Summer Guide
Homemade beauty recipes range from just a handful of ingredients—many of which already are stashed in the back of your pantry—to complex concoctions involving more exotic substances like rose water, apricot oil and organic kelp. For those who prefer to ease into this homegrown hobby, there are ample homemade beauty recipes that involve simply mixing a few natural ingredients together and, voilà, you have something as simple as an aromatic body scrub of coffee grinds and sea salt. Another example is an easy facial scrub that involves simply blending together a half-cup of uncooked oatmeal, one tablespoon of honey, one tablespoon of cider vinegar and one teaspoon of ground almonds.
photo by Eric England
Not only is making your own all-natural products an easy, affordable and entertaining pastime, it’s good for both the body and soul, according to Rev. Becca Stevens, founder of Magdalene House, a residential program in Nashville for women with a history of prostitution and addiction. The women of Magdalene House work together to produce a line of natural and organic beauty products under the Thistle Farms label. “Some of the recipes have literally been around for thousands of years because they do work. I really think that’s a testimony to why people should try it,” says Stevens, who encourages anyone interested in this hobby to give it a shot. “One woman working for Thistle Farms believes the aromatherapy that comes from just making the products has helped in her healing,” she says. “When you are stirring pots in the kitchen, the aromas of lavender and cinnamon and sage and other ingredients just fill the air.”