DIY beauty treatments at home

Store bought beauty products are so 20th century. Raid the kitchen cupboards and rustle up some great DIY beauty treatments at home.

DIY beauty treatments for your face

Cucumber

Cucumber is proven to reduce puffiness and calm irritation; go one step better by placing slices, straight from the fridge, on your peepers. Lie back and relax for five to 10 minutes.

Eggs

This simple concoction is great for oily complexions – and will make your skin feel quite tight and taut when you apply it. Simply mix one egg white with a quarter of a teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar – whisk together and apply to cleansed skin. Wash off after 10 minutes.

Banana mash

Is your skin feeling dry and irritated? Take a ripe banana and mash it up with a fork with enough runny honey to make it into a pulp and apply liberally over your face (like a face mask), preferably after a warm bath and leave for 10 minutes. 

Yoghurt

Plain yoghurt is commonly used in Indian beauty regimes – popular for its ability to cool and soothe the most irritated of skins. Apply directly to a clean complexion if it’s feeling sensitive or sunburnt. Leave for 10 to 15 minutes, then wash thoroughly.

Oats

Our skin – both male and female – needs regular exfoliation to remove dead skin cells and combat dullness, but it can be harsh on sensitive complexions. Try this if you’re allergic to shop-bought exfoliation products: mix two heaped tablespoons of oatmeal (finely ground oats) with 2 teaspoons of double cream and rub gently onto the skin using your fingertips. DIY face scrub! 

Oats are also known to calm conditions such as psoriasis and eczema. Fill a clean sock or stocking with porridge oats, tie and place in your bath water for 20 minutes. And relax.

Sugar scrub

Another great home beauty exfoliant is sugar scrub. Glycolic acid occurs naturally in sugar and helps cleanse the skin and dissolve dead skin cells, without stripping your skin of its precious natural oils.

You can make it by placing one cup of brown, pure cane or raw turbinado sugar (ranked in order of coarseness from least to most) in a small/medium size container and adding olive oil one tablespoon at a time, mixing in between. You can use anywhere from three to five tablespoons, depending on the oil and sugar.

You should aim for a sandy, rather than soupy consistency. If the mix is too soupy, the sugars will dissolve in a day or two and not exfoliate the skin very well. If it’s too soupy, add more sugar. Obviously you could use this as a body scrub as well as just a face scrub if you’ve identified any problem areas. 

Chamomile tea

Chamomile tea is known for its calming properties on the inside of our bodies (calming digestion and aiding sleep) but if you don’t drink it first you can also apply it directly to soothe irritated skin. Make it up as you would a regular cuppa – wait until it cools, douse on some cotton wool and apply over the face.

Vinegar

Vinegar has been used for centuries to deal with skin problems like bites, stings and oiliness. Apply apple cider vinegar diluted (eight parts water to one part vinegar) directly to your skin with a cotton ball and leave for 10 minutes. Rinse thoroughly.

Olive Oil

The ancient Greeks used to bathe in olive oil to boost their skin. We’re not recommending you do that, but use in small amounts on problem dry areas. Leave for five to 10 minutes and then rinse. This can also be used on other areas prone to dry skin like elbows and knees.

Milk

Warm a cup of milk in the microwave for 30 seconds (or until warm, but not boiling). Soak your hands for five minutes to strengthen nails and hydrate stressed skin.

Looking for more skin tips? Check our guide to foods for healthy skin here.

DIY beauty treatments for your hair

Egg

Can be messy, not to mention smelly, but using a raw egg on your hair is an age-old beauty tip for restoring vitality and boosting shine. Wet your hair, then massage a whole egg into your scalp and from roots to tips and rinse out with cool or warm water – any hotter and it’ll scramble!

Vinegar

Vinegar can help remove a build-up of products, like hair gel or spray, and boost natural shine. Wash and condition your hair as usual, and then add one or two tablespoons of vinegar to the final rinse. Blast with cold water, dry and style in your normal way.

Lemon

If you’ve got dark blonde hair that naturally lightens in the sun, help it on its way by brushing the juice of one fresh lemon through your damp locks with a wide tooth comb. Let it dry naturally in the sun, then dry and style as you would normally. It can be harsh on your hair, so this isn’t something to do too often.

Coconut oil

Got fragile or damaged hair? A coconut hair mask might be just the ticket. You can make a simple coconut oil hair mask using just two tablespoons of melted coconut oil, and for best results try to use organic, unrefined coconut oil.

To get the most out of this improvised hair care product, first use a spray bottle to wet your hair, then evenly apply the warm (not hot!) coconut oil.

Apply more coconut oil to the driest sections of your hair, typically the ends, and less on the healthier parts of your hair, typically near the scalp. You might want to part your hair to apply the coconut oil in manageable sections, and use hair clips to keep saturated strands away from your face and eyes.

Once you’ve coated all your hair, place a shower cap over your head and let the mask sit for one to two hours. Then rinse out with lukewarm water and use your shampoo and conditioner as normal.

If it’s dandruff that’s the problem, you might not find a decent DIY solution, but our guide on what causes dandruff and how to get rid of it might help!

For more help with your appearance, take a look here.