We’re sure you’ve had those nights where you sat lazily with your friends laughing hysterically at that one inside joke all summer, not having a care in the world. Or maybe you were sweating profusely while the beaming sun beat your skin as you lay comfortably on the beach.
During the summer, we are so relaxed and carefree that we just don’t seem to care for our skin and hair as much. So while the summer is alive and kicking, let us give you a few pointers to have that skin and hair of yours looking flawless, the natural way.
Makeup Removal:
Let’s focus on the facial canvas first; all we need to do is show a little TLC. Now if you’re wearing makeup first, it’s key that you take off your makeup before bed. We know, we know, when you’re strolling into the house at 4 a.m., who is really thinking about washing off their makeup? We’ve all been there.
If you are not gonna make it to the bathroom sink to wash off your makeup, at the very least a makeup wipe will do. Now this isn’t au naturale, but sure is cheap. We recommend Target’s Up and Up Makeup Remover Cleansing Towelettes; it’s a perfect combination of wetness and size and although that may sound wrong in every shape and form, we aren’t lying. Surprisingly, your usual thirty count makeup wipes aren’t cheap and continuously buying them can get costly. With just one of these wipes, you can remove all that guck and feel refreshed.
Baby wipes are another makeup secret, especially with that stubborn black eyeliner. It works like a charm.
Face Cleansers:
After you’ve removed all your makeup, you need something to remove all that excess dirt and oil the wipes didn’t get off, so a simple facial cleanser will do. You can go to your Duane Reade or Clinique to pick up a facial cleanser, but we’re going the natural way.
Check out your fridge and see if you have an egg, milk and one avocado. Avocados aren’t just great food nourishment, but also a convenient beauty product. First remove the flesh and the pit of the avocado. Add a raw egg and the avocado to the bowl and pour milk in after. We recommend using a blender to blend everything out smoothly. Apply it all over your face and rub for about three minutes and wash it off with warm water after. If you don’t have the eggs and milk, a little bit of honey is also a great alternative.
Exfoliation:
Exfoliating is extremely important for unclogging your pores from all that sweat and makeup trapped by the heat, but don’t over do it! You want to make sure that you’re only exfoliating the skin no more than two or three times a week to get rid of all the dead skin cells and uncover a smoother face, but too much exfoliation can lead to irritation.
To make your own exfoliator at home, simply take a bowl of sugar with lemon into the shower (makes it a bit easier) and rub all over the face and body. You can also use raw sugar as well, which has a coarser texture to remove the dead cells.
Coffee grinds are also useful and your next best option. After you’re done making your coffee, you might want to go somewhere you can get messy (like the tub) and take those grinds and again rub it all over the skin. The caffeine in the beans is also said to help beat cellulite.
Hydration and Moisturizer:
Suffering from dark circles under the eyes from all those late nights and early mornings? Blend a whole cucumber with some water and using cotton pads, saturate the cotton, squeezing the excess juice from it. Throw them in a zip lock bag and freeze the pads to keep them fresh. After the pads have been thawed, place them on your eyes for about a minute. The vitamin K in cucumbers will reduce dark circles.
To finish off your skin routine, a touch of olive oil can be used as a moisturizer, an old trick we can thank our Greek, Roman, and Egyptian friends for.
Hair:
Your skin isn’t the only thing the sun has probably damaged, don’t forget that hair. Jumping into pools filled with chlorine, sitting in the sun for hours, and even adding heat from straightening or curling, your hair has also been through a lot. Restore your hair by adding some moisture, shine and life.
You can first use apple cider vinegar to rinse your hair to remove any buildup. Next put two eggs in a bowl with mayo, mixing honey to add moisture and shine. This will serve as a natural conditioner for your hair. By adding a shower cap for about an hour, you have a deep conditioner.
If you have dry frizzy hair, a ripe banana, honey and almond oil will increase moisture and smooth frizz.
Follow these steps and you’ll be feeling like:
PHOTO CREDIT: Pinterest
