Kitchen Beauty

Turn your kitchen into a beauty lab
Written by Margarette Teodosio

I love Sundays. It’s my Me-Myself-and-I Day; the day when I treat myself to some pampering and loving. As much as I’d like to visit salons and spas every week, I cannot afford it (I can if I don't eat, pay the bills and go out on Friday gimiks). So, I have collected tried and tested beauty treatments that only require me to raid the kitchen cabinet and the fridge to create my very own home spa beauty treatments.

My Sundays always start with me waking up when I want or need to. With no thoughts of alarm clocks and morning rush hour traffic, I give myself the luxury to stare at the ceiling and not jump out of bed immediately. A typical Sunday will go like this:

In the morning
9:00 am Leisurely get out of bed. As I heat some water for my oatmeal, I scoop five tablespoons of instant oatmeal in one bowl (for breakfast) and another three tablespoons in a separate bowl (for the facial mask).

9:30 am After breakfast, I moisten the facial mask oatmeal with one to two tablespoons of lukewarm water to make a paste, which l then use to gently scrub my face with, avoiding the area around my eyes. Once the oatmeal paste has dried (it takes around 15 minutes), I wash it off with cool water and pat my face dry. Usually, I take a bath after this.

10:00 am After shampooing my hair, I towel off excess water and apply regular mayonnaise (NOT salad dressing!) on my mane. I rinse it after 10 minutes. My officemate Eliza swears it made her sun-dried hair shine again.

10:15 am Once I'm done with my bath, I rub a small amount of extra virgin coconut oil or lana (the latik oil you get after boiling coconut milk) on my knees and elbows to soften them. Remember to only use lana if you are staying home since it will make you smell like biko the whole day. If you are going out, rinse the area well with mild soap to remove the yummy tropical smell.

In the afternoon
4:00pm For my homemade foot spa, I fill a large bowl or small basin with lukewarm water and 1/2 to one cup of milk. I also sprinkle, whenever available, rose petals from Aling Choly's garden to give it a more authentic spa feel. With Enya's CD softly playing in the background, I soak my feet in the basin and my fingernails in a smaller bowl with 2 tablespoons of calamansi juice. The calamansi will act as an astringent and strip away light stains. The chilled cucumber slices over my closed eyes complete my afternoon treat. The cucumber helps reduce the puffiness of my eyes. (Tea bags soaked in cold water and then drained also have the same effect.)

In the evening
9:00pm The evening is set aside for my weekly exfoliating session. After moistening my knees and elbows, I apply a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar (slightly dissolved in honey). I then gently massage the mixture on my elbows and knees using a wet washcloth or my fingers. After 3 minutes, I rinse off the sugar and honey. You can do this twice a week for softer and smoother skin.

9:30pm Before going to bed, I massage lana on my dry hair (concentrating on the roots), and securely wrap it with a towel. I usually leave the lana on overnight. If you do this, remember to put on a shower cap to avoid staining your pillows and beddings. And, to avoid smelling like your favorite kakanin the next day, remember to thoroughly wash your hair with mild shampoo in the morning.