[hippie hacks] Three Favorite Real Food Beauty Tips

Okay. Sometimes it’s not ALL about the butter around here.

Hippie Hacks.

This will be a new series of mine, because let’s face it; if you

a.) live in an off-grid house

b.) don’t use a blowdryer since your solar panels will get too overdrawn

c.) actually possess a COMPOSTABLE TOILET. Or,

d.) all of the above plus many, many more damning tidbits of hippieness

— you are a card-carrying, lighter-waving, tie-dying, proudly dirty

HIPPIE.

Which as you may know by now, applies to me. So please, allow me to share some of my natural-living tips and tricks from being one of the hippiest little bloggers you might find on your RSS feed.

{Oh, what’s that you say?! You haven’t subscribed yet? Because I’m a blogging n00b and didn’t even have a Feedburner account until like five minutes ago? It’s there now, I think it even works. Please make my day and click that happy little button at the top of the page. Know that I do a little squeal and a dance when you do.}

So! Today I’d like to share three of my latest favorite real-food-friendly beauty tips!

1.) Scrub Your Face with Soda

Baking soda. The stuff can do anything! Scrub your sinks, de-stink your fridge, whiten your teeth, bake your goods… the list goes on. But have you ever used it as a quick and easy facial exfoliant and cleanser? It’s the poor woman’s microdermabrasion, I tell you. Except a lot gentler. Here’s how I make it work:

• Find a container to re-purpose with an easily-opening lid. This way, you won’t have to fumble around with those impossible cardboard boxes, or a bag of loose soda or anything. You want something handy and semi-waterproof that you can keep in or near your shower. I used an old vitamin bottle with a flip-top lid.
• Pour a bit out into the palm of your hand and add a few drops of water to make a nice paste.
• Rub and scrub in gentle circles all over your face. Optional: use a face brush to really dig it in there.
• Rinse and revel in your cleverly-attained $0.03 facial!

This makes everything so smooth! You’ll notice that makeup goes on more evenly and that all the dry flakies are history. My trouble areas for that tend to be around the corners of my nose — the baking soda clears it right up. I swear, it’s even starting to make my pores smaller and helping to diminish clogged ones in my T-zone.

I generally do this once every couple days, very lightly, then a harder scrub once a week. I’m a firm believer that most people over-clean themselves — do you really get that much actual dirt on your face? Oil, sure, but did you know that if you clean your face less frequently, your sebaceous glands will actually produce less of the slick stuff? Just wipe with a towel on days when you don’t wash.

2.) Moisturize with Coconut Oil

 

 

Coconut oil is a such a wondrous treasure, isn’t it? If you’re a Real Foodie, you know it’s one of the healthiest things to consume — loaded with all that good saturated fat! Perfect for mixing into your cooking, excellent for high-temp frying, and even great to bake with.

I love it for all those reasons, but I also love to slather it all over my body.

If you’ve never done this, I know what you’re thinking.

“Gross! Won’t that make you super greasy-looking?!”

Shockingly, no! I had heard of this Hack quite a while ago, but just was not convinced it wouldn’t leave me looking like a slippery, slick mess. Especially on my already-prone-to-oiliness face.

But since I already have a perma-look of nasty, sweaty from year-round tropical humidity “dewy” skin, I figured it was worth a shot. Coconut oil actually seems to absorb quite well into my skin! Reports from fellow Hippie friends in less dew-prone areas of the globe have said the same.

I mean, go easy on the stuff — just rub enough onto your hands to make them “glisten” and gently wipe your face. It really shouldn’t leave you looking like a greaseball. If you went overboard though, wash your hands and try wiping some of it off, or even dabbing with a clean towel. If you’re still a bit hesitant and worried about looking too oily, give it a try at night before you go to bed (where no one in public can see you!).

For an all-over glow, oil-up your whole body! Spreading it on your arms and decollete gives a healthy, hydrated look to your skin, and using it anywhere you shave will help ease dryness and razor burn.

Oh and — bonus! Coconut oil actually doubles as a healthy sunscreen! Put THAT in your toxic-chemical-laden pipe and smoke it, Banana Boat!

3.) Condition Hair with Avocado

The idea of using this wonder-food as a beauty aid has been around the block — even unto ancient cultures such as the Aztec and the Mayan — so you may have already heard this one. But if you’re anything like me, you’d much rather put your precious (spendy!) avocado in your belly than in your hair. And if you’ve actually tried one of the traditional hair remedies with it, such as mashing up the fruit with an egg yolk and some olive oil and pouring it over your locks in the name of fighting the frizz — you know what a HUGE mess that can lead to!

Thankfully, there’s a better way.

Skip the pit, and go straight for the oil. Avocado oil works wonderfully as a substitute for smashing up the good stuff. Here’s my routine with it:

• Pour a little puddle into your palm.
• Work the oil straight into your dry hair, concentrating on the ends. I pretty much just do the bottom half of my hair.
• Leave on for at least 10 minutes or so, but ideally, as long as you can.
• Wash your hair as per your normal routine.
• Notice that super-soft and shiny, magnificent mane of yours!

If you can’t see yourself spending the $1-$2 an ounce a bottle of avocado oil will cost you, consider that it won’t just serve as food for your hair. Avocado oil has a high smoke point, making it great to cook with, and it’s light flavor lends itself to a great substitute for olive oil in many cases where you don’t want such a noticeable taste. It also offers a nice balanced dose of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, in addition to antioxidant vitamins A, D, E and even beta-carotene. Go for it!

 

Well, that’s it for today. Stay tuned next weekend for another episode of Hippie Hacks! 😀

 

{This post is linked to Monday Mania,  Traditional Tuesdays, Real Food Wednesday, Simple Lives Thursday, and Fight Back Friday!}

{Last photo credit}