It’s the infamous back-to-school month and we thought our sisters might need to take a little break from school supplies shopping, back-to-school nights, early morning wake-up calls and homework monitoring. Some of you may know our wine sister Christine Trice through her wildly popular Facebook page—OMG I so need a glass of wine or I’m gonna sell my kids. (Really, who hasn’t had THAT thought!).

What you may not know is that mother-of-two not including dogs and husband Christine is also the founder and proprietress of an amazing natural beauty company called Brown Bag Botanicals. In her career as a certified pregnancy massage therapist, she became interested in products for her clients made without harmful chemicals, fillers or heavy fragrance. The result is a line of luxurious and pure shea butters made to the most exacting specifications so they are super-smooth and healing.

For this month’s Wine Chat TV, we asked our “Green Beauty Queen” to sit down with Wine Sisterhood Personal Sommelier Erin Sullivan and share with us some of her favorite facial treatments made with ingredients you might find in your pantry or garden. And, yes, she’s incorporated our wines into her recipes. They’re good enough to eat! Why not take a moment when the kids are in bed, whip up your favorite treatment, pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy!

The Green Beauty Queen’s stress-reducing, beautifying home facial recipes (in her own words):

For Purple Cowboy Tenacious Red I’m pairing a red wine & chocolate mask. Both red wine & chocolate are loaded with antioxidants. The acids in the wine act as a natural exfoliant (like an alpha hydroxy facial) & the honey is a natural humectant, meaning that it’s very moisturizing & restorative for your skin.

2 tbs cocoa powder
1 tbs red wine
1 tbs honey
1 tbs plain yogurt

*mix all ingredients with a whisk in a glass bowl until cocoa powder is thoroughly blended & smooth. It will have a pudding appearance & smell wonderful! You can use your fingers to apply or a clean facial/paint brush. Apply to pat dry/cleansed skin, avoiding eyes & mouth (so you are less tempted to eat it). Leave on for 15 mins, rinse with warm washcloth & moisturize with one of Brown Bag Botanicals enriched facial serums.

Smarty Pants Chardonnay is being paired with a cucumber cooling mask. Just like a glass of good wine, this mask is great for calming irritated & stressed skin. You can use this as an eye mask to refresh/de-puff tired eyes or use on your entire face.

Cut, peel & puree 1/4 cucumber. Save the rest of your cucumber to infuse a pitcher of cool water. Mix the puree with the following ingredients in a glass bowl:

2 tbs oat flour
1 tbs chardonnay
1 tbs honey

Mix until smooth & a nice paste forms. You can always apply more flour to thicken if you prefer a thicker consistency. Apply to cleansed/pat dry skin. You don’t need to avoid the eye area. For eye mask, leave on 10 minutes. For entire face leave on for 15 mins, rinse off with warm washcloth & moisturize properly with one of Brown Bag Botanicals enriched facial serums.

I’m pairing a strawberry facial scrub with the Haute Red Pinot Noir. This recipe yields enough for three treatments & will last a week in the fridge. This scrub is amazing for exfoliating dead skin cells & brightening your complexion.

You will need several organic strawberries (stems removed). The riper the better! Puree in food processor. You will also need:

1/2 cup oat flour
2 tbs plain yogurt
1 tbs honey

Mix all ingredients with puree in glass bowl. Whisk until mask is smooth. If thicker consistency is desired, continue to add a bit more oat flour a small amount at a time. Apply to cleansed/pat dry skin avoiding the eye area. Leave on for 15 mins, rinse with warm washcloth & properly moisturize to protect your skin with one of Brown Bag Botanicals facial serums. This mask tastes very sweet so be prepared! It also makes your fridge smell amazing so store in a sealed container. My family ate my mixture one night, thinking I had made a glaze for a chocolate cake!

A few simple DIY Green Beauty Queen tips:

• Try to use ingredients from your garden or organic from local sources
• Use ingredients that are in season as this is what your body is needing the most at that time
• Oat flour is easily made by throwing a fistful of raw, whole oats in the blender or food processor
• Apricot oil is rich in Vitamin C & also Vit A which our skin needs as it matures
• Red wine can be used on a cotton ball as a toner to keep your complexion bright & clear

Ed note: thumbnail for this story from Dis Magazine: Spa Spell. Check it our for more spa pix featuring wine sister Mary Whitney Vangrin.