8 Winter Beauty Products You Can (And Should) Make At Home
Winter is here and it’s not going away anytime soon. Cold weather can be harsh for your skin, so extra care and protection is required to keep your face healthy and glowing. What’s worse is that the wind and rain can temporarily heighten skin sensitivity so that your usual lotions and potions can end up irritating your face.
If your skin is at breaking point, it’s time to go au naturel with your ingredients. Here’s a list of effective beauty products that you can make at home, with natural, cheap ingredients that you can find in your kitchen cupboard.
Sugar Lip Scrub
Dry lips are the most obvious signs for winter dehydration but the good news is that they’re one of the easiest areas to fix quickly. The trick is to gently scrub off any dead skin without causing further damage.
One teaspoon brown sugar
One teaspoon white sugar
One teaspoon honey
½ teaspoon olive oil
Stir the sugars together, allowing an even mix. Ideally you want a mix of the two sugars for a variety of granule sizes but you can always stick to one if you don’t have both.
Add the honey and olive oil and stir well until blended. The honey may need to be warmed for easier mixing.
Pack tightly into a small jar or container, getting rid of any air pockets.
Apply to the lips in small circular motions and add a touch of warm water to aid the consistency. Rinse with warm water and apply plenty of lip balm afterwards.
Honey Spot Treatment
If you’re prone to breakouts, your usual spot treatment can be too drying on dehydrated winter skin. Honey is a natural anti-microbial and anti inflammatory agent which contains natural AHA’s to gently refine the top layer of the skin.
When choosing a honey, look for a natural or raw honey – not the runny squeezy stuff, Manuka honey is best.
If you have some, add a little bit of cinnamon – a spice known for detoxification. When mixed with the honey to make a paste, this can be applied directly to the skin.
If you want to make this into a face mask for acne, just add a little bit of olive oil to aid application to the face.
Avocado Hair mask
One avocado
Three tablespoons coconut oil
One tablespoon of honey
Remove the avocado from its skin and take out the stone before mashing with a fork (or in a blender) until smooth.
Melt some coconut oil and honey in the microwave and gently stir into the avocado mix.
Apply the mixture to hair lengths and the scalp. For ultimate results, wrap your head with cling film and apply low heat from your hairdryer before leaving for 30 minutes. It doesn’t look pretty but your hair will thank you for it!
Coconut Face Cream
Winter chapped skin can lead to dry and tight patches across the face. Normally an intensive facial oil will sort you out, but for a cheaper and more natural alternative, melt some coconut oil between your fingers before applying in long sweeping strokes across your face.
The coconut oil forms a chemical layer that protects the skin from environmental stresses. Pure coconut oil is solid at room temperature but can be melted by rubbing it between your palms.
If you find coconut oil too heavy for your skin, you can dilute it with some olive oil or sweet almond oil. .
Cuticle Care Capsules
Your hands are often hardest hit by the cold but we don’t tend to look after them as much as the face. Are you noticing hanging skin or sharper edges around your nails? Sounds like your cuticles are in need of some TLC.
Try an all night hand mask, by rubbing Vitamin E oil into nails and the surrounding skin, You can buy Vitamin E capsules very cheaply, just break open one with scissors and apply straight to fingers.
For ultimate absorption, put socks over your hands. You might feel like a wally but the retained heat will help your skin soak up the goodness, leaving you with radiant fingertips and stronger nails.
Energising Body Scrub
Helping the body get rid of dead skin cells is the quickest way to get glowing skin. And it’s not just your face either - your elbows. knees and shins will need extra attention.
Regular exfoliation actually helps improve cellulite by increasing the circulation and moving lymph around our body. Coffee grounds are great to use since the crushed coffee bean releases small amounts of caffeine which is said to boost circulation when absorbed into the skin. It’s also better for the environment as it’s water soluble, unlike microbeads.
Four handfuls of Instant Coffee granules
Olive oil, Coconut Oil or Sweet Almond Oil
Mix the coffee in with the oil. The ratio should be 2:1
Use immediately as an allover body scrub in the shower, exfoliating in circular motions moving upwards towards the heart.
Greek Yoghurt Mask
Yoghurt is full of lactic acid, which is a natural cleanser and mild exfoliant. Combine that with the healthy probiotics, calcium, and live bacteria in the yoghurt and you can see why it’s so good for you, both inside and out.
For an extra boost, you can add extra probiotics to reduce inflammation directly.
Three tablespoons Greek yoghurt - full fat and organic if possible
One tablespoon Honey
One Probiotic capsule.
Mix the yoghurt and honey together in a large bowl, warming the honey if necessary.
Break open the probiotic capsule, either by pulling apart or slicing in half. Add the powder to the yoghurt mixture.
Dip a cotton ball in the mixture and apply directly to skin. Avoid the eye area.
Leave for 10-15 minutes before rinsing off with warm water.
Cheaper Hair Serum
Constant changes in temperature, going from cold air to the central heating inside can cause flyaways and frizz. A thin layer of oil will act as a barrier on your hair, trapping moisture inside the hair and protecting the hair from adverse weather.
Instead of a pricey hair serum, try a light application of olive oil. Just rub the olive oil around your hands before dragging your hands through the lengths of your hair, avoiding the roots.
You’ll end up with shiny, smooth and protected hair - at a fraction of the cost!
What are your winter skin saviours? Tweet us your favourite DIY treatments @YahooStyleUK.
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