Any good homemade beauty goodies?

[Feedingthebirds1]

I'm in the mood for a play around.

I'll start. I took a supplement with iodine in it. Only managed two days, and my face hurt, there were so many under the skin lumps erupted. so yesterday I created my own soothing mask.

Boil small quantities of rice and oats together until they're a mush. Don't use too much water. Liquidise the mush to a smooth cream, and add the oil from a couple of vit E capsules and three teaspoons of honey - both for its soothing properties and to stop the mask setting hard. Leave in the liquidiser to cool for a few minutes, then whizz through an egg white (protein).

I applied it twice yesterday and the difference was immediate.

Any more goodies?

I've remembered another mask I invented, to soothe but also very good for speeding up the healing of spots where the skin's broken, when it's started to heal over but not actually an open wound any more.

If you mix calamine lotion and milk, surprisingly it turns to a thick paste. (I've never been able to establish the chemistry of that one.) Use it as it is, or again add honey/vit E/both.

You can make a fantastic body polish with coffee grinds (used) and any shower gel. Add just enough shower gel to make a paste and away you go. Not sure where the magic lies in this but your skin will be really soft! When I think about it I also do the same with hand soap and my hands at the kitchen sink - it leaves your hands super soft

Sugar and oil (any liquid oil) rub hands together well and for longer than you think and it’ll make your hands feel gorgeous. Sugar and lemon juice also good but beware if you have any open wounds!

I like coconut oil and sugar scrub for my body, but I might try with coffee grounds as we have enough of them.

Take some solid coconut oil. Use an electric whisk and whip it until it looks fluffy. It loosens the consistency. Then whip in your sugar - Demerara is particularly nice - and a bit of essential oil if you want. Leave by the bath and use as needed. Best thing ever. I like to use it after I’ve washed, so the oil doesn’t get rinsed away so much.

How do you come up with these creations, OP?! I remember a good few years ago using a mask that was based on egg whites to help tighten the skin temporarily. If anyone has any recipes for something similar, but still moisturising, I'd love to hear them.

How do you come up with these creations, OP?!

I start by thinking what I want to achieve, then what ingredients would make that happen, then how am I going to combine them to make them work. Pretty much the same approach I have to cooking!

@Pinkfreesias

The egg white is drying - as it dries it pulls the skin hence the temporary tightening effect. The first mask I posted has the same effect.

If I were you (which I'm not 'cos I have oily skin) I'd mix the white with an oil. Olive or my favourite vit E, or the flesh of an avocado. But it won't have the same tightening effect. The egg white alone, or mixed with something water based, dries as a solid film across the face. Anything oily would break the film so it wouldn't set the same.

For homemade moisturising, avocado flesh is hard to beat. For extra benefit I'd mix it with oat or rice flour, which would also stop it sliding down your face. Anything that is temporarily tightening will also be drying.

Thanks so much for your kind advice, @feedingthebirds1.

I'll give avocados a try, I think. I think moisturising has to come before tightening.