We have all been there. You go to grab for your favorite product only to realize you are out of it. Shoot! Instead of deciding between sleeping in your makeup or finding the closest 24-hour pharmacy, you can simply make your way to the kitchen. In fact, a lot of your pantry and refrigerator staples double as super effective and natural beauty products!
So as the saying goes, have your guacamole and eat it, too (that’s a thing, right?) by checking out these eight beauty products you already have lying around your kitchen!
Egg Whites
Traditional use: Breakfast, breakfast for lunch, breakfast for dinner.
Beauty use: To reduce oily skin. Eggs whites have skin tightening and pore-minimizing properties. So whip up (pun intended) a simple mask of a few egg whites. Wash your face with warm water and pat dry. Then apply a thin layer of the mask and let it dry up. Once it has dried, remove the mask by rinsing with cold water.
Coconut Oil
Traditional use: Because your favorite vegan/paleo blogger said you should be using it when baking or cooking
Beauty use: To moisturize literally anything. Use it as a hair mask, body lotion or even a bath soak.(Bonus—it has a subtle tropical scent so it’s like an instant vacation.)
Avocados
Traditional use: Guacamole, topped on toast, diced in salads, puréed in smoothies, straight from the peel. (Can you tell we really like avocados?)
Beauty use: Perfect post-exams face mask. A $2 avocado has the similar antioxidant and amino acid-rich properties as those super expensive face masks. Mash up half an avocado and let it sit on your face for 15 minutes to target fine lines and rejuvenate tired skin. (Plus, now you have another half of avocado to make guacamole, top on toast, dice in a salad…)
Olive Oil
Traditional use: A heart healthy salad dressing because you heard fat is in again.
Beauty use: Eye makeup remover. Dab a few drops onto a cotton ball, then swipe it over your eyes to gently remove off your makeup. It doubles as a moisturizer so no need to rinse it off. (Hello instant eye treatment!)
Tea Bags
Traditional use: A break from your coffee consumption
Beauty use: Reduce puffy bags under your eyes as a result from a late night study sesh or Thursday night out. Brew some tea using two tea bags, let them cool and then place them under your lids. The natural caffeine helps shrink blood vessels to reduce puffiness. And then throw some ice into the residual tea for a refreshing beverage!
Lemon
Traditional use: Slicing it in your water to pretend you are super fancy.
Beauty use: Gradually fade dark spots and acne scars. The Vitamin C and citric acid have antioxidant properties that help lighten and even skin tone. Just be sure to lather up on SPF (which you should be doing everyday, anyway) as the lemon juice can make your skin sensitive to UV rays.
Sea Salt
Traditional use: To fill that super adorable shaker you found in the sale section at Anthropologie.
Beauty use: At-home beach waves. Even if you live nowhere near a body of water, you can still get that great textured hair once only attainable after a day spent at the beach. Fill a spray bottle with three ounces of water and add three teaspoons of sea salt, then shake it up. Spray it onto your hair, scrunch it a bit and voilà—beach waves.
Baking Soda
Traditional use: To remove that questionable stench coming from your refrigerator…
Beauty use: Purify hair. By adding a tablespoon to your regular shampoo, the baking soda helps remove all the nasty build-up from sweat, dirt and other gross origins so your products can work the way they are supposed to again.
