Thursday, January 13, 2011

New Year, New You: Easy At Home Beauty Treatments!

Everyone is working on self improvement for the new year! My resolutions included: Toning Up, Be & Eat Healthier, Save Money, and Finish Decorating My House!

First off I wanted to cut harmful things out of my life. By harmful I mean the consumption of productions with an excess about of processing, preservatives, dyes, hormones and additives. Not only does this count food but cosmetics fall into this category too!

I feel that so many products that I use on a daily basis contain SO MANY chemicals. The fact that I use them EVERY SINGLE day really freaks me out. Therefore I have began to search for health conscious ways to purchase my cosmetics. Also a few months ago I began looking into the use of PARABENS in cosmetics.

para·ben

/ˈpar-ə-ben/

n

er either of two anti-fungal agents used as preservatives in
foods, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals pharmaceuticals:

a : METHYLPARABEN
b : PROPYLPARABEN

Long story short: Parabens are used as a preservative (extend shelf life & kill bacteria & the cheapest most available preservative) in cosmetics. A UK study in 2004 found that 18 out of 20 breast cancer patients had parabens present in their breast tissue. The presence of parabens does not directly link to the cause of cancer HOWEVER the fact that parabens can penetrate the skin and be found present in the bloodstream in a matter of minutes. Also they are known to disrupt hormone function by mimicking estrogen. They also increase the expression of genes usually regulated by estradiol (a form of estrogen); these genes cause human breast tumor cells to grow and multiply in cellular studies (SafeCometics.org). ALSO it has been linked to abnormal fetal development in pregnant women... AND THE LIST GOES ON AND ON.

Now, you can take this information how you want to. You can believe it or not, but as for me, I don't see the harm in reducing my use of cosmetics (or beauty products) high in chemicals and opting for a more natural alternative. I'm not saying to just go out and dump all of you MAC make up in the trash because they contain parabens and other chemicals, I just want you to be more aware of whats in the products your purchasing

ANYWAYS here are some quick easy recipes for at home beauty!

Avocado Cucumber Facial
Soften up your dry winter skin with this refreshing facial! You will need:

2-3 tbs Avocado
1 /4 of a large Cucumber
2-3 tbs Honey
1 Egg Yolk
Blender




Throw all the ingredients into the blender



Blend until it looks like this!



Spread evenly onto face and let it sit for 15 mins like me... hahah

Wash off with cool water.

Sweet Sugar Lip Scrub




For ultra soft lips you will need:
2 tbs white or brown sugar
1-2 tsp Honey (until it reaches a thick consistency)
3-4 drops of Olive Oil

Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl. Apply a small amount of mixture to lips & gently rub to exfoliate. Rinse with cool water and apply your favorite lip balm.


Virgin Coconut Oil Deep Conditioner



I first fell in love with using Virgin Coconut Oil as hair treatment (PLUS MORE!) when my friend Denise (DenovaBeauty) told me about the natural benefits of coconut oil. Coconut oil can be used as a pre condition (especially for those of you who dye your hair often), detangler/softener after the shower, lip balm and moisturizing body lotion. This stuff is only $5 at Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Sun Flower, or any other health food store. You can use Virgin or Extra Virgin it works the same.

Here are step by step instructions on how to deep condition your hair provided by HealthyOilPlanet:

Shampoo your hair and let dry until slightly damp.

Apply a quarter-sized amount of virgin coconut oil to your palms and rub hands together. The heat from your hands will instantly melt the coconut oil, coating your palms and fingers with the oil. If you have longer hair, you'll probably need to use more oil.

Run your fingers through your hair. Concentrate on coating your hair with the oil. Your hair will look slick and shiny from the oil. Using too much oil will take longer to rinse out.

Take the plastic shower cap and cover your hair. This keeps your hair in place. It also helps retain heat to increase absorption.

Leave on for about one hour, then remove the plastic shower cap and rinse your hair (or very lightly shampoo). Your hair will feel thick and full right after this 60 minute treatment.

So basically I mostly use coconut oil for conditioner, body lotion, and lip balm! It smells so amazing and it makes everything soft! Plus one medium sized jar will last you a very long time.

I hope you enjoyed all these beauty tips! Happy New Year!

39 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Haha, sorry, I deleted my comment by mistake. Didn't know we couldn't edit it? Anyway, thank you for sharing, this was brilliant!!!

    Have a great one! x NTA

    p.s. am following you back now!

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  3. I use MAC and i almost stopped about two years ago because i found out they contain parabens. I try to limit my use when possible. Very informative post!

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  4. I've recently switched to organic living too, at least for most things.
    I really gotta try out that sugar scrub!

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  5. Ah-- I've been doing the sugar lip scrub for about a year now, and it's amazing~. Besides that, I've also been using coconut oil my entire life (we Jamaicans love our natural beauty treatments) and it, too, is lovely.'

    However, the facial I've never heard of.... I have to try it. o.o >...right after I figure out if any of my scant collection of makeup has paraben in it. I'd heard it was bad, but I've never really thought to to check and see what it's in that I own. :/

    Thanks for this uber-helpful post~!

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  6. great blog you have here! newbie blogger here! it'll be so sweet of you if you follow me there too!

    http://ibeauty-addict.blogspot.com/

    FOLLOWED YOU!

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  7. They're such great ideas! and much more affordable then buying loads of products xx

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  8. great diy recipes!!!Thanks for sharing! :)

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  9. Oh just thank you for this post!I didn't know many things about the parabens and this stuff and the recipes were soo good!Going to try the avocado mask tomorrow definitely!

    http://nothinglikefashion.blogspot.com/

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  10. such a great blog and I love your header !
    hmmmm, the sugar lip scrub sounds good. I have to try it :)

    xo lala

    http://lala-tulpe.blogspot.com/

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  11. Buen pot!!! Te sigo desde España. Besos Marcela.

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  12. Thanks for subscribing. You are too cute! lovely blog. I'm done w/ college and still broke, haha.

    xx

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  13. such a great post. i totally need a pampering day!

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  14. GREAT tips! I definitely want to try that face mask. Awesome blog x

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  15. I've tried nearly all of these things except for the lip scrub. I would love to try that! :)

    As much as I abhor eggs, it works best on the face so that's the only time when I don't mind it. lol.

    Thanks for following me. <3

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  16. Thanks for the tips! I am totally going to try!!!
    Thanks for following!
    Siri
    sirisplace.blogpspot.com

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  17. hi! i have an award for u! http://nikoleen043026.blogspot.com/2011/01/very-first-award-yipee.html

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  18. this is a great post!!!

    My lips are a little chapped at the moment so i'll have to wait a few days to try the lip scrub :)


    thebestbeautybuys.blogspot.com xxxx

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  19. Your blog is amazing. Please, folow me:)

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  20. Beautiful post and blog!!!
    Thnx that you follow my...!!! X

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  21. Thanks for sharing! I use coconut oil for my hair :)

    <3
    www.kasiabelhadri.blogspot.com

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  22. love the recipes! definitely going to try it out =)

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  23. Awesome tips - I can't wait to try it on my hair!

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  24. Heyya :)
    Izzy here :)
    Slight probz, I logged out of my blog 'thedreamsofalittleizzyinabigwildworld' and when I logged bakk on, my blogg was deleted from my account :(
    I was sooo anoyed!
    But, please follow me on my new blogg :)
    Izzy
    :) <3 xxxx
    http://belleoftheblush.blogspot.com/

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  25. This is a fantastic post! I will definitely be trying these out x

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  26. i love your post! im going to try the avocado cucumber face mask aver my bath today ~ ! YAYYERS ^___^ has anyone ever told you that you look almost exactly like Maggie Q?! I'm going to look forward to your future posts, theyre so helpful ~!

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  27. this is an amazing post

    http://beaufashionxoxo.blogspot.com/

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  28. cant wait to try these! come enter my giveaway!

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  29. I want to try these recipes especially the mask!!

    Marcy,
    smudgemyeyeliner.com

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  30. Heey Girl.

    I give you the stylish blogger award.
    Check my blog and translate..

    Bye

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  31. wow! brilliant posts and love your blog in generel a lot! keep on doing your thing girl.

    xoxo LA

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  32. Thank you for all the lovely comments ladies! Love you all! xoxo

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  33. Thank you for the great tips! I love your blog!
    I'm following. Hope you'll stop by my blog and follow if you like too :-)

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  34. i love scrubbing my lips with sugar <3 they become so smoothe =)
    nice blog <3

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  35. thanks for the nice tipp,
    it would be nice when you visit my blog too (:

    ttcybeauty.blogspot.com

    xxx

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  36. you need to update!!!! haha <3

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  37. i did the sugar lip scrub and i love it :) ehhehe

    thanks for the post!

    i love home remedies!

    ReplyDelete