Monday, November 21, 2011

Homemade Organic Beauty Products!

How to make your own organic eyeshadow, lipgloss and hair dye.

Disclaimer: The Ashbury Green Club does not take responsibility for green hair, parents who get mad after you destroy their kitchen or stores that refuse to give you their entire stock of samples. Use your good judgement when following the recipe.

These crafts are so versatile that they can be tailored to anyone's life. Like science class? Think of these as chemistry tests. In World Affairs? Use them to bring down heartless multi-national corporations. In Green Club? Sell them and use the money to plant trees. On the football team? Give them to your mom/sister/girlfriend for her birthday. In {italics} are my comments and personal tips from previous attempts.

First: Containers are needed!
To store two of these projects, you're going to need sample containers. They can be found in hotels, art workshops or at store give-aways. At stores, the challenge is to obtain the maximum number of containers without purchasing anything. The creativity is endless! You can employ cute younger siblings, appear indecisive about buying a product, or unsure if you have allergies to a certain ingredient. At least one is required for each project (not the hair dye).

How to make your own eyeshadow:
What you need: container(s), mica rock(s), plastic bag, hammer
Mica rocks are rough, black with silver or gold flecks inside. They're found on the ground, on E-Bay or in your sibling's rock collection.
7 year old sister: (playing with rocks)
Me: "Hey sis, you see that ugly black rock over there, can I have it?"
Smart 7 year old sister: "Okay, $100!"
Me: "Come on, I need it to write their Blazer article on how to make your own eyeshadow, lipgloss and hair dye!"
Dumb 7 year old sister: "Hair dye? I have a better deal: I give you my rock, and you let me try the hair dye FIRST."
Me: "Okay!"

Once you have a rock or two, place them inside the plastic bag and start pounding with the hammer. Note to self: to not hammer on the fancy tile counter of a newly renovated kitchen The final result is either a grey-silver or a grey-gold powder (Mica is the base of all those expensive mineral makeups). It should remove with warm water.

How to make your own lipgloss:
What you need: container(s), virgin almond oil OR virgin coconut oil, beeswax, vitamin E oil, cooking pot, stir stick. Note: this recipe is measured for roughly one container
Place one teaspoon (the smaller one) of almond/coconut oil, one teaspoon of beeswax and two drops of vitamin E oil ( it acts as a natural preservative and gives your concoction a 6 month shelf life) into the cooking pot and slowly heat, but don't boil. Stir slowly.
Now the fun part; Go nuts with the options! Essential oil, blueberry smoothie, green food colouring, freshly cut bananas, purple glitter...
Me: (on the phone) "Hello? Lady Gaga? I've got a new look for you!"

Wait for the mixture to cool (about 2 hours) before storing in containers.

How to make your own hair dye:
Note: due to intense cowardice the full dye job has not actually been performed on anyone the author knows, though highlights have worked, even if the brunette recipe "smells bad" according to little sister (we're against animal testing).

For Blonde Hair:
What you need: shower cap, juice from two lemons.
Pour juice into shower cap, place shower cap on head, wait 30 minutes (for highlights), 2 hours (for all over lightening). Rinse hair.

For Brunette Hair:
What you need: shower cap, quarter cup of coffee
Pour
cooled! coffee into shower cap, place shower cap on head, wait 30 minutes (for highlights and lowlights), 2 hours (for all over colour). Rinse hair.

For Red Hair:
What you need: shower cap, quarter cup of strong rose-hip tea
Pour &cooled!} tea into shower cap, place shower cap on head, wait 30 minutes (for highlights), 2 hours (for all over colour). Rinse hair.

Have fun!

Author: Clara Charron

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