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Baking Soda: The All-Purpose Beauty Product.

June 26, 2013

baking_sodaWho would have thought that a simple, household product can have so many uses for your beauty regime? I’ve pretty much utilized baking soda in all aspects of my beauty regime and found simple, yet effective problems to my usual beauty problems! Here are 5 common uses that can get you through your beauty disasters!

1. Use it as dry shampoo: Two-three day old hair? If you’re like me, it tends to get a bit oily. So instead of buying ridiculously expensive mattifying product  or dry shampoo, use baking soda. It absorbs the oils and really leaves your hair looking fresh. Also, it removes shampoos residue that tends to leave your hair feeling limp.

2. Teeth Whitener: As mentioned in a previous post, it is a safe method to whiten your teeth!

3. Face wash: To remove pesky makeup residue and brush off dead skin.

4. Foot care: Suffer from sweaty stinky feet? Just put baking soda, water and sal in a bucket and tuck your feet in. It removes grimy dirt and your stench once a good 15-20 minute soaking is done. Just scrub smoothly and your feet will be left feeling clean and smooth.

5. Insect bites: Seriously, I’ve had annoying ones all over of neck and face during the summer even with bug spray on. It keeps you from itching.

So save your cash for something big and start putting your baking soda into good use!

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Filed Under: Beauty Tagged: baking soda

Four Pure, Effective Homemade Masks for All Skin Types

February 1, 2011

I’m probably preaching to the beauty blog-reading choir here, but skincare obsessions are a bit of a thing with me. (I’m still in the honeymoon stage with my citrusy Trader Joe’s set.) Nearly a decade ago, there was an extremely unique skincare and beauty shop in the mall called Skinmarket, which has sadly long since closed. I went almost every weekend until it did, and the coolest part by far was an ice bar with freshly made masks you could purchase by weight.

I thought of Skinmarket during the last big snowstorm, around about day four of my frosty captivity. Masks are cool because unlike, say, serums, most people have the necessary ingredients for at least one awesome mask on hand. Here are five treatments you can make with very common pantry/medicine cabinet staples.

1.)Avocado: Okay, part of me feels like it’s a sin to waste perfectly good almost-guacamole by smearing it on my face. But utter deliciousness aside, avocados are rich in Vitamins A, C and E. Vitamin A is multi-beneficial, but prized for its exfoliation abilities. C renews skin, and E heals. Mash half an avocado with a fork and apply to skin. 8-10 minutes is a good benchmark time for mask application. I would use the other half to make a sandwich while I wait.

2.) Oatmeal: For those of us with itchy, easily irritated skin, oatmeal is really a miracle ingredient. When I was in beauty school, we did a relatively long facial section on oatmeal, and were told it “force feeds” moisture into the skin. While that may be a bit of hyperbole, oatmeal is very hydrophilic. Aside from that, oatmeal has long been used as a calming ingredient to soothe ailments like eczema. Cook 3/4 of a cup of oatmeal with 1/3 of a cup of water, and let it cool slightly. Spread warm- not hot- oatmeal over facial skin, and leave for about ten minutes. Dampen the mask a bit, and remove.

3.) Baking Soda: This isn’t a mask per se, but I have tried bucket loads of exfoliant in my career. Nut scrubs and pit scrubs tend to be a bit harsh, with jagged edges causing “micro-abrasions” in delicate facial skin. Even pricey exfoliants can be a bit lackluster- but mix a bit of baking soda in with your regular cleanser or even combine it with water to create what is hands down the best skin scrub I’ve ever used.

4.) Honey: I touched on honey briefly last week, but this is another seriously awesome one-ingredient skincare powerhouse. This is not the least messy mask there is- I had a dedicated honey mask brush- but in addition to a strong ability to trap moisture, honey is antibacterial, full of vitamins and antioxidants, and it just gives skin an indescribable glow. Warming the honey a bit- about ten seconds in a ramekin in the microwave- will make application marginally less sticky. A very warm washcloth will help with removal and steam in some extra moisture.

Do you have any favorite pantry staples for beautiful skin? Ever made a homemade skincare potion?

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Filed Under: Skin care Tagged: avocado, baking soda, exfoliants, exfoliation, facials, home facials, homemade masks, honey, masks, oatmeal, skincare

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