Friday, January 25, 2013

An Experiment in Beauty

I had an idea the other day...one of those funny, 'this is either going to be really good or really bad' ideas that pop up in your head from time to time.  I called my dear friend Nina, as I so often do when I get this variety of idea, and we decided to 1) drag a few more friends into the action and 2) give said idea a shot.  And thus our evening of homemade beauty treatments was born.  I did a little research and, using only items found in my kitchen, made a few masks, scrubs and the like from the various super foods I had laying around.  There were a few success stories and- as you can imagine- a few things that went somewhat horribly wrong.  But most of all there was laughing.

Let's start with our happiest discovery...the star of the night was a face mask, made by mixing 2 eggs with 1 single serve container of plain Greek yogurt.  The instructions were simple...mix, apply to your freshly washed face, let dry (takes about 10 minutes) and wash off.  All four of us agreed this was a gem.  My favorite part was how smooth it left my face feeling...two thumbs up on this one.


Now let's jump to the night's low point.  We attempted a banana, avocado and coconut oil hair mask that didn't exactly pan out as planned.  In retrospect, I would never let someone smash a banana or avocado in my hair without putting up one heck of a fight, so I don't know why I ever thought it was a good idea to allow it in the name of beauty.  It was disgusting.  Smelled great!  But felt really, really gross and took forever to wash out (seriously...shampooed twice, conditioned twice and was still picking out pieces).  I found the recipe a few different places online...mash 1 ripe banana, 1 ripe avocado and 1 TBS coconut oil per hair mask, apply to hair, cover with saran wrap and leave in for 15-20 minutes.  I had high hopes due to all the glowing reviews but this one is a no go.  While it definitely did make my hair feel softer, it wasn't worth the nightmare of a process.


The other two experiments of the night were actually pretty great.  We put together a lip scrub comprised of the juice of 1 lemon slice, 1 tsp honey and 2-3 TBS brown sugar.  Not gonna lie...it tastes awesome (of course I tasted it...it was sitting right there on my lips).  It actually worked pretty great, too!  Natalie and I liked the fact that it was a little tingly while Nina and Courtney couldn't actually feel it tingle at all...we all used the same batch so you can file that one under unsolved mysteries I guess.  While it didn't make some crazy, dramatic difference in the condition of my lips, it was an enjoyable process to be sure.  I feel good about recommending it.


Lastly and most simply, we tried the 'ol cucumbers on the eyes trick.  The instructions I read said to cut one inch slices, which seemed really thick but we went with it.  My suggestion is to pair this one with the face mask like we did...it was awesome...so cooling and relaxing!  I can see why this home remedy has such staying power.  It's simple but effective!


While the night's results weren't perfect, we had an absolute blast experimenting.  It's a worthwhile activity to be sure.  What about you?  Any home beauty treatment suggestions or horror stories you want to share?  I sure would love to hear them below!

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