Beauty Products You Can Make Yourself

Actress Pamelyn Chee and Managing Director of Senteurs De Provence Elaine Seah share with Nanz Inc.Com readers on how you can create customised beauty solutions in the comfort of your own home.

By Lianne Ong

Creating Your Own Skincare Products
Five years ago, local actress Pamelyn Chee took the plunge and started educating herself on cosmetic ingredients, and what she found out shocked her enough to start making her own skincare products at home in order to benefit from toxic-free skincare.

“It shocked me to see and understand what kind of stuff they put into even the most expensive products. I have very sensitive skin that breaks out very easily, and being an actress, that’s a nightmare because everything shows up on screen,” she says. According to her, the results she has reaped from making her own skin care is worth the extra hassle.

Pamelyn’s beauty routine includes removing make up with an oil cleanser – the only thing that dissolves all makeup — followed by a gentle gel-based face cleanser. To moisturise, a blend of oils is applied with aloe vera gel to seal it off. Although she has oily skin, the oils help to rebalance her skin as it mimics sebum and causes the skin to produce less oil as a result. On shooting days, she adds an aspirin mask to the nightly skincare regimen, to help clear her pores and reduce blemishes. Pamelyn makes the oil cleanser and oil blend herself from natural oils like olive and jojoba, and the aspirin mask is also a home remedy.

“My skin is a lot calmer and less oily. I can actually go out without makeup — I think that is every woman’s dream,” she says.

Pam’s Favourite DIY Beauty Recipes

1: Aspirin Face Mask

For clear pores and to lighten acne marks

Dissolve one aspirin tablet in your palm with a little water, until it becomes a paste. Apply it to your entire face, avoiding the delicate undereye area. Wash off after 5 minutes. Use only uncoated aspirin; this remedy will not work with the sugar coated formula. Salicylic acid, an ingredient in aspirin, unclogs pores and keeps them clear.
 

2: Clean and Shiny Hair Spray

To remove product build-up, and makes hair shiny and soft

Mix 1/3 vinegar to 2/3 water in a spray bottle. Spray it onto dry hair and wait for 5 minutes before shampooing. The vinegar helps to remove dirt, excess oil and dead skin cells. Be careful not to get any in your eyes.

Note: Ingredients for natural DIY skin care can be bought from aromatherapy shops and pharmacies. A word of caution should you choose to embark on DIY skin care: As products do not have preservatives, they do not have a long shelf life. It is recommended that a fresh batch is produced every three months.

Creating Your Own Perfume

DIY beauty doesn’t have to stop at the skin. Customised perfumes are now all the rage, as more and more shun mass market scents. Now you can learn how to create your own scents at a perfume making workshop run by Elaine Seah.

The appeal of making one’s own perfume, says Elaine, managing director of Senteurs de Provence, a niche perfume boutique, is the ability to make a unique scent for someone special or for a special occasion, instead of buying something off-the-shelf. Making your own scents gives you the flexibility to change the ingredients when creativity hits you.

Start-up costs for this hobby depends on how serious you want to be. Equipment required includes weighing balances, glass stirrers, glass bottles, perfume papers and perfume paper holders. Raw materials can also vary in cost, depending on the method of extraction and purity.

“You don’t need a good sense of smell to make your own perfumes. A normal working nose and interest in making perfumes is all you need,” assures Elaine. For now, you can start by using simple aromatherapy oils to create a scent for yourself or your home.

Perfume-making workshops by Elaine Seah costs $66 per person for two oil-based scents. The workshop is two hours long, and you get to take home your perfumes. All equipment is provided on site at no extra charge. You must be 21 years old and above to participate. Find out more at www.senteurs.com.sg

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