Natural beauty can be a bummer when it doesn’t deliver. We are sold products every day, everywhere we look, that are “engineered” to perform miracles, and when a natural remedy fails you, its easy to be tempted back onto the toxic chemical beauty trail.

However, some natural beauty secrets ARE actually fabulous and better than anything you can buy in a beautifully packaged, chemically-rich bottle.

Not only do they perform well, some of these home-mixed beauty goodies are leagues better than drowning your skin & hair in chemicals that do, indeed, seep into your body.

Here are some beauty secrets that you can find in the average kitchen ( or can stock in your kitchen from now on!) that will not disappoint!

RAW HONEY: Filled with enzymes, raw honey is the easiest, most fabulous face masque I have ever come across.  Wash your face well, apply a tablespoon or two of raw honey to your skin and leave it on for 15-20 mins.  Le voila!  Check your glowing skin.  And it works for just about any skin type, which is amazing.  A more luxe, more expensive honey, “Manuka Honey”, can be used to heal acne, but I find that raw honey is enough.

COCONUT OIL:  Raw, virgin coconut oil is the best massage oil (smells so good, tastes so good) I have found, but it is also an all-round excellent body oil and the ultimate eye makeup remover I have ever found.  A little coconut oil liquefied in your palm and carefully rubbed over your eye makeup will remove every last bit without eye irritation in my experience, and I have very sensitive eyes.

OLIVE OIL:  Although I often put coconut oil in my hair as a deep conditioner, I am partial to olive oil in my hair as a deep conditioner, especially in the beachy, sunny days.  Some people swear by olive oil as a body moisturizer. I love olive oil as a base for body scrubs.  (see SUGAR below!)

SUGAR:  Oh the innumerable benefits of sugar for your skin!  A handful of sugar and a bit of olive oil to the consistency that your skin likes best is the easiest and most effective body scrub I’ve ever found.  THIS round up of sugary beauty that you can make in minutes will have you covered on the lip & even scalp exfoliating benefits of sugar, too!

APPLE CIDER VINEGAR: Everyone- men too!- should do a hair rinse every month (or even every week with scalp issues)- with apple cider vinegar in the shower.  Cider Vinegar corrects the pH balance of your hair and scalp, it removes product build up and tones the scalp.  While techniques vary, the best one I’ve found is to shampoo hair, stir up a cup full of 1/10 vinegar to 9/10 water and dump over hair in the shower.  I leave it on for about a minute and comb it through and rinse.  Condition afterward.  The smell of vinegar should not linger long, and your hair and scalp will thank you immensely!

You can also take baths in Apple Cider vinegar to detox.  A cup full of vinegar in a hot tub full of water is all you need.  Soak for about 30 minutes.  Drink lots of water.  Feel the freshness!

Do you have natural beauty tips to share from your kitchen?  Leave them in the comments below & maybe (hopefully!) we can feature your beauty DIY on the blog!!!  xoxo Dana