Skin Food: DIY Beauty Treatments

Here in San Francisco, it’s been starting to get colder and I’m pretty sure that I can attest for many of us and say that the cold winter weather totally dries out my skin! I know that it’s still fall and some places might still be warm, but since this is such a common occurrence and winter is almost here anyways, I started to do a bit of research and found some easy DIY beauty treatments to share. Your skin needs to be fed too! 

FACE: 
Companies are always trying to get their products out on the market and they make you think you need something like a face scrub when you really don't. Sometimes face scrubs do more harm than good because the little granules in the scrubs may be too harsh on the skin, which can cause irritation or dry out you skin, leading to more problems.
Instead, try out this gentle papaya face mask. The alpha-hydroxy acids in the papaya as well as the yogurt will help dissolve dead skin cells. While this natural exfoliant is doing its job, the fats in the yogurt will help to moisturize your face and the honey will help lock in that moisture. Getting rid of the dead skin cells on the surface of your skin will really help the moisturizing properties in the mask (or any moisturizing treatment) to sink into your skin.

APPLICATION: See image~ 

*NOTE: You can play around or adjust the measurements of the ingredients in any of these beauty treatments to your liking.

Image: http://www.thebeautyinformer.com/2013_01_01_archive.html

EYES:

During the winter time, although I don’t have this problem, I notice that many others develop dry patches of skin around the eyes. Here is a simple way to help prevent dryness around your eyes: cucumbers. Cold cucumbers work as great anti-inflammatories which reduce blood flow to the area and constrict blood vessels to help de-puff your eyes. They also have a high water content which is great for hydrating your eyes, so cut two slices of cucumbers and place them over your eyes for 10-15 minutes then follow up by gently massaging the area with your favorite moisturizer (or olive oil works too).  

HAIR:

People are always trying to find ways to keep their skin moisturized and healthy, but they often forget that the scalp needs nourishment too. Keeping the scalp healthy by doing scalp treatments will help moisturize your scalp and relieve tight flaky skin during the cold winter months (helps with dandruff) as well as also speeding up hair growth by stimulating your scalp. The recipes listed in the image are treatments that I swear by, but you can do some research to see what other ingredients are great for scalp/hair treatments and that cater to your own needs.
APPLICATION: See image~
TIP: Olive oil can sometimes be hard to get out of your hair, so you may have to shampoo your hair twice. If you feel that there is still a bit of residual grease left in your hair, you can apply a very small amount of dishwasher detergent to your hair (dishwasher detergent made especial for removing grease).
*NOTE: You can also use the yogurt and honey hair mask on the face ♥ 

As you can see, we really don’t need to be spending so much money on luxurious beauty products when we can just raid the refrigerator of youth! There are so many household ingredients that can provide the similar effects you would achieve if you had indulged in an expensive treatment. If any of you guys try these treatments out, let me know how it goes and if there are any other treatments you would like me to talk about in the future. Leave your comments below.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Until next week~

Confessions of a DIY-aholic

I think that growing up, I’ve always been an artsy/crafty person. It started from a young age when I’d watch my mom make clothes from scratch. She inspired me to make my own little toys, and I’d even go as far as trying to make little outfits for them. That was one of the first experiences I had with any do it yourself (DIY) project. I knew I loved making things, but I didn’t dive so deeply into it until much later on.

What further brought out my crazy DIY- aholic tendencies was when I randomly stumbled upon some fashion DIY projects on YouTube. Since I’ve always had a love for doing arts and crafts, I dove more deeply into researching different projects that I could do with what I had. From there, I branched out starting with fashion DIYs to DIY beauty treatments to home décor. I was so happy to learn there were DIY projects for almost anything! I had discovered the amazingly popular DIY phenomenon that had opened my eyes and further brought out my creativity. I was instantly hooked! A newly converted DIY-aholic! 

Artwork by me.

Aside from being a very fun and exciting activity, doing DIY projects can be very therapeutic. If ever I feel stressed out and time allows for it, I will concentrate my energy into doing something that I truly love, creating things. Immersing myself in DIY projects to decorate my room is very calming for me. When I’d make something new, I’d get so excited to see the resulting product that I’d temporarily forget about anything that was stressing me out. Any concerns or problems I faced at the time would seem less overwhelming and, overall, I would just feel better.

From my experience, I believe that through doing DIY projects, you encourage repurposing, reusing, and upcycling old items that you may have lying around the house. Also, by reusing old items, you would also be saving yourself a considerable amount of money. There are, surprisingly, a very large amount of projects that can be done with almost anything in your house, from old clothes to old furniture. 

Depicted below are some of the more recent projects I’ve worked on. The Totoro pot (right most project) was an example of something I had repurposed. I don’t have a picture of the original pot, but it was a sight for sore eyes just sitting on my desk! Instead of throwing it out, something as simple as giving it a new paint job was enough to bring it back to life.

 I think it’s really nice to be able to create things on your own. Who wouldn’t want to show off something beautiful that they reinvented and be able to tell people, “Oh yea! I made that!” Just the satisfaction of knowing that you can be creative and reinvent or repurpose old pre-loved items and bring them back to life again is very rewarding. That is a feeling that I would like to share with everyone.

 

With this blog, I will dedicate my time and effort into sharing my ideas, projects, and inspirations with you all. I will try to include affordable DIY projects that touch on various topics such as: home décor, beauty, fashion and design, etc. I am in no way a professional of any sort; however, I will do my very best to provide you guys with projects that are suitable for DIYers of varying skill levels. Most importantly, I hope that you guys will have fun doing these projects.  

Now let us embark on this wondrous quest for affordable awesomeness! 

Happy reading!