My favourite homemade beauty treatments...

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illustration by Georgina Heffernan



EGG on your face is usually something to avoid at all costs, but not if you are a convert to the latest cosmetics craze. For the last few years, organic has been the buzzword of beauty, but why spend a fortune on expensive 'natural‘ beauty products - when you can make them yourself .For some fantastic treatments, look no further than your kitchen cupboard - it‘s packed with ingredients for creating your own beauty counter.The fresh extra-virgin olive oil you have in your pantry is as potent a skin conditioner, honey is a powerful moisturiser and simple things like oatmeal can be used as a facial scrub.

I think we've lost the art of being beautiful on a budget. A lot of these tips our mothers and grandmothers used but somehow the current generation have missed out on them. Most are very simple and use natural ingredients; most important of all they don't cost a fortune. These natural beauty treatments you can make at home offer amazing skin-enhancing benefits without the use of harsh preservatives, chemicals and artificial ingredients.

illustration by Georgina Heffernan



HERE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVOURITES.

HAIR: Add one tablespoon of liquid honey to two tablespoons of ripe avocado and a couple of drops of lemon juice and mix to a paste. As a treatment pack for chemically damaged hair, apply before shampooing, cover with a plastic bag or cling film and leave for 30 minutes. Wash out to reveal, shiny, glossy hair.

SKIN: Steam your face with full-fat milk - great for brightening dry skin and helping clear impurities from the pores. If your skin is dry try using banana as it is rich in potassium and a great moisturizer for your hair and skin.

MOISTURISE: For years as a poverty stricken student and then as a lowly paid fashion assistant,I did not have a penny to spend on face creams, lotions or potions. For 20 years I have used nothing but olive oil in my beauty regime. I use it to remove my eye make up and I use it to moisturise my face and body. It‘s free or chemicals, cheap - and my skin always looks plump and dewy.

CLEANSE: I was recently interviewing the Irish Victoria Secrets model Catriona Balfe when she let me in on her favourite beauty secret. If you have not heard of Catriona - let me fill you in - she‘s the one with the complexion most of us would kill for. Her secret? Lemon. She uses it to cleanse her skin every morning and remove excess make up. The result - a blemish free, flawless cover girl face.

ANTI AGEING: To get a glow that will stay for hours, put some Peptol Bismol on your face before applying make-up. Rinse and then apply a light foundation. The soothing stuff for your stomach is gentler on skin than most salicylic acid products.

FACE: If you have dry skin you can make a rich moisturising mask from avocado and honey. Mash two tablespoons of avocado with two tablespoons of honey and one egg yolk. Apply to clean damp skin and leave to dry for 20 minutes. Wash off to reveal plump fresh skin.

HANDS: To make a deep cleanser for the hands, mix together one tsp clear honey, one egg white, and one tsp glycerine and two tsp oatmeal to form a paste, and apply liberally to the hands, especially to discoloured areas. Leave on for 30 minutes, then rinse.

FEET: Look after your feet by using a coconut heel-soother. Pure coconut oil has marvellous softening and restorative properties. Rub a tiny amount into your heels at bedtime.

FIGURE: Forget diet pills - if you want to loose weight add chillies to everything of try eating them raw ( if you can stomach it) they dramatically speed up the metabolism- no wonder all the top modelsmunch handfuls of them in the lead up to the major catwalk shows.

SHINY HAIR: Vaseline is fantastic for an instant shine to hair. Blow it dry and then rub a little through the strands using warm hands. Or add 10ml of vinegar in cold water to rinse hair.

EXFOLIATOR: Take some olive oil and sugar and mix to a paste. Then rub it over the face in circular motions. It won't react with the skin and leave it feeling beautifully soft. When it comes to smoothing the body, I recommend coarse sea salt in the bath. Use everywhere except the face and be careful around the genital area ( ouch!). Then rinse off.

SELF TAN: It sounds mad but this really works. Pop 20 or so teabags in a pot, put boiling water on them and allow to infuse. Then place them in a bath, six or seven inches deep in water and get in. The teabags act like tanning wipes and you'll get a good looking tan. It's a variation on what they did in the war when stockings were hard to come by.

FACE MASK: Take a tablespoon of honey, an egg yolk and a teaspoon of olive oil; beat and lather over face leaving for 15 minutes. Face creams: I recommend 4oz of honey, 8oz of lanolin (available at chemists) and some sweet almond oil. Place it all in a pot and warm gently then beat it up into a cream. Leave it to cool and you have a great face cream.

SPOTS. Break up an asprin in a glass and add a few drops of water to it. Rub it on your spot and Hey Presto! Within a few hours the ugly little blighter will have vanished! Try it- it works!

HOME MADE FACIAL PEEL: Fruit acids are regularly used for facial peels but you can do the same at home using lemons, sliced thinly then rubbed over the face and washed off. It's a very mild astringent so won't irritate the skin.

SOFT LIPS: Take some Vaseline and sugar, mix together and then use as a lip scrub. Ideal for super-soft kissable lips. Acne: I find natural live yoghurt works wonders on spots. Use it overnight on problem areas and the natural ingredients counteract the bacteria.

"My mother's best beauty tip was to smile - she had a beautiful smile herself. You instantly
look and feel better, and make others feel the same way‟ Marie Helvin - one of the first supermodels

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