Got milk? You don’t have to just drink it. 

Love it or hate it, milk has a place not only in your diet but also in your tool box and cleaning closet as well as among your toiletries. Raw goat milk, in its unadulterated and probiotic-heavy state, is the best to use. But seeing that unpasteurized milk is outlawed for sale almost everywhere in the U.S., pasteurized goat milk is second best. While not all milks are created equally, you can use any animal milk to successfully benefit from these tips. From curing a hangover to tending to those stained linens, milk has got your back.

Appetite Suppressant

To prevent overeating at mealtime, drink a glass of milk 15 minutes beforehand. Milk fills you up and gives you enough protein – 1 cup of non-fat milk contains 8.26 grams of protein – to keep you feeling fuller and less inclined to go overboard when food is served.

Hair Conditioner and Mask

With its vitamin and mineral content, milk works great on smoothing and shining your hair. Rinse your hair with fresh milk and let it sit wet for a few minutes before rinsing with water. You could also mix powdered milk with water to form a paste and then comb through hair, letting it to sit for at least 5 minutes before washing out.

Hangover Cure

Milk helps to settle the stomach, rehydrate the system, and raise blood sugar levels. These make it a great morning-after hangover cure. Additionally, milk contains the amino acid cysteine, which is known to neutralize a lethal dose of acetaldehyde, which is an alcohol metabolite.

Fish Freshener

Place frozen fish in a milk bath and let sit until the fish thaws. The milk makes the fish taste fresher.

Make-Up Remover

Mix powdered milk with water until a paste forms. Apply the paste to skin to remove make up. Rinse thoroughly.

Crack Eliminator

Before you toss Grandma’s beloved china, enlist milk to the rescue! The protein in milk reacts with the mineral kaolin in china to close cracks. All you have to do is place china in a pan, cover it with milk, and bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer for up to an hour.

Silverware Polisher

For glistening silverware, take advantage of milk gone sour. Simply soak silverware in sour milk, cover it completely, and let it soak over night. The next day, wash the silverware as you normally would. If the milk isn’t sour already and you want to make your own, for every cup of milk, mix in one tablespoon of lemon juice and one tablespoon of vinegar and let it sit for five minutes before use.

Bug Bite Soother

Mix milk powder with enough water until it resembles a paste. Apply the paste to the area affected by the insect bite to relieve pain. The enzymes in the milk will neutralize the venom.

Facial Cleanser and Mask

Milk is a natural cleanser. It contains vitamin A, riboflavin, niacin, and vitamins B6 and B12. The alpha-hydroxy acids in milk exfoliate the skin, reducing the appearance of wrinkles and discoloration. Use a cotton ball to dab milk all across your face. Let it sit for a few minutes and then wash with water before moisturizing. For a mask, take 1/4 cup powdered milk and add enough water until it becomes a paste. Mix thoroughly and apply to the face. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before rinsing.

Ink Remover

To remove ink from clothing, take the affected garment and soak it in a milk bath overnight. The next day, wash the garment as usual. The stain should be gone. To boost the milk’s effectiveness, mix two parts milk with one part vinegar as the soaking solution.

Body Skin Moisturizer

The butterfat in milk moisturizes the skin. And because the pH of milk is close to the skin’s natural pH, the skin is more receptive to the moisturizing effects of the milk. Pour a few cups of fresh milk or 1/2 cup powdered milk into your bathtub, Cleopatra style.

Dry Hands Softener

To relieve dry and chafed hands, rinse them in milk a few times a day. Over the course of a week or two, your hands will begin to feel softer and less Winter rough.

Leather Cleaner

Dab worn or dirty leather with milk and buff until clean. The milk removes debris and leaves the leather shiny and looking brand new.

Corn on the Cob Flavor Booster

Boil corn with some milk in the water – about 1/2 cup – and the corn’s sweetness will heighten and its flavors will become more developed.

Shaving Cream Replacement

Run out of shaving cream? Nothing powdered milk and water can’t fix. Mix enough water with powdered sugar to produce a paste. Apply the paste to your face, underarms, and legs and shave. This simple concoction is smooth enough to resemble the real thing.

Poison Ivy Soother

To reduce the itch from an unintended stroll through a poison ivy bush, dab fresh milk or a powdered milk and water paste on the affected area. The milk will reduce the itchiness, redness, and irritation.

Sunburn Soother

Delicately pat sunburned skin with fresh milk. The milk cools the burn and the enzymes in the milk help to offset the pain.

Fertilizer

A tip from farmers and seasoned gardeners themselves – use milk as a fertilizer. Milk has been used as an organic fungicide and fertilizer without harming the plant.

Furniture Polisher

Sour milk makes for a great furniture polisher. Apply sour milk to furniture surfaces through a disposable spray bottle and wipe clean. You can also make your own sour milk, outlined above.

Milk Carton Bird Feeder

No, we didn’t forget about offering you a way to re-use the milk carton! Here is a tutorial on how to turn the carton into a bird feeder.

Images: Muffet, Striatic, Sshreeves, Jenny Downing, Gagstreet, Markusram, Robert Benner, The Living Room

The post 20 Unusual Ways to Use Milk appeared first on EcoSalon.

Part puzzle; part map. No matter how you cut it, each crease and contour of this wall mask is made from recycled materials.

Put your best face together with 87 pieces of laser-cut, non-toxic, environmentally friendly, recycled cardboard, the brainchild of designer Luis Rodrigalvarez of Cardboard Safari.

Each face is flat-packed, requiring you to put it together like a puzzle, until you witness the face (and his rather serious expression) materialize before your very eyes. Granted, he’s got a rather intense disposition, but he’ll make a stunning conversation piece, nonetheless.

Retails for $40.

Look for Lustables daily at EcoSalon. 100% gorgeous green finds, and never sponsored. Submit your favorite to tips@ecosalon.com

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Some people think “eyes are the windows of the soul,” but I would argue that it is the skin. Think about it. If you sneak junk food that may or may not have originated from Golden Arches (no judgment, my fry-loving friend), it is likely to show up on your skin. And it’s not just bad food that can make an appearance on your epidermis. If you stress yourself, your skin will show the signs. If you’re hormonal or pregnant, your skin may show it before your mid-section.

Don’t believe me? Recently, in a moment of stress-induced weakness, I picked up a bag of frozen tater tots at the store. I generally eat very well – fruits, veggies, lean proteins galore. But I wanted tots, and for the love of Pete Campbell I had to have them. That night, blinds drawn, I ate the tots and was happy. The next day? Breakout city.

Morale of the story? Your body rids itself of toxins through the skin via sweating. So if there’s a build-up of bad things in your body, you may see it in acne, skin blotches and more. So treat your skin to a healthy diet and resist the siren call of the tots. Drink a lot of water to keep yourself hydrated. Cut out sugary foods, trans-fats and fried foods. As one expert suggests, “smooth, soft, clear skin depends on fresh fruits and vegetables.” Make friends with your local farmers’ market.

Product wise, there’s a slew of detoxifying masks on the market that can help speed up the process. Recently, I had the chance to check out Anthology’s Complete Skin Detox Face Mask ($13.95). Anthology only uses USDA certified organic ingredients and packages their bath and body works in recyclable glass bottles. Their line is vegan, cruelty-free, and void of chemicals.

And how is the Complete Skin Detox Face Mask? In two words: bloody cool. Just in time for Halloween, this mask paints your face with a red liquid hue that makes you look like you just got back from Carrie’s prom. Which is AWESOME, naturally. But you might want to warn anyone in your vicinity. Unless you want to watch them freak out, which has its advantages as well.

A word of caution. While using the product, just mix one teaspoon and a little bit of water. I made the mistake of mixing it will too much water and ended up wasting quite a bit of it. Also, the mask is really quite messy, so try to keep the wetness to a minimum. And keep some cloths on hand to wipe up afterwards.

The mask’s main ingredients are hibiscus flowers, clay, and cranberries. The hibiscus is said to have “anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, detoxifying, peeling and anti-oxidant effects” on the skin. The cranberries have antioxidants to fight free-radicals on the skin.

How does it work? I applied the mixture with a cotton ball and left it on for about 25 minutes, or as long as it took to dry. It was a little tingly and smelled like berry herbal tea. It left my skin feeling tight, smooth, and looking a little pink. It can leave your skin feeling a bit dry, so be sure to follow up with a moisturizer.

FTC Compliance

The post Presenting the Bloody Mask of Supple Skin appeared first on EcoSalon.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? So that means beauty treatments are also in the eyes of the participant. But sometimes, these eyes are smeared with snail ooze. Or maybe they’re splashed by a ramen noodle spa or slithered across by snakes during a massage. Some beauty treatments around the world seem the stuff of Willy Wonka’s factory, without the ensuing sugar coma.

But hey, we don’t judge. After all, we live in a world where people make a practice of injecting botulism into their foreheads and silicone into their lips. If someone wants to put bull semen in our hair, we say “how much?” and “just keep it away from my ears”. And while we figure out a way to comfortably staple our ears closed, check out some of the stranger beauty treatments making their way around the planet.

1. Snail Ooze Facial

Would you ever consider smearing your face with snail ooze? If so, pick up De Tuinen Snail Gel, sourced from the snails of Chile. (And sold in Holland, nice carbon footprint!) The secret is in the snail’s secretion, which is used to smooth the snail’s shell. It is supposed to support the skin’s elasticity and more.

2. Snake Massage

Some people think that letting snakes slither across their bodies would be the stuff of nightmares. Not so, for the patrons of Ada Barak’s spa in Israel. The $80 treatment gets you several non-venomous snakes slithering around your body, apparently producing a therapeutic kneading sensation. Barak’s clients claim the treatments ease migraines and soothe sore muscles.

3. Ramen Noodle Spa Bath

Hakone Kowakien Yunessun of Japan offers up a treatment suitable for both lunch and spa. Sitting in a tub shaped like a ramen noodle bowl, the water contains pepper-flavored water colored a light, milky brown. Just what does the Ramen noodle spa bath do for you? The water contains collagen and garlic extracts, and officials claim it can help produce beautiful skin and aid moisture retention. And it probably makes you feel like a giant’s lunch in some fairy tale.

4. Bull Semen Hair Treatment

Think that organic chamomile conditioner you just shelled out 40 clams for is great? Consider lathering up with bull semen instead. Hari’s, a salon in London, uses the semen of Aberdeen Angus bulls to treat their customers’ locks.  As the salon’s owner Hari Salem told reporters, “The semen is refrigerated before use and doesn’t smell. It leaves your hair looking wonderfully soft and thick.” We’ll take your word for it, Hari!

5. Fish Pedicure

You know what is my worst nightmare? Hands down scariest thing I can imagine is falling into a tank of dead fish. (And here’s to exposing our darkest fears on the internet!) Ask my young nieces, they can vouch that I’ve run screaming from the room at the sight of a possible floater in their little fish bowls. I can’t tell you why. I just skeeve dead fish.

So this latest spa treatment to sweep the world is not for me. But for the braver (read: less neurotic) sorts, you can dip your toots into a fish bowl filled with tiny carp that will nibble away your dead skin. And sure, these fish are alive. But can we really take that chance? Can we?

6. Sheep Embryo Injections

Want to look young forever? Who knew that all it took were sheep sacrifices! But before we all reach for our sacrificial robes (made of organic cottons, of course) keep in mind that you can merely inject sheep embryos into your face. Rocker Debbie Harry did 30 years ago and credits her youthful appearance to the procedures. As the musician told reporters in 2008, “I had these cells injected into me in my early 30s and it turned out that I was the youngest person to have the treatment. They would take (cells) from the liver, glands, bone and whatever. Whether that treatment lasted this long, I don’t know, but I feel great.”

7. 24 Carat Gold Face Mask

The secret to glowing skin? According to the good people at UMO, its slathering gold all over your pores. Using an “ultrasonic nano mist,” gold penetrates your skin to lift, firm, and reduce the signs of aging. No word on whether King Midas had anything to do with the development of this treatment.

Photo credits: Face; Snail; Snakes; Ramen; Bull; Fish pedicure; Sheep; Gold. All photos from Flickr, licensed for commercial use under Creative Commons.

The post 7 Bizarre Beauty Treatments That Need to Go appeared first on EcoSalon.

How many of you moisturize and exfoliate your neck? I don’t, and apparently I am as foolish as this surfer who recently decided to stalk two great white sharks. (Yes, the neck is this dramatic.) The neck never lies. Because in this day of injecting ourselves with Botox and fillers and probably strawberry jam if it worked, the only sure-fire way to tell a person’s age is by his or her neck.

Think about it – how many times have you looked at the baby-smooth cheeks of a society Grande Dame, just to notice her neck matches her Hermes alligator bag? And I know that many of you would as soon as inject your eyeballs with glue than put Botox in your face. But that doesn’t mean we should continue to neglect our sassy necks or sexy upper bosoms.

Here’s why. As we age, our skin gets loser and fine lines make their appearance. The skin on the neck is thin and blood isn’t circulating around it as well as other places. The neck doesn’t have any fat to plump it up. It is often as exposed to the elements as much as your face – as can be your upper bosoms. You’ve invested in that Nixxi Fringe Collar Wrap Dress, so you’re going to want to bring on the sass with your cleavage.

Here’s how. First, it is important to keep our necks and chests moisturized and toned. Strawberry Hedgehog has a fantastic moisturizer. They also offer a detoxifying facial mask that is great for the neck and upper chest area as well. Want to tone? Here’s a list of some toners on the organic and natural market. (Though be sure to still read the labels, as some still contain chemical ingredients as well as organic ones.)

You can also eat your way to a healthy neck. Consider consuming foods high in omega-3s like flax seed and salmon. Spinach contains skin-strengthening vitamin A. Berries are high in antioxidants and vitamin C, which are both fantastic for your epidermis. Also think about giving your neck a massage with organic sunflower oils, which are high in nourishing vitamin F.

Next, think about your posture. Walk around with a book on your head. This will train your neck muscles to lift and elongate. (Suggests the person who spends most of her time hunched over a laptop looking like a turtle.)

You can also consider hot and cool compresses. Sitting in an armchair, wrap a warm, wet towel around your neck and clavicle for fifteen minutes. Then follow with a cool towel for the same amount of time. This will moisturize your skin and help you relax.

And finally, want a really great recipe for a homemade neck and décolletage wash? Try a Creamy Yolk Wash from Narine Nikogosian’s Return to Beauty.

Take one teaspoon of sour cream, one egg yolk, and one teaspoon of lemon juice. In a small bowl, mix the sour cream, and egg yolk together, then add lemon juice. Wash your neck and then rinse with cold water.

Image: teresawer

The post The Neck and Décolletage – A Tale of Sexy appeared first on EcoSalon.