From Expired to Inspired: Five Natural Self-Care Recipes For When You’re Feeling (or looking) Tired

Sometimes life gets uncontrollable and things like healthy eating, skin care, and restful sleep get away from me. It’s frustrating to finally have a moment to eat that avocado or banana only to realize that it’s rotten, that I drank only coffee and no water all day, and that my skin looks dry and discolored from lack of rest and nutrition. What to do?? Self-care to the rescue! 

My philosophy is self-care isn’t a luxury, but it can feel luxurious. Here are a few of my favorite quick recipes for making the best of out of the worst. Please note: you can add honey, turmeric, and/or aloe vera to any of these recipes, if you have it around. Just know and be mindful of your allergies and sensitivities.

Research shows that honey is a natural source of nutrients and proteins that can help treat dry skin, eczema, and psoriasis. Honey may also act as a potential wound healer, especially in the case of burns, and is used in most natural skincare and beauty products. Honey is medicine in all regards. Respect bees and other pollinators. They do God’s work to bring color and life to this revolving rock.

Turmeric is known for its anti-inflammatory effects. I love this turmeric and honey soap from Etsy. While turmeric is used most often for cooking, it’s also a topical treatment for acne and psoriasis.

Aloe vera is perhaps best known as a sunburn remedy. However, my mother has always used it to treat cuts. My skin heals faster when I apply it as opposed to ointments. Aloe can also be used to treat acne, eczema, and psoriasis and help moisturize dry skin.

Yogurt Mask

I love greek yogurt and Oui yogurt because both are thick and custard-y. Unfortunately, I often buy more than I can eat before it expires. I once made the vicious mistake of eating an expired yogurt and learned the difference between the terms expired and best by.

Instead of throwing away expired yogurt, I turns out my custardy treats into easy-to-apply cosmetics! The live cultures in yogurt also improve skin texture, brightens skin tone, and moisturizes. The exact benefits vary by ingredient, however. (See above note about honey!)

Stir up your expired yogurt and whoosh for a few minutes before coating your visage and chillin. Kiddos love this too. Just be careful that they don’t ingest a lot of it. I’m serious. My systems were impaired.

Mayo Hair Whip

Speaking of custardy things, silky smooth and thick textures are yummy and also beneficial. Take this Hair Mask/Deep Conditioner for example. Now you could use banana, avocado, or coconut/avocado/olive/jojoba/castor oil(s) if you have those around. I infuse my olive oil with rosemary (for invigoration) from my garden because it’s growing out of control and I can only make and burn so many smudge sticks. (Join the Ethical Smudging event!) But the go-to conditioner that moisturizes my curly locks without weighing down or stinking up my fine hair is none other than mayo.

I started doing these protein-rich deep-conditioning hair treatments in my 20s as the effects of bleaching, blowdrying, and drug use really started to show. Hair is energy and energy contains history that reveals so much… My hair was already fine, but the poor diet and substances made it brittle. This natural, inexpensive deep conditioning eggy mayonnaise hair mask once or twice a week added shine and strengthens hair from root to tip and helped me start rethinking what I was putting into my body. Now, I just whip it up, coat my hair, go sit down somewhere with a shower cap (or a plastic grocery bag like back in the day), rinse with lukewarm water, and do my regular thing. Y’all be knowin, my curls on fleek.

I don’t use mayonnaise in food anymore, but I had a houseguest who left it in the refrigerator and I’m too creative and frugal to be wasteful. Also mayonnaise was a staple in my childhood home where mayo-heavy summer salads made regular appearances at community block parties. As a throwback, I prefer Hellmann’s mayo for my hair because the egg is thick and it doesn’t smack of vinegar. But you could just as well break an egg over your head, let it sit, and have silky tresses all the same. Just sayin, if you have any other type of mayo, including Miracle Whip or some vegan brand, add egg. 

Rice Water Rinse

Hear me out on this one. My great-grandmother used to call me Geechee. My love of rice reminded her of the African descended Gullah Geechee people in her native South Carolina, who were enslaved on various plantations, including rice and cotton. I loves me some rice, y’all. My mother tells a story about me sounding like the seagulls in Finding Nemo (mine mine) while reaching for a big bowl of rice during my infancy.

For this natural DIY conditioner, know only this: it will make your hair stronger and give it bounce and volume. I tried it after losing alarming clumps of hair. I had blood work and saw doctors — allopathic and naturopathic — but none could understand my hair loss and thinning. Yes, I had stress, but don’t we all? Anyway, after using this rinsem I noticed less hair in the shower.

It’s super easy. At least the way I do it. I just let my rice sit in cold water for 30+ minutes before cooking it, stir and strain it, and pour it over my head. Seriously. It’s that easy to have healthy hair and a hot bowl of tasty rice.

Grounding Coffee Body Scrub

I love rice, but I’m a coffee fiend. It’s possibly my only remaining addiction and I’m okay with that. I use a French press in the morning when I journal before work. I grind my own beans, but occasionally a friend will gift me ground coffee. French press grounds are coarse. Drip coffee grounds are fine. Use coarse grounds for the body and fine grounds for the face with this amazing exfoliating scrub. The grounds gently remove dead skin cells to rejuvenate and boost circulation. 

I like to mix my grounds together with coconut oil because I have a lot of that in my house. Feel free to jazz yours up with brown sugar and vanilla extract for a delicious combination that will send you off to dreamland with a smile. Just be careful of using this on your feet in the tub or shower. Oils are slippery. Speaking of, I sometimes get a little dollar store thing of sugar, a dollar store thing of coconut oil, add whatever essential oils I want, and that’s a scrub for months. Sometimes I’ll use that one as a lip scrub when they get chapped in the dry winter. Either way you go — coconut or coffee — silky skin all glistening and beautiful is the outcome. 

Coconut Pulling

All that coffee can do some damage on the mouth, which is why I also do coconut oil pulls. Coconut oil naturally contains anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. Oil pulling reduces the number of harmful bacteria in your mouth and decreases your risk of some health conditions. (I use strips for whitening, just so you know, pulling doesn’t remove coffee stains from teeth.) 

Oil pulling is an ancient Ayurvedic practice that involves swishing oil around the mouth, using it like a mouthwash. To oil pull, you put a tablespoon of oil in your mouth, swish it around for 15–20 minutes, then spit it out and brush my teeth. 15 minute might seem like a long time, but I can fold a load of laundry and put away my clothes in that time, so win win. You might swish while showering, soaking in some vitamin D, or wherever you find time with your mouth shut.

I should mention that I tend to empty the oil onto a paper towel and into my trash can where it can be absorbed back into the earth. I mean, my plumber is a cool dude, but I don’t want to see him that often.

I hope these incredibly easy, super inexpensive holistic recipes improve your self-care and overall wellbeing. If you use any, let me know. Also comment on your own DIY self-care skin luxuriants.