DIY Beauty Recipes: My Favorite All-Natural (and Cheap) Concoctions

When my daughter, Sophia, turned 8 last March, she decided that she wanted to invite six of her closest friends over for a DIY party. And, if I may say so myself, it was a smashing success -- despite the fact it should have been called DIM as in; Do It Mom, and that my dining room floor still has glitter embedded into the hardwood.

In researching fun, affordable and useful projects for the girls to rustle up, Sophia and I came across a ton of helpful websites full of great recipes for body glitter, chocolate balloons, flowery flip flops and oodles of kitchen-based beauty products that can all but replace your store-bought brands.

While the girls and I made lip balm using a recipe from leonsbeautytipsandsecrets, which among a few other ingredients, involved shea butter, beeswax, coconut oil and essential oil (and really worked!), I kept the "hard core" beauty concoctions close to my vest because, let's face it, 8-year-olds don't have acne and/or wrinkles to contend with. Lucky little buggers.

Though I must've tried about 10 recipes on my own, I glommed on to three of them -- both from Janice Cox's website -- she's the author of three best-selling books on natural beauty and, judging by the efficacy of these recipes, I can see why.

Honey Hair Mask
I never understood how anyone could use honey -- sticky, gummy honey -- as a hair conditioner until I tried Janice's totally simple approach:

Massage a tablespoon into damp hair after shampooing, then wash it out. Couldn't be easier or more of a bargain and, contrary to the visions I'd had of bees and fruit flies buzzing around my head all day, it really works to make hair soft and manageable.

Honey Bath Soak
Another cool (if not unintuitive) use for honey is to use it in place of Mr. Bubble or your favorite bath soak. Mix 1/2 a cup of honey with a 1/2 cup of gentle body soap and a cup of water and pour it into your bath as it fills up. It leaves your skin feeling super-smooth and hydrated.

Strawberry Facial Mask
My favorite find was that strawberries and yogurt combined are a natural form of salicylic acid (the key ingredient in store-bought acne-fighting products), which keeps pesky menstrual flare-ups in check. Here's how to make the mask:

Mush together a 1/4 cup of plain yogurt (or sour cream) and 1/4 cup of fresh strawberries, apply to your face and let it sit for 15-20 minutes. And those suckers are banished for another month.

Do you have any DIY recipes you want to let us in on? We're ready, willing and eager ...