The other week I blogged about saving money and beauty stuff (and incidentally got some awesome tips. Thanks!). I briefly mentioned that I'd started making my own body scrubs, and that I was interested in making a coffee based scrub. I tried it on Thursday.
Dudes. I am so in love with this scrub.
Since the complete and unprecedented success of my adventures in body scrubbing, I have developed something of a passion for making my own beauty bits. Firstly, this is because it is CHEAP. However, it's also pretty awesome fun, and I love hearing Shannon sound like a grumpy old man while he complains about food in the shower (evil laugh).
This weekend, after much research, I infected Jo with my enthusiasm and convinced her to indulge in some Serious Sunday Night Fresh Food Facial Pampering. We drank some port and mixed up a bunch of different scrubs to see what was the most effective. Our conclusions were:
♥ Baking soda zit paste: Jo tried this. She wasn't sold, but agreed that it seemed to make the zit fractionally less red and sore.
♥ Sunflower seed exfoliant: The oil in the sunflower seeds came out with the water and made a lovely gentle, soft scrub. Very pro this exfoliant.
♥ Baking soda and oatmeal exfoliant: Ouch. Way too harsh, unless you are fourteen and desperate to strip your skin of any oils. I am now fearing a horrible horrible breakout of rosacea unhappiness. Never again. The term "burning" springs to mind. Maybe I used too much baking soda.
♥ Egg white face mask: It was universally agreed that egg white was the winner on the day. MMMM silky smooth facial parts!
Recipes for beauty bits mentioned in this post (because I care)
(These first two recipes come from a Sunday Star Times magazine article)
♥ Coffee Body Scrub: 1 cup coffee grinds (out of the pot is fine), 1/4 cup sugar, 1 Tbsp Sweet Almond oil. I've also been adding a couple of drops of Geranium for smelling yummy and for extra revitalising. WOO!
♥ Oat and Sugar Body Scrub: 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1/2 cup honey and oil. (I used cooking oil the first time I made this. I strongly recommend you don't follow my lead because EW.)
(From my baking soda book: The Wonders of Baking Soda. I have no idea where this book came from originally, but my dad gave it to my mum and my mum gave it to me. The copy I have has no author or date of publication)
♥ Baking soda and oatmeal exfoliant: whiz a handful of uncooked oats, some water and a handful of baking soda in a blender. Probably best to keep in an airtight container if you want to use it for a while.
♥ Baking soda zit paste: mix up a paste of baking soda and water, roll into a ball and press balls on to spots and let them sit there as long as possible. This looks kind of freakish.
(From an awesome website that I'm in the process of properly investigating)
♥ Sunflower seed exfoliant: grind up 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds and mix into a paste with water. I've put a whole bunch of ground sunflower seeds in a jar and I'm just going to add water as I go. Also, I'm keen to try a couple of drops of chamomile or lavendar oil in the mix, as I hear that they are good for rosacea. Perhaps I could mix with cold chamomile tea?
♥ Egg white facial mask: whip egg white until it's foamy and paint on your face with a brush or your fingers (I used a clean foundation brush). Let it sit until it feels tight and wash it off with cool water.
At the end of this whole process I followed up with my Trilogy Rose Hip Oil, which I'm hoping like hell will calm down the baking soda harassed part of my face. PLEASE.
