homemade beauty treatments

started looking for these because I have "Modern Girls' Guide to Life" (Style Network) on in the background, and they were talking about coffee firming skin up (anti-cellulite treatment) and I remembered seeing this somewhere. Follow up with cocoa butter or chocolate lotion, and you must smell like a mocha.

haven't done this one yet, just posting the recipe so I can find it again (I don't have a printer at home).

To make one's own coffee body scrub, blend a half a cup of used coffee grounds with half a cup of coarse salt (or raw sugar), a little vanilla and four tablespoons of olive oil until it becomes a paste.Apply the mixture over the skin and gently rub in a circular motion with hands or a loofah. Rinse well, pat skin dry and apply your favourite body lotion.


Ginger Skin Creme
Ginger invigorates, and oil soothes. Try this double dose for dry skin.

2-inch piece of fresh ginger
2 teaspoons light sesame oil
2 teaspoons apricot kernel oil
2 teaspoons vitamin E oil
½ cup cocoa butter

Preheat oven on lowest setting. Finely grate the ginger just enough so that you have about an 1/8 teaspoon of ginger "juice." To obtain the juice, squeeze the freshly grated ginger over a small bowl. Place the ingredients (including the ginger) in a glass container and heat just until the cocoa butter is melted and the oils are blended. Pour into a clean, dry container and store in a cool dry place. You can add a few drops of orange or other essential oil for a nice twist.


Yogurt-Honey Mask

1 T Yogurt
1 T Honey

To Make: Add the two ingredients together and apply to a clean, moist face.
To Use: Pat this mask onto the skin for a moisturizing, penetrating, hydrating, soothing application that will also help to clear up skin problems.

I actually used to a very simple version of this one when I was a teenager - I learned it doing a girl scout badge on fashion, fitness & makeup. But I did with only yogurt & lemon juice, about 1/2 a lemon (from our tree). I don't think my skin would tolerate now...

Yogurt-Citrus Masque
For normal or oily skin

1 cup plain yogurt (not low-fat)
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon freshly-squeezed orange juice
1 teaspoon carrot juice

Mix well. Apply to face and leave on for 10 to 15 minutes; rinse with tepid water.

okay, I hope this is like my Cocoa Bath at The Spa at Hotel Hershey. I will have to go buy unsweetened cocoa powder and dry milk and try this... It was wonderful at Hershey, though they had a spa bath with jets... I will also leave the cinnamon out, as I've found it is just too drying to my sensitve skin. This should smell yummy!

Foaming Hot Chocolate Milk Bath

The ingredients in the Foaming Hot Chocolate Milk Bath are packed with skin softeners like lactic acid, found in powdered milk. Soak in this rich milk bath to soothe and soften your skin.

Heat 3 tablespoons of dry bath mix with 1/2 cup water and 2 tablespoons olive oil in a pan and bring to a boil. Add the hot mixture to bathwater while the tub is filling.

1 cup instant nonfat dry milk
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup baking soda
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Make the milk bath: Combine all ingredients in a jar, cover and store. Keeps for up to 6 months.


Banana-and-Honey Mask

1/2 mashed banana
1/4 cup oatmeal, cooked with milk
1 egg
1/2 tablespoon honey

Mix ingredients together. Massage onto face in a slow, circular motion and leave for 15 minutes. Rinse with tepid water. This mask is good for both sensitive and dry complexions: oatmeal is high in nourishing vitamins and minerals, and gently cleanses and heals skin; bananas contain vitamin A; eggs contain lecithin, a natural skin emollient; honey helps to maintain the skin's natural acid mantle.


oh, well, i think that's enough for now. If you try any of them, please let me know how they work. I'll do the same when I do them.