through owl eyes

i'm a product junkie, i won't lie. my bathroom has a shelving unit built-in, which consists of a few towels, like 1/2 of a shelf of my boyfriend's necessities, and about 3 shelves of all my products. i think i'm addicted to beauty regimens. :-/

anyway, my new path is forcing me to rethink all of this. i really am starting to feel badly about it. in no way is it good for the earth, and some even contain chemicals i probably shouldn't even be using anyway. i really want to stop over-consuming all this unnecessary stuff and get back to basics. i'm not going to throw out all of what i have--i mean that would be wasteful too. but once i'm done with these things, i definitely do not plan on getting anymore. it's a habit i need to break. in the meantime, i'm working on finding natural and homemade remedies, and experimenting with making products in my kitchen. :)

so today i decided to try out a few very basic remedies using stuff already in my house. i tend to stock up on more fruits than i end up eating, same for veggies. i end up throwing some out because they rot really fast. not good! so anything i can do with food before it goes bad in my fridge is great!

so here's a little face mask i whipped up today:
-1/2 mashed banana
-3 tbsp organic soy yogurt
-4 large, mashed strawberries

apparently, strawberries contain natural acne-fighting ingredients such as salicylic acid (which is what they put in expensive acne products!).
banana has many vitamins which help moisturize and smooth dry or aging skin.
soy yogurt (or regular yogurt!) contains alot of lactic acid, which helps soothe reddened skin and cleanses pores.

other things you can add which are reported to be great for natural skincare:
-lemon juice (said to help oily skin-- but be careful, some people including me, have a reaction to citrus juices on the skin)
-honey! (this is said to be extremely beneficial to the skin-- i will be trying it once i have some on hand.)
-oatmeal (natural exfoliant for dry skin)
-avocado (many vitamins and fatty acids help repair and rejuvenate)
-cucumber (cooling/soothing for tired skin)
-tomatoes (rich in antioxidants)
-papaya (for blemishes)
-apples (tone and tighten skin)

my hair is also kinda dry and frizzy at the moment. i cut it two nights ago, hoping that would help (it didn't.) so i decided to try the remedy of just plain old olive oil on my hair. simply comb olive oil through hair, let sit for 20 minutes, then rinse out with cool water. shampoo/condition as usual. my hair does indeed seem to be less frizzy!

lastly, after i rinsed this stuff off, i took a long cool shower (it is ridiculously hot here today). i decided to make a homemade sugar scrub beforehand. there are more advanced versions of sugar scrubs of course, but since i don't have any essential oils or anything complicated on hand, i just made a very basic one:
-1 cup white sugar
-1/2 cup olive oil
-crushed rosebuds
-sephora's vanilla cupcake dry oil (this was the only scented oil type product i had on hand..lol..well it really was a great addition!)

very refreshing! my skin feels soft and smooth.

i'm just learning to make homemade stuff, but eventually i'd like to learn to make my own soaps, lotions, shampoos, etc. ^-^