Holistic Beauty from the Inside Out (17 page)

Chapter Five Quick Tips

1. Always read the ingredients lists on new beauty products
   . If you are dedicated to certain natural products, make sure to check their ingredients once in a while. The higher the ingredient is on the list, the greater proportion it contributes to the product. But, even if a tongue-twisting chemical is listed at the end of the list, still take heed: even if there’s only 1 percent of a toxic ingredient per 5 oz. (150 ml) bottle of a body lotion, this is still 1.5 mL of pure, undiluted toxin than you will rub into your skin. Avoid irritants in your beauty products such as alcohol, harsh essential oils, petrochemical emulsifiers, and penetration enhancers. If you are prone to allergies, choose the product with the fewest ingredients.
   
2. Have reasonable expectations and
   do not pay premium for beauty products that promise miracles overnight
   .
   
3. Mix and match cleansers, toners, and moisturizers as you like
   , as long as your skin feels happy about your combinations.
   
4. Choose biodegradable packaging that does not leach phthalates or other plastic compounds into your products.
   Avoid aluminum containers that are lined with epoxy resin and PET bottles that can leach phthalates
   in your beauty products.
   
5. Avoid cosmetics and hair care that contain one or more of the ingredients listed in the Dirty Dozen
   . Any ingredient that has a tongue-twisting chemical name is probably not good for your skin.
   

SIX

Beautiful Face

T
rue beauty begins with glowing skin. When blemish free, firm, and even toned, our skin tells the outside world about our inner peace and well-being. Achieving beautiful skin and lustrous, strong hair is easier than you think. And it’s also a perfectly natural process. The mainstream cosmetic industry can make things look too complicated when in fact all you need is a simple regime that fits your lifestyle, and a few natural products that your skin loves. Good news: the best things you can do for your skin are also absolutely free. Positive attitude, stress relief, and beauty sleep cost nothing yet make dramatic difference to your skin and hair condition. In this chapter you will learn how to take care of your skin, body, and hair in the most natural, holistic way.

MAKE YOUR OWN BEAUTY PRODUCTS

Why would you use expensive but inefficient products overloaded with preservatives, petrochemicals, and hormone-disrupting
fragrances that cause irritation, dryness, premature aging, and possibly put you at greater risk for skin cancer, when there is a whole world of inexpensive, safe, and all-natural skincare waiting right there, in the refrigerator, on your kitchen shelves, at the fresh produce department in the grocery store, or on counter of the local farmer’s market? Why pay a hefty premium for a moisturizer that costs less than a dollar to prepare at home?

Making your own beauty products is not only cost-effective; it’s more ethical, eco-friendly, and skin-friendly too. When your make your own cleanser, toner, or mask, you do not use any fillers such as silicone or water to lower costs. Unless you plan to sell your homemade beauty creations, you don’t need any synthetic preservatives—to stay on the safe side, you can add some natural germ-busting vitamin E or rosemary essential oil to your cream so that it’s shelf life will be extended by a few months. You are in absolute control of which ingredients to use and which ones to skip. And, of course, you don’t need to torture any rabbits or mice to make sure your homemade concoctions are safe to use. If a mask gives you a tingle, rinse it off and discard it. No expensive packaging wasted or synthetic fragrance washed down the drain!

For me, the sheer practicality of making my own cleansers, scrubs, and masks at home was a deciding factor. When you look at the ingredients of your average facial toner in a pretty bottle sold in a department store, you can notice that water, propylene glycol, and glycerine make up the bulk of the product, and perhaps one or two plant hydrosols tucked between silicones and preservatives. Why would you pay $20 for a brew that is more suitable for window cleaning if you can pay four times less for a large bottle of rose water, add a teaspoon glycerine, perhaps a pinch of vitamin C, and the contents of an olive leaf extract capsule for a good measure? If feeling very adventurous, you can enrich your toner with a teaspoon of hyaluronic acid and a few drops of a good antioxidant (check out the list of suppliers for small-scale cosmetic DIY enthusiasts at the end of this book).

Maybe your skin toner would not look as pristine and crystal clear as the store-bought version. The bottle may be quite simple too, with a handwritten label (if any). Maybe there would be some odd bits floating inside and you would need to shake it well before each use. But you can rest assured knowing that everything inside the bottle is safe, natural, and even good enough to eat. And spending five minutes of your precious time, you would have saved at least $18, not to mention the plastic junk that didn’t end up in a landfill. A small savings, but it adds up to a substantial amount by the end of the year. Simply by not buying commercially made skincare, I saved nearly $500 and up to twenty pounds of plastic and cardboard over the course of one year.

GETTING CLEAN

How well do you cleanse? If you are like me ten years ago, you spread a dollop of some cleansing gel or a lotion around your face, rubrub-rub, splash with water, and think it’s done. Not quite so.

Imagine this: As you wander through your day, your body remains cozy and relatively clean underclothing. Your scalp is protected by the hair. But your face is always out there, covered by layers of makeup or, if you skip makeup and sun protection, meeting environmental aggressors naked and fragile. Imagine the amount of dirt—all that soot, smoke and gasoline residue, makeup, stale sebum, dry sweat, dead bacteria—piling up on your face by the end of the day. All you need to do to get rid of that is two minutes with a good cleanser. Yes, just two minutes. Set your clock.

Cleansing is the most important facial beauty ritual, and it’s very easy to do it right. Just foaming and rinsing isn’t enough to remove all that environmental grime and slime. The secret to good cleansing is to use two types of a cleanser one after another, or one cleanser, but twice. The first time will remove makeup and surface dirt; the second time gets deep into the pores to remove any sebum buildup and dead skin cells.

What kind of cleanser do you need? This completely depends on your current skin condition, not on your self-diagnosed skin type, age, or ethnicity. Skin feels tight after being rinsed with plain water? Stick to creamy, milky cleansing lotions or cleansing balms. Skin looks shiny and dripping oil by midday? You will need a purifying cleanser to prevent any acne outbreaks and to remove any junk that sticks more eagerly to excess sebum. Your sensitive skin will benefit from water-thin cleansing oil that turns into milk when water is added. Feel free to mix and match your cleansers depending on your makeup usage. In the morning, you may not need a thorough cleanse at all—just a quick splash of tepid water and a swipe of cotton wool drenched in rosewater.

Here’s a step-by-step technique of a two-minute cleanse that you should do every evening, starting today:

First, remove all hair from your face and cleanse your hands. Always start with perfectly clean hands, even if you plan to use a muslin cloth with your cleanser.

Take a fingertip-size amount of your favorite cleanser (gel, cream, lotion, or balm). If you want to cleanse really well, use the creamy, oil-based cleanser first or even cleansing oil—these are good for all skin types, not just for dry skins. Massage the cleanser into your face starting at the chin where it meets the neck and up toward the hairline at the forehead. Massage well and gently while counting to sixty. Rinse off with tepid water.

If you are using the same cleanser, take a smaller amount and repeat the procedure. If you are a cleansing perfectionist, your second cleanse should be a foaming gel or even an exfoliating cleanser with smooth particles of jojoba wax, or natural acids derived from grains and fruits. This cleanser will go deeper into your pores and remove any potential threats for acne, uneven pigmentation, or early wrinkles. Another excellent exfoliating tool is muslin cloth, which you can rub into your skin with your fingertips and adjust the pressure as necessary. Again, massage to the count of sixty, rinse, and pat face dry.

You can easily make your own cleansing lotions and face washes at home using commonly available ingredients. You can add your own bells and whistles to these very simple recipes. For example, you can add vitamins C and E, antioxidants, green tea extract, or clays to the mix—but you can just as well keep things simple. Here are some ideas to get you going:

Yogurt and lemon face rinse:
Combine 1 teaspoon plain yogurt with a few drops of fresh lemon juice for an exfoliating cleanser that won’t scrub your skin.

Olive oil cleansing gel:
Add ½ cup olive oil (or any other oil of your choice) to 100 mL (3.3 fl. oz.) natural liquid soap (castile soap is the best). Shake gently and use generously to cleanse dry skin.

Aloe vera cleansing milk:
Combine 3 tablespoons Aloe vera gel with 1 cup of soy milk. Use to remove makeup and cleanse your sensitive skin.

Citrus cleanser:
Add 2–3 tablespoons of grapefruit juice to 1 cup of olive oil and shake well as you would while preparing salad dressing. Use daily to remove all traces of makeup, even waterproof types.

Cleansing powder:
Combine 2 tablespoons wheat germ, 2 tablespoons polenta or rice grains, and 1 tablespoon corn or gram flour. Keep in a tightly closed jar. To cleanse your skin, take 1 teaspoonful of the mixture, add some water to create a paste and massage gently into your skin. Rinse and pat skin dry.

Egg and milk cleanser:
Combine 1 egg and 1 cup of whole milk. Whisk thoroughly until fully blended. Transfer into a clean bottle. Use with a washcloth or a cotton wool to gently cleanse your
dry skin. If you are vegetarian, you can use any plantderived “milk” such as almond or soy drink and some vegetable shortening instead of an egg.

Cleansing Clays

Soft clays such as rhassoul mud are a godsend for people with very sensitive skin who cannot tolerate even cleansing milks, not to mention conventional foaming cleansers. When mixed with water, clays form a colloidal, milk-like substance that absorbs any impurities and penetrates the pores without damaging the skin’s protective acid and oil barrier. Here’s how you can cleanse your skin with clay:

1. Disperse 1 tablespoon of clay of your choice (I recommend bentonite, Fuller’s Earth, or rhassoul mud) in 100 mL (3.3 fl. oz.) water.
   
2. Add ½ teaspoon psyllium husks, a common fiber supplement, to the mix. Stir well.
   
3. Decant to a bottle with a wide neck. You can store the blend in the refrigerator for two weeks.
   

To cleanse your skin, shake the bottle well. The liquid should be the consistency of soft custard. Pour a blob of the mixture into your palm and use as a regular cleanser to massage your skin. Rinse and pat face dry.

Follow the double-cleansing procedure with a toner, which can be a plant hydrosol such as rose or orange water or even a spritz of mineral water.

Using a Face Toner

Toner is a wonderful addition to your skincare routine. Not only does it remove all traces of the cleanser and soften the skin, it also leaves a weightless layer of essential oils, vitamins, and minerals on the skin’s surface. In fact, face toner is the most effective
leave-on treatment that will never clog your pores or leave a shiny residue.

Toners made from mineral water and floral waters, also known as hydrosols or steam distillates, are easy to make, yet are much better for your skin than conventional formulas, which are rarely anything other than a mix of alcohol, petrochemicals, and preservatives. You can mix and match plant hydrosols or add a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, a few drops of tinctures, or even a pinch of clay to make your own blends for your current skin condition.

Organic fruit juices (100 percent), fresh milk, and plantderived drinks such as soy and almond “milks,” make great toners. Apply them straight from the container with a cotton pad. Here are some easy homemade toner recipes that take just minutes to prepare:

Grapefruit astringent for oily skin:
Combine ½ cup grapefruit juice with ½ cup witch hazel. Keep tightly closed. Apply with a cotton pad—do not mist as the mixture will sting your eyes.

Rose water mist:
Combine 1 cup rose water with 1 teaspoon witch hazel and 1 teaspoon glycerine or honey. Place in a bottle with a spray top. Shake well to completely blend the ingredients.

Apple cider vinegar pore cleanser:
Add 2–3 teaspoons apple cider vinegar to 1 cup of green tea. Apply with a cotton pad—do not mist because it will sting your eyes.