A Broke Maltese Girl’s Guide To Homemade Beauty
There was always some point in time when we were too broke to get a proper facial, or too lazy to go out and do it. Sometimes we just get to a point where we simply do not feel like actually buying our beauty products. Other times, the almost illegible ingredients at the back scare us shitless. Thankfully, Malta’s here to help.
Roll your sleeves up, go raid your pantry, and get ready for the softest skin ever.
1. The Cleanse
Ok so let’s start from the obvious, cleanse your face gently with a mixture of ġulepp tal-ħarrub and ilma zgħar. This sounds a tad bit crazy, but carob syrup has an array of benefits when used on the skin.
Carobs have a high amount of antioxidants and is an excellent source of minerals and vitamins which are good for your skin. Vitamins A, and some of the B’s too. Mix a teaspoon of ġulepp with one and a half teaspoons of warm ilma żgħar. Apply to wet face and rinse.
2. The Scrub
Crush a teaspoon of cloves with mortar and pestle until powdery and half a teaspoon of cinnamon powder with a teaspoon of organic local honey (local honey is raw, that means that it’s as natural as it can possibly be)
VERY GENTLY (cinnamon is a bit of a burn-y herb) scrub your face, for the love of god do not scrub your face like a biċċa tal-art. Use the gentle loving tender care your skin deserves! The clove oil can help eliminate blackheads and the honey helps in moisturising your skin like a pro.
3. The Mask
Be prepared to make a mess — you will now be infusing rosemary sprigs into olive oil for a true Maltese mask. You need to use the banju marija method here. After the water starts boiling, put the heat down on low and add two tablespoons of olive oil and half a bunch of dry rosemary sprigs broken into tiny pieces to the dry bowl. Keep the heat on low and let simmer for around an hour or so.
In a sizeable bowl, crack an egg and separate the yolk from the white. Store the yolk for later use and pour the white gooey bits in the bowl.
Add the rosemary infused oil to the egg white and mix. Apply mixture to face and let sit for five minutes. Rinse off like you would any other mask.
4. The Toner
This toner will make you smell like Christmas. Apples have an astoundingly high content of vitamins A and C and they help protect your skin from UV rays, much needed for living here in Malta.
Boil some water in a saucepan, peel and chop apples in a way that would make your grandmother proud and pop them in the boiling water with some cloves. Boil for around 20 minutes and strain to separate solids from liquids. You can eat the apples, whatever. Refrigerate this tasty toner and apply to face lightly with a cotton bud.
5. The Body Scrub
In a sizeable bowl mix two tablespoons of sea salt, two teaspoons of olive oil, one and a half tablespoons of organic honey and some wild borage flowers. Borage flowers contain a ton of antioxidants, so don’t worry, these underrated flowers are definitely good for you.
Crush the borage with mortar and pestle and mix well. Scrub on wet skin for a proper exfoliation.
6. The Sunburn Remedy
Aloe Vera gel is one of the best remedies against sunburn. Grab a leaf or two from the plant, cutting close to the base. Place the leaf upright for around 15 minutes to allow the resin to drain. Cut the serrated edges off and peel the skin.
Using a scoop collect the pulpy jelly stuff on the inside (avoid the weird yellow bits) and blend until it’s almost liquid. Congratulations! You just made your first batch of skin manna!
7. The Hair Mask
For this one you need to have a blender at hand. Get one egg, two tablespoons of honey and a bunch of dried bay leaves. Bay leaves help to reduce dandruff and hair loss, while eggs contain a healthy amount of biotin — that’s practically a double yay. Blend until it looks like an unrecognisable mush. Apply to hair and leave on for 30 minutes.
And for the love of god rinse your hair with cold water, else you risk the eggs being cooked in your hair.
8. The Foot Scrub
This foot scrub is fairly easy to make, just grab three tablespoons of sea salt, four sage leaves, a handful of peppermint, some rosemary, two tablespoons of honey and a spoonful of (local) milk. Crush the herbs finely with mortar and pestle and mix everything together until well combined.
Scrub on your feet, especially the heels in order to get rid of dry skin. Let sit for a couple of minutes, just for the sake of it, pamper yourself because you deserve it.