Homemade skin care

Vicki Taylor Ido asked:
“What kind of kitchen/garden/homemade skin care product can I whip up to smoothe & soften?”

Yahoo! My kind of question! Thanks, Vicki!

For terrific skin care you only have to go as far as your garden (or grocery store produce department). There are great resources to be found online on this subject and this can be so much fun. Some of my favorites are:

Homemade Beauty Recipies
http://hmbeautyrecipes.homestead.com/SKINcarerecipes.html

Skin Care Company http://www.skincarecompany.net/natural-skin-care-recipes.htm

Complete Skincare Therapy http://www.completeskincaretherapy.com/

Here’s a sampling on a good, quick and easy masque:

Anti-Aging Banana Mask

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 med. banana - peeled
1 vitamin E capsule
Mix banana and whipping cream and mash to form a paste, stir in 1 vitamin E capsule. Spread over face and neck and leave on 10 to 15 minutes. Rinse with warm water and follow with toner and moisturizer.

Anti-Aging Toner Facial Toner

5 green tea bags or several heaping teaspoons of green tea
2 cups mineral water or vitamin water
Bring water to a boil. Place several heaping teaspoons of green tea leaves or 5 tea bags in a glass or bowl. Pour the boiling water over the leaves or bag and steep for 2 to 3 minutes.
Strain the green tea into a bottle, and let it cool. Apply to skin with cotton balls. Do not rinse. Apply moisturizer.
The recipe should be stored in a sterilized bottle and will keep for approximately 5 days in your refrigerator.

Almond and Avocado Moisturizing Cream

3 tsp. beeswax
3 tsp. emulsifying wax
*1/2 cup almond oil
1/2 cup avocado oil
3 Tbl. heated rosewater
Melt the beeswax and emulsifying wax in a double boiler or water bath (do not set wax directly over heat). Continually stirring, add the almond oil, avocado oil, and the heated rosewater drop by drop. Remove from heat and continue to stir until cool. If you wish you may add a fragrance at this time.
*Almond oil is a wonderful emollient (a substance that prevents water loss from the skin). The protein content is thought to stimulate production of collagen and elasticity.
Avocado oil is high in various nutrients, such as: vitamin A, E and D (more so than milk). The oil encourages cell regeneration, and moisturizing

Note that homemade products contain no preservatives and have a tendency to go bad after a period of time. In addition, it is always wise to patch test before using these products.

Happy cooking,or smashing or mixing, Vicki. You are now in the running to win a FREE European Facial all because you submitted a question to m.d. Skin llc. Be sure and check back to see if you are a winner on the final day of the month!