Friday 14 March 2014

5 Beauty Products You Can Make At Home

After a stressful day, all I want to do is climb into a big bubble bath with a glass of wine, a good book and a face mask (suitable for my sensitive skin, of course). 

Oh, but wait... I'm a poor student who has just gone into her overdraft. 

This semester, the only beauty product I have bought for myself is the MUA cream blush which cost £1. I am in desperate need of pampering. So I took to the internet to find some beauty products you can make with things you may already have at home. 


Coffee Scrub


(Picture from WholeLatteLoveOnline & recipe from A Cup of Mo)

This facial scrub is perfect for those days when you're feeling a little tired. The sugar exfoliates and clears away dead skin, the coffee helps reduce swelling (like many caffeine based products, such as the Clinique All About Eyes Serum) and the olive oil moisturises. I have to be honest, I haven't tried this yet. I'm at my Aunt's in London and I don't want to waste her coffee! Regardless, I swear by caffeine based beauty products and the recipe sounds simply divine... And who doesn't want to save on the 
£££? 

Recipe:
  • 1 cup of ground coffee
  • 1 cup of sugar (preferably brown)
  • 1/2 cup of olive oil
  • 1 tbsp of freshly ground cinnamon. 
Blend the four ingredients together in an airtight container or jar. You can apply this to wet of dry skin. Rub in circular motions onto your legs, arms, feet and anywhere that may feel a little swollen. I would not advise applying this to your face. The oil will leave your skin feeling a little greasy. If you don't mind this, then leave it overnight to soak into your skin. Otherwise, you can use a little shower gel or soap to wash it off.



Hair Mask


(Picture from Cacaomix & recipe from Bella Mumma)

Our hair is mostly made up of protein and moisture. If there is an imbalance of these two, we experience breakage - something I know all too well. Simply having too much exposure to the sun can cause our hair to become dry, frazzled and eventually snap. This hair mask will help to replenish some protein, leaving your hair silky smooth - hopefully!

Recipe:
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1/2 cup of yoghurt 
  • 1/2 cup of honey
  • 1/2 cup of olive oil
Beat the eggs until they become frothy and mix in the olive oil and yoghurt (random fact: I really enjoy saying the word "yoghurt"). Once the mix is creamy, add the honey and blend it all together. Your hair should be damp for this to work best. Comb any knots out. I advise using a Tangle Teezer - they are designed to get through your knots without breaking your hair. Massage the mixture into your roots and spread it through to your ends (you could use a comb for this). Finally, wrap your hair in a warm towel for 20-30 minutes before rinsing it out. Don't forget to shampoo!



Green Tea Face Mask


(Picture from Tea Is My Cup Of Tea & recipe by me)

I presume that there are hundreds of recipes out there that are dedicated to green tea face masks. However, this one I made up on my own. I'm not saying that no one else has made this - in fact, it's probably the most common one out there as it uses very generic ingredients. Nevertheless, I didn't use the internet to find this and I have tried it out and it works wonderfully. Green tea is absolutely bursting with health benefits. It is jam packed with antioxidants, it helps burn fat, prolongs your life, lowers stress, boosts brain power, reduces high blood pressure, protects your lungs from smoking and liver from alcohol, prevents tooth decay and cures bad breath and helps build and preserve bones. 
It is also said to help fight signs of ageing and protect against UV rays. So here is my face mask concoction!

Recipe:
  • 1 green teabag
  • 1 teaspoon of honey
  • Face cleanser (optional)
  • Rice flour (optional)
Make a mug of green tea and let it brew for about 3 minutes. Take the teabag out and allow it to cool down - you can drink the mug of green tea you just made whilst waiting! Once cool, rip off the top of the teabag and poor the contents into a bowl.


Add the honey and mix it together. Now, this is where the two optional ingredients come in. If you are or have suffered from acne, then the rice flour will help to reduce the appearance of scars (I'll admit, I did a little research to find this). The cleanser, which I used, is good to just completely clear your pores. 


Next, use circular motions to massage the mixture onto your face with your fingertips. You can bring it down onto your neck if you wish. Leave the mask on for about five or ten minutes and then rinse off, pat your face dry and moisturise. Here's a picture of me with creepy red eyes sporting the face mask. 




Lip Scrub


(Picture from Euphoria and recipe from Little Miss Makeup 25)

This recipe is inspired by the Bubblegum Lip Scrub from Lush. Lip scrubs are fantastic for removing dead skin and helping you lipstick to glide on and stay on. 

Recipe:
  • Pink food colouring
  • Bubblegum extract (or any other flavour)
  • White sugar
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Container
Place some white sugar in a bowl and add a small amount of olive oil. Like anything, it's better to start off with a small amount and if you need more, add more. Mix these together. Make enough to fill your container. Add a drop of whatever flavour extract you chose and mix it in. Then take the pink food colouring and add as much or as little as you like and mix. Don't go overboard - you don't want a runny mixture! Apply with a clean finger and once you're done, you can lick it off! Yum!



Dry Shampoo


(Picture and recipe from Instructables)

I've always been a Batiste girl but as a student, I can't really afford to be parting with my money on something as unnecessary as dry shampoo when I could just wash my hair. But I love the effect dry shampoo has. My hair looks messy and is far easier to style when it isn't completely clean. One alternative option would be to use talcum powder. For years, I used talc to freshen up my hair but it often left little white patches which I can assure you isn't a good look! So here is a fresh new recipe that I found online.

Recipe:
  • 1/4 cup of cornstarch
  • 1 tbsp of baking soda
  • 2 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa powder (optional)
  • Container
Put the cornstarch and baking soda in the container and shake well. Done. That's it. Your dry shampoo is ready to go! This works well for people with lighter hair. 
If you have darker hair, take the above mixture and add the cocoa powder. Again, shake it up and voila! Dry shampoo!
Take a small amount into your hands and rub your fingers together. Pat the parts of your head that need a quick freshen and then rub it in so you can't see the powder.


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