It's time to raid your kitchen cupboards to create a cheap and effective beauty treatment from head to toe.
We're smack-bang in the middle of coronavirus lockdowns. Luckily, some of us are lucky enough to roam around nature (with appropriate social distancing measures in place, of course).
This quarantine is affecting us all very differently. For me, the key has been in finding projects to focus on. Launching this blog and the BBS Online Studio has been one - along with reading, baking and a long list of projects I've been meaning to get around to...
It's also been a chance to get creative, indulge in home treatments, and finally use up all the beauty products I've accumulated over the years.
In the last few weeks, I've also been hit with some ailments and mild physical discomforts. Luckily I was able to overcome these with my trusty EPSOM SALTS, using baths and making a dry compress to relieve localised inflammation.
For those of you who are new to the wonders of Epsom magic, here is a quick breakdown:
Epsom salts are not salts at all, they are crystals of Magnesium Sulphate. This inexpensive bathroom essential is used by athletes and fitness professionals as a muscle soak to reduce aches and pains. They can help reduce almost any physical inflammation when used as a compress. Epsom salts should not be ingested (unless you want to spend the week on the toilet!) or used by people with diabetes. Always consult your doctor if you're unsure.
Having spent the best part of a week soaking in Epsom baths and having improved some painful inflammations, I wanted to find out more about how these salts help our bodies. I promptly started researching more about the properties of these wondrous crystals (the video below is an excellent summary of all the benefits). What I found is that they work great as a beauty product too!
With lots of time to spare, I raided my kitchen cupboards and came up with this delicious concoction - my homemade Epsom Balm.
4 parts Epsom Salts (+ extra if the mixture is too wet)
1 part brown/coarse sugar*
1 part unfiltered extra virgin olive oil*
1 part raw coconut oil*
*The quality of your raw ingredients will have a significant effect on the end result due to their mineral and vitamin content.
Armed with my homemade Epsom Balm and an extra-large cup of salts, I turned my bathroom into a spa (complete with plinky-plonky relaxing music and low lights).
Here is a breakdown of my "Epsom Spa" regime:
Take a warm bath with 1/2 cup Epsom salts and 1/2 cup regular salts. Soak for 15 min, allowing the skin cells to soften.
Scrub scrub scrub away with your favourite face scrub/deep-cleansing product.
Wash your hair with your regular product.
Apply your Epsom Balm as a face mask. Leave it on.
Mix some Epsom salts to your conditioner and leave in as a hair mask.
Melt your troubles away for 10-15 min
Use left-over Epsom salts and mask to scrub your flaky legs/feet/elbows away. I also like to use a pumice stone to buffer away stubborn areas.
Rinse/wash as normal
You'll leave the bathroom with newborn-baby skin and volumised hair. I also keep this jar by the sink for a morning lip moisturising scrub to keep the flakiness at bay.
The irony is it's cheap, entirely natural and can all be purchased at your local supermarket.
Greta Thunberg would be proud.
