Post Category - Wellness & BeautyWellness & Beauty - Post Category - SpasSpas - Post Category - SalonsSalonsLooking to up your skincare game? Check out these kitchen beauty tricks from Miltiza.
Everyone’s skin is different, but there’s one thing I’ve seen over and over again when teaching my Simplify Skin workshops. When we reduce the amount of products we use and replace them with simple whole foods, the skin thrives!
Our skin is an organ and conventional skincare products are a bit like junk-food for your skin, packed with additives that your body just doesn’t need or want.
Open up your pantry and you’ll find some of the very best skincare ingredients that you’ll ever need! I’ll show you my top five plus how to use them so that you can begin caring for your skin naturally, for that healthy glow.
Oats
Plain, rolled oats are used in many skincare products, especially for children and people with sensitive skin. They’re soothing and calming, full of nutrients that help to nourish, protect your skin and reduce inflammation. Oats are great for itchiness or irritations from rashes or bug bites. They’re also naturally moisturizing.
How to use: make a powder by blitzing rolled oats in a blender. Or, you could use store-bought oat flour. This powder is great to add to baths, for a soak or as a gentle face wash. Mix 2 tablespoons of ground oats with milk to create a creamy paste and massage it onto your face, let it sit for a few minutes then rinse off.
Brown Sugar + Sea Salt
The perfect combination for an amazing body scrub! Soft brown sugar is actually just white sugar mixed with molasses – but it’s that molasses that adds a nice richness and feel to your scrub. Sea salt is packed with important minerals, it’s cleansing and purifying.
How to use: mix a 50/50 blend of brown sugar and sea salt. Begin to drizzle in plant oil, until it creates a wet sand like consistency. You can keep it simple, or mix in other ingredients like lime zest, orange zest, vanilla extract or spices like cinnamon and ginger.
In the shower, completely wet your body, then begin to scrub in a circular motion upwards towards your heart. It’s a great healthy practice that you can do once per week. Rinse and your skin will feel like new!
Plant Oil
The moisturiser that builds healthy skin! Plant oils are packed with essential fatty acids and nutrients that the body needs to thrive. If you focus on building strong, healthy cells your skin will naturally glow. Plant oil help the skin to maintain hydration, it fills in the gaps and locks in moisture. Make sure to buy a cold-pressed, virgin oil that retains all the healthy beneficial properties. Remember, a little goes a long way! Dab oil on your face, body, cuticle and hair. Create a scented moisturizer with 1 drop of essential oil for every teaspoon of plant oil.
How to use: The best time to lock in moisture, is when your skin is still damp, straight out of the shower. Massage on 1 teaspoon of oil all over your body from head to toe.
The best oils to use for all skin types are: sunflower, jojoba, almond and argan.
Herbal Tea Bags
You have access to some of the best body-loving herbs packed inside your tea bags! We know that drinking herbal tea offers healing benefits and it’s the same for our skincare. The chamomile tea that you drink to calm your belly, also helps to soothe inflammation and irritations on the skin!
How to use: Open up your teabag and pour out the herbs. Grind them into a powder and mix into your oats face cleanser. You can add them to a bath or mix them into your scrub. Here are a few common teas that you can turn into skincare:
Green tea: full of antioxidants, really good for ageing skin. It also helps to protect your skin from free radicals which can cause damage over time.
Mint tea: an astringent, which is good to control oil production and reduce breakouts. The cooling effect is great for soothing itchiness or uncomfortable skin
Lemongrass tea: a powerful antibacterial, used to improve the texture of skin reducing breakouts and pimples.
Rooibos tea: packed with antioxidants and minerals – it’s especially good for ageing skin. It helps with cell regeneration and it’s also antibacterial which makes it great for acne-prone skin.
Apple Cider Vinegar
One of the best ingredients to help restore and rebalance the skin. Apple cider vinegar is antibacterial and cleansing. It restores your skin’s natural pH so that you’re not too oily or too dry. It also removes product buildup that accumulates on the skin and in the hair. As a hair rinse, apple cider vinegar is great for a weekly clarifying treatment that leaves your hair all lovely and soft!
Ok, yes it does smell like… vinegar. But the benefits are well worth it! You can scent your vinegar with essential oils – 1 drop for every teaspoon.
How to use: Always dilute your vinegar – one part vinegar to four parts water (or herbal tea!) As a toner, wipe it on your face with a cotton pad. You’ll notice it picks up any dirt or makeup left on the skin. As a weekly hair rinse, make 2 cups of herbal tea (rosemary or mint is great for stimulating hair growth) and add 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Slowly pour over your head massaging your scalp. Rinse with warm water.
I hope that you find these healthy skincare tips useful!
If you want more tips and recipes, check out my website, Little Green Dot. I’m excited to share my new online course, Simplify Skin. We’re ditching the skincare junk-food and changing the way that we care for our skin, with nourishing whole foods.
