kombucha snack

Kombucha (an ancient Chinese fermented tea with extolled health benefits) is now all the rage.

Unfortunately for my father and I, we have been making kombucha for years--about 9 to be exact. (Before it was popular and all the rage in the U.S. At the time people thought we were so weird because nobody had ever heard of it before.)

It's too bad--we could have made a fortune had we known our weird little fermented drink would take off like it did in mainstream grocery stores! We are kicking ourselves in the ass now. Oh well, too late.

This is really beside the point. We still brew our own kombucha tea and experiment with flavors.
If you are in the Contra Costa area (Pleasant Hill/Concord/Walnut Creek) and are looking to brew your own and need a scoby (a baby kombucha culture) I have way too many and would be happy to give you one.

Yesterday my dad invented a very healthy kombucha snack.
Here is his recipe.

Ingredients:
two apples, cut into bite size pieces
1/2-3/4 cup of favorite fruit flavored kombucha tea (either store bought or home made)
cinnamon
berries
yogurt
nuts or granola

Directions:
Cut apples into bite size pieces and spread on bottom of casserole or baking dish.
Pour kombucha tea over apples and sprinkle with cinnamon.
Bake at 295 degrees for 30 minutes.
Take out and spoon into bowls.
Add a dollop of all or one of: yogurt, berries, nuts and/or granola on top.

Enjoy!

If you want to read more about kombucha tea's supposed health benefits, I've listed some sites below for your reading pleasure. Decide for yourself if you think this stuff is a sham or a health wonder--but don't let it's "gross" looking cultures deter you.

http://www.foodrenegade.com/kombucha-health-benefits/

http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/stories/kombucha-tea-risks-and-benefits

http://www.fitsugar.com/Health-Benefits-Kombucha-Tea-377256

http://www.foodrenegade.com/kombucha-questions-answers/

http://www.happyherbalist.com/continuous_brewing.htm

http://www.kombuchakamp.com/basic-kombucha-faq/readers-questions-answered

bad news

I have bad news. Remember this post?

Well,  I saved up a little, splurged, and tried more MyChelle products . . . and they work.

Why is this bad you ask?

Because no lie, this stuff adds up! And now that I know it works . . . how could I possibly do without it!?

Here is what I got:

The Clear Skin Cleanser which you can find here.

I use this facewash at night before using toner, then the Perfect C Serum, spot treatment, then moisturizer. My intricate and time-consuming routine drives my boyfriend crazy, whoops! But anyways . . . I like this cleanser a lot. My skin is nice and clean afterwards but not dried out and so far I think it has cut down my breakouts--though it is hard to tell which product is doing the most work since I use a serum and a spot treatment too. 

One thing that bothers me: I seriously do not know why they call it "Youth Blemish Control". I would not consider myself "youth" anymore, but I still need blemish control! This is not a cleanser just for teenagers. The other cleanser I like is the White Cranberry Cleanser which you can find here.

Clear Skin Spot Treatment which you can find here.

Once again, this is not just for "youth".

I use this at night and in the morning (as needed). I always put it on after using serum but before moisturizer.

One reason I like this spot treatment is because, not only does it work to heal pimples fast, but also, unlike a lot of other spot treatments, it is quite easy to wear under makeup. Sometimes spot treatments ball up or flake off when you try to apply makeup, and sometimes moisturizer, even after it seems to have dried. If you have used spot treatments before I am sure you know what I am talking about.

Clear Skin Balancing Cream, which can be found here.

Even the people on the MyChelle website who write in reviews say they are "definitely not youth" and they "love" these blemish-controling products.

This moisturizer is an awesome, I mean, awesome, base for makeup. No primer needed. It just has a great matte finish that makes makeup look flawless. It helps control shine/oiliness through the entire day--my skin feels clean all day, not all gunked-up like it usually does by 3pm.

One thing is that you don't get a whole lot of moisture from this "cream". If you have dry skin, this might not be the best product for you. One thing I do to balance this out is I use the Clear Skin Balancing Cream in the morning, but at night I apply a heavier moisturizer. I prefer Neutrogena's Multi-Vitamin Night Cream because it doesn't clog pores but it delivers a lot of moisture. You can find it here. You can also find that night cream in Ulta or at Target.

Apple Brightening Mist, can be found here.

I use this in the morning after I have applied moisturizer, right before I put my makeup on.

Honestly, I could do without this product. I think maybe the Fruit Enzyme Mist, which can be found here, would probably be better suited for my skin. After reading the product reviews for the Apple Brightening Mist, I just really wanted to try it.

It's kind of sticky--too sticky--even after it dries. This is very annoying, which is why I find myself skipping it a lot in the morning just because it is not convenient to apply makeup right after spraying it on my face. It's just so sticky.

I thought maybe I should spray it before I apply moisturizer, but still . . . it just doesn't feel good on my skin. I feel like I have a layer over my face which makes it harder for my skin to breathe. Although that's probably all in my head, there is something to be said for the way a product makes you feel. I do not want to start the day feeling like I have a layer of gunk stuck to my face.

I wish I could work for MyChelle--that would be my dream job! Sadly, that will probably remain in my dreams only, but I would seriously be one of their best and most truthful advocates (-:

I hope you all found this info useful!

Let me know if you try any of these products--I would love to know how well they work for others too.

beautiful skin and saving the bunnies

A few months ago a Sprouts was built near my house. So of course, I went and browsed their beauty section.

If you don't know what Sprouts is, it's like a huge indoor farmers market--it resembles Whole Foods in the kinds of food it carries, but they are cheaper and have things like homemade "Sprouts" peanutbutter.

They have a huge selection of cruelty-free, all-natural, all-organic products for any and all of your beauty needs. But this is not a post about how awesome (but sometimes over-priced) Sprouts is.

I am posting because it was in Sprouts that I discovered a line of skin care products called MyChelle.

And I am nothing short of AMAZED.

Don't worry if you read this and want to try some of the MyChelle products but don't have a Sprouts near you (I don't know any other stores that carry MyChelle, maybe Whole Foods?)--you can get everything online on their website here, or also search for their products on Amazon.

Basically, all of the products I have tried have been more effective than anything else I have used and all their products are natural. Everything is non-toxic and derived from plants, extracts and plant stem cells AND they use renewable packaging. They are very eco-aware and put their knowledge about the power of nature into their products.

Also, the MyChelle packaging has the "cruelty free" symbol on it, and they say on their website that they are 100% cruelty free which I have been trying to pay more attention to. I have a bunny and it breaks my heart to think that there are bunnies out there being tested on, all for the purpose of human surface beauty. I am not going to go all righteous on you guys, but when you can, which I know isn't realistic all the time, please try to buy cruelty free products. No one can be perfect, but when we are faced with the choice between cruelty free and not, maybe trying our best to get the cruelty free product will help out at least a little.

Lola the bunny




If you want more specific details on MyChelle you can read more about them here.

I encourage you to browse their website. You can chat with a skin care professional, read every single ingredient in a product before you buy it, read customer reviews, and browse helpful articles and skin care tips. Like their products, their website is packed with good stuff and you get a lot out of it.

I have very fair, acne-prone, sensitive skin...not good combos.

This is what I use from MyChelle, though I want to try more!

White Cranberry Cleanser

I use this cleanser every night before I go to bed. This cleanser refines my pores and my skin is so much less oily but it is not dry either, which sometimes I have trouble with. I guess you could say I have combination skin--oily, but at the same time it can be dry and flaky. Yuck. I don't know how good it is at preventing blemishes, which is why I want to try the Clear Skin Cleanser to compare. You can find the White Cranberry Cleanser here. Also, the Clear Skin Cleanser that I want to try but haven't yet, you can find here.



Perfect C Serum



I use this serum every night before I go to bed and I have seen my skin do a 180. It does the most amazing things--most notably, practically rids me completely of acne. Whatever acne I do get is noticably less red and my pimples are much smaller. My skin is smooth, the texture is silky and it looks much brighter. It doesn't smell great, and I would suggest letting it dry for ten minutes before you go to bed, but the results are so so so worth it. I use it ten minutes after I wipe my face with the toner from my DIY beautiful skin toner post. You can find Perfect C Serum here. Also, with this stuff, a little goes a long way.



Clear Skin Serum



Last, but not least, I use the Clear Skin Serum every morning. I use this, then moisturize and then apply my makeup. It has made a huge difference in my skin. My skin produces significantly less oil throughout the day, and yet, at the same time, it is completely hydrated. This serum has detoxifying clay in it that helps to keep your pores from getting clogged and antioxidants to protect it from environmental stressors while simultaneously getting rid of acne. It's awesome, I just cannot say enough about it. You can find it here.

The other products I want to try are the Clear Skin Balancing Cream which moiturizes while also preventing acne, and also the Clear Skin Spot Treatment. Another one that looks enticing is the Apple Brightening Mist.

Clear Skin Spot Treatment

The only downside to MyChelle...now that I have made it all sound so wonderful...is the price.

Be prepared to spend a lot.

Is it worth the money? I can confidently say that it totally is after some consecutive months of usage. But I wanted to make sure it was worth spending the dough on before I told you guys about it.

This is also the reason why I have not tried all of the products that I want to try.

Also, Sprouts does not carry every single product, so some of these I can only get online. Some products you can get for cheaper on Amazon than the on MyChelle site.

Have a wonderful Thursday!

DIY Toner, for beautiful skin of course...

Beautiful skin is healthy skin, and this toner is healthy for your skin.

I love expensive skin-clearing/skin beautifying products just as much as the next girl, but I won't spend the money on an expensive toner that claims to work wonders because I can make my own that works just as many wonders as the expensive stuff does.

 I know because I have been using this toner for a while now and can definitely vouch for its awesome awesome skin results. Best part is that it costs close to nothing (especially compared to those so-called miracle toners I walk past in Sephora..yikes! $75? No thanks).

The ingredients for this toner all together cost around $20. Best part though? You can make tons and tons of batches. So one bottle of toner ends up costing you less than a dollar.

This toner smooths, brightens and clears your skin. I used it on my shoulders when they started to break out (which they always do in the winter!) and I saw huge results in the clarity of my skin in about four days. It works way better than the drying over-the-counter creams and even better, it doesn't bleach my clothes like the store bought topical acne medication.

This stuff works, but one warning is that your significant other or roommate might not appreciate the smell...it has apple cider vinegar in it which has a really strong and not so great smell to it. But if you can tough out the smell, it will definitely be worth it.

Also, if you put it on before you go to bed, the smell will wear off by morning.

Ingredients:

1oz bottle

3 drops lavendar essential oil

8 drops tea tree oil

raw apple cider vinegar

witch hazel

hydrogen peroxide (optional)

four drops lemon juice (optional)

**Note: I used a one-ounce bottle. If you are using a container that is larger, just follow the recipe but double or triple it depending on the size container you are using.**

First I put about three or four drops of the lavendar.

Lavendar essential oil has soothing properties and helps calm blemished skin. It also helps to dull the harsh smell of the apple cider vinegar.

Second I put around 8-10 drops of tea tree oil.

Tea tree oil is an anti-bacterial and is good for clearing up blemishes and giving the skin a good deep-cleansing to get the grime out of those pores.

Third, I put about a cap full of hydogen peroxide (this ends up being about 12 drops all together). You don't have to do this step. It isn't necessary and it's a great toner without the hydrogen peroxide. The reason why I put it in is because it is an antiseptic and also helps lighten sun spots and scars and it also is very effective at drying out pimples (which is why it is used in almost all over-the-counter topical acne medication).

Some pople say it's good for acne, but some people say it wreaks havoc on your skin. It can be too drying for people with skin that has a tendency to be dry and flaky already. Don't use it if you have dry or really sensitive skin.

Next is another optional step. I put about four or five drops of fresh lemon juice in with my toner. Lemon juice has a lot of enzymes in it so it helps to lighten acne scars and also brighten skin.

If you are obsessed with being tan, don't use the lemon juice...or the hydrogen peroxide for that matter. Both of these ingredients will probably take away, or at least significantly lighten your tan.

If you want to use the lemon juice, I would suggest making a small amount of toner at a time since it is a food and doesn't have a really long shelf life. If you are making a big batch, skip the lemon juice. You don't want your toner to go bad before you are finished using it.

(Ignore the fact that the bottle is full in this picture...I took the picture with the lemon next to the bottle after I was finished making the toner.)

Next, I fill the bottle 3/4 of the way full with raw apple cider vinegar.

Make sure it says on the apple cider vinegar that it is raw, organic and unfiltered. Refined and pastuerized apple cider vinegar will not work the same.

Raw apple cider vinegar is fermented and is loaded with so many great skin benefits. It helps the pH balance of your skin. It is filled with alpha hydroxy acid which helps with flaky or dry patches on skin, heals blemishes, and lightens age spots and sun spots. 

People also claim that apple cider helps increase circulation to the skin. This is a claim that I am not 100% sure about, but if it is true, then that's awesome too! It is great to have around because it really works well as just a spot treatment if you have a pimple.

People also drink raw apple cider vinegar to help clear up their blemishes from the inside out.

(You can see here with a 1oz bottle about where I fill it to with the apple cider vinegar.)

The last step is filling the bottle the rest of the way full with witch hazel.

Witch hazel is a disinfectant, an astringent and it contains antioxidants.

It is mild, so it doesn't dry out skin, but it is effective at cleansing and minimizing pores. It tones your skin while fighting acne-causing bacteria at the same freakin' time.

Try it out and see how it works for your skin!



DIY Matte Lipstick

Let's talk LIPS!

SO what do you do if you are on a budget and you are obsessed with matte lipstick, or you just already found your perfect red shade, you just wish it came in matte as well? Well then hopefully this video below will solve all of your problems!

Oh and something else that's great, mattifying your lipstick also makes it last much longer. It's perfect if you are going into a situation where you probably won't be able to re-apply for a while.

 

Before you watch the video, please excuse the rampant mess and dissgusting walls...I know I know, it's gross, I'm so sorry, please just ignore it! Enjoy (-:

 

 

 

ELF High Definition Powder here.

Revlon Just Bitten Lip Balm/Stain in Sweatheart here.

 

If you want to make your own lip plump you can look at my post on DIY Lip Plump here.

No time to make your own lip plump?

I also use Salley Hansen Vita-C Lip Plump which you can get here. I got it at Walgreens for $4.

 

Also, if you made your own Mineral Veil/Face Powder from my post here, you can also use that to mattify your lipstick.

 

In my matte post I talked about the NARS Lip Pencil in Cruella. This is a great blue-red and looks especially nice against light skin. NARS also has other great matte colors in this same lip pencil. You can check them out here. Below is a picture of the NARS in Cruella.

 

I know I know, I'm sooo white.

 

 

I also love love love Tarte's LipSurgence because it's like the Revlon Just Bitten. It is a lip stain and a balm in one AND it's MATTE--at the same time!! SOO awesome!

 BUT the Revlon Just Bitten Balm/Stain is around $7 while the Tarte stains are more pricey like the NARS, both being around $24. You can check out Tarte here. WARNING: You will be tempted to buy all of the colors!

 





Hollywood Secrets or Aztec Secrets?

 

 

Soo this product sounds promising.

Supposedly it is a "super-clearing mud mask" that vacuums out everything in your pores and can also be used as a spot treatment, literally sucking out pimples. Kind of gross but it gets my attention.

Want to see the vacuuming action? Take a look at this picture...

 

 

All of those little bubbles are said to be the gunk being sucked out of your pores.

 

The only problem? It's $69!

Needless to say I am definitely on the fence when it comes to buying this product, I need to be sure it is as awesome as it sounds before shelling out that kind of cash.

 

I have read all of the Sephora reviews, and honestly, I have never seen so many five-star reviews for one product. I think pretty much every single person gave this product five stars except for maybe one person. You can check it out for yourself here.

 

This mask came out of Hollywood and one of the big fusses about this product is so many movie stars swear by it. It is packed with tons of good ingredients for your skin and it utilizes this new PORE-MATRIX™ technology saying:

"NEW PORE-MATRIX™ Our Activated-X Charcoal is an Xtreme absorption carbon, attracting toxic substances into its mass up to 500 times its volume from all skin types, within the deepest & toughest areas. Our new proprietary K17-Clay™ will better extract & encapsulate excess sebum oils, bacteria & toxins in a controlled stasis state, revealing a Pore-Matrix™ of extraction dots & areas, ready to be washed away for seemingly poreless skin."

 

If you want to read more about it, please visit Ivory and Olive's review on this product here.

They go into even more depth about the ingredients in this mask and how it came about.

 

Now, one reason I really really hesitate to go grab this product, even the sample which you can check out here,  (even the sample packets are a lot of mulah), is because I use this super magnetic Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay mask that suctions everything out of my pores. It deep cleans and detoxifies and also improves circulation to your skin. The best part? It is only about $6 for a huge 1LB jar of it! The GlamGlow at $69 per jar is not even one pound.

 

 

I usually mix some of this clay with some raw apple cider vinegar (which works wonders for skin even on its own) and put it on my face and back until it dries completely--you will know when it is dry because the skin on your face is being pulled by the mask. It works wonders. It detoxifies and clears and heals.

 

It does not, however, contain all of the wonderful ingredients that GlamGlow clay has, but it is natural and it works, so do I really need all that extra stuff in the GlamGlow mask?

 

I mean, it does sound enticiing, but I am not sure that it is really necessary to drop $69 v.s. $6 if the difference in results are not going to be that huge.

 

Most of us really have no choice--we simply cannot afford the $69 little jar of supposed skin miracles. If you are in that boat, then definitely try this Indian Healing Clay. I think that it is a great, very cheap alternative/substitution for the expensive stuff.

 

This is the back of the jar.

 

 It is normal for your skin to be a little red or flushed for about a half hour after you use it, but a week goes by and suddenly your skin it starting to looking glowy and clear.

 

If you have really sensitive skin, do not mix it with raw apple cider vinegar, mix it with water instead. You choose the consistency of your own mask--how thin or thick you want the mask to be, the ratio of water or vinegar you use to the clay--thin masks will be a little more gentle.

 

 

 

You can find this Indian Healing Clay at really any health store around. I have even seen it in a few drug stores like CVS. I get mine at Sprouts but I am sure they have it at places like Whole Foods and New Leaf. If you cannot find any near you, you can order it online here. Here is also a link to the organic apple cider vinegar I use by Bragg.

 

Don't buy this jar for more than $8 on Amazon, that would be a rip off. I bought my jar for only $4.95 at Harvest House on Monument in Concord, CA.

 

 

 

 

Hope this helps for all you ladies on a budget, yet drooling over those little jars of GlamGlow like me!

 



Blemish Powder

EyesLipsFace (ELF) has this Mineral Blemish Powder that I use every single day. It is awesome.

On the actual ELF site this product has mixed reviews, like most products, but I personally give it five stars. It in no way claims to be a concealer, so it doesn't have a lot of coverage and is very sheer. BUT it fades pimples and makes them less red and it is perfect to wear underneath any foundation/concealer. I feel like it almost creates a pimple-fighting barrier between my skin and my foundation when I wear it.

Sometimes if my skin is looking pretty good, or I am camping in the summer, I will wear it alone. It goes on looking very natural.

Best part?

It has TONS of awesome ingredients in it that give your blemished/acneic/oily skin great benefits.

Kaolin soothes irritated and blemished skin and helps to heal.

Willow Bark helps prevent acne and naturally contains salycilic acid.

Tea Tree Oil is an anti-bacterial and keeps pores clear of dirt and grime.

You can get ELF Mineral Blemish Powder here.

One of the great things about the ELF website is that every product has a video to go along with it. It shows you how to best use the product and also gives you a full list of ingredients.

Do I sound like a walking ad for ELF? Sorry!

But I have found that being a girl on a budget, ELF is such a great website because everything is just so dang cheap compared to other places. You get the most bang for your buck! Target carries some of their stuff, and sometimes so does Grocery Outlet, which is nice because then you don't have to pay for shipping, but sadly, I have not found the Blemish Powder in Target yet.

Anyways, pretty much all of the beneficial ingredients in the ELF Mineral Blemish Powder, you can use to make your own really great acne-fighting concealer. Refer to my post here. And also here for more info on the ingredients.

The one thing that the ELF Blemish Powder has that I don't use is Sulfur. Sulfur is beneficial for acne-prone skin, but not great for sensitive skin because it can be very harsh and irritating.

Hope all is well!

DIY Matte Nailpolish

 

 

Ingredients:

1) One bottle of clear nailpolish (.45 fl oz/13.3 ml)

(I used NYC Long Wearing Nail Enamel #271 topcoat--cheap, only $.85 at Target!)

2) 3 1/2 tsps of cornstarch

 

 

 

As you can see, I made a mess. It is impossible not to! So, learn from my lesson and don't do it on the carpet like me, although, I have to admit, doing it on the carpet was a stupid thing to do in the first place.

 

The results were not what I expected, and I would recommend shelling out the bucks and buying a matte topcoat instead of trying to make one. Here is the one I usually use.

 

 

 

It turns out that the cornstarch clumps and balls up in the nailpolish as you add it in, so each time you add a little bit, you have to stir it around really well with the nailpolish brush.

 

After a little while the cornstarch will settle to the bottom so you have to shake it up.

 

The mattifying effect works alright after you add enough cornstarch. The cornstarch also makes your nailpolish dry a lot faster. So I guess you are kind of killing two birds with one stone.

 

 If you want to make your own quick-dry top coat that still has a shine to it, add only one tsp of cornstarch to your clear nailpolish.

 

 

 

The color I used to start out: Sinful Colors in Innocent (#944).

 

I was trying to take pictures of before and after, but it is really hard to see the mattifying effect. The picture at the top is an after picture if you want to look and try to compare. You can tell that the polish doesn't shine as much in the first picture as it does in the pictures directly above. 

 

Bottom line, if you are looking to quickly mattify...or dry...your nails, the answer is yes, cornstarch works, after much effort and work, and the best thing is that if you have an old clear nailpolish lying around and some cornstarch in the cabinet, and you are pinched for time, it is a lot cheaper and quicker than going to the store to buy a matte topcoat.

 

One other aside is that people also enjoy adding broken eyeshadow to their nailpolish to change the color slightly and also to give it a more matte color, or just dull the shine a little or add some sparkle. I have not tried this but maybe I will experiment and post about it later. If you have experimented with this I am sure we would all like to hear! Or if you do experiment with adding eyeshadow, let us know how it goes!

 

On another note, in my Matte post, I talked a little bit about ManGlaze. I LOVE this matte nailpolish and wish I could buy every single color, but it is kind of pricey. Here is a picture of the color "Fatty's Got More Blood". I swear that is the official name of the nailpolish, I couldn't make this shit up. It's a good vampire red and the matte finish gives it an edge.

 

 

This is only one coat. It becomes much a much deeper red as you add layers.

 

ManGlaze

"Fatty's Got More Blood"

 

I will be posting again about DIY matte lipstick! Check back soon (-:

 



 

 



DIY Concealer Updated

Hey all, so I have updated the DIY Concealer/Foundation post. I was finally able to upload all of the pictures. You can check it out here.

I will be doing a DIY matte lipstick post as well as a DIY matte nailpolish post to follow up on my "Matte" post which you can check out here.

Happy Friday!!

Until next time, here is a photo I took on Mount Diablo last weekend.

Toilet Seat Covers

 

Want a weird tip?

 

Oily face? Sweaty from dancing in a club or from being smashed between bodies in a crowded bar?

 

In a pinch...or even not in a pinch...use the smooth side of a toilet seat cover to wipe you face clean.

 

 

 

Oil blotting papers are usually not that expensive, but are honestly just not necessary to spend your money on. I have found that using toilet seat covers to blot the oil from my face sometimes works even better than some oil blotting papers that I have bought from the store or cosmetic companies.

 

Toilet seat covers absorb the oil from you skin, erasing shine and leaving you with a nice matte finish without taking off your makeup.

 

There are two sides to the toilet seat cover. One is more papery, and one is much smoother and feels like waxed paper. Use the waxed, smooth side.

 

This has definitely saved me a few times!

Really, anywhere you are, you are almost definitely going to be able to find a bathroom which almost always has a toilet seat cover in it.

Just one less thing you have to carry around with you in your purse--although, you could steal a few seat covers and fold them nicely or rip them into squares and keep them with you in a little baggy or something.

I know it's weird, but it's free! And who really cares? They are free, sanitary and they get the job done. Sounds awesome to me!

 

Because you can find them anywhere and everywhere you will never be without any options if you have oily skin or you are stuck rushing across campus on a hot day in spring or summer. Sounds great to me, you are covered at school, work, a restaurant, in a bar, on a date...

Not convinced? Here are some that I like, but I have to say, they cost more than toilet seat covers since they are not free, and they work just about the same!

 

I hope you find this useful!

Happy Friday

 



DIY Concealer/Foundation DUO: PART 1 of 2

 

So this is part 1 of a 2-part post. I wanted to do this in two parts because there is too much information to pack in to one post. It would be overwhelming.

 

I like to make my own powdered concealer (you could also use it as a foundation though) because...

1. I know that it is a cruelty-free product, since I made it 

2. It is a lot cheaper than a lot of pricey concealer but just as good as say, BareMinerals and

3. I can use only natural ingredients that are great for my skin and that make my skin look fabulous

 

 

For this first part, I just want to intrduce the ingredients that I use for this project. But know that as I tell you about each ingredient and why I use it, you are also welcome to not use whatever ingredients you feel you do not need for your skin. I have tailored my formula around what benefits I think my skin is in need of. Your skin may very well have other needs, or not all the needs of my skin.

 

All these ingredients are herbs and I usually get them from Mountain Rose Herbs because they are organic and safe and they have a lot of fair trade options. You can visit their website here.

Here goes the list:

 

1. Witch Hazel Bark powder: Witch hazel that you can find at drugstores (liquid form) is extracted from the bark and twigs. Witch hazel is anti-inflammatory and helps with vericose veins and can also help tighten pores. Can be found here.

 



 

    2. White Willow Bark powder: White willow bark naturally contais salicylic acid which we know is found is almost all acne treatment products. It is anti-inflammatory and helps to reduce swelling and relieve sensitivity. Can be found here.

 

 

 

    3. Rose Hips powder: Rose hips naturally contain a lot of vitamin C. It hydrates the skin rather than drying it out and is contains antioxidants. It is good for anti-aging properties as well. Can be found here.

 

 

 

    4. Marshmallow Root powder: This root is anti-inflammatory and an antibiotic which is why it is used a lot on localized skin problems, like boils, burns and sores. It helps in healing wounds and irritations. I have found a website that lists a lot of the benefits of marshmallow root which you can check out here. You can find marshmallow root here.

 









 

 

    5. Burdock Root powder: Please visit this website here for awesome information on burdock root. This herb is great for detoxification and purification of the skin. I is used a lot to treat chronix skin problems and also, like rose hip powder, contains tons of vitamin C which is a great anti-oxidant and anti-againg vitamin for the skin. Can be found here.

 

 

 



     6. Cinnamon: Yes, I know, quite unusual...if you do not feel comfortable putting cinnamon on your face, no one is making you, but this is a great, natural way to get the right color for your DIY concealer. Cinnamon can bring blood and oxygen to the skin surface which can help with blood flow. This helps with acne and healing. BUT cinnamon can also be drying and irritating. My skin is very sensitive, but I do not use enough of it in my concealer formula to irritate my skin or to dry it out. Chances are, if it doesn't irritate my skin, it probably won't irritate yours--but there is always that chance, so I suggest spot-testing this concealer before you use it all over your face. You can get cinnamon at any grocery store. Use organic cinnamon only on your skin. This is the one that I use:

 

 

 

 

For these last three products, you can also reference my post on DIY mineral veil here.

 

    7. Arrowroot Powder: This starch can be found at any health food store, even many regular grocery stores carry this product. Arrowroot powder nourishes and moisturizes the skin while absorbing oil. Most powder products on the market use modified cornstarch. Arrowroot powder essetially has the same effects but it is even better for your skin and is really great for sensitive skin. I also use this as a base in my DIY mineral veil powder.

 



 

    8. Kaolin: Kaolin is a product that is used in a lot of makeup products. It has really great covering ability and also absorbs oil. It's real main purpose for me is that it helps to clear up break outs and also sooths irritated, blemished skin. It also refines pores. You can get a bag of kaolin here.



 

 

    9. Mica: Mica powder is a texterizer and helps to aid in making the powder adhere to your face while also not irritating your skin. It also helps the different ingredient adhere to each other. It prolongs the staying power of the powder. There are tons of color options when it comes to buying mica. For face makeup, buy the translucent powder. You can get mica powder here.

 

 

 

So there you have all of the ingredients. Check back in about a day or so. I will be posting the exact formula for the concealer that I use. Remember, though, that I have really light skin. Your formula may vary from mine according to your skin color. I will explain more about how to experiment with color in my next post. All the best!