Ditch the fancy creams, and slather your face with Greek yogurt instead.
This is just one of many beauty tips given to the Daily News by the Beauty Bean blogger Alexis Wolfer, from her newly published book, “The Recipe for Radiance,” which is chock-full of helpful tips and tricks to achieve beauty, inside and out.
“The book is all about quick, easy, healthy ways to promote beauty inside and outside,” she explained over manicures at The James Hotel. “Half of the recipes promote beauty from within, half of the recipes are for homemade topical remedies — all using food, all using things in your kitchen.”
Wolfer shared a little taste — no pun intended — of her holistic wellness expertise, sharing her top five staples — in the kitchen and in the powder room.
Coconut oil: The most buzzy of all foods made frequent appearances in Wolfer’s book, winning a glowing review from Wolfer, who crowned it “the best product of all time.”
“I use it in my hair, I use it to remove eye makeup, I use it for everything,” she said.
Full-fat Greek yogurt: Get them to the Greek! Yogurt — especially full-fat Greek yogurt, is a beauty elixir, Wolfer said. “The probiotics are amazing for balancing bacteria on your skin, lactic acid breaks down the skin cells and the healthy fats are amazing,” she explained. “It can be used as a scalp mask if you have dandruff, and can also be used as a spot treatment for blemishes. If you get sunburn it’s an amazing remedy for that.”
Raw honey: Sticky it may “bee,” but honey is sweet for your skin. “It’s like Neosporin but healthier, and it’s not going to clog your pores,” she told The News. “It’s antibacterial, so it’s amazing to put on a cut or burn, it helps to relieve acne and the pain associated with it.” Alexis suggested sticking to creamy, raw honey to avoid the stickiness of processed brands.
Sweet potato baby food: No, this isn’t a child-care tip — Wolfer explained that mashed potatoes are a great at-home remedy for their vitamin A content. Slap on some sweet potato as a moisturizing face mask — she favors buying it in baby food form because you don’t need to worry about buying a sweet potato, steaming it and mashing it.
Sugar: The granular properties of sugar make it an exfoliating marvel, and Wolfer found some truly sweet ways to use this kitchen cupboard staple. Sugar can be used to create a, grainy (and edible!) lip scrub when mixed with honey, and blended with coconut oil for an exfoliating body scrub.
Recipes include such treats as the “Strawberry and Champagne Serum,” a perfect antidote for a night of partying. Wolfer always encourages saving leftovers, particularly when it comes to bubbly. “Champagne has a higher percentage of grape seed extract than any other product on the market, because it’s not stable enough to put into beauty products on the shelves. If you’re going to open up a bottle and you have just a cotton swab amount, you just need dribbles from it and it’s an amazing anti-ageing serum,” she said.
But not everyone understands Wolfter’s quest for at-home beauty.
“Sometimes my boyfriend will be over and he’ll be like, ‘Are you eating that, or are you putting it on your face?’ “
