The Dilemma: Out of all of the DIY beauty substitutes I tried, this body lotion swap is by far my favorite.
The DIY: I got the tip from Hollywood skin care guru Sonya Dakar (the woman who keeps Gwyneth Paltrow looking flawless). She suggests applying a small amount of grapeseed oil right after I get out of the shower, when my skin is still damp. This way the oil can trap in the moisture. Grapeseed oil is rich in antioxidants (which help prevent premature aging) and fatty acids (which nourish and smooth skin). Plus, because it's one of the lighter, thinner oils out there, you won't feel greasy.
The Verdict: I've been using this instead of my old moisturizer for a few weeks now and my skin has never felt softer. Here's a helpful hint if you're going to try this yourself: Remember that with oil, a little goes a long way.
I've spent too many hours glued to Pinterest, getting inspired by images of metal-studded denim shorts and ombre nail art -- only to spend many more hours ruining my favorite cut-offs with a glue gun. So, while there's a cool DIY beauty recipe that tempts me here and there, I've learned to just say no.
I'm all for natural beauty products. But creating a homemade hair mask can be a complete time suck compared to the two seconds it takes to simply twist open the one I keep in my shower. Plus, there usually aren't a gazillion reviews to tell me if the DIY recipe will be worth my while.
So color me shocked when my co-workers challenged me to find DIY beauty recipes even I could get into. And for me, that means ones that work as well as the brand name products I love so much. Their reasoning? If they could convince me, the biggest skeptic in the office, to find DIY recipes I love, then they'd be good enough for even the biggest beauty snob.
Before setting off on my DIY adventure, I decided to set a couple ground rules.
No 1: There would be no tricky recipes. I don't cook, so the instructions had to be simple -- four ingredients, tops.
No. 2: No recipes with a stench (think mayo hair mask). No matter how amazing someone claims the results are, I wasn't going to have my hair smelling like potato salad.
See if I survived this DIY beauty challenge -- and check out the recipes I'm still concocting at home.
