The egg white has will work like a little lifting to your skin making it smooth and lines free, so why not try? You can simply whisk the egg white with few drops of lemon juice and that’s it. I tend to mix it with one of the clays, in this case pink clay for brightening the skin colour and soothing the skin. I first whisk egg white with few drops of lemon juice, then sprinkle over pink clay and mix it all together. Apply to your face and rinse it off before drying out.
I used to put few drops of castor oil on my eyelashes and eyebrows to give them shine and beautiful look. Castor oil has been known since Cleopatra times. It has a high fat content and is slowly absorbed by skin. It is perfect for massage, lip balms and hair treatments. It has been also known as a mild laxative.
I have been using this hair mask for some time and always been very pleased with results. It is very simple and you need only few ingredients. Mix egg yolk with two spoons of castor oil, add squeeze of lemon, you can add a drop of honey if you like. Use two egg yolks for longer hair. Mix all for a smooth paste and apply to your hair. Cover with foil or shower cap and leave for at least 20 minutes. Wash and rinse as usual. Your hair will regain shine and egg yolk will provide an excellent nourishment.
The remaining egg white you can use for a face mask, as it has great lifting properties. See next post.
Sometimes, our skin suffers from spots or blemishes and green clay is very good for all impurities. I use to mix a bit of green clay just with a drop of water and treat any spots with that paste. Green clay eases the inflammation and helps the spot to disappear. This simple mask will help to bring shine and smoothness to your skin as well as will clear it from any unwanted “surprises”.
I use lavender flowers in this mask, but you can use any dry flowers you have, camomile would do the job too. Grind lavender flowers, add 1 spoon of honey, few drops of Vitamin E and mix it with water. Then gradually sprinkle 2 spoons of green clay, adding some more water if necessary. Try to get a consistency of a smooth paste, not too thick. Apply to your face, avoiding eye areas. Don’t let the mask to dry out too much on your face and rinse it off with lukewarm water.
It is very simple and worth doing from time to time as skin on the neck is very delicate and starts showing any sign of ageing quite early. All what you need is some olive oil, lemon and an aluminium foil. Warm up an olive oil in a microwave or over the hot boiling water, squeeze haf of lemon. Massage warm but not hot oil on your neck and wrap up around with a foil. Leave it for about 20 minutes. Gently remove any excess of oil with cotton pads.
Rose – the queen of flowers! Essential rose oil, extracted by steam distillation, is said to be beneficial not only for skin, but also soul. It smells divine and has got anti-depressant and anti-inflammatory properties. It it especially recommended for mature or dry skin, but every type of skin will love the luxury of roses.
Being on holidays, in Anglesey, Wales, I handpicked rose petals from wild growing bushes near the beach and then dry them on the tray near Aga oven. The still smell so lovely. You can just sprinkle few drops of essential rose oil over them and keep them in your room as an air freshener.
Mask combines pink clay with dry rose petals. First, grind rose petals in pestle and mortar for a quite fine powder. Mix some honey with a bit of water. Add grinded rose petals, then gradually sprinkle over pink clay to make a smooth paste. Add 1 drop of rose rose essential oil. Rose will balance and soothes your skin, and a clay will give it a nice colour. Remember only to rinse it off properly and follow it with a gentle toner.
All the ingredients, I use for this mask are edible: avocado, lemon, honey and natural yogurt. What can be better for our skin?
Avocado is rich in minerals and vitamin, it is also high in fatty acids which moisturize the skin. Honey softens and soothes the skin as well as nourishes it. Lemon gives brightness and cleanliness. Yogurt calms the skins and it is good for any irritations.
I find lemon and honey very versatile in most of home-made cosmetics. They would work for your hair too. Just add a bit of honey to your regular conditioner and then follow it by lemon rinse. It will give your hair a beautiful shine. Lemon also does the job when it comes to dandruff. Massage freshly squeeze lemon juice and a pulp into your scalp, leave it for a bit – it may “burn” a bit – then wash it as usual and brush it properly to remove any bits.
Now to the mask! Mash half of an avocado, add spoon of honey and yogurt and squeeze of lemon. It is ready! Use it immediately, as all ingredients are fresh. It is a bit of a messy job – a good hairband will help – but the results are worth it.
I discovered shea butter some time ago, and has been a huge fan of it. Shea butter, also known as karite butter is extracted from the nut of an African shea tree. It can be used in cooking so it must be also good for your skin! It contains lots of vitamin A and E, it diminishes wrinkles, promotes skin renewals and deeply moisturizes your skin.
I usually buy a raw, unrefined piece of shea butter, with no additives. It has got quite hard texture, but will soften quickly if you warm it up a bit or just soften with your hands. I use to put some of it on my hand and then keep it above a candle or a heater – depends what is on in my room!
I like using shea butter for the areas which need an extra attention like feet, hands or under eyes skin. So today, a feet soak followed by shea butter moisture boost.
Prepare feet soak by filling a bowl with quite hot water, add some coarse sea salt and few drops of tea tree oil, which has anti-bacterial properties. Keep your feet for about 10-15 minutes until the skin will soften a bit. Then, using some salt or sugar mixed with an oil, scrub any dead cells and polish your feet. After drying them, massage some shea butter and put some cotton socks on for a better nourishment. Then just lie down and put your feet up and let them relax.
I never liked lavender and its strong soapy smell…until I came to London, discover lavender and fell in love with it!
Lavender grown in England is widely used in cosmetics, house decorations even in tea bags!
You can see beautiful violet bushes growing around the houses filling the air with lovely aroma. So being more convinced and then mad about lavender, I started to look out for lavender products, soaps, mini-cushions filled with lavender flowers and oils which I burn in my ceramic burner.
Lavender is famous for its calming and relaxing properties so nothing work better for your beauty than that!
Here is a recipe for a lavender face scrub.
Using pestle and mortar, grind dry lavender flower until almost powder consistency. Add honey, few drops of lavender essential oil and a bit of water to make a paste. you can enrich this scrub by crushing few dry rose petals and adding few drops of rose essential oil. Imagine that smell! Apply to your skin in circular gentle motion, then rinse off with warm water and finish with a cold splash to close skin pores. Your skin will smell amazing and leave you feel relaxed and good.
At least, once per week we scrub to remove all dead cells and help skin to look better and smoother. My home made recipe for a body scrub is a brown soft sugar – it has got smaller granules – olive oil, few drops of vitamin E, few drops of some lovely smelling essential oil like lavender or orange and squeeze of lemon which will brighten your skin. You can do the same mixture using salt instead of sugar. I just found that salt sometimes “burns” my skin. Using oil means you can skip your moisturizer after scrubbing and just relax.
No one is perfect, we all know that. Everyone has some defects in their look. So today few words about clay, which just works wonders for your beauty. First, I discovered green clay as I had problems with spots and acne. Later, I realized there is also red, pink, white and yellow clay and all of them are just great for skin. Few spoonfuls can be just mix with warm water and applied to skin. Just make sure the mask doesn’t completely dry out on your face as it can leave your skin too tight. It is also great for neck, decollete, arms, back even the whole body. Imagine yourself all covered in pretty pink mud! I like adding some extras to my clay mask like a bit of honey, with drops of vitamin A or E, few drops of jojoba oil, even egg white which has lifting properties. I always keep my 3 favourite clays: green, pink and white. Love yellow too! They all nourish your skin and provide all necessary minerals which clay contains. It is all natural product so why don’t use it for our beauty? Try and you won’t be disappointed.
Beautywhizz 