High-end beauty you can make at home

...and save yourself a fortune!

THERE’S nothing quite like pricey and indulgent beauty products to make you feel wonderful.

But what if you could replicate your favourites, from £40 cleansing balm to £21 hair serum, at home for pennies?

That’s the promise of a book from high- end beauty brand Neal’s Yard Remedies. It is packed with recipes for DIY creams and lotions that seem a lot like High Street versions.

These aren’t the usual ‘use avocado and banana as a face mask’ or ‘try a handful of oats and honey as body scrub’ concoctions.

Instead, they include ingredients such as glycerin (to moisturise skin), benzoin tincture (a preservative) and emulsifying wax (prevents oil and water from separating).

And they use preparation methods such as a bain marie (a bowl heated over a saucepan of hot water). I bought everything I needed online at thesoapkitchen.co.uk.

So could my DIY products, decanted into sterilised jars and pots, measure up to the luxury versions?

CLEANSING BALM

DESIgNED to be massaged into the skin and removed with a flannel, cleansing balms are a staple.

Eve Lom’s (£40 for 50ml) and Liz Earle’s Cleanse & Polish (£14 for 100ml) are cult versions, but Superdrug has a balm for just £5.99.

DIY VERSION: I melted 1tbsp shea nut butter and 1tbsp beeswax with 90ml sunflower oil and 2tsp olive oil in a bain marie, let it cool slightly then added 12 drops lavender essential oil and eight drops lemon essential oil.

TOTAL COST: £2.53. VERDICT: Ridiculously easy to make. It did a great job of removing my makeup and left my skin feeling soft, though a little greasy.

MAKE OR BUY? Make. Easy, quick and cheaper than any I’ve seen on sale.

HAIR SERUM

AS A curly-haired girl, I can’t be without serum and spend hundreds of pounds on it each year. I’m a big fan of Kiehl’s Smoothing Oil-Infused Leave-In Concentrate (£19 for 75ml) and Jo Hansford’s Illuminoil (£21.75 for 50ml) — could DIY be better? DIY VERSION: I melted 1tsp shea nut butter, 1tbsp argan oil and 1tsp emulsifying wax in a bain marie, then heated 1tsp glycerin and 4tbsp aloe vera juice. I whisked the two mixtures together before adding 5 drops of rosemary essential oil and pouring into a dropper bottle. TOTAL COST: £1.96. VERDICT: My serum looked milky at first, but soon separated and had to be shaken to recombine. I didn’t love the medicinal smell of rosemary and it didn’t give my hair the gloss that shop-bought serums do. MAKE OR BUY? Buy. It’s worth spending the cash on a serum that works.

CLAY MASK

THANKS to its natural ability to absorb excess oil and draw impurities from the skin, clay masks have always been popular. L’Oreal Paris has brought out three new Pure Clay masks (£7.99 each for 50ml), Lancome has one (£28 for 100ml) as does Charlotte Tilbury (£38 for 75ml). DIY VERSION: I mixed 3tbsp powdered green clay, 3tbsp glycerin and 3tsp lavender water. TOTAL COST: £1.69. VERDICT: The sludgy green paste smelled lovely. After ten minutes I rinsed it off with warm water and my skin felt detoxed. A good option if your skin is prone to oiliness and spots. MAKE OR BUY? Make. Quick and easy — a no-brainer.

LIP BALM

WHETHER it’s Vaseline (£1.95 for 20g), Body Shop (£2.50 for 10ml) or By Terry (£39 for 10g), most of us need a lip balm for chapped winter lips. DIY VERSION: In a bain marie, I blended 1tbsp shea nut butter, 1tsp castor oil, 1tsp sunflower oil and 1tsp beeswax. After taking it off the heat, I added four drops of sweet orange essential oil and poured it into a tin. TOTAL COST: 58p. VERDICT: Super easy to make and, though I spent 60p on a tin to put it in, you could easily refill an old one. The balm was hard, but melted onto my finger and gave a smooth, glossy finish. MAKE OR BUY? Make. It’s just as good as any basic balm.

CONDITIONER

ROSEMARY oil is a common ingredient in conditioner as it’s stimulating and has benefits for hair and scalp. Aveda has a Rosemary Mint Conditioner (£16 for 250ml) while Avalon Organics Rosemary Volumizing Shampoo (£5.99 for 325ml) is on sale at Holland & Barrett. DIY VERSION: In a bain marie, I melted 1tbsp shea butter, 1tbsp coconut oil and 1tbsp argan oil. I whisked the cooled mixture until it thickened and then added ten drops of rosemary essential oil. TOTAL COST: £1.38. VERDICT: This had a thick, unctuous texture, but it’s more of a pre-shampoo treatment than a conditioner as you have to use shampoo to remove it, and then shampoo again. Even then my hair felt greasy soon after washing. I suppose it’s a bit like giving your hair an oil mask.

MAKE OR BUY? Buy. Professionals do it better.

BATH BOMBS

LuSH were the ones who brought fizzing bath bombs to the masses, though you may remember the more sedate bath cubes. The Lush range costs from £1.95 to £6.95, Patisserie de Bain do cupcake versions for £2.99 and there are macaroon- shaped ones from Bubble T (£5.99 for five), both at Superdrug.

DIY VERSION: I mixed 200g sodium bicarbonate, 100g citric acid, 1tsp dried flowers and eight drops mandarin essential oil. I sprayed on enough water to a sticky mixture before patting it into moulds and leaving in the fridge for half an hour to set.

TOTAL COST: £1.44 for four small spheres and one large one.

VERDICT: Making DIY versions took an effort to get right until I came up with the idea of leaving them to set in silicone cupcake cases. This resulted in perfectly shaped bath bombs that filled my bath with fizz, fragrance and flowers for next to nothing.

MAKE OR BUY? Make. These could make great birthday gifts.

TONER

BASIC toners have rather lost out to exfoliating lotions, but if you like a simple rose and aloe one, there’s Dr Organic Rose Otto Skin Toner (£8.59 for 150ml) and Neal’s Yard Rehydrating Rose Toner (£16 for 200ml).

DIY VERSION: I boiled 100ml mineral water and tipped it over 1tbsp dried rose petals. After ten minutes, I removed the petals and mixed the liquid with 1tsp glycerin and 1tsp aloe vera juice.

TOTAL COST: 42p. VERDICT: I wouldn’t usually use a toner after cleansing, but in a spray bottle as a spritz on a hot day or sprayed lightly over makeup to stop it looking cakey, this is a winner. MAKE OR BUY? Make. A good way to feel refreshed in summer.

BODY CREAM

COCOA butter is often added to body creams for its ability to moisturise and leave skin smelling delicately of chocolate.

Natural brand Jason does a Cocoa Butter Hand & Body Lotion (£7.49 for 237ml), while classic Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Lotion costs £3.75 for 250ml. DIY VERSION: I melted 1tbsp cocoa butter, 1tsp coconut oil and 1tsp sunflower oil in a bain marie. In another saucepan, I boiled 60ml mineral water to 80c and then added 1tbsp emulsifying wax and 1tsp glycerin.

I whisked the two mixtures together before adding five drops vanilla extract, two drops benzoin tincture, two drops mandarin essential oil and five drops sweet orange essential oil. TOTAL COST: 50p. VERDICT: This was not a cream — it was more of a milk — but I liked the scent of citrus oil as it made it less sickly than many cocoa butters. Though sticky on application, it left my skin soft. MAKE OR BUY? Make, but put it in a pump, not a jar.

NEAL’S Yard Beauty Book, Dorling Kindersley, £16.99.