Natural Homemade Beauty with Carrots
In the mood for some homemade skincare? Got some carrots in the fridge? Use up those leftover veggies and revitalise your skin. Herbalist Leoniek Bontje shows how you can make easy and moisture locking skin-oil and nourishing face mask, in just a matter of minutes in this extract from her new book Natural Homemade Beauty.
CARROT SKIN OIL
Carrots are packed with vitamins and minerals that nourish and protect your skin as well as providing certain anti-aging properties.
Ingredients for 150ml
- 2 carrots
- 100ml good-quality oil
- A clean 150ml pot or jar
- Muslin
- A clean 150ml bottle with cap
How to:
Wash and grate the carrots, then place them in the pot and pour over the oil.
Cover with muslin and leave for four weeks, stirring occasionally.
Strain the oil through muslin and pour into the bottle.
TIP
Wild carrot (Daucus carota) is the ancestor of the cultivated carrot we know today. You can press a wonderful oil from the seeds of the wild carrot, or leave the seeds in oil to infuse (macerate)
You can recongize wild carrot from the ‛lace skirt’ below the flower. That’s why the plant is also referred to as ‛Queen Anna’s lace’.
FACE MASK WITH CARROT
This mask is effective against skin imperfections and premature aging.
Ingredients for 1 mask
• 2 small carrots
• 10ml (1 tsp) almond or olive oil
How to:
Cook the carrots until they have softened, then mash them and add the almond or olive oil.
Apply the mask to your face, leave for 20 to 30 minutes and rinse off with tepid water.
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Discover more exciting beauty products to make in Natural Homemade Beauty by Leoniek Bontje | £14.99
Photographs by Anya van de Watering and Bella Thewes.
