So here’s the thing about getting awesome products to try all the time… We’ve gotten a little lazy on the DIY! Sure, Alexandra still uses honey facewash sometimes, and Siobhan still makes her now-famous bath body scrub. But we’re not exactly whipping up avocado masks and lemon-vodka hairsprays as we once were.
Inspired by this recent morning routine, we decided it was high time to throw down a DIY Challenge! What’s more is that this will kick off a new series for us that spotlights awesome DIY recipes… Talk about two birds.
Some time over the next week, whether you’re a DIY novice or a seasoned expert, we want you to try a DIY recipe instead of your store-bought product. All you have to do is take a pic of the ingredients, make it, try it, and then of course tells us about it. If it’s awesome, we want to hear it! If it’s a total fail, we definitely want to hear it!
We will then, of course, choose a winner, and reward them with an awesome gift. Make sure you carefully follow the instructions below, we’re going to structure this a little like the Morning Routines.
Some rules: The only rule is that you have to actually try the concoction. If you already have a DIY recipe you use all the time that’s totally fine too, just tell us why it’s a favorite.
Instructions: First, take a picture of your ingredients. Then try it out. Send us your email by Sunday, May 6th. When you email us nomoredirtylooks (at) gmail (dot) com put DIY! in the subject, and follow this structure:
—Name:
—Current hometown:
—Product name that I made up:
—Ingredients list:
—How I made It:
—How it smelled, felt, worked: (keep this brief, if you can!)
—Why I will or won’t do this again:
Special favor: Help us make sure this is not one of those embarrassing challenges no one actually does. Tell your friends on Twitter, Facebook, at the gym or at the bar. Friend us, follow us, and then RT us, or whatever. Spread the word!
The reason for the challenge: Because as much as we love, love, love fancy natural skincare, we truly believe that some of the best ingredients for our skin and hair are sitting in our kitchen cupboards. We believe that incorporating DIY into our routines is good for our beauty, our bodies, and the environment. Sometimes you just don’t need to buy anything!
OK, are you in or what?
We present to you the gift that is Emma, whose routine is brilliant and stylish. Of course it is: she’s from Athens, Greece, and is clearly a clean, continental dream. Did you know you can use crushed strawberries to whiten you teeth? Apparently so! Read on:
Name: Emma
Age: 37
Current weather: Sunny and dry, around 20 Celcius
Hair: Thin and naturally wavy, double processed with blonde highlights and dye to cover the grays. The waves have lost their vitality a couple of years ago (maternity hormones?), they are thinning, dried and parched. Curls now are really limp unless I revive them with a curling iron. Overall, my nightmare…
Skin: Normal to dry, very few wrinkles around the eyes when I squint. Clear with very few cystic acne outbreaks on the chin around my period sometimes. Overall I am blessed with nice skin, sometimes lacking glow – which is what I value most, since I think it makes us look fresher and younger!
In the shower…
I have stopped using soap all over my body, just on the armpits and legs. I use soap that I order from Aleppo, Syria that is all natural and contains only olive oil, laurel oil and sea salt. That’s what I use on my toddler son too and it never dries out our skin. I wash my hair with Faith in Nature Aloe Vera shampoo, followed by the Pomegranate and Rooibos conditioner. Sometimes I do a final rinse with unfiltered organic ACV and water. I leave it on for a few minutes and then rinse it out again—I can’t tolerate the vinegar smell too much. Once a week I dry brush my whole body before I get in the shower. I also try to do a weekly pure organic coconut oil hair mask—this seems to have helped restore moisture to my locks. I rub it all over my hair, put it in a low braid and then put a shower cap that I keep in place with a few pins. I then sleep on it and wash my hair in the morning.
In the shower I sometimes do a DIY sugar scrub, mixing brown sugar with vegetable glycerine or olive/jojoba/sweet almond oil.
Outside the shower…
After the shower I pat my skin dry and then put on a DIY moisturizing oil containing jojoba, argan and sweet almond oil, with a few drops of neroli and lavender essential oils. I have keratosis pilaris on some areas so I rub some pure shea butter (which is the only thing that helps). I also make a DIY whipped shea butter moisturizer that I put on at night during the cold months, and then sleep on it with cotton pajamas. It gets the skin really soft!
I wrap my hair in an old t-shirt to dry, which I found keeps the waves smoother and fights frizz. I pass a wide-toothed comb and then rub some argan oil on the ends. Sometimes I’ll spray some not so clean Bumble and Bumble Thickening spray to give some volume, but I also want to try a home made sea salt spray. I dry them using a diffuser, or if I don’t’ have the time, I’ll just quickly dry them, and put them up in a tight high ponytail, twirling the remaining hair in a bun and securing it tightly. In a few hours when I let the ponytail down, my hair is wavy and smooth. If I wash my hair at night, I put it in a low tight braid and sleep on it – in the morning I have new curls!
I have stopped using soap or cleansers for my face, and make my own using natural ingredients. My favourite’s (that I alternate according to what I feel my skin needs most) just pure oils that I rub in and then rinse with a washcloth, oat flour with ACV/water, raw honey or baby milk powder mixed with some water to make a paste. Sometimes I grind some almonds or rice with a few drops of oil if I want something with more “buffing” properties. I bought the Clarisonic but after reading many controversial reviews from experts that it relaxes face muscles, I’m a bit reluctant to use it again. So it just sits there and I’ll sometimes use it to scrub the remaining oat/honey from the cleansing.
At least once I week I do a green clay mask (I mix it with ACV or milk and add a few drops of lavender essential oil). It really clears up everything and I found I don’t need to use any scrubs as I did before. All the blackheads, impurities and dullness come right off. I try to spread it up to my collarbones to get some of that goodness on my neck, which seems so neglected! I recently also started using rhassoul clay from Morocco, which is packed with minerals and supposedly better than plain old bentonite (green clay). On the rare nights I have a lot of makeup on, I use Bioderma Crealine Lotion before my cleansers. It is very popular here in Europe and all the make up artists use it. You put it on with a cotton ball, it’s like water and it rinses out everything without leaving any residue. I found that the less abrasive and more respectful I am of my skin (after using chemical peels, Retin A, harsh scrubs) the better it looks.
Then I do a few warm water compresses with a washcloth and spray a DIY hydrosol. I make hydrosols myself with rose petals or lavender or rosemary leaves. Sounds complicated but it’s really easy! While the skin is still damp from the hydrosol, I put on a few drops of my DIY face serum, which I make with a mix of carrier oils and essential oils. I found that argan oil and rosehip seed oil and super moisturizing and make my skin glow. I also add geranium, helichryssum and frankinsence essential oils. In the winter my skin needs some more moisture, so I slab some Weleda Skin Food or Korres Wild Rose moisturizing cream. I confess that I don’t wear sunscreen all year, even though I live in a country with 300 days of sunshine/year! I only wear it in the summer and I use Avene Tres Haute Protection with 50SPF or La Roche Posay Anthelios lotion. It’s not easy to find a nice, clean sunscreen here in Europe that does not leave your face looking white like a kabuki character. When I have time, I make my own whipped shea and cocoa butter cream. It is especially great to rub generously on my feet before I put on any socks. Shea butter is what dancers use to help them heal their over-worked toes and it really takes all the dryness and roughness out.
It might sound complicated to do all these DIY beauty things, but it actually is easy. I just keep all the ingredients in used glass jars, along with some spatulas and small cups and mix on the spot as needed. It’s fun, natural and cheap! For the face oils and creams I make a batch to last me 2 months, which takes me 30mins to make, so it’s not a big hassle.
I use Soapwalla deodorant, although recently it seems that it stopped working and I’m getting nervous with the summer approaching. It’s weird because in the beginning it worked like magic—is it my idea or has this happened to anyone else? When it’s a hot day and I know I’ll be active, I use my old Neutrogena, but I’m not happy about it and desperately looking for a reliable clean deodorant. I tried Tom’s but I still felt stinky.
I brush my teeth with Korres toothpaste using the Sonicare toothbrush (same company that makes Clarisonic). I can’t recommend that thing enough. It works like magic! When you’re done you feel like you just came back from a dentist deep clean. Sometimes I’ll make a baking soda and water paste if I want some whitening action, or rub some mashed strawberries on my teeth. Strawberries contain malic acid, which when combined with baking soda, act as an stringent and a buffing agent.
Due to the intense sunlight and endless summers sunbathing (can I turn back time?) I have a major hyper pigmentation problem on my face. I think the argan and rosehip seed oils will help in time, but I am trying to find a more potent natural recipe without resorting to hydroquinone. I might try a spot laser treatment and then maintain the results with religious sunscreen application all year round!
If I have a cystic acne pimple brewing, I dab a bit of raw honey before bed and then cut the sticky part of a band aid in half and place two layers on the pimple. Something about the anti-inflammatory qualities of the honey with the pressure from the band aid I guess makes it look better the next morning!
Finishing touches…
I don’t do much for makeup, I like a fresh look. I have very sparse eyebrows and the one thing that makes my face more framed and put-together is filling them in with some eye shadow from the Body Shop special eyebrow kit. Don’t underestimate the power of eyebrows to make your face look more balanced. I only recently found out about that tip and it literally changed the way I look, judging from pictures – without looking made up or unnatural.
Then I use MAC eyeliner rubbed and smudged on the bottom lashes in Olive and some Guerlain Bronzing powder or Korres blush. I curl my lashes with the Shu Uemura curler and when I go out at night put on Blinc mascara (it’s great, goes on like tubes and does not smudge even if you cry!). If I feel I need some more coverage, I use Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer and in the summer the Body Shop gel bronzer for a hint of shimmer. On my lips I use Hurraw in Vanilla Bean or Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmers. I have thin lips and don’t like them colored. If I look especially tired I put on the YSL Touche Eclat under eye concealer, but I feel it draws more attention to the problem. It’s hard finding good clean makeup products in Europe, but since I don’t put too much on, it’s not that bad for me.
After a couple of years obsessed with weekly manicures, I go all natural, with very short clean nails, and just rub Egyptian Magic cream every night on my cuticles. I even keep a jar on my desk and rub some in during the day. I have super dry cuticles that look dry and white after one day if I don’t cut them. Now I have stopped cutting them completely (you must resist the temptation, but it’s the only way they will stop growing) and this cream is the only thing that makes them soft and invisible. I just push them back with a wooden stick with some wet cotton or argan oil once in a while.
Comments on the deodorant question? Maybe if we answer, she will grace us with another amazing food-as-beauty-product tip we never would have guessed!
Favorite star or icon from the past: Lauren Bacall (via)
Everyone, meet Nav, who proves NMDL is well on its way to becoming an international super-star, since she reads it all the way in India. Awesome. Her icon is Sharmila Tagore, a gorgeous Indian starlet from the ’60s and ’70s. Nav seems to be the queen of oils, and we love her homemade face-cleansers.
Nav is also good proof of what we see with a lot of morning routines: lots of people have some dirty products that they use, love and are not ready now—or may never be ready—to give up. We don’t want to edit out the truth, which is that giving up on some old favorites is just darn hard and sometimes unfeasible. We still love Nav for her inventive and homemade routine, and thank her for sharing. For the sake of clarity, we won’t link to non-natural products. Now, read on!
Name: Nav (female)
Age: 21
Current weather: Getting warmer day by day in northern India with strong sunshine, wind and occasional clouds.
Hair: Dark brown, shoulder length, naturally straight and silky texture.
Skin: Normal to dry (during winter), it has been largely well-behaved for most of my life. Last year, I suffered from my very first major bout of acne which has now cleared up. It has left my skin with a tendency to be oily around the T-zone during humid weather though.
Before the shower…
I use The Body Shop round brush for dry skin brushing. Every Sunday, I massage my body with oil (coconut, almond, olive – anything which is available) 20 minutes before stepping into the shower.
My hair (if it needs to be washed) is usually well-oiled the night before for deep conditioning. Until last month, I used a mixture of olive, coconut, and sweet almond oils. Since my hair has just recovered from a perm, I have now switched to a local brand of Indian gooseberry oil which is excellent for chemically treated hair.
In the shower…
I use a mild bodywash suitable for normal-to-dry skin. It’s usually Olay or The Body Shop. Sometimes, I also use a local brand called FabIndia which has a great variety of herbal bodywashes that are organic.
Once a week (usually Sunday), I exfoliate my body with a homemade mixture of brown sugar and olive oil.
I wash my hair every alternate day. I use the Schwarzkopf Volume Boost shampoo and detangler conditioner. Once in a while, I use a local soap made from Shikakai which is a natural shampoo product. It prevents product build up. I generally let my hair air-dry and use a hair dryer only during the humid rainy season.
During the non-humid months (September to May), I also use an after-bath body oil every day. It helps to save several precious minutes which would have been wasted on applying a body lotion, seals in the moisture and prevents me from resembling a scaly iguana.
I gave up on all market produced face washes a year ago when the acne monster attacked me with full force. I generally wash my face using different homemade cleansers (whatever suits my fancy) to maintain the skin’s moisture balance and prevent blemishes. The usual ones are honey and lime, gram flour and rose water, orange peel powder and milk, or plain unflavoured yogurt. All of these are natural cleansers and provide the same amount of benefits without any danger of side-effects. Orange peel powder also doubles up as a scrub because of its slightly abrasive nature. I generally make it in batches at home by drying the peels in the sun and grinding them in a coffee grinder.
This method may seem time consuming but it is fairly simple. I just apply the cleanser mix on my face before stepping into the shower, leave it on 5-10 minutes and wash it off before stepping out of it.
Total time taken – 20 minutes (at the maximum)
Outside the shower…
I use rose water as a toner and it suits my skin quite well. During humid, acne-prone months, I use a homemade toner of diluted cucumber and mint juice. The main idea is to avoid the alcohol present in most market produced toners.
I moisturise using cold pressed apricot kernel oil mixed with 2-3 drops of tea tree essential oil. It gets absorbed pretty quickly and does not make my face greasy. For sunscreen, I use Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Sunblock with SPF 50 during summer and a local calamine cream containing zinc oxide called Lacto Calamine during winter.
Total time taken – 10 minutes
Finishing touches…
I use Schwarzkopf’s Gliss leave-in conditioner during winter when my hair tends to get a little dry. Sometimes, I just apply a few drops of apricot oil on wet hair to smooth out the flyaways and it’s enough.
I generally wear minimal make up. I use Diana of London (it’s a German brand and rather unknown in India) kohl on my waterline and occasionally, MAC eye liner. I prefer to keep my lips nude or apply a very light lip gloss or balm. When it is humid and my T-zone is producing enough oil to fry an omelette on, I use The Body Shop loose mineral powder.
Image via
Guys, meet Lili from Lima. She’s the latest in our reader series of Morning Routines…Exposed! We’ll keep these going forever, basically (and if you still want to send us yours, be our guest). What we love about her routine are the products we’ve never heard of and the amazing advice she shares at the very end. Also, she blots her hair! Read on and share your thoughts in the comments.
Name: Lili
Age: 29
Current weather: Transitioning into spring but still enjoying the last few days of summer in Lima, Peru: cloudy and fresh mornings, hot noons with clear skies and a strong sun, and cool evenings with a soft ocean breeze.
Hair: A little over shoulder-length. Dark brown, fine, normal, and straight.
Skin: Moderately fair, sensitive, oily T-zone, and with light post-acne marks mainly on my lower cheeks and under the chin. My face still breaks out mildly, especially before going through those painful monthly phases, in-between seasons, or when I’m feeling really stressed. In short, a very reactive skin! In spite of this, my face has cleared up considerably ever since I began using only natural, organic skincare and make-up products about 4 years ago.
In the shower…
I shower in the morning so that I can air-dry my hair. I never blow-dry or rub a towel over my wet hair; I just blot—I truly believe this habit has helped maintain my hair in such good conditions. I use Urtekram’s Organic Lavender Shampoo and once every week use Pukka Herbs’ Bhringaraj Oil as a pre-shampoo hair treatment. The oil doesn’t smell great but it is very nourishing and a great alternative for those who don’t like to use conditioners. Moreover, the weekly treatment saves you tons of money on conditioners alone! As for my body, I use Pangea Organics’ Canadian Pine & Sage bar soap with Hydrea’s Wool Sponge for mild exfoliation. If I’m traveling, which is often, I always bring along Dr. Bronner’s Lavender Liquid Soap as an all-over body and hair wash.
Outside the shower…
I don’t wash my face with gel/cream cleansers—had no special reason for this until I read somewhere that tap water actually dries out your skin because of the chlorine! Instead, I first cleanse my face with Spiezia’s Facial Cleanser and then wipe out the excess with Sprout Wellness Facial Toner using organic cotton rounds. Next, I spritz my face with Pukka Herb’s Organic Rosewater and follow it immediately with Vive Sana’s Solar to Polar Ultra SPF 40. The sun in Lima is very strong and so far, Vive Sana has been the best natural sunscreen I’ve ever used. I still get a little tanned but do not burn anymore and that says a lot about this sunscreen’s performance! I burn quite easily and in extreme cases, I sometimes even get itchy & painful rashes.
At night, I follow the same facial cleansing routine and then spread on some Dr. Alkaitis Night Cream. I then finish up with a little dab of Grateful Body’s Essential Eye Creme under both eyes. To keep my skin clear, I use Dr. Alkaitis’ Enzyme Mask once every 2 weeks. In between, I resort to DIY masks made of 1 tbsp greek yogurt + 1 tbsp raw honey mixed together in a small bowl, or just a thin layer of egg white to tighten my pores every now and then.
And last but not least, I moisturize my body either with Acure Organics’ Lavender & Lotus Flower Body Lotion or just plain organic coconut oil from Nutiva to give it a nice sheen at the beach.
Finishing touches…
I feel pretty lucky to have been blessed with nice hair hence I never use any styling products :) As for make-up, I’m quite low maintenance as well. My daily make-up routine consists of a little blush with RMS Lip2Cheek in Modern, just a swipe of Jane Iredale’s Brow Gel in Brunette, and Alima Pure’s Lip Conditioner in Natural. I don’t even use concealer for my acne marks since I always feel like the more you try to conceal them, the more visible you make them to others.
For nights out, I take some extra time to line the upper part of my eyes with Nvey Eco’s Cake Eyeliner in Black. My only natural make-up faux pas would be the mascara (surprise, surprise!!). I have oily eyelids and to avoid the endless impulsiveness to look at myself in the mirror literally every 1 or 2 minutes to see if I’ve got raccoon eyes, I just decided to be a little nicer to my vain self rather than the environment and use Blinc Mascara in Black. I’ve tried many natural mascaras (100% Pure, Couleur Caramel, Physician’s Formula, etc) without much success and quite honestly, I’ve given up betting on them. I guess the upside to this (no, it’s actually another excuse to not feel guilty) is that I only use mascara for special events.
And finally, I never go out without putting some Soapwalla deodorant and a dab of Intelligent Nutrients’ Jasminas perfume on the lower back side of my ears.
On a very separate note, I just wanted to share with all of you a piece of wisdom my mother once told me in my most difficult times.
She said that life is like a mirror, a reflection of how you feel inside: If you laugh, life will smile back but if you frown, life will be hard and miserable (ever wonder why a string of bad moments always follow a first because your mood just keeps getting worse?). It’s nothing extraordinary and of course, it is much easier said than done, but I’ve noticed that it does help me stay positive in challenging times, albeit with much effort.
So begin every morning with a big smile and lots of positive attitude!
Lili, we love you.
This is another in our ongoing series—which will be around forever now, because you guys keep sending us your awesome routines. This one’s from a reader named Anna who lives in Brooklyn just like me (hi, Anna!). I love her mix of luxurious NMDL-approved clean products and DIY.
Anna seems to be one part no-fuss and one part kind of glam, which is basically our MO, too. Plus, she loves Joanne Woodward. What’s not to love? Let us know in the comments what you think of her routine!
Name: Anna
Age: 27
Current weather: Flirting with Spring in Brooklyn. Cold, crisp and sunny today.
Hair: Shoulder-length, growing-out-phase, brown, thick, and wavy.
Skin: My forehead, chin, and nose are pretty awesome. My cheeks are where it gets dry, and also breaks out. I’m pretty fair-skinned, and get freckles in the summer, but tan pretty easily. Basically, if I could get this pesky cheek nonsense figured out, I’d be golden (adult onset acne, awesome).
In the shower…
I shower at night, always. If I go running in the morning, I’ll do an extra rinse-off afterward. Either way, I only use soap (Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint) on my feet, if at all. I only get my hair wet once a week, and either wash with John Masters Organics Bare shampoo and condition with Alaffia Coconut and Shea conditioner, or just do a manual scalp scrubbing with my fingers & follow up with a little ACV. I generally rinse my face with warm water instead of washing, though some days I’ll put some rosehip seed oil on my face and rub that in, then wipe it off with a hot washcloth. A few times a week I exfoliate my cheeks with Acure Organics Brightening Facial Scrub.
Outside the shower…
After spraying with Evan Healy’s Immortelle hydrosol and/or a quick wipe down with witch hazel, I immediately put on some argan oil (either Kahina or Acure), then follow up with Pai Chamomile & Rosehip moisturizer. I asked the folks over at Spirit Beauty Lounge what facial lotion they recommended for dry skin that is also acneic, and they recommended that. I’ve used it for a few months now and find that it hasn’t upset my skin at all, but moisturizes well. For extra dry days, I smear on some shea butter where it’s dry.
On my body, I use a homemade body oil (after I ran out of Evan Healy’s Sweet Blossom body oil, which I love so much. When I get in bed after putting it on, my boyfriend says, “you smell like pepper”—in a good way) with olive oil and vetiver & rose essential oils. The body oil is literally just olive oil (sometimes I’ll add in a little avocado oil) and several drops of rose essential oil and vetiver essential oil. The ratio of rose:vetiver is around 6:1 (vetiver is really strong). At night, several times a week I’ll buff some oil into my nails, wash ‘em off, and apply some Scotch Naturals nail polish.
Finishing touches…
I never use hair products. I find I don’t need them, plus I’m pretty easy-does-it about my hair. Most days, since I’m growing it out and that’s sorta painful, I’ll throw it up in a low side bun, or lately I’ve been doing a simple twisty updo thing with my hair that looks so elegant but is really, really easy.
I use RMS Lip-to-Cheek in Smile on my cheeks, and RMS “Un” Cover Up under my eyes and on any spots or pimples I have. I’ll either do a subtle winged eyeliner with Jane Iredale’s liquid eyeliner, or smear together some RMS blush and RMS Living Luminizer and put that on my eyelids—I love how this looks, and sometimes I don’t even put on mascara because I feel like it gives me that cool redheaded Scottish-gal-chic thing. Otherwise, I use Couleur Caramel mascara (the brush! The brush! It’s all about the brush. I used to be a Diorshow gal, obviously) on my top lashes.
No perfume, though sometimes I’ll dab some vetiver and rose oil on. I use homemade deodorant that has rose and vetiver in it, so sometimes that’s enough—I’m very sensitive to smells (especially post-nasty chemicals). The deodorant is equal parts arrowroot powder or corn starch and baking soda and enough shea butter to make the whole thing the texture of frosting. I add in vetiver and rose essential oils for my deodorant, and orange, lavender, and rosemary essential oils for my boyfriend’s mixture. I made the mistake this morning of putting it on after shaving; itchy all day.
Et voilà! On to coffee.
Image of Anna’s favorite star (“mainly because she married Paul Newman”) via
This is a super fun (and funny) one, you guys. Mairin is the right hand woman over at Kahina Giving Beauty, so yes, expect some Kahina listed here. But before anyone gets their panties in a pinch, Mairin has ALL kinds of recs here: from hair to makeup to DIY and some internal tricks too. Not to mention a few dirty secrets!
Name: Mairin Cipolla
Age: 24
Current Weather: Beautiful, sunny, crisp NYC morning
Hair: Long, wavy, dense, thick
Skin: Been a roller coaster ever since moving to New York two years ago. Things are finally balanced now, which I credit mostly to fish oil/omega supplements, multivitamins, probiotics, and being happier. Taking good care of skin is essential (no sleeping in makeup, please!) but topicals can take you only so far, depending on the (many!) causes of your breakouts.
Before the shower…
My mornings are rushed- I like sleeping way too much, especially in the winter. Coffee (espresso, French press, whatever) is a must; I’ll take it black and I’ll take it immediately. I’m so bad about that “drink one glass of water immediately upon waking” thing. New Year’s resolution, perhaps?
In the shower…
If I have time to shower (usually I shower at night because my hair takes forever to dry), I use bar soap for body washing. I came across these two small brands at Brooklyn’s Renegade Craft Fair & love them: Possum Hollow Farm Soap and Volta Organics. I also really like The Beer Soap Co. That soap lasts forever.
Face wash alternates between Kahina Giving Beauty Cleanser or Simply Divine Botanicals You Can’t Zit Here. The Simply Divine smells, uh, different, and it’s this muddy black/brown liquid that semi-stains your sink, but I am convinced it really helps to keep breakouts at bay.
I use coconut oil to shave my legs—it’s the best, and so inexpensive. In a pinch, jojoba or olive oil work too. When I use a body scrub, I make my own out of coffee grounds, olive oil, cinnamon, and vanilla extract. Sometimes I’ll add sugar. It smells sort of amazing; you should try it.
Just recently I’ve been introduced to Essence of Vali aromatherapy—thanks NMDL!—and I use their Relief massage oil on the back of my neck and massage it in during my shower. It helps to relieve tension and muscle tightness.
Outside the shower…
I really dislike applying body lotion or anything after a shower. There’s no time! There’s never any time! If I’ve shaved, then the coconut oil stays on my legs and voila. I will however apply a spritz of Essence of Vali, depending on how I’m feeling that day. Calm smells amazing. I also like Uplift.
Perfume, like coffee, is a must; I have some “clean” (EOV by Essence of Vali—I know, I went a little nuts on that Friday deal), some less clean… like D.S. & Durga in Coriander. Deodorant is either Tom’s of Maine (unscented, though I hear Lemongrass is great) or Soapwalla. Soapwalla, please make a stick so I don’t have to get my fingers dirty. Please! Pretty please!
Finishing Touches…
Next up is makeup and skincare. I use a mist every single morning. It’s non-negotiable. I switch it up between Kahina Giving Beauty Toning Mist and Evan Healy mists (Immortelle and Rose Geranium). I dab on eye treatment of choice—either Kahina Eye Serum or Kahina Eye Cream—Eye Cream if I’m dry, Eye Serum if I have serious dark circles or bags. I never use eye products from another brand: Kahina’s are perfection.
After that I blend liquid foundation (mine’s not clean: Lancome Teint Idole) with a facial oil or moisturizer. I use anything from aloe vera gel (cheapcheapcheap!) to Evan Healy pomegranate or rose hip to Kahina Argan Oil or Lotion… sort of depends on how I feel and what the weather is like. I swipe RMS unCoverup (either 11 or 22) on any blemishes or scars and set with Alima Pure powder if I need extra coverage.
My makeup routine is mostly clean. I’ve yet to try or buy a clean mascara. I use Julie Hewett liner in Smudge. I put different things on my lids: RMS Living Luminizer, RMS Cream Eye Shadow in Magnetic, Alima Pure Luminous Shimmer in Stone (smokey eye!) or even W3LL People mineral shadow in this light gold tone. If I’m super lazy (often), I’ll just use my blush as eye shadow, or go without.
Blush or bronzer is another must for definition and some color. I have Vapour in Spicy or Torch, Alima Pure in Lotus (sheer, lovely pink!), a pink W3LL People stick, or, most often, Nvey Eco powder compact in Natural. (Is this discontinued? It gives flawless coverage!) My brush was given to me by my mom probably eight years ago; it’s from the Body Shop and it has held up amazingly. I also have a half moon brush from Alima Pure that I am liking.
The only thing I’ll put on my lips is moisturizer—whatever I just put on my face.
I wash my hair at night, so in the morning I just style the front layers with a flatiron and put in a little product if I feel like it. I’ll use whatever moisturizer (aloe vera gel, for instance) or Kahina Argan Oil on the tips. Two decidedly unclean yet fantastic hair products are Sachajuan Volume Powder for when I’ve gone 2 or, um, 4 days without washing my hair, and also Moroccanoil Hydratings Styling Cream to smooth frizz and define waves. I also sometimes use SkinnySkinny Hair Powder in Jasmine to refresh oily roots.
If you’ve read the book (and if you haven’t: tsk! tsk!) you know that we did our share of experimenting with DIY makeup.
It takes a committed kind of girl to make her face from scratch—a girl both of us admire, but that neither of us naturally is. (And click the link at the bottom for some recipes we wrote for ReadyMade magazine!)
So instead of pretending, we boiled our DIY makeup section down to simple ingredients that translate into great makeup. I’d venture to say that the two most successful were beet juice as a lip and cheek stain (truly amazing) and activated charcoal as an eyeliner.
What’s activated charcoal, you ask? It’s the stuff they used to give people for food poisoning that you can buy OTC for tummy aches—it’s also the stuff in your Brita filter. Given my sensitive stomach, I always keep these capsules (pictured above) around the house, and one fine day decided to open one up. What I found inside was the purest, darkest, most perfect black powder. Hello smokey eye.
Now, is this substance the most perfect clean eyeliner? Arguable. The texture is a little rough and I’ve heard that it can dry-slash-irritate the skin—which would make sense because its tremendously porous. I never had any problems with it myself but I’d be very careful not to get it in my eyes either—a rule that applies to most things. Eyes don’t tend to like foreign substances so much, clean or not. The results are lovely though, and it sure beats some of the toxic potions out there, not to mention the eye charcoal out of India that I so adore (but that used to be contaminated with lead and still makes me nervous). Just look at Kathryn (left), one of our readers who tried it on her eyes. Rarr!
Have you ever attempted making your own makeup? Did you try our suggestions in the book, or are you the girl who cooks up magic potions in her kitchen? (Total badass moves.) Either way, we’d love to add some recipes to our repertoire or hear about your experience in the comments. We’re smelling a challenge coming on…
Image via a ReadyMade article, where we shared some DIY tricks
Today I stumbled upon a website I love! Yes, I found it because the website said very nice things about our book (Google alerts, yo!), but that’s not why I love it.
I love it because it’s cute and thoughtful and smart all at the same time. It’s called The City Mouse, and it’s positively charming.
I particularly liked this list she put up about reasons why she wants to start making her own stuff, DIY-style. I especially like numbers 4, 5 and 6, but I also like the idea that when we make our own stuff, it really does feel good, beyond the obvious economic, environmental and health benefits.
Here are some DIY recipes we have shared in the past:
Stuff you can do with baking soda (other than put out fires in your oven)
A vitamin C recipe for your skin
A bunch of beauty product recipes from scratch
A honey face wash from the kitchen
And here are the city mouse’s awesome 10 reasons to go DIY:
1. It doesn’t take as long as you think.
2. It’s productive – while you are making something, you are not watching TV, or Youtube, or checking status updates and tweets.
3. What you make will taste/feel better than the store-bought version.
4. You will not be eating chemicals or putting them on your skin.
5. You will not be releasing chemicals into the soil, air, water.
6. Homemade products don’t require wasteful packaging.
7. You will feel proud and satisfied.
8. You will learn something.
9. You will likely save money.
10. You have the freedom to customize your products.
Check out her site, here. And tell us: What is your favorite reasons to go DIY—or your favorite recipe?
Image via
Topical anti-agers are big business these days—and why wouldn’t they be? The promise of looking younger without succumbing to procedures that plump and possibly freeze your face into soul-numbing submission is appealing to a whole lot of men and women (including us).
We give a lot of play to anti-agers in the book—everything from peptides to vitamin A to CoQ10 came under our loupe—but one of the most exciting discoveries was the documented power of topical vitamin C. Good old vitamin C! Something we already know is great for us on the inside has shown to do everything from stimulate collagen production to even out skin tone. Isn’t it awesome when nature just works?
Not so fast. The issue with vitamin C is that it oxidizes very easily—which not only makes it ineffective, it can actually cause damage to the skin.
We’d read that certain forms were stable but when I broached the subject with Sophie Uliano last week at her party she was pretty skeptical. According to her and others there’s one way you can know: If your vitamin C cream or serum turns kinda yellowish, chances are it has oxidized.
So what’s the solution? Well, Uliano offers this great DIY recipe demo’d here that you can make in small batches. I like it and I think there are all kinds of ways to customize it, which I intend to experiment with and share. Either way, DIY may be one way to guarantee getting the full benefits of this wonder vitamin.
Have you tried C topically? Did you see results? Do you think your product had maybe oxidized? As always, shareshare if you have a story.
Regular readers will know we’re kind of nuts about baking soda, so Alexandra thought it would be cool to share with everyone just how much you can do with the magical white powder!
Over at GOOD her post just went up. Here’s a sampling:
Even the ancient Egyptians—and what beauty post would be complete without them?—used a compound similar to baking soda as soap. The stuff is antiseptic, antifungal, and lightly exfoliating. It will take the stains off your coffee mug and your not-so-pearly whites, and can be consumed internally to ease your tummy ache. And fridge odors aren’t the only smells it absorbs so don’t turn your nose up, and bring on the baking soda!
Spot-Treat Acne Our favorite natural acne remedy is clay, like this green tea one we swear by. But in a bind, making a little paste from baking soda and water and applying it to an unwelcomed visitor will help dry it out. We don’t recommend this for deep cysts, but for more surface afflictions, it works like a charm.
Cleanse Your Hair If you’re looking to join the ranks of non-shampooers (we know a few), to reduce how often shampoo, or simply to get rid of some product build-up on your roots, look no further than baking soda. Just fill a glass with warm water and dissolve about a tablespoon of baking soda into it. Take that to the shower, and after wetting your hair pour the mixture through. Comb it well before rinsing—your hair will feel a little coated and slippery until it’s fully rinsed out.
And five more, at GOOD.
Illustrations by Brianna Harden
