Homemade Beauty Product Recipes (2024)

Make your own beauty products to keep harmful chemicals off of your skin. Homemade creams, soaps and other products can be just as luxurious and fragrant as their commercial counterparts but you can avoid artificial chemicals – and the headache of dealing with all that packaging waste.

Although beauty products don't have to list their ingredients, they often contain pthalates, formaldehyde, parabens and other chemicals that have been shown to harm animals in lab tests, and which are being phased out in Europe in favor of less toxic alternatives. Prenatal exposure to pthalates, for example, has been linked to liver and kidney damage and effects on baby boys' reproductive organs, and the chemical has been implicated in male obesity. The CDC found the potentially harmful sunscreen ingredient oxybenzone in 97% of Americans tested.

Plus, you don't want any nasty stuff getting into our fragile waterways, do you? That's what happens when cosmetics and personal care products are washed down the drain. Frogs and aquatic life are highly susceptible to damage from even minute contamination.

Why not get beautiful in less risky ways? Remember that many of these recipes can be put into reusable containers — which can also be decorated and given as unique, homemade gifts.

- Text and recipes by Helen O'Grady of ItsEcoTime.com

Makes 1 application

2 tablespoons real mayonnaise
1 teaspoon baby oil

> Combine both ingredients.
> Smooth onto face, neck, rough elbows and knees or anywhere else you feel might benefit from it.
> Leave for 20 minutes.
> Rinse off thoroughly with tepid water.

Makes 1 application

1 medium avocado — peeled and stoned
2 tablespoons honey

> Mash together the ingredients in a small bowl.
> Massage into hair.
> Leave for 20-30 minutes.
> Wash hair as usual.

Makes 1 application

Juice from 1/2 a lemon (strained)
1 egg white

> Beat together the egg white and lemon juice for 3 minutes.
> Apply directly to your face, avoiding the eyes.
> Leave on for 30 minutes.
> Rinse off with warm water.

Makes 20-30 applications

2 tsp castor oil
2 tsp salt
1 tsp wheat germ oil

> Pour all ingredients into a sealable bottle.
> Before each use shake well.
> Rub a small amount of the mixture onto your nails.
> Leave on for 3-5 minutes.
> Wipe off with a cotton pad.

Makes 100 applications

2 tbls. olive oil
1/2 tsp. honey
3/4 tsp. beeswax — grated
1/2 tsp. pure cocoa butter
Flavored oil of your choice (like peppermint or vanilla)
1 vitamin E capsule

> In a small saucepan, heat oil, honey, wax and butter over a low heat until just melted.
> Remove from heat and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes.
> Stir in flavoring and contents of vitamin E capsule.
> Pour into containers of your choice.

Makes multiple applications

1 cup course sea salt
1/2 cup baby oil

> Stir the ingredients together in a bowl and put into a screw top jar.
> Leave for 24 hours.
> Stir the mixture and apply to any areas of the body you wish to exfoliate.
> Massage into the skin for a few minutes then shower off.
> Pat your skin dry.

Makes 1 application

1/2 cup chopped cucumber
1/2 cup chopped avocado
1 egg white
2 tsp. powdered milk

• Combine all of the ingredients in a blender until they form a smooth paste.
• Apply the mask to your face and neck using circular upward movements.
• Leave the mask on for 30 minutes, or until dry.
• Rinse your face and neck with warm water and finish with a cold water rinse.
• This mask will keep up to 30 minutes in the refrigerator if you need to prepare it slightly in advance.

Makes 1 treatment

1/4 cup course brown sugar
Baby oil to make into a paste

> Mix together.
> Using a hand washing motion apply the mixture to the hands.
> Continue the washing motion for a minute then rinse off with warm water and pat dry.

Makes 1 application

1 ripe peach — peeled and stoned
1 egg white

> Whip peach and egg white together in a blender till smooth.
> Gently pat mixture over face.
> Leave on for 30 minutes.
> Rinse off with cool water.

Good for one home pedicure.

1/2 cup Epsom salts
Essential oils of your choice

> Fill either a foot bath or your bath tub to ankle height with warm water.
> Dissolve 1/2 cup Epsom salts in the warm water and add the essential oil of your choice (lavender, rosewood, patchouli and sandalwood are relaxing oils, while lemongrass and eucalyptus are uplifting)
> Soak for 10-15 minutes. Pat dry and moisturize.