Everyone wants to give great gifts to their friends and family for the holidays, but as we all know very well, things can get pretty costly. As broke college students, we are always looking for ways to cut back on costs, and homemade gifts for the holidays are a great way to do it. You don’t want to end up with a half-knitted scarf or a Pinterest craft that turned out much uglier than expected though.
Well, look no further than your fridge to make some homemade beauty remedies that will be sure to put a smile on anyone’s face and be almost impossible to mess up. Here are some foods you can use to make some masks and scrubs with that you probably already have sitting around in your kitchen.
Greek Yogurt
Photo courtesy of totallygymdirect.com
While we all know that greek yogurt is a great source of protein, probiotics and can be used as a healthy substitute to sour cream. Many people do not think to take the dairy product from their breakfast routine and into their beauty routine. Greek yogurt has lactic acid, it is a great moisturizer, exfoliant, and anti-aging product.
The probiotics in yogurt have also been found to help heal acne which is a huge plus because life can get stressful and can cause unwanted breakouts. All of these properties make greek yogurt perfect to use as a face mask, but you want to make sure the yogurt is plain and has no added sugars or flavors as these can irritate the skin, which is exactly the opposite of what you want a face mask to do.
You can learn how to make a moisturizing face mask for a gift here. You can package this face mask in a small jar with a festive ribbon around it. Just make sure to keep it refrigerated before giving it away, or else it will be the opposite of a gift.
Avocado
Photo by Samantha Thayer
The wonderful fruit that we all love to put on our salads, burgers, toast, sandwiches (and pretty much everything) is also amazing for your skin and hair. With its rich supply of monounsaturated fats, avocados are great for moisturizing skin and hair. Suffer from a dry and itchy scalp? Forget all of those expensive shampoos and hair masks, just massage some mashed-up avocado into your scalp and reap from the benefits. You can even grind up the seed and use it as an anti-dandruff treatment (who knew?).
The moisturizing fats can also produce amazing results for your skin. Now that cold weather is near, an avocado face mask would be a creative and practical gift. This avocado honey face mask is super simple to make and can be packaged in a small jar. Since it’s green, you can put it in a clear jar and paint red stripes on it for Christmas, or maybe even paint a Grinch face on it if you really want to get artsy. Again, make sure to store this in the fridge so it stays fresh.
Honey
Photo by Nadia Alayoubi
You know, the stuff in the tube shaped like a bear that you put in your tea? Well, it has a ton of benefits that you probably never knew about. With its antibacterial properties and enzymes, it will keep your pores clear and prevent breakouts. It is also known to reduce the appearance of scars. By mixing it with some granulated sugar, you can make a body scrub or even an edible lip scrub. What’s a better gift than being able to eat and look beautiful at the same time?
Coconut Oil
Photo by Angelina Marioni
Coconut oil has recently become one of the most popular beauty products out there, and for good reason. With its high level of fatty acids, it makes for a super moisturizing product for both the hair and skin. It also smells great on its own which is a bonus.
This product is really versatile, so you can make body scrubs, hair masks or lotions with it. A cute way to make this a holiday gift would be to make these coconut oil lotion bars and mold them into any holiday shape you want. It will look like you spent way more time on them than you actually did, and they will look really professional.
Oatmeal
Photo by Gabby Phi
You’ve probably seen oatmeal as an ingredient in many bath and beauty products. But what makes it so special, besides being an awesome breakfast food? Turns out that oats are great for relieving dry, itchy skin, and is also a great cleanser. Make these cute oatmeal bath bombs for a gift of relaxation. Again, it will look like you spent more time and effort on them than you actually did. Package them in a festive box with a ribbon to really enhance the wow factor.
Chamomile Tea
Photo by Rosalind Chang
While this tea is known for its calming properties as a drink, it also has the same effect on your skin. Tea contains naturally occurring anti-inflammatory compounds that can help reduce puffy under-eyes and redness. For a gift, you can make a chamomile tea toner and package in a festive bottle.
#SpoonTip: Add essential oils to any of these recipes to make them smell as nice as they’ll look. Peppermint oil would be a great choice for the holidays.