I slept over at my friend’s house one summer night because we had big plans to try some Do-It-Yourself recipes.

We were more than excited to save a couple bucks by making our own beauty products that are worth around $10 at the cosmetic and beauty store. However, the some of results looked like nothing we expected.

First was a lip scrub. It seemed simple: We would mix for vaseline, sugar and coconut oil to create a colorful, exfoliating scrub that looked as if it was straight from Lush. Skimming over recipes on the internet, we decided to combine a couple of them and make our own custom recipe.
We began to mix the ingredients together, throwing in whatever looked good. The end results were not as we expected. The lip scrub stunk of the vaseline, so we added in some mint extract to mask the smell, then put in some food coloring to add some color. We ended up with a fluorescent pink jelly paste that smelled like something between a doctor’s office and mouthwash. Nevertheless, we rubbed the it onto our lips, and it was a struggle to keep it on our mouths before tasting its nasty flavor.

Although the lip scrub didn’t turn out as expected, the coffee-sugar face scrub we made was not all that bad. All it consisted of was coffee grinds, sugar, and coconut oil. The coffee is supposed to exfoliate your skin, while the sugar and oil would act as a lubricant. It was so simple to do and it worked quite well. My usually dry face felt smoother after using the coffee scrub.

Here’s what I learned after a day of DIYs:

  • When looking for recipes on the internet, skim through several recipes before beginning, and find one or two that seem reliable. Reading the comments and reviews about the recipe is also helpful. The more you research, the more you know.
  • A good recipe should include all ingredients and amounts, precise and simple instructions that are easy to follow, and step-by-step pictures. As you research, you will find that good recipes tend to share a similar list of ingredients.
  • Be sure to read all the instructions and get all ingredients out before doing anything, so you can easily follow the instructions. This is especially important if your recipe involves cooking.
  • For DIYs such as scrubs and masks, if you know why each ingredient is included you can customize the product to your needs. For example, if I wanted something that has exfoliating properties, I might add some coffee grinds to a lip scrub.
  • Finally, below are some links that seem promising. I have only tried the coffee scrub and cookie dough recipes but the lip scrub seems reliable.

Lip Scrub:
From Brit.co This website has many other DIYs, and seems very reliable.

Coffee Scrub:
Coffee Brown Sugar Scrub

Edible Cookie Dough:
From Centercutcook.com