Good Enough to Eat: Food for Beauty

If you like to cook and eat food, I have one more thing for you to do with it: put it on your body. Now I’m not telling you to throw food or to push your boyfriend’s face into a pie…because that would be a waste of pie. What I am telling you is thatsome of the ingredients in your dinner tonight might also be some of the ingredients in your shampoos, soaps, lotions, body and facial products.

“Everything you put on your skin gets absorbed into your body,” said Ella Rich, owner of Ella Flor, a natural products and flower essence company. “Feed your skin well and you will look and feel better.”

I noticed that some of my favorite beauty products are made with extracts from avocado, honey and coconut so I dug a little deeper and found some wonderful, almost-edible treats for your hair, face and body that are perfect when you need a pick me up without the calories.

Beecology Shampoo & Conditioner: Developed by a family of beekepers, Beecology offers botanicals that replenish and nourish your hair. The ingredient labels look more like something you’d eat than something that makes suds, including yarrow, extracts of nettle, chamomile, honey and wheat protein. Yet, you can still lather up to your satisfaction, leaving your hair manageable and soft. These organic products work on all hair and scalp types.

Arcona Pumpkin Lotion: When I think of pumpkin, I usually think of Fall. However, summertime is actually the perfect time to indulge your skin in Pumpkin Body Lotion, infused with pumpkin extracts and glycolic acid, which help to improve tonal quality and elasticity in the skin. It’s also perfect to apply after a day poolside – it helps regenerate and repair sun damaged skin.

Sweet Beauty Triple Chocolate Sugar Scrub: If you’re a choco-holic like me, you’ll flip for Sweet Beauty products, which offer delectable blends of antioxidant rich organic Fair Trade chocolate from Seattle’s Theo Chocolate, expertly mixed with natural, super-food oils and butters. It smells exactly like the hot fudge my family used to eat on ice cream sundaes as an occasional treat – a perfect bath time ritual to help unwind at the end of a long day.

To create natural beauty products at home, think about some of the simplest, purest ingredients in your pantry. For a facial scrub, take 1/2 cup of organic oatmeal and process in a coffee grinder. Add a couple drops of organic lavender oil and store in a lidded jar in a cool dry place. Another option is to make a homemade facial with full-fat milk or cream and honey. Pour milk into a shallow bowl and add enough honey to make it thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Rub onto your face and leave on 15 minutes before rinsing with warm water.

For more information and beauty tips from the real experts, be sure to visit Aly over at chicGloss.