Beauty from Your Kitchen

There are a lot of beauty products you can buy. Facial cleanser, toner, masque, exfoliator to name a few. Buying all of these products can add up to a lot of money. But did you know you can make most of these products, with ingredients that you'll find in your kitchen? You could save hundreds, and there are no nasty ingredients like colors or fragrance, just what you decide to put in. Here are a few 'recipes' to get you started.

Exfoliator:
An exfoliator is essential to clear, glowing skin, to remove dead skin cells and speed up the cell renewal process. You can use a gritty exfoliator or an acid one. Either way, you can make your own!

To make an abrasive exfoliator, you need something gritty. Sugar, bicarbonate soda, and salt all work well. You can combine these ingredients with water, a face wash or honey (has moisturizing properties) to create a paste. I'm not sure how long these can be stored for, but you can always make a little bit before you wash your face. You can use an exfoliator once or twice a week, to avoid damaging your skin.

Generally, acid exfoliators are made out of fruits. Acid exfoliators loosen up dead skin cells to help them fall away. You can use all kinds of fruits, especially citrus ones. Papaya works well too. Just use the juice or the skin of the fruit, and apply it to your face for less than 5 minutes, and then wash it off.

Toner:
You can make toners yourself out of many ingredients. At stores, you're paying about $10 for basically water with a few ingredients in it. These toners will refresh and cleanse your skin without costing a lot.

Two refreshing, toners can be made out or rice water and tea, or rose water. A rice water toner will smooth your skin. Get a bowl of water, a tea bag and some rice. Make some 'tea' in your bowl of water and pour in the rice. Stir the rice until the water is cloudy. Pour the water into a bottle, being careful not to put any rice in.

A rose water toner helps to tighten pores and is suitable for any type of skin. You'll need clean rose petals and water. Put the rose water into a pot with enough water to cover them. Boil the rose water, being careful not to let anything burn. Pour the rose water into a bottle, without the rose petals and refrigerate until it is cool. You can store this in a refrigerator.

Face Masks:
Face masks are great for any type of skin problem, but they can be expensive, especially if your skin condition changes with the season or weather.

A mask to get rid of wrinkles and tighten pores: Beat an egg white until it stiff and peaks form. Apply the egg white to your face, avoiding your eyes. After about 15 minutes, you'll feel the egg tighten on your skin. Wash it off, and your skin look younger, and your pores will be tighter.

A moisturizing mask: Use equal amounts of avocado and honey. Mash them together to form a paste. Leave it on your skin for around 10 minutes, then rinse off. This mask is great for dry skin.

There are many ingredients it would be useful to find the properties of, i.e: honey is antibacterial and moisturizing, clay is great for pimples and oil. You can save heaps of money just making things that you could have bought. But remember, the home made products usually don't last as long as factory made products, so you should make less, or throw it away more frequently.