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Beauty on a Budget - Homemade Hand Cream

When I was a kid I would be found either plucking all the petals from my Ma's prized roses or breaking off huge swathes of blossom from the most fragrant bushes I could find and mixing them with pond water in an attempt to preserve and bottle their scent. I would crush the dandelions and buttercups into pastes and mix them with flour and pummel the fallen apples from the trees to make apple juice.  As I grew older my Nan would share her tips with me, and as she was from an era of austerity, her "make do" regime stood her in good stead.  Even in her eighties her skin was creamy, with very few lines and she swore by her natural remedies.

Sorting through my old notebooks and papers from days gone by I found some old skincare recipes that I had collected. The plan was to collate them into some kind of book.  Well, they've been sitting there for donkeys and I still haven't shared them and I think it's time that they saw the light of day.

Most of the thing you need to make the lotions and potions can be found in your cupboards. All of the recipes are old, collected from my nan and from old magazines and hopefully some of them will be of use to you. 

Use clean utensils, jars and bottles (that goes without saying!).  Use wooden spoons for stirring.  The products won't look like commercial ones, and won't last as long, as they lack the usual preservatives, but they'll save you a fortune, and that's got to be a good thing!



 Hand Cream

Potato Hand Cream
2 Potatoes (medium)
1 tablespoon of almond oil
1 tablespoon of glycerin
1 teaspoon of orange flower water

Cook and mash the potatoes, add the oils and lastly the orange flower water.  If the mixture is too thick add some extra orange flower water.  It will make more of a paste rather than a cream.  Leave on your hands for an hour, then rinse off.  Keep in the fridge. 

Almond Day Cream

85g ground Almonds
1/4 pint milk (or any substiture such as soya milk, almond milk etc)
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons of almond oil.

Simmer the almonds in the milk until it has all been absorbed. Beat the egg yolk and stir it in.  Bring the mixture to the boil for a couple of minutes.  Allow to cool, then fold in the almond oil. Keep refridgerated.

Other Tips:

Lemon: A slice of lemon or it's juice will remove any stubborn dirt.
Cucumber: Mix the juice with an equal quantity of witch hazel for chapped hands.
Sugar: Mixed with an equal quantity with sunflower oil will clean stained hands
Bran: A substitute for soap. Wet hands, dip in, rub and rinse.
Milk: Soaked in warm milk for 5 minute will help chapped rough hands.


I have lots of other receipes for home made moisturisers, cleansers, soaps and  will post when I can't think of anything else to write!!!

Comments

  1. Love these! A really great idea for a blog post. I too remember making up potions at my nan's from her flower bed! My daughter is doing it now too in her nan's garden. Will look forward to more homemade recipes :)

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    Replies
    1. I'm really pleased you liked them! I've tried to weed (no pun intended) out the really rubbish one's and the ones that are too complicated. My daughter keeps digging holes in the grass...it'd be great if she just stuck to the beds!

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