Tried & Tested: 5 Homemade Beauty Solutions

Everybody is constantly trying to discover the latest and greatest in beauty breakthroughs. I always hear about weirdo recipes for homemade cosmetic products and the wacko beauty regimes that celebrities and models adhere to. So, I took it upon myself to discover the strangest ideas available on the Internet, and test them for your benefit. Here they are:

1)    Pepto-Bismol Facial – DO. NOT. ATTEMPT. Seriously, unless you want to have a pink-stained face for the rest of the night. Apparently, the main ingredient in Pepto-Bismol is Bismuth Subsalicylate, which is drying and supposedly will shrink your pores. First of all, I had no idea how long to keep the mask on, but after ten minutes my face was cracking pink flakes all over my sweater. The nauseating pink color never washed off, and my face stayed crazy dry for the rest of the night, despite numerous lotion applications. Moral of the story? So not worth it…

2)    Baking Soda Face Scrub – One word: pointless. Apparently, a baking soda face scrub is gentler on your skin than the St. Ives Apricot original that I’m used to, and I’ll agree with that. However, if I’m using a “scrub,” then I want it to actually polish away the impurities from my face and leave me with glowing, baby-soft skin. The homemade baking soda experiment didn’t do the trick, plus it was messy. No results? NO THANKS!

3)    Beer Hair Rinse – Interesting! Gives a whole new meaning to the term, “beer shower.” If you’ve ever been to a college party, chances are you’ve experienced the horror of beer-soaked hair. It’s sticky and stinky and GOOD LUCK brushing your hair out the next morning after it’s dried stiff. So, when I stumbled upon a “beer rinse” that’s supposed to give your hair body and shine, I was skeptical. That being said, I definitely think this trick is worth it. First, I washed my hair normally with shampoo. Then, I poured an entire can of Miller’s Milwaukee Light on my head, saturating my hair in the brew. After about 5 minutes, I rinsed it out and applied conditioner like I normally would. Voila! I didn’t really notice that my hair looked any shinier, but I do think the beer gave me some extra bounce. Not just that day either – I woke up the next morning with a great case of voluminous bed head. This beauty tip works best if you don’t wash your hair every day – otherwise the cost of a beer a day could quickly add up. But, if you’re looking for the occasional beauty boost, BEER IT UP, BABY!

4)    Olive Oil Makeup Remover – Odd. Unless I need some heavy duty, glitter and sparkles remover, I definitely won’t be trying this again. I’ve never been a big fan of makeup remover to begin with, and this homemade solution did nothing to change my mind. It worked, yeah, but it made my bathroom smell like an Italian restaurant, minus the garlic and marinara sauce. Also, it got in my eyes and my contacts were blurred over with oily residue for the next 20 minutes… on the other hand, it was a great moisturizer.

5)    Coconut Oil, Honey and Sugar Lip Scrub – YES! YES, YES, YES! The only bad thing I can say about this concoction is that it tasted so delicious I almost ate it instead of using as originally intended. Other than that minor (but yummy) set back, this was awesome. I just mixed together equal parts of coconut oil, honey and sugar and massaged the mixture in tiny circles on my lips for about a minute. Perfection! My lips were soft from the exfoliating sugar, and conditioned from the rich coconut oil. ChapStick, Burt’s Bees and EOS – I challenge you to do better.

There you have it! Although my experiments with homemade beauty solutions were super fun, I think I’ll just be sticking to the store-bought stuff from now on. There’s a reason branded products are so popular: convenience and quality. (Except, of course, in the case of my new favorite lip scrub!) Some other crazy homemade remedies I found online were a long-lasting lip stain made from cherry Jell-O, a dryer sheet rubdown to tame flyaway hairs and an all-natural astringent made from human urine. (Please, for your own good, don’t try that last one.)

What are the most interesting ideas you’ve heard of or tried? Comment below!