Friday, October 30, 2015

Homemade beauty remedies for the lazy vegan

By Giselle Wedemire

The new Neal's Yard Remedies store in Southcentre Mall will be opening its doors today. It's a very exciting time for both the NYR team and Calgary's NYR fan base, and to celebrate this new store, the good folks at NYR are running a contest for shoppers to win prizes.

While we discussed the rules for the contest here yesterday, it's worth repeating: starting today, NYR will post a weekly remedy on their Instagram and followers are encouraged to share their own favourite at-home remedies (and the hashtag #MyNYR) to the company's Instagram for a chance to win an exclusive prize.

I thought I’d throw my hat in the ring for this prize because I love all things free, and also because I love spreading the gospel of homemade beauty products. So, without further ado, here are my favourite at-home remedies:


Disregard the terrible lighting in this picture and focus instead on these everyday
pantry items that make some of the best (and easiest) DIY beauty products.


Avocado hair mask
This stuff is the bomb diggity – especially for dry Calgary winters. It’s literally the easiest thing to make, and it costs hardly any money at all. The oils in the avocado meat perform some kind of magic and transform tired, dull, and dry hair into smooth and silky hair that's Disney princess-worthy.

What you need:
1 realllly ripe avocado (like so ripe that you’d be able to make a decent guacamole out of it. The tougher the avocado is, the harder it will be to mash and spread throughout your hair)


What you need to do:

  • Slice the avocado in half and mash just one half of the avocado (use the other half if you have reallllly long/thick hair). Make sure you mash it very well. 
  • Get your hair damp, but not soaking wet. Then, using your fingers, comb the mashed avocado mixture through your hair and leave on for anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour. (This step feels gross, looks gross, and can potentially be messy, so feel free to stow your guac-a-licious hair in a shower cap or clip it out of the way). 
  • Rinse well in the shower, and wash as you normally would.
  • Bask in the radiance of your freshly moisturized hair.

Coffee body scrub
This stuff is fantastic for exfoliating the body while replacing store-bought body scrubs that are usually way overpriced and are often times filled with harmful microbeads. Plus, it's a great way to use up the coffee grounds that you'd normally throw away after making a pot of java.

What you need:
1/2 cup coffee grounds
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract

What you need to do:
  • Collect your leftover coffee grounds and scoop them into a large shower-friendly jar (that means no glass containers, unless you're a fan of shower-related injuries). 
  • Add the oil and vanilla and mix well.
  • Use either immediately in the shower by rubbing the scrub into damp, clean skin (or store in the fridge until use for up to a week or so; otherwise, it starts to go bad). 
  • Rinse well, and make sure to moisturize afterwards for skin that's so silky smooth it will make you want to implore your loved ones to touch you so they can comprehend just how much your skin resembles a baby's bottom. 

Lazy girl zit zapper
This is my go-to remedy for nipping breakouts in the bud because it's fool-proof, and it works perfectly absolutely every single time (for me, at least). The best part of this remedy is how quickly it works. For me, it takes about a day for a coconut oil-treated breakout to retreat -- or two days if it's particularly stubborn. (But your mileage may vary.)

What you need:
A dab of virgin, unrefined coconut oil
1 Q-tip, if you're fancy

What you need to do:
  • Scoop out a dab of coconut oil (with or without a Q-tip; life is an adventure, so go crazy with this step!).
  • Take that dab of coconut oil, and press it into (clean) skin on the affected area.
  • Moisturize your face as you normally would, and marvel at how quickly that zit flies the coop!

What are your favourite homemade beauty remedies? Will you be entering Neal Yard Remedies' online contest? Will you share your prize with if you win something in the contest? Let us know by commenting below, or by tweeting us at @PickyBitchez.

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