DIY skin care starts in your kitchen

Leave fruit or cheese or bread long enough in your fridge and before long it will be covered in mold. This is mold that you can see. Leave yogurt in the fridge long enough and you will even see a film of colorful bacteria growing on it.

Long before you see anything, bacteria and mold will be feasting on the food you leave uneaten. That’s good: that is the cycle of life (and the cycle of nitrogen, carbon, etc.).

This is the way nature works but it may not be good for you. You may get sick if any of those molds or bacteria produce chemicals that your body does not like. The same is true for your ski (and eyes!). So be careful, and don’t prepare any “serums” without adequate preservatives, you can get very sick.

However, there is stuff in your kitchen that you can use without preservatives, if you use them the within a day or maybe two.

Some options:

Exfoliation: the proteases used in skin care are extracted from papaya and pineapple. Kiwi also has some powerful proteases. Cut some thin slices, apply to your face and there you have a great excuse for a long relaxing “beauty session”. Even better is done in the company of friends. Rinse very well after a while (I would start with 10 minutes or even less) because the proteases will continue to work.

What’s next? How about some nutrition using plain, full fat yogurt applied with fingers or, if you feel sophisticated, a brush? Full of amino acids and at an acidity that will not hurt.

Get some coconut milk (no sugar added) for nutrition that is good for the coconut cells and also for yours. No acidity here, so sensitive skin will be OK.

Celery is a no-no. Some plants have chemicals that in combination with light will burn your skin.

Lettuce, spinach may be useful for color but chlorophyll is not what your skin needs.

If you are ever tempted by silly adds promising you the “benefits” of plant stem cells, don’t listen. They use apple juice just like you can get from the nice apple you buy in the supermarket.

If you want to add the benefits of caviar, don’t buy an expensive product. They use fish eggs (the cheap ones) which you can buy in the supermarket.

What can you get from tea? Make yourself a “cuppa” and use the tea bag, now almost cold, to decrease the size of the under eye bags you got after a night of partying. Here, the hero is caffeine.

For coffee: use some instant coffee to give you body lotion the aroma and color of a cappuccino. Or after making an espresso in your home coffee machine, use the grounds to exfoliate your skin. Coffee is a treasure of valuable chemicals.

Any ideas? Ask me and I will tell you whether they are a good idea, by looking at the chemicals the plant contains.

Have fun!