Home Cooked Beauty

Between simple kitchen ingredients for making excellent skincare recipes, and eating for healing and beauty from the inside out, our relationship with food ties into our self care in multiple ways. Today we are going to talk about some ways to make beauty treatments from things you may already have in your kitchen. You can save money, pamper yourself naturally, and glow beautifully!

Face Masks:

The first thing we usually thing of in home beauty treatments is a face mask. These are some ingredients that you can use to create a custom treatment!

• Strawberries - astringent and great for soothing acne, brightening dark spots, and gently exfoliating

• Oatmeal - ultra hydrating, reducing wrinkles (pulse into a fine powder in a blender if possible)

• Avocado - soothes inflammation, hydrates dry and combination skin

• Egg white - tightening pores, soothing acne and redness

• Egg yolk - nourishes dry and aging skin, strengthens skin's natural barrier

• Honey - ultra hydrating, soothes acne and minimizes wrinkles

• Apple cider vinegar - soothes acne and sunburns, reduces inflammation

• Cucumber - soothes inflammation, reduces puffy eye bags

• Turmeric - brightening, reduces inflammation and protects against sun damage (will stain your face yellow, best for olive and darker complexions)

• Banana - moisturizing, soothes bug bites, nourishes aging skin

• Coffee grounds - soothes inflammation, acne, dark spots and eye circles

• Baking soda - gentle exfoliation, soothes bug bites and sunburns

Play around and mix up your custom face mask treatment, I bet you've got some of these things already in your kitchen! I personally feel like home spa treatments also fulfill some inner child play, reminding me of the potions and things we would mix up as kids. If you need something else to go with the face mask, how about a foot soak? You don't have to tell the family that you're using your big stock pot to soak your piggies. Here's some things you probably have at home to create the right soup base for your feet! I've included amounts based on about 2-3 gallons of water.

Foot Soaks:

• Sea salt (1/2 - 1 cup) - deeply relaxing, reduce inflammation, absorb key minerals, boosts circulation

• Apple cider vinegar (1 cup) - soothes fungal imbalances and foot odors, helps with digestion, softens calluses

• Baking soda (1/2 - 1 cup) - soothes fungal imbalances and odors

• Green tea (3 - 4 bags) - reduce inflammation, soothes skin abrasions

• Black tea (3 - 4 bags) - helps reduce foot sweat, energizing

• Olive oil (1/2 cup) - deeply nourishing for cracked and dry skin

• Oatmeal (1 cup) - softens skin and soothes itchiness

• Honey (1/2 cup) - softens dry, cracked skin

Carve out the time, make a family spa date, schedule a home cooked beauty routine into your "everything shower" days! You deserve to take good care of yourself, no matter the budget. Add a heating pad, healing frequency music, and a plant grow light for a full home grown spa experience!