Five DIY Holiday Beauty Gifts

My mom has recently gotten really into DIY beauty products. She's raiding the kitchen for everything from bananas, avocados and honey for hair conditioner to my grandmother's organic rose bush for homemade rose water. And her hair and skin actually look really, really good lately. But most people have trouble wrapping their heads around putting, well, food on the top of their head. But there are a lot of great homemade beauty products that can be prettily packaged and make wonderful gifts. Much better than, say, half an avocado, a couple of egg yolks and a plastic shower cap. So without further ado, here are 5 great DIY beauty gifts for holiday giving (or keeping):

1. Graphic designer and former Martha Stewart art director Kristin Rees used the bath salt recipe from Petit Elephant at her holiday craft night and was kind enough to share the gift labels she designed for Pink Grapefruit and Cucumber Mint Bath Salts. The recipe is inexpensive and calls for just 3 ingredients - epsom salt, baking soda and essential oils. And Kristin's labels fit right on these cheap little jars from IKEA.

2. Part of me feels that grapefruit and cucumber aren't quite...holiday-ish enough though? But this recipe for candy cane bath salts will be perfect for the Slightly Christmas Obsessed, like me.

3. I am usually not a fan of scented bubble baths, but I think this scent aversion has everything to do with a certain bath product chain's overly heavy floral scented bubble baths and less to do with a general aversion to scents - or bubble baths - in general. And this recipe for a Creamy Chamomile Bubble Bath is relatively simple (5 ingredients and a hot stove required) and makes me relax just thinking about it.

4. And though I may be slightly Scrooge-ish when it comes to bubble baths, I love me a good salt scrub. (Love, love, LOVE!) I think I've been given a salt scrub by some thoughtful friend or cousin nearly every year for the past several years, but I never knew I could just make them! All by myself! Here's a tutorial to get you started - use the recipe and pick your own essential oils.

5. And, as it turns out, my mother's rosewater facial tonic actually makes a great gift. Just use 3 parts witch's hazel, vodka or gin, 1 part water and some organically grown rose petals. Put everything in a glass container for at least one week and then transfer to your gift bottle. My mom uses these spice jars from Crate and Barrel (aren't they just too cute?).

What are your favorite DIY beauty gifts? Is there a way to give somebody an avocado, olive oil and honey hair conditioner as a gift without them wondering what kind of crazy guacamole you've just given them?

Nina Moon

http://kimchimamas.typepad.com