Free Beauty Tips

If you always wonder how to look gorgeous and radiant without the slimming effect on your wallet, look no further than your good ol' kitchen!

Yes, you can make your own beauty treatments that are 100% natural, with less cost and big impact on your beauty, right at your home. Plus it's easy to prepare and you can even watch Oprah while enjoying the treatment. It sure beats the hundreds of dollars price tag for commercials beauty/spa services out there!

I've read many tips from various sources, which ranges from my mom's and aunt's advices to those printed in beauty magazines, but found the following five tips to be worthy of your attempt as I've tried it myself:

1. Puffy Eyes Horror Be Gone!
Like any other working woman out there, my personal laptop has been my best friend... so much so that I stare at its face for more than 8 hours a day, almost non stop!

That, plus insufficient sleeping hours, heavy reading and age have all put constraints to our precious eyes that can cause puffiness and dark circles.

How to remove puffy eyes quickly and free of charge?
- Tea bags to the rescue! Don't throw your tea bags after your favorite cup of tea. Instead, store them in a zip lock and put them in the refrigerator. You can re-use the tea bags up to 2 days, and discharge them afterwards.

Alternatively, you can also use cotton pads that have been soaked in cold water.

For the treatment:
- Take teabags out from the refrigerator and squeeze them slightly to remove excess liquid.
- Sit on your favorite couch, relax and close your eyes. Place one cold tea bag over each eye. The oozing chill from the tea bags will help to reduce puffiness in your tired eyes and refresh you instantly.
- Leave the tea bags on your eyes for 5 - 10 minutes while maintain a relax breathing.

2. Delicious Face Mask
Just like you body, you need to have a regular treatment for your face. To maintain moisture and agility of your skin, remember to put on a face mask at least twice a week, especially if you have a dry skin.

Now, you can create your very own face mask that will not only beautify you, but look so tasty you can almost eat it.

How to create your homemade face mask?
- 1 tablespoon of natural yogurt (not low fat or non-fat), keep in room temperature
- 1 tablespoon of honey
- Combine the ingredients in a small bowl until it's well mixed.

For the treatment:
- Apply the mask to face evenly, including neck area, avoiding eyes and mouth areas.
- Leave the mask on your face for 15 minutes while you relax.
- Wash face with warm water and your normal face wash soap to remove mask completely.

3. Scrub that Dead Skin Away
The largest organ of your body surely needs daily maintenance and care. Sadly, most people forget that daily maintenance is crucial and opt to expensive once-in-a-month treatment at their local spas to achieve a healthy glow for their skin.

On top of the daily care for your skin which includes cleanse, moisturize and toning, try to exfoliate your skin regularly, at least 1-2/week by using a body scrub.

How to create your homemade body scrub?
- 1 cup sea salt or sugar. If you have cuts in your skin, use sugar (which is gentler) instead of salt to avoid severing your cuts.
- 1/2 cup of natural yogurt (not low fat or non-fat).
- 1/2 cup of olive or rice bran oil.
- A couple of drops of essential oils of your choice (i.e.: Vanilla, Lavender or Rosemary)
- Mix salt/sugar, yogurt and oil in a bowl. Add the essential oil and combine well.

For the treatment:
- Make sure that your skin is damp, but not dripping wet.
- Apply your homemade scrub generously and evenly to your skin through gentle circular strokes.
- Leave the scrub on your skin for 2 minutes.
- Shower as normal with warm water and remove excess scrub from your body.
- After drying, apply your regular body lotion throughout your skin as moisturizer.

4. A Fruit for Your Hair
Don't want to spend any more money on conditioner? Maybe you should turn to natural products as another option. Here's a fruit that can condition your hair with its natural goodness: Aloe Vera.

How to get a free conditioner for your hair?
- A slice of aloe vera.
- A couple of drops of essential oils of your choice (i.e.: Vanilla, Lavender or Rosemary)
- Slice aloe vera's leaf until its open and you can see its gel. Scratch the gel out with a spoon until you can get around 1/4 cup of aloe vera gel.
- Mix the aloe vera gel with the essential oil in a bowl until its smooth.

For the treatment:
- Wash your hair with shampoo as normal.
- Apply aloe vera gel to hair generously and evenly from root to end.
- Leave it on your hair for 5 minutes, then rinse thoroughly.

5. Eat Well, Exercise and Drink Enough Water
Now for the cheapest beauty treatment of all: Maintain healthy lifestyle and drink at least 2 gallons of water each day.

Make sure that you eat 5 cups of fruit/vegetable and exercise at least twice a week for 30 minutes. Those are the rules I live by everyday and I'm sure will be beneficial for you too.

So, there you go. All treatments that are at your reach and the most beautiful thing is, they're all free!