Inspiring Climate Action Since 2009
Tribe, during my educational and awareness, talks about living sustainable and going zero waste in UAE I always mention how I use food scraps for my natural and zero waste beauty care. Many people over the time have shown some interest in the DIY recipes I use, so I decided to share all those in this dedicated post.
First, the philosophy about why zero waste beauty? While going zero waste, for organic waste I compost or make some fertilizers not just to reduce waste but also to create natural fertilizers for my edible organic garden. But honestly, I can’t use up all the organic waste only as fertilizers for my small garden. Even after lots of efforts in reducing food waste and the fact that we consume a lot of vegetables and fruits in our diet, I am always dealing with large organic waste. So I decided to use the vegetable and fruit scraps for my beauty care routine to reduce the organic wet waste and compost demand. Plus, the benefits of using natural ingredients for skin and hair care are so significant over toxic hair and skin care products from the supermarkets.
The thought of using vegetable and fruit scraps for skin and hair might feel a bit gross to some, but not me. Most of my childhood I used only natural and ayurvedic homemade skin and hair care products, it is part of the culture I grew up in. I remember like many kids back home during the summer holidays I used to stay at my grandmother’s home and after playing in the dirt, my grandmother used to handover a boiled raw mango seed and peels to use as soap and scrub. My mother was also very particular when it came to using beauty products. She always used to tell me abusing your skin and hair with chemicals is not called beauty care. She used to tell me in my teen years when I wanted to experiment with new products that ‘Beauty care is about keeping your skin, hair healthy by not exposing them to harsh toxins and chemicals.’ Plus, she created a great culture in our home, where more attention was given to who you are, how much you gain knowledge than how you look.
Of course, the right care of skin and hair starts with what you eat not just what you apply on it. So let me now share some of my favorite recipes which are zero waste swaps for commercial beauty products.
I once ignored a lone banana for many days and when finally I opened it, it had too many dark spots inside. So I decided to use it for my skin as a face mask. Mashed ripe banana & honey make a great natural skincare recipe, as banana is known for its moisturizing properties and honey offers antibacterial activity. Banana can also help in reducing dark circles, skin blemishes as well as wrinkles plus it removes dead skin and helps the skin to glow naturally. I even indulge with ‘banana and honey body cream’ (same recipe for a full-body instead of soap), when we waste more bananas.
If your skin is very oily, you can use lemon juice instead of honey. You can use banana peels, they are great for curing pimples, reducing wrinkles.
Who doesn’t like to eat watermelon on a hot summer day? But when you eat watermelons, you are left with a lot of watermelon rinds. So I tried this cooling watermelon face pack recipe which is perfect to refresh your skin in summer. Grind all watermelon rinds and shell then mix the plain yogurt, apply it on your face, leave it for a while and rinse. Watermelon rinds have a higher concentration of antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins so better not to throw (or compost) them and instead use them. Watermelon has great anti-aging effects on your skin.
By the way, you can use the watermelon rinds in food preparation as well as in salads, smoothies, etc as well.
When you eat papaya, you end up wasting some fiber-rich part of papaya when you remove seeds along with papaya peels. I grind all of the papaya scraps to make a smooth paste. I use this paste made from papaya waste as a hair mask. Papaya is a good moisturizer and conditioner and also helps in controlling dandruff. You can add honey to this puree to make a face pack in winters or if you have dry skin or for oily skin add lemon juice.
Papaya is rich in vitamin A, C as well as it has potassium in it. Papaya can remove blemishes, helps as natural anti-aging and make skin smooth and supple.
Citrus fruits, rich in vitamin c are great skin and hair. Like yogurt, lemon is one ingredient that can be used with many fruit and vegetable scraps to create homemade natural skincare and hair care products. The peels of citrus fruits are the great natural exfoliant for the skin and a natural anti-aging remedy. Citrus fruits also help in preventing hair loss and strengthening hair. I generally keep orange and lemon peels to use at home for natural cleaning.
I am sure, potato peels is a waste generated in almost every household. How many potato peels, will you feed to your plants, instead use the peels for your skin. Just rub the fleshy part of potato peel on the face for 5 minutes and let it dry for an additional 15 minutes. Potatoes are a great natural remedy for oily skin. You can also make potato peel paste and use it on your hands and legs. If you are throwing away potato juice, use it to reduce under-eye dark circles.
Before you throw your tomato scraps including tomato skin while making the next meal, you need to read this. Do you know a tomato is a great natural skin toner? Tomato can reduce the effects of sunburn and help in reducing skin blemishes. Rich in vitamin C & potassium it keeps your skin clear.
Coffee grounds are great for exfoliating skin and it smells great. Just add a few drops of coconut oil to coffee grounds, you can use it for face and full body; this my go-to scrub. Coffee grounds when massaged on the scalp also helps to accelerate hair growth.
Coffee grounds are especially effective in cleansing feet. Add coffee ground in your foot bath, after soaking the feet, scrub and rinse.
Watch here my ‘Zero Waste Coffee’ ritual,
You must be wondering how do we waste eggs? No, we haven’t replaced toy balls in my son’s room with eggs. But at the times, when we are using only egg whites or only egg yolk and forget about leftover cracked eggs in the fridge for a few days; I have a deal with the waste. Eggs are so useful, I don’t think we should throw any part of the eggs. I use eggshells for many different applications in my garden.
So leftover cracked eggs are great as a hair mask, your hair gets shiny with eggs and the protein in eggs helps to improve keratin in hair. Egg whites are better for oily skin and yolks are great for dry skin type. Eggs are particularly useful for damaged hair, you can add milk and honey to eggs for extra moisturizing effects. Eggs and curd pack is great as a conditioner and can also be used on the skin. Eggs and lemon juice mask helps in closing pores on the skin.
I never waste plain yogurt, even the expired one. Yogurt or curd is useful in making so many face packs and hair masks. The best part is yogurt is great for all skin types. Especially, during summer it gives you that cooling effects to your skin or scalp. By the way, you can also use leftover greek yogurt instead of plain yogurt in the above face pack and hair mask recipes.
Don’t throw spoiled milk or sour milk, as it is still great for your skin. Sour milk contains enzymes and probiotics which pasteurized milk doesn’t have. Simply apply it on clean skin and leave it for a while (it’s known as lactic acid facial) or you can also use it for the footbath. Spoiled milk is a great natural moisturizer and makes skin smooth and firm.
Plastic-free Beauty Tools
I hope you are now inspired to try out some of my favorite zero-waste, natural DIY beauty recipes. If you know some more zero waste beauty tricks, please share it with our Tribe in the comments below. I would love to try them too. If you liked this article, there is another article you will definitely love, 10 personal care products I stopped buying.
Apart from our beauty tips, I will highly recommend having a look at our other zero waste UAE guides for some more interesting tips. And if you are based in UAE, why don’t you join our social initiative #ZeroWasteUAE?
Amruta Kshemkalyani, an expert sustainability professional turned social entrepreneur, is the founder of the Sustainability Tribe, AK Sustainability
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This was a great read… also, Beetroot scraps can be used as a natural blush
Thank you, Kanika! Will try beetroot scraps 🙂