Homemade Natural Beauty Products

Do you spend a lot of money on expensive beauty products? Consider the great beauty treatments found in the “kitchen cupboard.” Many of these beauty treatments, like the use of olive oil and yogurt, have been around since the ancient world, and the cosmetic uses of these ingredients can be found in ancient literature of the Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks, Romans, Mesopotamians and Mycenaeans, among other ancient peoples.

For the moderns, use of these household items not only help to save money, but most find that these natural and low-cost ingredients often work better than the cosmetics made from expensive & artificial ingredients. Here are just a few beauty uses of ordinary household products from the kitchen and the garden:

For the hair, mayonnaise, honey, mashed avocado, and egg yolk makes a fine hair moisturizer. Even just mayonnaise rubbed into the hair and let stand for 15 minutes before washing the hair. For more uses of mayonnaise as a hair conditioner go to: http://www.myhouseandgarden.com/tips.htm.

For a facial mask, use a combination of grated carrot, mayonnaise, Epsom salts. A recipe can be found at http://www.pioneerthinking.com/epsomsalts.html. More uses of Epsom salts and recipes are found here. Again, just mayonnaise itself can be used as a facial moisturizer. Put mayonnaise on and let stand for 5 to 15 minutes before washing your face. If you have dry skin, mayonnaise can be used as a cleansing cream.

Olive oil can also be used as a cleansing cream, night cream and moisturizer for dry skin. It also provides an excellent bath oil, hair conditioner, and even shaving cream. It gets rid of frizz when applied to hair. It should be applied when hair is dry. Rub a dab on the palms, smooth into hair and then brush it. For uses of olive oil and specific recipes go to http://www.pioneerthinking.com/me_oliveoil.html. Tips on the beauty uses of olive oil can also be found at http://www.mylocation.ca/tips/oliveoil.html, http://www.theolivepress.com/deafualt_flash.asp and http://frugalliving.about.com/cs/tips/a/blolweoil_3.htm. For olive oil soap go to http://www.oliveoilsoap.com. Besides a beauty product, olive oil can be used as a furniture polish, leather conditioner, wood polish (when mixed with lemon juice) and brass polish.

Cornmeal is another inexpensive household product which can be used to exfoliate the skin. Make a paste with cornmeal and water. For more sensitive skin or dry skin you can mix cornmean, oatmeal and wheat germ. You can make a mask using cornmeal, yogurt, and honey. Make into a creamy paste. Cornmeal recipes can be found at http://www.care2.com/channels/solutions/self/1725. (“Kitchen Cupboard Beauty Tips”) Also tips for use of cornmeal and other household or homemade beauty recipes can be found at http://www.makeyourcosmetics.com and http://nturalbeauty.us/hbr_skin_body.htm.

An orange juice and yogurt mask can be found at http://www.pioneerthinking.com/rbt73.html

There are hundreds of uses for vinegar, white & apple cider. Go to frugalliving.about.com/od/vinegar. Vinegar can be used as a hair rinse; it fades age spots, keeps hands soft; it can be used for an aftershave and used for rashes, among many many other uses.

Other ingredients found in homemade beauty recipes from perfumes to wrinkle removers include: sugar, salt, potatoes, cucumbers, bananas, almonds, ginger, kiwi, lemon, strawberry, peach. Many of these can be found at http://allnaturalbeauty.us/hbr_mainpage.htm.

These are just a few of the household and homemade products that can used for beauty. For more reading on the subject there is Janice Cox’s Natural Beauty at Home: More Than 200 Easy-To-Use Recipes for Body, Bath, & Hair, which can be purchased from Amazon.com. Also from Amazon.com are 100 Homemade Treatments for Natural Beauty, Natural Beauty Kit, and Natural Beauty For the Garden.