Yes. I know it’s still the dead of winter. But there will come a time when strawberry will be cheap and abundant. And wouldn’t you want to be prepared?

Besides, for some stranger reason strawberry has been on sale this past couple of weeks in all my grocery stores. I know it isn’t local or anything. But delicious strawberry this time a year really helps to take the blues away… And makes summer seem more real.

Now how does strawberry tie to organic skin care?

First of all, it is a natural exfoliant. Its gentle acidic nature can take care of all those flaky dead cells on top of the skin. It’s salicylic acid is a good combatant for acne and black heads. Strawberry also has antiseptic and skin lighting properties.

Plus it has all those wonderful vitamins and antioxidants. And don’t forget folic acid, which is essential for healthy new cells! No wonder strawberry is such a star in the do it yourself skin care department. 

So how to go about making a strawberry mask?

It really is easy.  You don’t even need any special skills or tools. In fact, it’s so easy and cheap that I still don’t understand why would anybody go to an expensive salon and pay hundreds of dollars for a skin mask…

If you have oily skin, all you need is strawberry and a fork. Just mush it up and apply on your skin for 15 to 20 minutes. Than rinse with lukewarm water.

If your skin is dry, add sunflower oil to the mush (1:1). Leave the mask on your face for 15 – 20 minutes. (You can also use olive or corn oil).

Strawberry juice is a great skin lightener. It’s effective for freckles and other spots. Just squeeze the juice out of the berries, then using a cotton ball spread the juice on the face.

And here are a couple of slightly more elaborate recipes:

Mix 5 strawberries with 1 table spoon of milk and one tea spoon of honey. Blend it into a state of purée. Spread the mixture on your face for 15 to 20 minutes. Gently wash off with warm water using a cotton ball.

For dry skin you may also try mixing a few strawberries with one teaspoon of sour cream and one teaspoon honey. This is especially good for flaky skin.

You can also use cream (2-3 teaspoons) and milk (1 tbl spoon or so).

I hope you enjoy these recipes and feel more summery too! Treat yourself to a natural skin care spa. It will cost you a few cents at most. Which is a great thought to help you relax and enjoy being pampered guilt free.

So, let’s jump right to it.

This time of the year you probably have dry lips. Lips dry very easily because their skin does not have sweat or oil-secreting glands. So first line of defense for most women is a lip balm. To avoid the chemically loaded petroleum based mainstream balms, check out my list of affordable organic lip balms.

There are also pricier ones, such as Dr. Hauschka lip care stick. But these will do the job just as well, and cost you a mere fraction of the price. They can be picked up at most health stores. (Though the lip care stick is heaven sent for lips that need serious healing, so don’t overlook it if yours do.)

You can also try some organic homemade lip balm recipes. Here is one from Organic Beauty book , by Josephine Fairley:

Homemade lip moisturizing balm

1/3 cup (30 ml) sesame oil
1/3 cup (20 g) grated beeswax
1 tsp honey
5 drops peppermint essential oil

Melt the sesame oil, grated beeswax, and honey over gentle heat in a double boiler. When melted, add the peppermint oil and remove from the heat. Stir until thickened and pour into small, sterile containers. Let it cool.

Josephine also recommends applying mashed ripe papaya to your lips for 10 to 15 minutes for smoother skin appearance.

When you apply lipstick, look for natural organic products. Dr. Hauschka makes a few different types of organic lipsticks and lip pencils. (Including lip gloss and long lasting lipstick). Other brands that have great natural lipstick are Logona, NveyEco and SukiColor. (see this list of best natural makeup brands).

If you are feeling creative you can also make your own homemade lip tint. There are many recipes in books and online. Here is an example from The Ultimate Natural Beauty Book:

Homemade pink lip tint

You’ll need to grate cooked beetroot to extract the juice or use a bottled pure beetroot juice, available from natural food stores.

2 tablespoons sweet almond oil
10 g (1/2oz) beeswax
1 tablespoon beetroot juice (or less for paler balm)
4 drops peppermint essential oil

Gently heat the oil and the beeswax in a double-boiler. Remove from heat and gradually add the beetroot juice, until you get the color you like. Wisk very well, add the peppermint essential oil, whisk again and transfer into a small sterilized pot.

Some general lipstick tips, which apply to organic lipstick as well:

* Contour the lips first with a natural pencil, to prevent lipstick from bleeding out
 
* You can also use pencil/balm combination. Contour lips with pencil, then apply lip balm, then fill in with the pencil.
 
* Four fuller lips look, consider using two lipsticks of same color, but one lighter shaded. Apply the darker lipstick as usual. Then apply the lighter lipstick to the middle/inside part of the lip. (If you want your lips to appear smaller, do the reverse.)
 
* Professional makeup artist always use a brush to apply lipstick. It gives you much more control then applying from the tube.
 
* To keep the color fixed to the lips for longer time, apply a bit of powder on top. (Make sure it’s organic powder). Or apply twice — apply lipstick, blot with napkin, apply again.
 
* To avoid lipstick on your teeth, run your finger through the middle of your lips, so that the excess comes off on your finger and not your teeth.

* If you are above the age of a preteen, use common sense when selecting a lipstick color. Go for tones that have natural tints in them to avoid looking overly clownish. After all, experimental shades may belong on princess coloring pages, but certainly not your face

And most of all, choose shades and products that work for you. If a shade is popular, but you don’t like it – don’t bother getting it! There is enough organic makeup products out there for you to find you’re the perfect match.

Parsley.

Oh, yeah.

Some beautifying benefits of parsley are:

• reduces swelling and redness
• lightning the skin
• toning
• helps to reduce black heads
• wrinkle prevention

This little green herb is all magic when it comes to “pretty” skin care. Here are some simple homemade beauty recipes that feature the gloriousness of parsley. Most of them require so little effort, you’ll be wondering why anyone spends money on expensive skin care at all… 

Parsley mask for combination skin:

A parsley mask is very good for balancing combination skin. To do that, take a couple of fistfuls of parsley, chop and then mush with a pestle till it’s releases the juice. Mix with a teaspoon of honey. Leave the mask on the face for a few minutes (10 to 20), and then wash off with warm water.

Parsley hair strengthening infusion:

Mix four teaspoons of fresh finely chopped parsley with about two cups of boiling water. Wait for it to absorb well together. Use this mixture every two – three days for rinsing hair.

Mask for oily skin:

Mix extremely finely chopped parsley with ground oatmeal (grind regular oatmeal – not instant! – in coffee grinder or equivalent) and then spread it on your face for about 20 minutes. (I suggest using mortar and pestle for squishing the parsley to release the maximum amount of juice.) Wash off with lukewarm water.

Mask for dry skin:

Mix parsley infusion (see above) with a little bit of natural cottage cheese (1 tblspn spoon infusion, 2 tblspns spoons cottage cheese).

Combating swollen eyes:

Also, use parsley if you have “bags” under eyes. For that chop parsley finely and spread it on moistened cheesecloth squares. Make little “baggies” (like homemade teabags  ) and put on your eyes for 10 – 15 minutes. You can also put moistened cotton balls on top, to keep the “baggies” wet.

So next time you buy too much parsley and are wondering what to do with it all, (for there is only so much tabouleh one can eat …) share the goodness with your skin and hair.

A little homemade pampering never hurt anybody.  Especially when it comes to the freshest and most natural organic skin care on the planet!

Haven’t you noticed how many skin care brands are boasting boldly that their products contain oatmeal? Why is that? Simple. Oatmeal is a wonder grain. It does wonders for your skin and its properties have been known for ages. It’s a fantastic natural cleanser, scrubber, exfoliant, toner, soother, nourisher… you name it.

So, how exactly do we treat our skin with this divine delicacy?

First, buy some nice organic plain rolled oats. Of course I say organic cause this is an organic skin care site. But if by some strange chance you are still not into organics (oh, come on now!) but ended up on this site, just use regular oats. But please, no instants! And no flavored anything! Ok, now that we’ve sorted that out – buy organic plain rolled oats. Either whole or crashed. If you bought the biggish looking ones, grind them a bit in the coffee grinder or equivalent (I use Magic Bullet). Not so small that they turn into flour. You want little particles for the scrubbing. So just a few spins should do the trick.

Transfer the mix into a sealable container. Take the container into the bathroom where you do your morning face routine. Put it there. Wait till morning.

In the morning, as you are about to wash your lovely face, open the magic container. Splash some water on your face to give it a wet start. Take a fistful of oats (pour into your hand – don’t get all the other oats wet! Or dry your hands first…) and run a bit of water into it, so that it soaks and turns into a mush. (You can also soak it up in some other container. But I use my fist, cause I always forget to bring containers upstairs, and I’m too lazy to go looking for them in the morning.) Then gently massage the mixture into your skin, using small circular motions. Be tender. Don’t squeeze or rub. Avoid the eye area. Work a little more diligently on trouble areas (around the nose, forehead). You can leave it on for a little while (five minutes or so) or wash it right away. (I wash it off with lukewarm water, and then rinse my face with cool water.) After that apply your moisturizer.

This will gently exfoliate, clean, soothe and nourish your skin all at once. It will also brighten dark spots, lighten out freckles and marks, and tone down inflammations.

I have been diligently using this method for a few days now, trying to combat the dandruffy/pimply/look-at-me-I-am-so-red-I-want-a-job-as-a-stop-sign forehead atrocity. And guess what? This morning my husband commented that my skin looks so even, what am I up to? (He has noticed the oatmeal jar in the bathroom, but must’ve thought that it was there for my secret midnight snack…) In fact, at this rate of improvement, my face will soon be competing with my imaginary porcelain doll collection.

This method is good for all skin types. And all budgets. And all skill sets. And all ages.

So treat your skin to a healthy oatmeal breakfast. It will thank you.

But first, here are some interesting facts about cucumbers:

• Cucumber’s official scientific name is “Cucumis sativus” and it belongs to the same family as squash.

• There are many beneficial nutrients (as well as fiber) in the tough cucumber skin. However, main-stream cucumbers you see in a regular produce isle are frequently covered in insect, animal or petroleum-based wax, which offsets the benefits in my books, especially given that you never know which one it is. (So buy organic!)

• Cucumber’s flesh is mostly water, but it also contains ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and caffeic acid – these nutrients help soothe skin irritations and reduce swelling. Which is the primary reason cucumber has been a “skin care” product since the beginning of time.

• Cucumber is a great source of silica, which is an essential component of healthy connective tissue. Cucumber juice (as a source of silica) is great for improving complexion and health of skin, plus it is naturally hydrating.

• Also, it is great at restoring your overall pH towards nicer alkalinity (for those of you interested in the pH dietary philosophy, here is a sample link http://www.snyderhealth.com/).

So, what can this green magician do for you? Here are some ideas:

• Cucumber is a natural cleanser. So next time you want to wash your face, mix half a cup of milk with one table spoon of cucumber juice and use it as a cleanser. This mixture can store for up to one day in a fridge. This will clean, tone, and refresh your skin all at once.

• Applying cucumber juice to your face can lighten the skin and minimize freckles (though I personally think that freckles are pretty… )

• If your face gets sweaty, wipe it with a cucumber slice periodically throughout the day.

• Slices of cucumber are indispensable for dark circles and especially under-eye bags (puffiness). Lie down, put couple of slices on your eyes, making sure they touch the puffy areas, and give it 10 – 15 minutes. This is a very old trick, and it still works (and always will).

• To soften tough skin, mix a table spoon of cucumber juice with a table spoon of almond butter (naturally, presuming you are not allergic to almonds). Spread the mass on your face, and then rinse it with lukewarm or cold water.

• Freeze some cucumber and then thaw it. Apply the resulting mush to deep wrinkles around the mouth, or other trouble spots.

• For a nourishing mask take one teaspoon of sour-cream, one teaspoon shredded cucumber and one egg yolk. Mix well and apply to your face for 10 – 15 minutes. Rinse with cool water.

See, you don’t always need the expensive “latest” inventions. A little ingenuity, and a simple cucumber will work wonders on your skin.

Of course, you can also eat it, and let it work the magic from the inside…