Vitamin E anti-aging face mask recipe:

• 2 capsules – Vitamin E
• 1 tbsp – Kefir or plain yogurt
• ½ tbsp – honey
• ½ tbsp – lemon juice

Mix the ingredients. Apply the mixture on your face for 15 minutes. Rinse off with lukewarm water.

Turmeric anti-aging face mask recipe:

• ½ tsp – turmeric powder
• ½ tbsp – honey
• ½ tbsp – sour cream

Mix very well. Apply the mixture on your face for 15 minutes. First, rinse off with lukewarm water. Make sure to clean well your eyebrows and the opening of your nostrils. Now, turn the water ice cold, and rinse off a second time to close the pores.

Rejuvenating mask recipe:

• 1 tbsp – grated cucumber
• 1 tbsp – Kefir or plain yogurt

Mix the ingredients. Apply the mixture on your face for 15 minutes. Rinse off with lukewarm water.

Facelift mask recipe for oily skin:

• 1 egg
• 3 tbsp – powdered milk
• 1 tbsp – witch hazel
• Juice of 1 lemon

Mix the ingredients until smooth. Apply the mixture on your face and neck for 15 minutes. Use the leftover mixture along with warm water to remove the mask.

Anti-wrinkle banana mask:

• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 mashed banana
• ½ honey
• ½ sour cream

Mix the ingredients. Apply on face for 15 minutes. Rinse with warm water.

Anti-aging aloe mask recipe:

• 1 tbsp- aloe vera juice
• 1 tsp – mayonnaise
• 1 tsp – honey

Mix very well. Apply the mixture on your face for 15 minutes. Rinse off: first, with warm water, then, with cold.

Anti-aging apple mask recipe:

• 1 apple
• 1 tbsp – olive oil
• 1 tsp – honey

Bake the apple in an over or in a microwave. Mash it and mix with other ingredients. Apply the mixture on your face for 15 minutes. Rinse off with lukewarm water.

• Almond oil, coconut oil and castor oil also have the ability to tighten the sagging skin. Take some oil and massage it on your skin on regular basics.

• Try to apply apple, pineapple, grape or lemon juice on your face for about 10 minutes.

• Make fruit ice cubes to use for the face.

• Eat lots of fresh fruits and raw vegetables that will provide vitamins, minerals and natural antioxidants and keep your internal body replenished. Stay away from refined sugars and junk food.

• Dietary supplements for tightening a sagging skin involve vitamin C, vitamin E and MSM (methylsulfonyl methane).

• Keep the skin hydrated and smooth by drinking ample amount of water.

• Exercise regularly! Exercise that gets your heart rate high enough for 20 minutes or so (enough to make your skin flushed and sweaty) is a great way to rejuvenate your body.

• Here is a simple toning exercise that you can do everywhere, several times a day: Squeeze your buttocks as hard as you can for a count of three, then release. Repeat 10 times.

• Practice face yoga.

• Get massage or learn self-massage.

• Get fresh air.

• Get enough sleep.

Look gorgeous!

8 a.m. – 10 a.m.
Metabolism is active.  Great time for beauty care! Clean your skin, moisturize and apply a day cream for your skin type.

2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Ideal time for hair care: haircuts, hair color, hairstyling. It is easy to conquer even dry, flyaway hair.

6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
The best time for facials! At this time, you are also less sensitive to physical pain: epilation, eyebrow threading, or beauty injections.

9 p.m.
Remove your make-up. Your skin needs relaxation and a breath of fresh air. Prepare a warm relaxing bath. Use a gentle scrub to remove dead skin cells. Apply a night cream.

11 p.m. – 4 a.m.
Regeneration of skin cells and activation of anti-aging processes. Regeneration of cells is eight times more active during deep sleep than during any other time of a day. For the sake of your beauty, go to bed till 11 p.m.

Now, about the time when beauty procedures become almost ineffective:

1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
At this time, your skin is very sensitive and vulnerable. Do not experiment. Wait till 6 p.m.

After 11 p.m.
Have not applied your night cream yet?  Do not waste an expensive product now: your skin is sleeping already, and the cream will be useless.

Ingredients to avoid

• DMDM hydantoin and Imidazolidinyl urea (toxic contaminants);
• Fragrance and dyes (allergies, cancer, nervous system);
• Methylchloroisothiazolinone and Methylisothiazolinone (allergies, nervous system);
• Parabens or “-paraben” (hormone effects);
• “PEG” and “-eth” (toxic contaminants);
• Sodium lauryl or laureth sulphate (skin damage, toxic contaminants);
• Triclosan and triclocarban (thyroid and environmental concerns);
• Triethanolamine (TEA) (allergies, toxic contaminants).

Products to avoid

• Anti-aging creams with lactic, glycolic, AHA, and BHA acids
• Hair dyes with ammonia, peroxide, p-phenylenediamine, diaminobenzene; all dark permanent hair dyes
• Liquid hand soaps with triclosan
• Nail polish and removers with formaldehyde
• Skin lighteners with hydroquinone

Sunscreens

• Avoid sprays and the ingredient oxybenzone;
• Use 7% or higher zinc oxide or titanium dioxide;
• Avoid added bug repellent.

Children’s products

• Avoid boric acid and sodium borate in diaper cream;
• Avoid 2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol in baby wipes;
• Avoid toothpaste with fluoride for children under 2;
• Avoid play makeup like lipstick, perfume, and nail polish.

Download a pocket-sized cosmetics guide: http://www.ewg.org/files/EWG_cosmeticsguide.pdf

For more information, visit: http://cosmeticsdatabase.com/

• Always apply a natural lip balm to protect your lips. Applying it before applying lipsticks will prevent your lips from dryness and exfoliation.
• Massage your lips with a soft toothbrush twice a day. Finish with lip balm or olive oil.
• Eat plenty of veggies and fruits. Also, make sure you take enough A, E and B vitamins.
• Keep yourself well hydrated by drinking plenty of water.
• Give up licking your lips.
• Once a week apply exfoliation scrub on your lips:

Brown sugar lip scrub recipe
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp olive oil
Mix and massage into lips for about 30 seconds, rinse and finish with lip balm.

• Once a week, make a mask that will nourish and soften your lips:

Carrot and sour-cream mask recipe
1 tsp carrot juice
1 tsp sour-cream
Mix and spread this mixture on your lips for a few minutes, rinse and finish with lip balm.

• This mask is a great remedy for cracked, chapped and dry lips:

Apple and butter mask recipe
1/2 grated apple
1 tsp unsalted butted
Mix and spread on your lips for 15-20 minutes. Rinse with cool water.

• Occasionally, apply honey on you lips for at least 5 minutes. Then, if you wish, just lick it off

If your hair is dry, damage and has lost its shine, try this revitalizing mask:

• 1 avocado for long (½ for short) hair
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Mix together until creamy. Apply to hair, cover with plastic shower cap or plastic wrap, and leave for 0,5-1 hour. Rinse, then shampoo and condition hair as normal.

Yogurt mask will bring back the moisture, leaving your hair silky and manageable.

• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise

Mix the ingredients. Massage into wet hair, cover with plastic shower cap or plastic wrap, and leave for 0,5-1 hour. Rinse, then shampoo and condition hair as normal. Rinse with cold water.

Fruit smoothie will leave your hair nourished and replenished with a beautiful healthy shine.

• 1 banana
• 1/4 cantaloupe
• 1 tbls wheat germ oil
• 1 vitamin E capsule

Blend the ingredients. Apply to hair, cover with plastic shower cap or plastic wrap, and leave for 30 minutes. Rinse, then shampoo and condition hair as normal.

Try to make your own fresh shampoo, using a shampoo base that has been purchased. Peppermint and teat tree shampoo is simple yet effective for really dry problems scalp:

• 2 drops peppermint essential oil
• 2 drops tea tree essential oil
• 4 tbsp shampoo base

Mix the oils thoroughly with the base. Shampoo as usual, leaving the lather in the hair for a few minutes before rinsing

By making your own masks, you have absolute control over what goes into preparation you make and can avoid preservatives or any ingredients that do not suit you personally. Recipes can be individually made to suit specific needs and skin types. Natural, fresh ingredients can be found at any food store at a fraction of the cost of commercially available cosmetics.

Making up you recipes, try to use fresh ingredients. Wait until all the other ingredients are assembled before cutting fruits: this keeps the potent enzymes as fresh as possible.

Clean your face thoroughly before applying the mask. Steaming your face over a bowl of hot camomile infusion is cleansing and soothing, and prepares your skin for the nourishing treatment. Unparfumed soap, almond or olive oil, and milk are also good cleansers.

Try any of recipes below, according to your skin type:

For normal skin: Mix 1 ripe avocado with 1 tablespoon of honey into a paste. Put the mask on the face and keep for 15-20 minutes. Then wash with lukewarm water. This mask cleanses, moistens and enriches skin.

For dry skin: Mix 1 raw egg yolk, 2 tablespoons of honey, a splash of milk, and 1 teaspoon of vitamin E oil. Put the mask on the face and keep for 15-20 minutes. Apply the mixture on to your face and relax for 20 minutes. Then rinse off using lukewarm water. This mask nourishes and soothes skin very well.

For greasy skin: Strawberries are wonderful for refreshing the skin. Take 3-4 large strawberries and make them into pulp. Add 3-6 drops of lemon juice in the strawberry pulp. Apply the pulp on the face, keep for 10-15 minutes and wash off with cold water.

For sensitive skin: Mix sauce from ¼ banana with 1 teaspoon of grated fresh cucumber and 1 teaspoon olive oil. Put the mixture on the face and keep for 30 minutes. Then wash with cool water. This mask soothes skin well.

Anti-ageing mask: Place 2 tablespoons of oatmeal in a pot, add a quarter of a cup of milk, stir and cook gently till the mixture becomes soft. Add 2 teaspoons of olive oil and mix all together, and allow to cool. Apply the mixture all over face and neck. Relax and leave on for 25 minutes. Wash off with lukewarm water.

For all types of skin: Blend together 3 tablespoons of yoghurt and 1/2 cucumber. Put the mask on your face and neck for 20 minutes. Cucumbers are wonderful for hydrating, refreshing, and revitalizing the skin.