This lip gloss is made from a cocktail of tropical beauty ingredients like macadamia nut, coconut oils, and cocoa butter. Macadamia nut oil is lighter than many other oils so it absorbs easily into lips, plus gives the gloss a touch of nutty flavor and scent.
Directions: Place all ingredients in a heat-resistant container and warm up the mixture in the microwave or in a hot, but not boiling water bath until the cocoa butter and coconut oil are melted. Then, stir mixture well and pour into something like a lip gloss container or small plastic box. Allow the mixture to cool completely. This gloss can be worn under or over a colored lipstick or stain. Store in a cool, dry place.
Recipe courtesy of: Janice Cox
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Gentle Eye Makeup Remover
Castor oil is actually a nifty way to remove eye makeup (who knew?). The following combo of castor, canola and olive oils easily takes off even the smokiest eye makeup.
Directions: Mix the three oils together and pour into a clean container. To use: Pour a small amount of the mixture onto a clean cotton pad and gently wipe over upper and lower lashes and lids.
Recipe courtesy of: Janice Cox
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Moisturizing Hair Wrap
Using herbs straight from your garden, mix up this hair remedy to leave your strands soft, shiny and to help minimize, um, shedding.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup of hot water
Rosemary
Sage
Fenugreek Seeds
*Note: You can find Fenugreek Seeds at your local seed store or online.
Directions: Crush a little bit of each herb (rosemary, sage and fenugreek seeds) with fingers and put into cheesecloth. Tie the cheesecloth and steep in hot water for 10 minutes -- this will make a very potent tea. Next, warm the olive oil on the stovetop and add the tea, blend well. Once mixture cools, apply to scalp and massage in, working through dry hair. You don't have to use the entire amount, just use enough to coat every strand (it shouldn't be dripping with oil). Wrap your hair in a towel or hair wrap. Leave for 20-30 minutes, shampoo out.
Recipe courtesy of: Melinda Joy Miller and Carla Gentile Day
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Cooling Antioxidant Skin Mist
This antioxidant-packed concoction will help protect your beautiful skin. Bonus: Store it in the refrigerator and spritz liberally on your face and neck throughout hot summer days to cool off.
Ingredients:
4 teaspoons green tea
1 ounce fresh peppermint leaves
1 cup lavender
2 cups of distilled water
2 teaspoons fresh aloe vera gel
*Note: Lavender can be purchased at most nurseries, and you would use the flower on the lavender stem to make the mist.
Directions:
Mix green tea, peppermint leaves and lavender flowers together with water. Steep all ingredients for 15 minutes. Strain through cheesecloth. After those items have steeped, add aloe gel and pour into a glass jar with a spray atomizer. Spritz on skin.
Recipe courtesy of: Melinda Joy Miller and Carla Gentile Day
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Farmer's Market Facial for Your Skin Type
Farmer's markets have fresh flowers, fruits and veggies that are all at their seasonal best. Here's a list of super simple facial masks you can make quickly using a single farm-fresh ingredient. Choose the one that best suits your skin.
Corn Mask for Dry Skin
The fat content and high protein of corn soothes dry skin. Grate an ear of corn and strain off the milky liquid. Pat this on your skin and let sit for 15-20 minutes; rinse with cool water.
Melon for Aging Skin
Honeydew, cantaloupe, and watermelon all help tone skin thanks to vitamins A, B and C. Cut paper-thin slices of fresh melon and place on your face and neck (um, you'll probably have to lie down to do it). Let sit for 15-20 minutes, and then rinse with cool water.
Tomato Mask for Oily Skin
Tomatoes are mildly acidic (for sensitive skin, use less acidic yellow ones), so they make a great mask for oily and acne prone skin. Using a clean cotton ball, spread a thin, even layer of fresh tomato juice over face and neck. Let sit for 10 minutes, and rinse thoroughly.
Raspberry Mask for Sun Struck Skin
Fresh raspberries make a great post-sun facial mask. Lightly mashed, their juice soothes and refreshes skin. Mix fresh juice with a small dollop of honey. Spread the mixture on your skin and let sit for 15-20 minutes, and then rinse with warm water.
Recipe courtesy of: Jane Cox
While it's fun to try out the latest, buzzed-about beauty products, there's something really charming (and affordable) about cooking up your own beauty recipes. But before you get intimidated, know that you don't have to be Julia Child to give yourself a farmer's market facial. In fact, some of these recipes only require a single ingredient -- like raspberries, which make a great after-sun face mask -- pretty amazing considering the laundry list of un-pronounceable ingredients we're used to seeing in our beauty products.
And with all the beauty joys that sunnier days bring, like wavy locks and less makeup, also come the woes of swimming pool hair and sunburned noses. Which is why we got DIY beauty product recipes from Janice Cox, author of "Natural Beauty for All Seasons", to help cure those issues, plus warm weather herbal remedies designed by sustainable gardener Melinda Joy Miller and the owner of the Steam Salon in Los Angeles, Calif., Carla Gentile Day. Use their beauty tips to learn how to take things like sage from your herb garden (see, you can use it for something other than spicing up pasta) and make beauty products like a hair remedy out of it, or a must-be-eaten-today melon that you picked up from the market and turn it into a face mask.
Making homemade beauty recipes is really just about mixing nature's best offerings with stuff that you have in your pantry and medicine cabinet to create beauty products that will make you feel like a natural beauty. The possibilities are endless for what beauty products you can create, so use these recipes as a starting point, and as you begin to think outside the beauty aisle, you'll soon be brimming with creative ideas for what to do with that too-ripe avocado �
