Natural Beauty Products I Love

I'm vain. I admit it. I like to smell nice, and have soft clear skin, healthy hair and nails, and sparkling eyes and teeth. I've learned that diet is 90% of this equation, but I've also learned that natural products work better that the chemical laden crap they try to sell me. Here's a list of my favorite beauty products.

Hair: 

I use the Curly Girl no shampoo method of curl care. If you are a curly, go over there and learn about this NOW, thank me later. The short version is this; sulfates dry your hair. Silicones coat your hair so that moisture cannot penetrate, and they must be washed out with sulfates, making your hair more dry. It's easy to get trapped in a cycle of silicones to smooth frizz, then sulfates to wash them out, causing more frizz. If you don't use silicones, you don't need sulfates. Harsh sulfates also cause the scalp to overproduce oil. After an adjustment period without shampoo, your scalp will produce less oil, and that oil will distribute evenly down the length of your hair. Everyday sweat, dirt, and water soluble natural products will all wash out easily with water and won't build up. I use nothing with sulfates or silicones in it. 

Every month or two I clean my scalp with a little baking soda, and rinse with apple cider vinegar. This clears any build up and helps ph balance. 

I use a natural silicone free conditioner daily to scrub my scalp, then a thicker conditioner to soften. When my hair is wet in the shower, I put on a leave in water solube siicone free conditioner, and a little vegetable gycerine. Vegetable gylcerine is a humectant. It pulls moisture from the air and into the hair shaft. Moisture is key to healthy hair, especially curls. Leave in and veggie gycerine are my only styling products most days. 

A few times a week, I rub a tiny bit of argan oil into my ends in the evenings.

Once a week I  deep condition my hair by soaking it with coconut oil, wrapping it in a heated towel and leaving it on for a couple of hours or overnight. It rinses out just fine with water and water soluble conditioner. If you need to, you can use baking soda to wash it out.

I use all natural body art quality henna to color my hair a rich red. Henna also strengthens the hair. 

Skin:

Coconut oil as a body moisturizer is amazing. It reduces cellulite and stretch marks, and absorbs easily. It also has SPF properties (about 4 SPF externally, 8SPF when eaten daily in cooking)

Coffee grounds exfoliate and reduce cellulite.

I mix honey and baking soda together to make the best cleanser/exfoliator I've found so far. It keeps my face matte, tightens tone and fades spots. (by they way, the ONLY time I get acne is when my diet isn't on point. Dairy, gluten, or too much sugar gives me spots no amount of Clearasil can prevent)

Witch hazel and apple cider vinegar mixed together make a great ph balancing gentle toner at night.

Rose water freshens and adds glow to bare skin or over makeup throughout the day

Oregano oil is an excellend acne spot treatment. It is antriviral and antibacterial.

Tamanu oil reduces scaring, acne, and age spots, it also absorbs well and doesn't clog my (very sensitive) pores.

I moisturize my face with a light oil I made using a combination of grapeseed oil, vitamin E and A, and tea tree oil and essential oils.

I use a basic recipe for a scented lotion bar:
Melt equal parts oil of your choice, beeswax, and cocoa or shea butter. I like to play around with essential oils and flower petals to make this feel luscious. Just melt all the ingredients together in a double boiler, pour into a mold, and let cool for at least 4 hours before using.

Lips:

I scrub with honey and baking soda for soft lips, then use coconut oil as moisturizing balm every night.

I make a lip stain with beets and vegetable glycerin that tints a rosy watermelon color. Just cut up one beet and heat it in a double boiler with 2 tbsp of vegetable glycerin for about 15 minutes then pour it into a jar. I put mine in my old Body Shop cheek and lip stain container (and save $16).

I also make my a few other recipes for lip glosses and balms that plump, moisturize, or add hint of color and shine. There are hundreds of lip balm recipes on the web... I haven't perfected mine yet, but it's basically the same as the lotion bar, with some beneficial oils added like vitamin E, boabab or macadamia nut. When adding oils, just keep it to the 1:1:1 ratio of combined oils:wax:butter.

Teeth:
Baking soda mixed with coconut oil makes a great toothpaste. Add a drop of peppermint Dr. Bronners soap for fresh breath.

Beauty Supplements:
Vitamin A helps with skin tone and collagen turn over.

Gelatin builds collagen, reduces wrinkles, strengthens hair and nails, plumps and firms skin

Biotin is another great supplement for healthy skin, hair and nails

Again... the best beauty supplement is diet, exercise, and water, but have fun playing and adding natural recipes and remedies to your beauty routines. You can save a LOT of money with these too!