Mother’s Day is just around the corner, and if you haven’t pre-ordered a gift or arranged for flower delivery, you may be scrambling to figure out exactly what you can give to the mother figure in your life.
If you’re at home, look no further than your pantry.
Natalie Sexton, a Hamilton, Ont.,-based lifestyle expert, told The Morning Show that common kitchen items can make thoughtful beauty gifts. Not only are they quick, they likely require no trips to the grocery store.
“These are all really, really easy recipes that involve zero baking,” Sexton said.
Here are some easy at-home beauty gifts you can make for Mother’s Day.
DIY bath salts
“Most moms that I know love a bath,” Sexton said.
To make bath salts, you need: course salt, sea salt, a medium-sized glass jar, baking soda and a fragranced oil, like lavender oil.
Using a tablespoon for measurement, add six parts course salt, three parts sea salt and one part baking soda to your jar. Then, add a couple of drops of fragranced oil to give the salts a scent.
Shake up your jar so all the ingredients are mixed and you’re good to go.
“Mix it up, add a little bow… and it smells fabulous,” Sexton said.
DIY lip scrub
To make a naturally scented lip scrub, you need: brown sugar, white sugar, honey, coconut oil and a small jar.
Sexton suggests using virgin coconut oil because it’s a bit nicer on the lips, but whatever you have at home will work.
Using a teaspoon for measurement, add one teaspoon of brown sugar, one teaspoon of white sugar, one teaspoon of honey and one teaspoon of coconut oil to your jar.
“Sugar is a natural exfoliant… It’s going to slop off any dead skin,” she said.
If you don’t have a jar, a small plastic container works nicely, too.
While the scrub may smell good enough to eat, Sexton warns it’s not food.
“Don’t eat it — it’s just for the lips — and wipe it off afterwards,” Sexton said, adding that about 20 seconds on the lips does the trick.
DIY face mask
Oats are useful for more than just breakfast and baking; they work on the skin, too.
To gift your mom a pre-made face mask, you’ll need instant oats — not steel cut — camomile tea, honey and a jar.
The first step is to boil one cup of water and steep two bags of camomile tea in it.
“You want it to be really, really strong,” Sexton said.
Then put one cup of oats and one tablespoon of honey in your jar and slowly add the tea to the mixture. You want the texture to be paste-like, and not too thin, Sexton said.
The mask can be applied with either popsicle sticks or fingers, and can be left on for about 20 minutes.
“Oatmeal has really calming properties and so does camomile. It’s awesome for stressed skin or red skin,” Sexton added.
DIY hair mask
For many of us, our hair is starting to feel the effects of COVID-19 shutdowns. As salons are temporarily closed, a DIY hair mask is the next best thing.
To make a nourishing hair mask, you need coconut oil, honey, apple cider vinegar and a microwave-safe container.
Heat up two parts coconut oil (refined is better than virgin as it will best handle the heat, Sexton said) and then add two parts honey and one part apple cider vinegar. Mix all the ingredients in the container.
The mixture will be a liquid at first, but will eventually separate, Sexton said. That’s why you want to gift the mask in a microwaveable container as it will need to be heated again to use.
The mask can sit in the hair for about 20 minutes, Sexton said, then wash it out.
Laura.Hensley@globalnews.ca