Beauty remedies from your kitchen
Finding time to squeeze in some cooking shows on TV, I caught a new one called Hot Dish with Franco (it’s a pun, because he himself would be considered a hot dish.)
My husband pointed out the host’s shrimp and pineapple tacos. They looked so good you can be sure I’m going to whip them up soon, but what really caught my attention were the avocados.
Franco was mashing them up for guacamole, saying he grew up in Peru eating avocado with everything. But what got me was when he said that the Peruvians also put avocado on their hair, and said it accounted for his own glossy mop!
It brought back high school memories where, in the early to mid-Seventies, we devoured books that were filled with beauty concoctions from the kitchen. I remember the oily, moisturizing avocado was recommended for those with dry hair. My own head of hair was terribly oily so I never tried this avocado trick, but I did wonder if it was easy to wash off that mashed avocado.
Instead, lemon juice was recommended for oily hair and this acidic juice promised to add some golden highlights as well—a kind of natural bleach.
What I did love were the masks.
For oily skin, which is what I had (and sometimes think I still have), I made a mask of egg white and lemon juice or honey and oatmeal. You mix your choice of ingredients into a paste, apply and wash off after 20 minutes. I also enjoyed these homemade masks because they smelled divine, and the oatmeal was exfoliating as well.
Honey and lemon was recommended for most skin types and the avocado reappeared as a mash for dry skin.
For teens without any budget for beauty products, these kitchen beauty concoctions were free, fun and—I found that many of them actually worked.
I tried cold tea bags for eye bags, and couldn’t tell any difference. And I did find the egg white lemon hair concoction a little hard to wash off. But plain lemon juice made a nice facial astringent, especially if you used an American lemon with its lovely scent.
These days my older daughter and I use extra virgin coconut oil as a hair conditioner and eye makeup remover. We also buy almond oil from Indian groceries to add a bit of hair sheen. So it looks like ingredients like lemons, avocados, oatmeal, olive, and coconut oils are beneficial when both consumed and used topically.
There were many other recipes in those old beauty “cookbooks,” some for making your own lotions, scrubs, and the like, which I couldn’t try for lack of some of the ingredients back then.
Today we find beauty products that make use of citrus, herbs, nuts, and all sorts of otherwise edible ingredients. The rationale is the same—acids combat grease, while oily ingredients add moisture and shine. Herbs add many kinds of benefits, and my own preferred skincare line—Clarins—is plant-based.
I miss that oatmeal and honey mask and might just make myself some in a bit. These days, what can be more natural, sustainable, fun, and inexpensive than beauty concoctions that come right out of your pantry?