5 Foods You Can Use As Beauty Products
Growing up, you may have heard stories from your parents and grandparents about homemade products to use on our skin instead of store-bought ones. Maybe grandma used cucumber slices for bags under her eyes or mom swore by oatmeal and/or egg as a homemade facial mask. Well, they may have been onto something!
People are getting back in on the trend and using many common foods instead of beauty products. So, rather than making a trip to the cosmetic and beauty sections of the store, try looking in your kitchen. Your skin will look great, and you’ll likely save some money in the process.
Here are five foods to use instead of beauty products.
1. Bananas
You probably know about the health benefits of bananas, including potassium, magnesium and electrolytes. So, just imagine all those vitamins and minerals on your face. You can mash together bananas and milk to create an easy DIY face mask. Or, mix bananas, coconut milk, coconut oil and honey to make a DIY deep conditioner for your hair.
2. Milk
Rumor has it that Cleopatra was a big fan of taking milk baths. There are various milk bath recipes out there, from using powdered milk (along with a few other ingredients, like oatmeal and almond meal) to using liquid milk and honey to make Cleopatra’s milk bath. You can probably imagine the benefits of a milk bath—the milk will leave your skin feeling soft and smooth. Not only will it help hydrate your skin, but it’ll also help exfoliate it. Plus, a milk bath will help make you feel calm and relaxed, and who wouldn’t want that?
3. Avocados
Avocados are rich in vitamins and protein, as well as great for helping to detox your whole body. Make an avocado face mask with just mashed avocado, or add in some honey, oatmeal, yogurt, banana or egg. The combinations are endless!
4. Tea
You may know that tea has many health benefits, from helping to regulate blood pressure to reducing anxiety. Yes, you can use tea bags under your eyes to reduce wrinkles, and use green tea on your face as an astringent and anti-aging product. But, did you know you can use tea on your hair, too? Rinse hair with tea water to get natural highlights. Or, use it to make your hair shinier.
5. Greek Yogurt
Is there any problem that can’t be solved with Greek yogurt? Mix up a Greek yogurt face mask with yogurt, honey and some oatmeal. The probiotics in the yogurt help to reduce inflammation. Below is an easy how-to video for a mask that uses yogurt, bananas and honey, courtesy of Dr. Oz. An added perk? The mask helps with wrinkles, too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPn-iFGk_ug
Hungry for more food-based beauty tips? Check out beauty blogger Farah Dhukai, who has some amazing ideas for turning pantry staples into beauty products.