A trip to the grocery store is not going to break your Sephora addiction, but food is not just for eating — it can be used cosmetically as well. By A.K. Whitney

I’ve been covering some pretty heavy topics at FemiNoshing lately, and while that’s been quite cathartic for not just myself, but for many wonderful readers, it’s summer and I’m in the mood for something light.

I’ve always had a weakness for beauty products with fruity smells — Body Shop’s satsuma soaps, anything verbena, peach-scented lotion. Philosophy’s products are like crack, and I can’t leave a store that sells them without sniffing every sample bottle.

The problem is that, at least for me, the recession is still very much a reality, and I can’t really justify spending $20 on a body scrub. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Your average grocery store is full of ingredients you can mix up yourself, and then use the leftovers for a snack or light meal.

Now, I can just hear your groans. “I’ve seen this story a million times in women’s magazines! Do something different!”

I know, I know! My lovely colleagues here at Sirens tackled this very thing a few years ago, and proved, conclusively, that raw eggs and warm showers don’t mix. But bear with me — this will be different. What follows is not just about beauty treatments you can make from food: I am also including recipes to make something out of the food you have left. At FemiNoshing (during a recession), waste is not the watchword. (Many thanks to Sirens co-founder Heather Wood Rudulph for the beauty expertise!)

Cucumber: To paraphrase Rose from ‘90s cult film “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead”: Every woman over 25 should have a cucumber in the house! If you don’t, buy a hothouse one (they’re the thin-skinned plastic-covered ones), wash it and slice it thinly (no need to peel). Save two slices for your eyes. Cucumber juice is a great astringent, and helps reduce puffiness.

Use the rest of the cucumber for a simple salad. I like tossing cucumber with a bit of rice vinegar. Or just drizzle the salad with a bit of olive oil and vinegar. Another cucumber recipe can be found below.

Avocado: This may be one of the few veggies out there that is high in calories, but it is also full of nutrients and fiber. To make a simple and delicious guacamole, chop a quarter of an onion finely. Chop a medium tomato finely. Chop enough cilantro finely to make about 1/4 cup. Place onion, tomato and cilantro in a bowl. Add the flesh of three medium avocados. Save the pits. Mash together avocados with tomato-onion mixture. When everything is thoroughly mashed, add salt and pepper to taste, and squeeze half a lemon over the rest.

As for those saved pits, rub them over your hands, heels and elbows for an ultra-rich moisturizer. Avoid using them on your face, though, unless your skin is very dry.

Oatmeal and Honey: You can follow the instructions on the box and make a hearty breakfast, sweetened with some honey.

And for a beauty treatment later, mix 1/2 cup oatmeal, 2 tablespoons honey and enough water to make a smooth mixture. Pat mixture on your face. It draws out impurities and calms irritated skin.

Lemon juice: Like cucumber juice, makes a great astringent and is safer than most commercial lighteners. Juice the leftover half of that lemon you used to make guacamole. Soak a cotton ball in water, add in lemon juice, then dab on skin. Keep undiluted juice out of your eyes!

Coffee Grounds, Olive Oil, and Orange Zest: This makes a great body scrub. The caffeine in the coffee grounds acts as a stimulant, the orange zest is full of antioxidants, and the olive oil moisturizes. (Olive oil is also great for taming curly hair. To make it smell better, add some kind of citrus zest and let it sit to infuse. Strain out the zest, then use.) Save the remaining, unused grounds from your morning pot of coffee, and zest one of the oranges into your morning juice. As for the olive oil, you still have some left from that cucumber salad, right? Combine 1/2 cup of grounds, 1/4 cup olive oil and zest from one orange. Put on a washcloth and give your body a good scrub in the shower.

Plain Yogurt: This works really well as a mild enzyme peel. About 1/4 cup is enough for your face, neck, and décolletage. Since you can often buy plain yogurt in pint containers, why not use the rest for tzaziki, or Greek cucumber dip?

TZAZIKI

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons lemon juice (or juice leftover from the astringent treatment)

1 3/4 cups plain yogurt

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 hothouse cucumber, thinly sliced

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped

Combine oil and lemon juice in a medium mixing bowl. Fold the yogurt in slowly, making sure it mixes completely with the oil. Add cucumber, garlic and mint. Stir until evenly distributed. Let sit a few hours to let flavors marry. Serve with warm pita bread.

Makes about 2 1/2 cups.

What are your favorite beauty recipes? Share on our message boards below.

A.K. Whitney is a Los Angeles writer and contributing editor to Sirens. Other than writing about food issues for Sirens, she has been trying to overcome her math phobia.

For further reading: Appetite Is a Feminist Issue, Sirens Spotlight: Eve Organics

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Tags: beauty, feminoshing, food

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 2nd, 2009 at 3:07 pm and is filed under Being A Siren. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.