Kitchen Beauty: All Your Beauty Needs From Your Very Own Kitchen

Fridge:
Eggs
Egg whites help tone and even tighten the skin.
Cucumber
Cucumbers are great as eye pads, but can also be used in masques since it's very soothing and healing. I like keeping several cut up cucumbers in the freezer, so that it's always fresh and cold (warm cucumbers...ehhh, no thanks).
Avocado
Avocados aren't just great for guacamole or yummy avocado ice cream. Avocados have vitamins A and C, which is great for dry and sensitive skin! Vitamin A and C is a must have for healthy and glowy skin.
Yogurt
Have sensitive skin? Yogurt is a gentle and natural cleanser!
Milk
Milk is my go-to emergency beauty freak out! My skin is very reactive and sometimes the only thing that will calm my skin is milk. I mean, freaking Cleopatra took milk bathes for a reason! Cleopatra wasn't far fetch for believing that bathing in milk will result to eternal beauty and youth. Milk is actually very beneficial! It's soothing, rebuilds collagen, and gently exfoliates dead skin cells. Plus it can be found in every gorcery store, it's inexpensive, and its multi-usage and purpose makes it a must have in the kitchen!
Lemon
Lemon is all about lightening and brightening. Lemon can be used to help lighten dark spots and hyperpigmentation. Lemon can be used in a homemade masque with honey and yogurt or as a lemon scrub with sugar.
Aloe vera
Aloe vera my grandma's holy grail! My grandma is obsessed with aloe vera, she drinks it, eats it, and puts it on her skin. Any skin problem that my family has, her solution is to put aloe vera on it. Then she heads to the back yard to get us a stem of aloe vera. Gotta love my grandma!
Potatoes
Potatoes are literally the greatest things on earth. I mean you can make french fries, hash browns, mash potatoes, and many many more. But did you know that potatoes are also amazing for puffy eyes and even oily skin? Not only does it help reduce puffiness, but it also absorbs oil from your skin! Maybe that's why McDonald's fries are so good...
Pineapple
Pineapple has enzymatic properties that are like little Pac Man eating away dead skin cells.
Papaya 
Like pineapple, papayas are used as exfoliates and are often found in popular facial peels!
Ice cubes
Ice, ice baby! Ice cubes are soothing and calming. It's great for acne and shrinking pores.

Pantry:
Sugar
I love anything sweet. So it's a given that I also love sugar scrubs. I honestly use sugar in most of my at home beauty treatments. For instance, I use sugar with lemon to scrub my nails so that it can help lighten the stains that I acquire from wear nail polish all year long. I also use it with honey and lemon as a mini at-home facial scrub. Or with coconut oil for a body scrub! It's a staple in the kitchen as will as in my beauty treatments.
Baking Soda
I got baking soda, I got baking soda! Baking soda is often used as a spot treatment for acne. Just mix it with a little honey and apply it to any blemish and watch it go bye-bye! Baking soda is also used as a scrub or masque to exfoliate dead skin cells, leaving your skin softer and brighter.
Oatmeal
Oatmeal has healing, soothing and exfoliating proporties. Which is often used in facial or body masques.
Tea
Tea contains antioxidant and is anti-inflammatory. Tea bags aren't just used for your tea! Tea bags can be used for puffy eyes or tea can be used as cold compresses for a puffy face. So save them tea bags!
Honey
Honey does great things to the skin. It has a toning, healing, smoothing, tightening, and hydrating effects. Plus it's great with tea! Honey is also used in scrubs and masque to give it a thick constancy.
Coconut oil
Who doesn't love coconut oil nowadays?! It's hyped up for a reason! It's used in oil pulling (don't even get me started on that!), hair treatment, scrubs, make up remover, and as a moistuerizer. Although I would caution to to use coconut oil as a facial cleanser or make-up remover due to the fact that it may cause blemishes or maybe reactions to certain skin types, it's great in moderation and simply just listen to your skin! Your skin knows what it wants and likes.

Waxing 101

The do's and don'ts of waxing.

Do:

1. Avoid the sun after you're freshly waxed. Newly waxed skin are prone to hyperpigmentation and other skin damages!
2. Exfoliate your skin before waxing and 3-5 days after waxing to avoid ingrowns.
3. Let your wax specialist know if you're on any medication, recently had surgery, or Botox.
4. Take Advil 30 minutes before waxing (only if you're waxing your lady parts).
5. Take a shower beforehand to freshen up. It also helps open up the pores, making waxing l
6. Wear breathable clothing. Maxi dresses are great for Brazilian Day's.
7. Limit caffeine the day of. Caffeine may cause you to be more sensitive than usual.
8. Schedule your waxing appointment after Aunt Rose visits. You are less sensitive several days after menstruation.
9. Go long! Your hair should not be shorter or longer than a grain of rice. If it's too short, waxing may not pick up all of the hairs and can be much more painful. If it's too long, it can also be painful so trim, trim, trim.
10. Breathe!
 

Do not:

1. Forget to apply SPF!
2. Wax if you're using Accutane, Retin-A, blood thinners, or any medication for acne.
3. Expose your newly waxed skin to the sun.
4. Head to the gym after you've waxed (down there). Avoid the gym for 24 hours...and treat yourself!
5. Exfoliate right after you've been waxing. Wait a few days.
6. Tan or sunbathe 24 hours after waxing.
7. Shave in between waxing sessions. It messes up the hair cycle (leaving some hair longer and shorter than others) and also a more painful and less "clean" experience.
8. Touch freshly waxed skin if hands are not clean.
9. Apply fragranced or alcohol-based products to freshly waxed skin. It may cause redness or irritation. However witch hazel and tea tree oil is great to use to soothe redness and irritation.
10. Wax at home (unless you or your BFF is a licensed esthetician).

Mani Monday: OPI Infinite Shine

OPI recently came out with OPI Infinite Shine. It's their long-lasting and gel-like nail polish. Yes, polish! Not gel (it's pretty much OPI's version of CND Vinylux). OPI Infinite Shine gives you the gel-like shine without the need of the light and it's soak-free removal. Which I love, because I have a bad habit of picking at my nails when I have gel. Which you can probably tell if you take a look at my thumb, no it is not a glare...it's actually a few layers of my nails missing because of my bad habit.

Just like any other polishes, OPI Infinite Shine works best if you follow three steps: OPI Infinite Shine Primer (base coat), OPI Infinite Shine Lacquer (polish), and OPI Infinite Shine Gloss (top coat). The three OPI Infinite Shine Lacquer you see above is Pretty Pink Perseveres, In Pursuit of Purple, and Tanacious Spirit.

Even though I normally do well with OPI nail polishes and am in love with all of OPI Infinite Shine vivid color options, it's just doesn't last for me...more like 4 1/2 days. But again, I do a lot with my hands and I wash my hands before and after I touch everything, so that may be the cause. However for it's price and "gel effects", I'm a little bummed out that mines didn't last up to 10 days.  I do like OPI regular polishes compared to any other polishes for its brush and polish consistency. But for long-lasting polish, CND Vinylux takes the lead!

Are you loving or hating OPI Infinite Shine? What's your favorite OPI Infinite Shine?