
  
• Spinach, lamb's quarters, nettle, dandelion or other soft dark leafy green
• Apple, tomato, red pepper or other sweeteners
  
• Ginger, garlic, chili or other hot purger
  
• Cucumber, celery or other volumiser

If you store the juice in a magnetic jug such as the one that comes with the Kempo, then it can last a lot longer in the fridge. If you don't have a magnetic jug, drink the juice straight away.

Evening meal

You'll be eating soups for your evening meals. This means you get the full benefit of whole fruits and vegetables and they're easy to digest. Remember that when you spend less time on digesting, your body can detox more readily. There is a small amount of fat in these soups -- please don't eat more fat than this during your beauty detox week. Make soups from the following ingredients, or other similar ingredients that are available to you:

• Potato soup: Blend parsnips, dates, a few cashews, carrot juice.
  
• Gloop soup: Blend dark green leafys with a quarter of an avocado and celery juice. Add algae or superfood to taste.
  
• Classic tomato soup: Blend tomatoes with garlic, basil, a few olives and some orange juice.
  
• Cucumber and tahini: Juice a cucumber and blend with a small amount of tahini and lots of fresh mint.
  
• Carrot top soup: Juice carrots, add some pulp, and blend with a few pumpkin seeds, and lots of coriander.
  
• Sunflower power soup: Blend red peppers with a small amount of sunflower seeds, carrot juice, onion and chives.
  
• In a hurry curry soup: Blend garam masala and turmeric with cauliflower, broccoli, carrot juice and add some diced veg (courgette, aubergine, onion, garlic, corn, peppers, okra etc) which have been soaking in lemon juice and a small amount of olive oil.

Serve the soups with nori slices, a flax cracker or two, some seed-sprouts, or with a small green salad.

Evening cleanse

This is another spoil-yourself-time. Turn all phones off, and light lots of soul-inspiring candles. You can do these yourself or get someone to help you and love you into glowingness.

Detox bath: Add 1/2 cup of 35% hydrogen peroxide, 1/2 cup of sea salt, 1/2 cup of Epson salts to a tub of hot water and soak for at least half an hour. Wrap up warm and go straight to bed.

Face love: Clean your hands and face, then lie down so you're comfortable. Make tiny gentle pinches all over your face, including your eyebrows, nose and lips. This will draw oxygen to your face and make it all rosy and healthy.

Mind cleanse: Sit or lie comfortably and repeat one word over and over. Here are some suggestions or you can use your own. If you realise you've drifted away from your word, just come back to it without telling yourself off or saying "I can't do this". Try: Love, Peace, Tranquil, Serene, Joy, or your own word. Feel yourself become this word and feel all obstacles melt away.

Skin grin: This will make all of you smile! Thanks to Dancing Butterfly for this recipe (we enjoyed this with other friends in Arizona. It took my mind off the ghosts!!). Take a bowl of soft sand. Mix in a cup of olive oil and a few drops of peppermint oil. Rub this mixture into your skin, except your face. Massage for as long as you want, and then rinse. Feel your silky skin now!

Grudge budge: Put on some gentle music and go through your address book. Is there anyone in there who's causing you problems? Is there something you'd really like to say to someone and don't know how? Now's the time to get it out! Write down all your grudges on one piece of paper. Once you're finished, burn the paper. Know that what you are feeling is just a reflection of work you have yet to do with yourself. Know that you can let go now.

Future journey: Write down all the plans you had made for the coming six months, or look at your journal if you have them in there. Pick out the most appealing one and spend an hour daydreaming that it's already happened and you're in that moment. How do you feel, what do you look like, how do people treat you? What is the weather like, where are you, what are you saying? Keep this vision of the future you with yourself, knowing that somehow it's already happened and you can enjoy feeling like that whenever you want, right now.

Mud mask: Mud draws out toxins from your skin very fast and effectively. Go to Napiers or other herbalists and find a mud to suit your skin type. Mix it with water, aloe vera or cucumber juice and apply to your face, back and any "problem" areas you might have.

Hydrogen peroxide balance: Try doing this every time you get out of the bath or shower. Put hydrogen peroxide which has been diluted to 3% into a spray bottle. Spray this all over your body to rebalance and restore the acid mantle on your skin, which can be disrupted by soap and other cleansers. Alternatively, you can use our H2O2, which is already in a spray bottle and diluted to 3%.

Optional nutrition and supplements

When on this cleanse, I encourage you to look at taking high-quality oxygen supplements (OxCgen, Oxygen Elements Plus, Oxyzone, etc), vitamin C, milk thistle, selenium (or a couple of brazil nuts a day) and antioxidants. Also, if you have access to a wheatgrass juicer, please take 2-4 oz of wheatgrass juice a day. A few tablets of chlorella or other complete-protein food will give you a protein boost which helps your liver break down stress hormones and pollutants.

Wishing you the most outstanding 2005. Enjoy, love and laugh, you gorgeous glowing glitter-bugs!

Much love

Suggested reading: Eating for beauty, by David Wolfe