Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Benefits Of Vaseline (Beauty Secret)


The number one items marketed to women is beauty products that promise great looking skin, lips, etc with high price tags.  What they don't say is that they are ridden with horrible chemicals that are really ineffective and/or damaging.  They also don't tell you that the biggest ingredients in the products are petrolatum a.k.a petroleum jelly a.k.a. Vaseline or Mineral Oil (read and decipher your product ingredients). 

I personally don't really use vaseline other than as a lip balm when there is nothing else around,lol.  But a co-worker of mine uses it as a night treatment for dry skin and I also dated a guy that used absolutely nothing else and swore by it! 

I actually prefer my unpetroleum jelly, so if your concerned about vaseline, then use my un-petroleum jelly recipe and still get all the benefits of vaseline listed below.

So stop paying all that money on Estee Lauder and at Ulta and Sephora beauty counters and go to your local grocer/drugstore and get your $6 jar of Vaseline!  I know I will be buying some very soon, and maybe I'll try sprucing it up as a tinted lip balm!

FYI: I would not recommend Vaseline for hair since it coats the hair ,not moisturize.

 50 ways to use Vaseline
(Courtesy of Christina Loves)

1. Put a coat on your eyelashes before you go to bed. Lots of people swear by this - and say it will make your lashes grow longer and thicker over time.
2. Put a coat of Vaseline on your feet at night, cover them with socks and wake up to softer feet - every day!
3. Put Vaseline on your elbows every day - they will stay soft!
4. Put Vaseline on your cuticles several times a day for softer and better looking cuticles every day.
5. Put Vaseline on chapped lips
6. Use Vaseline as lip gloss
7. Mix a little Vaseline with a little Kool-Aid powder and make a colored and flavored lip gloss!
8. Melt Vaseline and one chocolate chip in the microwave, mix and let re solidify for chocolate lip gloss!
9. Maintains perfume scent longer when applied at perfume points before spritzing the perfume.
10. Can be used as a moisturizer for acne sufferers (it is a misconception that it clogs pores)
11. Moisturizes severe dry skin
12. Use Vaseline on your knees to prevent that dry, ashy look
13. Mix with sea salts to make a scrub!
14. Applying Vaseline on your teeth prevents lips from sticking to teeth for celebrities and contestants in beauty pageants who smile a lot
15. Applied on teeth before applying lipstick prevents lipstick from sticking on them
16. Massage, baby!
17. Warmed up can be used as a night cream
18. Makeup remover
19. Protects skin exposed to adverse weather
20. Applied under eye shadow it can create a shiny effect
21. Applied on cheeks for a dewy look
22. Can be used to smooth and soothe skin after shaving
23. Used in manicures under cuticles
24. Gets rid of dry skin lines which can arise from washing
25. Lubricates ear lobes and helps to make earring insertion easy and painless
26. Keeps fingernails pliable and resilient
27. Use with your lipstick to create a cream blusher for your cheeks
28. Helps to ease off stuck on rings
29. Tames unruly eyebrows
30. Defines eyelashes and leaves them with a glossy and waterproof look
31. Conditions scalp pre-shampooing
32. Can help prevent chaffing
33. Aids with healing after cosmetic surgery procedures
34. Reduces scaling and itching associated with dandruff
35. Theraputic when applied to lesions caused by poison ivy
36. Can help improve condition of those with atopic eczema
37. Helps heal and protect new tattoos
38. Can protect against harmful hair dyeing, perming and straightening chemicals when used as a mask around the hairline
39. Use a tiny dab to put a quick shine on your shoes and bags
40. Smear a tiny bit on your hands and scrunch through your hair for a choppy look
41. Use just a touch on the ends of your hair to hide dry and split ends
42. Remove makeup stains from clothing
43. Rub Vaseline on the neck of your nail polish bottles and they won’t get stuck to the caps
44. Make your week old nail polish look new again - rub a small dab over the polish.
45. Use a touch of Vaseline mixed with powder eyeshadow pigment to make new colors, or a more solid eyeshadow that won’t get all over your face when you put it on.
46. Stretch your favorite lotion by mixing it with Vaseline.
47. Put Vaseline on your lips, leave it a few minutes, then scrub your lips with a toothbrush to exfoliate and leave them SO smooth
48. Remove false eyelash glue from your lash line
49. Apply a small amount on dry spots on your body before fake tanning lotions are applied, and prevent uneven tanning!
50. Generously apply Vaseline all over before taking flights to combat associated dryness

And just for fun, this one is totally not beauty related, but VERY timely - here is #51:
Once you carve your Halloween pumpkin, rub Vaseline on the exposed edges. it keeps it from rotting or going dry.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

DIY Nail Polish



I have been on a search for "good" nail  polish lately.  Something that doesn't chip five minutes later.  While shopping for a grey matte like polish, all I could find was silver, glitter and metallic polish.  As I was getting frustrated ,my  thirteen year old cousin( might I add it was his birthday and he was ready to shop and get home for his party.dinner) tells me to just buy one white polish and a black one and mix.  I looked at him for a few seconds and gave him a hug.  I never thought about creating my own polish.

A few days later I found frakening.  Frakenpolish is when you create your own polish using different ingredients.

Follow this link for Frakenpolish 101 from the blog, Dr. Frakenpolish.

Some photos below from Dr. Frakenpolish:

Enjoy!




Monday, December 6, 2010

DIY Body Butter



Well, I can't speak for everyone, but the COLD weather has officially arrived to Chicago.  UGH!!  And what comes with cold weather....dry skin. So, I decided to create my own rich body butter. 

Ingredients:

  • 2oz Shea Butter
  • 2oz Mango Butter
  • 2oz Cocoa Butter
  • 3 tsp Apricot Oil
  • 1 tbs  Aloe Vera Gel
  • 1 tsp Beeswax (grated or pearls)
  • Lavender Essential Oil/ Fragrance Oil of Choice
  • 1/4 tsp Vitamin E Oil (preservative)
  • Clean Empty Jar ( i used one from a previous store bought cream, it's good to save jar FYI; economical and green)

Instructions:

Take all the ingredients and place them in a microwave safe bowl ( except the Fragrance Oil).   Place measuring cup in a pot/skillet with boiling water.  Let ingredients melt and stir.  When melted, stir in EO or Fragrance Oil and whip.  Pour mixture into clean jar and let sit overnight. 

               Note:  If you use the microwave, make sure all the beeswax pearls melt.

Voila!


My Results, Enjoy!
The jar was too large, but I wanted to make sure I liked this recipe before I made larger amounts.

Once the Butter Set

The butter will melt in your hands and once applied to the skin.  My next batch,  will try to make it creamier.  It felt very rich and smooth on my skin.  Great for the 9 degree weather here!


Ms. DIY

DIY Lip Balm and Stain

(sorry for pictures, I used my iPhone because camera was dead)
As with dry skin, come dry lips in the cold weather. This recipe will give you shine and color, plus protection against the cold weather.


Ingredients

1 tsp Cocoa Butter
1 tsp Almond Oil
1 tsp Beetroot Powder
1/4 tsp Beeswax (grated or pearls)
Lip Balm Jar ( I used old 1/2 ounce body glitter jar I had, green and economical)

Instructions:

Place ingredients in a glass measuring cup (except beet root powder).  Place measuring cup in a put/skillet with boiling water.  Let ingredients melt and stir.  Add in desired amount of beet root powder for desired results.  Pour mixture into clean jar.  Let balm set and use!

Voila!

The results were very rich and smooth on the lips.  Felt really good and soft.  I would suggest a good lip exfoliation and then applying this after.  I only wish I had used more beet root powder to get the sheer red look and a little less beeswax.  Next time!

                  - in attempt to soften and darken color I reheated the lip balm in the microwave an added beetroot powder.  FYI:  Do Not use microwave at full power or at all.  It will overcook your butters, thus causing it to become grainy,Lesson leraned.  Invest in good double boiler.
Enjoy!