Make yourself gorgeous using the food you eat
Make yourself a true natural beauty by using the contents of your fridge, fruit bowl or larder to brighten your skin tone, nourish your skin and even fight wrinkles! Here we list the most face-friendly foods.
And for natural beauty products that don't cost the earth, try out our beauty recipes to make your very own products and homemade face masks – a cheap but effective version of what you can buy on the high street!
First, let's take a look at the natural beauty benefits of some everyday foods:
- Almond milk – This contains vitamins A and B, oleic and linoleic acid, two of the polyunsaturated fatty acids that are vital for healthy skin. The use of almond milk can be traced back to the Egyptian pharaohs. As beneficial today as it was then, it nourishes as it cleanses.
- Avocado – Packed with essential fatty acids, vitamins A, B, C and E avocado is highly nourishing for the skin and helps fight free-radical damage.
- Barley water – Soaked in water, the barley grain can be made into barley water, which has a host of healing benefits. It can be used as a mild cleanser. Containing vitamins B and E, and essential minerals such as iodine, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron and copper, barley also has nourishing properties.
- Blackcurrant – Blackcurrants contain vitamins B and C, as well as calcium, potassium and magnesium. The fruit acid in blackcurrants is toning, hydrating, cleansing and anti-inflammatory.
- Cucumber – Cucumber contains vitamins A, B and C, plus sulphur, manganese and iodine. It has a hydrating and anti-inflammatory effect.
- Eggs – Eggs are commonly added to face masks. The yolks make them more nourishing and thick, while the whites make a mask more astringent and easier to spread. Recipes using masks should be used in one go, as they can’t be stored.
- Grapes – Rich in minerals, potassium, manganese, calcium, sodium and iodine and vitamins A, B and C, grapes have a toning and astringent effect. Black grapes also contain the bioflavonoid quercetin, a powerful antioxidant with an anti-ageing action.
- Honey – Usually added to other substances such as clay, eggs, fruit or yogurt, honey is highly moisturising and enhances the nourishing qualities of a mask or a lotion. It also acts as a thickening and adhesive agent.
- Lemon juice – Astringent and toning, lemon juice inhibits bacterial growth. It also provides the skin with antioxidising vitamin C.
- Live yoghurt – With a cooling and refreshing action, live yoghurt cleanses the skin. Thanks to its lactic acid content, it also brightens the skin dramatically. Ultimately, yogurt has a good balancing effect on the skin’s pH levels (acid/alkaline balance).
- Oats – Oats have a soothing, anti-inflammatory effect on the skin. Fine oatmeal, bran or more coarse porridge oats can either be cooked or raw, as the basis for a mask. Oatmeal is also a good thickener for any recipe.
- Papaya – An enzyme called papain, most abundant in the flesh of an unripe papaya, literally digests dead skin cells and acts as an excellent mild exfoliant.
- Strawberries – The fruit acid in strawberries helps them act as a gentle peeling agent and astringent. Strawberries are also high in vitamin C to help treat damaged skin.
Try some of our beauty recipes for natural beauty products you can whip up in your kitchen!
Avocado and Honey Face Pack
1 ripe avocado
1 tsp clear honey
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp plain yogurt
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mash with a paste, using a fork. Leave in the fridge for 30 minutes. Apply the pack to your face and leave on for 10 minutes. Gently remove with cool water, and then pat dry with a clean towel.
Mint, Cucumber and Milk Cleanser
4-inch (approx) piece of cucumber
5 mint leaves
50ml (2fl oz) milk
2 drops grapefruit seed extract or tincture of benzoin
Peel and chop the cucumber. Remove the stalks and chop the mint leaves. Place both in a food processor with the milk and blend until smooth. Then, pour the mixture into a saucepan and place over a medium heat; bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes, and allow to cool. Strain through kitchen paper. Pour into a clean bottle and add the grapefruit seed extract. Store in the fridge and use within a week.
Papaya Exfoliating Lotion
1 fresh papaya
1 cup camomile infusion, cooled
Peel the papaya, remove the seeds and purée the flesh in a food processor or blender. Press through a piece of muslin to extract all the juice. Mix the juice with an equal amount of camomile infusion, and stir well. Using cotton wool balls, apply the lotion to the face and neck, avoiding the eyes. Leave for 10 minutes and rinse off with water.
Oatmeal, Fennel and Honey Mask
2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp ground oatmeal
Add the fennel seeds to half a cup of boiling water. Allow the mixture to infuse for 15 minutes. Strain and discard the seeds. Mix 1 tablespoon of the fennel seed infusion with the honey (refrigerate and use the rest as a facial rinse). Add the oatmeal and smooth onto your face. Leave for 15 minutes, then rinse with cool or tepid water.
Blackcurrant, Grape and Lemon Toner
½ cup blackcurrants
approximately 10 grapes
½ lemon
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Blend the blackcurrants and strain through some muslin. Reserve the juice – you need 75ml (2½fl oz). Repeat with grapes, saving the same amount of juice. Mix both juices in a bottle. Add the lemon juice. Apply to the face and neck twice daily. Cover and store in the fridge for 48 hours.