I may not be much of a “do-it-yourselfer” when it comes to home improvement projects….but when it comes to health and beauty DIY…count me in! I just love this stuff. :-)
Recently I’ve been running across some really cool DIY makeup and beauty tips that I just couldn’t resist sharing. (Sorry guys…this is definitely geared more towards the gals….BUT….if you happen to have “stinky feet”, make sure you check out the Black Tea Foot Deodorizer! Your friends and family will thank you!) ;-)
DIY Illuminator
Take a little bit of your liquid foundation and add a small amount of shimmering eyeshadow to it (a light gold works well). Loose powder will work too. Be careful not to over-do the shimmer because this will lead to your skin looking oily.
source: michellephan.com
Simple Lip Gloss Saver!
Favorite lip gloss almost gone? Make sure you get to use every last drop!
Place your lip gloss upright into a mug of WARM water.
Let sit for 10 minutes.
Voila! There is no more lip gloss in your container than before. Magic? Nah. The warm water heats the lip gloss clinging to the inside of the container causing it to drip down to the bottom. You’ve just saved yourself from throwing away perfectly good lip gloss. yay!
source: cjsbeautyblog.com
DIY Bronzer/Face Powder
What you need:
a small container
a light eye shadow
cocoa powder or ground cinnamon
If the eyeshadow isn’t already loose, crumble it into your container.
Mix in however much cocoa or cinnamon you see fit to match the bronzing color you’d like to achieve.
Apply with a standard makeup blush/powder brush.
source: tlc.howstuffworks.com
Advil Liqui-Gels Zit Zapper
According to beauty guru Robin Coe-Hutching makeup artists use this trick all the time on models backstage at fashion shows.
Open up an Advil gel cap and apply it right onto the pimple. It takes the swelling down right away.
source: ivillage.com
Starbucks Makeshift Manicure
No time for a manicure? Make your Starbucks stop do double-duty. Jin Soon Choi, owner of Jin Soon Hand and Foot Spa mixes sugar with some lemon, honey, and olive oil and scrub into hands and nails for a minute, then use a wooden coffee stirrer to push back cuticles. Rinse off and your hands will look totally clean soft and manicured.”
source: ivillage.com
Milk of Magnesia Oily Skin Face Mask
Make sure it is the original, plain variety, because you do not want to use the cherry or mint flavors on your skin!
Directions
1. Apply Milk of Magnesia to your skin.
2. Let it dry for 10-15 minutes.
3. Wash it off and you will have gorgeous, non-oily skin.
Milk of Magnesia works so well on oily skin because it contains Magnesium Hydroxide which can absorb more oil than any clay ever will be able to absorb. Plus, you might already have this in your house in case someone becomes constipated, which makes Milk of Magnesia truly multipurpose!
Black Tea Foot Deodorizer
Steep 2-3 bags in a bowl filled with warm (not hot!) water – then set your stopwatch for 15 minutes and get soaking. The tannins are helpful in neutralizing odor while also rejuvenating tired tootsies.
Natural Eye Liner and Shadow
Eyeshadow: Mix up several colors of eye shadow using cocoa powder (brown shades) Spirulina (green shades) and arrowroot (light shades). My favorite is just cocoa powder with a tiny bit of arrowroot mixed in for smoothness.
Eye-liner: Use a tiny bit of cocoa powder mixed with coconut oil, or a tiny dab or activated charcoal on a slightly damp brush. Be careful not to get either one in the eye. Store in an old powdered eye shadow container and apply with my finger or a very slightly damp brush.
To make a smoother eyeliner, mix equal parts of coconut oil and cocoa butter (about 1/2 ounce of each) and add about 1/2 tsp of activated charcoal to make a black eyeliner that is thicker. You can also do this with cocoa powder for a brown hue.
source: wellnessmama.com
Natural Mascara
In a small bowl, mix a few drops of Aloe Vera Gel, a couple drops of Vitamin E oil, and a pinch of activated charcoal. Mix it up as you use it or store in an old mascara container or in a small jar and clean the mascara wand between uses.
source: wellnessmama.com
Gelatin Nail Soak
A simple, natural remedy that will help strengthen the fingernails. Ideal for cracked and brittle nails.
Pour 1 cup of water into a small saucepan or tea kettle. Bring to a boil.
Put 1/2 oz. of plain gelatin in a small mixing bowl, and pour the boiling water over the gelatin. Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon or a disposable stirrer.
Transfer the gelatin nail soak to a wide-mouth glass jar with a tight-fitting lid.
To use, pour a small amount of the gelatin nail soak in a shot glass and dip in the tips of your fingers. Leave each finger in the mixture for about two minutes.
Store the mixture in a cool, dry place or in the refrigerator between uses. Unused portions can be kept for about two months.
source: eHow.com
What “MacGyver” beauty tricks do you have up your sleeve? :-)
Some great suggestions there, although I think the eyeliner one with coconut oil must surely smudge very easily. I use mascara made with aloe vera gel, but add a black mineral eye shadow instead of charcoal. It’s great fun to mix up one’s own beauty products and a huge moneysaver.
I have been using milk of magnesia as a face mask for over 10 years! Works wonders on my oily skin :)
Wow! These are all great!!
xo Kayla
We found out that calamine lotion makes a great acne mask. My daughter had poison sumac on her face last summer and everywhere we had applied calamine was clear. She started to experiment with using it add a facial mask, applied at night, wash off in the morning and her skin is bea!tifully clear now! We swear by it
what a great tip! I told my daughter and she is going to try it out starting tonight. thanks!!
I found several new things to try from this post. Thanks, Jillee. My favorite ‘homemade’ moisturizer is pure virgin coconut oil, unrefined. I had heard about it’s benefits both in the diet and for skin, but hadn’t used it much until my son came home from summer camp with second degree sunburn (he won’t be going back). After seeing the Dr and determining that the only thing to be done was give it time to heal and getting several products to apply, all of which caused further pain and irritation to his severely damaged skin, I remembered coconut oil. It provided immediate relief and caused no discomfort on application. It was amazing how quickly the damaged skin started to repair itself. It’s not greasy and absorbs quickly. It’s now used widely in our house, both in cooking/consuming and on our bodies.
I prefer Olive oil to Coconut oil in cleansing my face. I also wash my face with homemade lye soap that I make at home. I love all of these tips and will be using some if not all of them. I use olive oil and coconut oil in my soap making. If I use too much coconut oil, it will dry out my skin. Otherwise, it moisturizes the whole body! I have used a bar to wash my hair with, too. It seems to give it a lot more body than just plain old Shampoo.
I also make my own moisturizers and lotions. My MIL uses the lotion I make on her psoriasis. It works wonderfully well. I use lavender and vanilla the most in my lotions. Vanilla for day and Lavender for night.
What is your recipe for moisturizers and lotions?
Thanks!
Im interested in the lotion you made for psoriasis. Please help…
You are the first person besides my mother 1902-1983 who washes her face with homemade lye soap! She would not use anything else. She had beautiful skin, no wrinkles and I had hoped to inherit her skin genes! Maybe it was the lye soap! Thanks for the memory of my sweet mother. Oh, yes, I’m 73 and should have learned to make the soap!
Great ideas.
I use generic Milk of Magnesia (no other ingredients except water) for deodorant and it works better than any other DYI deo I’ve tried. I pour it into an old small dawn bottle and just squeeze out about a dimes size worth onto my finger tips, pat it to both hands tips, and then swipe my underarms and other place that have the potential to sweat. The magnesium stops bacteria from forming which is what actually causes b.o.
It also is wonderful on atheletes foot & ring worm, and works better than any commercial product we’ve tried.
Thanks you for these fabulous tips. I am a bronzer freak but I’ve always wondered how to make a DIY version of it. I’m really excited to try it. The key thing, actually to application of any make up [and most things in life heh] is not overdoing it. By the way, on the DIY Illuminator, do you think it also work if you used a stick foundation?
Plus Size Fashion
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This is an amazing list of tips and tricks. It is awesome that you can do these with stuff you most likely have at home. Thanks for the post.
My sister recently gave me a recipe for homemade makeup remover. I haven’t tried it yet, so I’m not going to pass it on yet.
For the bronzer and illuminator that have other makeup as an ingredient, is this still a moneysaver? I realize you could get multiple colors without buying more makeup, but I don’t know enough about makeup prices to know how the prices compare.
Re: the recipes that use makeup
I think they are a good way to use makeup you don’t turn to. Three of my eyeshadows have been languishing at the back of my drawer because I don’t like how they look on my eyes. The ideas in this post will help me repurpose two of them! I’m going to mix my gold-bronze eyeshadow with body lotion to use lightly on my collar bones/arms/legs for special summer nights out. Mixing my too-shimmery pale pink eyeshadow with face moisturizer could make a subtle illuminator.
Sharla, would you mind posting the makeup remover recipe here if it’s effective?
ps Thanks for the ideas, Jillee! I found your blog through Pintrest and now I’m a subscriber via Google Reader. :)
Mix cornstarch with a bit of cocoa powder (depending on your skin tone) and it makes a GREAT setting powder that rivals Bare Minerals’ Mineral Veil! Hides pores, oil, and imperfections, and leaves your skin super smooth!
Oh yes, and cornstarch or baby powder (mixed with cocoa powder for darker hair) as a dry shampoo to sop up greasy roots!
Thanks for that tip Corrie! I’m going to try it tomorrow!
What great tips. I want to try the eye liner.
Great tips! I will try some of them.
For many years I’ve been using an egg mask before I go out.
Carefully separate white from egg yoke. Add a few lemon drops to egg white, whisk until it makes a foam.
In separate dish mix egg yoke with a tea spoon of honey and a tea spoon of olive or other veg. oil.
First, with a cotton ball apply egg white foam. You would have to lay down and be absolutely still for about 15 minutes until it drys like a crust on your face. Do not talk. After it drys wash your face clean with warm water. After that with a clean cotton ball apply egg yoke mixture to your face. It works like a nourishing cream. Keep it on for about 10 minutes. Wash and dry your face. Your face will look polished like after expensive spa therapy. Don’t do it if you have a very sensitive skin or prone to acne.
I missed one detail: never apply anything, except for a gentle eye cream under you eyes, especially when applying egg white foam.
Love oil of magnesia but use it as a primer instead. Great tips
Hi! Loved all the tips! I’m definitively going to try some of them.
I love to use brown sugar mixed with a bit of honey as an exfoliater + moisturizer.
And this is not really a beauty tip but rather a health tip: as a kid I hated medicine and every time I had a cough my grandma would slice carrots, put sugar on top of them and after a while the carrots start destiling juice. I would eat a spoonful every two hours. My throat would feel better instantly!! Hope that helps someone :)
Baking Soda! Gentle exfoliant. I use it alone or with one of the following: coconut oil, olive oil, grape seed oil, mineral oil, baby oil.
Sometimes I spray on some apple cider vinegar (keep your eyes closed!) and then rinse it off. I am in my 60′s and my skin is baby soft & smooth, blotch and blemish-free and looks great with or without makeup.
wow some people are so creative and come up with the best ideas for different thing.
kassie
I use Monistat’s Chafing gel as a make up primer. Works the same, and TONS cheaper. Make sure you get the gel, in the purple box.
Do you have any substition for Bare Minerals Prime Time? I love everything but the price.
I love a lot of the tips. It reminded me about my problem. I have/had thin, blonde eyebrows. Having to draw on eyebrows can always be tricky. Well, while searching for something completely unrelated to skin care I found that if you use Castor Oil applying on your eyebrows with a Q-tip every evening helps them grow thicker! I have been doing this for 4 weeks and definitely see a difference. I actually have eyebrows that I have to pluck. It reminded me how my daddy told me he would never tell his grandmother anything hurt because if you had a black eye, stomach ache or broken bone he was getting Castor Oil. I guess great-grandma was right!
Would this work on thinning hair on the scalp?
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I’ve used SHIMMERY EYE SHADOW (white, ivory, pink, peach or yellow) as a highlighter – tops of cheek bones – apply with fingertips or brush. I’ve also used it on top of my lip color – just dab a bit on center of my bottom lip with my fingertip. (No need to mix it in your foundation unless you want it over your entire face….then you need to be VERY careful – you don’t want to end up looking like the OSCAR!)
For GLITTERY NAIL POLISH I do the following: Apply one coat of whatever color regular polish I want. While polish is still wet I dip my fingernail/s in glitter. The glitter/sparkle that I like to use is a very fine, opalescent sparkle dust – comes in a jar and is normally used for making greeting cards or scrapbooking. Not at my house! I use it for my nails! I also have the regular metallic glitter for crafts but have not yet tried that. You could also just mix some of the glitter into the bottle of nail polish but then you are stuck with only a bottle of “glittery polish” and you lose the option of the “plain” polish – plus the glitter may go on in streaks and be hard to spread evenly.
When the polish is dried, with the glitter on it, I apply another coat of CLEAR polish. (I have tried a second glitter dipping after the second coat but found it was too much). I will apply a third coat – of CLEAR polish or sealant because even with the fine glitter dust, the nails will still feel a little rough.
I was wondering if the Advil capsule would also work to reduce puffiness around the eyes. I know models used to use PreparationH for swelling/puffiness in the eye area but I never thought that was very safe.
Also, the idea of putting lip gloss in a cup of warm water to get the last of the product out…..also works for mascara. Just leave the mascara brush cap on! At the start of your makeup application set the mascara in a cup of hot water. When you’re ready to apply it will be nice and liquid – like it was when it was new!
I am so glad that I found your site Jillion. You have so many great posts and I love your homemade beauty products! I am definitely going to try the eyeshadow made from cocoa and cinnamon! I was wondering if anyone has tried the milk of magnesia on the lower eye puff that we sometime have in the morning? And if so, how would you apply it ? Thank you so much again!
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