By making your own summer skin beauty concoctions, you can save money, and gain the added benefit of using all natural ingredients.
Tamika Fletcher is all about natural ingredients.
"I have very naturally sensitive skin, so I am always looking for things that don't have fragrance, don't have color, don't have extra dyes," Fletcher said.
Her kitchen has become her beauty lab.
"I am a mad scientist. I tried all my own formulas on myself first," she said.
So Fletcher is sharing her favorite beauty skin concoctions. First up is a natural sunscreen. She calls them sunscreen cakes.
"A sunscreen cake basically puts together all those things that naturally protect you from the sun," Fletcher said.
To create a sunscreen cake, you will need a cup of coconut oil, a cup of cocoa butter, a cup of beeswax and two tablespoons of zinc oxide. Zinc oxide can usually be found in the diaper aisle or online.
"Mix the ingredients together in a Pyrex. I just the microwave to melt the ingredients, maybe about five minutes or until they're fully melted," Fletcher said.
Pour the mixture into cupcake mold and set them in the fridge for 45 minutes. Once they have set, liberally apply all over your skin.
Next up is a foot scrub for tired, dry, cracked feet.
"We all know it's time to put on sandals so we want our feet to look nice but pedicures can really add up," Fletcher said.
For this foot scrub, soak your feet in a mixture of warm water and milk for 15 minutes. To create your scrub, use any essential oil and sugar, then scrub on your feet then use a pumice stone to remove dead skin. Rinse off the mixture, dry off your feet, then use a Stridex pad.
"The Stridex has salicylic acid that is great for softening dry dead skin," Fletcher said.
Finally use a thick moisturizer or even diaper cream and put on socks to lock in the moisture.
Finally, Fletcher loves Monoi oil for a natural bronzer.
"Monoi oil is a sacred oil to me because I use it so much in the products that we make in the salon. But it's a great way to naturally bronze your skin," Fletcher said.
You can find Monoi oil online or at specialty shops for about $11.
"The Monoi oil has a natural fat that really makes your skin shine and makes it soft and supple, and natural bronzer in the sun," Fletcher said.
If you want to add a sun-kissed look to your hair, whether you have dark hair or light hair, Fletcher gave us her natural lightener recipe. You can find most of the ingredients in the natural care section of most grocery stores. Here's what you'll need:
1. Natural hair highlighter
You'll need:
- 1 cup Chamomile tea
- 1/4 cup vodka or vinegar
- ½ fresh lemon juice
Mix ingredients in an 8 oz spray bottle. Then spray on hair for several days to get natural highlights.
2. Sunscreen bar
You'll need:
- 1 cup coconut oil
- 1 cup shea butter, cocoa butter or mango butter (or a mix of all three equal to 1 cup)
- 1 cup beeswax (can add an extra ounce or two if you want a thicker consistency, which leaves less lotion on the skin when used)
- 2 tablespoons (or more) of zinc oxide (available online or in many stores on the diaper aisle, just make sure it is pure zinc oxide)
- Optional: Vitamin E oil to preserve. (I added 1 tsp vitamin E oil for this recipe made with 1 cup of each ingredient)
- Optional: A few drops of vanilla or essential oil for scent (do not use citrus oils!)
3. Secret to smooth heels
You'll need:
- 1 cup milk
- Sugar or salt (either will work)
- Baby oil, sweet almond oil or coconut oil
- Pumice stone
- Stridex, found in the acne section of any drugstore
- Thick moisturizer
- Socks
How-to:
- Soak feet for 5-10 minutes in a warm foot bath made with 1 cup milk and 5 cups warm water.
- Create a homemade foot scrub by putting 4 tablespoons salt or sugar in 1/2 cup oil. Baby oil, sweet almond oil or coconut oil or even vegetable oil works well.
- Massage the homemade foot scrub in a circular motion into bottoms of feet.
- Scrub bottoms of feet with the pumice stone. Rinse and dry feet.
- Before you go to bed that night, try this tip: Rub a Stridex pad over dry areas of feet. Stridex, a product found in the acne section of any drugstore, contains 2 percent salicylic acid so it's a great exfoliant for the feet.
- Apply moisturizer thickly on feet (do not wash off Stridex). A super-rich moisturizer like cocoa butter, works best. Cover with socks.
4. Monoi Skin Bronzing Oil
- This is a rare oil that originated in the French Polynesia Tahiti.
- It's a base of coconut oil, but it's blended with Tahitian Tihari flowers, and that's where the oil comes from.
- It's special because the oil has been manufactured the same way for over 1,000 years.
- This can be used as a chemical free bronzer and moisturizer for the summer using Monoi.
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