Feed your face with kitchen cosmetics |03 July 2021
“Next time you’re on a quest for some pampering, open your fridge because kitchen cosmetics are a real beauty ‘buzz’ for the face, hair and body, and they can be made at home in a flash. Even better – for next to nothing!”
This is what local beauty therapist, Delia Mondon, suggests to our readers, reminding us that in the days before beauty counters, if a lady wanted to look gorgeous, she had to be creative and whip up some honest-to-goodness kitchen cosmetics.
Delia is the owner of ‘Ocean Beauty’ salon at Le Rocher and holds an International Beauty Diploma in Beauty Technology.
She tells us that she’s been experimenting with making her own beauty potions, each of which includes ingredients that can be home-grown in our very own beauty garden.
“I doubt you’ll throw out your Essel or over-the-counter beauty products and run to the fridge to grab your naturally-made daily lotion. Practically, this is not feasible. So what place do kitchen cosmetics have in the 21st century?”
“Simple – in your masks and scrubs. If you’re after botanical beauty benefits, the store cupboard, fruit bowl and herb patch outside your back door offer amazing benefits, concentrating pure natural goodness into easy-to-make and bliss to use.”
Hence, with a focus today on naturally-made scrubs or exfoliants, Delia explains that flaky, dull and tired looking skin is an accumulation of dead skin cells, and that while desquamation or sloughing off dead skin is a natural process, a little help won’t do any harm.
For this, she suggests making your own organic facial scrub which will help to remove dead skin cells, resulting in well hydrated, glowing skin. The added benefit being, save on your over-the-counter beauty products, as the absorption and therefore the effectiveness is far greater.
The simplest scrubs, she explains, are made from finely ground grains and nuts, such as oatmeal, almonds, walnuts, rice flour and cornmeal.
For oily skin, Delia suggests massaging a gentle, simple facial scrub on the skin and rinsing off 2-3 times a week (avoiding active acne) and 1-2 times a week for normal to dry skin.
An enzyme exfoliant relies on papain, a protein-dissolving enzyme that comes from papayas. Leave them on the skin for up to 15 minutes, then rinse off. Use enzyme exfoliants once or twice a week, no matter what type of skin. Note: any allergies to the products above should be avoided.
An important thing to note says Delia, is that if you are lucky enough to enjoy a facial every 4-6 weeks, your professional beauty therapist/stomatologist will recommend various peels according to your skin type and/condition (these can vary from a gentle facial scrub, acid peels, keratin softener, enzyme masks and mechanical abrasion). However, once a month is not ideal; a spa day at home should be set aside at least 1-2 times weekly, depending on skin type, including a scrub and a mask.
Gentle honey and yoghurt facial scrub
Photo source: Pinterest
This scrub is gentle enough to use on all skin types. Yoghurt contains skin smoothing lactic acid, honey is moisturizing and healing, finely ground almonds and oats add gentle exfoliating action, and lavender essential oil is balancing.
Ingredients
2 tsp ground oats
½ tsp dried and ground orange peel
1 tsp local honey
1 drop lavender essential oil (if available)
1 tsp finely ground almond
1 tbsp natural yoghurt
Instructions
Mix all ingredients together, gently massage the scrub onto damp skin and rinse off.
Gentle nourishing scrub
Photo source: Treehugger
Almonds and oats nourish dry skin and slough off dead skin cells. Rose petals and calendula soothe and heal the skin.
Ingredients
200g ground rolled oats
75g ground almonds
2 tbsp ground, dried rose petals
2 tbsp ground, dried calendula (sometimes tea bags are available, leave out if not available)
½ tsp almond oil
Instructions
Separately ground the dry ingredients. Mix well and store in a dry, cool closed container. To use, add ½ tsp almond oil to a heaped teaspoon of dry cleansing mixture. Gently massage on damp skin and rinse off.
Gentle cleansing herbal scrub for oily skin (avoid active acne)
Photo source: BeBeautiful
Cosmetic clay or rice flour can be used in this scrub to absorb excess oil and unclog pores. Finely ground oats and ground almonds exfoliate your skin. Lavender and peppermint all have antibacterial and astringent properties. Lavender also balances the skin.
Ingredients
1 tsp ground almond
2 tsp of ground oats
1/2 tsp dried peppermint (you can get this in tea bags)
1 drop lavender
1 tsp cosmetic clay or rice flour
Instructions
Mix all the ground ingredients together. Add enough water to make a paste. Gently massage on damp skin and rinse off.
Enzyme peel (all skin types)
Photo source: Oceans & Potions – WordPress.com
Papaya contains protein digesting enzymes that gently remove dead skin cells. Frankincense stimulates the production of new skin cells and honey moisturizes the skin.
Ingredients
2 tbsp blended papaya
1 tsp honey
2 drops frankincense/lavender, depending on what you have available
Instructions
Mix the mashed papaya, honey and frankincense oil. Spread on the skin and leave on for 15 minutes.
“With the increasing popularity of natural medicines, you will find that these recipes are drops in the ocean of the variety of naturally-made scrubs you can experiment with,” says Delia. “So, whip up your own beauty potions from your store cupboard, fruit bowl or herb patch outside your door. Get creative and be gorgeous!”
For more information, contact Delia at Ocean Beauty, Le Rocher:
Telephone: 2 597 625
F. P.
