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Making your life greener - one bite at a time.

Holistic beauty treatments found in the "kitchen cupboard." By using these household items from the pantry and in the garden, not only help to save money, but most find that these natural and low-cost ingredients often work better than the cosmetics made from expensive and artificial ingredients, and help save your largest living organ the skin and help keep the planet healthy too! 

Please use only organic ingredients as you skin absorbs chemicals!
 
For a facial mask: use a combination of grated carrot, mayonnaise, Epsom salts. A recipe can be found here. More uses of Epsom salts and recipes are found at pioneer thinking.Again, just organic  mayonnaise itself can be used as a facial moisturizer. Put mayonnaise on and let stand for 5 to 15 minutes before washing your face. If you have dry skin, mayonnaise can be used as a cleansing cream. 

Organic coconut oil (just pure magic in a bottle / jar) can also be used as a cleansing cream, night cream and moisturizer for any skin. It also provides an excellent bath oil, hair conditioner, and even shaving cream. It gets rid of frizz when applied to hair. It should be applied when hair is dry. Rub a dab on the palms, smooth into hair and then brush it. Use as a body oil, especially in pregnancy for great results with stretch marks. Feed it to yourself and family everyday in cooking, smoothies, and feed it to your pets.

For a great face and body scrub: mix 2 tablespoons organic  oatmeal, 2 tablespoons organic cornmeal, 2 teaspoon wheat germ, 1 tablespoon organic honey and 1/4 teaspoon orange or almond extract in a bowl. Add just enough filtered water to make a paste. Scrubbing your face and body with this mixture washes off dead skin cells and makes your skin feel very soft. For a skin-softening mask, leave on face for 10 minutes before rinsing.

To make easy lip gloss: stir 1  teaspoon aloe vera gel and 1 teaspoon organic coconut oil until mixed well. Add a few drops of strawberry essential oil or other fruit or mint flavoring, and transfer to a small container.

To create skin toner: mix 1 cup witch hazel, 1/4 cup white vinegar and 1/4 teaspoon mint extract. If you want, drop in some fresh peppermint leaves. Dab on your face with an organic cotton ball to hydrate skin and remove excess dirt from pores.

Making bath salts is easy: Put 2 cups Epsom salts in a jar and add a few drops of lemon extract or essential oil, mixing well. Add 1/2 cup baking soda, put the lid on the jar and shake, shake, shake. Use a pretty shell to scoop some under running water at bath time.

Oregano Bath bag: Combine 1 cup sea salt + 1 cup fresh oregano + 1 tablespoon rolled oats. Place into a ready-made bath sachet. Toss the bag under the running bath water and gently rub over skin. The salt will disperse into the bath while the rolled oats will soften the skin and the oregano will invigorate you.

If you prefer oils in your bath: fill a bottle with organic coconut oil and add a sprig of fresh lavender or a few drops of essential oil. Hint: Add oil to your bath after your body is wet to lock moisture into your skin.

For a refreshing after-bath splash: combine 1 1/2 cups water, 1/4 cup witch hazel and 1/4 cup aloe vera gel in a pretty bottle. Put the lid on tightly and shake until gel dissolves. Add several drops of mango essential oil and a fresh rosemary stem. If you don't have fresh rosemary, get some dried from your spice cabinet, tie it up in a small piece of fabric like a tiny sachet and drop it into the bottle.

Straight olive oil serves multiple purposes: If you can't stand the smell, add a few drops of essential oil. Use as a moisturizer for dry, rough spots on your knees and elbows. To soften cuticles, dip am organic cotton ball in some olive oil, dab on tops of fingernails and rub in. For a great split ends treatment, shampoo hair, use olive oil in place of conditioner on ends only, and then rinse thoroughly with warm water.

For uses of olive oil and specific recipes.

Tips on the beauty uses of olive oil

For olive oil soap.

Besides a beauty product, olive oil can be used as a furniture polish, leather conditioner, wood polish (when mixed with lemon juice) and brass polish.

For the hair: organic real mayonnaise, honey, mashed avocado, and egg yolk makes a fine hair moisturizer. Even just mayonnaise rubbed into the hair and let stand for 15 minutes before washing the hair. For more uses of mayonnaise as a hair conditioner.

For fly-away hair: mix 1/2 teaspoom lemon juice and 1/4 teaspoon lime juice with 1/2 cup of filtered water in a spray bottle. Shake to mix. Spray onto your hair to tame static. Store remaining mixture in the refrigerator.

For Dandruff
Massage the Scalp with pure coconut oil. This will also help for growth of hair.
Apply coconut oil which has been boiled with small onions. Wash off with a mixture of green gram powder and water drained from cooked (boiled) rice.
Apply a mixture of almond oil and gooseberry juice with finger tips on the scalp.
Apply the warm mixture of olive oil, lemon juice and coconut oil. Do a steam -towel- wrap for 15 minutes and wash the hair with a shampoo. Oregano is good for treating dandruff. Oregano hair tonic: Infuse 2 tablespoons  fresh oregano by pouring 2 cups of boiling water over it and allow the mixture to cool. strain and dissolve 1/4 teaspoon borax in it. Massage into the scalp twice weekly.
Apply a paste of fenugreek and mustard to the scalp.
Mix Shikakai powder with the water drained from the cooked rice and wash the hair.
Crush the leaves of five petal hibiscus flower and take the juice. Wash the hair with this juice too.

For Healthy and Shiny hair

Rosemary is often used in haircare products as it stimulates the circulation.

A vinegar rinse will leave your hair free of all traces of shampoo. The vinegar smell will quickly evaporate way.

Apply castor oil for a healthy growth of hair.

Wash hair with tea once per week.

Apply besan in the hair and wash it with water drained from cooked rice.

Soak a handful of gooseberry in a cup of raw milk for two hours. Make it as a paste and apply to hair.

Apply the mixture of an egg white + 2 teaspoons of castor oil + 1 teaspoon glycerin, in the scalp and hair. Rinse well. Massage hair with warm coconut oil an hour before washing. Let it soak. Cover your head with a hot towel and wash your hair after an hour or so. 

Boil a few hibiscus flowers in coconut oil. Filter and use this hair oil to control hair loss and thinning.

Do a 'steam-towel-wrap' once in a while, if your cuticles are damaged. Deep condition with curd, beer and egg. Mix a little vinegar in warm water and rinse your hair with this solution. This will add bounce to dull and lifeless hair.

Boil coconut oil with the juices of curry leaves, basil, hibiscus flower and gooseberry. Apply on hair, leave in and rinse.Egg white and curd is also a good conditioner for hair. 

For Graying Take a little Mehandi,an egg, juice of  half a lemon, one tablespoon of organic coffee powder. Mix it together and apply on the hair. Wash after 45 minutes.

Boil one cup of dried gooseberry with 4 cups of water. Add a pinch of sugar.. Keep boiling till the quantity of the liquid reduces to one cup. Mix 2 cups of Mehendi, an egg, juice of a lemon and the gooseberry solution and apply on hair. Wash the hair after two hours.

If you have dark circles or puffiness under your eyes: put your head back and place wet chamomile tea bags or organic cucumber slices over your eyes for 15 minutes. 

Instead of nasty powder: dust your body with plain cornstarch. Just keep some on your dresser in a salt or sugar shaker.

Lavender in a bath can relieve dry, itchy skin and relax tired muscles.

Complexion water: 1/4 cup dried oregano, 1 teaspoon honey, 1 cup water, 1 cup rosewater. Place the first three ingredients into a suaucepan and simmer for 10 minutes. Strain and cool. Add rosewater and keep refrigerated.