Natural Beauty

Women have been making their own skin care products 
for centuries and now in light of a new awareness many 
are doing it again.  The natural things are the best, the
purest, the most beneficial. 
Many women who were famous for their beauty used 
natural beauty remedies.  Cleopatra and Brigitte Bardot
took extravagant milk baths.  Queen Marie Antoinette 
of France controlled her oily skin by using a mixture 
of milk, lemon juice and brandy.  And the English ladies 
in Queen Victoria's court kept the lovely sheen and luster 
on their magnificent heads of hair by rinsing with vinegar. 
Today many beauty experts and models are using such 
things as honey, avocado oil, and eggs. 
One beauty treatment that costs nothing at all is plenty 
of fresh air, a good walk and lots and lots of sleep.  Eight 
to ten hours are needed for sparkling eyes. 
In this section of my website you will find many recipes
that use ingredients such as eggs, lemon, honey, milk, 
cream, yogurt, cucumber, avocado, etc.  All of them can 
be found in your kitchen cupboard, at your grocer or supermarket and pure and simple lanolin or glycerine 
at the pharmacy. What is in these ingredients that is 
so good for us?  Let us take a closer look.

Eggs
Eggs contain a lot of protein, and especially lecithin, which is a 
good hair restorer.  The white of the egg makes a very good skin 
lightner and a skin 'tightener', massaging out tiny wrinkles.  But do 
not do this too often as it can be rather hard on sensitive skins. 
The yolk of the egg is very good for dry skins.  Usually egg is 
mixed with other ingredients but it can be used on its on.
Lemon
Lemon is an excellent source of vitamin C.  Like eggs,
it has literally countless uses in natural beauty preparations.
 For example it is good for blackheads, in the bath, for hands, 
hair or hair setting and of course, for all those creams and 
face masks.  A word of caution though, please remember if 
you have a dry skin go easy with lemon as it is rather astringent 
and apart from the whitening it also has a slightly drying effect 
on the skin.
Honey
Honey contains a large amount of essential vitamins
and minerals.  It turns any beauty preparation into a 
power-house.  It attracts and holds moisture, and if you use 
it repeatedly on your face it can help restore tired, aging skin. 
Honey protects, nourishes and heals and is excellent for 
inflamed patches.  It also normalizes over-active glands and 
luckily suits all skin types even the most sensitive. 
Milk
Milk is such and ordinary, everyday food that we all forget 
how useful it can be as a beauty aid.  For example, if you have 
a sunburn just try washing yourself with milk.  It is cool, 
soothing and nourishing and will, in time, give your skin a 
lustrous finish.  You can, of course, bathe in it!  Milk is also 
a useful ingredient in facials, good for dry, rough skins.  If you 
have run out of your own home-made nourishing night cream, 
try patting the top of the milk on and into your skin.  You will 
find it will penetrate your skin and will keep it moisturized and
nourished.
Cream and Yogurt
Cream and yogurt have more or less the same properties as 
milk, except of course, cream is richer and heavier, a good 
source of nourishment. Obviously if you have an oily skin you 
will want to use less cream and more lemon in your products. 
Yogurt also has a softening and whitening effect on the skin. 
Like milk and cream it is high in protein, with the exception that 
it is low in fat.  Yogurt  is a good ingredient for a face mask.
Cucumber
Cucumber makes a good astringent lotion.  It is also beneficial 
for hands and eyes and we have an excellent tip to draw the 
tiredness from your eyes.
Avocado
Avocado not only contains vitamins A, B, C,, D, and E but its 
oil is an excellent moisturizer and nourisher.  The oil is 
unsaturated vegetable fat and it is absorbed into the skin very 
fast.  Again this is a handy standby.

After a little practice you will realize which ingredients are 
the most beneficial for your particular skin type. In time you 
will be able to make up your very own beauty recipes, mixing 
eggs, honey, lemon and oils.  As we mentioned earlier, two very
good basic ingredients, and the only ones you need to buy from 
the pharmacy, are lanolin and glycerine.  Both are cleansers,
softeners, nourishers.  They are good for face, hands, and body 
and are useful bases for your preparations.  In any case they 
are good standbys at home in case of burns and scalds and handy 
in skin and hand softening.
Finally please remember that good looks depend not only on 
such matters as the care of the skin.  No matter how good your
natural product is it will not help much if you are eating too much 
of the wrong kind of foods.  Diet and personal hygiene are of the
utmost importance.  Nothing takes the place of proper nutrition, 
exercise, and plenty of rest.