LXMI bossladies (and gents):

Is your skin dull? Dry? Flakey? Suffering from winter blues?

Before resorting to harsh chemical-laden products, check out my #PlantPower tips for glowing skin below. Rare botanicals are the key to restoring hydration and nutrients to body and skin this winter season.

Love those crystal rollers popping up everywhere?

Did you know you can also do a facial massage using a simple ice cube? I love LXMI aficionado and friend Valeria Hinojosa’s simple trick: add a few drops of your favorite essential oil to a pitcher of water, fill an ice cube tray, and massage your face with one cube each morning right after cleansing to boost circulation and tighten facial skin.

Want to take it one step further? Head over to your local dry sauna (I love Higher Dose here in NYC and Archimedes Banya in SF) and avail yourself of the ice-water plunge — it’s freezing but scientifically proven to boost circulation and improve your immune system, or use the ice cube method after a sauna session.

I love french press coffee (no polluting filters or chemicals leaching into my morning cuppa, and no plastic Nespresso pods polluting the sea), but my houseplants can only tolerate so many batches of coffee grounds per week. So I started using my coffee grounds as an exfoliator.

Coffee is loaded with antioxidants, and has skin-firming properties; using the grounds as an exfoliator boosts circulation, removes dead skin, and encourages cell turnover.

Just take a tablespoon of coffee grounds (I store mine in the fridge), and mix with a teaspoon of Melt. You can mix a batch in a mason jar and leave it, covered, in the fridge. Apply to your face, massage gently for 2 minutes, and wipe off with a warm washcloth (preferably a black one made with organic fibers).

Voila! Instantly radiant skin.

I crafted Lip Melt with Nilotica and essential oils including peppermint to deeply nourish lips without toxic fragrance or petrochemicals.

For a simple method to plump lips and slough off dead skin, slather your pout with a thick layer of Lip Melt, then dab on raw coconut sugar and gently (gently!) rub your lips together. Feel free to lick it off (or have someone help…). The coconut sugar crystals have just the right sized grain to exfoliate, and are lower on the glycemic index than cane sugar.

Most drugstore cleansers are based on harsh ingredients (including surfactants — the chemicals that create suds when you wash) that strip the skin of moisture, leading to irritation and dryness, which causes your body to increase the production of sebum and cause breakouts. Stop the madness!

Cleansing with a single-ingredient oil or balm — we suggest Nilotica Melt, as it’s not only single ingredient, but certified Organic and non-comedogenic — removes dirt even more effectively than harsh chemicals, as natural oils bind to dirt to pull it off your face without any chemicals. Don’t have the budget for Melt? You can also use Organic olive oil or coconut oil (though be careful — the latter can cause breakouts for some skin types).

That’s all, folks! Tune in next week for a deep-dive on rare botanicals we’ve scouted from around the world that feed your skin from the inside out.