Topic: DIY beauty treatments

5 Super Easy DIY Spa Treatments For Spring

5 Super Easy DIY Spa Treatments For Spring

I’ve always loved to mix up beauty treatments in my kitchen. In high school, I was totally the girl trying to convince my friends to have an at-home “spa night” before a dance or something like that. Actually, who am I kidding? My friends and I didn’t go to dances in high school. We went to ska shows in basements. Although hey, you still wanted your skin to look good so the dude with the gelled hair in the Less Than Jake t-shirt would look your way. But I digress. What I’m trying to get at here is that making beauty treatments at home is fun, and what better season to do it in than spring? Here are a few easy recipes for face masks, hair masks and body scrubs you can make at home tonight, whether your plans include skank-dancing or sitting around watching Smash. More »

At-Home Sugaring: A Sweet Way To Remove Hair Or DIY Disaster?

At-Home Sugaring: A Sweet Way To Remove Hair Or DIY Disaster?

While on the lookout for a new method of hair removal, I came across sugaring. Unlike waxing, which sticks to any surface where it is applied, sugaring does not adhere to living skin cells and rip them off the body. The sugaring technique minimizes pain by pulling hair in the natural direction of growth, whereas waxing has a high ouch factor in going against the grain. Since wax hardens on the hair, it has the tendency to break it off at the surface, leaving 15-30% breakage behind. Also at odds with wax, sugaring paste is water-soluble and can be easily rinsed off skin or clothes.

When I read up on the ingredients in the solution and the equipment needed to perform the sugaring treatment, I realized that I had everything I needed already. Recipes and instructions for DIY sugaring are all over the internet. I figured that even I – with my limited supply of kitchen tools and limited patience for DIY projects – could handle it. More »

Natural Skincare Products Under a Microscope: Scientific Explanations For Why They Work (Or Don’t)

Natural Skincare Products Under a Microscope: Scientific Explanations For Why They Work (Or Don't)

DIY beauty solutions are a popular alternative to expensive beauty creams and treatments: They’re cheap, natural, and you know what you’re putting on your skin, whereas many of today’s pricey products have an ingredients list you can’t even pronounce, let alone interpret.

But according to Scientific American, not every natural, DIY beauty treatment is actually good for your skin. They consulted with Leslie Baumann, director of cosmetic dermatology at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine in Florida and author of The Skin Type Solution and the blog Skin Guru, to find out which natural skincare remedies work and don’t work (and the scientific explanation behind it): More »