The passion for homemade beauty recipes is clear from the first page of Return to Beauty: old world recipes for great radiant skin. Author and celebrity aesthetician Narine Nikogosian learned from her grandmother to make treatments with whatever she had on hand, even pats of butter!
Many of Narine’s recipes have just three ingredients, including stuff you already have in your kitchen, like eggs, milk, honey, baking soda, lemon juice, and various fruits. The directions are incredibly simple and Narine explains how and why each recipe works.
Here’s her bee sweet moisturizer:
Hydrating and softening, these three ingredients will leave your skin baby soft.
1 tsp honey
1 tsp almond oil
1/2 egg yolk
In a small bowl, mix the ingredients together. Apply to your face every morning and evening after cleansing. Splash with warm water and pat dry.
Return to Beauty is 262-pages divided into six sections. The first has simple recipes by season for each of the four skin types, dry, normal to dry, normal to oily, and oily. The second section has recipes by zodiac sign and the third has “simple solutions” for pimples, fine lines, problematic hair and nails, feet, and dark spots.
The final three sections, which are much shorter, cover pregnancy, how to give yourself a facial, and skin care for men. Here’s another recipe that sounds great.
Baby Mama’s Beautiful Body Cream
When you’re pregnant, it might seem as if all of the moisture has left your body! This lotion will infuse hydration and healthiness into your dry skin, keeping it soft and supple.
2 small cucumbers
2 tsps olive oil
1 egg yolk
1 tsp flour
Peel and chop the cucumbers. In a blender, combine the cucumbers, oil, egg yolk, and flour. Mix well. After showering, apply this cream generously all over your body.
This book would also make an awesome Christmas gift! Leave a comment on this post by 5 p.m. PST Thursday for a chance to win my review copy! You can always buy a copy of Return to Beauty from Amazon for $16.50 (orig. $25). That’s a bargain for a beautifully styled, hardcover book.
Buying this book supports BargainBabe.com!
December 8th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
I love homemade beauty products. They not only save you money, they’re usually better for your skin.
December 8th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
I would love to learn how to make homemade beauty products. I have thought about it, but didn’t start. This would be a fun way to get started!
December 8th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
I am finding that homemade things work better because they don’t have a lot of ingredients that you can’t even pronounce.
December 8th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
What a great way to break from all of the chemicals in most beauty products. Crack an egg, use 1/2 of the yolk for your moisturizer and the other for your omelet!
December 8th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
I’m in Hong Kong teaching right now. Just this morning a lovely Asian couple shared with me how they use honey in so many ways to stay young. He likes to drink some warm water with honey after every meal. So this book would add to my knowledge and the next time I run into this couple I could share some knowledge too!
Jeanne
December 8th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
this sounds so cool
December 8th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
I’m sharing this with my daughter-in-law who is a primo esthetician. I’m anxious to know what she thinks about it.
December 9th, 2009 at 9:02 am
I love the idea of homemade products. Our world is so filled with chemicals. A friend of mine uses sugar as a facial scrub and I would love to learn some other ideas.
December 9th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Interesting!! Would love to find out more about this!!
December 9th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
I was already going with Christmas gifts of foods — the ingredients in these would fit right in!
December 9th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Sounds like a great book. My Mom already makes her own moisturizer (and graciously shares) but now that I am moving across country i will have to do it myself. Hope I win
December 9th, 2009 at 11:51 pm
This would be a perfect gift for one of my friends. Thanks for the tip!
December 10th, 2009 at 12:14 am
It is such a great idea for Christmas present! When you make your own beauty potions, you know exactly what goes in there. I can bet that even if it doesn’t seem effective, just knowing what you apply on your skin makes you feel so good!!
December 11th, 2009 at 5:26 am
[...] you didn’t see my review of the book, click here. It’s amazing some of the things you can make with basic ingredients from your [...]
December 12th, 2009 at 11:48 am
Great article. love it.
recipes by ingredient>