Bella Goes Natural

Hair

The Natural, Week 1: I Smell Bad

The headline sorta says it all there.

The headline sorta says it all there. After a week of substituting various old-fashioned, edible beauty recipes for my normal routine, Mr. Bella has both told me that I "smell like a salty carny" and said that he "feels bad for my face" because my skin has now broken out terribly and I can't wear makeup to cover it up. He also just called me his "little rennet" (yes, as in the cheese ingredient). The worst part is, he's just making the best of a smelly, acnefied situation. I need to adjust the recipes I'm using—big time. I've got too much to say about what's gone wrong to put it all up here, so to find out how disaster struck, just read more.

Hair

The Natural: I Go Off the Product Grid

I recently posted a story about an old family conditioner recipe made of whole milk and ferns, and reading the comments made me curious about old-fashioned product recipes made from natural, edible ingredients.
Natural Hair and Skin Care Tutorial 2009-12-23 09:00:29

I recently posted a story about an old family conditioner recipe made of whole milk and ferns, and reading the comments made me curious about old-fashioned product recipes made from natural, edible ingredients. So for the next month, I'm going off the product grid. (The rest of Team Bella will report on modern-day beauty goods in the meantime.) I'll be using only beauty formulas that were around when your great-great-grandparents were and, of those, only recipes that are edible and cheaply, readily available. The only exceptions? Antiperspirant (for the sake of those around me) and the nail polish I was already wearing before I started my little experiment. Oh, and I'm not wearing makeup. To see the incredible edibles I'm substituting for my usual product-heavy routine, just click through (and wish me luck!).