DIY BEAUTY: FEEDING YOUR SKIN NATURALLY
A few years ago, I didn’t take much notice of what I was putting on my skin. I was working crazy hours in television, wearing lots of make up and not much getting much sleep.
Eventually I started to get rashes and irritation on my face that wouldn’t go away. One day Darren said “just stop putting crap on your skin.” It seems obvious now but it hadn’t really occurred to me that it could have been some of the chemicals in the products I was using. Considering I still had to “put my face on” for my job, I decided to give my beauty cabinet at home an overhaul and started making my own creams. My skin literally improved in a day and I’ve been using mostly natural skin products ever since. My skin has never felt healthier.
Drink Water
This isn’t very exciting but I have to say that drinking plenty of water makes a bigger difference to my skin than any cream or treatment by a mile. If you think about it, dried fruits like sultanas plump up when soaked in water and it’s the same with our skin.
Eat Good Fats
You are what you eat so a diet with plenty of good fats like avocado, olive oil, nuts, oily fish and egg yolks does wonders for your skin. Collagen-rich bone broth (see my healing chicken bone broth recipe) is particularly amazing for healthy skin.
Make your own Beauty Products
Coconut oil
One of my favourite all-purpose beauty products is coconut oil. Because it’s solid at room temperature, it works great as a lip balm and it doesn’t matter if you eat it! In the summer, I massage it through my hair in the morning and tie it up in a bun so it can soak in all day, and then wash it off when I shampoo in the evening.
Good morning coffee scrub
This is my favourite skin treatment for “waking up” my skin when it’s tired and dull. The coffee and cinnamon are stimulants so they help to get the blood circulating as well as gently exfoliating when massaged in. The coconut oil and honey are anti-bacterial as well as hydrating and softening. My skin feel fresher, softer and more radiant. I just have to stop myself from eating because it smells so good!
• 1 tablespoon ground coffee
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1/2 tablespoon honey
Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl and then gently massage it onto your face in circular motions for about a minute. Leave for 5-15 minutes and then rinse off thoroughly with lukewarm water and pat dry.
Soothing fresh aloe vera gel
The best version of aloe vera gel is the one that comes straight from the plant. Fortunately, it's very hardy and easy to keep alive because it’s part of the low maintenance cacti family. Aloe vera is incredibly healing for sunburn and dry skin. Just snip off the tip from your plant, slice off the spiky edges, peel the skin away and the gel will be inside. Squeeze out the gel and apply is topically. There’s no need to rinse it off. Store any leftover gel in a glass jar in he fridge.
Detoxing clay mask
Bentonite clay is formed from volcanic ash. When it’s mixed with a liquid such as water it has a strong negative charge which attracts impurities that are positively charged, and thus absorbs and removes them. The one to get is the food-grade bentonite clay so it doesn’t matter if you accidentally get some in your mouth.
• 1 tablespoon bentonite clay
• 2 tablespoons water
Add the clay to the water and allow it to hydrate for around 15 minutes, pour off any excess water and then apply it to your face. Leave for about 10 minutes- it will become dry and tight- then rinse off and pat dry.
Pore refining lemon facial
Egg whites and lemon juice help to tighten pores which is good for oily skin.
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Mix the ingredients in a small bowl and apply to the face and neck. Leave on for 10 minutes and then rinse off with lukewarm water and pat skin dry.
Moisturising oat meal mask
You’ll often see oat meal in products for sensitive and allergy prone skin because of its anti-inflammatory and moisturising properties. Vitamins A and E in olive oil are anti-ageing, lactic acid in yoghurt helps to dissolve dead skin cells and honey is anti-bacterial. This is means, luscious, glowing skin.
• 1 tablespoon oat meal
• 1 tablespoon natural yoghurt
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl, smooth is onto your skin and leave on for 10 minutes. Rinse well and pat dry.