Beauty: Home made beauty in a post-austerity budget Britain

PinkNews logo on a pink background surrounded by illustrated line drawings of a rainbow, pride flag, unicorn and more.

Everybody likes to try to look their best but expensive face creams and body lotions can take their toll on your wallet. However you can still treat yourself to a relaxing facial, some luxurious face-cream or body lotion all for next to nothing.

You might think you’d need a degree in chemistry or cosmetology to make your own beauty products from scratch but in actual fact this couldn’t be further from the truth.

You can create some luxurious, natural products using items you probably already have lurking around your kitchen cupboards.

As well as saving a penny or two you can rest easy knowing exactly what you’re putting on your face. No need to worry about nasty chemicals and synthetic fragrances. All these ingredients are natural and edible. So get in the kitchen and cook up some natural beauty!
Chemical-free facial/body scrub

2 tablespoons of sea salt

Forget paying out for posh facial scrubs, sea salt removes dry, flaky, dead skin­ from your face and body with ease. Wet your face or body and apply a couple of tablespoons of sea salt. Then gently massage the area with a wet flannel or fingers. After one or two minutes, rinse with cold water to tighten the pores.

Natural eye make-up remover

1 tablespoon castor oil

1 tablespoon light olive oil.

Castor oil is excellent for removing eye makeup. A combination of castor, olive or canola oils is especially nice to remove mascara at the end of the day. Even the most stubborn makeup glides off effortlessly with this light oil mixture – all without the addition of harmful chemicals so close to the eye area.

Moisturising hair mask

1 medium avocado

Avocados contain skin-nourishing vitamin E and phytosterols, which are similar to the skin’s own lipids and provide a barrier to environmental elements and lock in moisture. To make a nourishing hair pack that will leave you with a gorgeous shine, mash one avocado into a smooth paste and spread on clean, damp hair for 20 minutes, then rinse.

Soothing foot balm

1 tablespoon almond oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon wheat germ oil
12 drops eucalyptus essential oil

Everyone’s feet can get a bit whiffy in the summer heat but you don’t need to spend a fortune on expensive foot creams. Simply combine the ingredients in a bottle and shake extremely well. Rub into the feet and heels nightly to smooth and soften rough dry feet.

Rose petal bath essence

With summer here and roses in full bloom, don’t let those fragrant petals go to waste when the flowers start to die. Save those petals for a wonderful fragrant bath. Place the petals in a basket to dry once the roses start to droop. When they’ve dried, stuff them into a small muslin bag or just tie them into a handkerchief. Place your little stash right under the tap when running your bath to release that pent up fragrance for a second-time-around treat.

Soothing eye treatment

2 used teabags
2 slices of raw potato

Who says looking good has to cost the earth? These two homemade eye treatments are simple easy and very cheap. For the first treatment take two very thin slices of potato, as these are great for brightening and nourishing the eyes, and press them lightly on to the eye area. Make them thin slices so they make contact, yielding into the contours of the eyes.
For the second treatment take two damp tea bags and place them over your eyes. This will help fade under-eye bags because they contain tannin and polyphenols which have an astringent effect.

<img src=”https://thepinknews.com/wp-content/uploads/images/maltaad.jpg” alt=”” />

Comments (0)

MyPinkNews members are invited to comment on articles to discuss the content we publish, or debate issues more generally. Please familiarise yourself with our community guidelines to ensure that our community remains a safe and inclusive space for all.

Loading Comments