Dull skin? Ratty hair? Saving your pennies doesn’t mean you can’t glow from the inside out. We ransacked the world’s best beauty and health blogs to find prettifying recipes you can cook up in your own kitchen.
- Inspiring Pretty suggests you mix your leftover coffee grounds with milk for a cleanser/toner paste that harnesses coffee’s astringent and antioxidant properties. Who doesn’t love the smell of coffee in the morning??
- Wellness Mama shares a wealth of ideas including her honey mask or face wash (buy the honey in buckets from your local beekeeper at the markets). She swears by seven base ingredients that include coconut oil, cocoa butter, beeswax, oils (olive, almond etc.) and arrowroot powder. If you buy in bulk you can save money long-term by using them in different recipes. Wellness Mama even makes her own bronzers, make-up and deodorants – she’s hardcore!
- Eco Warrior Princess recommends apple cider vinegar for treating acne; either by mixing it with water and dabbing on your face; and/or as a detoxing drink before you go to bed. (You can buy a 500ml bottle of organic apple cider vinegar for $4 at the supermarket; Aldi’s organic version is even cheaper.)
- Heard about gut health affecting your skin, but don’t want to pay through the nose for pre-made powders, pro-biotics or broths? You can improve gut health through your everyday diet by making your own fermented foods like sauerkraut, buying packs of miso soup (cheap at an Asian grocer), eating lots of the right veggies and dark chocolate (yes!) and home-made kefir.
- Banish puffy eyes with these super cheap eye-soothing cures listed by Whole Living blog, made from chamomile tea or spoons dipped in iced water – or that old favourite, cucumber slices. Expensive eye creams? Yeah, nup.
- This DIY oatmeal lavender bath soak only has three ingredients (finely ground oats, dried lavender buds, baking soda) and will calm sunburn, rashes or insect bites.
- You can even make your own pore strips at home out of gelatin and milk. Not to mention the fun of peeling them off…
- Home remedies blog says to combine olive oil and natural yoghurt for a deep conditioning hair treatment twice a week.
- Or even simpler – coconut oil as hair conditioner. Apply it to your locks before washing your hair (or even overnight) so it really sinks in, then shampoo it out.
Beauty Haven has a forum about which brands are best; the consensus seems to veer towards the organic ones found in the health food section of supermarkets. They’ll cost you around $10 for months and months of treatments.