We are quick to reach for beauty treatments from store shelves. These packaged face masks, toners and exfoliants promise bottled convenience, but many also contain preservatives to prolong shelf life, using common parabens that can mimic hormones in the body and disrupt the function of the endocrine system.
Fuss-free DIY treatments made from ingredients in your cupboard
We are quick to reach for beauty treatments from store shelves. These packaged face masks, toners and exfoliants promise bottled convenience, but many also contain preservatives to prolong shelf life, using common parabens that can mimic hormones in the body and disrupt the function of the endocrine system.
Here are some that can be made quickly and easily from common ingredients found in the kitchen pantry that are free of preservatives, filled with natural goodness and cost a fraction of the price of ready-togo alternatives. As they are suitable to be eaten, they will be safe and nourishing for your skin too.
Calming and nourishing face mask This luxury face pack takes just a minute to make. It is made with camomile flowers (for this, a camomile tea bag can be opened and used) and a teaspoon of honey (manuka honey being the best option). Use a teaspoon to mix the camomile flowers into the honey and apply it to your face and neck in a thin layer. Keep the mask on for 15 minutes and then rinse off with tepid water.
To achieve even softer skin, tepid milk can be used as a rinse off instead of water. Use this face mask once a week for a clear and glowing complexion. Camomile flowers calm the skin while manuka honey imparts an indulgent aroma and has myriad beauty benefits. It is high in naturally occurring antibacterial called methylglyoxal (MG).
MG is found in small amounts in most types of honey, but manuka honey contains about a 100 times more, which gives it an edge working miracles on blemished skin. MG has been shown to increase collagen, resulting in firmer, more youthful looking skin. Manuka honey’s properties even help sooth inflammation while the amino acids it contains work to keep the pores clear.
Together with the MG content, the amino acids prevent blemishes while balancing the skin’s pH level. It is also an emollient and softens the skin being a super humectant, helping the skin to retain moisture.
Cleansing and moisturising exfoliating body scrub
You can make this exfoliating body scrub before bathing as it takes barely any time. Take a tablespoon of olive oil and add a teaspoon of sea salt and a drop of lavender essential oil to it. Mix for a couple of seconds and your all-natural body scrub is ready. Rub in a gentle, circular motion to remove the dead skin.
The olive oil is nourishing and combined with the mild abrasive quality of the sea salt, gently removes dead skin to reveal new radiance. Homer described olive oil as “liquid gold” and it has been used for its beauty enhancing properties since ancient times. Antioxidants combat free radicals produced during the body’s processes of oxidation, which if left to themselves can become carcinogenic and cause cellular damage.
Olive oil contains three main antioxidants: vitamin E, phytosterols and polyphenols. Hydroxytyrosol is a rare compound found in olive oil that protects the skin from free-radical damage. When used topically, antioxidants in olive oil help prevent premature ageing of the skin. Vitamin E in particular imparts smoothness to the skin and has anti-ageing properties.
Sea salt is full of minerals that help to rejuvenate tired skin. Lavender oil is calming on the skin and eases bruises and irritations. It also soothes the mind so it is great to use both in your morning shower to start the day in a balanced mood, and at the end of the day perhaps in a bath to relax and unwind.
Uplifting tan remover for face and body
Mix lemon juice with an equal quantity of rose water. Using cotton wool apply it generously on the face, neck and body. Leave it on for at least 15 minutes, and for best results, up to 30 minutes before rinsing. Lemon is nature’s bleaching agent without the harsh side effects of fake tan removal formulas that contain bleaching chemicals. Rose water removes oil and dirt from clogged pores while soothing the redness of sun-irritated skin, and the fragrance of lemon and rose uplift the senses.
As they are suitable to be eaten, they will be safe and nourishing for your skin too