Author: islandgirl

It’s been a long winter, and your skin is feeling dry and dull. You need a boost, but you’re not sure how to get that blissful glow. How about a hydrating facial and Perfecting Plant Peel by Aveda?

Enter Brie Fitzgerald, a licensed esthetician with Coronado Bliss Salon. She’s been practicing for 12 years now, and she knows her stuff.

“The Perfecting Plant Peel gives you the instant exfoliation and radiance benefits of a 30% glycolic peel without the associated irritation,” says Brie. “With powerful botanical antioxidants and soothing plant based anti-inflammatories, this facial warms the face, opening the pores for maximum exfoliation without the harmful side effects of microdermabrasion and chemical peels.”

Best part? Unlike most peels where you turn red, flake off and need to hide from the sun (think Samantha in Sex & the City), there is ZERO down time. Sign me up!

I arrived at Coronado Bliss salon excited to relax and rejuvenate with my facial and peel. The salon always looks just beautiful, and the spa room in the back is perfection…serene, quiet and calming.
“I love making people feel good,” says Brie. “People forget about themselves and let the stress of life take hold of them. I love knowing that in the 30, 60, or 90 minutes they are in spa room I am able to ease some of the tension and stress, and they walk out feeling relaxed.”

It didn’t take me long to melt into the experience. Brie did ask me a few questions about my skin to customize the facial to my unique needs. How was my skin feeling? (Dry and not super awesome.) Do I have any skin issues? (Rosacea, and I break out from random products.)
After the brief talk, it was time to get started.
Coronado Bliss is an Aveda Salon, which means they use all Aveda products. Aveda is known for its organic, cruelty-free lines that are both luxurious and high-performing. Aveda is a celebrated pioneer of holistic beauty, using the latest botanical ingredients and innovations.

“I love working with Aveda products because they are natural and they are from the earth, and what they take from the earth, they give back,” says Brie. “I’m a breast cancer survivor so that is very close to my heart. We are exposed to so many chemicals from the air we breath to the food we eat. Having some control over what I put on my skin is very important to me.”
Amen, sista!
Onto the treatment.
With my facial, Brie used a cream cleanser base with refined tulasara concentrate serum. (The tulasara is said to lift, firm and calm the skin. Yes, please!)

She then used the Tourmaline-Charged skin refiner to help with exfoliation since I was concerned about my dry and dull skin. The creamy, clay-based scrub exfoliates with bamboo extract, and energizes with tourmaline to leave the skin radiant and refined.

Next, she applied the Perfecting Plant Peel mask. This mask was smooth and creamy and almost felt like peanut butter. It felt lovely and decadent and comforting! It had a mild smell, like the earth in the rain. While the mask sat for 10 minutes, I got a relaxing neck, shoulder, and arm massage. It was delightful!

After removing the plant peel, she toned my skin with their liquid exfoliant and followed with an intense hydrating mask. This included a vitamin C serum which helps promote cell turnover and skin rejuvenation for dullness. Weee!

With this mask, I enjoyed a hand, arm and shoulder massage. Once the mask was removed, Brie treated my skin with a firming toner and Aveda’s Tulasara Illuminate Serum, which helps even out skin tone. Yay!

Finally, Brie applied the Energizing Eye Cream, which reduces puffiness and under eye circles. (I don’t know about you, but sleep is the holy grail of my existence and I NEVER get enough.)

Last but not least, Brie applied a moisturizer and an SPF 30.
“Don’t forget your SPF on your face always,” says Brie. “No matter how much you put into your skin to take away fine lines wrinkles and age spots, if you don’t wear your SPF and protect your skin it will always come back.”
After my facial, my skin felt smooth as butter, and my pores looked non-existent.

“Facial treatments are the booster that everyone needs,” she says. “After a facial your skin should look radiant and hydrated instantaneously and feel smoother.”
So my skin feels amazing now, but what else should I be doing to protect against dull, dry skin in the future?
“Dry, dull skin is a sign of winter,” says Brie. “Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Glowing skin starts from the inside out. If you aren’t getting enough water it will show on your skin no matter how much moisturizer you put on.”

More water: check. I can do this.

“The second thing I would suggest is getting a good exfoliating treatment that you can add 1-2 times a week to your regimen like Aveda’s Tourmaline charged radiant skin refiner,” says Brie.
So how much does it cost to get a facial?
“We offer a 30 minute, 60 minute, and 90 minute facial. Every facial I give is customized to each clients specific skin care needs,” says Brie. “The 30 minute runs $65, 60 minute $105, and 90 minute is $140. For your first facial I highly recommend doing at minimum a 60 minute facial so you are able to get the full experience,” says Brie. “Follow up with the 30 minute  facials as maintenance. “
But hold it…we have a deal! JUST FOR Island Girl Blog readers, with the purchase of ANY facial, mention ISLAND GIRL and get a COMPLIMENTARY AVEDA PLANT PEEL (this is a $35 add on).

So what are you waiting for? Get your glow on today! I did, and my skin is feeling hydrated, smooth and effervescent. Angelic, actually. Call Coronado Bliss Salon at 619-435-9294, ask for a facial with Brie and feel fabulous!

 

 

You have a crazy week ahead. You don’t have time to go grocery shopping, much less cook. You could order takeout or Uber Eats, but you did that last week and you want something homemade. What to do, what to do? Enter: Scratch Gourmet.

Started by Coronado local Kathryn Jennings, the company operates under the simple idea that “everything tastes better from scratch.” We couldn’t agree more! Scratch is a gourmet meal-delivery service, as in the meals are made fresh, cooked and seasoned. All you have to do is heat it up and put on a plate!

No messing around, no prep time, no opening little packages of condiments and mixing, and no cooking and cleaning like Blue Apron and other such companies.

All you do is select the meals you want from the weekly menu.

And here are the meal and pricing options.

We order Plan #2 because we like to taste and enjoy all the meals (how could you begin to eliminate one of these tasty options?) We also like to add on the kids meal, because my kids are fiends for the homemade mac n cheese and it will last them at least two dinners!

So the meals show up on Monday, Wednesdays and Thursdays around 5pm. Sure enough, Monday around 5pm our bag of goodies arrived at our door! Hooray! No cooking for mommy!

Our first night we had the Spaghetti Bolognese. It was served with a large, mixed green salad with oregano vinaigrette and ciabatta toast.

The pasta was perfectly cooked, meaty and delicious! It was seasoned just right for me, and I like a LOT going on in the spice department. My husband actually added a little more seasoning to his but I didn’t think it needed it. I don’t usually allow myself to eat a ton of carbs so this dish seemed super savory and indulgent.

The salad was fresh, big and tasty. The homemade dressing was a nice touch, and there is plenty of it to cover the salad. (Nothing worse then a dry salad!)

Overall, this dish was savory and satisfying, and my nine-year-old loved it also. The portions are big so you know you will have enough for leftovers.

Our next meal was the Indian Prawn Curry, with Indian spiced sautéed spinach, balsamic rice & Naan bread. I totally didn’t notice the “prawn” part when I ordered and realized I wouldn’t be able to eat much of this because I’m allergic to crustaceans. Darn! But my family did, and they loved it, including my nine-year-old! Who knew she liked Indian spiced prawns? (My six year old opted to eat the rice and naan.)

Although I couldn’t really dig into the prawns, I sampled a bit of sauce over the rice and it was fantastic. The spiced sautéed spinach was to die for, and I found myself gobbling this all up myself. I could have eaten two full bowls of this. So good! The rice was well-prepared, and who doesn’t love naan bread?

Our last meal was the Grilled Prime Ribeyes served with mix greens, homemade ranch dressing and twice baked potatoes. I loved all the meals but this was probably my favorite—my husband’s too! The meat was perfectly prepared, juicy, not over-cooked, and well-seasoned and spiced, just how we would have done at home.

We found ourselves aggressively devouring the meat. The twice baked potato? Oh my…be still my heart. I really wanted to slow down and savor this dish but I ate it like a scavenger.  Again, the salad was fresh and lovely, and even my grill-master husband admitted that the steak was perfect and he asked me what cut it was a few times until I finally checked (yes, ribeye.)

Scratch Gourmet was definitely a win for us and something I’d love to work into our rotation on a more regular basis. It was super helpful for us last week when I couldn’t get home early enough to prepare a healthy meal, because my daughter had two hours of dance practice each night over the bridge in preparation for an upcoming performance.

Is it cheap? No. The package we got was $210 for a three meals a weak for two people. But when you calculate there is at least one meal leftover for every dinner you order—probably more if you aren’t overstuffing like us—it brings the cost down. And it really takes the stress out of meal preparation for the week. We all know that stress leads to disease, and disease leads to death. So anything that reduces stress is a win in my book!

And you get what you pay for. Uber Eats and takeout can be delightful and convenient…but who knows what ingredients are used, and how healthy each of the meals are.  And when you want a home cooked meal, you want a home cooked meal! Kathryn knows what she is doing. All meals are prepared with the love and attention you would expect from a gourmet meal, and everything you taste has it’s own little “something special” going on. I’m actually getting hungry writing this right now, and wishing I had some twice baked potato to eat, or maybe some spaghetti bolagnese…..

To sign up for the Weekly Menus, please visit the Scratch Gourmet website here and visit the Weekly Menu page.

So long Scratch, ’til next time!