How to look beautiful using ingredients from your kitchen cupboard

Tue 01 Dec 2009 17:20

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How to look beautiful using ingredients from your kitchen cupboard

Have you ever looked at the back of your moisturiser or foundation and noticed that it is full of Glycerin this and Methylparaben that?

Recent research suggests that many women have no idea what kind of ingredients are in their makeup bag and that the average British women is exposing themselves to 515 chemicals a day – a trend herbalist Anna Hill believes can be changed by ditching brand products and making your own.

“People go and buy products that are more expensive because they don’t look as good while you are actually using them but they are actually more fun,” Hill said.

If it is smooth skin you are after then papaya for the face, potato for the hands and chamomile tea bags for the eyes are the ingredients Hill recommends digging out your kitchen cupboards.

“A lot of face mask contain all these long-sounding ingredients,” she explains. “They are all contained in one piece of fruit – papaya.”

For dry, cracked hands and brittle nails, a grated raw potato, mixed with olive oil will help soften the skin. “The potato contains vitamin C which is very good for collagen so it prevents wrinkles in your hands,” added Hill.

Hair can also be treated naturally by getting rid of your shampoo and using, wait for it…egg yolks.

“Water is not going to wash grease out of your hair because it contains something called an emulsifier which mixes oil and water so if you rub an egg yolk in your hair then it gets the grease out of your hair,” Hill said.

As if that hasn’t given you enough food for thought, beer is also offered by Hill as a great equivalent to conditioner.

“The final rinse is to put the beer through your hair and that gives it a nice shine because it flattens the cuticles in your hair.”

For more information, read our step-by-step guide on these natural beauty equivalents.