Photographer: Sarah Morrison Makeup/Hair: Danielle Walch
Okay so here’s the deal. Quality skincare can be expensive, and some of us may not always have the cash to throw down on our favorite skincare products. OR, like myself, some of you may just be too lazy, or keep procrastinating taking that trip to the store to restock. Regardless of the reason, here are some some simple ways to take care of your skin, using inexpensive ingredients you may already have in your kitchen.
1. FACE EXFOLIANT: For those of you who have a Trader Joe’s in your area, did you know of the plethora of potential skincare goodies that exist within Trader Joe’s?! Read and learn! My personal favorite low budge exfoliant, Bob’s Redmill GROUND FLAXSEED MEAL. Yes indeed. Put just about teaspoon in the palm or your hand , add a little water and presto! Massage into your skin and rinse. Feel the difference for yourself! The nice thing about the ground flaxseed is as it absorbs water it progressively softens, so it’s never too harsh. You can also mix flaxseed meal with water and drink as a fiber supplement, just mix a tablespoon into 8oz water. Fiber supplements can be very beneficial for everyone and certainly for people with acne prone skin. It helps move every thing out (if you know what I mean), more often and more efficiently and that’s all ima say about that. Cleaner body = clearer face. Not to mention it only costs about $3. Uh huh, that’s right babies! A couple other ingredients to try as facial scrub: ALMOND MEAL and WHOLE PSHYLLIUM HUSKS (also a fiber supplement) both found at Trader Joe’s! Booyah!
2. TONER/LIQUID EXFOLIANT: Raw/unpasturized APPLE CIDER VINEGAR. IT MUST BE LABELED RAW/UNPASTURIZED! Why? Well, Raw ACV still contains the natural enzymes required to breakdown dead skin so, when applied to a cotton round dead skin sloughs off easily. Just mix equal parts ACV and WATER, add a small amount to a cotton round and sweep across your face and neck. I love what this does for my skin, it gives it a nice an fresh glow! I do recommend this to be done at night, because the aroma of the ACV can sometimes linger. Unless you dig the aroma of course, and then you’ve got a new parfume eu de toilette! Make sure you mix with water, otherwise it’s too concentrated and might cause sensitivity. My favorite brand is Bragg, which I buy at Whole Foods. You may purchase online @ www.vitacost.com, $3 for a 16oz bottle, say WHA?! Thas cheeap! Other benefits of RAW APPLE CIDER VINEGAR, use to aid in digestion! Whenever I get acid reflux or heartburn or any kind of indigestion I take a tablespoon of raw ACV and problem solved! I know it seems weird, but try it, it works you’ll see.
3. MOISTURE MASK: RAW HONEY!!!!!!!!! Yes babes you’ve read correctly. Again, it must say RAW on the label for the same reasons as mentioned above. RAW HONEY is moisturizing, full of enzymes that gobble up dead skin, it’s antiseptic, antibiotic, antifungal, and antibacterial, and it never spoils! Umm got blemishes? Goodbye! Did you know raw honey has been known to be medicinal since ancient times? Trust the ancients my friends! RAW HONEY can be found at Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and health food stores in general. Organic raw honey produced in your local area is best. Or order online here. A small jar is about $6-$10.
4. BLEMISHES: Do yourself a favor, go to your local nursery and buy an ALOE VERA plant right now!!! A beautiful plant with the most incredible healing properties. Break off a small piece and rub it’s lovely ooey gooey-ness on blemishes, burns, sunburns, cuts, scrapes, rashes and the list goes on! It’s an inexpensive plant to buy and super easy to take care of. It’s truly amazing how fast it can help your skin heal. It also prevents scarring! Caring for your plant- Full sun, indoors or out, water every few days (and that’s a generous suggestion) of course depending on how hot it is. Honestly though, I can’t even remember the last time I watered mine and she’s still thriving! NOTE* the aloe vera gel you see in the grocery store is no substitute, it’s processed and usually full of alcohol. That junk is bunk!
5. OKAY DRUM ROLL PLEASE, last but not least, my best kept secret up until now………………. COCONUT WATER KEFIR! YESSSSSS! It’s my new skincare discovery. You may be asking yourself “wha da fuh is she talkin bout?” Well COCONUT WATER KEFIR is manufactured as a supplement you that you drink. It is similar to yogurt or traditional dairy kefir because it contains the same probiotics, including the more famliar acidophlius. You may be asking yourself, “and how it this good for my skin”? Well to make a long story short (because this is a bunch of science and an explanation that could take me days), the same way that eating yogurt helps your digestion by putting friendly bacteria into your intestines, COCONUT WATER KEFIR helps your skin. When you have more good bacteria than bad, bad bacteria cannot grow and cause infection, AKA whiteheads, and pimples which are a small scale infection caused by bad bacteria. I poured some CWK in a brown glass spay bottle, I keep it in the fridge and spritz a little on my face before I put on my moisturizer. You can also just pour from the original bottle onto a cotton round. But, you must keep it in the fridge and it must be kept in a glass container only. Now, what you should also know is that probiotics when ingested are also beneficial for helping to clear acne. So feel free to take an occasional swig of your CWK! I also take probiotics in capsule form before meals for the same purpose. In conclusion, your skin will love this! Since I started doing this, I rarely get whitheads anymore. As a person who’s had more than my fair share of blemishes, I seriously recommend! I buy mine at Whole Foods. A small bottle costs about $7 and a large bottle will run you about $13. Here’s a list of nationwide carries of the “TONIX” brand. OR, if your feeling ambitious brew your own at home! Check out Body Ecology for details on that.
Well, that’s all for now. What are your DIY beauty tricks?
