NATURAL BEAUTY

GREEN BEAUTY MADE SIMPLE: Skincare TWO ESSENTIALS FOR BEGINNERS

By Kathleen Barlow

Green beauty is getting more and more popular. Women have been craving the ideal skin-care product for thousands of years. Recently, more and more products aimed at men are flooding the market. Is there a way to avoid all those hormone-alerting and carcinogenic chemicals and still look good? Here are some basic condiments your skin will love that you may not have tried yet! DAIRY PRODUCTS

Even if you’re allergic to milk, your skin may be able to enjoy it. Do you remember getting a bad sunburn when you were little and getting soaked in a milk bath? It still works! Your dry, damaged, or simply unhappy skin will benefit from being gently wiped with a cotton pad soaked in whole milk. But it doesn’t end there. The secret to great skin in a dry climate can be as easy as sour cream. After you wash your face (or yes, instead of washing your face on the non-makeup days), just apply a thin layer of sour cream to your face and neck before you go to bed. It will dry invisibly and may still be slightly tacky in the morning. Gently rinse it off in the shower, and you’ll be surprised by bright, clear and well-moisturized skin with an even tone. MAYONNAISE

Seriously. You might have tried mayonnaise as a moisturizing hair mask, but have you tried it as a face and body wash? Use the simplest kind available, just a few ingredients. The secret is to rub it in well when your skin is still dry before you get in the shower. Use it by itself on your face but feel free to add something to make it more of a scrub for the rest of your skin. Some prefer to add a few teaspoons of sugar to their cup of mayonnaise but for a really great and manly body wash, try adding baking soda. It’s effective and ideal for thick or dry skin, such as elbows, knees and feet. You’ll smell like mayonnaise but don’t worry, once you wash it off thoroughly, the scent won’t linger. This trick is especially good for exfoliating while leaving your skin smooth and moisturized. No need to apply lotion after a shower. It’s ridiculously inexpensive and healthy, too.

Everyone wants to avoid bathing in toxic or, at best, highly suspicious chemicals. The pandemic broke many women of beauty salon dependency, and working from home gave us product-free days for the first time in our adult lives. What should you do? Are you going to keep some good habits and make green beauty part of our lifestyle? Try some sour cream tonight, and you might just be sold.