Home made beauty treatments...

Another blogger recently asked me where i find my recipes for homemade beauty products. Ive mentioned before that i use olive oil, rose water and coconut oil on my skin rather than moisturising or cleansing creams. I usually just use them straight from the bottle / jar and apply them to my skin as they are. The olive oil i use in the shower every other day - i massage a small amount (perhaps half a teaspoon) of it into my face and then use an exfoliating loofah to rub the olive oil into my skin which removes all of the dirt and old skin cells / dry skin. I prefer showering before bed rather than in the morning, so i go to sleep after exfoliating and the remains of the olive oil on my face has the whole night to absorb into my skin. I wake up with wonderful soft, clear, and healthy looking skin - it really makes a difference, more so than any other product ive ever used. After a couple of days without doing this my skin looks very dull and feels unhealthy.

I use rose water on my face (rubbed in with a cotton wool pad) every morning and again before bed which removes make-up, grease and dirt very effectively, without leaving harsh synthetic chemicals on my skin. But although it cleans really well, it doesn't make a big difference to the look of my skin which is why i need the exfoliating every other evening.

I use coconut oil on my body when i feel like i could do with the extra moisturising. But its not often that i moisturise anywhere other than my face. Coconut oil is generally solid at room temperature, but once you rub a teaspoon full between your hands it turns into a warm oil and rubs in very easily - the smell is beautiful too.

Little D suffers from dry skin and the doctor told me that he needed a chemical packed cream on prescription from the chemist. I declined the cream and told her i would use olive oil and she said it wouldn't work and pushed me into taking the prescription. Under the pressure i took the prescription (she made me feel like id be negligent to not get the cream) but i never went to the chemist. Instead i applied Olive oil and Shea butter (mixed together - bought here) to his skin every evening straight after his bath, and within a couple of weeks the dry, scaly, scabby marks had disappeared and he had perfect baby skin alhamdulillah. I now use it just a couple of times a week and his skin is fine.

If i need to find a recipe to help with a specific problem i will use google to see what comes up as so far i haven't found a specific site which i can guarantee will have an easy to make recipe. Miss Eco Glam is great for natural beauty treatments but not specifically home made ones. I do have a brilliant book on my shelf though. Its called 1001 Natural recipes and includes home made recipes for beauty, home, pets and health.

Many of the ingredients are well known and not too obscure to track down. The book is also easy to read and is presented very nicely - there's great photos throughout. It always has exactly what i am looking for. I would recommend it as the best book ive found on the subject so far.

A second book which i use for reference of the subject of health is called 'As-Suyuti's Medicine of the Prophet'. It was written by Jalaludin As-Suyuti in the 1400's. As-Suyuti was an Egyptian writer, teacher, juristic expert and religious scholar who wrote almost 500 books dealing with Islamic theology. You can read more about him here on Wikipedia. The book includes detailed descriptions of physical and spiritual diseases and their remedies, drawing from the Quran and from the wisdom and practices of the Prophet Muhammad (May peace be upon him). There are plenty of home made beauty and health treatments in it and the index alone is 15 pages long!

I believe that there is a cure for everything except death (as stated in the Quran) and that all of the cures can be found in the natural world. Although man made treatments can help prevent or treat illness, or can change the way we look when they are used in a beauty regime, i believe that the vast majority have detrimental side effects. And to be honest, i just love finding out about everything that grows or exists on this Earth and the reasons for it to be here - there is benefit in everything.